2021-022 | THE KNIFEMAKER CAMP KNIFE

LAST JUNE 12, 2016, THIS blogger came into possession of a prototype of THE KNIFEMAKER Camp Knife which has a complement of a tight-gripping Kydex sheath. THE KNIFEMAKER is a custom knife maker based in Mandaue City, Cebu, Philippines, which has been in existence since 1983. It is owned by Lily Cortes Monteith and managed by his son, John Robert Monteith. It has a Facebook page for inquiries and for orders or you may call or text to +639272226975.

This prototype camp knife is designed by Madame Lily herself. The blade profile is drop point and is in full tang construction made from 5160 steel. The overall length is 8” (203.2 millimeters), with 3-5/16” (84.1 mm) reserved for the working blade and the other half for the handle, and has a thickness of 1/8” (3.175 mm). The hardwood scales tipped the weight of the small knife at 230 grams. It is built like a tank.    

 

Although heavy for its size, I did not encounter any problem or difficulty in carrying THE KNIFEMAKER Camp Knife inside its sheath on my waist, held in place by just an elastic garter of my basketball shorts. That happened days after I received it and walked over difficult terrain going to some hidden waterfalls down a deep valley in Balamban. That was its first test. 

Previously, a year before, this same prototype was tested in Liloan. That time, as per testimony of Jhurds Neo, “it was thrown to a tree by Jing de Egurrola (that is me) at about 5 meters distance and landed multiple times successfully. Justin Apurado made a couple of feather sticks, then whittled bamboo pieces and carved a spoon and cleaned the surface of the bamboo mug out of it…

“Nelson Orozco used it to prepare the food for dinner and sliced the meat and veggies like a champ. Dominic Sepe used it to baton a couple of bamboo and a piece of wood with ease as it has a good edge. The knife surpassed the needed task to accomplish intended for its size and purpose. One of the few knives with wood handles that would look nice with a Kydex sheath. The knife went home happy with great edge retention.”

 

It was posted as a thread starter in the group page of the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild in Facebook, I commented twice. This one was the first, “Even with that size it is still a monster when it goes into hard work. Because it is small, mountain climbers would prefer it because of its weight and it is strong enough to do menial tasks like food prep”. 

This one was my second comment, “I just love the look of the spin as the blade travels from hand into empty space and touching true on the trunk. I don't do knife throwing nowadays but it feels good to bring back memories. The sound of steel on softer target and the glint of the blade are such pleasant to hear and see. The adrenaline rush almost like the feeling of a call to arms”. 

It finally came into serious use when I went to Itogon, Benguet to teach Basic Wilderness Survival Course last March 2017. It was one of the blades that I carried on my travel there and was used by participants during practical exercises in blade-dexterity and on batoning techniques. Days after that, I personally used this for three days in Masinloc, Zambales, as my main camp knife and for a torture test chopping a dry casuarina hardwood. 

THE KNIFEMAKER Camp Knife became part of my regular blades that I carried for use during the Philippine Independence Bushcraft Camps in 2017, 2018 and 2019; the Bonifacio Day Bushcraft Camps of 2018 and 2020; the different wilderness survival training in between 2017-2020 in Cebu, Sumilon Island, Bukidnon, Iloilo and Rizal; and several bushcraft for kids in schools, kiddie clubs and orphanages on those same years.

 

Kids, ladies and guys with small hands preferred this because of its size and the shaped handle helped them with their grips. I got a big hand and I have to adjust by using a batoning stick when I am in the midst of heavy chopping work else the small finger has to curl full circle to keep contact with the far end of the handle in aiding the rest of the hand for a good grip when whittling and scraping. 

With its present handle length and by its design, the prototype knife would be very awkward to use by people with bigger hands like me. Simplifying the handle design into sleek straight lines might be a good idea to attract these individual types. Besides, the scale design on the hilt also made the blade length seems much shorter and would obstruct work as well as expose it to chipping, which happened on one scale. 

