Condor Village Parang, Using the Fire Tube, and Wild Edible Plants

 The Condor Village Parang is a hit! I've been working along the fenceline for last few days and it has done a sterling job. I will have to work on the handle to make it a hair smaller-a 4-in-hand file will do the trick and a finish up with sandpaper. My only complaint about the blade is it is convex grind and I will have to remedy that. It still cuts great but I love a flat grind. I've made knives so I have the confidence that I won't wreck this fine tool. I have no complaints about the sheath. It looks like Condor has fixed the problems they had years ago. I see online where some folks have a problem with it being a slow draw blade. Well, this is a tool and not anything near a self defense knife. If you're worried about that then you sure as hell better be packing. My choice is my .357 magnum with 4 inch barrel and target sights. In my opinion you can't beat a revolver.

I've had a few questions about the fire tube. Here's how it works. You get a nice red glowing tip on the cotton with a spark from your ferro rod/sparker/flint and steel. Blow on the glowing ember and put the whole deal into your already prepared birdsnest of tinder. Blow on the nest and when you see thick smoke you should be close to combustion. Keep blowing gently until you see fire. All done. Now pull the rope/wick back into the tube and leave an empty space at least 1/4 inch. Put your finger over the end of the tube and in seconds the ember dies. Let it cool of for a bit and wrap everything backup and put it away. I am careful not to damage the charred end too much so that I can get a good light the next time I put steel to it.

I notice everything going on here at the farm and be it birds, critters or plants I have an idea of whats happening. This week I found several edible wild plants that are coming up. Its been a not so typical north Florida winter so far. We've had more than the usual freezing nights and frost. We've also had a lot of rain. The days are getting longer and it can get up to 70 during the day. This is bringing a lot of stuff to the surface. Here's what I've spotted so far:

shepherds purse  Capsella bursa-pastoris

cleavers Galium sp.

chickweed Stellaria media

henbit Lamium amplexicaule

Florida betony Stachys Floridana

 These two photos show shepherds purse. It gets its name from the shape of the heart shaped seed pods. Note long narrow leaves and tiny white flowers. The whole plant is edible. The lower photo also shows henbit, cranesbill geranium and chickweed.

 These two photos show cleavers. It has a square stem and gets its name from the tiny hooks all along the stem which make the plant stick or cleave to your clothing. Entire plant is edible but its best when young and tender. Older plants can be boiled.

 

 These two photos shoe chickweed. The first photo has chickweed and henbit and the second two species of chickweed. The whole plant can be eaten.

 

 

These two photos show henbit. In the first it is associated with chickweed and cranesbill geranium. The henbit has the tall square stems. The second photo has a good example of how easy it is to confuse plants. The cranesbill geranium has deep grooves in the leaves and small stems whereas the henbit has rounded scalloped leaves and bigger square stems. Henbit is edible raw when young and the older plants need to be boiled and rinsed.

 

 These three photos show Florida betony. It has square stems and is in the mint family. The first two photos show the plant structure and the leaves while the third photo shows immature roots and tubers. Its also called rattlesnake radish for obvious reasons. In the mid to late summer these tubers get up to five inch's long and its easy to gather a latge quantity. The roots and tubers are eaten raw and have a unique taste, some say like celery. The only problem with this plant is the fact that it is one of the most fast spreading and invasive plants in Florida. It ranks right up there with wandering jew, mexican poinsetta, and Bidens alba or spanish needles. I've batted them all. They're winning.

 

Standard cautionary notice!!! Never eat a plant you find in the wild without 100% positive identification. The wrong plant can kill you. Period. There are a ton of books out there these days that will lead you in the right direction. Here are the ones I use:

Botany in a Day by Thomas Elpel-super good book to teach you plants identification!

Edible Wild Plants of Eastern North America by Fernald and Kinsey-excellent book with drawings and uses.

Peterson Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants Eastern/Central North America by Peterson-one of the best with excellent illustrations and photos as well as uses.

Wild Edible Plants of Western North America by Kirk. I depended on this book when I lived and traveled in the western US. It has great drawings and descriptions as well as habitat and uses. Most of the plants are also found nation wide.

Of course there are a number of great books that I haven't mentioned but you can check them out on Amazon and see if its something you think you can use. Just do a search for "edible wild plants, foraging, wildcrafting".

Less is more......

