I got done building fence about 45 minutes before dark tonight and decided it would be a good time to test out my emergency overnight kit. I've done this before, but as I keep modifying the kit it is always a good idea to keep testing it. To try to keep it as realistic as possible, I just grabbed my pack that was still loaded from deer season and drove to one of our pastures. I wore what I was working in, fairly light layers since I was exerting myself pretty good. For the experiment I took off up a draw with about 30 minutes of light to find a spot to set up a quick camp. I knew there was a big bluff to block the north wind up the draw, so I found a fairly flat spot behind the bluff about halfway between the creekbed and top of the bluff. On the way in I grabbed some dry grass and what pieces of bark and reasonably dry wood I could gather. When I got there I found a decent campsite with 4 trees spaced close to where I wanted them, and a big deadfall nearby for firewood. My campsite decided I strung my paracord between 2 trees a shade over knee height for my tarp. Then I got my trotline cord and tarp (GI poncho) out and cut 4 stakes from a nearby sapling. I used these items to make a quick lean-to with a 6" overhang in front of the paracord ridgeline between the two trees. I drove my stakes in and tied them to the corner grommets of the tarp with the trotline cord. I've found keeping some small lengths of trotline cord in my pack comes in handy for many things (boot laces etc) and keeps me from having to cut my paracord up. I had a 6" overhang on the front of the shelter and the back was 6" off the ground with my set up. Doing this reminded me of why I have a larger tarp with grommets every 18" when I have a planned camp, 4 grommets leave alot to be desired. I could have found some pebbles along the creek and wrapped them in the tarp, then used my trotline cord to tie around the pebble and make more tie points. This tarp is light and doubles as rain gear, but at 55" by 87" a larger one gives you more options for shelter. I've been looking to upgrade to a Kifaru paratarp just haven't done it yet.
With the shelter up I started working on fire. In some conditions I'd have started the situation starting fire, but we had a couple inches of rain the last couple days, and today wasn't good drying weather so I knew fire would be a bit more challenging than normal. I was not wrong. I cleared a spot in the leaves and got my fire kit out of my pack. I took advantage of the last few minutes of light to gather small pieces of dry wood and bark to add to my tinder and some larger sticks to add later. I also found a nice flat piece of bark to start the fire on instead of wet ground. I used my Firesteel and a vaseline soaked cotton ball to get the fire started and then added my tinder bundle of dried grass and small sticks. While this was getting going I used my knife to make several "feather sticks" with the drier wood I had. A feather stick is one that has pieces of wood fluffed from the main branch with a knife and peeled back as if the stick was the trunk of a tree and the "feathers" off it were the branches. This exposes more dry surface to the flame. Anyway, I kept making and adding these while stacking the rest of my wood downwind of the fire and across a couple larger sticks to keep it off the ground while allowing the heat to start drying the wood. The fire took fairly constant attention, adding fuel and blowing on it, for about 30 minutes before I felt comfortable leaving it to burn for itself for a little bit. Then I got my headlamp and headed back to a cedar tree I'd passed a couple hundred yards back to cut enough limbs to keep me up off the wet ground for bedding in my little shelter. When I got back I stoked the fire again and gathered more wood. I used another piece of my trotline cord to run around the two trees on the open side of my lean-to behind my fire. Then I gathered some larger down limbs, to damp to burn right away, and stuck them in the gap between the sides of my loop of trotline cord between the trees. This let them serve as a makeshift reflector for my fire and got them drying so they could be burned later if necessary. I put the trotline cord high enough I didn't think it would burn through and it never did. At that point I was pretty well set. I lay my head on my pack, and curled up in fairly comfotable in my shelter on the cedar boughs and made some hot chocolate in my Snow peak mug next to the fire. I stayed until I got that drank and still felt pretty warm and comfortable. I'd think If I'd have broke out my Heatsheets bivy sack I could have stayed the night in reasonable comfort, and might even have got some sleep. I think in another hour or two I'd have had a good enough bed of coals to let me sleep for a while without worrying about the fire. The wet weather made the fire more challenging than normal, but that is why I practice.
My survival experience is very limited compared to some, and that the experiment I did tonight was not all that hard. I have camped with this kit during warmer months and the items included are the same. If anyone searches my old posts, you will find the list of what I pack so I won't go into that here. Just an idea that when you pack survival gear you should also practice with it. It will keep you from wasting valuable time and energy in a bad situation if you know exactly what you are doing. My camp was simple, but it was below freezing by the time I headed home and I was still warm even being dressed light.
I had a place on private land to practice where I didn't cause any damage also. The only trees affected were a dogwood sapling and a cedar that wouldn't have survived pasture burning next year anyway. If you have to practice on public land, you may need to modify your experiment to avoid any damage you may leave behind.
With the shelter up I started working on fire. In some conditions I'd have started the situation starting fire, but we had a couple inches of rain the last couple days, and today wasn't good drying weather so I knew fire would be a bit more challenging than normal. I was not wrong. I cleared a spot in the leaves and got my fire kit out of my pack. I took advantage of the last few minutes of light to gather small pieces of dry wood and bark to add to my tinder and some larger sticks to add later. I also found a nice flat piece of bark to start the fire on instead of wet ground. I used my Firesteel and a vaseline soaked cotton ball to get the fire started and then added my tinder bundle of dried grass and small sticks. While this was getting going I used my knife to make several "feather sticks" with the drier wood I had. A feather stick is one that has pieces of wood fluffed from the main branch with a knife and peeled back as if the stick was the trunk of a tree and the "feathers" off it were the branches. This exposes more dry surface to the flame. Anyway, I kept making and adding these while stacking the rest of my wood downwind of the fire and across a couple larger sticks to keep it off the ground while allowing the heat to start drying the wood. The fire took fairly constant attention, adding fuel and blowing on it, for about 30 minutes before I felt comfortable leaving it to burn for itself for a little bit. Then I got my headlamp and headed back to a cedar tree I'd passed a couple hundred yards back to cut enough limbs to keep me up off the wet ground for bedding in my little shelter. When I got back I stoked the fire again and gathered more wood. I used another piece of my trotline cord to run around the two trees on the open side of my lean-to behind my fire. Then I gathered some larger down limbs, to damp to burn right away, and stuck them in the gap between the sides of my loop of trotline cord between the trees. This let them serve as a makeshift reflector for my fire and got them drying so they could be burned later if necessary. I put the trotline cord high enough I didn't think it would burn through and it never did. At that point I was pretty well set. I lay my head on my pack, and curled up in fairly comfotable in my shelter on the cedar boughs and made some hot chocolate in my Snow peak mug next to the fire. I stayed until I got that drank and still felt pretty warm and comfortable. I'd think If I'd have broke out my Heatsheets bivy sack I could have stayed the night in reasonable comfort, and might even have got some sleep. I think in another hour or two I'd have had a good enough bed of coals to let me sleep for a while without worrying about the fire. The wet weather made the fire more challenging than normal, but that is why I practice.
My survival experience is very limited compared to some, and that the experiment I did tonight was not all that hard. I have camped with this kit during warmer months and the items included are the same. If anyone searches my old posts, you will find the list of what I pack so I won't go into that here. Just an idea that when you pack survival gear you should also practice with it. It will keep you from wasting valuable time and energy in a bad situation if you know exactly what you are doing. My camp was simple, but it was below freezing by the time I headed home and I was still warm even being dressed light.
I had a place on private land to practice where I didn't cause any damage also. The only trees affected were a dogwood sapling and a cedar that wouldn't have survived pasture burning next year anyway. If you have to practice on public land, you may need to modify your experiment to avoid any damage you may leave behind.