This blade had already achieved the build and the temper required for a small heavy-duty utility tool. For almost five years now, this prototype had not kissed abrasives just yet. Yes, the edge held that long, although not that scary sharp anymore, which only gave a good testament to the craftsmanship ability acquired and mastered by the builder, THE KNIFEMAKER, in providing the local market of a good edged tool for camping and bushcraft use.

 

Before I finish this review, THE KNIFEMAKER also accepts turquoise and synthetic stone inlays and appearance modifications of your Swiss Army Knife scales and knife handles. They would also accept orders for wood, leather and Kydex sheaths of your prized blades. They also make customized silver jewelries and cutleries that suits to your tastes and lifestyles at very affordable costs.

BONIFACIO DAY SPECIAL BUSHCRAFT CAMP 2015

THE BUSHCRAFT CAMP that had made Cebu and its home-grown Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild notable in outdoors circle, especially on occasions marking Independence Day, is returning to its old haunt at Camp Damazo. This time, it will mark November 30, 2015 as the culmination of its three-day activity, with which date commemorate the death of our national hero, Andres Bonifacio, for which activity is named after him: the BONIFACIO DAY SPECIAL BUSHCRAFT CAMP.

Camp Damazo have molded the first local bushcrafters from 2011 to 2013 after participating in the Philippine Independence Bushcraft Camp. It is a special place for these enthusiasts of primitive-living skills belonging to the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild. It is located somewhere among the small pockets of forest and jungles of the Babag Mountain Range in Cebu City. It is an hour's walk from the nearest trailhead but finding the route to there is knowledge confined only among our circle.

Fortunately, this would be the route that seventeen participants would discover today (November 28) when they would immerse themselves in the world of bushcraft. I walk the lead starting from the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish to our first rest at the dreaded “Heartbreak Ridge” in a very warm morning. I am carrying a South Korean military duffel bag that is filled full of the things I and the rest need for this bushcraft camp, including 28 event t-shirts. Of the seventeen, five are minors.

Coming along are six individuals, personally handpicked as camp staff. Jhurds Neo, president of Camp Red and alumni of the 2012 edition of the PIBC, would sit as the camp ramrod – the administrator. Aljew Frasco (2013), the vice president, would assist as instructor, together with Mark Lepon (2015). Eli Bryn Tambiga (2012), the club secretary, would serve as camp hawkeye – photographer - and would share the task of camp medic with Christopher Ngosiok (2015). Ernie Salomon (2011) would take charge of the kitchen as the camp fixer.

The ridge almost took the fight off of me as I am forced to halt on places where I have not known to do in previous trips. In my struggle to carry the heavy duffel, I have to make a lot of stops and I had wasted time. The heat was unwavering and it added to my miseries. I was able to recover slightly on the shady areas going to the Portal, which was rolling terrain. I had been carrying a plastic bag full of the robust bread that is a specialty of Titay’s Liloan Rosquillos and Native Delicacy but I am forced to pass it to Christopher after the Portal.

Once I am out of the shade, the struggle returned on the concrete road yet, I know, up ahead would be shady Lensa Trail and all downhill until Creek Alpha. We take a trail that wind around a mountain and stop by Creek Bravo to harvest a green pole of water bamboo before proceeding to Camp Damazo which is uphill. I stop at the top where the ridge starts ascending higher and higher to Camp Damazo. This time, I surrender my task to leading the party to Ernie.

I idled on my uncomfortable seat and rose only when I found the last man coming. Camp Damazo have recovered well from its usage in 2012 and 2013. The main campground will not be used by the participants. They will, instead, camp on a recently-discovered flat terrain just below the trail and is suited best for tents. The old camp, however, will be allocated to the camp staff who, I believe, would most be setting up simple shelters and hammocks.

As I arrive, everybody are busy setting up their shelters; the participants on the lower campground while the camp staff are on the upper part. Ernie had already started the cooking fire and is ably assisted by volunteers Mirasol Lepon (2015), Jonathan Apurado (2015) and Jingaling Campomanes (2015). Jhurds, meanwhile, are bringing Mark and more volunteers – Nyor Pino (2015), Fritz Bustamante (2015) and Nelson Tan (2015), downhill towards the designated latrine areas, to cover it with laminated nylon sheets.

