Brett

What I Did To Prep This Week – Week 71: November 17th 2019 – November 23rd 2019

Hello, Pack. We have had the usual Ohio weather this week, rain followed by winter weather, and then in what seemed like just a few hours later we actually got a taste of fall temperatures. We have been doing mostly indoor preps this week, other than tending to the livestock. We worked on some inventory lists and built a few doors out of our dwindling barnwood. On the days (or hours) we got that…

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Real World Secrets of Stalking and Tracking Wild Animals

by Todd Walker

My legs felt like a bowl of jello sliding down an old wash board. I crouched in a non-human silhouette stalking in Ultra Slow Motion. A twig beneath my foot snapped and my prey jolted his head toward the sound. I froze and hoped my screaming quadriceps would support my motionless body until he dipped his head to graze again.

What was my prey? A deer realistically mimicked by our instructor, Mark Warren. This was my first of several classes I’ve attended at Medicine Bow in the north Georgia mountains.

I discovered Mark and his primitive school of earthlore from reading his first book, “Two Winters in a Tipi: My Search for the Soul of the Forest.” With every turn of the page, I knew I had unearthed a rare gem in the mountains of Southern Appalachia. That was over three years ago. To date, Mark has published his fourth volume of “Secrets of the Forest” and two books in a historical novel trilogy on “Wyatt Earp: An American Odyssey.” These books reflect Warren’s lifelong pursuits as a naturalist, instructor of Cherokee survival skills, and wild west history.

Over a year ago, I shared my thoughts on the first book in the Secrets of the Forest series, calling it, “The Best Outdoor Education Book I’ve Read.”  I should amend my statement to include volumes II and III in my assessment. Knowing Mark’s passion for archery and canoeing, the last volume in the series, which I’ve yet to read, I’ll bet he saved the best for last. For now, I want to highlight Volume III…

Eye to Eye with the Animals in the Wild and At Play in the Wild

The opening of this article was one of many exercises our class took part of in a two-day class at Medicine Bow. Reading this volume brought back my Real World experience as vividly as the day I studied a one-foot square plot of earth for slight changes Mark secretly made. Revisiting my field notes from the Stalking and Tracking class reveled just how much knowledge and experience had been shared that weekend. However, I had one regret – not taking better notes. Not a problem. I now have at my fingertips his many years of experience in a beautifully illustrated, photographed, and written field guide.

Who would benefit from this book?

The obvious benefit is for hunters pursuing game with traditional archery equipment. Hunting an animal with primitive weapons requires that one be as close as possible to the intended prey. In doing so, an ethical hunter shows respect and thanksgiving to the animal for providing nourishment and many sustainable resources.

Observers and photographers of wild animals would do well to practice stalking and tracking. Many phantoms of the forest you’ve only dreamed of capturing in your lens will appear when practicing these techniques. No telephoto lens required.

Anyone wishing to challenge their physical prowess should add stalking to their workout regimen. The level of functional fitness needed to stalk wild animals is different from any sport or recreational activity I’ve ever experienced. Mark told us that martial artists found the most success of anyone attending his stalking class. Even more so than professional athletes.

The main benefit I personally received under Mark’s instruction was the complete immersion in nature. Slowing down to a snail’s pace uncovered small, “invisible” wilderness details unnoticed when trekking full speed with human locomotion.

I approached this otter family to within 15 feet as they fed on crawdads in the creek.

An analogy Mark used was that of a rock tossed into a pond. The impact ripples to every shoreline. A stalker’s task is to minimize the wake in the animal’s living space. One’s goal is to become part of the “wild” world and not merely a visitor.

“Stalking and tracking are symbiotic. Tracking teaches where to stalk. Stalking teaches how to interpret a nuance in a track.”  ~ Mark Warren

Real World Secrets of Stalking and Tracking Wild Animals - TheSurvivalSherpa.com

Mark describing details to a young student during our tracking class.