 ....easier to carry. I have several types of fire making kits such as flint and steel, ferro rod, good old BIC, fire bow & drill and this one. It depends on what mood I'm in or where I'm going to choose the type I take.  This is my sparking wheel fire kit I sometimes carry when out and about. As you can see there isn't a lot of stuff that makes up this kit. In the first picture is a Micro Sparkwheel Fire Starter from UST (Ultimate Survival Technologies) https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ultimate-Survival-Technologies-UST-Micro-Spark-Wheel-Weatherproof-20-02032-02/323795978453?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 and I paid all of $13 for two of them on eBay. One for my kit and one for the wife's. This is a great little piece of equipment for anyone to own and its very easy to master. There are several YouTube videos showing it, however I personally don't recommend running the wheel on a rock. Using your thumb is plenty good enough. These are about 1 1/2 inches long and come in a handy little tube with instructions and 3 extra flints. I put a spare spring from a defunct Bic lighter which I cut to size in the tube with everything else. I was shown one of these when they first came out and I was impressed by the amount of sparks and the bomb proof construction. Next is a pack of spare flints by Ronson. I recently bought a bulk lot of Zippo flints on eBay, 12 packs of 6 for a total of 72 flints. $10 for all, free shipping. What a deal! These should last for a very long time. I took the holders out of the bubble packs and put them in an empty vitamin bottle with a couple of moisture absorbers. Ronson and Zippo flints are made in Austria and are top quality as well as capable of throwing lots of hot sparks. I think the flints that come with the Micro are made in China but I'll use them up none the less. Here's the link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Zippo-Replacement-12-Flint-Value-Packs-for-All-Zippo-Lighter/261508751771?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 The brass tube with the kerosene lamp wick is a fire tube. I made a similar one years ago using a longer piece of brass and some 100% cotton rope. Link: https://ronsprimitiveskills.blogspot.com/2009/09/fire.html This one is made with 3/4 inch wide 100% cotton lantern or lamp wick. Again, I bought two 6 1/2 foot rolls of this for around $6 on Amazon. Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08MXXVXW2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1  The tube is made from a fired .38 shell. This is much smaller than the one that uses the rope and you simply roll up the lamp wick, insert and you're just about ready. You need to char the end and to extinguish carefully pull the end of the smoldering wick halfway down the tube and put your thumb over the tube. Simple. The next time you need it just give it a dose of sparks and blow gently on the smoking tip.

Next is a nickel plated brass pill bottle. These are sold at most drug stores and I'm sure they can be found cheaper at Amazon, eBay, etc. This one has a screw top lid with a rubber gasket. Its full of my favorite fire starters - Coghlans. These are getting a little hard to find but in my opinion they are the best. Treat them like petroleum jelly cotton balls and you will get fire at first strike. I don't know the formula but they are cotton with petroleum jelly and some kind of wax. They are pink when brand new. These are over 15 years old and take off like I bought them yesterday.

The small canvas case, about 4 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches, contains this fire kit and a few minor essentials such as a piece of fat wood, some safety pins, a very handy multi use large finger nail clipper, a scalpel blade in its package and my little Brunton key chain compass. I threw in about 5 or 6 pieces of bicycle inner tube maybe 1/4 inch wide. They are great for wet weather fire starting. I keep an eye on the weather and if it even looks like rain I have a small zip lock snack bag full of very dry tinder stuffed in my pocket along with this kit. Just a guess but the whole thing probably weighs less than 5 ounces.

Downsizing

 Next month I will be 69. When you get as long in the tooth as I am, you start to look at all the stuff you own and say "do I really need all this"? A few years back I had a big clean out and got rid of a lot of knives, hatchets, axes, and camping gear. Now I am down to just a few old reliable knives, 2 hatchets and a 3 pound felling ax that never leaves the farm. I kept my Bahco 7" folding saw and my collapsible buck saw. The military pocket chain saw is in my BOB. I whittled away at all the fire making gizmos and a host of other gear. I figure if its going to weigh me down, I don't need it. Let someone else take care of it. I don't use a tent. I like my nylon tarps. I usually use a bedroll instead of a sleeping bag. My backpack is a medium sized one. As for cooking gear I have a stainless wide mouth thermos of 1 liter capacity and my trusty Zebra kettle. I always traveled light anyway and lighter is better. On my last big adventure I carried my Norlund, my Bahco and my Kukri. I did fine. I see some folks out on the trail with everything but the kitchen sink. All kinds of stuff hanging from their packs and belts. That would take most of the fun of woods running away for me.At one point I owned several very good compass's. Brunton, Silva, you name it. I kept the British Army issue one. A Silva, I believe. I have a little Brunton keychain compass for backup. Thats about all I need. My fire kit contains a big ferro rod I got from Going Gear and a Micro spark wheel from UST. I really like Coughlans emergency fire tinder. It is similar to Spark-lite Tinder Quick and works great. I only need a pea sized piece to get a fire going. I bought about six packages of this stuff 10 years ago and have plenty left. It doesn't get old. I can make fire with a bow drill or hand drill in my sleep and I leave them where I used them. The fire kit is for bad weather or emergencies. I do carry a small flint and steel kit in my back pocket to start fires here on the farm. Its just something I do for fun. The whole outfit weighs maybe 3 ounces. The truth is its easy to accumulate a lot of stuff you think you may need someday. Well, someday is here already for this pilgrim.

