How to sharpen knives and axes

All knives and axes can be sharpened. Normally those tools that can be sharpened quickly are usually of a lower quality and will not hold a sharp edge for long. You might say that the quality of tool is directly proportional to the length of time it takes to obtain a good sharp edge. Remember that a good quality tool will last longer and give better results with little hassle on the trail. Nothing is worse than breaking a blade or trying to make a witch's broom to start a fire with a blade as dull as a ball Bering! Properly cared for a quality tool will last you a life time. So, SPEND THE MONEY AND SPEND THE TIME!!

Axes:
Hudson Bay style axe not less than 2 1/2 pounds with a handle of no less than 28". High carbon steel is not recommended as this makes the blade brittle and prone to chipping. Lots of store bought handles are made of hickory. I have found these to be strong but brittle and have not had a very good record of longevity with these. I think that the problem lies with the fact that they are finished with a coat or two of clear verathane and this causes the wood to dry out and if the handle was finished before the wood had a chance to be properly dried this sealing of the wood will promote rot. I have found the best handles made are of ash. Now I am notorious for breaking axe handles, (bad judge of distances I suspect) and have had the same ash handle for 7 or 8 years. The key is to look for straight grain in the handle, no matter what the wood and make sure there are no knots present. If you see knots leave it on the shelf. If you see the grain form small lengths along the shaft, leave it on the shelf. This is caused by using wood that was on the outer edge of the log and the small length of grain will not bear the punishment or shock of splitting your fire wood. The same rule applies for hatchets, only 1 pound heads are preferable. I prefer to carry a hatchet instead of an axe because it takes up less room and is lighter to carry.

Knives:
You should never,ever leave home without one. More useful than an American express card a good knife can be the difference between staying safe and warm or cold and miserable. Stainless steel looks nice and will keep a good edge but here is where high carbon steel really shines. (No pun intended.) Fold away locking blades are a good choice as they are safer to carry on your person and less cumbersome but lack the strength of a larger long blade. One need not have a blade the likes of Crocodile Dundee to have a good useful knife. Why kill a bug with a truck when a slap of the hand will do. A 6" blade is plenty long enough for any camping chore and always keep it in the sheath which should be made of thick quality leather. Stay away from the cheap vinyl sheaths and those gimmicky knives that have more useless tools than Carter has liver pills. About the only knife I have seen on the sporting goods shelf that has all those gimmicks, a compass with a hollow handle that holds a small survival kit of fishing line, hook, matches,small signal mirror, needle, floss etc. as well as some big spikes that screw into the scabbard to help your grip in ice should you fall into a lake in the winter is a Buck survival knife. This knife went for $195.00 CNN back in '82. Nice knife if your the type who likes that sort of thing.

