Bushcraft & Camping

Here you’ll find a collection of posts that cover how to tie basic knots as well as resources where you can learn more. What’s the Best Book Available for Learning How to Tie Knots? I’ve heard a lot about this topic. Basically, I’m looking to get a definitive answer on which is the best book […]

My lady and I had to go to Bangor for the day a while back, so I decided to make a stop off at the local Maine Military Supply store that’s located right off of Interstate 395. It’s just south of Bangor; it’s on Rt. 1A in Holden. I’ve never been there before, but what […]

I’ve long said that we need a campground in our town. Well, I guess we now have the closest thing to that and it happens to be right in my backyard. A friend and I cleared some more underbrush and trees a few days ago and we now have one of the most lovely camping […]

I was outside today chopping away at what I suspect is fatwood when I placed my Estwing hatchet down on a mossy stone while I took a break. I thought it looked pretty good there, being all rugged, so I snapped some photos of it. The snow has finally melted and all the moss is […]

I just wrote another post where I displayed a few different photographs of what I think may be fatwood. I wanted to post a few pictures here as well to get any opinions anyone may want to offer. I don’t know how much crossover there is between posts, so I wanted to cover all my […]

Ever since I began thinking about fatwood a few months ago, I’ve been intent on finding it. Apparently, it’s like finding a needle in a haystack around here though. From what I’ve watched and read online, all I need to do is locate a pine tree that’s fallen over, chop it up a bit with […]

I’ve actually been looking for a new backpack for some time. Regular backpacks are sort of small and since I always have tons of stuff to put in mine, I needed something that was a bit larger than was I had traditionally used. I gave an earnest search a few years back, but after that […]

I received my two wool blankets from Harbor Freight yesterday in the mail. I really had no idea what to expect when ordering them because they were only $10.99 per piece. It was difficult to believe that they’d be any good, considering Iv’e seen other wool blankets selling for hundreds of dollars. As a matter […]

If you were to ask me what I need to store in my pack before heading out into the wild, I’d probably get a few things right. I know I’d need a knife and something to start a fire with. And I know I’d need a tarp or a tent, but from that point on, […]

Well, I received my Ever Ready wool blankets yesterday and boy am I excited. I never thought I’d feel this way about blankets, but that’s probably because I have never been involved with camping, bushcraft and the outdoors like I am now. Spring is right around the corner and once the snow melts off completely, […]

I received my two new blankets yesterday, so I thought posting pics of them on the blog would be interesting for all those who enjoy this type of thing. I honestly have no idea if these blankets are any good or not, so they’ll need some testing. I don’t think I’ve ever even used a […]

I recently wrote a post where I introduced my new Estwing hatchet. In the post, I displayed a few photos of the tool and basically talked about some of its finer points. I bought the hatchet from Amazon.com for $35.43 and I thought it was a good deal. The thing is, I am seeing all […]

I just finished up writing a post about my new ferro (Ferrocerium) rod and I was looking to get some opinions on it. While this rod looks very nice and it was highly rated on Amazon.com, where I purchased it, I haven’t tested it in the field yet, so I’m still a bit curious about […]

Here’s another winter camping story for you. A few weeks ago, when my buddy camped out on my land, the temperature dropped to 5° Fahrenheit. I helped him set up camp, but after that I went back inside to sleep. He was on a mission to test out his new cold weather camping gear (hammock) […]

As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, my lady, my friend and I went cold weather camping overnight here in Maine a few weeks ago. There was about two and a half feet of snow on the ground and we had to do tons of shoveling in order to set up our tents. We also […]

Back a few weeks ago, when I was cold weather camping with my friend Ian, I noticed that he was using his hatchet for a number of different tasks. He chopped down a few small trees and he used the hatchet to chip away two small divots in pieces of wood so his bench would […]

I just finished writing another blog post about my knife. You should check it out. I talk about why I first bought it and about some of its finer points. I also posted a few of my better pictures of the knife. I guess I’m writing this post here in the forum because I’d like […]

For the next three or four posts, I’m going to be showing off some of the gear I’ve recently purchased as well as some gear I picked up through the years. I don’t have a lot, as I’m just starting out with bushcraft and camping, but I’m getting there. So far, I have a survival […]

I received my copy of Dave Canterbury’s book entitled, Bushcraft 101 in the mail yesterday and I am quite excited to jump into it. I’d like to read it as fast as possible because the spring weather is right around the corner. Notice how I didn’t say “spring” is right around the corner? It’s here […]

I am very new to bushcraft, although I have a long history of being active in the outdoors. I live in Maine, which, if you aren’t aware, is one of the most outdoorsy states in the entire U.S. People around here practically live outside. Needless to say, I need to get up to snuff. I’m […]

I’m new to this game, so I’m still trying to figure it all out. Luckily, I’m quite astute when it comes to activities like this. I pick up on things extremely quickly. I’ve heard of the term bushcraft for years. I’m not sure I’ve ever given it much thought before. I’ve always been a straight […]

If you’ve never gone winter camping before and if the temperature is below 0 Fahrenheit, you’ll likely be in for a shock. If you’ve never felt that kind of cold for an extended period of time before, you’re definitely going to be in for a shock. I’m not sure there’s anything that can prepare you […]

I’ve got this friend who is totally into camping. He’s gone winter camping on our property earlier this season and recently showed interest in doing so again. The last time he camped, he did it alone. The temperature dropped to five degrees Fahrenheit overnight and I had no interest in joining him. I didn’t even […]

I’m really getting into this whole Winter thing. At this point, I’d confidently say that I prefer it over Summer. For most of my life, I avoided Winter. It got in the way of me riding my bike down to the lake to go swimming. I mean, it did offer those occasional snow days from […]

It was about time I saw my family again. My sister, Laurie, planned a camping trip for all of us. My family was to meet at the Staunton Verona KOA Campground in Virginia. Since I was coming from New York and I really hate driving across the George Washington Bridge (I have had enough of […]