"new" Jacket,British used DPM camo Windproof Smock

Postman brought me today,once again,some military surplus,from my favourite shop Varusteleka. Its British,issued,dpm camouflage pattern,windproof Smock. Close relative to precent soldier 95 jackets they use. No experience yet but soon i will tell you what thoughts i raised. I ve been hearing opinions that its well made simple rugged jacket,and im trying it out now with modest expectations,although i wish it suits my needs well,as i really like the design of it,and DPM is my favourite pattern,along with american tiger stripe camouflage.And i also choose surplus as its somehow more economical IMHO,than buying the latest gear from the outdoors shops.Although i rarely find anything into outer layer of garment, from those shops,as the colour schemes give me headache :).

-One thing i noticed immediately was that i must modify the hood a bit,as i will run an electric wire thru some seam of hood,so it gives me an option to shape it better.The hood drops badly in front of my eyes now,but i will work on it to get it sorted out.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smock_Windproof_DPM

Day well spent indeed

ok,

today i packed up my old backpack,with some food portions,cofee making gear,few knives etc,for me and my girlfriend,and picked up my kid bro,and head out to trail nearby,walked for a while,and just stopped at this nice rocky hill,where you could watch the beautiful fall colours,army training planes(old propeller planes) flying low over us,blue skies and these nice nice colours,of the falling leaves.

At the same time i used my F1 for the first time,i batoned it thru 3 inch branches,rotten stumps,carved freshly dropped pine with it,and hacked it thru some wood lying there,and it did sure perform as i suggested,flawlessly,without almost any effort,except for cutting this 3 inch branch in half,as the f1 aint as long as s1 that has longer blade with more leverage and hitting power. The handle has nice angle offering very accurate handling which might help with some detail work in future,as this was just a pleasant test drive to me with this famous knife.
My bro tried it too,and seemed astonished about how sharp it is,and it sure is,i dont deny.
He was there testing his Hukari,which is a beast for a knife,its more like an machete,and cut thru thicker woods easily,is easy to sharpen and worth its value,although its crude in finish but hey,function over design and coolness as ive said before. The only thing it needs is better sheath,but its easy to make it using the factory made as liner to new leather sheath or what ever he decides to use for it. Also he took his Esbit cooker there and i throw him a pack of the tablets so he could go and try it,and after we recovered this half rotten stump of a log cutted ages ago,which offered nice shelter from chilly fall winds,it took only some 5 minutes to get half litres of cold water to roll-boil in my cheap stainless steel measure mug. So we just enjoyed our time there,by testing out some equipment,made these few outdoor meals,and did coffee and cocoa for dessert,which always tastes better when your ein the wild.oh hey i also used my Aurora firesteel,gathered up some tinder from old juniper´s bark,birch bark and some tiny but dry ( it has been raining a lot for last days)i dug out under trees shadows. It took just some three strikes to get tinder into fire,and me smile or grin as my bro said. Then we "had" to get back to home areas,to take and heat up the sauna to crown the day well spent.

Fall and winter ahead.

1.10-2009

So,tonight will be officially the first night,here at my home area,when the night temperatures go below zero.Just a few grades but still.
i have been wondering where the fall is as it hasnt been raining much,its suspicious even,and if i guess,its again fault own mankinds greedy actions and careless attitude against earth,nature,mother north.Its been very dry id say,and that aint so bad but it should be raining at fall i know,a sit did when i was kid and from then the weathers has been going odd. Short summers,long winter on one year and on next the opposite.It must have something to do with greenhouse effect too.But then again i dont have any degrees on high grade,on physics or maths so i can be wrong all as well :).

But but,im waitin eagerly to see this nights weather,as it has been cooling all day long and during weekend we might get storm as a guest here.Last fall it was pretty intense as the storms cracked off few trees in our yard and the roof tins were about to break off.

For last few days ive been dreaming at night of the winter trips,that im about to do,to drag a sled on ski ´is,to sleep in simple log cabins and lean to´s,while the frozing trees make the snappy sounds and winds blow. I just love the sound,which you hear for few seconds when the fire starts to go in the smoke pipes,when you light up the wood-ovens and heaters. Somehow its almost hypnotizing,to watch fire,no matter is in in the open fire in the camp,when you lie in the lean-to,or make some food over fire,or just sit around fire and talk with your buddies.

I have been making some inventories in my lockers,drawers and where ever i have my stuff lying. Ive been collecting some sort of winter-EDC ( every day carry) from these hides,and i put up small pocket size pack,its some maxpeditions small pocket pouch,to hold these:
-chapstick
-water purifier tablets in tiny stainless holder
-wiresaw BCB ( small size,better than nothing and better than multitool saw´s when sawing any thicker wood)
-Waterproof match contaner with matches and button compass
-Old leatherman supertool (good,locking saw,pliers,and good dedicated screwdrivers,these are reasons to choose this.)
-Small amount of snare,paracord and gaffa tape
-fishing line,few hooks,split weights,two needles,and safety pins,in tiny capsule.
-tatonka space blanket ( due to minimal weight and packing size)
-some piece of heavier tin foil(as it can be used to form a cup etc)
-Fox 40 whistle
-small keychain led light
-a small cheap diamond shapening rod

and as i nearly always still carry Victorinox OHT in kydex neck-sheath,with firesteel,led torch and proper small compass atached to it,i think im able to to take my dog for a walk around our yard any time :).

Seriously,this kind of stuff i just found,from old pencil boxes,from my wardrobe shelves,from pockets,and i just stuffed em into this belt pouch,and it seems good to go with me.

