Eureka Moments With The Hazda. Striking Matches With Your Teeth. | #AskPaulKirtley 68

Description

Welcome to Episode 68 of #AskPaulKirtley, where I answer questions about 'eureka moments' with the Hadza, and do I still use any skills I learned from them? What to do about ticks being on the increase? Tarp knot recommendations for people with limited hand mobility. Striking matches with your teeth? I also answer a question about my camera gear for trips and how I manage it outdoors with respect to bad weather and potential submersion.

For more on the forthcoming winter trips: frontierbushcraft.com/winter/

TIMESTAMPS:

04:14 Eureka moments with the Hadza?

12:35 Ticks on the increase

20:17 Tarp knots for limited hand mobility

26:48 Striking matches with your teeth

31:53 Camera gear for trips

LINKS MENTIONED:

Alyssa Crittenden On The Hadza, Honey And The Human Diet

http://paulkirtley.co.uk/2015/alyssa-crittenden-hadza-honey-human-diet/

#AskPaulKirtley Episode 3: Kids & Bushcraft, Ticks, Alternative Tinders, Friction Fire Woods & Seeing More Wildlife

http://paulkirtley.co.uk/askpaulkirtley3/

Ticks podcast with Stella from Lyme Disease Action via Mark Yakes a.k.a. Big Man In The Woods

http://www.bigmaninthewoods.co.uk/podcasts/episode15/

How To Tie A Taut Tarp Hitch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj41GwEaKeQ

How To Tie An Evenk Hitch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE5PgvbWUsw

How To Tie An Adjustable Guyline Hitch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9Jj1FZCPBo

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Ask Paul Kirtley is a regular Q&A show (also available as a podcast) with leading bushcraft instructor Paul Kirtley, founder of Frontier Bushcraft and author of Paul Kirtley's Blog.

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Ask a question here: http://paulkirtley.co.uk/ask-paul-kirtley/

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http://paulkirtley.co.uk/Topics/askpaulkirtley/

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Tags: bushcraft,survival,wilderness,camping,hiking,outdoors,question and answer,advice,questions,answers,bushcrafting,nature,self reliance,self sufficiency,outdoor skills,outdoor knowledge,Paul Kirtley,askpaulkirtley

Video Transcription

in this episode of a sport curtly we are going to talk about Eureka moments or with the Hadza ticks top knots for limited hand mobility striking matches in your teeth and photo gear for trips [Music]

welcome welcome to episode 68 of a sport curtly and as you can probably tell from the background I am in an area of largely coniferous forests needled species all around me and snow and I'm recording this in March and it's still snowing the ground where I am there's a good depth of snow and the perceptive amongst you may well guess that I am somewhere in the boreal forest that large circumpolar forest that goes right around all the way through Eurasia Russia all the way through and round Alaska right across the top of North America and I'm actually in Canada at the moment and I have a funny I have a Canada J that has just come to check me out in this spruce tree here and I'm actually going to try and turn the camera around I might scare it away apologies for the dodgy don't you camera work but just in the tree hello there's a group of them hope you could see that but there's a little family of them around here's a group of them and what they tend to do similar to the Siberian Jays is that they're always in at least pairs and one of them drops down to check you out while another one stays higher off keeping watch but there's a few of them around here they were over there earlier on when I was just creating a spot to sit and they've come in close to check me out so if you see them flitting around in the background keep your eye out also there's some Ravens around where they tend to stay a bit higher up tops of the trees and there's a few red squirrels outtakes it's quite a mild day the temperature has come up it was minus 17 Celsius this morning when I left the cabin it had been a bit colder overnight and but it's warmed right up to not far below freezing it's nice spring almost day here and what great opportunity to be able to sit out in the forest and answer some more of your questions and a sport curtly and so I've set myself up here cleared up a bit of snow from the top of a log got some spruce boughs put them down to sit on I'm not in a Provincial Park where I'm filming this by the way you're not allowed to cut green boughs in provincial parks I am NOT on provincial park land at the moment I am on some private property where I'm filming this and I'll talk a bit more at the end I think about what I'm doing here when you've got my little camera so it might be a little bit stop-and-start got some hot coffee which won't stay that hot for that long and ready to go really nice and comfy spruce boughs to sit on nice log to sit on Sun coming through the trees a bit surrounded by beautiful nature and very happy to be answering more of your questions okay have a bit of a contrast question about East Africa here a question from

