Tata making fire with bamboo

My good friend "Jungle wil" and I were farting around with some bamboo we pilfered from a construction site, trying to start a fire. It took us a while to do it because the bamboo was very hard, we did use a technique I saw in the book "My 30 year war" by hiroo onoda, a Japanese army officer who hid out in the philippine jungle for 30 years after ww2.

"Jungle wil" got an ember after about 20 minutes or so of effort and we were able to make a fire - it wasnt critical at that time because we were hanging out at our condo in Cebu city but, if we were in the jungle without matches or lighters it is good to know we would have had a fire.

Conversely our friend "Tata" from the Pastolon village near Subic Bay can make a fire with bamboo in a short time. Being somewhat of an expert in the friction fire methods found in north america, I find the Bamboo fire method tiring and tedious. It takes "Tata" a lot longer to make an ember with bamboo, than it does for me to make one with a Bow and drill or hand drill method. Im not sure of the species of bamboo used but it is a lot softer than the type "Jungle wil" and I used in Cebu.

My good friend and fire junkie Ed Read are also interested in the Flint and Bamboo fire method. I have seen locals in indonesia start fire by striking flint on bamboo, it is kinda cool to watch and remindes me of the Flint and steel method popular in the USA.

You can read about the bamboo and flint method here; http://bushcraftusa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4010&highlight=bamboo+flint+fire

You can view "Tata" making fire with split bamboo here;


If you live in bamboo country or have some bamboo laying around in the garage, go out and give this method a try, it is a lot of fun to practice and it never hurts to add another skill to your bag of tricks.

Tomahawk - Scouts out!

George Tweed Robinson Crusoe USN

In WW2,Radioman George Tweed lived at large for 31 months on the Island of Guam, hiding from nearly 20,000 Japanese troops.

I have read his book, "Robinson Crusoe USN".

It was a good story of survival and evasion behind enemy lines. it seemed to me tho that Tweed expected the Chammoros to do a lot for him as far as bringing him food etc.

Those people risked and some lost their lives to hide this man for 31 months. Guam is not that big, it is actually pretty amazing that he managed to hide from that many Japanese Soldiers.

I have posted a little info below about Tweed, if you can find the book it is well worth the time to read it.

Tomahawk - Scouts out!

A US Territory won during the Spanish American war in 1898, Guam was an important half way point between Hawaii and the Philippines for the US pacific fleet. At the beginning of World War two the island and its sleepy backwater garrison was home to 700 US military personnel, mostly members of naval support units. On December 10, 1941, two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Guam was attacked by a landing force of more than 6,000 Japanese troops. Having no heavy weapons and running short of ammunition for small arms they did have, the defenders were overrun within 48 hours. Declining to surrender, navy Radioman George Tweed packed his belongings into his personal car and drove into the mountains. He abandoned the vehicle and continued on foot accompanied by another sailor he picked up on the way. All he carried was a colt 45 handgun, some food and a small radio receiver. Within days Japanese troops were coming the dense interior for American stragglers (there were four others besides Tweed and his friend) forcing them to relocate often and take refuge in caves and holes. In February 1942 George's companion broke off on his own and was captured and executed. Two of the remaining Americans shared the same fate when they were captured a few months later and the final pair were captured and executed in October 1942.

At this point George Tweed was the only American on a small island with thousands of enemy troops. For years he continued a cat and mouse game with the islands new masters, changing his location often and only emerging in nights with no moon to find food and supplies. Local Chamorro natives helped George when they could and kept quiet about his whereabouts. Several paid for their kindness with their lives. By 1944 Japanese forces on the island numbered nearly 19,000 personnel and George had the added problem of avoiding American air raids. On at least two occasions he came within feet of being hit by bombs dropped by his own servicemen.

On July 21, 1944, Guam was invaded by a joint task force of U.S. Army, Navy and Marines. In the fierce fighting that shook the island, almost all of the Japanese defenders were killed. In a cave matrix produced by lava flows halfway up the 1200 ft Mt. Tenjo, Tweed lived as the "Caveman of Guam" With a ragtag uniform and long hair and beard he was found by US troops on the night of July 29, 1944. He had managed to elude the Japanese soldiers for two years seven months. He had been listed by the Navy as Killed in action more than thirty months before. He was awarded the Legion of Merit, given 30 days leave and over $5000 in back pay. After reuniting with his wife and children he reported back for duty and was promoted to Chief Radioman. One of the local Chamorro who aided Tweed, Antonio Artero, was decorated as well and an effort is under way to recognize others among the population who assisted in keeping him out of capture.