Tinder gathering

I was out by the St Johns river the other day and finally got around to gathering some cottonwood inner bark. This is from a dead standing tree. Even still, its moist because of all the dew and frost lately. I spread it out in a soda flat to dry next to the fireplace. This stuff is great for flint and steel with char cloth. It takes flame quickly. I shred it fine and I hear if you powder it you can get a glowing coal from a ferro cerium rod. Some folks have made cordage from the live inner bark. I can see how that would work, this stuff being so fibrous. Carvers look for the thick bark, 2-6" thick, for carving material. A small chunk of bark makes a very good hand hold for bow drill fire making. I have one that is at least 10 years old and has no wear but a nice shiny polish where the spindle fits.
I like to store up nice, dry tinder for my trips into the boonies. I have those little snack size zip locks with birch bark, cottonwood inner bark, cedar/juniper inner bark, and some other natural tinders I've gathered. I throw two or three of these into my pack and no matter what the conditions, I have dry tinder.

Another tinder I gathered at the same place is a half dozen shelf fungus from a dead cottonwood log. These are polypore fungus but I don't know what species. I've been told they are good for catching spark. I can't wait till they are bone dry and I can experiment. They were dead and dry when I found them but they still have some moisture from the damp weather. They, too, are drying by the fireplace. I'll post my results with this experiment and any further information I discover.

Survival mega fire kit

Here are photos of one of my fire kits.I call this one my mega kit because of the size of the rod-5 inches long and 1/2 inch across! Its called the "Moose". I got this from my favorite store, Going Gear.
http://goinggear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=84
I should be able to start several thousand fires with the big boy. I keep the rod, striker, and a tiny zip lock bag with 2 pieces of Coghlans emergency tinder in the leather pouch.

The first shot shows a box of carbide pieces I bought several years ago. I think these are used to re-tooth industrial saws and machine shop tools. These are 1 x 1/4 x 1/16 inches. I intended to make a few knife sharpeners and never got around to it. I did make some very nice ferro rod spark strikers that will last several life times. I don't think I will be able to dull the edge on this thing even if I go through a dozen roods like the one pictured. Carbide is very tough stuff. It can sharpened with diamond laps and that's the only thing I know of that will touch it. That's why its used in saws, drill bits, rotary rasps, machining tools, etc.

This striker is 2 1/4 inches long and as you can see its mounted in a piece of deer antler. I used an oval needle file to make the grooves for improved grip. Getting the carbide into the antler was easy. I drilled 3 holes in line and used a diamond Dremel bit to enlarge the slot for the carbide. Super glue did the trick for holding the carbide in place. Drilling a hole for the lanyard and attaching same was the last part of the construction.

I carry a film canister of Coghlans Emergency Tinder with this kit. Also, there's a zip lock with two pieces in the pouch with the rod and striker.
http://www.coghlans.com/products/tinder-8649
I like to use natural tinder, but the Coghlans is a never fail starter for times when I need a fire in a hurry. I used it once to start a fire during a sudden downpour in the mountains. It easily takes a spark and burns long enough to get damp tinder going. I experimented by using a pea sized piece of this tinder and that's usually enough to get a fire.

The mega kit is shown at the bottom. The two photos before the mega kit show one of my antler cased ferro rods with a striker attached to the lanyard. The rod in this is 2 1/2" x 1/4".

Knowledge is power part 2

I found a terrific place for all kinds of related information. Its a post at The Survivalist blog. I have a link to his blog in my links column to the right and if you click on this posts title it will take you to that article. As always, no matter how many books or how much stuff you read on the net, unless you actually do it hands on its worthless. Once you build a fire from a bow and drill or make cordage from dogbane, the skill sticks where it counts. In your head. Practice, practice, practice!!!

