Bumbling Bushcraft Comic: Tarpigami

Cooking the Fat: Making Hide Glue

Last week as we wrapped up our review on our W. Smith and Sons canvas needles, I said we were going to start this week on cargo tape. However, this week we are not going to be focusing on traditional cargo tape or duct tape, we are instead going to be focusing on making our own glue out of raw hide chew toys.




The first thing I did was place the raw hide chew toy into the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket, filled the bucket with enough water to fully submerge the chew toy, and placed a mason jar over top of it to keep it from floating to the surface.

After a few hours, the raw hide toy was soft enough to be unrolled into a flat piece which is much easier to work with. At this point I laid it out on a cutting board and cut it into small strips keeping in mind that they all need to fit into a pot.





After making sure all of the small pieces of raw hide fit sufficiently in the pot, I am going to take
them out and place them elsewhere. In the mean time I am going to add water to my pot, let it come to a boil, and then turn it down to simmer and re add the raw hide strips. At this point I am going to let it cook for about an hour and a half being cautious not to let the water boil. The higher temperature will cause the glue to weaken. I also want to be sure to stir occasionally with a chop stick.

After the cooking process finished, I tested the liquid on the chop stick I was stirring with and it definitely wanted to bind to my fingers. I will say that I didn't do the best job keeping the water from boiling, but I tried to manage it the best I could. Now I want to remove the large piece of raw hide from the pot so that all that is left is the liquid, which is our glue. Using a flour sack towel, I am going to strain  the glue into a small mason jar that I am going to store the glue in.

It is also worth noting to make sure you leave a divet in the center of your flour sack towel so that glue doesn't spill everywhere as you are pouring it in the jar. The glue did leave some residue on the top of my towel, but it's nothing I shouldn't be able to clean up. The mason jars I used were $6-$7 at Walmart, however if you had a metal container to store the glue in that would be preferable. I just like to use something that should be cheap and easy for anyone to find and purchase. After about 6-8 hours, the glue has cooled and set.

You can tell the glue is finished if you tap it and it jiggles. In my experience I tried scraping a piece out and rolling it between my fingers to activate it, but it didn't work. It's unfortunate because I didn't want to have to heat it up since I did store it in a glass jar, however it's not big deal. Just set the glass jar into boiling water and the glue will return to it's liquid state, ready to use. I hope you guys learned enough to try this out for yourselves, and I would love to hear your results. Next week we will be talking about cargo tape. I'll be showing you my favorite brand and some super glue from that brand as well. You won't want to miss it! As always feel free to comment by clicking the comment link at the end of the blog, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one on Sunday 10pm (est). If you want to keep up with me and what I’m doing, Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Lastly if video is more your style check out my YouTube Channel backpack bushcraft where there is a video version of this with the same title. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

Bumbling Bushcraft Comic: It's Bigger on the Inside

Waiting on Pins and Needles: Review of Sail Makers Needles

Last week we looked at all other possible uses of a canvas needle other than for sewing purposes. This week we will be reviewing the iconic green and white package that is W. Smith and Sons Sail Makers Needles. Before we open into these there are a few things on the outside of the package that I feel are worth pointing out. The first thing I notice is that it says "Manufactured by W. Smith and Sons, Redditch, England." If you recall on the package of Dritz needles we purchased they are labelled as "European quality." This could mean that this brand claims to be of or similar quality to the W. Smith and Sons needles, or it could just be a particular way that the needles are manufactured. Either way, I thought it was worth bringing up. The next thing worth noting is the "forged and hand-made." This to me says that they were manufactured with some sort of human involvement, meaning that there are going to be less imperfections. For the price of these needles, less imperfections are certainly a better deal. Their saying "Made by hand, not to cut the twine," is printed on the package. It is also labelled "Reduced Edge" meaning that the point of the needle is made into a wedge shape so not to fray the thread when going in between the fabric.