All the camp staff availed of a late lunch – typically an Iberian habit – at 15:30. At 16:00, I immediately opened the lectures with Introduction to Bushcraft, which I intentionally made short owing for the time lost hiking to here which, unfortunately, I was responsible for. After 15 minutes, I proceed to the longer chapter on Ethical Bushcraft. Since bushcraft is beginning to get noticed by many people as a better leisure weekend activity, it would be good to teach them better outdoor ethics and being discrete on their choice of campsites.

Not all could understand what bushcraft really is, especially if you are just imitating survival reality TV shows without knowing its full wisdom, while some cannot appreciate its methods borne out by their prejudiced view of what they perceive on survival TV. Bushcraft can be very destructive if you do not have the privilege of someone teaching you its proper ways. As a parting shot for the first day lectures, it is very important that they know this: that “bushcraft can never mix with mainstream outdoor activities”.

Ernie immediately started the preparation for supper. All the participants likewise prepared theirs on the same cooking fire under the watch of Ernie and his small crew. Dinner came at at 19:00 amid a sky threatening to burst into a storm. The Campfire Yarns and Storytelling has its fine moment until the skies cannot hold it anymore and hurled thunder and lightning and rain. Lots and lots of rain but a hardy few endured under a narrow flysheet canopy. Some continue on their duty as Nightwatch.

I work my way in the rainy darkness among a cobweb of guylines to my dry Silangan hammock protected by an Apexus canopy sheet. I slept well until Eli woke me up at 04:00 to start my watch duty. Coffee is bottomless as I feed the fire with wood. After an hour of composing my thoughts in silence, Camp Damazo begins to come alive from the grips of its cold stupor. There will only be a light breakfast for this second day – November 29 – and I see to it that all will fast for the rest of the day. This is done so the participants could relate what it would be like during survival in a wilderness setting.

There had been sightings of a palm civet (Local name: melu) in the early hours of morning and it is good that it had showed nerve despite our presence. I am quite glad that it thrived even though it is hunted by unscrupulous poachers. As long as I am here, it can never be threatened. At 08:00, the chapter on Knife Care and Safety is being discussed by Aljew. He showed all how a knife, if improperly handled, would cause harm and he gave a bonus by demonstrating different notching techniques.

The next lecture is Firecraft and Aljew still held the reins. The discussion steered from tinder selection to firewood to the different methods of starting a fire. The boredom that grasped the participants is now replaced by avid interest to witness the real thing, perhaps the opportunity to produce a fire by themselves. True to form, Aljew performed the bowdrill, spinning smoke and heat until dust embers spurred a flame on a nest of dry tinder. The participants tried their luck but spindles broke free from its cord.

Another friction method – the bamboo fire-saw, is provided by the tandem of Mark and Fritz, which both achieved in an effortless and fast-paced manner. A lone participant overcame awkwardness and, after pairing with Mark, produced fire. Then everyone tried their hand on every dry bamboo ready for the scorching and satisfaction are written in each of their grinning faces. That goes also to the ladies and the kids!

Excitement had drowned out their starvation as noontime passed without being noticed. Fire-making ate too much of time and I am again in the circle of a natural amphitheater discussing about Shelters starting at 14:00, and continue on to another topic about Foraging and Plant ID. For the satisfaction of the participants, different snares and traps are already set by the camp staff so they may understand the complexities of catching food in the wilderness. Plant ID focused more on the harmful ones which all learn from pictures and from actual plants.

I am also now on the throes of hunger but there are now but a few more hours only before we feast during dinner. Going there, I have to talk about Survival Tool Making and proceed to give some practical exercises that the participants would fulfill and, consequently, create a bond with the knife to improve their dexterity. Their creativity on the bamboo begets a spoon, sometimes with a fork, a chopstick when it gets too complicated, a drinking jug and, finally, a cook pot.

The pot cannot be used if you have nothing to cook inside. Last topic is Outdoor Cooking. This is where you are taught how to preserve meat and your other food. This is also a time to understand the different methods of the fireplace where you will cook your food. Ultimately, rice will be cooked inside the bamboo pot but it is cooked differently from the standard fare.

