Oak galls

This is a short article about Oak tree galls. These form on the limbs of valley oak trees. They are the result of a tiny wasp laying its eggs under the bark of the trees limb. The tree forms this tumor like growth which makes the perfect home for the wasp larvae. It doesn't hurt the tree. I have seen trees covered with hundreds and hundreds of these in all sizes. This one is 2 1/2" in diameter and the average size. You can almost see the holes at the top right. This is where the wasp emerged from the gall after maturity.

.This is what the interior of the gall looks like. In the center is the chamber where the larva lived and you can see its tunnel to escape to the surface.



Heres what the galls look like on a valley oak tree.


Heres a photo of the wasp. The name of the gall wasp is Andricus californicus. Its less than an 8th of an inch long.


These galls are supposedly an excellent tinder and will catch and hold a spark from flint and steel or a ferro cerrium spark rod, AKA fire steel. These and other types of galls were used to make ink and for dyeing. They all have a high tannin content. In ink the tannin is used to react with ferrous sulphate and makes a black fluid. However after a long time the acid in this ink will eat the paper. Thats why some old documents are damaged. The tanning process also uses tannin and these galls would work for that purpose.

Primitive skills in a modern context

Do you practice any primitive skill like bow making, flint knapping, basketry? If you do you're not alone. It seems to be growing in popularity lately. Maybe a desire to reconnect to the old ways or simpler times? One of the premiere sites is Paleo Planet. They cover just about everything you could imagine as far as primitive go's. Its a great learning tool. Thanks Tom. I have been involved in the primitive arts for many years. There was a time when there was no computer and the only information you could find was from books and none that were dedicated to the subject. My first exposure to primitive arts was when my cousins and I made bows from wild cherry saplings and the arrows from cattail stems. This sparked an intense interest in me and I soon found the Boy Scouts Handbook,circa 1953 edition.It had all this wonderful information about field crafts. Later I was given a copy of "Outdoor Life Complete Book of Camping" by Miracle and Decker for my 10th birthday. What a book! (I still have it) It shows how to make traps, axmanship, all the essentials of living in the wilds. Mighty inspiration for a lad of 10 years! Later I picked up other books about the outdoors and camping and they all added fuel to the fire.
Some folks believe that the world will return to a state where primitive skills will once again be the norm for living, all technology and modern industry gone due to a disaster, natural or man made. I think this is wishful, romantic thinking.If it were to happen, life would suddenly be too hard for most folks to survive. Unless you have had some experience living this way, its going to be a very rude awakening. I'm not putting these skills down as useless. No way! Quite the opposite! The primitive skills I have learned can enhance my chance of survival in addition to my modern methods and gear. I would hate to have to survive day to day in a totally primitive society. Its the way life is. I have tasted the modern life and it is good. To loose the comforts and benefits of modern civilization would really suck!
I, like many others will continue to practice primitive skills. Its way too much fun! The thrill of making a useful object out of a piece of weed, bark, wood or stone is very fulfilling and gives one a sense of well being, almost "I'm invincible! I can handle any situation!". Once you have mastered fire from primitive techniques you really get the feeling of being completely in charge. To me its all a hobby/sport/recreation call it what you will. I enjoy it and I teach it. But, I for one don't relish having to live it.

Types of cordage

This is about some the different types of cordage available. In the first photo are several different varieties both synthetic fibers and natural. Top left row, 1 & 2, is military boot laces. These are made of heavy duty synthetic, probably nylon. These work great for a fire drill bow. These are usually 3 to 4 feet long. They come in handy for other chores too. Left row #3 is a braided nylon cord about 3 feet long. Its good for some minor chores and I believe it came off of one of those 5 in 1 survival whistles. Its cheaply made just like the whistle. You wouldn't believe how many broken pieces of these things I've found around camp sites. Left row #4 is a roll of artificial sinew. I love this stuff! Its great for sewing leather, already comes with a wax coating. A lot of the artsy fartsy types use this for Indian style jewelry and to make primitive tools. Its strong stuff, made from nylon.
Right row #1 is a band of black dyed cotton. It was tied around a blanket and thrown away after you opened the blanket. Its about 4 feet long. The white band beneath it is the same story. Seems a bit wasteful. Of course, being the consummate pack rat, I didn't let these get away. Next is a bundle of braided nylon rope I've used for a clothes line in camp for years. Its braided nylon shell with a nylon fiber center. Very strong stuff. The last item at the bottom is a roll of masons line. Its very strong nylon. I use this to make nets, I used to find it in red and blue, also.