The last thing I would like to point out on the package is the qty. 5 and the sizes 13-19. I'm now going to open into the pack to show you what these mean. There are 5 needles with varying lengths and thicknesses, however if I had to estimate the height difference between the smallest and largest needle is roughly 1/4-1/2". Based on diameter I can infer that the smallest needle is the size 13, and the largest is the size 19. I believe the second largest needle to be a size 14 because it appears to be the most versatile. It is about the same length-wise as the 13, but  slightly heftier. This leads me to believe that the other two needles are a size 15 and a size 17. I have arrived at this conclusion because I have seen the needles referred to in odd numbered increments. I also know that David Canterbury and the Self Reliance Outfitters sells a size 14 needle on its own so the sizes 13, 14, 15, 17, and 19, seem to make the most sense.


I have with me some leather, the same leather in fact from last week. My goal is to see how well these needles can awl through leather. Last week I could only get one needle to perform this task and that was a challenge in and of itself. I am going to start with the size 19 needle since it is the biggest and I will believe it will go through the leather easier than any other needle in this set. I am correct in saying that as the needle does go through and it goes through like butter. I tried to awl the leather with both the 13 and the 14 as well and I was just as successful in that endeavor. I am thoroughly impressed by that. If I had thread I would be able to sew the leather or if I need an awl tool on hand I have one.

Since I have my leather out I am going to try to make what is called a leather palm for sewing. The cool thing about this is that I am making it for my needles, but I am going to use my needles to make it. The first thing I am going to do is cut my leather into a strip that takes up most of my palm and is just a bit wider than my palm (I want a bit of excess on both sides of my hand. Now I am going to take the largest needle I have (in this case the 19) and I am going to thread it with frayed bank line. Of course you can use anything you have like paracord or what have you.

Now I am only going to knot my bank line at the tail end, not near the needle, and there is a reason for this. So first I am going to make a hole in the leather with my needle and I am going to pull it through until it stops at the knot I made.






Now I am going to pull the end of the thread that is not knotted through the hole I just made and bring it to the opposite side of the leather. The knot in the other side will keep the bank line from coming loose.






Now I am going to come straight across from the hole I just came through and make another hole keeping the needle in the eye.








Once the bank line is through I am going to make a knot in the end so that it cannot slip back through the hole.








Now I am going to repeat this process two more times on the middle and bottom corners of the leather so that I have three straps of bank line. All I have to do is cinch them down on my hand and I have a leather palm that keeps the needles from digging into my hands when I am using them to awl leather.




Now I am going to test the needles to see how well they can actually sew. I have some canvas and I am going to start with the size 14 needle, the inner strand of some paracord, and I am going to do a simple running stitch. I am pretty satisfied with the results. The grouping is even and looks nice. Next I am going to use the upholstery thread with the size 19 needle. Now this time the gauge of the needle was a little to big for the thread so I am sure that if I had used the size 14 or maybe 15 I would have had better results. I was able to use the needles with the bank line when we made the leather palm, so the only material that leaves is...the jute. As you can see from the photo to your right, I was able to sew with the jute which tells me that if I can make natural cordage in the bush, I can sew with it using these needles.

This needle has awled leather, sewn with every type of material I have given it, and now we need to see if it will perform as a redundant compass. Now you can magnetize your needle using magnets, but I prefer to use a battery. If you are using the battery method, use Duracell batteries. The reason being that I tried the Energizer batteries and the positive end actually repels the compass needle and the negative in pulls in, but the pull is not as strong as the pull from the positive end of the Duracell battery. After 50 swipes of the needle on the Duracell battery I suspended my size 14 needle from a thread and watched as it found north, and now I am going to repeat the test with a bowl of water and a flotation device. Instead of using a tea candle this time I am going to use my new invention which is a bottle cap with a groove cut into it to fit my needle. Once again, it successfully finds north.

