Forty Knots You Should Know

These Forty Knots brought to you by the Boy Scouts of America. Always good to know how to tie the right knot for the right situation, and this is a great little knot guide! We suggest you bookmark the page, print it out, and or share it on your Facebook or Pinterest, etc. knot tying guide

Clear Canoe or Kayak – See the world below you

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We thought these were really cool and had to share it with you guys. How neat would it be to have a clear kayak or clear canoe so that you can see the rocks, logs, fish, turtles, or even sharks below you? This canoe-kayak hybrid has a transparent polymer hull (the material in jet-fighter cockpit canopies) that offers paddlers an underwater vista unavailable in conventional boats transparent canoe   Length – 11′ 1” Width – 33.5” Depth – 11” Canoe Weight – 40 lbs. Weight Capacity – 425 lbs. (2 person) Hull Material – Lexan (Polycarbonate) see thru canoe kayak Price: Approx $1900 from Hammacher Schlemmer and other retailers   There are also a few other models out there like this Clear bottom Inflatable Kayak

Conquest Dyad

clear inflatable kayak Deflated (Packed up in supplied carry/storage bag with seat) Circumference – 40″ Length – 30″ Inflated Length – 9′ 10″ Width – 34″ Depth – 13″ Kayak Weight – 27 lbs. Weight Capacity – 350 lbs. (1 person) Hull Material – 840 Denier Nylon & 40 Guage PVC Seat – Adjustable seat with back support, multiple bottle holders, fanny pack, gear pouch, & and fastener for a dive flag. $499 Or like this Transparent Kayak transparent kayak Length – 13′ Width – 22” Depth – 11” Kayak Weight – 26 lbs. Weight Capacity – 300 lbs. (1 person) Hull Material – Military grade urethane Frame – Carbon kevlar Seats – Closed cell thermoformed hi density foam Sticker shock Price: $4,124  

Real or Fake Honey? How to tell the difference

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Did you know that more than 75% of the honey sold in U.S. grocery stores may not be real Honey? According to testing done exclusively for Food Safety News. The results show that the pollen frequently has been filtered out of products labeled “honey.” The removal of the flower pollen would make the nectar flunk the quality standards set by most of the world’s food safety agencies. It’s not considered honey without pollen in it. Furthermore, this is often done so that one can not tell where it came from, even what region. Furthermore it’s heavily cut and diluted with cheap corn syrup and artificial sweeteners. Buy organic real honey from farms or sellers you know. Here’s some tips to figure out if it’s real or not. Be sure to share this, everyone should know! real organic honey or fake honey  