Educators will find lessons, exercises, and games throughout this volume. In our age of electronics, parents have the challenge of disconnecting kids from devices and coax them into trading virtual screens for forest streams. Mark offers hundreds of ways to make this transition fun, educational, and experiential.

If you are searching to find a unique gift for someone special this Christmas, I would recommend checking the book link at Medicine Bow. I’ve not found a more comprehensive book detailing the lost art of tracking and stalking.

Keep Doing the Stuff of Self-Reliance,

~ Todd

P.S. – You can also keep up with the Stuff we’re Doing on TwitterPinterestYouTubeInstagram, and Facebook… and over at our Doing the Stuff Network.

P.P.S – If you find value in our blog, Dirt Road Girl and I would appreciate your vote on Top Prepper Sites! You can vote daily by clicking here or on the image below. Check out all the other value-adding sites while you’re there…

Thanks for Sharing the Stuff!

Copyright © by Survival Sherpa: Content on this site (unless the work of a third-party) may be shared freely in digital form, in part or whole, for non-commercial use with a link back to this site crediting the author. All links in articles must remain intact as originally posted in order to be republished. If you are interested a third-party article, please contact the author directly for republishing information.

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Preparedness Notes for Saturday — November 23, 2019

On November 23rd, 1980, a 7.2-magnitude quake struck southern Italy killing more than 3,000 people. The casualty toll was probably so high because the tremor struck during Sunday night mass, as many residents sat in churches that crumbled in the quake. The quake was centered in Eboli, south of Naples. In nearby Balvano, children were preparing to receive their first communion at the 1,000-year-old Conza Della Comapgna church. The church was demolished and killed dozens of people, including 26 children. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 85 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more …

The post Preparedness Notes for Saturday — November 23, 2019 appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

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BANGARANG! Lost Boys Grow Meat in the Ground

by Todd Walker

BANGARANG! Lost Boys Grow Meat in the Ground - TheSurvivalSherpa.com

I couldn’t believe what a student told me in Science class a few years back!

“You grow meat in the ground.”

What!?

I fought back the urge to laugh. He was dead serious. Clearly, “No Child Left Behind” wasn’t working, or was it. We’re all ignorant on certain subjects, but growing meat in the ground?

This was not a joke or prank like asking a plumbing apprentice to fetch the pipe stretcher off the truck.

His alienation from the real world was all too evident, alarmingly so, as he truly believed what he believed. I dug deeper. He said, as if this was common knowledge, “They (rancher-farmer) buy meat, like rib eye, unwrap the plastic, and bury the steak in the ground like garden seeds. It grows and farmers pick it, re-wrap it in plastic and people buy it in the grocery store.”

Yup, this conversation happened. It felt like the scene from Neverland in the movie Hook. I was in the middle of a rainbow-colored food fight with the Lost Boys screaming BANGARANG!!

My ‘Lost Boy’ had never been to a farm. Ever. He’s not alone. The complete lack of hands-on experience with the real world, not the electronic variety, is at epic levels.

Students stitching bark baskets.

Our children have lost a vital, primal connection with nature, the real world. They suffer from a condition called Nature Deficit Disorder (NDD).

The term coined by Richard Louv in his book Last Child in the Woods, is a result of our plugged-in culture which keeps kids and adults indoors. On average, kids spend 1,200 hours per year staring at electronic screens. The disconnect from nature goes against what human brains are hard-wired to experience… the Great Outdoors!

Research shows that children who learn and play outdoors are enriched personally and academically in many ways:

  • Improved attention spans
  • Enhanced creativity
  • Increased academic success
  • Improved reading comprehension
  • Higher levels of self-discipline, language and social skills

The cure for NDD is simple. Get outside.

