Back from the forest.

Well its sad but im back in the civilization again.But it was damn good two days vacation at my friends dads summercabin,made in 50´s. Its simple but compared to to the usual lean-to´s i use it was like overwhelming,but i dont complain at all,no sir. Especially caus ewe had one not-so-into-wilderness girl with us there,so it was good place for her to,as there was warmth and shelter and all the small necessities she has used to use .I was almost around the clock at the lake,fishing with one or two buddies and we had about 30 good sized fishes,which we gutted and salted,and put most of them into freezer,but few we smoked in makeshift smoking box and in one splitted old truck´s air-brake canister which had been there as bbq grill and just lying un used for some 10 yrs,but with little tinkering it was good to go. I whittled some juniper in the bottom of it,followed by about ten sugar cubes and hint of whiskey i had there,to give a nice catch on the taste,and it seemed like we completed the smoking well,deciding from the grins on my friends face when we tasted it. Girls gathered up berries and some fungi too. Rest of the time i was mainly chilling out,having sauna,eating,talking some s--t and planning on next trips,especially one were goin to do at end of summer 2010,it will be pretty harder task as wed like to get as many people with us,so he have to plan the days according to everyones schedules.

Sort of shorty Khukri "knife"

This is managed to do today at forging course,from old leaf spring,that was eight millimeters thick and about 70 millimeters wide. Its banged against anvil,to thickness of an quarter inch,from handle to the beginning of the wider part of the blade,which still is 8 millimetrs thick,measured from the spine,so the weight is mostly on the front of the blade,to improve the performance when choppind down something. The holes on the handle are there merely to lighten up the handle and give better balance,although two of them are for brass pins,which im about to use to attach two slabs of some harder quality wood or maybe G10 scales,to make the handle more comfortable to handle for longer times. It was very hard to do this,as its my first,its very stubborn and hard material to forge. It has quite long bevels,ground with angle grinder,sandpaper,and all the necessary spinning gadgets to give very sharp and long lasting ( it seems the hardening vent well,as did the annealing too )edge,although this aint for whittling :) .Its about 18 inches long by the way.

Now i have a lot more knowledge and knowhow to make next one faster and better,thanks to the blacksmith dude who was our instructor there and understand that some folks just dont have that much of intrest to the traditional finnish puukkos,although i love em too.

Litlle bit of som new handmade stuff

Here you go,my new knife,done entirely by me.

Blade is bit over 10 centimeters,and its 3 millimeters thick,made from hi carbon steel blank,forged and ground,hardened and then annealed into about 59hrc of hardness.

The handle is made from curly birch,which i sunk into pitch black leatherpaint as its longlasting and penetrates wood well,after the assembly ( with epoxy and brass hardware) the handle has been oiled and polished just a bit,and the blade has been oiled with thin layer of food grade oil to prevent rust and od taste if i use it for stuff ill be eating.

It hasnt got sheath yet but im getting that done too when i get some leather.

Blacksmith studies continue.

Tomorrow-off to learn more about blacksmith skills,its hands-on class,i just cant wait till morning.

Sleeping bag for winter

I had my old dirt bicycle 4 sale or 4 trade in one popular website where they sell used stuff,i had it there for over 7 weeks and today finally someone called to me. He sure wasnt the only one but he lived just few miles from my home,and was looking out for a bike for his kid,who had bashed his other market quality mtb´s. I said to him that if he comes to check it out,likes it and takes it,ill give him good discount for it. His kid tested it,and so did the dad himself,and deal was made,and i knew immedialtely what to do with the money,as my favourite market,where they have awesome amount of outdoor gear,even compared to most sport shops here,had these discount days,and all the outdoor products were included to this discount campaign. So off we go and after some 20 minutes of touching and feeling things,i ended up with this Ajungilak Tyin 5-season sleeping bag,as i used to have one ajungilak and they have good reputation among other people too. Im hoping now for first hikes at Minus Celsius temperatures to see how good this one is. The best thing to me in this is,that its for person whos 2 meters tall,and im 192,and the previous was for 190 tall guy,and it was bit tight for me due to this. I was in bit of a stress since im goint o lapland once again before christmas,for over week,and i sleep in snow foxholes,etc,not in cabins or heated tents,and i hope this will serve me as well as did the previous Ajungilak i had,it had extreme at -51C,this one has what...-41c,and the comfort zone is between minus 20 to minus 29.With proper clothing,proper sleeping matress,i think ill survive just fine :).

http://www.mammut.ch/en/productDetail/241000550_v_180/Ajungilak+Tyin+5-Season.html

Blaah.

City-life is SO N-O-T for me.
The more i see the wilderness the more i miss it.
Hike after hike i feel so depressed here in the concrete cube.
I could easily trade my life here,with all the "good sides of modern home" to less equipped log hide-away-home in the woods.
If i only could pack up my small family and gear and take a hike.

A hike for life :).

Good night,fellowmen.

