Bumbling Bushcraft Comic: All Tied Up

Beads You Can Count On: Making Ranger Beads to Aid With Navigation

Last week we talked about binoculars which are a best friend to the compass and did some survival drills with them at our local park. This week, we are going to be making a craft that is going to help us keep pace a little better on the trail, and that craft comes in the form of ranger beads. I will be showing you how to make these, as well as making ranger beads entirely out of paracord, and talking about the different kinds of ranger beads you might encounter. Lastly we'll be heading to a local walking track where I will be practicing with my ranger beads and trying to learn my pace. Let's get started.

What are ranger/pace beads? They are beads on a piece of paracord, or string, whichever you prefer, and you move the beads up once you have gone a certain distance to keep track of how far you have walked. I actually have two sets of ranger beads, one is set up to mark kilometers, and the other is set to mark miles. We will be going over the kilometer beads first because this is the one most people prefer, and are also the true ranger beads because they go by clicks. On the bottom set you have 9 beads that represent 100 meters each. After you have walked 100 meters, you will push up a bead until you have pushed up all 9 beads, which is 900 meters. Once you reach 1000 meters, you will then push up one of the 4 beads on the top set, which is one click. You will then reset your bottom set of 9 beads and start over. The mile beads are set up similarly except you have 6 on one leg, and 7 on the other. The set of 7 beads represent 1/16 of a mile each. once you have reached 8/16 of a mile and have no more beads, you move up one of your 6 beads which represents 1/2 a mile each.


If you are walking with the mile marker beads, you will be able to count 3 and just about half of a fourth mile. If you are walking with the kilometer beads, you will be able to count 4 and just about a 5th kilometer. Either way, both sets are made up of 13 beads total. If I wanted to convert my kilometer beads into mile beads, I simply undo the knot separating the two sets of beads, move two up from the set of 9 into the set of 4, and I now have a set of 7 and a set of 6. I will then re-tie the knot, being careful to leave an even amount of space and not tying it too tight so that I can't undo it later.

Now I used wooden beads for mine, but you can use regular beads if you like. My problem is, I don't especially like the beads. I notice that they tend to slip, some of them in particular are really bad for it. I wanted to make a set that wouldn't slip and I didn't want to have to worry about buying more beads. I got the idea from a video (How To Tie Paracord Ranger Beads Method 1) and the guy actually tied his paracord into beads and attached them that way. I went in a bit of a different direction with it. I simply took strips of paracord and tied them into a normal overhand knot. They slide well along the paracord they are tied off to, and they actually hold in place really well where I slide them. For my paracord ranger beads I have a set of 6, a set of 7, and a third set of 4 that I'll talk about here in a minute. Whether you have 4 and 9 or 6 and 7, you will sometimes find a set of 4 beads at the bottom called forester beads. The forester beads are meant to keep track of every 20 meters OR 22 yards. Sometimes when you walk through the woods your pace may be uneven due to the terrain, so you can use the forester beads to mark those distances. Once you move up all four forester beads, you can move up your first 1/16 of a mile marker, or your first 100 meter marker.

Let's talk about how to make one of your own. First take your length of paracord and tie a loop into the top of it. This loop serves as your means of tying it to your pack, belt, walking stick, etc. To make a loop fold your paracord over, give yourself some distance, and tie it off. Now, I like to use two different colors of paracord for this, but now I am going to start adding the strips that will be my counters. to do this, I wrap a new color of paracord around the original that we just tied a loop in, tie an overhand knot, dress it as tight as I can, and then cut it as close as possible to the knot with a knife or scissors. You will repeat tying off the strips of paracord until you had 13 beads total. Then you could separate them however you wanted, and tie a knot off between them. The next thing we need to do is some prevention to keep the ends from fraying. What I have done is taken a lit candle and held the ends of

the paracord I cut close to the flame. You do not actually have to get it into the flame or catch it on fire. If you do, just blow it out gently, no harm done. You just want to melt down the edges of the mantle and the inner string. This will keep the paracord from fraying and falling apart so you get the most use out of your ranger beads.

Our next mission is to head to our local walking track and use the ranger beads to get my pace put in. I have with me on my walk my ranger beads, a pedometer, and a paper that tells me how many steps I need to take to complete 1/16 of a mile depending on my stride. Your stride is the distance you  clear within 2 steps. Based on this, it should take me 83 steps to walk 1/16 of a mile.

