Back from Ocean Pond

Well, we had a fantastic weekend.  It was cold the first night, in fact it was really cold.  Since we had gotten a late start, by the time we got the tent up and everything in it, it was already dark.  The temperature dropped really quickly.  My son started the fire and he did a great job doing so.  He used the cotton balls w/vaseline on them to get it started with a very small amount of tinder and he kept it going until we were ready for bed!

 My son starting the fire.  Great job!

 Campsite, we had water no electricity.

 Me and my wonderful Hubby and his machete.  He had to have one, although we didn't have a need for it on this trip, it's always nice to have.

My new knife!  6 inch blade w/gut hook and sheath.  It worked perfect, I named her Bessie, but my son named her Killer.  LOL

The sun was perfect, thought this was a cool pic.

 He really did split all the wood we need for our second night.  We cooked steaks, potatoes w/onions and baked beans.  We didn't use the pot for the beans, we put the can right on the fire.  Worked great.

 Rotten log.  Couldn't really use it for anything, but he had fun cutting it up.......with BESSIE

 We have fire!

 Surprise!

 Having fun after dinner.

 Skipbo anyone?  My husband won, every time.  Sucks

 Us

 Ocean Pond, boy the sun was really shining!  Perfect weekend.

 Working together.  Was a beautiful sight.

We were able to use the wild plant recognition book and found a water hyacinth.  Perfectly edible, and can be dried and ground into flour!

So, having been a really long time since a noon lunch, i got the iron skillet and the boston butt and got cooking on the fire.  We cooked entirely on the fire the entire weekend.  Even COFFEE!  I actually think coffee tastes better percolated than in an electric maker.  I think because it gets to a higher temperature, not sure......but it was wonderful Saturday morning when the temp. was 44.  Warmed up a lil and got breakfast started.  Bacon, eggs and biscuits.  I wasn't sure how the biscuits would turn out, I used a pot and some oil in the bottom, we put it at the back of the fire and covered it, checking it often.  Man did they turn out good.
 
Second day was awesome.  Since I recently had knee surgery we had to keep the walking to a minimum this time, but we were able to walk quite a bit more than I thought I could.  Was nice out there.  We did some compass reading, my son kept us in the correct direction, we did a little fishing with giant red hook worms.  My son was squeemish about baiting the hook so we helped him out, but a big fish kept hitting the rod hard and we were unable to catch anything except for mosquito bites.  Good lord, the bugs, no seeums, mosquitoes, bees, and one really big spider (YUK).  Bug spray with Deet was a necessity, but don't lick your lips afterwards.....ewwwwww, tongue went numb and tasted like ^&*(.  Once you're sprayed down the bugs are a non-issue.

Plant recognition is harder than we thought it would be.  You have to read everything and pay attention to minute details in the description and the actual plant!  Could mean the difference between a meal and the ER.  Until we get more comfortable, we will not be eating the wild plants, period!

We took a nice walk around the camp ground, it is wild boar season and there were a bunch of hunters, there was a group of them skinning a huge pig, bet that was really good!  Lots of dogs around, we did take our dog and he really seemed to like being in the woods once he was used to his surroundings.  There was even a man with a cat!  Yes a CAT.   The second night we had to make sure all of our food and necessities were secure because of raccoons, a lot of them!  In the dark it almost seems like they surrounded us, well hell they could have been surrounding us and we would have never known.  Thats a scary thought, we had an experience last year camping in the keys with the local raccoons.  They seemed ok from a distance almost cute and cuddly, but at night they would fight and make so much noise, it was crazy.  I would not want to get up close.

All in all, everything turned out great!  We didn't do everything we had intended but at the same time accomplished a few things we set out to do, compass reading, making fire without the use of a lighter, cooking over the camp fire the entire trip and some plant recognition.

I am looking forward to our next trip, hoping we can take a hike with our day packs and spend the night in the woods without the necessities.  We think it is important to get these things set to memory and educate our sons how to survive.  Some people may think it's silly, but we do not.  In fact when TSHTF, we will be ready!

Hope you enjoyed our trip as much as we did. 

Bye, Bye for now,
Julz

First camping trip w/Gear

First Camping Trip



So, this weekend, we will be going camping for the first time since my husband has gotten interested in all of this survivor stuff.  I have to admit, the more I get into it the better it seems to be.  We find out little tricks like for starting fire and collecting water.  We get to actually go rustic camping and try them out.  I used one method in the backyard.  I just had a hard time wrapping my mind around it.  I have to actually do and see myself.  So, steel wool (fine grade) a 9 volt battery and toilet paper (very small amount)  you make a small nest and then you simply touch the battery to the steel wool, haha sparks and then FIRE!  Very cool.  We have a couple of other methods to try, the most important thing will be to use these new ideas and sustain the fire because this trip we will be cooking on it.
We will be taking our Alice packs.  We got them at the Army/Navy Outdoor store.  They had been gently used, but a lil wash and some care and they aren't bad at all.  They are only 25.00.  Then you can buy the frame, the LBE and belt to add to the bag, (of which my survivor man has done).  I have a few items in the bag so far.  A rain suit, change of underwear, warm socks, flashlight, bottle/can opener, knife-------which reminds me, a knife is very individual.  I did not realize this at all until my husband went through all of his and I didn't like any but 1, and it will do for now, but I look forward to buying my own brand new knife.  We have fire starting equipment, first aid, emergency water (this is a very small amount otherwise it would get really heavy), I haven't found a day pack I like yet, but I keep looking.  We also have water purification tablets and a sewing kit.
Like I said, this camping trip will be exciting opening and trying out the things we have been collecting.  My youngest son, (14) will be in tow and we are looking forward to a nice hike and some compass reading, plant recognition and rustic fire starting.  I plan to journal the weekend and fill everybody in on what works and what didn't this time around.  We of course will make mistakes, maybe those will be the funniest stories.  I still will spill everything good and bad, well......about the camping itself.  LOL  See you next Monday.

Your friendly beginner SURVIVAL WIFE!

Teaching my wife and kids to look back instead of forward.

Well its the close to the end of 2011 and things seem to be worst then last year so as a 50 year old man who grows up always trying to move forward in life it seems that what I was told as a young man is not how things seem to be at 50. I was told to learn the ways of THE MAN and to grow up wanting all the things they had and now that i'm there it seems my elders were wrong and I need to get back to Basics and learn and teach my kids and wife the ways of my ancestors and learn to live off the land and not by the governments hand. So this is my blog on how I'm going about clearing my mind and relearning the ways of the land; how to grow my own food source and getting a sound plan for when SHTF or worse! It seems that after 9/11 the internet has flourished with sites about self sustained people teaching and giving their take on how to live in the coming years and what to look for and when you look around at the way things are going I can't help but think they my be right. So follow me as I take a take my family down the road to a new way of living with the land instead of taking from the land.
Wa-do // thanks for stopping by.