As a Hoodlum, I felt obligated to take a knife.

Well, OK…  Several knives.  My early Anaconda 9, an even earlier A9 I got from B.T., a TOPS Laser Strike, a TOPS Dawn Warrior, my G. Sakai neck knife, and a cheap Morra knife worn as a neck knife.  In addition, I had my Gransfors Bruks Mini-Belt Hatchet (MBH).

For those who may not be familiar with the Laser Strike, here is a pic showing the sparking rod on the sheath, and the divot in the handle for use as a fire drill bearing.  There is also a portion of the tang which is raised above the handle slabs, which can be used to get sparks from rocks.  Three methods of producing fire in one package.  

 The two Anacondas.

As you can see, the bottom A9, which apparently is a real early model, has flat handle slabs of black micarta, while the later model has rounded slabs.  Also, the earlier model is bead blasted and does not have the black epoxy coating.

It's a bit hard to see here, but the earlier model is thinner than the later one, which is thinner even than the ones being sold today.

I decided to see how well the MBH worked alongside the A9s, and wanted to practice using the tarp as a shelter, so that was the first order of the day. 

Starting with a downed tree limb,

I chopped all the branches off, and smoothed the limb so that it would not tear the tarp.  This took more time and energy than I would want to expend in making a shelter, but I pressed on. 

The MBH did an easier job of it than the A9s.  The small, light head was somewhat difficult to control, but the incredibly sharp edge is what made the difference.  The two knives were not nearly as effective in chopping and smoothing the rough spots.  In addition, the wood was very dry and hard, and the chopping sent a wicked vibration down the blade which stung the little finger if allowed to contact the finger hook on the end of the handle.  Too bad, as that allows some relaxing of the grip when using the knife.

The MBH was not what I would call a chopper, however.  A limb branching off that was more than an inch or two in diameter took an inordinate amount of time to hack through.  It’s for light stuff, for sure.

After getting the limb cleaned up (and producing a nice pile of firemaking materials) I got the tarp strung out over it.  I used rocks to pin down the side facing into the wind.  

Using sticks, ala Lou’s recommendation, I got the front up, and had a huge amount of room inside.  Longer sticks would have allowed sitting up under the tarp, as in bad weather.

As you can see, the weather was great.  However, even when battened down for foul weather, there was still a good amount of room under that limb.

Because I was on a ranch where I could not camp or have a fire outside of a designated area, I could not spend the night here.  All I would need would be something to pad/insulate the ground, and could have used pine boughs.  There were a lot of pines nearby that could have been stripped.  I am sure it would have been a perfectly adequate tent.

 I took a couple of hikes to explore some areas of the huge ranch (14,000 acres surrounded by private lands, National Forest and Wilderness Areas).  Some of the country is just gorgeous.

Wednesday I woke to a rather balmy morning.  The weather forecast was for rain on Thursday or Friday, but I could tell that it was coming early.  I had some cowboy coffee, and began to break camp.   

I tried some Esbit fuel under the coffee can, and found that it does not light easily.  Can’t start it with a sparking rod, so I had to dig out a lighter.  If I hadn’t had a lighter, I would’ve had to have built a fire first.  In addition, one big cube didn’t heat the water enough.  It takes two for a big cup of coffee.

 I decided to have Mainstay Rations for breakfast, and not spend any time in cooking anything.  Good thing I did…  When I closed the tailgate on the truck, it began to sprinkle.  By the time I was driving out of the camp area, it was raining.  Not a single minute too soon…

A wet weather stream in the rain.

A view of the country during the gentle rain.

Here's a waterhole even Eric wouldn't drink out of...  Maybe.

Anyway, I got a few days away from work and out of town, had some wonderful spring weather, and got to practice a bit with some sharp things.  Tried out a new Wiggy’s sleeping bag (it’s so-so), made some cowboy coffee and read some Louie L’Amour (both way better than so-so).  Spent several hours moseying around the ranch, reducing the squirrel population too.  It was even fun to drift along in the rain, driving down some trails I hadn’t been on before.

All in all, a very relaxing couple of days.   Now, I have to clean the gear.

Bill

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