Just a heads up on dates for 2012 BC meetups

[Survival Bill]

Survival/Bushcraft Meetup Dates

Clear your Calendar for these dates
These are tentative dates only not locations just so that you can free up your time or set up your Vacation time to make it to the meetups for 2012
Locations are still to be setup.... if you have a location in mind by all means let us know and we can see if that would work for the majority of who would attend....
Once locations have been set a new posting in this section will be done minimum 1 month before meetup dates listed below....

Don't show up, and it is guaranteed we will talk about you..........show up, ......we will still talk about you....but you will at least be able to defend yourself.

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June 2,3,4 - But I can stay the rest of the week if any one else has the time and would like to do the week....
Sept 1,2,3 - But I can stay the rest of the week if any one else has the time and would like to do the week....

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>Things we would like to setup for a location is access/Camping by a lake so that we can get out on the water with canoes/kayaks/rafts to give everyone a chance to try them out and also learn some paddling skills... Yes you can bring your own watercraft along...
>Also a place for doing some classes about climbing up and down a small cliff if you have equipment bring it along we are short on equipment
>If you wish to participate in setting up a skill to show/teach us by all means speak up here...
>although not necessary an area for target practice with .22 would be nice yes bring your .22 along
>if you want/can to bring along something for a potluck dinner or lunch for everyone that would be great
>If you have any suggestions by all means post away....

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June meetup - The 2012 Wall of Fire Meetup
Sept meetup - The 2012 End of the World Meetup

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Location: You can put in your address in to get directions from home to Kamloops Meetup Location
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Valleyview+Dr&daddr=Unknown+road&geocode=FXI_BQMdvpfU-A%3BFXILAQMddGba-A&hl=en&mra=me&mrsp=1,0&sz=13&sll=50.399655,-119.887619&sspn=0.050881,0.1684&ie=UTF8&ll=50.487221,-119.906845&spn=0.203148,0.673599&t=h&z=11

Kamloops-meetup-1.gif

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Lessons/Demonstrations for June Meetup



Swibo 6
1- pre bowdrill fire tinder finding/search walk

Swibo 6
Survival Bill
2- bowdrill fire making or at least getting an ember with the firebow, Making fire with that ember is the other 50% of the equation of fire making with a bowdrill...

Survival Bill
3- setting up tarp and hammock everyone can get to hang for a while we will talk about advantages and disadvantages of hanging around....

Swibo 6
4- Fun Fun things to cook (if no fire ban in place)

Survival Bill
5- Water Purification demonstrations


345- I will add to this list as people let us know what they want to demonstrate or teach us....

[swibo 6]

Bring bows and arrows or even "sling bows" too!

Knives, that's a given.

Spouses? Heck yes, my wife is bringing me lol!!!

[gun babe]

Dont forget to bring our youngest member too Swibo6......

[Ben_S]

I will definitely write these dates down. I will try to make it up to Kamloops for one or more of these (my brother lives up in Kamloops and would attend with me) but also for those of us lower mainlanders can we pick one of these dates to take place closer to the west coast?

I did go up and check out stave lake this summer. Definitely good room to play, but not too far from town. Has potential to get rowdy in the summer in spots. But that's also because you're pretty much free to do what you want. Law enforcement basically only attends by request when called in by BC Hydro or 911 (BC Hydro owns the land). You can bring up your quads/motorbikes/trucks/.22s, build fires or shelters (its not park land). Anybody overnighted up there care to chip in some thoughts? I only biked up there for a few hours to check it out as a potentially good spot.

Also I vote for having good fishing for at least one of these dates. It'll be good practice for everyone and we can have a fish dinner night! Kamloops has a fair number of stocked lakes. If some people have boats, stave lake has good fishing but almost exclusively from out on the water.

[Switchblade]

I'll keep those dates in mind.
Hopefully, I will be able to attend and perhaps coax my wife to tag along. :)
As for, to find a closer spot to the Lower Mainland, I am all for it. But I don't think Stave lake is the right place. It's "yahoo" central, too many people around, lots of boozing, noisy, etc... That's my 2 cents.

[Survival Bill]

Last years meetup everyone was so intensely set on making a bowdrill fire I will teach everyone who comes this time I sat back more to see who managed without help needless to say no one did except for Switchblade but the 2 of us stayed for another day after everyone left and I coached him along till he managed to get a fire going with the ember.... Swithcblade have you tried doing it again since then?

So I will put that down to lesson 1 to teach everyone

1- bowdrill fire making or at least getting an ember with the firebow, Making fire with that ember is the other 50% of the equation of fire making with a bowdrill...

if you have a lesson/project you would be willing to teach at the June meetup post it here I hope someone will show us/me the basics of setting up ropes for mountain climbing/descending.... only bit of gear I still need to get is the rope going to MEC this weekend if I am happy with what they show me I will be buying my static rope.... then I have all the gear we need for demonstration that is if someone will show us of course....

I am sure Swibo 6 will give us an outdoor cooking demo that we can all chow down on too that alone is worth showing up for I guess I better let Swibo 6 tell us/confirm if he will or not first though sorry for jumping the gun on ya here...

it is amazing how fast the June meetup will come along so start thinking about it and make sure to arrange time off work if needed ....

So now is the time to start asking questions here and letting us know if you are at least interested in showing up most likely will be in the kamloops area again as this is central to most here in BC but we are trying to locate a good camping area by a a lake for at least one of the meetups this year if by chance you know of a place you think would work for us by all means please post it here for us to check it out if its suitable for a meetup.....