As before with the other needles you can use these to clean you nails, teeth, and pull grit out of your equipment. For hunting, fishing, and trapping you could use these as a gig or some type of windless trap for small animals. You could hold down the fish while you could descale it, heck you could descale it with a different needle, and you could also do things like testing your bread dough. For my final thoughts, this set of needles will set you back about $12.99. The other needles will set you back roughly $2. Out of the Dritz pack you will get two half way decent needles, with W. Smith and Sons you are getting 5 high quality needles. If you are just getting into bushcraft I recommend going with the cheaper option to get comfortable using them. Once you get comfortable you can definitely upgrade to the better option. Now the W. Smith and Sons needles are all different sizes, but it is my opinion that you could pretty well divide them up  between your different packs that you may have and  have pretty similar results. Now it is time for The Packening. The first thing I am going to pack is my W. Smith and Sons needles because I have been using canvas needles for a while and I need to upgrade. I will be taking along with that: the bottle cap floating device, the upholstery thread, a thimble, and my sewing palm.

And with that we have reached the end of our canvas needle series. I had a blast doing this, although I think I say that every time. Next week we will begin our cargo tape series. I have a lot to show you and you won't want to miss it! As always feel free to comment by clicking the comment link at the end of the blog, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one on Sunday 10pm (est). If you want to keep up with me and what I’m doing, Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Lastly if video is more your style check out my YouTube Channel backpack bushcraft where there is a video version of this with the same title. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

Bumbling Bushcraft Comic: Ready, Aim, Misfire

Getting to the Point: Other Uses for Canvas Needles in Survival Situations

Last week we looked at different fabric and threading materials. This week we are going to look at our canvas needle as a multi purpose tool to really see what this thing can do. You may have several ideas spring to mind, number one being a compass. To start off with I am going to show you a few things you can pack to make sure you have a compass with you at all times.

The first thing you want is a AA battery and to make sure that your battery has power, you can hold the positive end to your compass and move it around to see if your compass needle will follow it. If it does, you have a good battery. I am now going to take an iron or steel sewing needle and I am going to swipe the tip against the tip of the positive end of the battery about 40-50 times. This magnetizes the needle. The next thing I am going to need is a tea light candle. Now if you remember in the candle blog I said that I wasn't going to pack a tea light candle, however, I am going to keep one wherever I keep my needle because I will be using it as a flotation device. Now I am placing my candle in the bowl of water and placing the needle on top of it. At this point it is as simple as waiting for the magnetized end of the needle to find north.

Now there are other ways to create a compass without having to float your needle. If you use some of the thread you have with you like I recommended in the last blog, you can tie a loop around the middle of your magnetized needle. You'll have to be careful to make sure that your needle is parallel to the floor for this to work. Now it will begin spinning but when it comes to a stop the magnetized end will be pointing north. It's a little creepy.

You could think of it as a cleaning/maintenance tool. You could use it to clean under your nails. You could roll or scrape debris out of an open would to prevent an infection. With that being said you could use it to patch yourself up with stitches or field medicine, but I think, or at least I really hope, we're a long ways away from having to practice field medicine.You could use it as a toothpick or if you get cysts like I get in my earlobes, you can use it as a lance. You could use it to pick out splinters or other foreign objects from your skin as well.

Now we are getting into the realm of fishing and trapping. Some people would tell you to heat it up and turn it over into a fish hook, but I am not one of those people. You would have to get it very hot and bend it very slowly because it would snap. I do think that it would work well as a gouge hook if you had something to help it float and prevent it from sinking to the very bottom. Theoretically you could put multiple needles together and use it as a frog gig. These ideas are all fine and good, however, if you're fishing for survival I think your best bet is going to be some type of netting system. You could use this in a windless trap for small rodents so it will stab them in the head and pin them down. I wouldn't recommend using it with a mouse trap though as it would likely break.

In terms of cooking you could use your needle to test if your dough is cooked all the way through. You could use it to pin your fish to a board if you choose to cook it or descale it that way. You may even be able to use your needle to descale the fish. If your needle was thick enough and able to bear the weight, you could use it as a toggle for your water bottle when you are boiling water over your fire. Of course you should be sure to test all of your equipment at home before taking it out and trying it in the field.

