Trails With Ole Nick: Making the Square Tarp

Trails With Ole Nick: Fire Making on an East KY Ridge

Trails with Ole Nick: Tarp Setup on an East KY Ridge

All Packed Up and Ready to Go: Packing For the 3 Day Camp

We’ve spent the past few months talking about all different types of gear that fall under the category of David Canterbury’s 5 C’s of survivability, why they are important, what options you have, and comparing and contrasting those options. This week I am going to pack a backpack full of some of that gear we’ve discussed and go out on a 3 day camp using only the items I’ve packed. 

Now I have set up some rules for this camp and they are as follows: 

1. Once I have left the house I am not allowed to go back inside for any reason whatsoever. (No going back for forgotten or broken gear, restroom needs are an exception to the rule.) 
2. I will be treating all of my water which I will obtain from a garden hose as if it is an unsafe source and follow all of the necessary steps for purifying it. 
3. I will only be using gear that we have talked about in the last six months of blogs with the exception of one item.

Now, let’s get into what is actually going into the backpack. First I want to talk about food items. I have packed with me canned goods such as soup, which I can heat over my fire in my mess kit or in the can itself, and fruit cocktail which is quick and easy for breakfast and does not need to be cooked. Both of these canned items have a pull tab on top for convenience. I also have with me a flour kit with flour, sugar, salt, and coffee, which I can use to bake bread over my fire. Lastly I have brought some Slim-Jims along as a snack or to be paired with my other meals.

I have chosen these items because if I work strategically I can get most of my cooking done over one fire and that is less work for me. For example, once I have set up camp and started a campfire, I can boil my water, cook my soup for dinner, and bake some bread for lunch the next day. In the morning I will have my fruit, lunch will be premade, and I will have no further need for a fire until dinner time the next day. This way I get the most out of my resources.

The next personal item I will be talking about is a medicine kit that I have put together. I purchased a medicine organizer and sorted out allergy medication, ibuprofen, multivitamins, and sleeping pills. I chose these as I figured they would be what I would most likely need outside. Honestly, the sleeping pills will likely be the most useful to me on this trip as I will likely have trouble falling asleep on the ground so I anticipate needing them at least for the first night.

The last two personal items I will be taking are some simple dish cloths and some insect repellent. The cloths will be used for cleaning or drying out my mess kit, cleaning my gear, other hygiene needs, and maybe even to wrap my bread in to keep bugs out. The insect repellent is for the mosquitos which are awful this time of year. I purchased the sportsman max and have been left completely alone by these little pests after using it.

Now that we’ve gotten the personal items out of the way, we will talk about the gear I have chosen to take with me, starting with my backpack. I have chosen the Arrowhead bucket pack from Outdoor products. It has two side compartments, a compartment in the front, a larger and smaller compartment on top and the inside is one large compartment large enough for a bucket which I have inside. I chose this pack for the simplicity and how easy it is to pack, which I will show you how to do now.

First is the bucket in the main compartment. Truthfully this is more useful for an extended stay in the bush with such uses as a seat, latrine, or washing bucket, but for my purposes it will just make my pack sturdier.

Now a good rule of thumb for packing a bucket pack is to place the items you will need sooner than later on the top. My food items I won’t need until after camp has been set up and I have a campfire going so it will go on the bottom. This includes my canned goods, flour kit, and Slim-Jims. Next I will add my medicine kit and dish towels.

These next items which will be closer to the top of my pack fall under the category of the 5 C’s. I have chosen the mess kit that I put together myself that we talked about in a previous blog as well as a water bottle that I can boil water in. The mess kit consists of two large bowls, one with a rounded bottom and one with a flat bottom that can be used for frying. There is also a smaller bowl that I can use as either a cup or a mixing bowl. I also have included a tripod to cook over my campfire, a vice grip for taking my bowls on and off the fire without burning myself, and lastly, a fork and a spoon to eat with.

Next is my cordage. I have about 10’ of 555 paracord and a large roll of 36

bank line. Now, I have other cordage with specific purposes spread throughout my kit. This is more for backup in case I have forgotten something or something goes wrong. If needed I could use either of these items to set up my tarp or for my tent stakes.

