Dick summers plunder

 

Dick summers plunder

"Evans was looking at summers little pile of plunder. There wasn’t much there, Not near enough by the rules - A blanket and an old buffalo robe that covered just a teensy keg of whisky, a little bit of meal, about a shirt tail full of it, and salt meat and coffee and tobacco and a kettle and a couple of knives and two rifles, His old Hawken and an over and under double barrel with one bore big enough for bird shot. He has a little of Indian goods, too, blue and white beads and fish hooks and tobacco and a roll of scarlet strouding and some vermilion.

All this plunder put together wasn’t much more than a couple of pack horses could carry easily.

Even so it was more than he needed.

He could travel from Hell to breakfast with no more than a gun and a horse, and would get there in time for dinner without the horse".
__________________

From the book “The way west” by A. B. Guthrie

Donbas AKA a man never dies

 

Donbas: A True Story of an Escape Across Russia. “You’re cold? He escaped from Russia on a freight train…in winter.”

“I was arrested in Brasov on my way to school,” his book begins. And right there your stomach sinks. Because you know what’s coming: a terrible story, told in unadorned prose.

As “Donbas” opens, Jacques is 16 years old, 6 feet 2 inches tall, 180 pounds. He’s the youngest person in the box car filled with Romanians that the Russians are shipping east in January of 1945. But his youth vanishes fast when he watches guards execute some would-be escapees. On one hand, he envies their death: “no more cold, misery, hunger.” On the other, he wants to live. Which means he’ll have to escape.

This is a book about noticing everything, paying sharp attention, looking for an opening. His first conclusion: Don’t try to escape in winter, don’t think you can get out of Russia without knowing Russian.

But after a few days of working in the coal mines of Donbas (now considered part of the Ukraine), his thoughts turn from escape to survival. The work is wet and cold. A cave-in could come at any time. Exhaustion, exposure, hunger — death comes in many forms here.

I have never read an account of work in a mine that made me so claustrophobic. I found myself reading faster, as if getting to the end of a particularly horrible shift would provide some relief. But it didn’t — above ground, there were sadistic guards and icy winds. “Many prisoners died,” Jacques reports matter-of-factly. “Over half the camp. Four hundred and fifty weak and sick weren’t suffering any more”

Jacques is comparatively well off. He is strong and uncomplaining, a good worker. He gets privileges — when he goes to nearby homes for dinner, it’s a delight to read as he eats and eats and eats. But he’s never fooled; there’s always a power-mad guard around the corner. And one does beat him so badly he almost dies. Which makes it all the more satisfying when, with the permission of a senior officer, Jacques stomps that sadist mercilessly. “It was a good feeling while it lasted,” he says. I think even a pacifist would agree.

After two and a half years, his luck runs out. Jacques is trapped in a cave-in and rescued only by a friend’s heroic efforts. He fears his legs will be amputated. It’s winter, but so what — he must escape. His legs are running with pus, he is a mass of sores, but he slips onto a train, hides in an open coal car and begins the slow, freezing ride to the West.

Flint and steel strikers

 

STRIKERS

I decided to test out some newish strikers I have had in my possession. Not that my opinion means anything in the survival industry, I mean after all, I'm not a survival expert, I only played one on TV.

First I emptied out my flint and steel set to see what was in it. I have not had my F&S set out for a few years so I was uncertain as to the content.

Contained there in was 1 striker made from a broken file. 30 pieces of char “cloth” made from old army web belts, 1 piece of Illinois Chert, 1 piece of white quartz from the Chiricahua mountains in Arizona, 2 gun flints, 1 small piece of chaga, 1 piece of light 100% cotton cloth, and a small tinder bundle.

he 5 strikers I was trying out were made by different manufacturers, 2 were commercially made and 2 were made by blacksmith artisans, and 1that I got in a trade that has a wooden handle, supposedly made from an old whiskey barrel.

As a control, I used the striker I have been carrying since the 70s, made from an old file it throws massive sparks regardless of the stone – as long as the stone is hard.

Anyhoo, 1^st up was the wooden handled striker. I liked the look and feel of this one but after repeated strikes on all 3 stones this one threw very few sparks because the steel is too soft. Disappointing.

Next was a hand made “D” shaped striker. Like the first one, this rascal threw very few sparks but still a degree better than the 1^st one.

Next was “C” shaped striker that was a bit difficult to hold on too due to its shape. Like the other 2 it didn't throw many sparks and the steel once again appears to be a bit too soft to make a good striker.

Next was a “U” shaped striker that was also difficult to hold and strike with but unlike the other 3 this one did throw some decent sparks.

And finally a Bear claw shaped novelty striker I got from my friend Mikhail in a trade. This rascal not only looks cool , its easy to hold, throws sparks like crazy, had a lanyard hole, and fits easily into my tinder box along with my old striker.

The steel is vary hard and sparks as well as my old file striker.