After the war he wrote a book 'Robinson Crusoe USN,' which was later turned into a movie. This modern day Robinson Crusoe died in 1989 in an automobile accident in Northern California. He was 86 years old.



Read more at Suite101: George Tweed Robinson Crusoe USN: The radioman that held out for 31 months on Guam in WWII http://militaryhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/george_tweed_robinson_crusoe_usn#ixzz0gkNIxnlu

Antonios Jungle Hut

I was going through some files and came accross a short video of the Hunting camp hut built and used by my good friend Antonio.

Antonio lives with his extended family at the pastolon Negrito village near subic bay, Philippines , but he keep a hut inb the jungle for hunting, and to escape for some peace and quiet too i suppose.

My good friend and wilderness associate "Jungle Wil" and I met our friend Tata (cashew), antonios brother, at the pamalaklakan trail head. After sharing some coffee and foods with the other Aeta Jungle guides gatherd there, Tata, Wil and Me, shouldered our packs and headed out.

it took about 2 hours or so to hike back to antonios place in the jungle, it was raining and i was looking forward to getting out of my wet jungle boots and clothes and having a bite to eat.

We arrived in due time at antonios camp and set about making coffee and roasting a few bananas. we sat around talking and making plans as to what we would do over the next couple of days. Here is the short video I mentioned and I hope you like it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUrMoCNyrYE

Tomahawk - Scouts out!

Wheeler peak New Mexico

May 2009 I had just got back to Arizona after flying round the world Via Kuwait, Thailand, The Philippines, and Korea. I was a little bored with the local scene so I packed my bag and headed to New mexico.

My plan was to hitch hike to Taos and hang out there for a couple of weeks before thumbing my way back to AZ.

Out of Sierra Vista,Az I caught a ride with a friend who was heading to Douglas,I asked him to drop me off at Highway 191.

I had a fairly light amount of gear with me, a little bit of food and 1 gallon of water.

Feeling bored with standing there I threw on my pack and started walking up the road. I saw some back packs left behind by some illigal aliens so I checked them out to see if they contained anything I could use. As luck would have it there were 2 cans of tuna and veggies,and a small can of refried beans. I stuffed the grub in my pack and continued hiking.

It didnt take long before I got my first ride north on 191, an older gentleman who was a retired mine worker, he was heading to morincie. That was about perfect, he could drop me off at the "3 way" as the local folks call it and I could head up the hill into the Gila wilderness then on the New Mexico.

After topping off my water bottles I Shouldered my pack and headed up the road. I had been walking for around 20 minutes of so when a guy in a SUV pulled up and asked me if i wanted a lift.

The guy was heading into Reserve NM to spend the night there. I had him drop me off outside of town so I could set up my camp for the evening.

In the morning I packed up and caught a ride almost immediatly with a Vietnam vet who served in a Long range recon(LRRP)unit . He was an interesting guy to talk to and told me he preferred to live out in the woods alone. I can understand exactly how he feels.

Anyway, it took me another day to get to Taos, I went through the Jicarilla Apache Reservation then caught a ride all the way to Taos with a self proclaimed pot grower and anti establishment dude. he dropped me off at the Hondo River.

I set up my camp in a natural arbor not far from the river and slept for a couple of days. My plan was to head up to the bull of the woods trail head and hike to the top of Wheeler peak which is the highest point in New Mexico at 13,131 feet.

It was a few miles from my camp on the Hondo to the Bull of the woods trail head so i hitched a ride up there and camped in a small grove of aspens that evening.

Early the next morning I packed up and started up the trail to Wheelr peak. It was a fairly easy hike and there was plenty of places to find water along the trail.

On the way back down I camped in a grove of conifers once I had reached the tree line again.

After reaching the Trail head the next morning I hitched into Taos and checked into a hotel then took in all of the tourist stops and checked out a few art galleries.

The Kit carson museum is worth a look as is the Philmont scout ranch in cimmeron.