50 Amazing Money Saving tips & tricks

Most people are watching their dollars and working off a budget to make ends meet. Many are also now looking for natural alternatives to live a more wholesome and chemical free life. Following are a few ways in which you can have both of the above. These uses are becoming more prevalent and are easy to do it yourself. So, here are great easy uses for common household items to make your life more chemical free and your wallet a little fatter. home tips SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS 1) Toothpaste: Buff a CD/DVD Apply toothpaste to a cotton ball and wipe the disc. Wash with water afterwards and you’ve got a brand new disc! 2) Cornstarch: Untangle Knots Sprinkling cornstarch into tough knots, such as shoe laces helps loosen them. 3) Walnut: Buff Dings out of Wood Furniture Get rid of unsightly scratches and dings on wood furniture by rubbing a walnut on the areas. The blemishes will vanish quickly and your furniture and pocket book will be saved. 4) Club Soda: Make Your Breads Fluffier When baking, where recipes call for water, add club soda instead to make pancakes, waffles and any other breads fluffier. 5) Salt: Keep Windows Frost Free Pour a cup of salt into a liter of water. Sponge the liquid onto the inside of window to prevent frost from forming during the winter months. 6) Rubbing Alcohol: Remove Permanent Marker Dab the surface that has the permanent marker on it with a cloth or cotton ball covered in rubbing alcohol to make it disappear quickly. 7) Chap stick: Stops Bleeding When Nicked Shaving Cut yourself shaving? Just swipe some chap stick over the cut to stop that constant bleeding. No more tissue squares! 8) Apple Juice: Removes Dandruff Don’t ask how it works, but it does! Instead of buying a special shampoo, just wash your hair in apple juice to rid your scalp of pesky dandruff. 9) Aspirin: Get Rid of Armpit Stains on T-Shirts Grind up an aspirin tablet or two, then make a paste out of it using water, lemon or vinegar. Spread the paste on the stained area and let sit for an hour before washing. 10) Olive Oil: Make Pets’ Coat Shinier Add a bit of olive oil to your pet’s food to give them a healthier, shinier coat of fur. 11) Newspapers: Clean Windows and Mirrors Instead of using a spray and a streaky cloth, use only newspaper to clean off your mirrors and windows for a streak-free finish. 12) Baking Soda: Remove Bugs from Windshield Mix baking soda with warm water to make a paste. Spread the paste over your windshield for fifteen minutes. Then wipe or spray off with a hose. 13) Bleach: Extend Life of Flowers in Vase Add a few drops of bleach to vase water to prevent the build-up of the slime caused by bacteria. It works just like chlorine in a swimming pool. 14) Kitchen Dish Soap: Flea-Killing Dog Shampoo Kitchen dish soap (not dish detergent) can double as dog shampoo for its flea killing abilities. 15) Coke: Remove Blood Stains from Clothing Soak the stain in coke until the stain is dissolved, then wash the clothing as usual. Wash before the coke dries, though. 16) Honey: Remove Blemish Overnight Have a blemish you need to get rid of by tomorrow? Put a dab of honey on the blemish and cover it up (it’s best to use a Band-Aid) and the honey’s natural antibacterial properties will clean out the bacteria by the morning. 17) Wax Paper: Clean Can Opener Gears Run a few small strips of wax paper through the can opener to clean out of the bits and pieces that have built up in the gears throughout the year. The wax will also rub off on the gears to protect for future use as well. 18) WD-40: Remove Crayons from Walls Use the lubricant and a cloth to remove stubborn crayon marks from the walls just by spraying the wall and wiping with a cloth. 19) Chalk: Keep Ants and Slugs Out of the House Ants and Slugs Won’t Touch Chalk. So, simply draw a line in front of your doorway where you are having problems with these pesky critters and they won’t cross it, meaning they won’t be able to get into your house. 20) Vinegar: Kills Weeds and Helps Flowers Grow Vinegar is a magic wonder when it comes to gardening. It not only kills weeds but they help flowers grow as well. Douse vinegar all around your garden to prevent weeds from popping up and to help your flowers to grow healthy and strong. 21) Mayonnaise: Remove Bumper Sticker Spread mayonnaise on the bumper sticker and let sit for at least thirty minutes. Then, rub the sticker off with a towel, leaving a clean bumper! 22) Tin Foil Ball: Replace Dryer Sheets Permanently Instead of using a dryer sheet ball up one or a few sheets of tin foil and toss it in the dryer. It removes the static electricity from your clothes and one can last up to a year. 23) Banana Peel: Polish Leather Shoes Use the inside of a banana peel to give shoes a professional and natural shine that will last for quite some time. 24) Mouthwash: Cure Athlete’s Foot Pour mouthwash on cotton balls and then swab your feet. The alcohol will disinfect the bacteria completely if you continue this for a week or so. 25) Baking Soda: Clean BBQ Grill Mix a cup of baking soda with half a cup water to make a paste. Dip your brush into the paste and scrub the grill. The caked on pieces and black residue will come off much quicker and using baking soda is much safer and cheaper than using cleaning chemicals. 26) Coffee Grounds: Fertilizer Coffee is full of nutrients and vitamins that are very beneficial to soil. That’s why some people include it in compost piles. If you want to get the most out of your coffee, pour the grounds on areas where you want more grass or flowers. 