“It is one of the blessings of wilderness life that it shows us how few things we need in order to be perfectly happy.” – HORACE KEPHART, Camping and Woodcraft, 1917

From personal experience with my oldest grandson, introducing him to woodcraft skills created a hunger to get outside. After his first hike to my fixed camp in the woods, he was noticeably anxious. Within 15 minutes of settling in, he turned to me and said, “Ya know Pops, I don’t feel so scared now.”

Professionally, I’ve witnessed transformations in students diagnosed with all sorts of three and four-letter ailments. This study reinforces my observations. Students who struggle to function inside the four-walled school-house seem to thrive outdoors. I’d argue that all students, especially those who willingly conform to the box-mentality, need to go wild.

The Hand-Brain Connection

Instead of swiping a finger over a pad, children need to touch dirt, clay, wood, leather, fibers, animals, hand tools, and day-old campfire charcoal. Using fingers and hands to manipulate tools to create useful things from nature’s resources builds the relationship with the real world. Hands-on learning with reflection on the act of doing the stuff gives a depth of experience no book or screen can offer. Experience is the rocket fuel for learning.

Our First Year of Building Self-Reliance Skills at RISE Academy ~ TheSurvivalSherpa.com

Cutting rounds for “burn and scrape” spoons and bowls.

Other research shows that working with our hands makes our brain happy. Cutting tree bark, boring holes with an awl, and stitching sides to make a berry basket develops dexterity, a physical skill lacking in our smart-phone culture. Looking at an actual physical thing you created with your hands has rewards beyond the crafted item. The importance is not so much the product but the active practice and engagement.

Junior high shop class supplemented the hands-on education I caught from helping my daddy in his plumbing and welding business. I use the term “caught” since that’s how Daddy passed on his trade skills. Mr. Johnson, our shop teacher, taught us how to use all the cool power tools in that dusty cinderblock classroom. And we made stuff, some of which I still have to this day. No bloody fingers were left on the table of that monstrous radial arm saw either. Helicopter parenting was not a thing during the Nixon Administration.

The tree stump in front of our single-wide trailer must have had a coffee can of nails sunk into it. I’d sit there and smash steel, and my thumb occasionally, into wood grain like it was my job. I was 8 or 9 at the time and content to “waste” nails. The repetitions served me well on a few tree houses in my youth, and the subfloor in our new house Daddy built in 1975.

There are still Lost Boys out there shouting BANGARANG!, out of touch with the real world. There was, and I still have hope that there can be, a generation of boys and girls who fixed their own flat bike tires, carried pocket knives to the woods, picked rows of butter beans, and were content to be swallowed up by nature.

What if we could grow bacon on vines? I digress.

Keep Doing the Stuff of Self-Reliance,

~ Todd

P.S. – You can also keep up with the Stuff we’re Doing on TwitterPinterestYouTubeInstagram, and Facebook… and over at our Doing the Stuff Network.

P.P.S – If you find value in our blog, Dirt Road Girl and I would appreciate your vote on Top Prepper Sites! You can vote daily by clicking here or on the image below. Check out all the other value-adding sites while you’re there…

Thanks for Sharing the Stuff!

Copyright © by Survival Sherpa: Content on this site (unless the work of a third-party) may be shared freely in digital form, in part or whole, for non-commercial use with a link back to this site crediting the author. All links in articles must remain intact as originally posted in order to be republished. If you are interested a third-party article, please contact the author directly for republishing information.

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Death Valley Winter Recommendations

Considering a multi day excursion out to Death Valley in January. What are some killer day hikes to do in Death Valley? Are there any easy to moderate backpacking trails that you would recommend? Probably not gonna backpack when I’m there due to the water situation, but still want to here what options I’d have should I change my mind, Are there also any sights accessible by road that I should check out while there? I also heard that dispersed camping is allowed 1 mile from most roads in the park – I assume this means I’d have to backpack my gear out from the car and leave my car on the side of the road – correct?

Is there anything else I should know about/prepare for in DV before going? I’m a formerly seasoned camper/backpacker returning from a 2year hiatus on this trip.

