Make an antler and penny bearing block for your fire drill.

This is a way to reduce friction on the bearing block of your bow drill set. All of the heat creation needs to occur on the hearth board to make an ember more efficiently. It is also an attractive, permanent improvement to your fire kit.

Fire from a deer antler

I'm in a pyro phase. Here, I'm trying to push the envelope on ways to construct a bow drill kit. Using antler greatly extends the life of your fireboard (you may never need to replace it). It also improves functionality in wet environments.

Corn Husk Dolls

Thanks to my mother, this fall tradition will survive another couple of generations. She taught me when I was a child and I will show my son when he gathers a few more years. Making these for video, I remembered all the neat things we learned together. What a genius, my mother, and one of the best people I'll ever know.

Fire from a broken computer

When your high tech gadgets die in the unavoidable apocalyptic collapse, consider the possiblity of making more reliable primitive tools from their pieces parts.

Campfire ramble (and a ghost?)

Watch the fire early on as I am talking, then look over my head about midway through. Any ghost hunters out there?

Improve your chances, Tip # 3

The cane is one of those items that seems innocent. Despite controversy around concealed carry, no businesses or government building would deny use of a walking aid. I tested this theory at several establishments. Mind you, I did not pretend lameness. At Walmart, I threw the thing in my buggy. At the mall, I carried it in hand and walked briskly. At smaller businesses, I looped it over the shoulder and browsed. Not once was I confronted. Though I carried a solid piece of oak with enough reach to knock out legs, break wrists and crack heads, no one seemed to notice. Imagine my advantage in a confrontation. 

Plant profile - Luffa Gourd

The luffa is an interesting, multi-purpose vegetable. Though I am passionate about perennial agriculture, this annual vine is worth a spot in the garden.

Dakota hole

A cooking solution for ninjas and leave no trace campers - the dakota hole is stealthy and safer in windy and/or dry conditions.

Plant profile - Plantain

From Europe with love, plantain was cultivated as a food and medicinal crop oversees but has become a derided weed in every American lawn.

What's in the box? Final episode!

Hurricane Joaquin is finally wearing itself out and the rains are subsiding. Dare I hope this will be the last mystery box video? It would be ever so nice to frolic outdoors again without waving at Noah as he floats by. That guy never has room for hitchhikers.

2016 Winter Forecast

Looks like snow in north Georgia. For generations, people have used the persimmon seed to prognosticate winter weather. By splitting the seed, the white embryo is exposed. If shaped like a knife, expect heavy wind. A spoon indicates snow (think snow shovel). Forks mean kind weather all season. My theory is that year-long weather effects growth rate. If the fruit is relatively immature by fall, you get the knife, farther along, the spoon and most mature, the fork. As weather comes in cycles, this has proven a fair predictor of where we are on nature's seasonal timetable.

What's in the box? Episode 3

Thanks to Hurricane Joaquin, it is still raining in northeast Georgia. So let's see what else is in the box...

What's in the box? Episode 2

This is a continuation of the first "what's in the box" video, same idea with an international flair.