adrián spring an audio question let's see if we get that to play hello mister curtly it's Adrian spring with yes yet another question for the ask Paul Kirk the podcast my question for you Paul is this you spent time with the hands tribe in Africa and I was wondering during your time with them did you have a Eureka moment or with any sort of real gems of wisdom that they showed you that you still use today even I'd love to you thought thank you for all your hard work it really is much appreciated I'm sure I'm not the only one and a big thank you for all your hard work thank you very much that's very kind of your agents my my pleasure thank you for all your good questions over the months and years in fact that I've been doing a sport currently and so had sir had to a tribe of hunter-gatherers in East Africa and they live down a lake EOS II not a million miles away from them the Goron Agora crater if you know where that is and they've been encroached upon by pastoralists on one side who in turn have been pushed out of what have become national parks and equally there's a hunting concession owned by rich interests on the other side so they've been somewhat squeezed but they still do a lot of them live a hunter-gatherer life and they rely on the land for food they have had a lot of exposure in recent years anthropologists in particular have jumped on them to study various aspects and indeed I've had ELISA Crittenden on my Paul Kirtley podcast which I will link below the videos wherever you're watching this ELISA Crittenden talking about their relationship with honey in particular and the honeyguide and their use of that resource in their environment which is very interesting but my time there what did I particularly

learn from them or what moments did I have um first thing was that a lot of what they did at least on a high level was familiar and I don't mean to sound like an arrogant nob saying that but what I mean is that I looked at one of their shelters like their improvised shelters and I I could it seemed it familiar to me you know in the terms of the construction it's the sort of thing that we might make in another environment of course slightly adapted for that environment a less heavily thatched because it's largely to keep the Sun off to keep the heat off when it's hot and just to provide a bit of shelter at night campfires again you know very familiar environment I spend a lot of time out camping a hand drill again a familiar skill unfamiliar materials but familiar skill the use of bows and arrows familiar skill unfamiliar materials both for making the arrows and for making the bows but that that's all great but the thing that then struck me is that and it's a humbling thing is that well you know even me who is a sort of professional educator I try and assimilate and bring together knowledge look at commonalities between different things and I think that's one advantage that I haven't been able to travel to different places beyond travel to Africa Australia all around Eurasia in North America you can start to see the commonalities and you can start to say right this is this is a core thing that if you're interested in bushcraft of survival skills you need to learn and then this is something that's call for a particular environment and you can separate those things out and that's it that's a perspective that you get by by traveling a lot and looking at different aspects but I think the thing that was humbling for me was I'm kind of still playing at it you know I come from a first world country and I've got a home to go back to I've got a car I can jump on a plane and go other places they're not playing at it they are living that life they are those things that on one level of familiar to me like shelters that very similar to shelters I might have students build on a course those students are going to go at the end of the weekend or the end of the week those guys they had to men and women and children are living there and I think that was something that really struck me both the absolute familiarity of some of what they were doing and their and the techniques and skills they were using but also the complete alien nature of the fact that they were living there as opposed to learning there I think that's that's a big thing that I took away from that another thing that I took away of course was just their absolute intimate understanding of the environment understanding of being able to obtain food and I think that's an area it was something that I you know I knew something that academically or intellectually that I knew but the fact that they are going out and getting food to live from that the land requires a deep and intimate knowledge of nature when certain fruits are ripe how to find certain shoe Burruss roots how to find fallback foods when other foods are not available and to see that firsthand was it was an honor and I was very grateful for that so I think those are some of my biggest takeaways from that so that the technique looking at how they made arrows looking at how they made handrails