Below is a photo of paracord. The real deal. I love this stuff, too. I carry about 200 feet in my survival bag. I've taken the center strands out and used them for fishing line, sewing heavy fabric, netting, and myriad other bushcrafty uses. The braided shell is useful too. I consider it too valuable to use for everyday type cordage. Theres cheaper stuff that fills the bill. Its just too valuable to waste.


This next photo shows a variety of paracord wanna be's. Its good for clothes line, shelter construction, and any use where a paracord type cordage is called for. Top is a big bundle I paid $1.00 for at a sporting goods outlet. Next is a hank of similar quality except its black. I use this piece for my "bear bag", a canvas sack that I put all my food in when camping in the Sierra Nevada's. I toss one end over a branch about 10 to 15 feet up and hoist the bag out of reach. Simple and it works. At the bottom is a hank still in its original package. I found this at a thrift store in the 25 cent bin. All of it is good general purpose cordage.

Here's a shot of the big bundle by itself. Notice how it looks like the real deal with that nice braided shell exterior. A lot of unscrupulous dealers try to pass this stuff off for the more expensive original product. Buyer beware!

This is a closeup of the inner strands unsheathed and unfurled. Definitely not real 7 strand paracord.


All of these are useful for different jobs. You cant beat the sturdiness and durability of man made fiber cordage. There's going to be a lot of man made material around for a long, long time after any type of collapse or severe disaster. If such a thing happens I believe people will treat stuff that can no longer be manufactured with a lot more respect and take good care of it.

Another thing I carry in my trunk bag is a pair of fencing pliers. I use these to work with wire I find out in the wilds. I was told there's still a lot of old telegraph wire hanging around in the mountains from the days of heavy logging. Its very tough steel wire and its still usable. Some of the old mine sites have lots of good wire and cable laying around rusting. Useful stuff in an emergency.

Storage containers redux

I was in touch with a fellow bushcrafter, Buroak, over at Bushcraft USA, my favorite forum, and we were discussing using Gatorade containers for long term food storage. His idea was to use the 64 oz bottle for rice/beans/whatever type of loose food and add dry ice to it.

First, a short discussion on dry ice. Dry ice is extremely cold and you must never, ever touch it with your bare hands. Some suggest you use heavy leather gloves, I suggest you use good metal tongs to handle it. Wrap the ice in a towel to smash it up. It would be horrible to catch a piece of this stuff in your eye. Dry ice evaporates into a heavier than air gas called carbon dioxide or CO2. The CO2 fills the bucket and no living creatures can survive in this atmosphere as all the oxygen has been displaced. Foods stored in CO2 environments will last for years. When you fill a bucket, bag, or other container with grain,you lay a piece of dry ice on top and set the lid on the container. You must wait for the dry ice to completely evaporate before securing the lid.

For a 5 gallon bucket, a piece of dry ice about 1/4 pound will do. For a 64 oz Gatorade bottle, I figure a hefty teaspoon full size piece will do. This is a good idea because if you use small containers, you wont be bothering the large, long term storage food. The small container should have enough grain for several meals, maybe a weeks worth.

I suggest you go over and join Bushcraft USA. Its a great site and a lot of wonderful, knowledgeable folks who are more than willing to share information. Also, I loaded the Food Storage FAQ in the downloads section. This is a wealth of information for do it yourself food storage. Check it out.

Plant odds and ends

Here are some closeup photos of the leaves and cones of Sequoia gigantea. The leaves are sharp and pointy resembling arborvitae. Notice the new buds in the first photo.



Here's a closeup of a cone.


Here's a shot of the cones and branches.


