Build the Dakota Hole Fire - It's very effective

I always thought of the Dakota Hole Fire as something mostly for stealth, when I wanted a fire, but didn't want others to know, it is that, but also much more.

What are the reasons to build a Dakota Hole Fire?

• To have a fire that is not easily visible to others
• For a safe controlled fire in windy conditions
• Efficiency, cooking can be done with very little wood
• To leave an area visibly untouched-have a fire and leave no trace
• Ideal for use in partially sheltered conditions, like a lean-to, under a tarp or other open shelter

Let's talk in a little more detail about each of the advantages of the Dakota Hole Fire

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The Key to Survival - Don't Neglect this

With practice comes improved ability and that increases confidence, which bolsters attitude - Perry D Peacock

In our time there is so much technology that it is astounding, we come to depend a great deal on it. I once took a survival class from Jim Phillips, he emphasized that everything made by man comes with an unwritten guarantee, to fail when it is needed the most. We all commonly refer to this occurance as Murphy's Law. There is always something out there lurking to knock us down or stall us in our progress. There is always an opposition that we battle against.

I recall a time in my younger days when I was out with some friends in some remote mountains, we were scouting for deer. Due to rainy slick conditions....

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Learn to Love Camping in the Snow and Rain

It' s been said there is no such thing as bad weather

As a kid for some strange reason I always loved to be out in bad weather, especially the cold. Eventually I learned to enjoy living in the cold, the snow and winds. It's really a perspective that's shaped by our experience. It' s been said there is no such thing as bad weather, just different kinds of weather. I don't know if that's totally true, depending on where you are, a hurricane or tornado can certainly be a terrible deadly experience. But in general if we learn and prepare we can learn to love most kinds of weather.



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When do I starting thinking Survival?

How do I Know, When does Survival start?

This may seem like an odd question to ask, yet the answer and it's timing can make the difference in life or death. In a previous blog I wrote about paradigm shifts, which is basically to say we change our view of things when we go into survival mode. Delaying this shift in thinking can cause fatal procrastination in shelter building, obtaining water, or personal care. So just how do we know when to shift into survival mode? Let me illustrate this with a story of an event that happened to me last week.

I had recently found a canyon to ride my mountain bike in that had a great trail, twists, turns, creek crossings and all. I had been on the trail a couple times already and wanted to explore further on each of it's two forks. It had snowed and rained the previous couple of days and although most of the snow was melted, there were still patches everywhere. The stream, now many times it's normal size with snow melt runoff, was still passable.

I rode my bike further up the left fork than I had previously been, and shot a couple of videos for use on our YouTube channel. The sun had gone down while I was just getting started, due to the steep canyons, but I still had time to ride in the daylight.

I was dressed for cool weather, my 60/40 pants, wool socks, a Tee shirt, and a cotton hoodie, I also had a fleece cap in my Camelback. On my handle bars I had secured as usual my Wilderness Innovation Off-Road Survival Kit.

On the ride up the canyon, I had for the most part portaged my bike across the stream, due to the high water, there were about 15 crossings to be made. When I started back down I figured to ride most of the crossings, being that I was going downhill anyway and would have some momentum with me.

I made the first few crossings nicely, then there was a long traverse as the trail descended, soon I came upon my next crossing, it was deep, but looked doable and I continued into the water. At that moment I noticed something in the water, a large pothole midstream, which at this point was too late to do anything about. In an instant I was thrown over my handle bars and headlong into the icy water. I suddenly stopped as my right shoulder hit on a boulder under water. I felt sharp pain. The water was flowing over me as I struggled to get up, not being able to use my right arm.

As I was able to get up I saw, my bike upside down, wheels in the air. I noticed my Survival Kit still fastened on the handle bars. I dragged the bike and myself to shore. My right knee was hurting pretty bad. One of my first thoughts was, if I can't make it out I will have to start a fire soon, to get warmed and dry out. The air was already beginning to chill into the 30's. It was a relief to know I had the survival kit, at least I could get a fire going and get some basic shelter if I needed to.

I determined that if I could get out of the canyon to my truck that would be best. I would start down and see how I did, if I felt like I couldn't continue, then a bivouac would be made for the night.

My shoulder was dislocated, so I knew I needed to try to get that fixed, and after swinging my arm around a bit it popped into place. Now how was my knee? It really hurt to walk on it, but I figured if I could get onto my bike, I should be able to coast most of the way down and would only have to walk the crossings. That seemed to work, but the shoulder pain was intense and my right arm was only used mostly for the brakes.