27) Olive Oil: Shaving Cream The smoothness of the oil can replace the need for shaving cream, and it also provides great moisture. 28) Dryer Sheets: Gets Rid of Static Electricity Use dryer sheets to remove static electricity from things such as clothing, TV screens or your own hair. Tame fly away strands by running a dryer sheet over them. 29) Freezer: Freeze Candles to Make Them Last Longer Put candles in the freezer for at least 2 hours before using. Once you burn them, the wax will melt at a much slower pace, making them last much longer! 30) Two glasses of water: Cure Headache Water is the cure to most common headaches. To make the headache go away quickly, drink two cups of water very quickly. 31) Lemons: Deodorize Garbage Disposal Toss whole slices of lemon into the garbage disposal then run it. The acidity of the lemon will rid your sink of all odors and leave a fresh scent that usually lasts for a few months. 32) Alka Seltzer: Remove Burnt-On Grease and Food Stains When letting your pots and pans soak, throw in one or two Alka Seltzer tablets and the caked on residue from cooking will come off easily when you scrub/wash. 33) Apple Cider Vinegar: Relieve Diarrhea Mix two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar into eight ounces of water to soothe your stomach. The taste may not be the greatest, but the antibacterial properties of the vinegar will end the unpleasantness of the bowel problems. 34) Toothpaste: Remove Scratches from Glass Apply toothpaste to scratch, then rub with a cloth until the scratch is gone. Make sure the glass is clean beforehand. 35) Cheerios: Relieve Pain from Poison Ivy, Chickenpox and Sunburns Pound one to four cups of Cheerios into a powder and add to your bath to soothe your skin while you soak. You may not feel relief while in the tub, but you will soon after. 36) Buttons: Sort Earrings Organize your earrings and prevent them from becoming entangled by using spare buttons as holders for each pair. 37) Corn Oil: Prevent Hairballs for Pets Add a few drops of corn oil to your pets’ food to prevent hairballs from forming. The thick oil helps the fur pass through the animal’s system much quicker and easily. 38) Whipped Cream: Remove Gum from Hair There are many remedies for removing gum from hair, but this is a lesser known one. Give it a try rather than peanut butter the next time you’re in need. 39) Coke: Remove Oil Stains from the Driveway Oil stains are very difficult to remove pavement, but one method guaranteed to work is Coke. The highly acidic drink will eat away at the oil until clean. 40) Brown Sugar: Facial Scrub A scrub is good to do about once a month to remove dead skin and bacteria built up in pores and remove excess oil from the skin. Brown sugar does just as well as expensive products and will definitely result in a clearer and smoother complexion. 41) Dryer Sheet: Lint Brush You already know that dryer sheets remove lint in the dryer. Well, it can do the same thing out of the dryer, too. When you’re in a fix, use a dryer sheet. It works just as well as a lint brush, and if you like the scent, it’s an added bonus. 42) Newspaper: Deodorize food containers and Food Drawers in the Refrigerator For that stinky Tupperware or smelly refrigerator drawer that is too much to deal with, toss in a sheet of newspaper overnight before you deal with it. The paper will absorb the smell greatly reducing it or eliminating it completely. 43) Olive Oil: Unstick a Zipper The oil will help the zipper slide more easily, fixing the problem! 44) Salt: Cool Something Quickly You know that feeling when you’re having a BBQ and someone asks for a drink and you realize that no one has put them in the cooler? There’s nothing worse than a warm drink on a hot day. Chill a drink quickly, by adding salt and water to your ice. The drinks will be cold in a matter of minutes; saving your party and making you look smart all at once. 45) Scotch Tape: Prevent Wall from Chipping When Nailing The wall can leave unsightly chips when hammering in a nail. Prevent this by simply placing a piece of scotch tape over the area you’re going to nail. The wall will be held tighter, preventing chips from occurring. 46) Alka Seltzer: Soothe Insect Bites Dissolve two tablets into a glass of water. Then use a cloth or cotton ball to apply it to the affected area. The red will go down and most importantly, the itchiness will vanish usually in fifteen minutes. 47) Lemon: Whitens Whites Add about half a cup of lemon juice to your load of whites to makes them extra white. You can use lemon juice with bleach or detergent, so don’t worry about mixing chemicals with the acidic lemon. 48) Banana Peel: Whiten Teeth This may sound a little odd, but rub the inside of a banana peel on your teeth twice a day for two weeks and you will receive the same effect from a teeth-whitening kit. Plus, you’ll save yourself money and the hassle of using chemicals. 49) Hair Dryer: Free Photos Stuck on Pages If you have a photo stuck on a page that you can’t get free, try using a blow dryer on the back of the page. It will loosen the photo from the page and the adhesive holding it there. 50) Banana Peel: Heal Most Skin Problems Bananas are the magical fruit, because they heal many common problems on the skin. By rubbing the peel on your skin, you can heal bruises and cuts and eliminate rashes, itching and warts. Basically if you have a common skin problem, it can be cured by this fruit.