I have several options in the way of cutting tools. I have my hatchet for processing wood, the Camillus Bushcrafter which I have as my fixed blade knife, a folding saw, and the Camillus Trench for my pocket knife. Now typically these items would go on my belt and they will in the field, but for now they can be stored in the pack. The folding saw is used for processing wood with a larger diameter down to a manageable size to be split with my hatchet. The Trench has various uses such as a can opener in case the pull tabs on my canned goods fail, or any fine carving tasks such as making feather sticks. Finally the Bushcrafter will fill in for any equipment for tasks such as splitting or carving.

I want to take a second to talk about the combustion kit I will be taking with me as well. The container for my fire-starting items is a chocolate covered pretzel can that I have spray painted and drilled a hole in so I can make charcloth. Its content are a piece of flint, some charcloth, a ferro rod, two bic lighters, and a magnifying glass. The magnifying glass comes with a simple cover with cloth on the inside so you are wiping away debris when you put it away.

Lastly is my bedroll which we made in a previous blog. This will serve as my cover. It consists of an 8x8 tarp that we had made, a wool blanket, and other essentials. I will be placing my bug repellant in the top of the pack so when I step outside I can spray myself down and I will be ready to get started. I hope you are as excited as I am to see what these items can do over a three day span. 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. Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. If video is more your thing, check out my YouTube channel Backpack Bushcraft or just click here to watch now. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

Getting Cozy Outdoors: Common Items for Sleeping in Nature

When going out to bushcraft for a night or two, I am often asked. “What do I need to bring?” To me this is too open ended. Different people like different things, and people have different needs to be met. Sometime even the environment could make a difference or the climate. Instead of asking, "What do I need to bring?" ask “What do I need to fight?” The two biggest enemies to getting a good night’s sleep outdoors is the cold ground and maintaining your core body temperature.

When talking about ground cover, David Canterbury says in Bushcraft 101 on page 106, “Any ground pad must be thick enough when compressed to battle the effects of conduction (equalization of ground temperature to the body, causing heat loss)”

If you’ve ever noticed, heat tends to disperse to try and warm everything around it. You can see this when you put a hot pot on a counter top or a trivet. The heat from the pot disperses into whatever it is sitting on. The same goes for your body temperature when you lie on the cold ground. Anything that you cover your body with will trap your body heat. This is why you wear long johns in the field or long sleeves in the winter. These clothing items keep your body heat trapped in. On the contrary, this is why we wear short sleeved clothing items in warmer weather so our body heat can escape and we don’t become overheated. Your body also needs to be inclined. There are a couple of ways you can accomplish this such as resting your head on your pack or on your arms. In other words, your head needs to be going uphill, not downhill, or lying at 180 degrees. Another important factor in maintaining body temperature is a good shelter. We talked in a previous blog about pitching a tarp as a shelter, and if pitched a particular way, it will protect from the elements as well as trap your radiating body heat inside.

In nature you can make debris beds made of leaves and straw. The material compressed should be about 4’’ thick (or the size of your fist) to prevent your body heat from seeping into the ground. You could use a pile of rocks or a bundle of sticks to incline your head. The main thing is you want it to be as smooth as possible. You could even take the rocks or sticks and place leaves or straw over top of them to make it more comfortable to rest your head on. Debris shelters are built so small and compact. The smaller the area that is on the inside of your shelter, the better it catches your body heat. Another way you could build a raised bed, is by using long branches or a hammock to get your body off of the ground. It is also important to build a big enough fire to heat your shelter and prevent loss of your core body temperature. However, since we know that we are going outdoors, we can prepare ourselves by bringing some items along so we don’t have to worry about trying to do this the natural way.

The first item that I like to take into the field is a simple inflatable pool float. I like these because they can be packed completely flat, can provide you with a pillow, can be inflated manually and there is no need to carry a pump, I purchased mine at Walmart for about $5. David Canterbury also said on the same page as the quote above, that he does not approve of these as they are susceptible to punctures. However, I believe that if you take the time to clear your site, then you won’t have any issues with setting these up.