Fire

On Sunday I started another series of survival/preparedness class's. I gave a lesson in alternate navigation and time telling skills and one of my favorite skills, fire. We made a bit of char cloth in a mini Altoids tin and I showed how to start a fire using a bit of char cloth and a ferro rod to set it off. That way you can save the petroleum jelly cotton balls (PJCB's) for more inclement weather. I recently read a post over at Bushcraft USA about the little item pictured below. Its called a tinder tube. Here's how it works and its very simple. Get some 100% cotton rope like clothes line and a short piece (about two inches will do fine) of brass tubing. Push the rope through the tube and tie a knot so it isn't pulled through. Take a lighter or match and char the end of the rope. Now, pull the rope back into the tube about halfway and hold your finger over the end. This snuffs the burning ember. Now you have a new way to start fires. This works with flint & steel or ferro cerium spark rods. One spark will start the whole tip to glowing. Its simple and it works.

A different type of fire drill

I found this picture in an old book, "Man before Metal" by Joly, and thought it would interest you. Obviously the technique was to twirl the stick (fire drill) kind of like a hand drill or brace with the hearth board resting against a tree or suitable back stop. He probably has some form of socket (in place of the hand hold) resting against his chest. I wish they had gone into further detail because I never saw this technique before. If anyone has ever seen this technique done or knows more about it please let me know.

Fire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was just over at Bushcraft USA,my favorite forum, and read a few new posts about fire steels and other fire starting methods. My all time favorite method is using the ferro-cerium spark rod also known as the fire steel. Now this may cause a bit of confusion because in my old buck skinner days (mountain man reenactment) a fire steel was a piece of steel you smacked a chunk of flint with while holding char cloth to make fire. Its a fun and dependable way to make fire as long as you have good char cloth. Char cloth is made from 100% cotton material such as denim or canvas. It has to be 100% cotton or it wont work. Here's the method I use to make char cloth. I have an old Bag Balm can with a very small hole poked in the lid. I put the pieces of cloth in the can and then place the can on a small fire or bed of hot coals. A steady stream of smoke will pour out of the hole and ignite like a gas jet. When the jet goes out take a piece of pointed twig and plug the hole. After its all cool enough to handle, open the lid and you'll find your very own char cloth. To make fire with this you need a steel such as this one from http://www.mountainstreamforge.com/Outdoor/FireSteel.html
I had one similar to this shape:


but it wondered off one day.........I ended up making one from a section of file I broke from an old, used one.

I then mounted it in a piece of deer antler with cut grooves in the sides for a better grip. Its very hard steel but with stone such as chalcedony it throws a respectable spark. The odd item to its left is my bone shredder. I use it to shred bark for tinder and clean fiber for cordage making.
Now for the fine art of flint and steel. Hold a nice piece of flint (or chalcedony, chert, agate, jasper or any rock with a high silica content) with a piece of char cloth tucked on top of the front edge. If you're right handed you'll be holding it in your left hand and striking with the steel in your right. The idea is to give the sharp edge of the flint a glancing blow and drive a spark onto the char cloth. The spark ignites the cloth which glows red. Now take the cloth and gently blow on it as you nest it in your prepared tinder bundle. Keep blowing until you get a flame and there you go. Fire.
Another method I use is the friction technique. There are three ways of doing this Hand drill, bow drill and fire plow. Bow drill is easiest and hand drill is hardest (for me anyway, it takes forever and the arms do get TIRED!) The fire plow is a simple method. You have a hearth board and a stick. You move the stick back and forth very fast and with steady pressure in a groove in the hearth board. After a small pile of smoldering chaff forms you blow it into fire using the same technique as char cloth. The bow drill and hand drill have been discussed so much I will let you find the info for them on the net.Basically its the same technique. Friction+heat+smoldering material+tinder=fire.
The other method I like is the fire piston. I first saw one of these in the Army in 1973. I was impressed by the simplicity. The second photo shows several examples. They work by heat compression just like a diesel engine. In the tip of the plunger is a small indent where a piece f char cloth or tinder fungus is held. A quick smack on the top of the plunger drives it into the body of the piston. The sudden compression heats the tinder to ignition temperature. A small pick is usually carried to pry the smoldering tinder out of the indent and apply it to the tinder bundle, and then blown into flame.





