2021-025 | BLADE & BATON STICK, AN INSEPARABLE PAIR

WISDOM TRAILS: A knife is a tool and can do so many things. Pair it with another tool like a batoning stick and you can save so much energy and makes knife work accurate and neat.

 

First seen in Facebook

May 6, 2018

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PEOPLE COULD NEVER appreciate the value of their work blades until they pair it with a heavy stick. A stick hammered, or more precisely called batoning, on the spine of a blade could make splitting or cutting wood easier. It also would make a neat and accurate result if you cut out a notch or opening a bamboo pole which you intend to use as an improvised cooking pot. 

Conversely, you could never appreciate the value of a batoning stick if your stick is slender, lightweight and rotting or your blade is serrated on the spine. The serrations would leave your stick in tatters and broken, leaving your work in a distasteful result or it remains unfinished. The simple design of a blade is then ideal for batoning work and that blade becomes very flexible for usage.

 

Sticks ideal for batoning should be thick, just enough to grasp with one hand; must be heavy; and of the right length, at 15 to 17 inches. Sticks for batoning can be found anywhere in the woods. Some would carve a thicker wood into a likeness of a German potato masher as their batoning stick. Such design is ideal only when you have a permanent camp to go back to and do bushcraft. 

Early man used a club to forage and hunt and that club reduced in size as the blade was invented. Stick was replaced by mallets when cutting blades became specialized like chisels and carving knives during the time when fine carpentry was in demand. The stick and the blade remained as backcountry and frontier tools when it had lost its appeal in urban and suburban areas due to modern living. 

I have learned how to baton a blade when I was nine. Eventually, I used two sticks to assist the blade in splitting twisted-grained, knobby and knurled wood. When my blade created an opening after a severe batoning, I wedged the other stick on the crack and the baton stick would force this second stick downward, thereby relieving the blade of the pressure.

A baton stick is so important in notching work, where a semblance of accuracy is needed, during construction of shelters, a camp furniture and other essential tools for different applications. Batoning techniques can be learned easily as are the basic notches. Once you progress with different material like a bamboo pole, a different technique has to be used. 

Although not encouraged, batoning a blade to leave a trailsign on a tree is better than hacking at a trunk haphazardly like most people do. The result is neat and you could choose angles that are impossible to achieve without an aiding stick. The advantage of a baton stick is it could make a smaller knife perform beyond its length and weight. 

For thinner blades, made of stainless steel, it would be a risk should you proceed to baton it. You can only do so lightly and cautiously with a smaller stick for a job that is not that heavy. Baton sticks are not carried in your backpacks but are found. Another use of the baton stick is you could use it as an aid in walking up a very steep incline. But that is another story.  

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WARRIOR PILGRIMAGE BLOG, personified by this writer, is synonymous with the Outdoors, since Bushcraft and Survival is its niche. Safety and Security are its bedrock when it ventured into organizing outdoor events that involved people as in adventure/pilgrimage guideships and seminars; and explorations and expeditions.

 

Through tutorship, experience, folk knowledge and good old common sense, this writer was able to collect useful information which he is currently documenting in a book titled, ETHICAL BUSHCRAFT. He shares some of this information and knowledge in his training sessions; in his social-media account; and in this blog.

2021-024 | A CAMINO OF A MOTHER & HER DAUGHTER

IF YOU WOULD JUST BELIEVE, nothing is impossible. Marianne Leila S. Flores, a veterinary doctor and professor of the University of the Philippines, Los Baños Campus, Laguna, decides to take a leave of absence one morning of July 2019, for a different kind of vacation to Cebu. She brought her daughter with her, Frances Marie, to treat her for graduating BA in Fine Arts from the University of Santo Tomas. 

That vacation plan was intended for a pilgrimage walk through Cebu’s own Camino de Santiago, recently recognized by the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain, as an equivalent to the ancient but more famous Camino de Santiago during the 2nd National Congress of St. James the Great Parishes and Devotees held last February 2019 in Compostela, Cebu. She believed there is something of a connection with her to St. James since her maiden name is Santiago!   

 

The Camino Cebu is 175 kilometers in length, which starts from Badian in the south and climbs over the southern mountains going north before it goes down to Compostela. It is walked in ten days with a guide, since the Camino Cebu does not have directional signs yet compared to that in Spain. Likewise, there are no waypoints to follow the route online and cellular signals are wanting and weak on almost all of the places.   

It does not have albergues yet but what it has are eight mountain parishes which becomes your resting places for each night. Meals and beddings are provided in exchange for tokens of donations. What is more is, you can catch and attend a Holy Mass that might be scheduled on an early evening or an early morning, depending on each parish. It is a Camino that is still in its unadulterated form reminiscent during medieval times. 

