by Woodsbum
Last week’s post drew several comments and suggestions about other types of fires that I should cover. Here is one that I have seen variations of before. It works really well in snow or conditions where you want a reflector type fire that will burn for a long time. Notice how he does a variation of the feather stick and just does small, shaved sections. I am not sure how well this will work in the PNW, but I will definitely give this layout a try.
by Woodsbum
Every once in a while I run across something that strikes me as a no brainer, but needs to be said. The H fire is one of those things.
In this video a SERE instructor goes over the H fire and how to use it. He uses a green stick to set up his canteen cup, but it can also be used for heat. The video doesn’t cover it, but if you take a few rocks and place them around your small fire they can be heated and used as everything from bed heaters to hand warmers. Back in the day, my old Boy Scout leader used to have us heat rocks with small fires to help keep us warm while we were sitting around during classes. We also used the H fire idea to hide our Sterno fires and white fuel stoves when I was in the military.
The base concept of the H fire really has multiple uses and you should keep this design in mind as a way to either hide or protect your fire as the situation dictates.
by Woodsbum
Today I decided that a great edible plant to cover would be the camas. The two varieties that grow here in the PNW are the Great Camas and Common Camas. Considering that fact that I live near the town of Camas, it actually made me happy to cover it here.
Camas around here have a blue bulb that is edible. Be careful because it is actually very similar to the Death Camases that are poisonous. The bad ones have white flowers where the edible ones have blue. They actually grow in similar areas so it would be easy to confuse the two.
The best tasting preparation for the blue camas varieties is to roast or boil the bulb slowly and then dry it. You can find the blue camas in foothill regions or on moist plains.
If you travel around the foothills of Western Washington much at all it is very common to run across the blue camas. From what I have been told the best time to harvest this plant is in the fall once the flowers have withered. The bulbs taste very similar to a sweet potato. From what I understand the bulbs can also be dried and pounded into a flour for baking.
Next time you are out in the bush here in the PNW and see some of these guys, harvest a few bulbs and try them out.
by Woodsbum
In keeping with my edible plant posts, I am including the bedstraw. This plant is actually quite prevalent around here. I see it a lot while up in the hills.
Bedstraw
There are a few varieties to include cleavers, Northern bedstraw and sweet-scented bedstraw. You can find it and all of the various varieties alongside low growing vegetation and disturbed soil sights. I see it a lot around relatively fresh clear cuts before all the new production is planted.
This plant is best when cooked, by the way. It will have little to no taste if you get a young plant. Older plants are a bit nasty tasting and you will think you are eating something out of a bale.
Keep your eyes peeled for bedstraw and give it a try!
by Woodsbum
By luck and good fortune I ended up getting a Kel-Tec PMR 30. This pistol is a full frame, ultralight weight pistol in .22 WMR. The magazines hold 30 rounds a piece and total weight of the pistol and 2 full magazines is around 1.5 lbs. Unfortunately, this pistol is very difficult to find for Kel-Tec production cannot keep up with demand as of yet.
I picked up this pistol as a lightweight way to carry protection while backpacking. Although the PMR 30 only comes in .22 WMR, it does make up for the lack of stopping power with lots of firepower via those 30 round magazines. Stopping a bear, cougar, drugged out thru-hiker, or rabid squirrel might cause you to use all available rounds considering the calibre so it definitely isn’t really for truly stopping a dangerous critter. I look at it more as both a deterrent and way to get small game while on the trail. This little guy will work perfectly for small game, signalling if I am injured (3 quick shots), and even piece of mind that I have a way to defend myself from a distance.
Normally, I shoot off anywhere from 300-500 rounds out of a new firearm before I get to feeling confident in it’s capabilities. Due to weather and time commitments I was only able to shoot off about 200 in my PMR 30 this last weekend. I will report the following observations, however:
If I was to give a thumbs up or down on this product, I would definitely give it a thumbs up. The fact that there is nothing on the market that is comparable being ignored and just speaking directly from the functionality, fit and form it really is a nice firearm. Kel-Tec makes a fine firearm and does a great job in their designs. Many traditionalist gun enthusiasts tend to bash their designs. There is no wood furniture on any of their product lines. They use a lot of polymer. The way that their actions work is also less than traditional on many of their product lines. When looking at the PMR as it sits and not comparing it to anything else, it does just fine and is quite likeable.
PMR 30
As you can see from the picture above there are also little cutouts in the magazine to show you how many rounds you have left. Each cutout equals 5 rounds. The safety is ambidextrous and is easy to click off with either left or right handed grip.
One of the nicest features are the sights. The front sight is a fibre insert that comes in 3 colors; red, green and white. There is a tool that you use to slip the front sight fibre out and slide a new one in. Also included in the box is a very interesting trigger lock mechanism. It comes with an odd key that I have yet to totally figure out. Supposedly it goes over the trigger and guard in some fashion and then locks. All this is included in a nice case with the foam cutout in the shape of the pistol and magazine.
At an MSRP around the mid $400’s, I feel that this pistol is really a decent deal. I purchased mine for $368, which was a great deal considering it was new in box. The shop actually took it out of the shipping container and broke the seal on the Kel-Tec box right in front of me to inventory it before selling it to me.
Now that I have owned 2 Kel-Tec firearms and shot several others, I will say that I am quite impressed with their product line. Purchasing one of their firearms without having handled it would not cause me the least bit of anxiety. Also knowing that they refuse to build their company via debt also impresses me. They could have received loans and build their new plant to increase production by financing via debt, but they did not. Until they had the capital to pay cash for their expansion Kel-Tec just maxed out production via 3 shifts a day and ran 7 days a week. In today’s volatile political climate with regard to firearms, they did not want to potentially put the entire company at risk. Even though it has made it where they cannot match demand for the product, they have done what they could to get their guns into the hands of consumers.
Coupling the fiscal responsibility that this company shows with the innovative designs and high quality, I really am a fan of Kel-Tec firearms. Even more so, I am a fan of this full sized pistol that gives me 60 rounds of .22 WMR in only a 1.5 lb package.