Sharpening:
Ideally the best way to sharpen your blades is on a powered stone with a constant supply of water but most people don't have that option so a flat stone either whet stone or oil stone is the best alternative. Also an axe file for your axe or hatchet will do fine. For your axe start with the file from the outside of the blade in to the heel, always in the same direction working towards the bottom of the blade from the top. Then again from the bottom towards the top so that is makes a wired or coarse edge. Flip the axe to the other side and do the same to the other side. When each side has that wired edge take the coarse side of an oil stone and again work in towards the heel of the axe. Turn the stone over and do the same with the fine face of the stone. Care must be taken not to over sharpen the blade or you will lose the edge and have to start over again. Your just going to hack away and split wood with the thing not perform surgery, at least I hope not! Remember that it is the wedge shape of the axe that does the work of splitting wood not solely the sharp edge. Scalpels may be sharp but try to split wood with them. Most factory knives come with a pre honed edge that are reasonable sharp and stay that way for a good length of time. Never use a file to sharpen knife blades. Start with a good carborundum stone (coarse on one side and fine on the other). Lay it on a flat surface and apply plenty of light machine oil (3 in 1 oil is fine) to the surface of the stone. Use the coarse side first if the knife is really dull. Lay the knife surface flat on the stone then raise the back edge up off the stone about 20 deg. Draw the knife over the stone as if you were trying to slice a thin slice off of the stone, being careful to work the entire length of the blade along the face of the stone, from heel to tip. About ten strokes per side then working down to 9 then 8 then 7 and so on till the knife gets that wired or rough feeling edge. Start with plenty of pressure at first then easing up slightly after each set of passes. Following the same procedure on the fine face of the stone will bring your knife to a finely honed edge that will last a long time baring any abuse like cutting wire or bone. Try to refrain from sticking the blade into the ground to clean it off. There are small stones under that dirt that will take the edge off your knife in very short order. Wipe whatever is on the blade on your shirt or pants instead. Easier to wash clothes than to sharpen knives all day, every other day. Switching to a Washita stone (harder) using the same procedure only using a honing oil like Kerosene. Keep checking the blade. Using a magnifying glass will show the that you still have a wired edge. Switching to an Arkansas Black stone (very hard to find and very expensive to boot) follow the same procedure as above. I always wondered if they want that much for one small slab of stone can you imagine what a whole quarry is worth? You should now be able to shave with your knife but if not, stroke the blade away from the edge or the opposite direction from what you have previously been doing if you will. Your belt or boot tongue will do as well as your jeans (preferably not while your still in them though). This will strip away the fine wired edge still on your knife blade. Remember that a sharp tool will do a better job than a dull tool and is much safer to use. I know, your asking yourself how that could possible be. You can cut yourself much easier with a sharp blade than a dull one!! Well that's the whole point! If you realize that you are working with a very sharp tool you will be that much more inclined to pay extra attention to what you are doing and less likely to slice a part of your anatomy off.

 

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Emergency Repair Kits:

Nothing quite comes close to the feeling of your nice new or restored cedar and canvas canoe as it glides across the still morning water as the mist rises up and gives way to that first white light the morning sun. You peacefully paddle along watching the beavers or loons not paying to much attention to what's in the water ahead of you. After all, your in a lake what could possibly obstruct your path, right? Ah ! just below the surface about two inches lies that canvas chewing monster granite just waiting to take a nice long slice out of your sleek craft. "Bump...Crunch... and the sickening sound of cloth ripping as you glide past its' sharp surface. Slowly you see a bead of water appear between the strips. It grows slowly at first but seems to quicken the more you watch it until, like quick silver it traces its' way down the planks to your knees. Should you just let it be and hope the cedar strips swell enough to plug the hole? Nice thought but wishful thinking. Water will only find another route under the canvas and into your boat. Time to get out your trusty patch kit and seal that nasty tear. Anyone going on an extensive trip should have a kit assembled for such an emergency as ripped canvas which is a minor incident to broken planking and/or ribs. A roll of Duct-tape, ( See!! Red Green is right.)is one of the handiest quick fixes you can find. Cheap and easy to use it can fix a tear in canvas, patch a rubber bucket or hold a split paddle blade together. Now for the rest of you who either forgot your repair kit at home on the shelf in the basement, saying to yourself, "I knew there was something I forgot to bring : ( ". You can easily use spruce or pine gum as a sealant. The natives used pine gum on birch bark which worked the best. Even though canoe materials have changed since then spruce and pine gum still remain waterproof to this day. Ain't nature grand? to use it remove large chunks of hard sap from the trees. This wont hurt the trees. And place them in a pot over low heat and melt it until it becomes pliable and easy to spread. After you have it spread over the tear let the sap cool and you will soon be paddling on your merry way. Later when you get home to do a more permanent repair the sap will be easily removed with commercial solvent. To make a permanent repair remove the sap or duct-tape being careful not to make the tear any larger and make sure no grit or sand is left under the canvas. If it's a small tear of an inch or less you can easily repair it with contact cement, smoothing it out after it has dried and then touching it up with some paint. For larger rips the job takes a little longer but it isn't that much more complicated. As before make sure the area is clean and free of debris. Take a knife and extend the rip with a straight cut about one inch on either end and then make another cut at right angles on each end so that you have a letter "H" type cut. Now the canvas can be lifted back by the little flaps. Next step is to cut a canvas patch large enough to cover the entire area and add one inch all the way around. This means if you have a tear 6" long by 2" high your patch should measure 8" x 4". Insert the patch through the slits and position it between the canvas and the planks. It is very important to make sure the patch lays smooth and flat so that you won't have an annoying and ascetically unpleasant lump on the bottom of your canoe. Coat the patch liberally and close the flaps over the patch. Now if you can get away with it, borrow your wife's' rolling pin and apply pressure to smooth out the excess cement and assure a smooth finish. Wait for half an hour then gently sand the area as well as the painted surface around the tear so that the paint will adhere better, otherwise it will flake off the boat in a short period of time. Contact cement is also a good repair tool for those ugly little scratches that adorn the bottom of your boat. Mixed with fine saw dust it can be used as a filler then lightly sanded with fine sand paper (#200 or finer) then painted. Don't I repeat Don't use fiberglass resin to repair canvas and cedar canoes!!! The fiberglass bonds the canvas permanently to the planking and you will have to plane it off. Not such a hot idea as the planking in most cases is about 1/8" or a little less in thickness.

