John Plant von Primitive Technology ist mal wieder ausgezogen, um aus fast nichts nützliche Dinge zu machen. In der neusten Episode baut er sich ein Handgebläse und macht Holzkohle. Ich sitze bei seinen Videos ja immer noch wie ein kleiner Junge vor dem Bildschirm und muss an meine Sommerferienlager denken. Hach.

(Direktlink)

Mühsam aber möglich: die Männer von Primitive Survival Tool haben sich aus den einfachsten Mittel einen Minipool, der eher eine Badewanne ist, in die Wildnis gebaut. Wahrscheinlich war der Moment, in dem sie endlich da rein steigen konnten, einer der besten ihres Lebens – nach der Arbeit.

Da ist natürlich keine Pumpe oder so dran, vermutlich muss das Wasser also hin und wieder mal gewechselt werden. Oder halt Natur pur.

(Direktlink)

(Direktlink)

Vor Jahren habe ich derartige Touren im Sommer mit Jugendlichen gemacht. Ich hätte auch echt mal wieder Bock, so eine Reise zu machen. Weil sie so verdammt intensiv mit der Natur verknüpft ist. Jugendliche, allerdings, tuen sich heute sehr schwer damit, verbindliche Zusagen machen zu können, weshalb das die vergangenen drei Jahre nicht geklappt hat. Aber vielleicht sollte ich einfach auf privater Ebene mal drüber nachdenken.

Hier ein Floß-Trip in Schweden.

(Direktlink, via reddit)

Die Jungs von Almazan Kitchen haben sich mal wieder ein paar Zutaten eingepackt, sich in die Ruhe eines Waldes begeben, ein Feuer gemacht und über diesem Börek gemacht. Ich hab jetzt Hunger.

(Direktlink)

(Direktlink, via Jens)

Bei Smith Fly haben sie mit dem Shoal Tent gerade ein Schlauchboot mit einem wetterfesten Zeltaufsatz, was dafür sorgt, dass man so ein Boot bei Nacht nicht an Land bringen und auf diesem unabhängig vom Wetter einfach auch pennen kann. Voll ramontisch – wenn auch etwas teuer.

Introducing the Shoal Tent, a first of it’s kind inflatable floating raft with a tent topper that allows you to sleep out on the water. Camp on your favorite farm pond, salt water flat, spring creek or eddie on your favorite river.

I made a pair of sandals from loya cane. Walking bare footed in the bush generally doesn’t cause problems for my feet. But when repetitively carrying loads of various materials the soles of the feet become cracked and split. So I made some basic footwear for the purpose of working on rough surfaces.

I cut some cane and measured out a length 6 times the length of the foot (about 1.5 m), folded it into loops and wove more cane between the loops to form the sole, adding new cane as needed. Next, I made bark fiber cordage and threaded it through the sandal to keep it on. The pair took about 1 hour to make (longer due to setting up the camera).

The sandals do protect from the ground, preventing the feet from cracking. I personally don’t like wearing footwear in the forest as bare feet give better grip, especially on inclines. But for heavy work or when my feet are injured I’ll wear these. These sandals are so quick to make that I’ve already got 2 pairs. The material used to make them (loya cane) is everywhere here but pretty much any rope like material will do. Bark fiber rope, grass, vine, flexible roots etc. will all make usable alternative materials.

(Direktlink)

„I built a water powered hammer called a “Monjolo”. I started by making a water spout from half a hollow log to direct water from the creek. This was set up in the creek and water flowed through it. The hammer was made from a fallen tree. I cut it to size by burning it at the points I wanted it cut (to save effort chopping). Next I carved a trough in one end to catch falling water. This was done first with a stone chisel that was then hafted to an L–shaped handle and used as an adze. This adze only took about an hour to make as I already had the chisel head and cordage made of bark fibre to bind it with.“

(Direktlink)

„I built this pottery kiln and some pottery from termite mound clay to test an alternative clay source to my usual one from the creek bank. I started by making a large grate from ordinary clay. It was just under 50 cm in diameter. Next, I took dry chunks of termite nest and put them into the pit in front of the tiled roof hut. The chunks were crushed and water was added to slake the clay. The clay was trodden on to mix it. Dead palm fronds were added to the clay to stop it from cracking as it dried and to add insulation to the kiln. The mixture was trodden on again and then taken from the pit. A trench was dug to form the firebox of the kiln and a wall of clay was made in the front of the trench. A hole was dug into the wall to allow air flow into the firebox.“

(Direktlink)

„Can you make the ice cream from scratch in the winter forest? Impossible you say? Just watch this video and prepare for the most epic ice-cream of all time! We promise you, it will be special! Oh, forgot to mention, this video contains some serious foodporn too…