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A Visit to HUCKEPACKS

Accompany me on a visit to the ultralight candy shop that is the HUCKEPACKS Workshop in Cologne, Germany!

HUCKEPACKS Packs

Disclosure: Mateusz is a long-time friend, but I paid this trip myself and was not paid to write this article or produce the videos. I received a PHOENIX Lite for testing and giving feedback. As you know: I’m keepin’ it real and tell you how it is – I maintain full editorial control of the content published on Hiking in Finland. Read the Transparency Disclaimer for more information on affiliate links & blogger transparency.

Handmade in Cologne

I remember the first call from Mateusz about the new company. I was backpacking in Vålådalen in September 2018, and was just at the beautiful turquoise lakes having a short break when my phone rang. I answered, and as usual Mateusz talked and talked and talked, until I had to tell him that I was about to continue hiking again and would like to know what it’s about. “Well, I plan to open LAUFBURSCHE Gear again. But it won’t be called LAUFBURSCHE anymore. What do you think about the name HUCKEPACKS?” I like it, I answered, it connects well to the old brand. From then on forward my phone would regularly ring and I’d chat for an half hour or longer with Mateusz about the new company and the new products.

Fast forward to the summer of 2019 and the family and me are on a train to Cologne. We have been travelling for two weeks around Germany, visiting Berlin, my home town and other places, and now we arrived in the city with the cathedral. We stayed at a nice Hostel in Ehrenfeld, and one morning I was able to steal away from parental duties and visit Mateusz at his Workshop.

HUCKEPACKS Workshop

Now I have seen photos of the workshop before when friends were visiting him, and it was with much anticipation that I entered these “holy halls”. And amazing they were indeed. I was welcomed by the four new packs – the PACKL and PHOENIX – in their DxG and Cuben versions, and Mateusz walked towards me with a coffee in hand. I gave him a big hug and was happy that he was still with us. He made me a coffee, and then we sat down to chat.

It is always enlightening to sit and talk with Mateusz, and realize how much thought he puts into the smallest of details. Case in point: The new roll-top closure of the PHOENIX backpack. Where other companies are happy to use a tried & tested roll-top, Mateusz found it neither practical nor aesthetically pleasing. When he showed me the new roll-top closure, which folds and opens like an accordion, my jaw dropped. So easy, so beautiful, so practical, and such a smart continuation of the old HUCKEpack closure. And what is most amazing: He had this design already in 2015, and tested it on his HRP thru-hike that year!

HUCKEPACKS PHOENIX

Mateusz and the PACKLs

DXg x DCF

Cutting

We shot two more videos after the Interview above, about the PHOENIX and the PACKL, drank another coffee and talked about the launch of the company, backpacking, and much more. Sadly, and you likely see this coming, parental duties called and so, after several hours, it was time to say good bye to Mateusz and head back to the city, so I could play with the kids and we could go have some lunch with the family =)

Cologne Playgrounds

I am so excited that my friend Mateusz not only won his battle with cancer, but that he decided to return to sewing the finest ultralight backpacks which he is well-known and loved for! A few weeks later I was fortunate enough that a PHOENIX Lite pack arrived here, which I used on a backpacking trip in Lapland, and I still am using my old PACKsack regularly. If you are in the market for a pack for everyday use and Overnighters, or need a pack for long backpacking trips, give the new HUCKEPACKS packs a good look! I for one am really loving these packs, and wish Mateusz all the best with the new business!

If you enjoyed this article and video Please support me on Patreon and get some useful rewards (like hanging out on Discord with me, and Discount codes for kit from partners!) or buy me a coffee – I work Full-Time on Hiking in Finland to bring you inspiring trip reports, in-depth gear reviews and the latest news from the outdoors. You also could subscribe to the rarer-than-ever Newsletter and follow along on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube for more outdoorsy updates!

LAUFBURSCHE PACKsack

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