Well, I am now out of ideas for what you could possibly use a needle for. If you have any more ideas feel free to comment and tell me. I would love to hear your ideas. Next week will be our first review of 2018. We are going to review my Walmart canvas needle vs. some other canvas needles. Now the ones I've purchased are supposed to be the same ones the Dave Canterbury uses but I was unable to purchase them off of his website so I purchased them off of Amazon so they would arrive a little quicker. Either way, you know you don't want to miss it! As always feel free to comment by clicking the comment link at the end of the blog, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one on Sunday 10pm (est). If you want to keep up with me and what I’m doing, Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Lastly if video is more your style check out my YouTube Channel backpack bushcraft where there is a video version of this with the same title. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

Bumbling Bushcraft Comic: Swing and a Miss

Survival Sewing: Testing Sewing Materials for Survival

Last week we opened into our homecraft sewing kit and practiced some very basic stitches that you can pick up and learn easily. This week we are going to look at sewing for survival in terms of making repairs by using different threading materials on different types of fabric. This way we will see which thread is best for which type of fabric.

To explain the parameters of the test, I am going to be using two different types of needle, a canvas needle and a sail needle, and use various different threads on various fabrics you may need to repair in a survival situation. The thread I will be using is the upholstery thread from last week (this will act as our control thread), the inner strands of paracord, a smaller strand of unraveled bankline, and some jute twine that will act as natural cordage. The fabric I have selected is the pillow sham we used last week, (this will act as our control fabric), denim, canvas, and supple and non-supple leather. We will be sewing the fabric together using a running stitch. If we are unable to perform the running stitch then we will attempt the whip or loop stitch. We will then be testing the strength of the thread and the fabric by trying to pull it apart.

After preparing all of my materials I am going to begin with the canvas needle, the upholstery thread, and the pillow sham. The running stitch with both the canvas and sail needle was very strong on the pillow sham as I expected of the control group. The upholstery thread performed well on the denim with both needles as well. I did have one issue when using the upholstery thread with the sail needle on the canvas. The stitches did begin to pull apart, but I do believe it was my sewing rather than the thread not being strong enough. I didn't have any problems with the canvas needle however. The leather I did not believe would hold the upholstery thread when I began to sew with the canvas needle so I didn't even try with the sail needle.

 Now we will go through the fabric again, this time with the inner strand of paracord. I was able to sew the pillow sham with both the canvas needle and the sail needle, however, the inner strand of the paracord was so strong and thick that when I began to pull it apart, it actually ripped the fabric around it. The experiment was also successful for both denim and canvas with both needles. The paracord was strong and held the material well. I was able to do a whip stitch into the leather with the sail needle. The difficulty I was having was getting the needle to pierce the leather. I would have had more luck if I had an awl. As for the paracord, it was able to hold the leather together.

Similar to when I sewed the pillow sham with the paracord, the bank line was so thick and strong that it caused the fabric around it to rip. Unlike the paracord, I am able to break down the bank line into finer strands. This may be more compatible with the pillow sham, but that is an experiment for another day. I had great success with both needles, the bank line and the denim. Unfortunately when using the bank line with the canvas, it ripped with both needles. Again I believe that if I broke the bank line down into finer strands I would have more success, but for this test I would consider this a fail. The canvas needle was able to do a whip stitch with the bank line and it held the leather well.

The jute twine was so thick that I was unable to pull it through any of the fabric, including the leather, with either needle. I did attempt to unravel the jute in the beginning into finer strands, however, the finer strands by themselves are so weak that they will break if you pull on them.

After finishing the test I compiled a chart with all of the data. On the left side of the chart is my fabric material and at the top are the thread materials I used. Each box has a section for the canvas needle and the sail needle. Basically if the combination of needle, thread and fabric was a success I marked it with a check. If the combination was a failure, I marked it with an X. The winner between the two needles was definitely the canvas needle since it was able to make a hole in the leather as well as use all of the same materials as the sail needle even though it was narrower. And the upholstery thread was definitely the handiest of all of our threading material since it was able to sew and hold almost all of the fabric material well.