Helpin out a close person a bit.

Ive been bit off my tracks in past,or maybe i should say that ive been a bit concerned about a person really close to me as this individual has gone and got a bundle of trouble and harassment against,but luckily it seems this person is doing a bit better now for past few days which im so glad for,since i care about his life,and health hellova lot.I got sooo frustrated sinc ei didnt know how deep in the poo he was until recently and how terrified and lone he was,and yet he has to face it in future,but hell get over it in the end,and that is just great.He is now trying to make it up for the persons who helped him out of the deep swamp of frustration and loneliness,starting slowly a new page in his life,and im helping him out as well as i can,and so are soem of my closest buddies too.Its good to see,to realise that i have these around me,and that the helping hand reaches out to him,with all kinds of good small things towards him.I really owe to my friends a big hug or a handshake,a beer or two for helping put a buddy they havent even met earlier.This person wants out of the ratrace,the one that most people live without even realizing that,that more-more-faster-more money-more booze-moreee! stuff you know.He just wants to get his mind calm,to calm down a bit,sit down for a while and see how it feels.this is how he said it to me lately.And that he wants to travel,hike,with me,my gal,my buddies,our small "crew",just to feel welcomed and to make new-much wiser- friends.He used to hike a lot more when he was a kid,and now he wants to find out the life in the bushes again,and hey,if that aint,then nothing isnt better to hear,in my books.So im starting to collect a small kit for his possession,with my buddies too,to ease out a new hobby,a new lifestyle for him....Nothing special but something useful,a new knife,compass,firesteel,backpack,proper hiking bottle,fishing rod,folding knife,mug,spork/utencil,cooker,kettle,cup,etc.

Anything that makes him feel that he is welcome,and make him smile a bit more as he really is sad and really really poor,for long time now.


Any ideas,folks ?



Edit:
By this far we have managed to get some stuff,heres whats in the package:
-Marttiini lynx knife,with black handle and sheath,like new.
-Halti inflatable sleeping mattress
-Tatonka sherpa(?) kettle,small but suits for one person,has locking lid and out-folding handle so it might be good for both,gas stove and open fire.
-Savotta firesteel
-Spork
-Finnish army field bottle and swedish army´s folding kuksa cup.
-Otso led headlamp,small and simple but better than nothing.
-Used(well,for three days at max) pair of Haglöfs trekking shoes,i think theyre like..half-long ones,gore tex and brown brushed leather.
-Inflatable pillow,some generic brand.
-Uke flashlight,4 aa,old,but works and is pretty bright too,although it is Not LED operated.
-Us army belt utility pouch,might be nice for canteen or something,like first aid kit etc.
-Light generic summer sleeping bag and one older and a lot thicker Halti sleeping bag.
-Storm/waterproof matches in waterproof case.

This means that if these are good to him,im glad,and im hunting for:

-Bdu or similar pants and maybe m-65 jacket for him.Or some other rugged outer layer.
-Winter sleeping bag ( i really could use one too for myself )
-Maybe some plate,like light my fire makes,or other mess tin kit.
-Small tent.
-And last,one good reliable rucksack,in size of about 65 to 90 liters,and some daypack.

Few pics more

Few pics

So i just add a few pics from this latest weekend hike i did with my gal and my buddies.

Hike food again

Ok.


So i used again WAYFARER foods,a few portions at the trip,this time i heated em up in my primus litech kettle,and it took just about some 5 to 7 minutes to get em Hot,i measured it by taking time when the first signs of actual boiling appeared.The taste was good as it gets,this time i mean the one meal with pasta & meatballs in tomato sauce,i was pretty surprised that the meatballs were so good and fullfilling,not dry powderish tasteless junk at all! Good in my books 4 sure!And the size was ok,as it might weight some 300 grams,and that is ok for one meal if you eat something on the side too.

Sorry for the blurry pic,it was pretty cold at morning at the cabins porch,and my cameras lense frozed and fogged :).

www.solutionfoods.fi

Late birthday gift / Sigg retro bottle

At out short trip,i received a small bottle of my favourite poison,Jägermeister,and along with it,came gift voucher to our local scoutshop,so today i went there and tried to pick up first something i really NEED.....but still i ended up with something i really want,more than need,and it was this Sigg 1941 Swiss Army field bottle & stainless oval integrated cup,its remake of classic Sigg bottle,and ive always fancied one and now i have it.It measures only 0,6 liters but on short walk its ok,and the cup offers me even a chance to heat up some drinks above fire etc.Its compact enough also to fit in your vest pockets,so i dont have to drag it on belt or hand to get quick access to refreshments.Quality seems like i expected,from one of the most famous bottle making companies,everything fits like a glove,does not leak or clank at all.

I havent had a chance to real field use yet but in time i will.

Back from the bush

Well,tomorrow ill be typin some new stuff here as i just came back from my last trip with my buddies.More foodmaking stuff atleast,incoming.