looking at how they used their handrails looking at how often they use the handle they use their hand rule like we would use like a smoker here would use a cigarette lighter they use the handle hand drill just to get there you know they do have tobacco they do smoke they trade for that to have a smoke for example and I don't know what it is with me in planes I don't know if that's picking up on there on the audio I am in an area where there are very few people there are no snow machines here but there is a commercial airliner somewhere very high up there and the sounds coming down that I can hear at least over flying this area just seems to be one of those features so and I think that's that's those are my big takeaways Adrian and I may have other things too comment in the future but that's those are my big takeaways hopefully that sir insightful for you and it definitely informs the way I teach what I teach and again it allows me to illustrate certain things that I wouldn't be able to illustrate without that experience particularly on some of my intermediate courses where I'm encouraging students to stand up on their own two feet and use the skills and rely on their skills having that experience of working with and observing and spending time with people who are really relying on those skills to live and gives real weight and foundation to some of the things that I teach on my courses so yeah those are my big takeaways great people as well wonderful people very warm very welcoming and on one level they really have nothing in terms of material wealth but on another level they have everything because it's all there in the bush for them and it's really humbling to spend time with them and for them to share food with you and share their knowledge with you it was it was a really fantastic experience and I look forward to getting back there at some point if some of you are wondering how am I in the middle of nowhere and I've got my phone and I'm getting the questions the note system that I use Evernote if you have the subscription service you can have notes saved offline so I sort the questions out and then there they're locally stored on my phone and there's no phone reception here where I am this is quite a long question and I'll try and read it quickly this is from Jeff and his question is hi Paul I really appreciate your I support curly series I listen to listen again in my car on my way back from work and even if I practice outdoor sports and trips for more than 20 years now I still learn from it and it also changed my points of view on many subjects however this is my question here in the north of France where I'm located we have a have to deal with more and more tics when I started my first Billie's they were known to be found only on dogs in the early years of the 21st century I hardly found some on my body now I can't deep in the woods without bringing one or two with me I finally made the choice when in the woods to always use a bug net under my tarp when I don't use a tent and of course I use liters in an exclamation mark in inverted commas rather of DEET from May to October each year I just wonder if ticks appear to be a big issue for you in outdoor life and if it's the case have you changed any habits you had because of these new predators thanks for your videos best regards Jeff yeah well ticks are becoming an increasing issue and this is I'm hoping that you can see me alright it's looking quite dark because of the bright background apologize for that if it's the case yeah I mean there are we're having warmer winters in Northern Europe both in the UK and continental Europe and we're having warmer winters we have been for some time and that is allowing more insects to survive over the winters and it's not just ticks it's oh they're insects as well that are changing both in terms of the distribution and numbers because of warmer winters and then the other thing as well is I don't know what the situation is in northern France Jeff my knowledge doesn't extend to that in terms of deer numbers but I know for sure in the UK that deer numbers have gone up in many areas of the UK and allied with warmer winters and those two things may of course be related as well that that means there are more ticks around and yes some areas I go to there are a lot of ticks some other areas that I work and and regularly visit there aren't so many even though there's a reasonable deer population for example in the area that I run training courses in the South of England and there's quite a lot of fallow deer in that area and there are a good number of roe deer there isn't