Last week I talked about one of the only advantages tents have over tarps is that they have a floor. Not a great floor, but a floor. However, while you are camping with a tarp you can also have a floor. By using the 55 gallon contractor black garbage bags. These are about 8’ x 4’ and can serve as an extra moisture barrier so you do not have to lie on the cold ground or ruin your wool blanket. These can also be used to store debris in to make a browse bag bed. I like to carry two; this gives me 64 square feet of flooring for my tarp. These cost $10 for a pack of 17 bags. These can be purchased at Walmart where you typically find your garbage bags.

The best way to maintain your heat in the field is to use a wool blanket. They hold insulation better and are even somewhat water resistant. They could even be used as an emergency shelter, but wrapping up in them works best. The biggest downside to wool blankets is that they can overheat you if you are not careful. You can often find U.S. army and military blankets at military surplus stores; either the brick and mortar or online stores. Amazon often carries these items as well, although it is hard to find one that is over 70/30 (meaning 70% wool). I purchases both of mine on Amazon

for about $30 each.

As we talked about earlier, keeping your head inclined is very important. In the field I always bring a pillow case. This can be used as a haversack, kindling pouch, or just a dump bag, and of course you can just use it as a pillow. In case I can’t find a suitable debris in the wild, I like to use a child’s arm floaties as an inflatable pillow. You can find one pack of two floaties is only $1 at Walmart and I simply inflate them and pile them into the pillowcase to be used as a pillow.

Finally, my 8’x8’ tarp, along with 6 tent stakes and a 12’ section of paracord folded in half with me. With all of these materials I will be able to erect a tarp shelter with any setup that I choose. For this blog we will continue to use the plow point setup that we talked about in the last blog. Click here to check it out.

One of the first challenges I found in Bushcraft when I was first starting out was finding a way to carry out all of my sleeping materials. There are many different ways to organize your gear, but for this blog we will be talking about the bedroll. Bedrolls can be tricky so following these steps should help. David Caterbury talks about it in Bushcraft 101 on page 22. To begin I lay my tarp out as flat as possible and section it out into thirds; this will be important later. Next, I lay my blanket into the middle third of the tarp.

 I had to fold my blanket in half to get it to fit as well as folding in the sides. Next, I layered in my pool inflatable, my two contractor bags, my pillow and all four of the arm floats. I also added at one end the 6 tent stakes. Now fold in the other two thirds of the tarp into the middle so they overlap the gear in the center. Next lay your 12’ of rope folded in half on one end of the tarp. You will then begin to roll the tarp with this in the middle; make sure it does not come out. Once you get close to the other side, fold the open end in on itself to prevent moisture from getting in to the precious gear on the inside. Once you have your bedroll completed, you want to take the loop end of the bedroll, and have the other end on the opposite side loop through it. Pulling it together and tying a simple knot will suffice. You’re almost done! What I like to do is to take a piece of paracord about 3’ long and tie a loop into one end, then, pulling the other in through the loop and cinch down the tarp to prevent it from becoming unraveled.

In the field I basically reverse the processes. Untie everything and make sure you keep up with your cordage. Pull the wool blanket off the tarp and onto the ground and set up your tarp in any configuration you choose. Use your 12’ of paracord as a ridge line or anything else you might need to complete your setup. Next, unfold the two contractor bags and place them as the floor of your tarp. Next, it may take you a little time, but you can begin to set up your bedding by inflating your inflatable pool float. Place the wool blanket on it and fold it in half. This will allow you to wrap up in the wool blanket later when you need to. After this you can address the pillows by either filling your pillow case with debris or inflating your arm floaties. This took me about 30 minutes to get everything set up how I wanted, the longest part being inflating the floats.

That is the end for this blog. In a variety of Dave Canterbury videos he talks about how, "A sign of a great woodsmen is their ability to sleep good in the woods." I hope that this blog can help you achieve that. Next week we will be ending this series with a review of a pocket tent. You wont want to miss it. 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.