[swibo 6]

That sounds like fun Bill, I have already started collecting an assortment of bow drill materials so that we can try out different things and so that everybody can make a set and take it home with them. Finding and preparing natural tinders is one of my fave survival subjects so if anybody is interested I would like to do a tinder hike prior to the bow drill demo.

I have a few ideas for some fun fun things to cook so hopfully we don't get hit with a fireban this summer.

[gun babe]

I am so looking forward to the June 2nd meet up. This will be my first overnight one with the Survival Bill gang...

Now all I need is to find a sleeping bag before then....

SO WHO IS COMING?

[Survival Bill]

excellent swibo 6 I will put you down in the first post for pre bowdrill tinder walk and bowdrill fire....

[Switchblade]

.... Swithcblade have you tried doing it again since then?


1- bowdrill fire making or at least getting an ember with the firebow, Making fire with that ember is the other 50% of the equation of fire making with a bowdrill...

Yes, I have.
On two different occasions. Of which, the first was successful (after a workout) on the second hole... and on the second occasion, I failed to get a coal.
Both times I have used locally gathered natural materials.
But I feel, I'm getting better and more confident with this method (practice makes perfect...).

[Switchblade]

Just an idea...
I have seen people who had trouble even with the ferro-rods... and we could throw in the flint&steel method as well. Different ways of starting a fire, different natural tinders (perhaps even some man-made too), proper fire preparation, etc...
These things are connected to each-other in many ways.

[Survival Bill]

Are you offering to do a demo/teach anyone who wants learn how to use ferro rods and flint/steel and natural tinders Switchblade?

I can remember the first time you said it was way to much work to make a fire.. but yes with practice and the right materials it works very well and gets easier with time....

[Switchblade]

Are you offering to do a demo/teach anyone who wants learn how to use ferro rods and flint/steel and natural tinders Switchblade?

Well, I'm not the teacher type...
But I could assist here and there if it's needed and if I make it to the gathering.
I just thought, perhaps is a good idea to widen the fire-making/tinder "class".

[Switchblade]

...
I can remember the first time you said it was way to much work to make a fire..

I said, it was real hard work and makes me appreciate modern fire-making tools even more...
It definitely is a good, useful skill to know and also needs to be practiced. No argument there.

[Survival Bill]

I'm sure we will add fire with ferro rods too...

[Survival Bill]

I have made up a poster for the June meetup take a look and see if you think anything needs to be added or changed...
You can copy and print this one out or post it on other sites as well so we can get more participants to show up to the Kamloops meet-up

kamloops-4.gif

[Switchblade]

It looks good, but IMHO the last two lines should be in some different colors. It's kind of hard to see and read. Perhaps white letters there would work.

[Survival Bill]

or this one ?

Kamloops-7.jpg

[swibo 6]

I like the last one best.

[Switchblade]

I have to agree, the last is the best so far.

[Survival Bill]

only other thing I can do is use a different photo and see if that helps...

[gun babe]

for sure the last one

[Survival Bill]

OK I am interested in learning how to make baskets from things like willow or grasses I like the fact they are good for carrying stuff around or even large enough to use as a backpack I think would be interesting to try out, I thought that maybe someone knows someone that would be willing to teach the skill at the meetup or at least ask around for us and try and find someone, I will also be trying to find someone with enough people looking we may get lucky or maybe someone already knows the skill that is considering going to the meetup anyways just thought it would be something fun to learn for everyone....

[TheArchitect]

my wife is due on the tenth of june.... but we may come to some later ones :)

[Survival Bill]

all the best and hope to see you at the next meetups....

gun babe is saying she should really come along that way we can all test our first aid skills if she pops
more like they will be practicing on me when I pass out....

[Survival Bill]

OK since things are taking off I am going to make a separate thread now for the June meet-up..

all discussion of june meet-up please post in the june meet-up thread....

Discussion on the Aug 4,5,6 meetup here now thanks all for your input....

[Sniper]

Whoo hoo! I am off for both the June and August Weekends. I will likely be there for both if I can get my trailer in. BTW, I am brand new to this site after following a link from quads.ca. This is exactly the stuff I want my kids to learn.

[Survival Bill]

And thats why we are doing this to many people get lost with no skills some make it out some don't we hope to be able to give you enough skills so that you can at least survive long enough for someone to find you or get out of the bush all depends on were and what you are doing....

[forester]

Spring salmon season is on, boat in the water, clients booked....
Also, I have my doubts if kids are involved in grown-up meets!
Is it not possible to have an adult & dog only gathering?

[Ben_S]

I've been to a survival meetup like this before (with the late Ron Hood in the states) and they had probably a dozen kids present! In my opinion there is nothing we might do that a 6+ year old can't do. My only disclaimer is that I would want the parents involved and taking responsibility for their kids. If your kids are acting up, take them to the tent/trailer! ;-) I'm not interested in spending my holiday babysitting! ;-)

However, I will shows kids how to catch a fish, clean it, make a fire and eat it! (Or with not so much water around the June meetup, maybe bring something to prepare. ) I would also happily setup some small 22 rifle targets, take 'em for a hike, go for a canoe, maybe try out a ham radio, do first aid if needed, roast some "survival marsh mellows". Ha, ha... If you need to do something "adult" I suggest taking a short hike away from camp! (Perhaps in a designated direction.. )