I was able to successfully get out, I was pretty cold, sore and in pain, but I made it. As I reflect back I am pleased to note that instinctively, one of my first thoughts was sheltering up for the night. I was ready to stay the night, I had to talk myself into continuing down. I felt good that I made the shift to survival mode at once, automatically, I would not risk further danger by continuing if it wasn't safe.

Train yourself to be ready, not to go on, but to stay and to shelter if that's the safest thing to do. Avoid the need to press on, sometimes it can be deadly.

Until next time - Perry Peacock, "Simplifying Survival"

The Twig Stove - A 9 ounce Powerhouse

Evolution of the Twig Stove
For me it all started in the 70's. My grandpa Peacock was a Beekeeper as a profession and my dad did it as a part time job while working towards his retirement at age 50. I worked in the business a good part of my growing up years. I was always trying to improve something, lazy, haha. One thing was the smoker, a can like device with bellows that also served as a handle. The fire chamber was typically filled with burlap and started on fire. the lid with a small hole was closed. Not enough oxygen was present to flame so it would smolder. Squeeze the bellows and a puff of smoke came out. This had a calming effect on the bees.

I had an idea to make the handle a battery case and to install a small fan on the side of the smoker cylinder near the bottom. Light the burlap as usual, then for a puff of smoke press a button on the handle, the fan would pulse on. The design was great.

As I got into High School, I really got into hiking and camping, which continues to this day. In the early 80's I remembered the smoker design and decided to modify it for use as a stove.

It was astounding in it's heating ability, well actually too good. I melted my first stove. So I had to make the fan smaller, still a bit much, so I put a speed control on the fan, excellent.

Until recently I made my own fans with small DC motors from Radio Shack, to which I soldered a fan blade fashioned from a piece of tin. This arrangement worked very well.

We have now substituted small pancake fans like those used to cool computers.

Exactly What is a Twig Stove?
It is a metal cylinder (48 oz soup can) with the lid cut out. A hole in the bottom to mount the fan over. There is a feed hole near the top for adding twigs while cooking. Inside a grate is formed by punching a bunch of holes in the lid that was removed from the can. Several nails or metal rods are bent and fastened to swing to adjust for the size of cup or pan used in cooking. Whew!! That's it.

What makes the Twig Stove so Appealing to use?
It's light weight at just over 9 ounces (255 grams) is certainly appealing, combine that with its totally hollow interior that can be used for storage means it is light and takes almost no space. There is no fuel to take, about any little thing that burns can be used, Twigs of course are great. You will need a battery, we use 9 volt, and that will last for hours and hours of cooking. It only takes a handful or two of twigs to cook a meal. Works great in the wind. It is cheap to make or you can buy one from us. The Twig Stove is safe, no fuel to spill or explode, no gas cartridges to dispose of. After initial starting, the stove can operate nearly smoke free, relying mostly on a bed of coals.

Check out the videos on the amazing Twig Stove, we have several already and more will be added from time to time.

Info on how to make your own Twig Stove

Buy a stove already made

We are really Simplifying Survival with this stove.

Until next time - Perry Peacock

Springtime - Adjusting to changing Conditions

...and a new product we are refining, a Survival Blanket

A while back we did a video on Youtube, a little Quick - Tip about the spring season. Spring is always the wonderful time of year. Snows and cold recede and slowly fade away as summer approaches. The grass shoots forth, trees bud and bloom, all life is seemingly regenerated.

This blog is a follow up on the last one dealing with this time of year specifically and in more detail.

In winter the snow is cold and while temperatures remain in the 20's and below, it is in reality a dry time. Typically spring is a time of moderating temperatures and rains. Spring can be fickle with cold one day and warm the next. This presents a hazard to those who spend time outdoors.

The Problem
Rain combined with cold can be difficult to deal with, and in many ways more troublesome than sub-zero weather. I read a book years ago where a doctor studied the results of a distance sporting event in Scotland, where athletes became hypothermic in what was considered mild weather. The factors were rain and storminess, and although not severe, they had a tragic effect on these athletes.

If you have watched a blacksmith you will note that he works steel that is red hot, he can quench this in a bucket of water, and in seconds it is cool enough to handle with bare hands. This is the tremendous heat conducting capability of water. Water can conduct or absorb heat 30 times better than air. If you think of water taking heat away from your body, you can imagine a continuous filament of water between your skin and the cooler air, your body's heat will travel on this filament from your skin and dissipate into the the cold surrounding air. This is wonderful if you are hot, but quite dangerous if you are in colder conditions.