Pitch the Tent and Use a Tarp: Easy Tarp Set Ups for Beginners

I’m going to let everyone in on a little secret. I don’t like tents. The only advantage I can see they provide is bug proofing, and there are other ways around that. The water proof floor does more harm than good during the rain, because the tent leaks onto the floor. The head height is awful, and I just feel smothered in a tent, even with the door flap open, which defeats the bug proof barrier. Since my last disaster in a tent, long story; another blog, I have chosen to use tarps. Setting up a tarp is like setting up a tent. A tent goes up one way and most are the same. A tarp can have a variety of different set ups and each can require specific resources or settings to do, and some are better than other depending on the circumstances (weather, hammocks, fires etc). Now before you try to go and crawl back into that tent let me show you some of these set ups, and prove to you it isn’t that bad. Now that we have our squared up tarps, it’s time to learn some set ups. A tarp set up is just that, a way in which your tarp is to be set up. But they become a little more than that if you know more than one set up.

Today I am going to show you 4 different set ups and explain what each one would be the best suited for, but before I get to that I want to show you what we will be working with today. Besides your square 8x8 tarp that we made last week, click here if you missed out, we will also be working with 6 tent stakes with 3’ of bank line on each. The stakes will secure my tarp to the ground making a ridge, helping it sheet off the water and give me more room inside. Choose black or metal stakes. Don’t get those ultra-light ones; they bend easily. Dave Canterbury has stated that the plastics are more durable, and I would agree however Walmart doesn’t carry them so neither do I.

When cordage is mentioned during shelter making, it typically refers to ridge lines. Ridge lines, are a cordage running between 2 points, typically trees, by being tied off. A ridge line’s job is to give the tarp support in making a peak. Most tarp set ups use a ridge line, which leads us into the two knots I used with my ridge line. The Siberian hitch (or witch) knot and the Trucker’s Hitch. The Siberian Hitch Knot, SHK, is a mooring knot, meaning that it will hold around the tree truck and not let go until undone. The Trucker’s Hitch is a tightening knot, used to make my ridge line tauter. I will explain about how to do these knots later but I recommend you watch someone do them. Cordage to use could be bank line or Para cord.

Now let’s start with my favorite. This set up is known as the “Plow” or “Plow Point”, the name comes from its resemblance to a plow once the shelter has be made. This shelter is one of my favorites for the amount of floor space, head and height clearance, but most importantly no ridge line.  As you start with tarp shelters, ridge lines can become a tiring chore to accomplish due to finding trees adequately spaced apart. However for the “Plow” all that is need is 1 tree, preferably with a fork. To start you want to place one tent stake through any corner grommet and place that into the fork in the tree. If you don’t have one, like in my yard, then tying a loop onto the tree will work fine as well. Just something that will hold the tent stake in place. Next you want to take the diagonal grommet in the corner and pull it taut. Place a tent stake into this garment and then into the ground. Remember to place the tent stake at a 45 degree angle instead of 90. The other two corners are to also be pulled taut then staked the same way as the last. Once done, you can crawl in and start putting your sleeping system into place. It is also great for surprise rainstorms. I can put this configuration up in in about 1 min. This is a great first set up to know. The disadvantages would be that you may not have a floor, which can be a pain if the ground is damp. Also it can only be done with a square tarp, although I would bet that using a rectangle wouldn’t affect it too much, but I haven’t tried.

Moving on to the next set up, this one is known as a “fly”. A fly is when then tarp is raised off the ground. This can be good for hammocks or used as a sunshade. The advantages for this one are nice and breezy, can adjust the amount of head room to almost standing height if you wanted, and is as simple as working with a clothes line. First you will need to set up a ridge line, like I described earlier. Next you want to take the tarp and place it over the ridge line until it is equal on both sides. Next you want to stake out each corner, you will have to use the cordage on the tent stakes to get it taut enough. It may take a few minutes and adjustments to be constructed properly. However, once completed you have a nice place to work out of either the sun or rain. Disadvantages would be lack of floor, and the breeze if you were trying to stay warm.

 Now working off this design we can make another set up. Similar to a pup tent, you can lower the ridge line and instead of stakes place large rocks on the corners and middle grommets to hold your tarp in place. This will get you a more contained space making it easier to heat up and maintain that body heat. Also if you forget, lose, or break your tent stakes you aren’t completely up the creek. You can use a rectangle tarp in this configuration as well. Also you could turn it diagonal and stake out two opposite corners, tie off the other
two and make a diamond. Great for hammocks, especially when it rains. Disadvantages are no floor and very little head room. Remember anywhere you sleep outside, with or without a floor needs some kind of spacing object to get your body 4 inches off the ground when compressed. This will prevent your body heat from leaving you and going into the ground. Leaves would work the best if you didn’t bring anything else. I have other ideas too, but that’s another blog