I had no definate plans but I ended up hanging out in and around Taos for about 2 weeks before heading to Utah; But that is another story.

Tomahawk - Scouts out!

Big Bend Texas Natl Park

My good friend "fryin' pan" Jake and I decided to make a sweep through Big Bend Texas National Park.

We packed light and carried minimum food but, as much water as we could. Personally I had 2 full gallons in my pack and I think "Ol' Fry" had the same - plus a liter of tequila!

anyhoo, we headed out the trail and stopped off at lunas Jacal which is an historic spot in the park. It is the former home of gilberto Luna and his family, I think he lived in the Jacal until sometime in the 1930's.

We stopped down at terlingua creek and scouted around , I noticed a lot of beaver sign and all manner of small animal tracks along the creek bottom. We also checked out some old ruins from a former town settlement in the area beck in the 20's/30's.

We headed up the trial, toward the top of the reef and encountered a small herd of horses. We stopped off to check out a rock cairn and I found a rattle snake tail on the rocks.

It was a good hike and I was feeling the steepness of the climb, we tabbed for about 2 hours and located a decent camp site and set up a dry camp among the creosote bush.

As I said before , we didnt bring a lot of food along so we boiled a pot of water for coffee then dined on ostrich jerky, SPAM sandwiches, a couple of apples and washed it down with Javva laced with Hernitos Tequila - my favorite brand.

After sitting around the fire yarning with "Old Fry", I picked a bit of creosote bush to steep in hot water for a mouth wash. I kinda like the taste of the creosote bush and like to use the "tea" to brush my teeth and as a rinse.

We let the fire die down and crawled into our sleeping bags and just laid there taking in the night sky while passing the tequila bottle back and forth.

That part of texas has some beautiful nigh skies and the only place to compare is Maybe Montana.

anyhoo, we were up early. We didnt bother to make a fire for coffee but instead drank some cold that we had left over from the night before.

scoffed a few handfulls of trail mix then shouldered or Lowe alpine packs and headed for the Chisos mountains.

My Friend "Fryin' Pan Jake" busted his sunglasses so he made a pair of "Quickie" shades from a lechugilla stalk and we were on our way again.

We were in the Chisos mountains heading for emory peak, it was/is a beautiful range of mountains with some grand vistas of Chihuahua.

I had brought along my digital camera to snap a few pics but the rascal quit working on me for some reason so we were forced to use the 35MM camera belonging to "Ol' Fry". It is an old school camera but seemed to work ok for this trip.

Anyhoo, here are a few pics of the trip for your viewing enjoyment. If you ever get the chance to visit the Big Bend Texas area, dont pass it up. You will be impressed by the beauty of the area.

I love the chihuahuan desert in winter, it is just cold enough for me to enjoy it, and there is no snow!

Tomahawk - Scouts out!

Thank you - 20,000 Plus views

Wow, I came online today and saw that there are now 20,000 plus views to my blog.The last time I checked the number of views it was 13,019 on january 13th, so in the past month I have had over 7000 views - thanks folks.

I would like to thank all of my viewers for their support over the past few months.

Id also like to apologize for being offline for the most part over the past month or so. there have been several factors beyond my control which have prevented me from seeking adventure and writing about it.

In the future I will be posting more info on travel and equipment for your reading pleasure.My plan is to continue traveling in mexico and further south to Honduras and Colombia over the next few months.

Thanks again folks!

Tomahawk - Scouts out!

Frank Worsley

I just finished reading the Book "Shackletons Captain" by John Thompson. It is about Frank Worsley who was the captain of the HMS Endurance on Shackletons 1914 trans antartic expedition.

The Sinking of the Endurance in the pack ice and subsiquent survival epic is a great story to read, I believe those men were made of different stuff then most folks today.

My favorite part of this story is the famous open boat trip from Elephant Island to South Georgia to get help for the stranded crew. Shackleton,Worsley,Tom Crean,John Vincent,Tim Mcarthy and of course "Chippy McNish the Carpenter, made the journey in a reinforced whale boat christened the "James Caird".

The journey was a distance of 800 nautical miles the responsibility of navigating the boat to South Georgia fell to Worsley.

