Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Wooden cup

I had already been making spoons for a while, when I decided to make a wooden cup.
This is what I came up with.  It is a little small but I like it. This is the second one I made, the first broke while I was working on it.

 
 
 
I tried to make in the style of  a Kuksa, a Finnish cup. I do not know if I made it quite in that way or not.
 
 
 
I have not had a chance to use it  yet, but I hope to take it on my next camping trip.  If you have any special drinks or foods that you like to use a wooden cup for, I would like to hear about them.  I would like to eventually have a more primitive cooking outfit.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Favorite gear

In response to the request of the Weekend woodsman, I am posting three of my favorite woodcraft items.  I say "favorite", but I have many tools, weapons, bags, and other things that I enjoy.  It's hard to choose.  I chose these three because I have searched for something like them for a long time.  I have been trying out different camping gear for a while.  And I will probably find something in the future that suits me better.  I have posted some about these items before so I hope I am not boring you.
 
 
 
 
I searched a long time for a sleeping bag or bed of some kind that worked for me.  Every thing I tried was not quite right.  Then a friend of mine had a wool blanket very similar to this, so I decided to give it a try.  So I a bought this one for around twenty or thirty dollars.  It is thin but very, very warm and it is light.  It weighs about three and a half pounds.  I usually carry some other blanket or sheet with it, but it is just right by itself if its warm enough; like it often is where I live.
 
 
 
 
 
I like this knife because it  has most of the qualities that I want in a knife, plus it was made by a friend.  I like its size, shape, and color.  The blade has that feel like you can carve anything short of  granite.  I made the sheath out of cow hide and artificial sinew, and it holds the knife in just by being a bit snug around the handle. The handle is made of walnut.
 
 
 
It has a nice feel to it.
 
 
 
This backpack is one of my favorites.  I have several backpacks including a nice Kelty backpack on a pack frame, and the Swedish rucksack.  This pack however has some qualities which are especially useful to me.  I like its smaller size, especially since I do lots of short walks around our property and need something to carry books or my camera.  I also have a haversack that I use for this purpose more than anything, but if I need something a little bigger this is what I use. I also like that it is somewhat rigid and holds its shape, this makes packing and carrying so much more pleasant.  It also has many straps that I can use for strapping blankets to or other things that are to big to fit inside.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I am not sure of the dimensions.
Thanks for looking.  I have many more projects that I have done that I will post as soon as I get the time.
 
 
 
 
 






 
 

Thursday, August 2, 2012


Thought you might like this picture of the sunset.


Woodpecker

I found this young woodpecker in a bush, apparently he was caught, and he was to young to fly.  I think it is a Red Bellied woodpecker, (Centurus carolinus).  I was very surprised at how large and sharp it's claws were, but being a woodpecker, I suppose it needs them even at an early age.  I think it tried to fly from it's nest and was unsuccessful.  There were many woodpecker holes nearby.



It wasn't quite as hard to catch it as I thought it might be, but once I did, it started to struggle, peck, and scratch at me.  It took a little work to get it calmed down. 



This is how I found it.