After pushing up all of my forester beads I am now ready to push up my first 1/16 of a mile bead. Now it looks like I'm off this first time and was going a bit too fast so I'll try again. The problem I had was that the steps I was counting and the pedometer were not syncing up. When I should have been 1/12 of a mile in, my pedometer said I was 1/10 of a mile in. So what I tried next was resetting everything on the pedometer and trying again while watching the pedometer. Based on the pedometer it took me about 125 steps to clear the 1/16 of a mile. If I divide that into 5 for the forester beads, I'm looking at moving up a bead every 25 steps so that is something I will have to keep in mind. When I began my nature walk I counted 25 steps, moved a forester bead, and repeated that process. The trail I walked was supposed to be about 1.2 miles. At the end I think I may have been a bit overzealous. I had 1 6/16 of a mile and 44 yards. Overall my pace may still need some work to get it accurate.

It is now that time again where we add another item to our pack. This week isn't very difficult as the paracord ranger beads as the only item I used. I'm simply going to attach this to a loop that is on the right shoulder strap of my pack because I am right handed. The only problem I had was the loosening of the paracord strips. I myself am not too worried about it as I can just tighten them down, melt them in to place, or if worse comes to worse I can just replace it even in the field. Next week we will be doing a review of an all in one option, you don't want to miss it. As always feel free to comment, 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.

Fire Inside: A Review of UST Paratinder

As we go through the five C’s, I’ve unintentionally have been ranking them in order of importance. The next set will contain knives, which I believe is the most important. With a good knife you can do or make anything. But immediately after that, I’ve got to give it to cordage. Whether it’s putting up your shelter, lashing together a tripod for cooking, and can even be used in the fire making process if made from natural materials.

Unfortunately for us, most of our cordage is either paracord or bank line, and being synthetic, it melts instead of burns. In David Canterbury’s book Bushcraft 101 chapter 3, page 71 under rope, he says,

 “Unlike cord, I prefer my rope to be of a natural material such as hemp. The main reason for this is its flammability, which aids in fire-making and when creating a bird’s nest.”

You should have a synthetic cord at a diameter smaller than ¼” and a natural rope being bigger than ¼” for the fire making process. But, what if we have a ¼” cordage that would burn, yet have the strength of paracord or bank line? UST have made 550 paracord with one of the seven strands being flammable, unlike the others. Before we get into the review, I want to state as always, “I am not being paid to endorse this item. I paid for it with my own money under my own volition. My review is genuine and accounts are from my, and mine alone, experiences with this item.” And with that, let’s get into the review!

So, it’s paracord with a flammable cord, big deal right? Just tell us, is it good or bad? End the blog there, right? Well I actually spent a little more time on it than just that. I wanted to make sure that the paracord I bought was just as good as or better than the paracord I already had. There would be no point in carrying paracord that would only be good for starting fires. I decided that I would first start off seeing how well it put up a ridge line. I used the Siberian Hitch and the Trucker’s Hitch and both knots held just as well as any other paracord. The ridge line itself held well, just like it always does, so no noticeable difference.

Next, while I was out there I wanted to try my lashings. I tied my Clove Hitch, wrapped it three times in the square formation, frapped three times, and tied off with a Clove Hitch on a bight. This also held just as well as the bank line lashing we did last week.

Next I wanted to cut open the paracord and see what I was getting inside. When broken down, I had the mantle in a bright orange and grey pattern, the customary seven strands slightly pinkened I assume from the fire starter, and last is the Firestarter itself which seemed slightly thicker than any of the other seven strands. Right out of the box you will notice while looking at the end of the cord, the seven fire starting strands surrounding the fire starting core.

The next three tests involved the seven strands more than any other part of the cord. First I tested feeding it through a needle for sewing purposes. It did fine with this and since it did fine at this, it means it would be fine to be used as fishing line in case of an emergency. Next, taking a fishing jighead, I fashioned a small end of the paracord into a fishing lure. This again made a very nice lure, especially with the bright orange.

After all of these tests, I concluded that this paracord was on par with any other 550 paracord purchased from UST. So with all that done, I decided to move on to the fire starting core. After trying all of the fire starting methods I could (ferro rod and magnifying glass) the only thing that actually got it to light was direct flame from a lighter. While lit, the flammable core worked more like a match than anything else. It was still susceptible to wind, water, and oxygen deprivation. But, it did give an extended burn. Adding this to part of a bird’s nest would greatly improve your success in producing a flame. Once the flame was out, the cord was reduced to ash and could not be used as char-cloth.