Here's a photo of various prepared tinder's I use. The first on the left is Coghlans emergency tinder. This stuff is great and its only $3.32 at http://www.campingsurvival.com/emtin.html . Its being carried in a used medical container. I placed some empty ones at the top of the picture to better show them. I use a very small portion of a tab ( about pea size or a little bigger). The secret is to pull it apart and have it fluffed out as much as possible. This insures a good chance of ignition on the first pass of the sharp edge on the ferro rod. By the way, when I use a ferro rod I use a technique a bit different from most others. I hold the very tip of the rod near the fire starter, and hold the blade against the rod. Then I pull the rod away from the tinder holding the blade steady. This way the tinder isn't knocked about by accident. If you ever notice, most folks will push the blade towards the tinder as they try to get sparks from the rod. I just like my way better.
The second container from the left is an old 35mm film can. It contains a mixture of Vaseline and cotton with magnesium filings and powder. Magnesium burns at 3600 degrees F. This mixture will really get a fire going on a wet, cold day. I bought the powdered magnesium and a small block of the metal at a Preparedness expo before Y2K. I simply shaved the filings off the block with a sharp knife. The next container holds plain Vaseline/cotton mix. Its an old Army match safe. The zip lock has regular Vaseline/cotton mix as well as the souped up magnesium/Vaseline/cotton mix. These are carried in different survival kits I made.



Here's a photo of my ferro -cerium rods. The two on the left have deer antler handles and are 3/16" X 3" long. The next one is a 1/4" X 2 1/2" rod. Next is the same size rod in a deer antler case/handle I made. Last is the "metal match" from the Coghlans Emergency Tinder kit. It has a few tinder containers attached and a small loose one. For its small size and price it actually performs quite well.



This is a picture of the Coghlans kit. It shows tinder, match, striker and the instructions. Old Jimbo does a very good write up about this kit at http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/ctk.html




Here's another photo of the kit.



Here's a photo of a package of the tinder.


I have used a variety of tinder's: shredded cedar bark, shredded inner bark from the basswood tree, poplar tree, elm and others. Jute fibers, hemp fibers, yucca fibers & tow left over from nettle and dog bane cordage making. The down from the pods of milkweed and dog bane work good but the finer the fiber, the faster they burn so you must be quick to get it to your tinder. Cottonwood fluff also works but it go's fast like gun powder. Speaking of which, gunpowder can be used but it has a tendency to flash too fast to ignite your tinder.
There are many more ways to make fire such as steel wool and a battery (000 works best with a 9 volt battery), parabolic mirrors & reflectors (ala Ron Hood video), pop cans, pieces of ice (!) shaped into a lens as well as Fresnel lenses and hand lenses.
Experiment and find your fastest method and practice, practice, practice.

BTW How 'bout those Pittsburgh Steelers?

Firesteels and antler handles

Here's a project I just finished. This is a pair of ferro cerium firesteels I put into deer antler handles and containers. The first photo shows them in the closed position. I used a file to smooth off the edges on the antler after the epoxy set up.



This photo shows a close up of the steel and handle. The rod is 1/4" X 2 1/2" and were bought from Ben's Backwoods store. These Scout rods are rated at 3000 strikes.


Here's a photo showing the drilled out container portion. I used a drill bit the same diameter as the rod and then widened it a hair with the same bit for a loose fit.


This photo shows them partially open. Note how the string setup works. You basically run the string through the handle hole twice kind of like a figure "8".


This photo shows the firesteels in the ready to use configuration.


This is where I got the inspiration for this project. These beauty's are made by Frenchy in England. Very nice work!!! Here's a link to his site:

http://www.customknivesandsticks.co.uk/firesteels.htm



This is another of Frenchys firesteels. I didn't make the cord on mine as long as his. I prefer to carry mine in my pocket.


These are some firesteels I mounted in antler tines. I use two part epoxy that sets up in 20 minutes. It gives me time to position them better when it reaches the tacky state. As you can see the dry epoxy hasn't been trimmed from the top two. These are the 1/4" X 2 1/2" Scout firesteels that I got from Ben's Backwoods store.

This is a fire kit I made many years ago. this shows the leather case, knife and flint rod.


Here's a photo of the set with the knife open. These old knives have high carbon steel blades and really throw the sparks! These can be picked up for a dollar or so at yard sales and flea markets. Most of them have some kind of advertising on the handle.


Here's a photo showing the above flint rod and another one I made. These rods have a diameter of 3/8" and 3" long.


When I use a firesteel I pull the rod away from the tinder holding the knife steady against the flint. I find this works a lot better than scraping the rod with the knife and accidentally knocking your tinder all over the place.