I tend to carry some gear with me always,but i love to lern to get along without gear,or with minimal too,so ive been learning to make fire with firebows etc,old but vise skills. Still,id rather put some knife or multitool on my belt,some energy bar on my pocket,and things like that,when i head outside the door,as they dont weight at all to my opinion and aint a problem to carry anytime.Its also a form of preparation to me,to gear up a bit "cause you never know when the SHTF". This kind of gear wont save me from apocalypse of zombie attack,nor from the massive plague,not to mention major meteorite falling from my head mbut it will surely help out a bit,if i get in some trouble in the trails,especially if i add some first aid items and food to me and my dog,in my daypack. And if if i take one more step and pack up a light sleepingbag,field canteen,some pot to cook up, and pair of dry socks,im ready to walk to the my favourite local every-mans-right cabin nearby.

And that wouldnt be bad start for this cold long season,to hike there,put up a small fire,feel the cabin to warm up,drink some soup and give my dog buddie some snacks,and just chill out till you fall asleep. It aint the great survival hike but man,its relaxing to me.

Fällkniven S1

I saw an intresting review of Fallknivens S1 knife,at "SurvivALL" blog,and as i happen to be owner of the same knife,i thought i´d throw in a few words about this knife too.This aint nothing more than my humble opinion of that knife. Be sure to check out SurvivALL´s review of the knife too,its based on real field testing,done by person who knows what he speaks of clearly.

Im not big fan of some reviews seen in youtube where guys read the catalogues,order expensive knives,dont use em in real enviroment,and just show off their gear in front of camera and tell some stories,and just disgrace or hype the item. I understand that someone is collector,someone is user,and theres still enough space for the folks on the other sides.BUT,telling about that rare,hi end,expensive,never used dusty knife,kept in safe or drawer, made from un-identified material dropped from the space,without actual use of it,still aint based on real-life experiment,hands-on,no matter how well the steel cleared the labratory tests,as the life,the knives element is somewhere,in the woods and thats where you see how it actually works. Many exotic handmade knives with pricetag over thousands of bucks,get beaten by factory made 10 buck Mora knives,as funtionality still rules over coolness factor :).Once again,in my opinion,and i respect yours,what ever that might be.

In my opinion this particular knife is about one of the best factory made knives ive used this far,and this aint ass-kissing.This is based on about 6 month perioid of use of it,without shame or particular mercy to the knife,although i use knives for jobs intended for knives. So im not used to bash em into steel surfaces,onto concrete walls or similar stuff,which ive seen done to many hi-end knives too,beaten till breaking up in these odd youtube videos where they intentionally try to break knives in any method they can to achieve snapped blades and similar harsh damage.

I have been batoning this into branches and small logs,in size of about 3 to even 4 inches in diameter,without any real damage,visible that is,to blade.It hasnt made difference,has the tree been frozen,fresh or dry,it has been pretty easy to split by batoning it with aid of other wrist thick branch or other part of some tree.And it does-surprise-survive all the other stuff too,easily,from carving up spoons,to making lean-to´s,and as its made very hygienic,its good for any hunting related tasks too,from skinning to guttin,a sits can also be cleaned easily and also sterilised in boiling water. This is one fine detail in any fallkniven fixed blades,as the thermorun handle material is somehow cast permanantly to the blade itself,so there aint any cuts or seams for germs to get in, to pollute meat of any type.

The handle hasnt showed any marks of real wear and it has been used after night in freezing temperatures,so the quality of this rubber is ok in my books. It is called Thermorun,if i recall right. Its nice and grippy in any enviroment ive used it in,no matter the temperature,even when wet,it offers good firm grip without getting slippery. But when ive used it to gut some fish,the slime from fish scales has mede it pretty slick,so you better be careful while doing this (as always when handling sharp tools,that is). The open end of the handle show the tang of the knife,so you can use the end of handle as small tool to pound in nails or something,or if you have to,you can use the steel surface to batoning too,to get that blade through some tough material in some emergeancy,or just to get a hole thru frozen stream,to get water under the ice,as ive used it.
And as always,i found the hole in the handle,left there to attach a loop thru it,is just great,and in my own knife ive attached a 8 inch long piece of multicolour 3mm climbing rated cord with small carabiner,which i use to sequre the knife into its sheath.

My knife came with leather sheath,that i like,its sturdy,not fancy or posh. Durable stitching,sandwhich construct to prevent blade to cut through the seams,and what i like...big enough belt loop,so you can use this also in duty belts. I´d like to get my new sheath done,it will come out with loop for firesteel and a flap with snap closure,to cover the knife more,but this factory one is great too as the knife sit quite deep in the sheath,and the sheath itself rides low,compared to belt so it wont snag your stomach or anything when you sit. The dangler is attached to well formed steel ring that stops the unnecessary swinging.

I have modified the blade,but just to get the spine more sharp edged,as many do to their knives,to make it more handy to scrape out sparks from firesteels and in my case,it works now better for scaling fish. Other than that,i have nothing i might gesture to be done to the blade,cause to this date,ive sharpened it only few times,just because it wont get dull easily. To sharpening i have used fallknivens own DC3 sharpening stone that has two side,the diamond coated,and the stone on the other side,and also piece of fine grit wet sanding paper,glued lightly over piece of mouse-pad,as the pad is soft and contours the shape of the blade well.

So i think this might be money well spent to other outdoors enthusiasts too.


Edit: well ive learned a bit more,and what ive been told is that you can actually use just a drop of autosol polishing stuff,and leather strop together for good edge,so i went and tried and id did work well.

to see more about S1 user opinions,check out this one:

http://survivall.blogspot.com/2009/09/fallkniven-s1-serious-survival-knife.html

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.