Overall, if you were buying paracord, it couldn’t hurt to pick up this product to try for yourself. Having your items multitask for you is what every bushcrafter needs to look for when purchasing gear. Next week we will be having two pieces of equipment battling it out for your primary cutting tool position. One will be a fixed blade knife, and the other, I’ll let you guess. Comment below before 11 pm EST July 22^nd, 2017. The first person with the correct answer will get a shoutout in the next blog!  As always feel free to comment, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one. Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

1 2 3 Start Lashing with Me: Basic Lashing Knots and How to Use Them

The answer to last week’s blog was the Cove Hitch. What it goes to is lashings, as I’m sure you can tell by the incredibly punny title I chose to use this week. Now before we get into lashings, I want to give you reassurance that they are not going to be nearly as bad as you have them set to be in your mind. Before I did this blog, I was very nervous to try lashing for the first time, mostly because of what they are used for, such as chairs, rafts, shelters, meat poles (what you hang animal carcasses off). Once I watched a few videos from, Eastmans' Hunting Journals, I really began to learn that lashings are as easy as 1, 2, 3. Before we get into lashings and all that stuff, let’s go over the clove hitch.

Clove Hitch Knot

To perform the Clove Hitch, you are only concerned with the working end in your right hand (I like to leave out about a foot). Lay the working end over what you are tying the hitch to, in this case a piece of wood and wrap once crossing over the top of the working end, really focusing on make the X-shape that is essential to the Clove Hitch. Take the working end all the way back around and feed it underneath the X that the two strands make and cinch it tight. We use the Clove Hitch because regardless of whether you pull on the working end or the static end, this knot does not come loose unless you pick it apart. I remember it as being called a Clove Hitch because it is split like the hooves of an animal such as a cow.

Before we go into square lashing, I just want to talk about the terminology real quick. You’ll need to know that when I say “wrap” I mean to place the cordage in a particular pattern based on which lashing we’re doing. And the “frap” which is wrapping the wrap to strengthen and tighten.

Square Lashing Knot

To begin our square lashing, we first want to begin by placing a Clove Hitch slightly off center (I chose off right to the center) on one of our lashing poles. For this lashing, I am going to be lashing a 1 1/2” diameter branch to a 4” diameter tree. I can go in any pattern that I want, but what I mainly want to do is wrap BEHIND the pole in the back and in FRONT of the pole in the front. You want to keep it as tight as you possibly can. After each pass, ratchet it down. Once I have done this three times, I want to begin the frap. With this, I want to wrap around the cordage in the space between my two lashing poles. Again, crank down as tight as you can after each pass. I watched a video that said that this can be as tight as steel spikes if done correctly. I end it with another clove hitch after my final frap. This should secure it onto the pole without loosening it all.

Diagonal Lashing Knot

This lashing is very similarly constructed to the square lashing. The only differences are instead of going around the pole, you go in between them, and instead of starting with a Clove Hitch, you start with a Timber Hitch. So go ahead and tie that Timber Hitch. You want to tie it diagonally on the lashing poles. Next you want to wrap three times in whatever original direction you started with the timber hitch, which itself does not count as a wrap. Next you want to wrap in the opposite plane going in the other direction diagonally for another set of three wraps. Next you want to frap again three times around the cordage in the space between the two lashing poles. At the end I tie off with a Clove Hitch, and again I am done. While I haven’t tested it, I do theorize that one could do the Timber Hitch in one diagonal, then instead of wrapping that diagonal, wrap the opposite diagonal, then come back and wrap the same diagonal as the Timber Hitch. I believe that it would give this more stability. I have not been in a place where I could really test my theory out, so anyone who could help me out with an answer to that, please leave a comment below.

Tripod Lashing Knot

The last lashing is called the Tripod Lashing. A lashing that every woodsman should know, especially if they plan on cooking via a tripod. For this lashing, you will need to again tie a Clove Hitch onto whichever pole is to the far right, a little bit below the top. Next you will want to wrap the other poles in a weaving pattern. To do this, start from the Clove Hitch and go under the middle pole, around the leftmost pole, over the middle pole, and around the rightmost pole, and so on until you have about five wraps on the outermost poles. Make sure that each weave is tightened down. Next you want three fraps around the cordage in between the poles. To stand it up, take the middle pole and pull the bottom of it backwards while pushing the tops of the outermost poles together at the top. This will form your tripod.

