A sheef of pecok arwes, bright and kene,
Under his belt he bar ful thriftily,
(wel koude he dresse his takel yemanly:
His arwes drouped noght with fetheres lowe)
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, Prologue, The Yeoman, lines 104-7.
Sawing Planks
Before powered saw mills, making lumber was much more labor intensive. Now I can flip a switch to crank up the band saw or table saw; or pull the cord to fire up the chainsaw for big work. It’s easy to forget how good we have it. Notice the sturdy little sawhorse holding up the trunk. I suspect this was hot and hard work.
There is much more about this stereo image here.
Pack Basket
In a fit of energy I got around to putting proper and better shoulder straps on my pack basket made last summer. The pack is willow and the leather work is approximately 10 oz. Hermann Oak harness leather.
Once the leather ages a bit they will be beautiful and rustic-looking.
Walks to Office
Wow. A great observational essay. This could apply to just about any city on earth but I’m sure it was even more true at the heart of the Empire.
Horace Kephart Days: The Revival of Classic Camping
Sounds like a great time. Wish I were there!
Guest post by Kevin Bowen
First off, I must thank Todd Walker for the opportunity to write this piece for his blog. He really wanted to attend Kephart Days this year but an even more important event took place the same weekend that required his attendance, the birth of a beautiful, healthy grandson. Congratulations good buddy!!!
I first met Todd online about a year or so ago and then had to chance to meet up with him and Bill Reese at one of the Workshop in the Woods classes, hosted by primitive expert/teacher/author, and all around great guy, Scott Jones. If you regularly follow Todd’s blog, you have been introduced to Scott already. Since then, I have garnered a great respect for Todd’s attitude, an affinity for his ideas and work ethic, and more than anything, a love for his friendship. It’s truly an honor to help him out…
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Why Not?
Just why the hell not?
Camp Stoves: Optimus 80
Continuing on with the theme of admiration for the classic camp stoves, here is a visual overview of the Optimus 80 / Svea 71. No, they are not exactly the same, but are very close and share virtually all the same features. For those interested in the early history of the liquid fuel camping stove, have a look HERE.
How much simpler can this get? It is essentially a repeat of the classic design in a slimmed down form. It was designed to stand alone as a portable cooker with the carrying case serving as a pot support.
I wasn’t really looking for one when found this on Ebay. It has obviously seen very little use and the paint and tin plate are still in excellent condition. I’m not a fanatical collector so when I bid on these things I tend to be pretty frugal. I was fortunate to get this one for a very fair price.
A bit of oxidation is visible on the top and in the lid of the box but otherwise, this is a clean stove. It fired up immediately and works extremely well.
I put a Quiet Stove flame spreader in this one and I think it makes it easier to cook on. The flame is certainly a lot nicer and more controlled with this device. They are a bit expensive but are certainly worth the cost if you are using an Optimus-style stove on a regular basis.
Salmon Fishing the Old Fashioned Way
Salmon fishing in Scotland romanticized by R.R. McIan, mid-19th century.
Camp Stoves: Optimus 8R
Just some eye candy of the Optimus 8R. Battered, grungy, and well-used, much like it’s owner. I really wanted one of these back in the mid-1980s. Since I was bumming around and using air travel, I went to a butane cartridge stove instead. For those interested in the early history of the liquid fuel camping stove, have a look HERE.
Still the World’s Oldest Shoe
Just an amazing center seam moccasin-style shoe from Armenia. Check out the links.
I’ve mentioned this one before, back in 2010. It’s back, now with photographs. This is an updated version of Kate Ravilious’ earlier National Pornograhic article, ‘World’s Oldest Leather Shoe Found—Stunningly Preserved‘ from Dr Kaveh Farrokh’s blog.
Preindustrial Craftsmanship 