Cold night in the woods. Bivy camp.

Woods Walker

The Wood is cut, The Bacon is cooked, Now it’s tim
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In the woods last weekend. Was pushing all day. Hiking shoes were a block of ice. Feet were over a little hobo stove fire to get the feeling back. Bivy bag with sleeping bag tossed on the ground. Had a good pad though! But the ground wasn't level. Suspected I might be in for a cold one. Boiled water and drank Hemlock tea. That helped. Water starting to freeze up in the canteen. So anyone else ever have a rough one. Slept under the stars. Initial field test of the solo stove "campfire". I intended to see if it actually lived up to it's billing. Working a Nitecore Lantern review as well.





My chilly camp!



The next day!





Everything froze up.





Turned it to Hemlock tea.





Lets go!







More pics.


My only knife.









Biggest bang for the pack weight and bulk buck. Items like hats, socks and gloves.






Have hawk will travel.




Firecraft.

My feet were wet and hands numb. Going to spend the night in the cold woods sleeping under the starts. Temps going to fall into the upper teens. So what did I have for a fire kit? That's it. I have several options. Wild flint and steel or friction fire.





Also I have not water so going to need that fire to boil. Have two edged tools. The above hawk and this.





Go! Also I don't have much time till dark. Why is it always like that?


Cedar bark. This is the only tree and mistakenly only took enough for one try before heading back to the camp area.





Yellow Birch Bark.





Hanging Beach leaves.





Crushing local quartz. At this point it's clear I have decided to take advantage of the charcloth. If I had more time would of considered making a bow drill as well using the cordage from the necker lanyard.





All set.





Tinder prepped and ready to go!





Extra wood for the night. I am testing this stove and hope the wood gassifier doesn't burn much.





Wood to get the stove running once the tinder goes up.




and it works though took 5 minutes and a few rocks. The video is in the stove review which is being worked on now. I took a risk by only having enough cedar bark for one try. If I spent more time could have even charred extra.





Hikers were frozen but thawed.





Water boiled to make potable.





Ok lets talk reality. I did use this to start my fire along with natural materials.





But it wasn't free. Hands were so cold I got a small cut. Using a knife as a striker sounds great and it is but the dark dank woods has a say as well.





Also I am stupid but not stupid enough to go into the cold woods with just some charcloth and a tin. If it didn't work out and things got ugly would have pulled the plug or cracked out this.





Thanks for looking.
 
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scout24

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Thank you, as always, for sharing. Glad you bring backup firemaking just in case. Gotta respect a person who camps with bacon in quantity... :)
 

irongate

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The old cotton ball usage, doesn't take much. Thanks for the write-up and pictures. First aid kit?
 
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Burgess

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I enjoyed reading this article !


And I certainly admire and respect someone
with such wilderness skills !

< Salute >
 

Woods Walker

The Wood is cut, The Bacon is cooked, Now it’s tim
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Thanks everyone. CPF meets Bushcraft.

Light from camera flash.



Light from hi CRI lantern hanging above. 85 lumens around 5 feet away.

 

markr6

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Bacon :) :)

Thanks for taking us along! I'm heading up north for a hammock/snowshoe backpacking trip tomorrow. Snow is piling up and temps are right where I want them for a winter trip (15-20° highs, 5-10° lows).

The frozen boot deal is one of the things I still worry about. Melting snow outside, sweat inside...then 10° overnight will make them nearly impossible to wear in the morning. I'm going to use some vapor barrier socks on this trip to see how it goes.
 

Woods Walker

The Wood is cut, The Bacon is cooked, Now it’s tim
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Bacon :) :)

Thanks for taking us along! I'm heading up north for a hammock/snowshoe backpacking trip tomorrow. Snow is piling up and temps are right where I want them for a winter trip (15-20° highs, 5-10° lows).

The frozen boot deal is one of the things I still worry about. Melting snow outside, sweat inside...then 10° overnight will make them nearly impossible to wear in the morning. I'm going to use some vapor barrier socks on this trip to see how it goes.
wear gaiters. That should solve your snow/frozen boot issues.
 

markr6

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wear gaiters. That should solve your snow/frozen boot issues.

Yeah I have them, or often wear pants with them built in. I think it's more sweat in the insulation than anything. And the parts the gaiters don't cover getting wet then refreezing. Rubber doesn't absorb water, but then there's zero breathability. Can't win with boots!

Love the beech trees by the way...always adds a nice touch when all the other leaves are off.
 