Next week we will be looking at our needle not just as a sewing tool, but as a  multipurpose tool. What else can this sewing needle do for us in a survival situation? You won't want to miss it! As always feel free to comment by clicking the comment link at the end of the blog, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one on Sunday 10pm (est). If you want to keep up with me and what I’m doing, Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Lastly if video is more your style check out my YouTube Channel backpack bushcraft where there is a video version of this with the same title. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

Bumbling Bushcraft Comic: "2/3 ain't bad"

Leaving You in Stitches: Simple Sewing Stitches You Should Know

This is the first blog of 2018! This year we are going to be picking up with another C from David Canterbury's 10 C's of Survivability. In the last blog we ended on candle, and this year we will be picking up with canvas needles. To start this off, I have purchased Dritz Homecraft Needles, European Quality with 7 needles included. This kit cost me about $1.75 at Walmart. Included in this kit are sail, sack, canvas, carpet, leather, and two upholstery needles. A total of 7 needles.

The sail needles can be identified by having a slight bend at the tip of the needle. The sack needle has a large eye and a blunt tip. The upholstery needles are both C-shaped, I have a large one and a small one. I can identify the canvas needle by its triangular shaped tip. With the two that are left I know that the smaller needle with the larger eye is the carpet needle and the one that is slightly bigger is the leather needle.

Let me begin by saying that if you are going to sew anything for your survival needs, I highly recommend that you use upholstery thread. It is thick, stiff, and very durable. It's thick enough that when I begin to thread it through the eye I do not need to lick it to make it straighten out. All I am going to do is feed the thread through the eye about an inch or so, fold it over onto the tail and pull. If the thread doesn't separate from the needle, I know that it has been successfully threaded. Now I am going to draw out the tail about 18" and tie an overhand not near the end of the thread I will be sewing with. Now we are ready to sew.

The first stitch we are going to talk about today is called the running stitch. To begin I am going to insert my needle through both pieces of fabric and pull it all the way through to the knot. I am then going to go back through the fabric in the opposite direction leaving a bit of a loop. I am then going to go from the underside of the fabric on top of the stitch and through the loop and pull it tight. I have now locked my thread in place. After going through the fabric I am going to lay my needle flat, judge an adequate distance (about a half inch or so) and push it through the other side of the fabric again, repeating the process. Once I have gotten all the way to the end, I am going to stretch the fabric taught  and make sure there is no slack in and then I am going to lock the thread like I did in the beginning.

The second stitch is called the whip stitch or the loop stitch. This stitch is not going to weave in and out of the fabric like I did before. This time I am going to be going in one direction in one continuous motion. First I am going to lock into the fabric, then letting the thread rest on top, I am going to go behind the fabric and pull it through. Then I am going to repeat by bringing the thread around to the same side I just went through and pulling it through again in the same direction.

The third stitch is called the blanket stitch. After locking it in you will go through the back starting off much like we did with the whip stitch. Only this time instead of the loop being in our way, we are going to incorporate it by pulling our needle through the loop and repeating the process. Again this is very similar to the whip stitch, but we are going through the loop instead of pulling it down. I like the blanket stitch because it is a very strong stitch and is good for rounding corners.

The last stitch is called the hidden or ladder stitch. This stitch is good for mending tears in your clothes. I am going to lock in below the tear on the inside of the fabric and as the name suggests this stitch is going to resemble a ladder. I am going to go through one side of the rip and leave a loop then pull through the loop. I am then going to go through the other side of the rip and repeat. I am going to go back and forth like this down the length of the rip until I get past it. At this point I am going to go through the fabric and pull until the tear cinches shut. This just leaves a fold on the outside of the fabric so no stitching shows through.

If this got a little confusing to read, I do have a corresponding video on my YouTube channel Backpack Bushcraft. If you take nothing else away from this video just remember if I can sew, anyone can sew and probably do a better job than I did. Next week we are going to look at different materials to sew or mend in a survival situation as well as different thread materials that you may have to sew with. You won't want to miss it! As always feel free to comment by clicking the comment link at the end of the blog, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one on Sunday 10pm (est) or Wednesday 12pm for our new Comic Bumbling Bushcraft. If you want to keep up with me and what I’m doing, Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Lastly if video is more your style check out my YouTube Channel backpack bushcraft where there is a video version of this with the same title. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.