“Primitive shelters ain't all they're cracked up to be. If you've studied many "survival tips" websites or quick reference guides, you get the impression that simple debris huts are all you need to stay warm and dry in any conditions. If you've ever slept in one, though... well, that's a different matter.”
Read moreInstructor Corps Pro Tip 5/21 - Toggles, pt. 1
“Tarp, ponchos, and emergency blankets are three of the most crucial elements of modern, fast-action shelters. And for those shelters to be effective, they need to be built correctly. But hanging them can be a pain if you don’t have much experience with it.”
Read moreWild Edible Wednesday 3/6 - River Cane
“Where river cane really shines is in bushcrafting. The uses of river cane for projects big and small is limited only by your imagination.”
Read moreInstructor Corps Pro Tip 3/5 - Conditioning an Axe Handle
“When you upgrade to an heirloom-quality axe, you’ll soon learn that there’s a maintenance schedule that comes with it. It’s not like the old Home Depot fiberglass-handle clunker that you could just throw in the toolshed and take a file to every now and then.”
Read moreWild Edible Wednesday 2/27 - Yucca
“While Yucca isn’t the most widespread plant in the Eastern Woodlands, it’s still a valuable asset to bushcraft and wilderness survival, and is well worth knowing.”
Read moreWild Edible Wednesday 2/20 - Creeping Cedar
“Creeping Cedar looks like something out of the age of the dinosaurs, because it is. Before that, actually. Remains of this exact plant are being burned as coal this very day.”
Read moreInstructor Corps Pro Tip 2/19 - It's All in Your Hands
“…If you’re carving out a comfortable living in the howling wilderness with only your knowledge and a few tools, that’s damn tough enough. I’ve got nothing to prove, so I’m wearing gloves. Here’s why.”
Read moreInstructor Corps Pro Tip 1/29 - Reflector Wall
“Regardless of what shelter I set up, one of the first things I would do to try and give myself an edge in the battle against freezing to death would be to build a reflector wall.”
Read moreInstructor Corps Pro Tip 1/15 - Carving with a Hatchet
“One very common question we get (usually from those new to the bushcraft world) is, how do you carve with a hatchet? And if you’ve never seen it done, I can see how this wouldn’t make sense.”
Read moreInstructor Corps Pro Tip 10/9 - 4 Tips for Axe Safety
“If you follow these four tips, we estimate the chances of lopping your foot off are gonna decrease by approximately 937%. Maybe not. But at least you’ll know better. Whether you do better or not is up to you. Speaking from experience, bad habits are hard to break!”
Read more#WildEdibleWednesday 4/25 - Common Vetch
Vetch and humans go way back. Way, way back, like 10,000-15,000 years. With a few exceptions such as cereal grains, vetch is arguably the oldest plant cultivated by humans.
Read moreSARCRAFT News March 2018
Want to know what's been going on at SARCRAFT this past month? Read on!
Read more#WildEdibleWednesday 2/7 - River Cane
"Where river cane really shines is in bushcrafting. The uses of river cane for projects big and small is limited only by your imagination. While not big enough to make cups, bowls, spar poles, and improvised iPhone speakers (if you know, you know) like bamboo, river cane is still a highly useful resource."
Read moreSARCRAFT News January 2018
What’s been going on at SARCRAFT over the past month? Read on!
Read more#WildEdibleWednesday 1/17 - Black Walnut
"Poachers will sneak onto a property in the middle of the night, cut down a walnut tree, and steal it... So if you have some of these trees on your property, our advice to you is to keep a good hold on your walnuts. Don’t want nobody touchin’ your walnuts without permission."
Read more#WildEdibleWednesday 1/3 - American Holly
Holly is NOT edible. The beautiful bright red (or slightly orange, depending on the soil) berries are one of the classic examples of “just because the birds are eating it, doesn’t mean you can eat it.”
Read moreSARCRAFT News Nov/Dec 2017
Here's what's been going on at SARCRAFT this past month!
Read more#WildEdibleWednesday 11/22 - Red Oak
"In fact, as we celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow… we should take a moment and remember that it was probably Indian-style acorn bread that the Separatists and Puritans of the Plymouth colony broke together with their Wampanoag allies in the very first Thanksgiving feast… a celebration of the American power to PREVAIL against all odds."
Read more#WildEdibleWednesday 11/8 - Witch Hazel
"By the late 19th century, witch hazel was used in a whole host of patent medicines. In 1866, Connecticut industrialist T.N. Dickinson patented a process to extract and distill witch hazel water on a grand scale and sell it commercially. That process is still used to this day..."
Read moreSurvival Time Machine - Four Wheelin' in the Matrix
"Morpheus just called. Our minds are almost free. Time to follow the white rabbit out of the hole, around the tree and back down into the hole... Armed with knowledge, you’re ready for the AMAZON."
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