Woods Walker

The Wood is cut, The Bacon is cooked, Now it’s tim
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Yeah I have them, or often wear pants with them built in. I think it's more sweat in the insulation than anything. And the parts the gaiters don't cover getting wet then refreezing. Rubber doesn't absorb water, but then there's zero breathability. Can't win with boots!

Love the beech trees by the way...always adds a nice touch when all the other leaves are off.

Makes for good tinder as well. Another pro to a heated shelter is drier boots. Cracking mine out next week!
 

HorizontalHunter

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Bacon always makes everything better.:)

Thanks for taking us along. Where did you get the neck knife?

Thanks,

Bob
 

nbp

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I love these threads. I really need to motivate myself to do more day hikes and overnights. I love being in the woods but I just don't make the time for it. :sigh:
 

RedLED

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New England, that is pretty far North, I was guessing Canada, and that is close.

I dont do camping, however, your story made it look fun even with the cold weather. That little stove is very cool.

Thanks for for the post of the trip, it is a fun read for people like myself that don't camp. Seems like you have it down and are a professional doing this.
 
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Hooked on Fenix

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Next time, bring a couple one liter Nalgene bottles for your water instead of the canteen. If your boots freeze solid, boil water and fill the bottles with the hot water. put a backpacker's towel in each boot (to absorb melting water), then put a hot water bottle in each boot. When the boots are no longer too stiff to put on, put them on and let your feet warm them the rest of the way in your tent or sleeping bag. Keep filling up hot water bottles and place in your sleeping bag wrapped in a layer of clothes (to avoid getting burned) for warming you up throughout the night. Make sure the water bottles have a good seal before attempting this. In my experience, one bottle will stay warm for about 3 hours. Water bottles will no longer freeze up if they are in your sleeping bag with you.
 

markr6

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Next time, bring a couple one liter Nalgene bottles for your water instead of the canteen. If your boots freeze solid, boil water and fill the bottles with the hot water. put a backpacker's towel in each boot (to absorb melting water), then put a hot water bottle in each boot. When the boots are no longer too stiff to put on, put them on and let your feet warm them the rest of the way in your tent or sleeping bag. Keep filling up hot water bottles and place in your sleeping bag wrapped in a layer of clothes (to avoid getting burned) for warming you up throughout the night. Make sure the water bottles have a good seal before attempting this. In my experience, one bottle will stay warm for about 3 hours. Water bottles will no longer freeze up if they are in your sleeping bag with you.

I bought two of the 16-oz HDPE Nalgenes specifically for this. The size is a perfect fit for boots. It worked OK, but didn't get the toe area warm. I'm not sure I'll do it again, but it's better than nothing.
 

Woods Walker

The Wood is cut, The Bacon is cooked, Now it’s tim
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Bacon always makes everything better.:)

Thanks for taking us along. Where did you get the neck knife?

Thanks,

Bob

Yes it does! The knife is Wolf Creek Forge. Kydex was done by myself. Really good handmade steel done by a real blacksmith.









The shape is much like a flake of rock or another type of early tool. Very easy to manipulate for skinning and cleaning fish as well as other basic camp jobs.

 

Woods Walker

The Wood is cut, The Bacon is cooked, Now it’s tim
Joined
Jun 8, 2008
Messages
5,433
Location
New England woods.
Next time, bring a couple one liter Nalgene bottles for your water instead of the canteen. If your boots freeze solid, boil water and fill the bottles with the hot water. put a backpacker's towel in each boot (to absorb melting water), then put a hot water bottle in each boot. When the boots are no longer too stiff to put on, put them on and let your feet warm them the rest of the way in your tent or sleeping bag. Keep filling up hot water bottles and place in your sleeping bag wrapped in a layer of clothes (to avoid getting burned) for warming you up throughout the night. Make sure the water bottles have a good seal before attempting this. In my experience, one bottle will stay warm for about 3 hours. Water bottles will no longer freeze up if they are in your sleeping bag with you.
No packed water or extra canteen as part of the fun however never actually recommend that. It starts the clock ticking right away. That said next time I am going to bring an even better warming thing.







 

Offgridled

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Yes it does! The knife is Wolf Creek Forge. Kydex was done by myself. Really good handmade steel done by a real blacksmith.









The shape is much like a flake of rock or another type of early tool. Very easy to manipulate for skinning and cleaning fish as well as other basic camp jobs.

Yes this is a great little Knife. Kydex is really cool great job making it:) love reading your posts. Please keep the journey coming.
 
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