Success depended on Worsley's navigation, based on sightings attempted during the very brief appearances of the sun, as the boat pitched and rolled.

His seamanship skills were first rate as can be expected from a man who spent his life on the seas, I would have love to sit around having a whisky and a pipe of tobacco listening to this old salt yarn away the hours.

Below is a little info about the voyage of the James Caird.

Tomahawk - Scouts out!

The first observation was made after two days, and showed them to be 128 nautical miles (237 km; 147 mi) north of Elephant Island.The course was now changed to head directly for South Georgia.They were clear of the dangers of floating ice but had reached the dangerous seas of the Drake Passage, where huge rolling waves sweep round the globe, unimpeded by any land.The movement of the ship made cooking hot food on the Primus nearly impossible, but Crean, acting as cook, somehow kept the men fed.
The next observation, on 29 April,showed that they had travelled 238 nautical miles (441 km; 274 mi).[30] Thereafter, navigation became, in Worsley's words, "a merry jest of guesswork",as they encountered the worst of the weather. The James Caird was taking on water in heavy seas and in danger of sinking, kept afloat by continuous bailing. The temperature fell sharply, and a new danger presented itself in the accumulations of frozen spray, which threatened to capsize the boat.In turns, they had to crawl out on to the pitching deck with an axe and chip away the ice from deck and rigging.

For 48 hours they were stopped, held by a sea anchor, until the wind dropped sufficiently for them to raise sail and proceed. Despite their travails, Worsley's third observation, on 4 May, put them just 250 nautical miles (460 km; 290 mi) from the nearest point of South Georgia.

On 5 May the bad weather returned and brought them to the point of disaster in the largest seas so far. Shackleton later wrote: "We felt our boat lifted and flung forward like a cork in breaking surf".The crew bailed frantically to keep the boat afloat. Nevertheless they were still moving towards their goal, and a dead reckoning calculation by Worsley on the next day, 6 May, suggested that they were only 115 nautical miles (213 km; 132 mi) from the western point of South Georgia, a position generally confirmed by the next day's observation.But the experiences of the past two weeks were taking their toll. Shackleton observed that Vincent had collapsed and ceased to be an active member of the crew. McCarthy was "weak, but happy". McNish was weakening, although showing "grit and spirit".

On 7 May Worsley advised Shackleton that he could not be sure of their position within ten miles.To avoid the possibility of being swept past the island by the fierce south-westerly winds, Shackleton ordered a slight change of course so that the James Caird would reach land on the uninhabited south-west coast. It would then, if possible, work its way round to the whaling stations on the opposite side.

"Things were bad for us in those days", wrote Shackleton. "The bright moments were those when we each received our one mug of hot milk during the long, bitter watches of the night". Late on the same day floating seaweed was spotted, and the next morning there were birds, including cormorants which were known never to venture far from land. Shortly after noon on 8 May came the first sight of land.

Frank Arthur Worsley DSO and Bar, OBE, RD (February 22, 1872, in Akaroa – February 1, 1943) was a New Zealand sailor and explorer.

After serving in the Pacific, and especially in the New Zealand Post Office's South Pacific service (where he became renowned for his ability to navigate to tiny, remote islands) he joined Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1916, as captain of the Endurance. The aim was to cross the Antarctic continent, but the ship became frozen in ice, and was eventually crushed. All 28 men from the expedition floated on the ice until they put to sea. Then they sailed in three lifeboats until, thanks to Worsley's navigational skills, they reached Elephant Island, off the Antarctic Peninsula.

Worsley, Shackleton and four other men then sailed the 22-foot (6.7 m) lifeboat James Caird some 800 miles across the stormy South Atlantic Ocean, eventually arriving at their intended destination, South Georgia. This was an astounding feat of navigation by Worsley, who used a sextant in a tiny boat that encountered 50-foot (15 m) waves and storms. Shackleton, Worsley and seaman Tom Crean then walked across South Georgia in a 36-hour march to fetch help from Stromness whaling station. All men were rescued from Elephant Island. Worsley has become almost a maritime legend due to the epic feats of navigation he performed during the famous expedition, in particular, his navigation of the James Caird. He is respected by sailors and seafarers worldwide. In 1931 he published his account in the book Endurance which remains popular and in print to this day.