there isn't a huge preponderance of ticks there's the occasional one that somebody gets one of my team or one of the students on a course and but it's unusual it's not it's not something that happens to everybody it's certainly not something that happens on every course or every week that were there even through the summer whereas other places I visit such as the Lake District if you get in the bracken in the Lake District these days it seems like you come out with ticks on you straight away and I get there a red deer in that area so yeah I think part of it is the locality but I think as a general point there are more around and so yes I have noticed that and I and other people have noticed that as well in terms of have I changed my attitude or techniques or systems for the outdoors as a result of that not massively I still sleep on the ground just in the bivi bag sleeping bag in the South of England and Sussex any time of year I don't have any problems I have more problems with slugs than I have with ticks ever really but particularly there in the lakes when I'm working in the Lake District in the middle of the summer I tend to use a tent or if i'm viviane and I will make sure I'm well away from Bracken and I think the general thing as well wherever you are if there a deer in the area then you just check yourself at the end of the day you look at your your armpits you look at your groin you look around your waistline for any of those little specks and you remove them in the in the best fashion without squashing or squeezing the the little the little tick before it before it gorges itself on you and that's the best thing and of course monitor yourself for the main issue in most places in in the UK for example is Lyme disease I know there are some issues with M encephalitis in mainland Europe but the main issue in the UK is Lyme disease and again you just need to monitor for a rash that might happen after that and I've talked about that on earlier podcasts in the past and earlier a sport Kirklees and I've linked through to an interview about Lyme disease that mark put or big man in the woods put on his podcast and I will link to that again under here because that's still relevant you can listen to that so that's that and then the other thing just generally in terms of habits is not just sleeping it's where you put your latrine because you often put a latrine if you're in a group especially somewhere that's secluded and if that's an area of Bracken just be a bit careful about you know going deep into the bracken and pulling your pants down because that's an invitation to get ticks stuck in places that you probably don't want ticks so think carefully about that in terms of yes have somewhere secluded have some weather is also hygienic in terms of water supply not just for your group but other people who are using the area whether they're local people that live there or whether there are the campers of course that takes precedent but also you know you know think about how you get to that spot without pulling yourself through loads of undergrowth that might Harbor ticks and give yourself a reasonable routine where you're less likely I'll just trample it and dogleg it so that it's secluded so you can get there without bushwhacking but you can still have your privacy that's one thing I think that's important when you've got groups but other than that I can't think of anything major that I've done I don't tend to use a lot of insect repellent and that's something I don't find I need to do I use a bit when I'm in highly mosquito infested areas but a head net or a bug suit and that's this is getting off the topic is what I massively rely on in those places but yeah something to keep a watching brief on for all of us as we have these warmer winter and yeah do take care do check yourself and if you are bitten and you feel like you might be infected with something because you get a rash afterwards or you feel unwell afterwards go to the doctors straight away and tell them that's that right next question tap knots for limited hand mobility this is a question from Instagram from Easy Mac 3:08 picture of a top my shelter from a recent trip to the mountain Baker Snoqualmie National Forest in western Washington Paul what not do you recommend for folks with less mobility in their hands I rely heavily on the Siberian hitch as popularized by Ray Mears but it would be good to have more than one trick up my sleeve Cheers PS I did make it more taut after that pic was taken fair enough good um so limited hand mobility I don't know how limited your hand mobility is or whether you're asking for yourself or whether you're asking for somebody else one thing I would say is that the the Siberian Ori vank versions of those knots because you know they're just you know that the typical event hitch that people use for tying off a tarp is all it is is a figure of eight knot with a it's a slippery figure of eight with a quick-release that's what it is it's just as a clever way of tying it and and this is why I find it interesting that you ask about hand mobility because the whole point of tying it the way that the event tie it is that you can tie it quickly and you can even tie it with mittens on because it's designed for use in cold environments so they all you know they effectively have limited hand mobility or limited dexterity and limited sensitivity because they're using hand wear while tying them so it might just be a case of practice and I don't mean to be patronizing and saying this because you can tie it quite quickly with only the use of your of your finger and thumbs but it does take some practice and and that might be just the issue I mean practice you know in a warm environment at home and before you're out in needing it that's that's one thing but if you find that if you find it difficult because some people do find it you know it's just something that they find hard to do I know from having taught it to a lot of people some people get it straight away and other people just find it difficult and don't find it particularly intuitive way to tie something off you can always just go back to a round turn and two half hitches and half hitches are easy to tie you know they don't require a lot of dexterity you know wrap you wrap it around a couple of times half hitch half hitch and if you want to make it quick release just make the second one just put a bite through rather than put the end through on the second hitch and and that will be you know the first one will be quick-release and then the second one will loosen because a single half hitch won't and secure things necessarily that's why you put two on so that might be an option just to do a couple of couple of half hitches so have a play with that because they're simple and they're easy to do and do a couple of wraps around so do a full round turn as it's known because then you get lots of friction on the tree and then at the other end the that's hot tar pitch is probably still the best way of doing it and again to get the tension in the line by taking it around the tree and I have a video on this I'll link it I'll link it below taking the line around the tree and back over the line and putting your body you know you only need to be able to make a couple of fists to hold on to the line put your body weight onto it to tension it and then take it back round and yes there then is a bit of fiddling as' with the making that little triangle pulling it up through pulling it through again but you can modify that you just pull it all the way through do another half hitch and pull it through again another half hitch is two half hitches again to lock it off but you've done that tensioning part you still get a nice taut line so you could just use half hitches which is simple and straightforward because you just make it you just crossing over and passing back up through or passing back down through and there's nothing more complicated than that as long as you hold the tension in there and you can hold a tension just by making fist so have a play with that and then with the with the guylines the the the adjustable guy line hitches is good but if you didn't want it to be quick-release what you could do was you could make loops on the end of your guylines and you could do you could do this at home and you can do it once you can do the hitch is on there and but rather making them quick-release pull the end through so it's much more of a consolidated knot and then what you can do eat if you want if you want to make double sure that it doesn't come loose and come and done and you have to retie it because it's fiddly with that fine guideline put a bit of electrical tape around it to hold the knot together so you've got sliders you've got sliders that are there with a loop on the end so it's attached to your tarp you've got the loop adjustable loop at the end with the the adjustable guy line hitch without the quick-release you can put that over your tent peg over and whatever you're tying off to and then you can tighten it up the downside of that is if you want to tie off around a tree or tie off around a root or something where you have to pass the live end through you can no longer do that because you've you've created the loop ahead of time but in terms of if you're using pegs in particular whether they're pegs you've taken with you or whether the pegs that you make when you're out then it's nice and quick you can you can just pop the loop over tighten it up and you're done and so that might be something to have a play with as well so a few ideas there for you based around what you already know based around what I've shown in my videos but what might be simpler and easier for you to do and I'll link to those knots the talked our pitch and the adjustable guideline hitch if you don't know those I'll link to those and as a say you can you can modify both of those in the way that I've explained and hopefully they're even more useful to you then all right next question striking matches with your teeth this is from Jeff hi Paul I've got a drop of dry mouth I'm just gonna drink some cold coffee but it's nice it's wet which is what I need today is not that cold here very pleasant it's the middle of the day and one o'clock yeah one o'clock all right this is from Jeff hi Paul I've been reading about cabins with stoves in northern countries where it is common courtesy to leave fella sticks kindling firewood and a matchbox with some of the matches protruding from the box my understanding is that the that this is so someone who may be suffering from frostbitten hands and cannot use them effectively and withdraw a match using their teeth and strike it against the box is this a technique that you practice if so what is the best method as I guess this is not something you would want to be learning to do when you really needed it keep up the good work all the best Jeff yeah I mean I've read that and Ray Mears mentioned it in one of his shows I think it was one of the extreme survival shows years ago and used the story of a guy who actually saved himself by doing that he left he was considerate he left the cabin in that way then he suffered an incident himself had to go back to the cabin with very cold hands and managed to use and what he'd left for himself to be honest with you I have never ever and I'm not saying it the people haven't done this in the past but I have never ever gone into a cabin in Sweden Norway or Canada and found that I found shavings I found split wood I've found plenty of matches but I've never found it left in the way that you described and I've read described and that I've heard ray described I've left cabins that way myself because I always hold myself to a certain standard I don't care if other people and not as considerate I don't care if people don't do things to the same standard that I try and work to unless they work for me of course which case I do hold them to the same standards but generally you know if I'm working I will leave a cabin with split wood with some fella sticks that are suitable for whatever the stove is whether they're full-sized that fella sticks or stove fella sticks I will leave plenty of wood and everything ready to go it's just a matter of courtesy do I practice lighting matches in my teeth no it's not that difficult to do frankly if you can hold the match in your teeth I would say generally hold the match between your teeth and then just however you can hold the match box strike strike it okay and and it works yes okay you might you know get some sulfurous fumes up your nose you might scorch an eyebrow you might burn the end of your nose but you know in the context it's kind of not relevant the context is you know you want to get stove going and that's that's important and if you've got feather sticks this is the other thing if you've got feather sticks you know you can and again you might lose an eyebrow doing this but rather than because you haven't got the dexterity in your hands if you're trying to get a matchstick out of your teeth to light something you're probably going to drop it if you don't got the dexterity to hold it to strike it in the first place you're probably going to drop it so if you've got a feather stick made you can bring that to the flame you know you can light the feather stick and take it to the stove and yeah it does work you can practice it I've tried it a few times it does work and it's not something I do regularly and because I understand how it works and it's not something that requires a lot of practice to maintain the skill once you've got the understanding of how it works have a go and don't do it in your living room now and think we're outside somewhere and do be careful about your eyes and your face and stuff it's um you know it's either precious as my mom always used to say do be very careful do it under your own it's common sense as it were and you know no no liability on me if you take an eyebrow off okay so if this question is about photo gear for trips and this is from who is this from this is from Stephen Tomlinson hi Steve hi Paul I wonder if you could discuss with us what photography kit you take with you when you're out and about I don't mean specific photo shoot or make of kit but I'm thinking of protective gear for your camera and lens in inclement weather how big is your camera bag how many lenses etc okay well it kind of does sound like you're asking about the kit but also how I look after it um which is fair enough because when you're traveling and that's a as a question I'm hoping this is bright enough so it's a very bright background I just have to bring the shadows up I think when I edit this yeah