These next photos show Philodendron selloum. Its a tropical plant and can be grown in certain parts of California, Texas and Arizona. Its a giant relative of the Jack-in-the-pulpit, Arisaema triphyllum, a common plant of the eastern woodlands. These plants contain calcium oxalate and cause a burning sensation if injested, some more severe than others. I have harvested some corms of jack-in-the-pulpit, also known as Indian turnip, bog onion and wild turnip. The corms are then sliced and dried in a food dehydrator and left to dry in an open container in the dark for about 6 months. This removes the calcium oxalate and makes them safe to eat. It can be ground into flour or eaten like potato chips. The flour has a chocolate flavor. I don't know if the Philodendron has the same edible properties.

I found a rather rare relative of jack-in-the-pulpit called dragon or green arum, Arisaema dracontium which is a much larger plant whose leaves are more divided, kind of like philodendron. It was growing near a stream in Pennsylvania. Elephant ear, Colocasia esculenta, is a related species from the tropics and is the source of taro, an important food item. Skunk cabbage, Syplocarpus foetidus, is a member of this family as well as sweet flag, Acorus calamus, the source of food for many Indian tribes.

An interesting book free from Internet Archives is "TM 10-420 Emergency Food Plants and Poisonous Plants of the Islands of the Pacific" printed in 1943 by the War Department for allied troops. It describes many edible plants from the tropics which our soldiers and airmen could depend on for food in a survival situation. Here's a link: http://www.archive.org/details/emergencyfoodpla00merr

KA-BAR Kukri review

This is the KA-BAR Kukri machete. I bought one of these from Poor Fish, an E Bay seller. It cost $50 shipping included. I was a bit skeptical at first since the blade is made in Taiwan. However after giving it a full days workout, I am impressed. It came out of the box razor sharp. There was a small section of the blade that felt like it had a bit of a burr so I gave it a lite touch up with a diamond hone and a chrome oxide loaded strop. I was able to chop through some very tough, seasoned western red cedar logs about 6 to 8 " in diameter in less than a minute. It cut through some brush with ease. I did a little drawing with it to remove the bark from a few cedar logs. The knife batons quite well, although its a bit thin at the front on the top false edge and eats the baton up fairly fast. At the end of the day it was still shaving sharp. There is a bit of wear on the Parkerizing at the sweet spot and this is to be expected. I love the comfortable Kraton G polymer handle ergonomics. I was able to work with it for several hours and didn't experience fatigue as with wood or plastic handled big blades. This knife weighs nearly 1 1/2 pounds with the leather/Cordura sheath and measures 17" total, 11 1/2" blade which is 3" at the deepest part. The blade is made of 1085 high carbon steel 5/32" thick. They did a great job on the manufacture and heat treatment of these knives. Typical KA-BAR quality. Though its called a machete, I consider it more of a heavy camp knife and I highly recommend it for shelter construction, firewood gathering, general cutting chores, etc.

Bullwhip Kelp container

Here's a pair of containers I made from the base of the bullwhip kelp. Its a very common seaweed along the California coast. I found these two washed up after high tide and cut the bulb-like base off. It was a very warm, sunny day and the sand was hot so I kept pouring it into the containers until they resembled damp leather. Before I went to sleep I filled them up with some very hot sand from near my campfire. After I woke up this is what they looked like. They kind of resemble gourds in color and consistency. The one on the left is 6" tall. They make an interesting pair of containers. I thought of using another bulb for a stopper. I'll try this when I go back to the ocean.

I've seen articles about similar projects at other sites. Also, if I remember correctly, there was an article about using the very long stem for rope. I'll have to try this, too.

Class offered

I am almost finished with my present group and will be starting 3 day beginner class's in July or August. Let me know if you're interested. Price is negotiable. Standard waiver must be signed before class begins. My credentials: US Army survival instructor 1977-1979. Taught in Pennsylvania and Colorado 1982-2003. I teach no BS skills including plant ID, fire, water, navigation, compass & map reading, etc etc. Contact me at micron327@yahoo.com put "survival class" in the message header.

Times up

I haven't been doing any posting and I probably wont be doing a lot for the foreseeable future. I'm busy getting preps in order and suggest you do the same. Interesting times, indeed! I have been hanging around over at Bushcraft USA forum. Its got a great group of people and there's lots of info being posted. Check it out. Time is short and who knows what the future holds? "Don't be scared, be prepared". Also, I have a class going full bore and this is taking a bite out of the spare time. I will do more posting as time allows and when things get back to normal(?).