How to Make Hide Glue

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A traditional skills that can be of great use in a wilderness living or long term survival situation is the making of glue from naturally available resources. There are numerous methods that will produce different types of adhesives. In this article I would like to focus on one of those methods, the making of hide glue. The process is time consuming, but not difficult. The product is a fairly high quality glue, although it is water soluble. The process starts by taking some raw hide. If you do not have access to raw hide, the easiest place to get it is at the pet supplies section of your store. Most dog bones are made of rolled up raw hide, just check the label. Here I am using beef hide dog bones. The hide will probably be very hard, so you can put it in boiling water to soften it up. 008 When it is soft, take it out and cut it into small pieces. 009

Put the small pieces back in the water and continue boiling it. Make sure the hide is always covered with water. The boiling will take hours, so you will have to periodically add more water so that the hide stays covered. Here I boiled it for three hours. The substance that you see on the side of the pot is overflowed liquid. When it dries, it becomes the glue.

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Then strain out the hide pieces, or remove them with a spoon. Continue to boil the remaining water to reduce it down. I boiled it for another twenty minutes. Make sure to stir the liquid so it does not burn. By this point it should be getting fairly thick.

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There is no specific required thickness. The more water it has, the longer it will take to dry once applied, but if it gets the job done, it is thick enough.

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To preserve the glue, pour it onto a flat surface. I used a plate.

After about an hour, you should get a product which feels like rubber. 039

Cut it into smaller pieces and put it into a container. They should last quite a while, but since they are an animal product, eventually it will go bad. If you want to preserve it longer, spread out the liquid even thinner (less than 1/16th of an inch) and let it dry completely. The dried glue should be completely hard rather than rubbery. That way it should preserve longer.

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To use the dried glue, just heat it up. You may want to add some water when heating it so it doesn’t burn.

That’s all there is to it. The glue will hold very securely when dry. Its most prominent historical use has been in the making of composite bows.

Stick Fish Traps

survival bushcraft fish trap This is a great old Native American fish trapping technique. It’s best used in tidal waters rivers or creeks. The concept is to funnel finish into an area where it’s hard for them to find the way back out, it’s the same concept behind a minnow trap or soda bottle funnel trap Drive stakes side by side into the bottom in shallow water to create a square or fenced in area of sorts in the water. Make sure the open end of the funnel is on the downstream side where the water is being forced into the opening. Other materials can be used to construct this trap such as rocks, but this is the most effective and allows for building it in slightly deeper water. One trick is to build it starting at one side of the bank and extending out using trhe side of the bank as a barrier and forcing fish towards your trap bushcraft fish trap   It’s a great and simple trap that allows you to catch the fish by hand or spear them once they are in your trap. You’ll be amazed at how effective this survival fish trap really is, even small ones work pretty well.   fishtrap  