Suns coming around now through the trees photography kit so I've often if you read my wild wanderings blogs which are photo blogs largely around nature around tree and plant identification tracks and sign often fungi things that I find as I'm out and about and if parts of the world you will know that I will write at the bottom what camera I've used and for taking the photographs and also if I've used their particular camera and a number of lenses I'll also say what lenses so you can refer to those for the type of camera kit that I use and if you look through all of those you'll see the range of camera kit that I use and have used what am I currently using in terms of photography kit in particular you asked about photography rather than videography what am i using in terms of photography kit well the main things that I use are the smallest camera I have is the one that I'm using here which is a canon g7x and that's a small compact camera but it's a very good quality you can shoot in RAW you've got full manual control over aperture and shutter speed exposure compensation all of those sorts of things it's a good little travel camera is a good one for hiking because it doesn't take up a lot of weight it's got a metal body it's quite robust I've got the first version the mark 1 Amanda my partner's got the mark 2 it's a little bit bulkier but it's got a better and more multifunctional hinge on the back lens and back lens over the back screen and it's a good little camera it's quite expensive for a small camera but it's a very very good small camera and I like it a lot and it's good for videos well it's what I'm using for video today I also have a like deluxe type 109 and that's kind of almost like a mini DSLR it's got a microphone third sensor it shoots 4k video not that I shoot 4k video it does very good time lapses if you ever saw the Aurora time-lapse that I did from a blood vein a few years ago that was shot with that little camera it takes nice photographs it's got a nice lens on it it's got the 35 millimeter equivalent of a 28 to 75 millimeter on it it's a good compact camera so if I want to do a little bit more precise photography slightly you know if I want to do nighttime photography it's got a bigger sensor than this camera and it has

