31 December 2011

Piddling

Piddling, not an oft heard term, at least for me, but a word I use frequently. Whiling the hours away in camp, or burning time with new tools.

So I did some piddling with some new tools. I'm ecstatic with the double bit axe and the Voyager tomahawk, I had to do something with them and getting back into the woods just wasn't an option. Making shavings was the next best thing!





Two Hawks Voyager, and dedicated customer service

The original order arrived on Christmas Eve, and I wasn't completely satisfied.

After speaking with the parties involved I was assured that an unsatisfied customer was simply unacceptable.

Devin Price, the owner and maker of Two Hawks Tomahawks shipped an expedited replacement order which arrived quickly.

Inside the box was a hand written note from Devin explaining his dedication to customer satisfaction, I believe he is absolutely committed to satisfying every customer he has.

As I pulled the hawk from the box I was floored, not only was the Voyager Hawk exactly what I had expected, there were other items in that box as well.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, though they are not the best.



















All in, Devin had included two replacement handles with the Voyager, and then went over the top and added a double bit small axe, a la Nessmuk, a replacement handle for it and leather accouterments for all. Frankly I was a bit dumb founded.

The edges on the blades are exceptional, the finish is superb. The pictures don't do the tools justice. In the coming days and weeks I'll post more about these tools, as they are going to get heavily used.

I appreciate the fact that Devin went above and beyond to satisfy a customer. His commitment to that end has been clearly demonstrated.

30 December 2011

Last Outing of 2011 A Double Overnighter

I managed to squeeze some time out of the end of the year. So I loaded up the pulk and headed out

It was 11 degrees when I pulled the sled away from the barn. The plan was to hike out to the Norse Hawk camp and spend the night there, then the following day head deeper out into the bush.



Sled loaded up for the trek. I'm fairly happy with the sled. The runners are micarta, the hull is fiberglass. The canvas is good condition if a bit discolored in locations. I like the way it loads and floats, the bumper edged is nice, and the tie down system is great.





Made it to the camp site, and unpacked.







I worked up a sweat getting the nights wood in, some standing dead birch, large quantities. The sweat froze in the bill of my Kromer before it had a chance to drip off.







Frying up some dinner.



Some pics of the fire after nightfall, there were so many good ones I couldn't pick just one.













I wish the mic on my camera was better, the wolves were howling heavy most of the night.







Later in the night I dropped the plastic sheeting on the front of the shelter. The change of temperature inside was dramatic! I talk about it more and show the 80+ degrees it got up to in the video and some of the images below.

From inside after the sheeting was lowered.



Outside.



Here is a shot of the temperature inside, about an hour after I lowered the sheeting.







I slept soundly, in fact I didn't wake up until after the sun had broke the horizon.



Time for breakfast.







Repacked and ready for the trail. I brought my snowshoes just in case, the weather was threatening snow, and the weatherman said it was possible. I didn't want to get too far back and have a foot dump on me without having my shoes.



For a minute I thought maybe the sun was going to finally break out and stay out. It's been battleship grey skies here for many days now.



It didn't last long.





















I know this doesn't look like much but it is about to be camp for the night. The video shows this part much better. The colder it gets with the overcast skies the noisier my pictures get, I think my camera doesn't like the cold and the gloomy skies.






The video shows dinner better too. I mix up some brown gravy mix, good and hot. Once I've got my meats fried up with plenty of grease in the pan, dump the gravy in. It thickens right away and makes for a good heavy filling and hot meal.











It had actually warmed up some as the cloud cover moved in and got heavier, made it up to 21 degrees.







It's been a great year, I hope everyone else had a good one. I'm looking forward to 2012 and a lot more backwoods bummin'.

Happy New Year!



Video summary, shows the camps and details as well as the cookin!