Rain and general wetness of the environment when combined with cool air temperatures can create situations where hypothermia can easily occur. We commonly talk of the dangers of hypothermia in very cold winter conditions. I believe it is much more a danger in wet conditions where the temperatures are say 30 deg F to about 60 deg F. Most of the reasoning for this is we are not as well prepared to deal with the wet cold.

Solutions
You must do all you can to stay dry. Overexertion can cause excessive sweating which in turn accelerates body heat loss. If it becomes rainy use a raincoat or wait it out in shelter.

We have been conducting tests adapting some clothing and shelter materials that we have used for decades in Sub-Zero camping and living.

We consider the use of cotton as a taboo in winter, and this carries over into spring until temperatures become hotter. I recently placed myself in an overnight test, to rain for hours with temperatures of 35 to 45 degrees F. I had on a Cotton T shirt, Poly/Cotton pants, wool socks
and a new product we are refining, a Survival Blanket made of foam and nylon.

As I retired to sleep, I found the T shirt was terribly uncomfortable, soaking wet and cold, and I removed it. The pants were more comfortable, but because of dampness, I could not get warm while still wearing them, so I removed them. I had on nylon/poly underclothes, they were quite comfortable and did not retain moisture or feel wet. Eventually I removed my wool socks as they were too cold.

Now in just the Survival Blanket which initially was absolutely soggy, yet still reasonably warm. Over time my body heat drove most of the moisture from the blanket, hour by hour I became more comfortable and drier.

So the rules are:
1) Stay as dry as you can, ie, raincoat, tarp or tent.
2) Wear clothing that does not hold onto water, synthetics, poly, nylon, etc.

Check back for progress in our testing.

Stay dry, stay safe, Simplifying Survival - Until next time Perry Peacock

For the Beauty of the Earth...Watch out

The earth is quite a nice place, but it can also cause us grief.

A few weeks ago in church we sang "For the Beauty of the Earth" and it got me thinking. The earth is a pretty wonderful place, at least what I've seen of it.

Laying on the hood of a car at -40 in Canada watching the most beautiful display of the Northern Lights. Seeing a couple of tiny blue flowers in the midst of a desolate plain. Watching the frothy surf roll in from a South Carolina lighthouse. The light blue waters of the Caribbean. The stunning scene looking across Lake Louise to the snow spotted mountains of the Canadian Rockies...I've gotta stop, cause I could go on for quite a while.

When I think about it, there is some sort of beauty in just about every place I've ever seen. With all the scenery of the outdoors to look at sometimes it mesmerizes us. We can become lost in the view, somehow it doesn't seem fully real, and yet it is.

The Problem -
The world is at the same time both rich in its views and smells, and also cruel and unmerciful in its dispatch of those who are careless. We are lured like an insect to a Venus Fly-Trap, enjoying every moment until it's too late, and snap we are caught.

Many times we just forget caution when we get out exploring, everything seems so wonderful, that it never occurs to us that danger lay all about us.

It can be a hike on a nice sunny day up into the mountains where weather can change in a moment, and we find ourselves not properly clothed.

We can be having a blast way back in the sticks on a rough road, when it all changes with a punctured gas tank, now what was a few hours of fun could be days of walking.

The Solution -
When I was a kid learning to drive on the highway, my dad would always ask questions, "what if that car up ahead came into your lane, what would you do?" There were always what if questions. He was trying to teach me to not only enjoy the drive, but be aware of any dangers and try to decide ahead of time what to do.

I suppose I learned a little from those lessons, I have avoided many dangers in my life. I find myself sub-conscously asking myself, "would that make a good shelter if I were stranded here?" Or, "If the truck broke down right here in the middle of nowhere, what would I do tonight?"

We should not fear the wilderness, but with the main focus of our vision see the beauty, and smell all the natural scents with our noses; and at the same time with our peripheral vision, be looking for shelter, or signs of danger. We should always have a little thought running in the background, analyzing our situation and options. It's all part of what they call "situational awareness," it's a way of both enjoying the surroundings and preparing for anything that might threaten us.

We might just call it "Preparedness on the go." So yes the Earth is indeed beautiful and we can safely get out in it and return, if we keep our wits about us.

Remember, Simplify Survival, observe, plan, and have a great day!!

Until next time - Perry Peacock