I can get more control of the depth of field with that camera part because it has a larger sensor and I can use it like a small DSLR I don't find the macro photography autofocus on that particularly great but other than that it's a great little camera and there's a lumix version of it as well if you don't want to like a budget version it's the Lumix ones are slightly cheaper and the body is slightly different but they're good cameras and I like that a lot and as a travel photography camera that's probably where I'm at so for example when I was in Australia over the turn of the year from 2017-2018 that was the camera that I took it's a good travel photography camera it's quite discreet if you're doing street photography as well or photography in places where you don't be carrying a big expensive looking SLR around with you but you can still get really good quality images out of it not that you can't get good quality images out of this either but the other thing it has is it has a viewfinder and I like for photography for proper photography for serious photography where you're really thinking about composition you're really thinking about depth of field I like using something that's got a viewfinder even if it's an EVF even if it's an electronic viewfinder so I use that camera quite a lot as a travel photography I tend to use this g7x either as a hiking camera where weight is absolutely paramount and I can do photography and video with it or I just tend to use this as a mini video camera whereas the Leica I tend to just use as a mini DSLR then I have a nikon d800 I am looking at the D 850 but I can't justify spending that amount of money at the moment but I am looking at it and I have a d800 which I've used for a number of years it's a fantastic camera I've been an icon system user for many many years right back to the F 100 that I had the film camera that I had years ago so if I millimeter I have a range of lenses that I use with that camera from 1735 through to an 80 to 400 and I've got a number of primes in there as well very nice macro lens nice couple of nice 50 millimeter

