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Stripping bark for rope Georgia Outdoor Survival Skills
Hamilton, Georgia  USA
Wooden bowl
 
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April 10th - Primitive Fire Making
Course Description
 
SURVIVAL BASICS 

"What to do when lost"

"The survival mentality"

"Natural hazards and risk management"

"Preventing injuries and treatment"

"Camp site selection"

"Natural shelters"

"Water collection and purification" 

"Outdoor hygiene"

"Modern survival kits"

 

BEYOND THE BASICS 

"Fire materials selection"

"Fire making methods"

"Fire making 'Outside the box'"

"Using fire In survival"

"Fire lays"

"Knots and where to use them"

"Signaling and navigation"

"Trees and plants and their uses" 

"Gathering food"

"Making traps"

 

PRIMITIVE FIRE SKILLS

"The importance of fire"

"Friction fire materials selection" 

"Friction fire making"

"The bow drill"

"The hand drill"

"The pump drill"

"The fire piston"

"Flint and steel"

 

OTHER PRIMITIVE SKILLS

"Making stone tools"

"Natural glues"

"How to tan hides"

 
MAKING CORDAGE

"Uses for cordage and string"

"Cordage material selection"

"Cordage fibers from trees"

"Cordage from plants"

"How to make cord"

"Knots for natural cords"

"Making fishing line and hooks"

 

PRIMITIVE COOKING

"Making stone bowls"

"Making wooden bowls and utensils"

"Baking and steaming" 

"Fire lays for cooking"

"Cleaning and cooking game and fish"

 
  

Welcome to Georgia Outdoor Survival Skills!
 
Outdoor skills are fun, practical and build confidence in the woods. Learning skills will not only enhance your present outdoor experiences, but the hands on approach will provide a huge advantage in an emergency situation. 
 
Psalm 56:3
"When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You." NASB
Smoking ember hand drill
The above picture is a cat tail (Reed Mace) stalk on a poplar board. The black band on the drill is the way I mark my hand drills as being the right density for hand drill fire making.
 
"When you go into the outdoors, take at least two means of making a fire with you, necessary medications and an easy to carry knife."
 
Below is a  bow drill set and the bow string is made from a single leaf. This cord was used to make 4 coals. I have come up with a unique method using a "finger loop" to provide tension for soft spindles such as the cat tail.
If lower quality materials are used or the materials are damp then go the extra effort and use several leaves to make a longer cord and a heavier duty bow drill set. See video using the finger loop method.
Bow string from a single leaf
 
The materials used are a pine knot (also known as "fat lighter", "fat wood", or "pitch pine") for the bearing block, split willow limb for the base board, cat tail stalk drill, yucca flaccida leaf, and a stick for the bow.
Using the harder board and softer drill enables you to make more fires and spend less time cutting new depressions and notches in the fire board.
 
Debris hut
Example of a debris shelter I made and slept in for several days in November.


Fire with fresnel lens
I am using a credit card lens to focus the sun light on "pine straw" to make a coal and blow into a flame.

Fire with reading glasses

Here I am using reading glasses 1.5x magnification to ignite saw dust to form a coal for making a fire. Sand a stick on a rock to make wood dust. (I love to experiment!)
See video
Click on picture to watch videos
Handrill lesson
 
Contact me at  jcmtnhill@aol.com
Please put "survival" in subject line

 

Three Class Locations:

FDR State Park in Pine Mountain, GA 

  Harris County, GA.
Talbot County, GA
 
Glowing ember
When making a fire with the hand drill or the bow drill, watch for smoke rising from the wood dust pile rather than from around the spindle. When smoke comes from the pile you can stop spinning the drill.


"The earth is the Lord's and all it contains; the world, and those who dwell in it."  Psalm 24:1

 
This modified Paiute trap uses a single leaf cord that I previously used to make a bow drill fire. I looped the cord over the trigger because I did not want to cut it.
A modified paiute
The angle of the long trigger stick causes a downward pressure on the bait stick.
 
Broiling fish
A pan fish (blue gill) broiled on a sweet gum basket over coals.
 

 

Fire with soda bottle

Using a soda bottle filled with water and a piece of fungus to make a coal. See video. The indentation in the side of the bottle is where I "burped" the air from the bottle so as not to further distort the light

 

 

 

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