Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Wazoo Mountaineer Survival Bracelet: 3 Day Testing Trip- Part 2/3

This part two of three in my review of the Wazoo Mountaineer Survival Bracelet in which I will show my shelter, survival fishing and may day two woods provided dinner. In part three of this series next week I will talk about the wire saw, navigation, water collection and purification and my closing thoughts on this product. View Part 1  Of This Series Here (LINK).

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Lean-To Style Shelter:
Above is a video showing my shelter location close to a water source. I chose a lean to style shelter just as a wind break as with my clothing selection and choice of a pine grove as a shelter location made the need for shelter minimal at best. The weather was typical for early spring 60's during the day and high 20 to low 30's at night. For me personally that isn't really cold weather camping so the Lester River Boreal Jacket was all of the shelter I really needed.
Night 1: I selected a location where I have noticed deer bed down in the past as my shelter location as I knew it would be quite dry if rain came on and its quite proximate to my water source and hunting grounds. I arrived to the woods well after dark as normal on a Sunday night so shelter was going to be a nest at best with no light source. I opted for a 3" compressed pile of pine needles as a place to sit and lean against the tree and close up my boreal jacket for the night with a small fire test to get me warmed up and ready for the night.
Night 2: My improvements to shelter were minimal  as I really didn't have any problems sleeping the night before. I added a wind break on the prevailing wind side of the shelter area which would give me added rain protection if needed but in the light rain storm the night before I didn't get wet at all. Night 3 ended up being about 15 degrees warmer than night 2 so I ended up wishing that wall wasn't there and I had the air flow to keep me cool, instead of tearing it down I just took off  my outer layer and used it as a pillow.

Survival Fishing:
I have to admit I haven't used natural baits in a long time. I usually fish because that's what I'm there to do (i.e. I have tackle and a rod) and I have shown my fairly extensive backpacking fishing kit here a few times (LINK-HERE) and from that you can probably tell that I love crank baits and jigs. I channeled the inner child and fashioned a stick, rock sinker, hook and worm into my tackle. If I had it to do over again I wouldn't bother with the sinker or the pole as it was just easier to cast and use the worm as a jerk bait. Below are a few pictures of the fishing process.
So my basic initial rig was a rock sinker with a leader and Eagle Claw single hook from the survival bracelet. Like I said above the ten minutes to tie the rock sinker wasn't really worth my time it lasted 3 or so casts and on the first bite lost it. If you have a P38 can opener it makes a decent sinker but life would defiantly be easier with a split shot.
So the above stick was great for bringing in larger fish but wasn't really needed for smaller fish. Bait consisted of worms and grubs gathered from under rocks or from dead rotting logs. Night crawlers (worms) worked the best but was hoping for a large bass and thought I would try the grub.
So the first fish of the day was a blue gill (got it to bite on my 3rd cast and caught it on the fourth). I tried for a catfish I saw a few times but no luck reaching it as it was in the deeper part of the pond and I just didn't have enough line (while I could used inner strands of the paracord to reach the area but decided to save it in-case I needed the full cordage later). I later caught a rainbow trout in a stream a few miles away to round out dinner.

Day Two Dinner- Fish and Wild Edibles:
Video (click to play) showing the wild edibles before being diced and placed into the aluminum foil container for making stew.
The wild edibles prior to preparation for stew cattails, wild asparagus, onions and dandelion roots all made it on the menu, I passed on a large ramp patch as I was going to hunt the next day and didnt want to scare off the game. I also don't think it think the ramps would have paired well in a stew. If I could have added them with the onions and the trout to another aluminum foil container they would have made the trout that much more flavorful.
Post preparation on the edibles. Notice I only kept the dandelion roots for the stew but the rest of the plant could have been made into a nice salad had I been collecting other greens to pair with it and possible throw in a little fish to top it off. To prep the dandelion root wash it well to remove as much dirt as possible and then use the 90 degree spine of your knife to scrape off the outer layer of the root (think of it as a carrot).
 Video (Click To Play) I talk about the day a little and how the meal is progressing.
 Glamor shot of a meal about ready to be ingested!
Last shot I grabbed of the stew before I began to eat. I let it cook another 15 minutes or so until everything was decently soft. I would have preferred the asparagus grilled but without a flat rock or grilling surface to utilize it made life a little difficult, next time I will have to spend a little less time hunting and looking for food and a little more time making a spoon and camp kitchen. 
Need Help Identifying Wild Edibles? Try some of these Field Guides:


Conclusions:
The fishing section of the Wazoo Mountaineer Survival Bracelet worked quite well. I did find myself wishing for 5' more line and a split shot but that is human nature to wish for what we don't have.... fact of the matter is I caught two fish and had a great dinner thanks to these minimal fishing supplies. A split shot could easily be added to your kit or even a p38 can opener to use as a sinker (and also as a gut hook, knife, etc.). The point is the kit gives you all you need to catch a fish if needed. Shelter seems to be everyone's big issue when it comes to wearable survivable items. Sure an survival blanket would be nice but riddle me this.... shouldn't you be dressed for the weather conditions you may face? Wearable survival includes your clothing people and this survival bracelet is just an extension of that kit. I wore the proper clothing and didn't really need a shelter because of that pre-planning. If you are caught without the proper clothing find your nearest pine tree and get to work! Pine needles for bedding and branches for a shelter. If its really cold use branches below your needle bed and just dig yourself down into a little nest. Wild edibles, while not part of this bracelet should be part of the kit you take into the woods (your brain should be the biggest part of your kit). If you haven't practiced with or worked on your wild edible skills get out there and practice it could mean the difference of smoothing it through a survival situation and just barley surviving a situation.

Have something outdoor/bushcraft/trapping/preparedness/hiking/camping/fishing/hunting related you want me to make a post about? Leave me a comment and I will see what I can do! As always feel free to leave your questions and comment below! Also if you enjoy the blog please vote for us on the following websites to help us reach a wider audience:
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