nice 28 millimeter in that collection as well and that's that that's the camera I use a lot for really detailed photography I eat on expeditions when I can justify carrying it so winter trips I've got it with me for this trip where you've got a toboggan or a snow machine or summer trips such as a canoe then I will take that camera particularly when you're accessing absolutely amazing places that you might never go back to again I want my best photography camera so that's the photography kit that I use really small compact camera g7x medium-size camera which is a nice photography camera but also compact and discreet that's the like a deluxe type 109 and then I use the d800 as well for really my most you know serious photography landscape travel and a lot of tree and plant of photography as well macro photography of details etc etc I can just captured wonderfully with that camera and so that's what I use so how do I look after them the main thing I use for looking after cameras on trips is two things to to kind of broad things I use a lot of low pro bags and so everything from a small case for this camera and through to a nice satchel state sort of style bag for my d800 that I have with me here just a camera bag sort top loading I can get a couple of lenses in there and a camera so what have I got with me on this trip well I was thinking thinking about what I needed so I've got a 17-2 35 for landscape I have a 51 point F 1.8 which is good for portraits it's good for general photography it's good for low-light photography it's good for night photography and I have with me a 16 millimeter macro for nature details and I chose not to bring a telephoto because I didn't think I would really use it very much on this trip whereas if I was doing a canoe trip where I'm more like in this environment where I'm more likely to come across a moose bear bald eagle or something I want the telephoto and I I don't have Fick I don't have a fixed telephoto because they're too big and bulky to carry on trips where you're covering distance unless your vehicle based generally I find personally and I've got an 80 to 400 which isn't you know as top quality is a fixed fixed lens but for my purposes it's quite compact and I can I can take it with me on a canoe journey so I might take 17 to 35 60 and a 80 to 400 on a canoe journey like I did on that mission I be like I did on the French River last year and that's a great combination and they go in a Pelican case hard case with waterproof seals foam inserts that keeps everything well protected check the seals every year check they're working and you and you're good to go so with my small cameras if I happen to do a trip where I don't want to take them so often on this on the river spey I don't take my DSLR we're paddling a lot there's occasional opportunity for taking photos and I might just bring a small camera and I have a small Pelle case I have a small Pelle case that I can put compact camera in and a gopro few of the spare batteries you always remember room for spare batteries and cleaning kit and and that's what I take so if I'm if I'm in the water or on the water I have Pelle cases and otherwise I just use low pro camera bags or camera pouches and that serves me very very well and then I take a blow a little blower a little squeezy blower brush or a squeezy blower a little dust off brush lenses sometimes chemically lens cleaning fluid

plenty spare batteries cable release lightweight carbon fiber tripod and that's me and you can do an awful lot even with what I've got here you know I can do video I can do really good photography and it doesn't weigh a huge amount and we flew into where we are in a light aircraft and you know you limited weight on those things limited weight in the space but still I've got all