Horno Oven

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A mud-brick oven, or horno, is a great way to bake things while in a primitive living situation. It also offers a nice solution for bringing fire into the shelter. A fire is built withing the oven. The bricks or rocks heat up and retain the heat for hours. A few pies or two pizzas can be made in a properly heated horno (in this hungry camper’s experience). By heating the oven, the shelter may be heated for quite a while without the risk of smoke exposure through the night. Just heat the oven and let it burn out. First, lay the foundation with scavenged bricks or stone Leaving space for a door, start building the horno up in beehive shape. Create the doorway Build the rocks up And leave a hole in the top for the fire to breathe and to feed fuel through. Fit the door onto the opening Fill in all the spaces with mud and clay. This will seal the oven and prevent heat from escaping Firing the oven will help the mud and clay dry faster and allow the finding of any holes in the mud layer as smoke will billow out. Get a roaring fire going for about forty-five minutes to an hour and the oven will be ready to bake a few items at least. Covering the smoke hole with a rock after firing will allow retention of more heat. Be sure to seal up the door when cooking. Any number of methods are employed to cook with this oven. Some cultures scrape out the coals and cook with the radiating heat, other cultures will cook using both the coals and the radiant heat.

Birch Basket

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The birch basket is an expedient way to make a water-tight container. One may never need take the bark from a living tree except in dire circumstances for often times birch is available on the ground with the wood rotted out. The birch basket, or any other type of bark that you may find capable of folding such as cedar, will provide excellent containers to carry water, supplies, collect maple syrup, or boil water in with rocks. First, find a down birch log and score a cylinder out on the log. Cut the scoring through and remove a cylinder. Next is to remove any wood that has managed to stick to the bark to fully reveal its pretty pink-red color. Cut a diagonal slice from each of the corners. This will all the bark to be folded. Begin to slowly fold the sides upwards to meet with a second side. Wrap the edges and punch a whole with either an awl or a knife when the two sides are joined. Fit a twig through to secure the folded bark together. Proceed to do the same with all sides. From here, any tears or holes in the bark may be mended with pine pitch. To further add stability and shape to the basket, a rim may be sewn on. This basket is simple to make and is a quick solution to not having a container to boil water in during a survival situation.

Hoko Knife

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A hoko is a simple yet practical knife being easily made in the bush. The first one was found in an archaeological dig near the Hoko river in Washington. A green stick is used so that the sharp stone flake may be hafted easier. Here, a live branch from a Northern White Cedar is used. The bark is removed as it makes excellent cordage and will be used to hold the hafted rock flake in place. Split the stick halfway down The sharp rock flake is placed between the split portion of the stick The outer bark is then used as cordage to tie above, below, and across the stick so that the rock flake is held securely. The hoko is now made and is a great tool for adding control over rock flakes for skinning or wood working with larger flakes.

Making Char Cloth

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Char cloth is a simple tool used by many who enjoy the use of flint and steel fire making. The charred cloth readily receives sparks from flints and steel or ferro rods. It is then placed in a tinder bundle and blown into flames. Char cloth is natural material that is created through a process known as pyrolysis, meaning it is burned without oxygen to produce a carbonized piece of material. What you need: 100% cotton cloth (In this case I used an old t-shirt) a metal tin (Altoids tins work great) cutting tools (scissors and/or knife) a fire Take the metal tin and poke a hole in the middle. This is where gases will escape from when you place the materials in the fire. Cut up the 100% cotton material into about one inch x one inch squares Place the cloth loosely in the tin. If they are packed too tight, they may not burn properly or may burn too much. Close the tin and place it in a fire. It doesn’t take too much heat or too long to produce results. The gases expelled through the hole in the middle may ignite, this is fine. After the gases are no longer coming out, which you will know as they are visible and tend to ignite, remove the tin from the fire and allow it to cool. This entire process doesn’t take very long, perhaps ten minutes plus time for the tin to cool off. When the tin is opened, a black and fragile material should be inside. This material is known as char cloth. Char cloth readily takes a spark and allows the transfer of a coal to a tinder bundle and be blown into flame.