AS
BUSHCRAFT AND SURVIVAL is slowly getting established in the
Philippines, many people are now seriously interested in learning
primitive skills and too few to teach it in a realistic hands-on
manner. Wilderness skills are not a monopoly anymore for tribal
peoples as a lot of people are extracting volumes of information in
the Internet and on television programs while some enrolled
themselves in expensive curricula to learn these skills.
This
writer sees the need to impart and guide aspiring bushcraft camp
instructors in the most correct manner as possible (by which they
also teach others) through my series of teaching modules.
Primitive-living techniques are universal skills which does not limit
itself to geography or of an era. It moves through time and improves
its process with the advent of new ideas and a good dose of life’s
experiences.
My
kind of training for bushcraft camp instructors is a by-product of
the collective skills and ideas I have acquired through the years
from my early beginnings as a boy learning woodcraft from my late
grandfather, from the Boy Scout movement, from a very brief stint in
the military, from tales of real survivors, from witnesses of
survival incidents, from informative books and from experiential
education – all these during the decades when there was no Internet
yet.
Survival
skills are taken for granted today replaced by our preference of
things and processes that entail great convenience and less effort.
Sadly, improvisation and adaptation which are learned from grassy
backyards and unstructured outdoor plays are not given premium
anymore by this present generation and result to over-reliance on
technology and the electrical outlet. For that matter, instructions
for the Bushcraft Camp Instructors Training Course should be done
outdoors, through hard work and where time is not that important.
So
last April 7, 2013, this blogger started training selected members of
Camp Red Bushcraft & Survival Guild for the first module of this
course titled BAMBOO AS A SURVIVAL TOOL at the foothills of
the Babag Mountain Range, here in Cebu City. Included are knife
safety and the Nessmuk trio. The participants are Glenn Pestaño,
Jhurds Neo, Dominic Sepe, Fulbert Navarro and JB Albano. This
training is free courtesy of Warrior Pilgrimage©.
The
Philippines is fortunate to have vast stands of bamboo groves
everywhere and most of these grow along streams and gullies and where
water is abundant. Here in Cebu, different species of bamboos grow
wild and poles can be harvested in any time of the year. I start the
training by introducing the different names and distinguishing
features of the different kinds of bamboo.
We
retrieved one pole from the most common bamboo which we locally
called as kagingkingon because it is protected by a screen of
thorns at its base. I showed them the method of retrieving a pole
over the thorns and the techniques in cutting a bamboo from the base.
I cut the the part above the thorns after it fell and ended saving
eighteen segments which would be divided among the participants. I
also brought a dry pole lying on the ground for firecraft later in
the day.
From
our pole, with the correct manner of cutting angles and by baton, the
participants were able to make their own jugs, spoons, chopsticks,
plates and cooking pots. All brought their own version of the
Nessmuk trio: the big knife for brute force like slashing and
chopping; the medium knife for medium work like whittling and
skinning; and the small knife for delicate jobs like scraping and
carving. My version of the big knife is my tomahawk and Glenn has
his own as well.
All
tried their jugs by drinking coffee with it. Next activity is
teaching them to cook anything on a bamboo pot over an earthen
hearth. Two pots each were reserved for cooking milled corn and
mixed vegetable soup and a single pot for rice while, nearby, pork
meat is grilled on open coal. While waiting, the participants killed
time by aiming a slingshot at a small target and throwing a tomahawk
at a tree trunk until meal is served at 1:30 PM. Later, young
coconuts are readied for dessert.
After
lunch, the lecture concentrated on making fire by friction with two
pieces of dry bamboo. But first, the essential elements have to be
discussed like the fire triangle and showing them how to manufacture
tinder and the poke stick; the carving of the trough and the shaping
of the edge; and how to rub it against each other. Fulbert was able
to work a small ember to life by blowing it alive and the flame
flickered well in the hot afternoon. The irony of it is he is a
firefighter.
Last
activity are the bamboo traps and snares. Traps made from bamboo are
quite effective and is designed to immobilize snakes, monitor lizards
and fishes and could be settled on land and under water. Another
trap with a different hole location is intended for monkeys. Snares
work on the principle of spring and trigger mechanisms but they are
all made of bamboo. JB gave a demo of a snare using a pressure
trigger system.
The
lecture ended early and we leave for Napo at 4:00 PM, retracing our
route. Ultimately, we arrive at Guadalupe at 5:15 PM and proceed to
EZ Mart for our post-activity discussions and socials where Wil
Rhys-Davies of Snakehawk Wilderness Skills School and Boy Toledo of
the Cebu Mountaineering Society joined us. The participants did a
good showing and, I think, they are ready for the Philippine
Independence Bushcraft Camp come June 10, 11 and 12, 2013 although
they may have to finish the other four modules later to be certified
as a BC Instructor.
Document
done in LibreOffice 3.3 Writer
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