Sort of a shorter blog this week. There are other lashings out there and we may go over them again in the future if that’s something you guys would like. Also, we may try our hand at making furniture with these lashings, but that will be another blog. Next week we will be going over the cordage review. It seems that this month has just flown by. As always feel free to comment, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one. Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

Time to Get A Little Knotty: Important Camping Knots and How to Tie Them.

Last week we went over the different types of cordage you should take into the field. Cordage just like any other tool is useless unless you work with it. Just like with your knife, you practice carving; with cordage you practice knots. There are as many knots in this world as there are people that annoy you so there is no point in trying to show you them all. Some are great for hiking, some are great for climbing, some are great for fishing, and some are just fun to do. What I’m going to do is show you the ones that I think are best for a simple camp. Warning: failure to complete a knot successfully or using the wrong knot in a situation can lead to serious injury or death. DO NOT USE ANY OF THESE KNOTS WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF AN EXPERT. And with that, let’s get into the blog.

Now this may not come as a shock to most of you, because of the aforementioned warning, but I am not the best knot person in the world. Shocked, I know. Personally, I think I’m an amateur at best. However, I have used these knots, and I know that they work. So, I feel comfortable enough in giving you my own opinion. Another reason I consider myself an amateur is because I am not very good with the terminology. But, for this blog I have put together the most common terminology when dealing with these knots. You won’t pass any classes, you might sound foolish, but you’ll understand me. So, really, no upside.

The working end of the rope is where the knot is being made. This will come in handy later on because certain knots require the working end to be on one side of an object. The next is the bight (pronounced “bite”). This is when you take a section of the rope and turn it into the “U” shape as demonstrated in the picture. The loop is when you place one part of the cord on top of another, forming a circle. You can have overhanded and underhanded loops, but for this we are just going to be worried about loops in general. After that you have the standing part. This is basically just cordage that is not being used in the knot making process, which leads into what I have seen called the running end or the static end. Basically, the other end of your rope that isn’t doing anything.

Improved Clench Knot

Now with that very basic terminology, we should be able to talk to each other. And since we can talk to each other, let’s talk knots. For the first knot I am going to start off super easy with just a fishing knot.\ It’s widely popular and famous for its seven turns. To perform this knot, you will need a fish hook with an eye, the metal circle at the top of a hook, and fishing line. To begin, feed the working end of your fishing line through the eye of the hook. Once you have two inches of the working end through the eye of the hook, twist seven times. This will form a loop in the line on top of the eye of the hook. Run the working end through this loop. This will then make a second loop back where your working end just came from. Feed the working end through this second loop and pull the working end until the knot clenches down on itself. Always when working with fishing line, wet the line to ensure you have a tight knot. Trim off any extra if you want to.

 The next two knots I want to introduce you to are going to help you with your ridge line. A ridge line consists of a piece of cordage suspended tautly between two points. Your ridge line must be taut even with weight placed upon it. Again in my own terms, I call these holding knots, again, probably not the correct term. The reason I call these holding knots is because it holds on to whatever it’s being tied to. Some other knots that we’ll talk about later can be tightened down and can be tied off when you are happy with it. For these knots to work right you must apply tension to them at all times, or the knot will not function as it is supposed to.

Timber hitch

Now let’s move on to where knots really come in handy and that is your ridge line. The first knot we are going to look at is the timber hitch. It gets its name from its use in lumber. To tie the timber hitch we’re going to have our working end in our right hand and our static end in our left hand. We’re going to place the cordage on the back side of the tree, forming a U. Wrap the working end over the static end, and under the static end again. Take the working end and wrap it a total of five times around the working end that is coming from around the tree. Once you have done this, pull on the static end until the knot is cinched tightly around the tree. To undo this knot, simply release tension from static line which will loosen the working end enough that you can unwrap and pull it apart.