As of this time in the development of the Camino Cebu, hiring a guide is the only option but guideship tours are nonexistent except for this writer. He is the only one available because this route was established through his industry and of his specialty as a local explorer and adventure guide. It is by a predictable twist of fate, that Doc Lei and Frances Marie choose this blogger as their guide.

 

I met them at the Cebu South Bus Terminal on the early hours of July 8, 2019. They arrived last night from Manila and they were sorely deprived of sleep. I hope they could catch up on sleep during our travel by bus to Badian, which is two-and-a-half hours away. The bus left the terminal at 03:25 and we expect to arrive at the earliest at 06:00, but we arrived at 05:35 instead.

We proceeded to the ancestral house of Fr. Scipio Deligero, located across the St. James the Apostle Parish. Fr. Scipio was the parish priest of the Archdiocesan Shrine of Santiago de Compostela, our destination on this pilgrimage ten days from now, and he was visiting his aging mother. We came by way of an earlier invitation by him to partake of breakfast before we set out on our journey. 

The Camino de Santiago of Doc Lei and Frances Marie officially started at 06:50 of July 8 after having their credenciales stamped by the parish seal of St. James of Badian. The first day route is the hardest since you would be starting from almost sea level and progress to 780 meters elevation and it is 18+ kilometers long. Day One decides who proceeds to go on the journey and who does not. I aim to have both proceed and I led them along on an easy pace.

 

By 11:00, Doc Lei almost bogged down two kilometers before Tigbao, an upland village of Badian where we would take our noontime meal and rest. Lunch could wait and I let her rest for 30 minutes so she could recover from the fatigue of acclimatizing with the humid weather and the elevation gain. After that, she claimed her second wind and enjoyed the meal after arriving at 13:15 and claimed that one-hour rest.

We resumed at 14:30 and reached the Our Lady of Consolation Parish in Manlapay, Dalaguete at 19:05 after a lengthy fight on the notorious Ilong-ilong route of steep grades among forests. We were expected even though Fr. Eligio Almazol Jr. was not around to receive us. This was the first night stop and dinner was prepared for the three of us. The soft bed received my tired bones and body gracefully. I believed the mother and daughter felt the same and more! It rained that night. 

We left the Our Lady of Consolation Parish after breakfast and the parish seal stamping at 06:30 of July 9th – Day Two. We were walking on the “vegetable highway” to the next destination of the Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Parish, Colawin, Argao. Dalaguete’s mild weather changed to humid, when we crossed the municipal boundary into Argao. However, the presence of so many water sources and the different flowering plants along the road kept us hydrated and inspired.

 

Doc Lei could not believe that anthurium of all colors are left on the roadsides without being “molested” by plant collectors. We stopped for a while at the 600-year old sacred fig tree (Local: balite) at Botong which nurtured a clear spring spouting through its roots. We stopped for lunch at 12:00 at the small market of Bayabas. After a mandatory rest of an hour, the Camino Cebu resumed and we reached our destination at 17:26 where Fr. Benedict Into welcomed us in. 

The third day (July 10) would be the longest of the routes at 26+ kilometers and the Camino de Santiago would snake along the “vegetable highway” once again in another expected warm tropical weather. After breakfast and the credencial stamping, we left at 07:35, already quite late due to the warm hospitality imposed on us by the parish ladies, who insisted that we carry food along for our mid-day meal and for snacks.

After crossing over to Sibonga, it became very warm. We rested at Bae, Papan and Basak to conserve our energies and to keep us cool. We stopped at Cauluhan, Basak, to partake of lunch that we dutifully carried for hours. By 13:15, we continued and then it begins to go cloudy. We walked without rest until we arrived at Hunob, Guadalupe, Carcar City at 16:30. After 15 minutes, we walked on and arrived at the San Isidro Labrador Parish, Mantalongon, Barili at 18:30, where we were expected and welcomed by Fr. Dennis James Acedo and Fr. Lyle Carungay.

 

We heard our first Eucharistic Mass at 06:00 on the fourth day – July 11, celebrated by Fr. Carungay. We dearly need it and wished it everyday. Breakfast came at 07:30 and we bade goodbye at 08:00 after the passport stamping. The day was uncomfortably warm and we had to take a breather at Bagakay, Valencia, Carcar City at 09:40. By 10:00, we were on our way to Calidngan and stopped at the San Isidro Labrador Parish to observe our mid-day rest after lunch. 

At 13:00, we resumed with the Camino de Santiago. At Lunas, I wasted 70 minutes looking for the right road to Pit-os. It was déjà vu again for me in this same location just last January, guiding another set of pilgrims. At 16:30, quite rested after recovering from the exhaustion of my bewilderment, we set on again, arriving at 17:41 in the St. Augustine de Hippo Parish of Magsico, San Fernando. We were expected even when Fr. Murphy Sarsua was away on a personal errand. By the time he arrived he was happy to see us and invited us for dinner. 