Hard to find the leak?

Here is a neat way to find that nasty little elusive leak. Suspend your canoe up off the ground and put about 5 or six gallons of water in the canoe then gently move the water around letting it sit for a few minutes by tilting it back and fort and side to side. This way the water leaks out of the trouble spot that sometimes can be as small as a pinhole. Maybe it just may be a paint blister that has a small tear but is indiscernible to the eye. Again, don't fill the canoe with water because it just won't hold the weight. You'll end up tearing the decks off or worse yet snapping it in two in which case you may as well put it on the front lawn and use it as a flower pot!!

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Picking the right canoe for the job:

This is one of the most over looked tasks when people decide to try their hand at wilderness camping. There is a multitude of canoe designs and material on the market which makes choice of canoe a very difficult one at best. "Should I buy Aluminum, plastic, wood, wood and canvas, long, short, red, green, blue, white, two seats, one seat, no seats at all ? AHHHHHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" It's no wonder I see many campers out there with the wrong type of boat for their situation. Many have to small a craft for the amount of gear and or people on board. When shopping for a canoe you must keep in mind that there is no one all around perfect boat for every type of paddling. Try to determine what sort of task you will be doing with your canoe mostly. If it's going to be camping with two people for 2 to 6 days in rivers and lakes be sure to choose a boat that can hold a fair amount of weight with a wide bottom for stability and plenty of height for a safe amount of free board. (For the uninitiated free board is the amount of canoe sticking out of the water after every one and everything is in and your on the water. More is better, always.)

How to pick the right size paddle

This is always a sore spot for advice. About the best advice I could give you is to try the paddle if at all possible. The rule of thumb is the shaft should be the length from your shoulder to your hip. Notice I said the shaft . The blade should bend a little, about 1/2" when you place it on the ground and lean with your weight against the shaft. This means that the paddle has a little give to it and it shouldn't snap like a tooth pick when there is a lot of stress on it in a rapid. The grip should not be so big as to feel like a potato in your hand. Grip style is a personal choice but I found that in moving water I preferred a "t" grip as opposed to a pear grip. I can maneuver my paddle blade much faster and have better control of it. I do preferred a pear grip if all I'm paddling in is lakes. The large flat grip doesn't fatigue your wrist or palm of the hand like a "t" grip might on long trips. Plastic, wood or composite fiber? Always a debate amongst the purest of the paddling world. Plastic is fine for those bony rivers. They are generally inexpensive and can endure the most punishment. Wood is beautiful, no question, but is not cheap. Some wood paddles are just as expensive as the composite fiber models but can't take the punishment. Always remember that your paddle is your way out of the wilderness. Don't use it to push off shore or as a fulcrum to move logs out of a portage. Treat it with care and it will last you a long time. Composite fiber paddles are the most expensive paddles you can find. They are light as a feather and as sturdy as they come. If you can afford them you will thank yourself when you have to paddle 20 or 30 miles a day in the wind. One of the nicest paddles I have ever had the pleasure to use (I'm too poor to own one) was a bent shaft poly composite fiber paddle. You know when you go to pick up a can of evaporated milk that you think is full but it's empty, and you almost throw it to the ceiling? That's what this felt like when handed to me. I swear it weight about as much as bag of potato chip. If it weighed 32 grams that must have been about all it weighed.