The participants are grouped in fives and the first to accomplish the task of cooking the rice, gets the first chance to engage in Nocturnal Hunting. Since it had rained last night, Creek Charlie nearby will be brisk and it would be a sociable place among fresh-water crabs. Then edible tree snails will come from their hiding places to feed on moss among tree trunks and branches. Both creatures will be ripe for the picking and you end the imposed fasting by cooking these as your dinner.

The children and the teens among them, probed the darkness of the forest with LED lights, without fear, accompanied by their adult companions. I stationed myself as a safety marshal at the farthest end of the forest while others posted themselves on the creeks and along the peripheries of the hunting ground. It was the best time to hunt the tree snails and they expertly left alone the exotic African variety. Likewise, they deftly catch river crabs beyond the reach of claws.

The snails and the crabs are then dumped infront of Ernie. He knows how to make these fresh catch and obscure gastronomic fantasy into a delightful reality. By 20:00, the participants and the camp staff proceed to consume their only real meal of the day. Strong spirits help conversations and laughter crackled in the night. The place becomes alive again and the Campfire Yarns and Storytelling is doing an encore but this time it is more lively. It is a strange celebration set amidst a remote forest of a mountain.

I am spent and I report to my sleeping quarter so early at 22:00 and I never fully witnessed the bond that kept these kindred spirits awake until the coming of the first shafts of light. I am glad that I am not doing night duty. Perhaps my spot had been taken by the arrival of volunteers Justin Apurado (2014) and Locel Navarro (2015) yesterday. Today marks the appearance of another PIBC alumni Fulbert Navarro (2012) to give support and morale.

This is the final day and today (November 30) is the main reason why the Bonifacio Day Special Bushcraft Camp is being held. This is the day of remembrance of Andres Bonifacio, one of the country’s greatest heroes, who died 118 years ago today at the hands of a rival faction. I will honor him today by extolling his virtues, then raising the Philippine colors high on a pole and sing the national anthem - Lupang Hinirang. Afterwards, we renew our patriotic vow by reciting the Panunumpa sa Watawat.

Then the most awaited sideshow of this bushcraft camp which is now a tradition – the Knife Porn – is unleashed. Balanced above pieces of bamboo are the prized blades that the participants, camp staff and volunteers have used for three days. High-end brands lay alongside local ones, carbon steel knives with stainless-steel ones, fixed blades with folding knives, and multi-tool sets snatch their own spots. Perfect time to catch this with pictures.

That was the last program and, slowly, everybody break camp. It has been a pleasure for me to camp and sleep again at Camp Damazo after more than two years. The fireplace is now a permanent landmark and it shall stay as it is to remind people that it is the only place to introduce fire here, even with those having stoves. A cairn marks its place and it adds character to Camp Damazo, truly a place for rugged outdoorsmen who would appreciate its presence.

We leave our camp of three days at 11:00 and pass by the camp’s very reliable water source. After crossing two streams the ascent to the road starts. We cross that when we arrive at the rim and begin hiking the last stretch to Lanipao. By 13:00, we were now splashing in the spring-fed pools of the Lanipao Rainforest Spring Resort. This is the same place that the participants of PIBC MMXII and PIBC MMXIII bathed in after three days in a very humid Camp Damazo.

A meal of hot free-rein chicken soup and grilled pork, courtesy of the camp staff, gets everyone filled up. Training certificates are being distributed along with the raffling of giveaway items. VGOOD moringa juice were provided free to every participant, camp staff and volunteers, courtesy of fellow participant Ed Eduria. After getting refreshed, we leave at 15:30 bound for Napo on foot to catch motorcycles-for-hire Guadalupe.

The Bonifacio Day Special Bushcraft Camp officially ended at 17:00 of November 30, 2016. All able staff and volunteers and alumni of previous PIBCs like Glenn Pestaño (2011) and Boy Toledo (2011) proceed to Cafe Angelica, another of my refreshment area, located at the back of KIA Motors, in Gorordo Avenue, to savor sub-zero beer. The Bonifacio Day event was the first of its kind and the first to accept minors (Jacob – 14, Cleos – 14, Shawn – 14, Michaela – 11 and Maverick – 9), and I will study it if it would be feasible to hold it yearly.