Siberian Hitch

Next we’re going to talk about the Siberian hitch knot, or as I have also heard it called, the Siberian witch knot. To perform this knot, take the static end in your right hand and the working end in your left. Take both the static and working end into your left palm and wrap the working end around your hand so that there are three strands over your hand. With your hand palm side up, twist under the static line and then over again with your palm side down over top of it. Use your thumb and forefinger to go through the closest loop on your hand and grab the working end. Pull the working end up through the loop and create another loop with the working end. Dress the knot so that the loop is cinched in place and adjust it so that it is tight on the tree. To undo this knot, simply pull the loose working end and the knot will fall apart. This knot can be used the same way as a Timber Hitch.

These next knots are the other end of your ridge line. These knots apply tension to your cord and keep it ridged. I call these tightening knots. It’s like a second grader’s vocabulary. These are just as important as the first knot. Maybe even more. Because these have to keep the tension on the other knot and it must keep the ridge line taut enough to perform its other duties. You will notice with these that they will often have places that you can tie off to set your tension, and that instead of tightening around the object like the other knots, they tighten around the cordage itself.

Trucker’s hitch

Make a U shape around the tree with the working end in your right hand and the static end in your left. Make an overhand loop on the static end of the line. Reach through the top of the loop and pull the static line from the bottom to create a bight. Cinch the bight in place. Now place the working end through the bight on the static line and pull towards the tree to tight the knot to the desired tautness. Lay a bight on the back part of the back part of the knot and pull another bight through it, creating a slip so that the knot can be undone quickly. To undo the knot, pull the working end to undo the slip, then pick the top of the static knot enough to pull the working end out. Pull apart in different directions to completely release the knot.

Taut Line Hitch

To perform this knot, make a U shape around the tree with the working end in your left hand and the static end in your right hand. Cross the working end under the static end and wrap two times around the inside of the loop on the static side above the working end. Next, cross the working line over the static line BELOW the working line and make a loop. Pull the working end through the loop and dress the knot. Pull taut. To undo this knot, push the working end down until it releases the last loop you made, then simply pull the knot apart.

Overhand knot

I want to join these two end of the rope so I have one continuous loop. I could tie a fisherman’s knot, however, to make it easier, I’m going to just tie an overhand knot using both ends of the cordage. This may not be as strong as the fisherman’s knot, however it will suit my purposes for the next knot, the Prusik knot.

Prusik Knot

With the Prusik knot, its most powerfully used when in conjunction with mountain climbing, due to its ability to slide up and down on a piece of cordage as long as there is not a tremendous amount of tension placed on it.  While used in rock climbing it can help prevent someone from falling because applying the climber’s weight to the knot will stop it from sliding down the line. However, it can still be useful besides being life-saving. In a camping situation you can use this knot along with your ridge line to tighten your tarp corners when you’re using it in conjunction with your hammock. You can also use them to hang equipment such as lights and then move them out of the way when you wanted to. To do the Prusik knot, after you have made your cordage into a continuous loop, you want to find as close to the middle of the cordage as you can find and take a bight. Hang the bight over the ridge line, leaving the rest on the back side. You then want to pull the cordage through the bight which will create loops on your ridge line. Pull the bight out and wrap it around the back of the ridge line and over the top, once again pulling the bottom of the cord through, creating two more loops on your ridge line. Repeat this once more to have a total of six loops on the ridge line and pull taut. This creates the Prusik knot.

Bowline knot

To do the bowline you want to start off by taking the working end in your right hand and the static line in your left. On your static line you want to make an overhand loop. Place the working hand through the loop, around the static line, and back down through the loop. People remember this by saying “the rabbit comes out of the hole, runs around a tree, and goes back in to his hole.” This knot can be very useful because it will know cinch down like other knots. You can tie this knot around your body without worrying about constricting yourself when being pulled out of a tight space.

I hope you get the chance to try out these knots. You could go out into the woods and tie between two trees, or you could just tie them between parts of your porch and deck. Hell, I often practice knots on my foot. But the key word there is practice. The more you do these, the easier they’ll become, the more they’ll make sense, and the better you’ll look as a woodsman. I have been getting a lot of views lately and I want to thank you all. I had 1000 views last month alone. For this blog, I want to end it a little different. There is a picture of a knot to the left of this paragraph. If you want, you can comment what you think the next topic will be about, and your only clue is that it will involve this knot. Whoever gets it correct first, will get a shoutout in the next blog and on Twitter, Facebook, or wherever they would like. The deadline for this will be 11:00pm Sunday July 9^th  (est).

As always feel free to comment, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one. Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.