Okay, A Rare Thread For Me

It is rare for a few reasons.

1) I don’t usually endorse people, ideas, methods, etc. when it comes to survival topics. I’m a “help you pack your bags, but you make the journey yourself” because I don’t know your skill set, strengths and weaknesses and what have you. You might hate red beans and rice with Tabasco sauce while I can eat it 4-5 times a week. I’ll eat black beans and rice but not as fond of them.

2) It is rare that I learn some new things watching bushcraft videos on YouTube. I enjoy watching them because everybody has a way of explaining things. And before the radio shows, I did consider doing a series myself as a guide towards an Everyman kind of survival. The idea of being in office attire (sport coat, tie, dress shirt/pants/shoes) with only the gear commonly found in a briefcase or pockets. The idea being that it wasn’t about the gear but just adapting knowledge and using the tools around you to advance yourself.

Felix Immler YouTube channel is a very worthwhile visit. His series of Tips and Tricks of the Swiss Army Knife are well worth the price of admission. He seriously makes MacGyver look like a five year old. As for his other videos: He made an entire campsite with just a Camper (which is a step below the Huntsman). I’ve watched him build a very functional forge beside a creek with a paddle wheel blower powered as a bow drill. A primitive lathe that could be used to turn the parts to make a proper treadle lathe. Now for that he uses a traditional gouge to turn wood...but probably could have made one on that forge.

I’ll also admit that my particular strength is out of the box problem solving and Felix has me beat. So if you want to see what a $25 (Camper) or $35 (Huntsman) pocketknife can do for you, check him out and prepare to be impressed.

Never heard of him. Thanks for posting. I find myself outdoors in wild camping and a good Swiss Army Knife does and will come in handy. But one needs some good stainless folding knife when the going gets tough out in nature.

a reply to: Ahabstar

Ray Mears is the go to guy for me.

USMC Ka-Bar and some waterproof matches.
First items in my kit.

a reply to: Ahabstar

No doubt this guy is a sklled craftsman-and I ain't dissing him,
But for Petes sake-don't use anything which creates metal shards/sparks without wearing eye protection!

(I admit I only watched one random video of his,but there were a few times he was using grinders and even files when he should have been protecting his eyes.)

The one I watched was this one of him remaking a cheap store axe into a nicer one:



He is lucky to live somewhere reknowned for using good steel in even cheap items-buy an axe like that here in the UK and it will feel like you are grating cheese when you sharpen it(every 15minutes of use).

Good channel-just remember to look after your eyes around metal sparks.

a reply to: Homefree

Excellent fighting knife. It is not a full tang knife so be careful prying, batoning, chopping, digging in rocky/root filled soil and other unintended knife uses.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

An $8 hatchet here would not be a wood handle. A hollow tube of aluminum ready to bend on the first missed strike. I have found them bent in the woods a couple times.

As a one time machinist, and someone who has scratched his cornea twice on tree branches, I cannot stress eye protection enough. I even wear ANSI rated safety glasses sunglasses while on the riding mower. And due to those scars on the cornea, I have to wear at least regular sunglasses on all but the cloudiest of days, so I always have a little protection of sorts.

But yes, if nothing else, make a bark set of shades like for preventing snow blindness, so you only have a small slit exposed. But you have an angle grinder and electricity, you have access to safety googles/glasses.

While a toggle is nothing new, nor cordage for strapping. This does avoid more complex knots, next to free to make and while I have not scaled it up to rope or used other types of material, the idea of friction held seems would scale. Perfect for strapping a load to a Roycroft pack or a travois. Best of all, can be disassembled for other uses as needed. So while a stick and string wasn’t much. I did see enough there to keep looking based on this first video I watched.

a reply to: Ahabstar

That toggle is really simple and effective.
Amazing what you can do with a bit of cordage and a twig.
Our ancestors were probably using that kind of thing 10 000 years ago or more.

I lke the guys attitude-"Much better to make it yourself than to buy a cheap crappy chinese version."

Totally agree.

a reply to: Ahabstar

OMG! Thank you so much for introducing us to this gentleman. I just watched 'how to improvise a vise on a stump', and I already love him!!!!!! I will definitely be watching more whenever I have down time at work

a reply to: Fowlerstoad

I just chuckled at your name.
This is Fowler....season 3 winner of the tv series Alone.
He did 87 days and won $500 000

He's got a great mind on him.




His buddy is a guy I'll watch as well.






I used to subscribe to FelixImmler but I developed a new philosophy and unsubscribed....he is very sharp though.

I have subscribed and watched two videos already! Great channel and they guy is pretty dang slick.

a reply to: MPoling

I like his personality. It is infectious.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

I’ve been using two hole toggles since I was a kid that couldn’t button up my winter coat well on my own. Figuring out how the toggles worked better explained the buttons. Seeing a single hole on the thumbnail made me curious enough to click. Spent the past week and a half watching different videos.

a reply to: Ahabstar

Update: Walmart (of course) has an Ozark Trail hatchet for $15 or $16 with a wood handle. This is the Walmart brand outdoor equipment. I wouldn’t trust the metal (very shiny steel? stainless? polished aluminum? It does not say) to hold up to reshaping to try that axe project.