During the First World War, Worsley captained a secret 'Q ship' and was responsible for the ramming and sinking of a German submarine in a skillful manoeuvre. He died from lung cancer in 1943.

Distress signals

A distress signal is an internationally recognized means for obtaining help. Distress signals take the form of or are commonly made by using radio signals, displaying a visually detected item or illumination, or making an audible sound, from a distance.

It is a good idea to know at least a few of the internationally recognized signals if you are out and about in the worlds wilderness areas. I have never needed or used a distress signal personally but,While employed in hostile areas around the world I always carried a blaze orange marker panel and a signal mirror in addition to my radio and extra batteries. in addition I have a wallet size card which illustrates aviation ground to air distress signals - just in case.

Tomahawk - Scouts out!

A distress signal indicates that a person or group of people, ship, aircraft, or other vehicle is threatened by grave and imminent danger and requests immediate assistance. Use of distress signals in other circumstances may be against local or international law.s1600-h/bodysignals.jpg">In order for distress signalling to be the most effective, two functions must be communicated:
alert or notification of a distress in progress
position or location (or localization or pinpointing) of the party in distress.
For example, a single aerial flare alerts observers to the existence of a vessel in distress somewhere in the general direction of the flare sighting on the horizon but extinguishes within one minute or less. A hand held flare burns for 3 minutes and can be used to localize or pinpoint more precisely the exact location or position of the party in trouble. An EPIRB both notifies or alerts authorities and at the same time provides position indication information.

Distress can be indicated by any of the following officially sanctioned methods;
transmitting a spoken voice Pan-pan, or a Mayday message by radio over very high frequency (shorter range VHF) channel 16 (156.8 MHz) and/or high frequency (longer range HF) on 2182 kHz
transmitting a digital distress signal by activating (or pressing) the distress button (or key) on a marine radio equipped with Digital Selective Calling (DSC) over the VHF (channel 70) and/or HF frequency bands.
transmitting a digital distress signal by activating (or pressing) the distress button (or key) on a Inmarsat-C satellite internet device
sending the Morse code group SOS by light flashes or sounds
burning a red flare (either hand-held or aerial parachute flare)
emitting orange smoke from a canister
showing flames on the vessel (as from a burning tar barrel, oil barrel, etc)
raising and lowering slowly and repeatedly both arms outstretched to each side
making a continuous sound with any fog-signalling apparatus
firing a gun or other explosive signal at intervals of about a minute
flying the international maritime signal flags NC.

displaying a visual signal consisting of a square flag having above or below it a ball or anything resembling a ball (round or circular in appearance),

In addition, distress can be signalled using automated radio signals, such as from a 406 MHz radio frequency Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB). These signals are received and processed by a constellation of satellites known as COSPAS-SARSAT.

A GPIRB is an EPIRB that is equipped with a global positioning system (GPS) sensor which enables the distress signal to incorporate the latitude and longitude position of the party in distress.

A DSC radio distress signal can include the position if the lat/long are manually keyed into the radio or if a GPS-derived position is passed electronically directly into the radio.

A Mayday message consists of the word "mayday" spoken three times in succession, which is the distress signal, followed by the distress message, which should include:

name of the vessel or ship in distress
her position (actual, last known or estimated expressed in lat./long. or in distance/bearing from a specific location)
nature of the vessel distress condition or situation (e.g. on fire, sinking, aground, taking on water, adrift in hazardous waters)
number of persons at risk or to be rescued; grave injuries
type of assistance needed or being sought
any other details to facilitate resolution of the emergency such as actions being taken (e.g. abandoning ship, pumping flood water), estimated available time remaining afloat.

In North America, marine search and rescue agencies in Canada and the United States also recognize certain other distress signals:

sea marker dye;
white high intensity strobe light flashing at 60 times per minute
A floating man-overboard pole or dan buoy can be used to indicate that a person is in distress in the water and is ordinarily equipped with a yellow and red flag (international code of signals flag "O") and a flashing lamp or strobe light.

Unusual or extraordinary appearance;
During daylight hours when the sun is visible, a heliograph mirror can be used to flash bright, intense sunlight. Battery-powered laser lights the size of small flashlights (electric torches) are available for use in emergency signalling.

