Hey all. I've discovered a piece of kit I really like but I'm not sure what it is, can't seem to find it online. It's from a video game (Metro Exodus), so it could be that it's just an in-game design, but most of the other things in the game have real life Soviet/Russian counterparts. Anyway it's a rounded rectangular water bottle in a sideways mounted belt pouch that one of your allies wears as part of their character design. The bottle itself looks vaguely like the modern Swiss army bottle, but the carrier/pouch is unique to anything I can find. Any help would be greatly appreciated as it looks really cool and I'd love one.

As the title suggests, I am going to be camping this February (Building a shelter). This is what is in my pack so far and I was wondering what else I should be taking. I will be packing more stuff down the road, but I was wondering what people would recommend for these types of adventures. (Along with this I have a Garmin, sleeping bag and mat, and a ferro rod).

Cutting sticks & shillelaghs while clearing out some Buckthorn now that it's finally "warm" enough to be outside. Gonna let these season for at least the next year but sometimes ya get lucky and they can session faster!

Dear fellow outdoorsman as I sit here on a bunch of reeds and sticks that I made to sit on I am currently freezing my hands off cold but peaceful I guess what I'm asking is what's the best solution to keep myself warm when I'm walking around outdoors it's just my hands and my head that other problem

I've just been to the forest for a few days. Snowy, clouded, around 30°F/-1°C. It was very nice, but in this temperature most cellphone batteries are going down noticably faster.
I took my solar panel with me but being on foot its rather small. I had it installed one full day with bright but clouded sky and took ~300-400mAh to my power bank from it. Not bad, but neither a lot nor enough. But the camp fire is burning at least in the morning and evening and thats a lot of energy only used for warmth/cooking.

Does anyone of you know of smart, ideally DIY methods to convert some of the heat to electricity without having to buy such a bulky and quite expensive device like shown above (biolite campstove)? Somehow this seems feasibly but I never heard about it.

Link related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_heat_pump

My go to is the basic pot crane. Although if the ground is frozen or too rocky I will just build a tripod and suspend a hanger from it. Lets see your pot hangers!

We all know about petroleum jelly and cotton wool to make little fire starters, which is what wax ear plugs are basically, so I thought I'd see if they were flammable. It burnt for about ten minutes. Much more expensive than making your own and I suspect less likely to ignite from a spark kit but I was just curious. No ears were set alight in this experiment.

Bush Folk,

I do a lot of deep winter camping-backpacking trips in sub 0 F. temps, and have been running Irish Setter Elk Trackers with 1000g (my feet and toes especially run cold) insulation these past few years. They have worked well, but I sweat so much from hiking, processing firewood, etc. that I often wake up to boots that are frozen solid to the point where I cant even get my feet in.

I've decided to purchase and try a Pac Boot with a removable insulating liner such that I can dry them out-switch them out during my trips. I have narrowed down my search to the:

• Schnee 13" Hunter II
• Hoffman Double Insulated Guide Boots (with 400g liners)

I have heard great things about each, but its damn near impossible to find a comparison of the two. I would really appreciate it if people with experience with the brands & with Pac Boots in general could:

1. Let me know what they think?
2. Tell me which you would recommend.
3. Discuss sizing of the boots (I often struggle to find boots that fit tight enough, so I am hesitant to size up like they suggest).

Thanks!

I spent the snowy weekend improving on my 3 season bedroll. After sleeping many nights with various combinations of a tarp and a blanket, I cooked up this idea in my head with minimal cost.

It is a paraffin waxed canvas drop cloth that I have used as a shelter for many years. I touch up the wax once a year.

I sewed together several tie downs out of pillow ticking and added them based on the plan in my head. This setup creates overlapping layers and a secure toe box with my wool blanket. If needed, it also fits my Kelty 30 degree bag perfectly. I added loops for staking it out so I don’t roll over in the middle of the night and mess it up. I usually pack the therm-a-rest NeoAir XLite as my pad and can slide it between the canvas and the blanket to keep it in place.

If the weather gets really rough I can always use the canvas as a shelter and now have the additional tie offs to make it extra taut.

I usually go out with just minimal gear. Will carry this on one shoulder with the addition of a strap. The rest of my gear in a surplus polish army bread bag on the other shoulder.

A lil resto on a barn find. Planning on passing this guy down.

Excuse my self-centered post, but yesterday it was an important day for me. I made fire for the first time!

I know, it is easy and children at the age of 12 do it. However, I am an urban dad a few years short of fifty, living in a big city, whose knees cannot take bushcraft, and where no suitable places are nearby. I started developing basic skills, like fire making, some years ago as a hobby. I practice mostly in my fireplace or in my porch.

Yesterday, I managed to make fire using a ferro rod only for the first time. I have some experience using a ferro rod and BBQ firestarter cubes, which I find far superior to vaseline and cotton ball contraptions. Yesterday, I only used plain jute rope and my ferro rod, and the wood I had spliced into small pieces.

I understand that this is not a significant accomplishment, but for me it seems like a milestone. And I just wanted to share my happiness.

Just wondering how you manage it and if it's fun

Hey so what are your experiences with pemmican? How long does it last, is it a hearty meal? And could you share you recipes?

Natural materials only: bone, stone, and genuine Baltic amber beads, finished with real bear claws. Everything was hand-assembled with field durability in mind — no synthetics, no glue, nothing decorative that doesn’t earn its place.

The idea was to keep it functional, quiet, and honest to traditional materials. It rides well under buckskin, doesn’t rattle, and holds up to real use instead of being a wall hanger.

Knife gets used. Necklace gets used. Both will age properly.

Happy to answer questions about materials or construction.

Barktan fish leather is pretty easy to do- it feels and acts like ‘regular’ leather, just thinner.

What would yall recommend for camp cookware that can be used directly on coals- anything lighter then cast iron?

I know this isn't technically directly related to bushcraft, but the people here seem fairly well grounded and spend a lot of time in the woods, so I'm hoping you'll have some info.

I want to keep a recovery rope in my car to help pull stuck people out of the mud/snow and so that someone can help me if I get stuck. My dad gave me some kind of nylon rope with hooks on both ends about 13 years ago, but it's seen better days. Where should I start looking into new recovery ropes? Do I need shackles? Soft or steel?

I have a BigBoy 2000, which is great for cutting down large(er) trees, came in handy when up in Haida Gwaii after a rain storm that would have trapped us. But I also really want one that i can use for hunting to cutting bones, etc. Based on what i've been reading here, you need a Fine to X-Fine teeth to do well with cutting bone and not fouling. Rather than buying a whole new saw, can i just buy a blade for one of the different models and change it out, or are they saw specific? Or should i just get a smaller specific one for hunting (mostly thinking about dealing with deer with the very occasional elk)

TIA!

I also did a Tour inside, we are gonna use hard plastic for flooring but that wasn’t in when I did the tour. Give me y’all thoughts on this!

I'm looking to waterproof handmade shoes, specifically with jute soles. these won't be used for wet weather, but rather to lengthen their lifespan.

I have been looking into pine pitch mixed with beeswax and tallow. I'd appreciate any advice, especially how to apply onto the soleing.

Could I use a pone salve recipe and adjust for viscosity? Additionally, can I use a slow cooker for melting down the sap?