Last one is the “Open C” It is called this due to when looking at the finished product from the side it resembles a C. I know, crazy stuff. However, it can be a great set up to learn. It has 3 parts, the floor, the ceiling, and the wall. Each part uses lengths of the tarp differently and can change depending on the circumstances. To start though, you’ll want to make a ridge line, and throw about 1/3 over it. Make sure that you have about 1/3 flat on the ground. Stake in right underneath the ridge line or as close to that as you can. Next go to a side grommet and stake it where your floor stops and wall begins, again or close to that. Finally you will want to use a little extra cordage and stake off the two corner grommets and pull them out until the roof is taut and has the pitch you want. Adjustments can make this shelter really powerful. For instance bringing the roof in more can help hold in heat from a fire or lowering the ridge line allows you to make a “Pup Tent” with the floor. The disadvantages are that it can have a bad draft depending on the set up and rain can come in also with a bad set up.

This blog was a joy to write and I hope you enjoyed it too. Tarps cost less that 10 bucks, even for a
good one, and if you modify it the way I showed you in my last blog you can use even more set ups. In the future I’ll show you all some more, but this is a good start. Next week we will be going over items to make your shelter better, plus an easy way to store it all. 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.

A Shelter With All the Trimmings: Turning Rectangular Tarp into a Square Tarp

There is nothing like the great outdoors. The fresh air, open sky, nature sounds, and sun rays. However, on the other side of the coin there is nothing as bad as the great outdoors. Rainstorms, high winds, blizzards, aggressive wildlife, even those sun rays can turn into a problem after a while. It is times like these when we “seek shelter”.

Now what is shelter? The Webster Dictionary defines it as “something that covers or affords protection.” About what common sense would tell you. Shelter is also considered the first priority with the Wilderness Survival Rules of 3, only after air. Shelter is so ingrained into to us that even as children we like to build forts inside the house. Even something as simple as a patio umbrella is a type of shelter, for those pesky sun rays.

Although, not all shelters are made the same, History shows us this. First we had the cavemen who lived in, well, caves. The good side is they don’t require any energy to set up. Most can keep you dry from rain and possibly wind-shielded. Although very basic, they aren’t too bad, the biggest downside is that no two are the same which means you can’t really have a standard. Also they are very bad to heat with a fire because of the size.

From there the most common would be thatch roof huts, these would mostly keep the sun off of you in the coastal areas and the rain from coming down. Plus the thatching would keep it from overheating and allow some airflow. The downside is that it would have to be replaced often. Plus it wouldn’t be very structurally strong.

A little more inland and closer toward the equator, you find clay made houses. The adobe or wattle & daub is a staple of the area. Building a house from ground can have advantages and disadvantages. To start with they can control ventilation and drafts better and can be assembled with only sticks and mud. Even a fire can be used inside. Disadvantages are that the roof can be a little poor in my opinion, plus it can take a lot of material, time, and energy to make this work. Primitive Technology: Wattle and Daub Hut has a great example of this.

In the American plains or steppes of Central Asia we find tepees and yurts, respectively. Constructed of animal skins and log poles, these shelters were great for the plains Indians and their nomadic ways. Following the buffalo as they did, they needed shelters that could move around without making new ones every time. They were able to put these up and down in an hour. Also they could have a cooking fire in them and be lived in year round. The biggest disadvantage that I’ve heard comes from Dave Canterbury on his journal of the yurt. He talked about how they needed conveyance to use them because they did have a lot of weight. You would need a horse or ATV to move the parts around, plus the long poles would prevent you from setting it up in a non plains area. Dave Canterbury has lived in both of these. You can find their playlist on "Wildernessoutfitters" as "Diary of the Tipi" and "Journal of the Yurt"

Lastly in the high latitudes we find log cabins or log shelters. These are often still used by modern homesteaders or hunters for their simplicity and ease of being taken from the surrounding area with only special joints and tar. This provides the most insulation from all the other materials and even adds a floor to help with conduction insulation. A fire can be placed inside for warmth and cooking. Even a second floor can be placed for storage or sleeping area. The disadvantage is again time, energy, and resources. You could possibly have to pull material from quite a ways away from the building site.     

