This is one of those skills that has challenged me for years. I can’t make a stone tool Figure-4 set, but thanks to the adaptations of Barry Keegan and those who mentored him, I can make a functional Figure-4.
A bent lever stick, supported by a forked stick, will hold the weight of the rock. By setting bait on a thin cardboard or birch bark tray and securing that tray to the bait stick makes it easier to position, without prematurely collapsing the entire trap.
“I said to get a bent lever stick. No one ever listens,” Barry Keegan grins, sighs and reaches for the bent stick I should have seen for myself. He hands it to me.
I’m kneeling in mud, trying to balance the elements of what is known as a Figure-4 trap. I’m juggling a forked stick, a length of hand-made cordage and a rock that I pray doesn’t land on me. Barry, as if hearing my thought, places a stone underneath the large rock to keep it in place.
Barry is an instructor at Hawk Circle. More accurately, he is an inspiration, a champion and an advocate. Barry loves finding new ways to build a shelter, get fire by friction, or fine-tune a trap. Barry’s creative mind and physical coordination make him a true master of Bushcraft. He doesn’t waste a move. He always gives more than he needs to - and more than any other participant. Without his added muscle-power, my classmates and I might not have had a roof or insulation for our winter survival shelter. With insufficient snow for a quinzee, we had to build another kind of shelter, which took more work than any of us realized.
Tags: Nature Curriculum, Rocks, Shelter
Why would you want to boil water in your hat?
Water is essential to survival. If you are lost, you can’t take the chance of drinking from a creek, stream or lake; you need to boil the water.
Unless you had planned to go camping, you are unlikely to have a cooking pot. But you can still solve this problem.
Here’s how: (more…)
Tags: Hiking, Nature Curriculum, Rocks, Survival
I’ve used enough stone tools to understand just how difficult it is to master that technology.
To gain an appreciation of just how different the characteristics of rocks are, try this simple test of the Mohs’ scale. (more…)
Tags: Nature Curriculum, Rocks
Another really good use for rock study is to look at which animals call rocks home.
All you need for this activity is an outdoor area with both sun and shade, four brick-sized rocks, a magnifying glass and a bit of patience. (more…)
Tags: Nature Curriculum, Rocks, Shelter, Tracks