Ingredients:
homemade snow
1 vanilla stick
1 grapefruit
2 tbsp. brown sugar
wasp honey
1 cup of cream“

(Direktlink)

„The Loch Ness Monster is one of our most enduring myths. People have sought to uncover ol’ Nessie’s secrets for 1,500 years. But only one man has devoted his life to learning the truth … and living alone in a van by the loch to do so. Meet Steve Feltham, Nessie’s full-time watchman since 1991.“

(Direktlink)

„I built a bed shed, a small shelter with a sleeping platform built into it. It’s quicker to build than a large hut but can be extended later on when materials and time become available. It’s not far from the dome shaped grass hut I built earlier. The hut took about 2 weeks to make only because it’s difficult to find grass in the mountain (if built in a field it would be significantly faster).
The hut is 2 m long and 1 m wide. Four posts were hammered into the ground, two 1 m high posts (1.25 m long, 25 cm underground) on the low side and two 2m high posts (2.25m long, 25cm underground) on the high side. Onto this, a sloping rafters was lashed on with fish tail wait-a-while, a spiky palm with a vine like habit. To remove the needle like spikes from the plant, the leaves are pulled off so that the frond sheaths come with them. This made suitable lashings.“

(Direktlink)

I built a tiled roof shed to provide a fire and rain proof shelter for working on projects during wet weather and for storing firewood. The shed houses the very kiln used to fire its own tiles.
I cut timber using the stone hatchet and took it to the building site. 6 Upright posts were stuck into the ground about half a meter. Mortices were cut into the horizontal beams using a stone chisel to start with, then had there mortices enlarged using hot coals and a blow pipe to burn them out more. These beams were put in place and rafters were lashed on with lawyer cane. The wood that the tiles sit on are about 50 cm apart. The finished frame was 2 x 2 m in floor plan, 2 m tall at the ridge line and 1.5 m tall at the sides. This roof angle is about 22.5 degrees, half the pitch of the huts I usually make. This took about a week but I did it about 4 months ago and left the wood at the site because I was busy on other videos.

(Direktlink)

Next, I made a rotary fan from two pieces of bark that slot together at right angles to each other to form a simple 4 bladed paddle wheel about 20 cm in diameter and 5 cm tall. The blades of the fan were not angled and were designed only to throw air outwards away from the axle when spun. The rotor of the fan was made by splitting a stick two ways so it formed 4 prongs. The fan was then inserted into the prongs and the end lashed to hold it in place. Spinning the fan rotor back and forth between the palms of the hands fanned the fire. But only some of the wind generated by the fan reached the fire. The rest of it was blowing in other directions, effectively being wasted.
So I built a fan housing from unfired clay to direct the air flow into the fire. This was basically an upturned pot with a hole in the top, a spout coming out of the side. The housing was about 25 cm wide and 8 cm tall. The hole in the top and the spout were both about 6 cm in diameter so that the air coming in roughly equalled the air coming out. The base of the fan rotor sat in a wooden socket placed in the ground to make it spin easier and the top of the rotor protruded from the hole in the top of the housing.

(Direktlink)

(Direktlink)

(Direktlink, via Fernsehersatz)

Das Teil ist mittlerweile durchfinanziert und wird ab Anfang 2016 wohl in den Versand gehen. Bestellt werden kann hier.

Kann man immer mal gebrauchen, wenn man auch neben dem Sommer mal im Zelt pennen mag.

(via Marco)

(via reddit)

(Direktlink, via reddit)

Das Camp Coffee Kit Tames the morning bear aus dem Hause Bush Smarts hat also viel mehr als nötig wäre. Sieht dabei allerdings verdammt gut aus und gibt eine ganz wunderbare Geschenkidee für jene die Natur und Kaffee gleichermaßen mögen.

The beans are roasted by our friend at 21Bean, who delivers bespoke subscription coffee each month. After much tasting we settled on a bean from Guatemala and roasted it up for a dark, rich and mellow brew. We think you’ll love it. We do!

Our kit „tames the morning bear“ via traditional cowboy style brewing, where the grinds go in with the water. But instead of pouring through a bandana, the mesh filter is secured across the bottle mouth letting the good stuff flow out. If it slows down just gently pull on the filter to increase the tension of the mesh. It makes one tough cup of joe that gives us motivation to unzip the sleeping bag on a cool morning.

(via Notcot)

„The ring is 26 inches in diameter and uses 16 gauge steel with a 12 gauge steel bottom. Then finished with a high temp black paint. The great Smaug himself would struggle burning through it!
As huge fans of the Lord of the Rings series and one who enjoys campfires we thought why not combine them. Using the black speech from the one ring as a firering seemed to perfect. The font glows perfectly with a nicely lit fire under a starry night.“

(via Like Cool)

(via Gizmodo)