Keep those fingers crossed. XO

 

Document done in LibreOffice 5.1 Writer

COMPLEAT BUSHCRAFT XIII: Tides Turning

I HAVE WANTED TO do another nocturnal hunting session in Argao for the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild.  The area is just perfect for training on this matter but, due to some external complications, I have no other recourse but to shelve this project.  I decide to transfer this activity to Lilo-an instead.  

We converge at our meeting place in Mandaue City after lunchtime on April 12, 2014.  It is a rainy day but, I pray, this will not last.  Coming for this occasion are Jhurds, Glenn, Dominic, Justine, Faith, Jerome and Nelson.  Majority of the guys ride on Jerome’s KIA Rio while Jhurds, Dom and me decide to commute to Lilo-an on a north-bound public jitney.

Aljew is our gracious host for this occasion.  After a light breakfast of special bread baked from the ovens of Titay’s Bakery paired with coffee, we proceed to our campsite.  We need not walk far for it is along the shoreline of Lilo-an.  Christopher guide us all there.  I assess the area and I choose an unused lot which used to be a beach resort.

It is 16:00 and soon it will be dark.  There is a drizzle and strong gusts of wind spurred on by a slow moving typhoon that weakened into a low pressure area.  I did not expect this kind of weather at this time.  Everyone make do of the situation and according to the available materials found and foraged in the area.  It is a test of how people will think and adapt.  

Jhurds use a wooden tripod to prop a wooden ridge to a frangipani tree (Local name: kalatsutse) for his laminated nylon sheet as his shelter.  Nelson used a detached door as his bed space and place it beside a low concrete wall.  The wall will act as windbreaker as well as a possible bulwark for his shelter should it rain.  Jerome set his black taffeta sheet in a crawl space of an improvised table underneath a Malabar almond tree (Local: talisay).  

Dom tied his hammock inside an abandoned bunkhouse while Glenn used the same structure for his bedding.  Justine and Faith shared one free-standing tent.  Me?  I just sleep outdoors.  My bed is a detached door placed over a makeshift ladder propped over one log.  Another detached screen door is left as a windbreaker.  My Apexus taffeta sheet is on standby should it rain.  I will just have to wrap myself with it.

After I have secured my bed, I go on the business of foraging wood for our fire.  Finding dry wood is not a problem since there are a lot of scraps of lumber as well as dry kindling.  Starting a fire is a problem though as strong gusts of wind snuff everything out we dished.  Jhurds help me in starting the fire and we are able to produce one and kept it protected by using the low concrete wall as a windbreaker.

We first cook rice – two pots – on a tripod and, as Christopher returned from the public market, we grill pork meat over another fire that Jerome and Nelson had given life.  The weather is still uncooperative.  Huge waves spurred on by strong gusts of wind make the sea cloudy with silt.  Low tide was noticed at around 16:00 but it is now 18:00 and the promise of foraging on the seashore is discouraging.

We focus on our dinner instead and I know there are hungry stomachs among us.  Grilled pork answered that yearning and, as everyone settled around the fire, a bottle of local brandy begins to take shape and make its presence felt.  Slowly, the tide turned and it goes high and deep enough to take a dip.  A cloudy full moon illuminates the seascape and I take my chance to immerse in the warm water at 21:00.  Glenn join me.

Aljew arrive from a party and join the campfire crowd.  Allan Aguipo also came.  A second bottle replaces the first and more conversations are fed into the circle.  I begin to feel tipsy.  As the clock approach the first few hours of the next day, I retreat to my bed, intending to wake up at 04:30 and set my alarm.  The alarm came and passed unnoticed.  

I wake up when my eyelids felt light in the sky.  It is 05:30 and I missed the nocturnal hunting!  Christopher, Jhurds, Allan, Jerome and Nelson were on to it and they caught different sea shells and a few tiger fish (Local: buga-ong) which they all cook in one pot as soup.  Lying on top of an iron grill are Indian mackerel (Local: anduhaw), cooked above coal embers.