Day 5 (July 12) would be the last of the long routes. We ate breakfast at 05:30, stamped our credencials and left Magsico at 06:00. It is a cool morning but once it is past nine in the morning, the world goes unbelievably warm. At 08:00, we stopped for a breather at Bandilaan, Patag, Naga City while enjoying the landscape. We proceed after 15 minutes and took another 30-minute rest at Alpaco. We resumed at 10:00 and arrived at Taghaguimit at 10:45 to take an early noonbreak.   

At 11:45, the Camino de Santiago of Doc Lei and Frances Marie continued under a favorable mild weather, the third straight so far. I wished this weather be everyday. We arrived at the San Roque Parish in Uling to rest for 15 minutes. By 13:25, we were on our way again until we arrived at the San Pedro Calungsod Parish in Cantabaco, Toledo City at 15:00, and warmly welcomed by Fr. Armando Orehuela. We nursed our blistered toes and washed our clothes due to a good surplus of time made on account of a very kind sky. 

Day Six – July 13 – is the turning point of the Camino Cebu when long days would be bygones and longer rests would be welcomed. The route is 14+ kilometers but it would be uphill. After leaving Cantabaco at 07:30, another “camino weather” day is before us, aiding our travel in the most generous way passing Camp 7, Minglanilla. After a 15-minute rest at Sinsin, Cebu City, we arrived at Sudlon I to enjoy an early lunch at 10:45. We resumed at 11:45 and reached the St. John the Baptist Parish at 12:45, under light showers. Fr. Bernard Oyao expected us and welcomed us in.

 

On July 14 (Day Seven), we heard our second Eucharistic Celebration at 06:00, celebrated by Fr. Oyao. After breakfast and passport matters, we bade this parish on the hill of Tabla goodbye at 07:30. This day’s route is the shortest – all downhill – and there is an absence of an urgency, even aided by another day of “camino weather”. After a 15-minute rest at Consit, we resumed at 08:45 until we arrived at a roadside market of Bonbon for an early lunch at 10:45. At 11:45, we continued on and arrived at the Birhen sa Guadalupe de Cebu Parish, Babag, Cebu City at 12:30. Fr. Mark Barneso knew our coming and welcomed us despite his busy schedule. 

It was on this day that Doc Lei received a not-so-good news from his husband. She decided to terminate their journey on the Camino de Santiago on account of a very grave nature and I had to respect that. Things happen which are beyond our control which she was experiencing in the middle of the Camino Cebu. However, she has to consult her husband when he calls back. The following day, July 15 – Day Eight – Doc Lei informed me that her husband decided that she has to go on with their journey and assures her that he understood their absence in his most wanting moment. 

With heavy hearts, we proceed to the next destination: Sto. Niño Parish of Guba, Cebu City. After breakfast and the matter with the credencials, we bade goodbye Fr. Barneso at 08:00. Upon arriving at Sirao at 09:40, we decided to stop when heavy raindrops fell. We resumed our journey at 10:20 after it stopped. We arrived at Santo Niño Parish at 11:40 where Fr. Peter Necesario had been waiting of our coming. Frances Marie was a revelation today. She was ahead all the time unlike on the first few days where she was adjusting to the long walks and saw her frequently stopping.

 

The third Eucharistic Celebration we heard was celebrated by Fr. Necesario at 06:00 of July 16 – the ninth day of the Camino de Santiago. After breakfast and the passports, we bade goodbye at 07:15. We crossed over the boundary of Consolacion and then of Liloan, where we took rest at Mulao at 10:00. After 15 minutes, we resumed our Camino Cebu, knowing that we are now in the threshold of nearing to our destination. We arrived at Mulao, Compostela at 11:00 for our noonbreak and resumed at 12:00. 

By 13:30, we arrived at our day’s resting place in Basak which is not a parish. It is the home of the Catampatan Family, who volunteered to convert their abode into a homestay for pilgrims of the Camino de Santiago. Husband Paul is a lay minister of the Archdiocesan Shrine of Santiago de Compostela while wife Minnie, takes care of their candle-making business. It was the second time that Paul and Minnie hosted me and my pilgrims in their humble home. The first being last February with my 10 pilgrims. 

After breakfast, the last day of the Camino de Santiago of Doc Lei and Frances Marie begun at 06:00, July 17th. By 06:45, we were already at the Cross of Triumph, on a hill of Bagalnga; thanks to the blistering pace of Frances Marie and the “camino weather”. This was the highlight of the journey where the pebbles you carried along the whole length of the ten days is gently placed on the bottom of the huge cross. It is here where you unload all your hurts, your most profound prayers, confessions of sins and prayer requests from relatives and friends.