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Nutrition on the trail:

Many people wrongly assume that they need more protein when they go on extended canoe trips. You only need to increase your protein intake if you've come off a long illness or you've done an extreme amount of exercise that requires your muscles to regenerate. Physically active people do not need more protein than those who are sedentary. The Canadian Council on nutrition recommends for adults a daily protein allowance of .08 grams of protein per kilogram (2.2 lbs) of body weight. Excess protein is merely broken down by the liver into the same energy molecules as carbohydrates plus a byproduct of nitrogen which is excreted by the body (PEE-WHEW). It is important to make sure that each meal has some protein in it. It takes much longer to digest protein than carbs so it helps to carry one on to the next meal. Particularly at breakfast , people have to be reminded to eat something that has protein in it. The need for protein is constant and the body is unable to use its' daily dosage all at one time. The less food has been processed the better the nutritional content. For example refined flour lacks the most valuable parts of the wheat kernel; the bran and germ that contain the nutrients and much needed fiber has been removed. Unrefined brown rice is better nutritionally than white or polished rice. It may take longer to cook but it is much tastier. Rolled oats is processed less than oatmeal thereby being more nutritious.

Types of food to take on the trail:

In choosing what foods you will take on your trip consider how long the foods will keep under canoeing conditions where they might be exposed to the sun's heat and high moisture. It is important to have snacks to munch on during the day, particularly if there is to be a lot of portaging. A mixture of small cookies, nuts, dried fruit (stay away from dried bananas, they sweeten the blood with potassium and the mosquitoes will have a royal feast. I'm sure they go and tell all their friends where the new eatery is, that's you!), granola and seeds like pumpkin seed and sunflower seed, salted if you wish to help retain some of the water you would otherwise lose by sweating in the summer heat.

 

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Camp fire etiquette:

When making a fire pit always try to use rocks from the river or lake shore. This is so you don't disturb rocks on the land and make unsightly holes. Use only a moderate amount of rocks. This means don't go building the Great Wall of China all over again. Use just enough to ensure to keep embers from falling onto the forest floor outside your pit. First thing is to remove the sod and place it somewhere you can find it because you will need it when you leave camp. Removing the sod will make a depression deep enough. You wont have to dig any dirt out. Place the rocks around the hole either in a circle or a key hole formation, depending on the style of camp fire you prefer. When your ready to break camp, put the fire out with plenty of water. Stir it around and keep adding water till you have a soupy black mess. Then take out all the large charred wood and place it in the water. All the stones from the pit should be placed back in the water, black side down. The sod from the pit can then be places back over the hole. This should effectively remove any trace of your presence and if you were to come back in a years time you would never be able to tell anyone had ever been there.

 

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The information found on this page is here to educate the novice camper to the concept of "Low Impact Camping Practices". Every camping trip, weather it be hiking, canoeing, cycling or whatever mode of transportation you use to get around in the wilderness should have the least impact on the environment as is possible. Even if this means sacrficing some of the comforts of home that we have come to enjoy.
After all, camping should be the time where you comune with nature, to be one with nature, not impose unwanted noise, stress or pollution on unsuspecting creatures who would rather you stay in your comfy homes and leave them alone. Remember to always respect an animals' "space". It's their home more than it is yours, we gave up that right when we moved from natural shelters and foraging from nature and moved into towns and cities and shoping for our food at the local supermarket.
Just remember how upset and freaked out humans get when a bear or moose wanders into town. Hell, they have more cops with guns ready to shot the poor beast, to defend the public safety than you could find this side of Waco Texas. Who's going to protect the animals from us?