that stuff with me because it's important hopefully that answers your question and inclement weather you mentioned good SLRs tend to be weather proofed they have rope weatherproof seals on them and that's something to be does something to consider so when you have them out and it's raining a bit you've still got some protection but you do need to be careful particularly with cameras like this with a retractable lens you can get water into the mechanism my old compact camera my old Canon compact camera they exercised to use got water into the back screen I didn't end up in the water I was just filming sorry photographing on a rainy day in in Wales and rain got into the lens the casing lens I don't know I into the screen on the back and it never worked again unfortunately the cameras still work I could still take photographs with it but I couldn't see on the screen on the back I couldn't change the settings or anything unfortunately so I'd had that camera for a long number of years and I've got I got plenty it didn't owe me anything but I was still sad because it was a nice little camera so yes you do need to be careful try and choose kit that is professional or you know semi-professional level in the first place because it tends to be more robust metal bodies rather than plastic bodies and it tends to have weather sealing on it as well if you can weather seal it and then of course if you need to take waterproof cases to keep things in and while you're traveling that's that's my advice keep things clean keep them free of dust and they should be good right that brings us to the end just the sun's coming around the trees very contrasting day but looking forward to the rest of my time here and I will tell you what I'm up to actually and but I'm going to just stop this camera again because I'm coming up to the that's the one downside with this camera for video any records for about 12 min and then stops what I'm doing here in Canada is I'm doing a recce for a trip a potential trip I've for a long time wanted to do a trip with students with clients however you want to view it people who want to learn boreal forest bushcraft skills in the winter it's something I've been asked to do a number of times by people over the years I have produced a few videos and blogs about boreal forest trips in the past and I guess that generates some interest and winter camping hop tenting snowshoeing

the shelter skills the foraging skills or the fishing and trapping skills and all those things are something that people want to learn about and just how to manage yourself in the cold and that's what we're looking at doing putting together a program that is aimed at people who are not familiar with this environment that they can come and learn safely and be exposed to this environment and be exposed to the cold northern forests and the skills that are required and be able to recognize the resources here and that's what I'm here for so I'm here with a couple of colleagues and we're checking out an area that's a combination of private land and park and that gives us the resources and the ability to use certain resources and the about the scope to travel to journey as well and to apply and those journeying skills in this environment it's very remote and where we are there is nobody else for miles and miles and miles and miles around as I say we flew in by light aircraft to where we are we're based in a small cabin and then we're going out getting to know the area on day trips at the moment and then we're also going to be going out for a multi-day trip by snowshoe and toboggan to check out a walking route or a range of areas that we could go to and with with with you if you're interested so that's what we're here doing and all the while I'm here are we're trying things were experimenting with things I'm taking a lot of photographs of aspects of this environment that can be used for for blogs and publications and of course recording and a sport currently here as well which is good opportunity and if you're interested in that if you go to frontier bushcraft comm forward slash winter and leave your email address there when we have something to share with you about the forthcoming trip I will send you the information by email so that's Frontier bushcraft comm forward slash winter and you will be presented with a page you can leave your name and your email address there and I will send you the information when you're ready a frontier bushcraft in case you don't know is my company my training company that I offer all the courses whether they're online courses field courses and wilderness expeditions they're all offered through that training company that's my official way of teaching if you like through that company but of course all that free material on my blog as well including a sport curtly and on YouTube and this is on more and more platforms as a podcast as well player FM is one I found recently that I really like and if you haven't found a good podcast player for your Android phone in particular I would recommend checking out player fm I think it's very good I'm using it myself now for the podcasts that I listen to and I was listening to some on the plane on the international flight over to Canada last week and it works very well you can stream stuff but also you can download it to your phone so you can play it later when you're not on line which is useful to me because I'm often not online either traveling on planes or out in remote places like this where there's no internet here there's no phone coverage I've got a satellite phone with me if I need to communicate with anybody that's how far away from anything we are ok so that brings us to the end of this episode of a spork early thank you for joining me in the borea Forrest thank you for your attention thank you for the great questions everyone who submitted questions recently I am still working through them all trying the best I can get one of these out every week and I look forward to speaking to you on the next I spoke early and I look forward to your questions take care and stay safe in the outdoors

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