Flags;
For hundreds of years inverted national flags (were) are commonly used as distress signals. It is difficult or impossible to determine when many countries (such as those of Argentina or Italy) are inverted, or the viewer may not be familiar with the flag and may not realise it is not upright. If a national flag is available, distress may be indicated by flying it upside down, or tieing a knot in it and flying it upside down, making it into a wheft.

Device loss and disposal;
To avoid pointless searches some devices must be reported when lost. This particularly applies to EPIRBs, life buoys, rafts and devices marked with the vessel's name and port.

Expired flares should not be set off, as this indicates distress. Rather, most port authorities offer disposal facilities for expired distress pyrotechnics.

Aviation distress signals;
The civilian aircraft emergency frequency for voice distress alerting is 121.5 MHz. Military aircraft use 243 MHz (which is a harmonic of 121.5 MHz, and therefore civilian beacons transmit on this frequency as well). Aircraft can also signal an emergency by setting one of several special transponder codes, such as 7700.

The COSPAS/SARSAT signal can be transmitted by an Electronic Locator Transmitter or ELT, which is similar to a marine EPIRB on the 406 MHz radio frequency. (Marine EPIRBS are constructed so as to float while aviation an ELT is constructed so as to be activated by a sharp deceleration and is sometimes referred to as a Crash Position Indicator/CPI).

A "triangular distress pattern" is a rarely-used flight pattern flown by aircraft in distress but without radio communications. The standard pattern is a series of 120° turns.

Mountain distress signals;
The recognised mountain distress signals are based on groups of three (six in the UK). A distress signal can be 3 fires or piles of rocks in a triangle, three blasts on a whistle, or three flashes of a light, in succession followed by a one minute pause and repeated until a response is received. Three blasts or flashes is the appropriate response.

In the Alps, the recommended way to signal distress is the Alpine distress signal: give six signals within a minute, then pause for a minute, repeating this until rescue arrives. A signal may be anything visual (waving clothes or lights, use of a signal mirror) or audible (shouts, whistles, etc.). The rescuers acknowledge with three signals per minute. To communicate with a helicopter in sight, raise both arms (forming the letter Y) to indicate "Yes" or "I need help," or stretch one arm up and one down (imitating the letter N) for "No" or "I do not need help". If semaphore flags are available, they can possibly be used to communicate with rescuers.

Trapper Jon's Knife Shop

For the past 10 years or so I have been hanging out at my friend Trapper Jon's Knife shop in sierra Vista arizona.

I cant say for sure but I think He may have the largest private collection of knives west of the mississippi river.

There is every kind of axe,tomahawk,machete,kukuri and bolo knife in there to boot. Jon has many different original medival swords and weapons in his collection also.If you are ever in this neck of the woods, stop in and see Jon, tell him Tomahawk sent you. Be warned tho, it is hard to walk out of that shop without buying at least 1 knife.

Tomahawk - Scouts out!

Railroad workers billycan in action

My good friend Sticks65 sent me this review he did on a Railroad worker Billy can. I kinda like it and the little stove he used to do the testing. Im gonna have to try and make the stove sometime.

Check it out, I hope you like the pictures.

Tomahawk - Scouts out!

Railroad workers billycan in action;

http://s859.photobucket.com/albums/ab151/sticks65/

"Sticks65"

Well I only ordered my Billycan on Friday and got it first thing this morning

I had some gardening to do today so i thought may as well cook outside and give my can a little test run.

The first thing i did before i tested it outside was to boil some water on the kitchen hob which seemed to boil in just a few minutes.


Then i went out side and got my fire box going using birch paper bark and my fire steel while i got on with a little gardening

By the time i had pruned a couple of bushes the fire box was ready to cook on so i put some baked beans in the can and put them on the fire box.

Didn't take long for the beans to heat up but one thing i noticed is that they warmed up at a good rate and did not burn.

While i was eating my beans i put some water in the billy cup and put this on to boil which only took a minute or two,the cup was hot but that was not a problem as i take rigger gloves when i go camping and buy the time i was ready for a drink the cup had cooled enough.

All in all im very pleased with this billy can,it is easy to use and easy to clean.
Its a nice size [holds 1 3/2 pints] you do need a long spoon which was not a problem because i had one

The spoon i used,its an eating spoon and coffee spoon