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Campsite Selection

An important movement in camping today, which will significantly effect camping and recreational use of natural environments in the future is the practice of Low Impact or No Trace Camping. Regardless of the name the intent is the same. Minimal impact and minimal degradation of the environment by campers and recreational users. Minimal impact camping comprises of some relatively simple techniques. The adoption of these practices will go a long way in preserving the integrity of the land and enhance the wilderness experience for those who will come after you.
The following scenarios portray some of the considerations that outdoor leaders and groups should take into consideration when choosing a camp site. Designated Campsite Scenario
You are leading a group of six people on a canoe trip on a heavily used river. Your trip is for five days and there are numerous designated campsites with some having more than one fire pit all along the route. What camping practices should you consider during your trip?

Items to consider.
1 Campsite selection -
2 Habitat destruction -
3 Shelter -
4 Fires -
5 Stoves.

Location	Advantages	Disadvantages
Forest (Coniferous / deciduous)	In mixed forest soil is resilient to packing The lack of ground vegetation reduces the potential for trampling impact Generally well sheltered from wind and rain	In deciduous forest the abundant ground cover and vegetation is susceptible to trampling
Lake shore / Riverside	Close to water supply Good view	Fragile vegetation susceptible to trampling. High potential to pollution from campers' waste and erosion.
Old Fields and Meadows	Open, Good view Vegetation is usually resilient to trampling	Windy
Beaches	Sand is resilient	Fragile dune Vegetation can be easily disturbed if walked upon. Windy

Habitat Destruction

You should always avoid any unnecessary habitat destruction (ie; clearing, landscaping, digging trenches, ect.).
Staying in one place if camping for several days can cause heavy use of a single area. It is preferable to move onto a new campsite whenever possible.

Shelter

Once the site has been picked, the next task is to provide shelter at the campsite. This basic need can be satisfied without sacrificing the integrity of the wilderness.
Use shelters made of natural materials only in an emergency. If natural shelters need to be constructed for training purposes, just construct one. Lean-to's or cutting branches for bough beds should not be substituted for tents or sleeping pads because the materials gathered to build them have other roles to play in the ecosystem. Site with trees with their lower branches lopped off or freshly cut stumps are not attractive for wilderness visitors.

Tent Sites:

Sites should have
- slight elevation
- good exposure to fair weather breezes but protected from strong wind
- no dead falls overhead or nearby
- ground reasonably level and of a nature to easily accept deep driven   tent pegs
- good access to drinking water and fire wood
- have a safe location for fire building
- a place to land canoes and room to lay them on shore overnight.

Pitching and living in your tent

Be careful about tying guy-lines to trees: if a wind comes up, the swaying branches will place undue strain on your tent ropes.
Drive tent pegs into ground at a slight angle away from the tent.
Don't dig a ditch around your tent if at all possible. And then only on the high side if unavoidable. Replace dirt and sod after use.
Use a candle lantern or flash light in your tent. Avoid open flames in the tent at all cost. Also beware of sparks jumping from the camp fire onto your tent. Pitch your tent at least 40 to 50 feet away from camp fires.
Bring extra rope to secure your tent in high winds.
Canvas shrinks when wet so if rain threatens loosen the ropes slightly before retiring for the night.
Don't place dirt or leaves around the walls of your ten. This only promotes rotting of the canvas walls.
Bug proof your tent with a netting that will keep out black flies and mosquitos. If you must use bug repellent try to use it at least two hours before retiring for the night. If at all possible and you can find them or make them even, use citronella candles in your candle lantern instead of regular candles. This will provide good bug repellent that most people won't be allergic to and provide you with a safe light source at the same time.

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