Any lastly, just for shits and giggles, I used my old timer pen knife as a striker to see how it fared against legit strikers made for that purpose. Amazingly, it worked better than 3 of the 5 strikers. As an aside I also like the old school cheap “Camp king” boy scout style knife as a striker. In the days of old they were made of good steel and were pretty must indestructible.

So there you have it, my evaluation of how well legit strikers fared against a broken file and an old timer. If you decide to use flint and steel as your primary method of fire making it would be a good idea to test your stone, steel, and cloth before heading to the woods, oh! And, practice, practice, practice.

Flint and steel fire making is another excellent way to get a fire going without matches or lighter.

My set consists of s colonial period replica striker ( made from a pitchfork tine), char cloth made from cotton belts and canvas, Utah flint, petrified wood, an extra striker made from an old file.

There is also a small tinder bundle of cottonwood cambium. The tin is a candy container I got at a department store in Singapore.

I first put this set together back in the early 80's and use to carry it but as my experience in the outdoors grew I learned about alternate strikers, char, tinder ,etc.

Lately if I use F&S to start a fire it is my "Old timer" pocket knife or the back of my green river knife as the striker and any piece of flint, quarts, chert, or pyrite I happen to find. The char is usually from an old fire pit. I once started a fire in Utah using a horse shoe, a piece of flint and charred blue jeans i found in an old fire pit.

The stone is more important than the steel in F&S fire making, I have made sparks using flint on my hatchet head, on pyrite ,my old green river knife, and have seen locals in Indonesia strike a spark with quarts and green bamboo - yup, green bamboo. You can also make a decent F&S set from a small piece of broken hack saw blade and some steel wool.

The Peru Scandi

 I did not need or really even want another knife.  But, one night I got drunk as an English Lord . And as penance the next day, I walked my fat ass up to the market about 3 miles away to buy cigars and a bag of coca leaves from the most delightful Inca lady. She is about 4 feet tall,  and  rounded out like a cask,  She has the friendliest face and the most appealing personality of anyone I have ever met in my travels. We stood there chatting for a bit about how to cook the Inca whole dried potatoes. Then I fired up a cee-gar and began the walk back to my flop house.

I cut down a side street through the market and came upon a dour faced old hag selling household items. I dug through her box of junk knives and unearthed an

old scandinavian style blade. The handle is loose as is typical of this style blade,  but I bought it for  .25 cents. I wrapped it in paper and tied it with a string I made from a plastic bag, and stuck it in my back pocket. 

I made one more stop to buy cactus tunas from and old man then continued my walk. I will eventually reset the handle and make a sheath for it then gift it to someone

The end.

The Gerber river mini (knife)

 

The Gerber river mini (knife)

In 2010, I was visiting my pimp homie friend Sean “Pog” Kendrigan at his home in New Hampshire.

Sean and I worked together at a wilderness program for hard core juvenile offenders in Utah several years ago. It was one hell of an experience. Some of those kids you would love to forget but cant. Ol' “Pog” was also a river raft guide in Maob, Utah for a few seasons. He reminds me a bit of the character “Seldom seen Smith” in Edward Abby books.

Anyhoo, Sean and I were looking over some of his river rafting equipment, tools, guns, knives etc. - you know, typical wilderness pimp stuff. Suddenly Sean pulls out a Gerber river mini knife. I had never heard of or seen one before. “Pog” says ( I paraphrase ) “see this knife?, I love it. It was in my paawket ( NH speak for pocket ) on every paddle, every hike and every swim”. I took it from him and examined it closely. I liked it too, compact, sharp as fuck, easily concealable, and looks like a hybrid between a Sudan Janjaweed dagger, and a WW2 OSS lapel knife.

I was headed for Aroostook County Maine the next day. I decided to look for one at the kittery trading post in Maine on the way up to the Jack Mountain Bushcraft School (JMBS) in “the county”. No luck finding one. I kept the little knife in the back of my mind until I got back to Arizona and went to see my friend Jon the owner of Trapper Jon's knife shop in Sierra Vista, Az

(Jon is also a New Hampshire boy). Of course Jon had one in his shop so I bought the thing and have been packing it around the world ever since.

Ive carried this knife From Arizona to Afghanistan, from the Sudan, to Thailand, Mongolia, Tajikistan and a lot of 3^rd world shit holes in between annnnd, its even been Snake Blocker approved. I had this knife with me as one of the 5 or 6 I brought to the DYS casting call, Snake, looked at it, liked it and even threw it and stuck it in the ground!

This knife has – as my friend Sean said - “been in my pocket, on every paddle, every hike and every swim”.

Processing meat

 

Mam and the mango hunt 2

 

Mam and the mango hunt

 

Hong Thong Thai "Whiskey"

 

Utah flint and steel fire making

 Tomahawk in the Henry mountains of Utah starting a buffalo chip fire with flint and steel