We eat our breakfast as the tide begins to turn again into high water.  The grilled mackerel meat is fresh while the soup is sweet.  After the meal, we celebrate our being here by starting the blade porn.  The blade porn is a bushcraft tradition which Camp Red had adapted, wherein it showcases the knives and hatchets of each individual and, by itself, spurs on intelligent conversations and jolly camaraderie exemplified by our skill with the catapults.

Breaking of camp proceed thereafter as we get on to the business of packing our things back into our bags.  We walk to our host’s residence and stay for a while to be feted with lunch, cold beer and watch live the rematch of Manny Pacquiao against Tim Bradley.  Our Filipino champion controlled the match convincingly and lopsidedly as he gets the nod of all the three judges. 

As the euphoria of Pacquiao’s win died down, Aljew decide to do a little exploration on a hidden enclave on the hills of Lilo-an.  We were all invited and a red pickup was used in reaching the area, which pass by an empty ammunition dump dug from a hillside by the Japanese forces during World War 2.  We walk when the truck could not proceed.  

A creek ran through the place.  There is a small waterfall that splash to a pond and a man is taking a bath on top of the rock.  We proceed on upstream and pass by a natural spring.  Water spew out from a piece of bamboo and drop in driblets to a plastic gallon.  Up ahead, a good 500 meters away, is a dried-up high waterfall.  Any place along the creek is a good site for a bushcraft camp by its proximity to a water source and lots of bamboo.

We go back to town and said our goodbyes to Aljew and Christopher.  It is already 16:00 and we have a long ways to go.  We commute back to Mandaue City and then to our respective homes.  I got home at 19:00 and I am tired.

Document done in LibreOffice 3.3 Writer

NAPO TO BABAG TALES LXVI: Knife Tests and Cold Weather Discussions

I HAVE PROMISED TO discuss Cold Weather Survival to my adherents in Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild but, unfortunately, the proper timing to do so was off. I have come upon cold weather during my several mountain climbing sorties in the past, even gaining resistance to it for a time, but it waned when my visits to high-altitude places became few and far between.

I have used my only struggle against hypothermia in 1988 as a yardstick of the limitations of my body and, beyond mine, I could not discuss it properly to my fellow outdoorsmen except unscientific advice based upon my experiences. I could do so little to teach about cold weather resistance (beyond what I had perceived) as I was totally ignorant of the mechanisms why heat is being taken away from the body without our knowing.

When I chanced upon an article of GreyOne in Bushcraft USA Magazine titled Heat Loss: Cause and Prevention, I begin to understand better this aspect. It is simply disorienting how the body could lose heat in less than an hour when in the colder regions like highly-elevated places where exposure to wind chill is great. I had discussed this subject for the first time when I taught a survival seminar to mountaineers last week in Antipolo, Rizal.

Today, October 27, 2013, I now have the time to introduce it to bushcrafters. Although these people are smart enough to evade exposed places, all could not help it when caught walking on ridges in the foulest of weathers or getting wet for several days. Nevertheless, I have to discuss this to inform and prepare them about cold weather, its causes and how it can be prevented. Some of those that came had spent some time in cold temperate zones and, maybe, they could relate about this too.

On the parking lot fronting the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, the pure breeds of Camp Red came and waited for my arrival. They are Jhurds Neo, Glenn Pestaño, Aljew Frasco, Dominic Sepe, Christopher Maru and Nyor Pino. We have guests too like Joe Bisaya and Xerxes Alcordo. After breakfast and, after procuring the ingredients for our meal, we proceed to Napo. When we hit the trail for Lower Kahugan Spring, some of us carried openly our survival knives on our belts.

We deem it right to carry blades openly and there are no reservations about it. We are on a lawful activity and we know our rights when it comes to that. If you think seeing knives that close would shrink your skin, then keep your distance and we do not care what are your opinions about us. If you think we are badass, then, so be it. It is not everyday we are called that and you may enjoy that without fear of payback.