Now you can’t just carry around a log cabin in your back pocket at all times, but there are other ways to get your shelter needs combining all of these traits from above. Most camps were made with oil cloth or canvas back in the early days of America. Most reenactors like to use these and bushcrafters do too. However with the advancement in the oil based products, tarps can be a much better fit. The weight stays about the same, they don’t need reapplications of water protection, and they are pretty cheap. The disadvantage is that square covers are better than rectangles because there are more set ups or configuration you can do, but that another blog.

You can spend a lot of time trying to find tarps in this size. However I’ll save ya some time. You can’t find them, at least currently. And when you do they won’t be cheap. However y’all know I’m not gonna leave you out in the wind. It took me some time, but I think I figured out how to turn the Walmart rectangle tarps into a square tarp.

Okay I know it doesn’t sound that hard or complicated, but I have never seen anyone else do it. If all you have available to you is one of these blue tarps then it’s best to work with it. Now I’m sure someone could just read this part and say ok run off and get a tarp and do this, but keep reading on, there are a few tips you need first. To start remember square, a square tarp will serve you better in the long term no matter what due to the amount of set ups, it can perform. On the flip side rectangles can do some and maybe give you some added length however, anything a rectangle can do and square can do better. So when buying a tarp pay attention to size. Now talking about size, between 6-10 feet is the limits with 7 being the sweet spot and 8 being the runner up.

So don’t pick up that cheap 6’ x 8’ but instead 8’ x 10’. Now, next is the quality. I chose the cheap blue one to test. It could probably last about a year or two depending on use, but the brown ones you might even get 3 or 4 years out of them. I’ll be trying one of them someday but not in this blog.

So before you go and a buy your stuff also make sure you have the following. A pair of fabric scissors, you could probably work with something cheap but they cut better and smoother cut make the tarp look better. Next some sort of measuring stick, I used a cloth measuring tape. Better choices could’ve and should’ve been made. I would recommend a meter or yard stick. Also some sort of sharpie or marker will be needed to draw. A pencil or pen won’t cut it. Lastly some sort of lighter or open flame device. This will be needed to melt the new edge so that the material won’t rip or fray. After putting this much work in don’t skip this step. After that we’ll want to put grommets in it.You want the bigger ones and you can get this at Walmart too. Go with the metal ones. Lastly something that can help is some stakes to keep the tarp nice and tight, no mistakes.

As you are measuring it out, make sure you know that the 8’ side won’t be 8’ exact. You’ll want to get them as close as you can down to the inch if possible. The more accurate you are here, the more mistakes you can make during the cut and burn. After you have your 8’ side measured you’ll want to measure it on the 10’ side. I had some 4x4 lying around and I used that to keep my measurement line straight. But the yard stick would work well too. Now while measuring you want to make sure you have measured both side and made marks. Then in the middle and make a mark, then the middle between those as well.

In the end you should have 5 marks each with about 2’ of space. After your marks, connect them with the straightest lines possible. The yard stick will come in hand at this point. Measure again and prepare for the cut.

Now on to the cutting, cutting it like you would fabric is the best way; again the reason for recommending the fabric scissors. Cutting it with snips makes it more uneven than slide cutting. Also you could stake it out at this point to really get that crisp edge, but it will lose its tightness as you cut. Afterwards move on to the burning. The key is to not actually touch the flame to it but close enough to singe the material. You could do this real well with a soldering iron, but I didn’t think of this until after I did it. any mistake can be fixed with a little duct tape or cargo tape.

Once complete, mark out the spots for your new grommets. I like to mark the spot with an x. You want to make sure that there is enough material there that it won’t tear out. The location for each should mirror the other side. If you have to move it a little due to problem spots with the tarp that’s fine, an inch or two should not make much of a difference. The most important are the two that will go in the corners. I like to cut the x just enough that the grommets come through but are still tight. The seal it.

 I hope this helps you all save some time and money. While you maybe able to find a square tarp online, with this tutorial you can take your survival into your own hands. Next week will be going over some tarp set ups, I mentioned before. And I'll show you some simple knots to tie them all together. Trust me you won't want to miss out. 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.