 

At 07:30, it was time to go down to finish the last few kilometers of the Camino de Santiago and on to the Archdiocesan Shrine of Santiago de Compostela, which we reached at 09:45. Doc Lei and Frances Marie were received with leis by the welcome committee and both proceeded to the reliquary of St. James the Apostle, to offer prayers of gratitude and thanks and whisper once more prayer requests from relatives and friends. Fr. Scipio Deligero invited Doc Lei, Frances Marie and I to an early 10:30 lunch.

Both Doc Lei and Frances Marie endured the ups and downs and the trials of the Camino de Santiago and both connected perfectly with it. They each had the Certificate of Finish to show, signed by His Excellency Jose S. Palma, the Archbishop of Cebu. On our lonely journey in our threesome, there was enough space and distance for each to process thoughts privately and not too wide as to hinder a good conversation and sharing jokes. The Camino Cebu is most perfect this way.

 

On my part, I let them walk ahead so they could have privacy and not be stressed by somebody up ahead dictating the pace. They set their own pace and they stopped to look back, once in a while, at me, when the paths crossed one another and I would gesture with my hand going left or right or straight ahead and they would go on their way. It was kind of awkward to march up ahead or breathing next to them and walking behind is the best method that even endeared me to Frances Marie that she drew a cartoon version of me later. Funny… 

Doc Lei and Frances Marie ultimately spent a day in Cebu before planing back to Manila on the early morning of July 19, 2019. They brought with them their appreciation of their journey (disguised as a vacation) on the highlands of Cebu and rediscovered the other facets of their Christian faith by knowing better St. James the Apostle through the Camino de Santiago. A few days after this, Doc Lei informed me of a minor miracle of her sister’s friend’s niece. The sister requested her to pray for the recovery of the girl, which it did. 

Such are the ways of the Camino de Santiago and its spiritual healing on people and pilgrims. There are a lot of stories and this is one of the many experienced in our own Cebuano version. iBuen Camino! Viva Señor Santiago!

Pencil sketch by Frances Marie S. Flores

2021-023 | GOOD FIRE ETHICS

OUTDOORS COMMON SENSE TIPS: Keep your fire small. Small enough so you could approach it safely and, at the same time, enjoy the warmth. Small enough to boil water and cook food. Small enough to contain it safely. 

Feed it with twigs instead of logs. Do not waste too much firewood for nothing. 

No need to have a big fire. No need to prove that you are a fine wood gatherer. A small fire serves a better purpose.

 

First seen in Facebook

March 8, 2018

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I COULD NEVER UNDERSTAND why people make a bonfire in the tropics? For what purpose? You are no better than those illegal loggers that you despised so much. Those firewood you used for arousing your “primitive feelings” and your imagined rituals could have been used better by poor homesteaders for cooking. It is really a waste of good forest resources that amount to nothing!

Fire was man’s earliest companion until it was used in the later prehistoric years as a tool in early warfare. Likewise, it was used as a convenient shield in the commission of a crime. Lately, it became an instrument of choice by arsonists in falsifying insurance claims and, you scorn this one over the others, as a clearing agent to rid land of wild vegetation for farming. So, it carried a bad reputation. 

Fire, as we know now, has three elements. Yet just a few know that there is a fourth element. Fire can never be tamed nor will it recognize a human master. It is an ancient element where myths of its origins are concurred and born in tribal legends and children’s tales. Fire is neither good nor bad and humans have accepted its presence willingly in their hearths and loathed it when it goes berserk. 

I would rather have a fire that I can approach safely and extend a hand to reach over a pot that I place over it than have something that would totally keep me at bay. In bushcraft, we never play with fire. We respect so much this ancient human companion that we always place it in the middle of our campsites so we could enjoy its company. It becomes the center of a gathering.

 

From a campfire comes these human fondness of telling yarns and stories. It animates every individual around as it danced to the play of the breeze and makes the moment magical; totally connecting you to some humans of long ago who may have gathered around an ancient fire doing what you are doing. With a small fire, in hushed voices, words could float plainly in a tight circle. 

The presence of a fire, lit by wood, is always reassuring. Woodsmoke is so sweet that it arouses your primeval senses and keeps you alert. Settle with twigs and small branches and let it all burn out. Avoid large wood like logs. It keeps a hidden ember no matter how generous you douse it with water. Again, keep your fire small. It is practical, safe and manageable. Bonfires are for movies only. Do not imitate that unless you are sending a distress signal. 

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WARRIOR PILGRIMAGE BLOG, personified by this writer, is synonymous with the Outdoors, since Bushcraft and Survival is its niche. Safety and Security are its bedrock when it ventured into organizing outdoor events that involved people as in adventure/pilgrimage guideships and seminars; and explorations and expeditions.

Through tutorship, experience, folk knowledge and good old common sense, this writer was able to collect useful information which he is currently documenting in a book titled, ETHICAL BUSHCRAFT. He shares some of this information and knowledge in his training sessions; in his social-media account; and in this blog.

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.