So, after rehydrating, we tackle the easy Kahugan Trail for the Roble homestead. We arrive there at 10:10 AM and all crowd in to the visitor’s shed while I choose one of the empty benches for myself. Instantly, Glenn and Dom separately boil water for coffee. Christopher help Aljew source firewood from Fele Roble while Jhurds get ready his meat and rice.

During that flurry of activities, Aljew tested his new creation – a shorter version of the AJF Gahum – by chopping a well-seasoned but dry trunk of a Mexican lilac tree (Local name: kakawate, madre de cacao or lubas). This kind of wood is prized by firewood gatherers for it is gnarled and gave off efficient heat when it is used to cook food. The knife cut the trunk in half while I test my AJF Gahum on another trunk. Aljew seems to enjoy the feel of my knife and started splitting wood with it.

On the other hand, I tested Glenn’s prized Chipaway Cutlery Bowie knife on another trunk and it was able to cut it in half but the effort caused a flaw on the knife’s edge near the well. It is a big clip-point knife with an American bison bone handle but it is rather light for chopping big pieces of wood. I help it put on more weight by wearing my Guess stainless-steel band wristwatch to achieve more cutting power.

When we think we got all the firewood we need, we start making a fire. Aljew used a ferro rod to strike a spark where it is caught by his own-manufactured candlewax-on-cotton tinder and progressed into a fire by feeding it with pinewood shavings and dry twigs. Jhurds cooked rice atop a trio of stone anchors while I cooked milled corn on a suspended pot hung from a tripod made by Aljew.

Aljew, a gentleman from a good family of Lilo-an, never ceases to amaze me with his enthusiasm about primitive-living skills. He makes quality knives and leather sheaths; devise his own fire tinder; introduce his ideas and techniques; and even volunteer to prowl and forage among the bushes for wood or cordage. In the short span that I have known him, he accomplished a lot more than what I had expected. He is one of those rare jewels I am talking about when I got interviewed by a University of the Philippines student.

Anyway, Dom and Nyor help in the slicing of eggplants, gumbos and bell peppers while Jhurds produce coconut milk from grated coconuts I bought at Guadalupe. When I think the milled corn is almost cooked, I transfer most of the burning firewood into another set of stone trio to cook the mixed vegetable soup. After sauteing the vegetables and strips of pork, I pour the coconut milk and then stir. No MSG is used; just the right frame of mind.

When the rice got cooked, Christopher grill pork meat over metal bars as Nyor fried eggplants assisted by Dom. When all the cooking had been finished, lunch is served. It is always a feast when bushcrafters eat. I discouraged the eating of canned food, pre-cooked meals and packed lunch. It does not make you a human being but a parasite of modern convenience. I prefer that people polish off their culinary skills outside the comforts of a kitchen.

Dessert came next and it is in the form of green coconuts provided for by Fele. I also prefer that all should know how to open their coconuts with their own knives before indulging on it. A knife is not an object to be kept in your home, immaculate and shiny, or used as an item for bragging. It should be used like any other tool and pushed to the limit of its design and material composition – like I did with Glenn’s knife - but with reverence.

When the conversations have stilled a bit, I called on everyone to fill the spaces on the empty benches and start my discussion about cold weather. There are five physical mechanisms that steal away body heat and it is enumerated as follows: (1) Respiration; (2) Conduction; (3) Convection; (4) Evaporation; and (5) Radiation. For each problem, author GreyOne provided solutions which are very helpful.

At around 3:30 PM, we finish the day’s activity and go down the valley. Glenn is a revelation today. He showed all that he knows how to run and he ran for all he cared. Aljew chased him on the trail. Then me. And then the rest followed, like a war party of Osages. It is good to run again and I hold the knife in its sheath by my side from swinging. Everybody’s panting and sweat flowed, making everybody feel better.

We reach Napo and hiked about 250 meters up the road to reach the parked vehicle brought by Aljew in the morning. We left for Guadalupe but, unfortunately, a liquor ban is imposed because of tomorrow’s election. We transferred instead to Lilo-an, the very base of Aljew and Christopher, and celebrated another round of quality activity that is very unconventional where only Camp Red could accomplish.

Document done in LibreOffice 3.3 Writer