Bigfoot sign in Pike National Forest

RMB UPDATE 9/30/2015

Hello bushcrafting friends!

Hope you all are well. Just a quick update on the latest happenings here at RMB.......

Sometime over the next 4-6 weeks, I should be able to make an announcement about a major project I've been working on for the last 5 months. Due to a non-disclosure agreement, I am not at liberty to discuss it until the project's release date, but I am very excited, and it is the reason I have been slow to post new articles and reviews. The only thing I can say is that it is not a TV project.......

REVIEWS/ARTICLES, etc- Just a heads up to everyone who has been waiting patiently for the Jimmy Lile First Blood Knife review...... 

Jimmy Lile Knives is going to send us another piece that I think will add greatly to the review, so we have been delayed by a few more weeks while it is being finished. Everything at Lile Knives is hand made, so obviously this is not something that can be done overnight. I am very excited to complete this review and can't thank Jimmy Lile Knives enough for working with us. Here is a teaser photo of the knife that we took that will be posted in the upcoming review:

Photo credit: Jason Schwartz/Rocky Mountain Bushcraft ©2015

I am also working on finishing a bunch of new knife and axe reviews, survival gun and gear reviews, new Tips and Tricks, as well as posting a number of new Made in the USA products. Once I am done with the project I have been working on, I will have much more time to devote to posting new material. I will also start doing giveaways again for loyal readers, so keep an eye out for those.

Photo credit: Jason Schwartz/Rocky Mountain Bushcraft ©2014

Most importantly, thank you all for your continued support. I absolutely love to hear your comments and thoughts, so please keep them coming!

Cheers,

Jason

Primitive smoking rack

Primitive smoking rack made with Benchmade's new Jungle Bolo Knife. A tarp will be wrapped around the rack to contain smoke from a small Mountain Alder wood fire, which will cure rabbit meat hanging off of it (more photos coming soon).

Benchmade Jungle Bolo/Lamb's Quarters wild edible plant

I harvested this Lamb's Quarters plant (Wild Spinach) while out field testing the Benchmade Jungle Bolo knife last month. Made a "bush salad" with the fresh leaves- yum! If you ever get the chance to try Lamb's Quarters, it's mighty tasty.

Featherstick made with a Helle Taiga Knife

Thanks to Lex from Emberlit Camp Stoves for letting me try out this cool knife.  

Happy Labor Day everyone. 

Jason

Hope everyone has an awesome Labor Day weekend!

Cheers,

Jason and Leah

Special Thanks to New Pioneer For Taking Quick Action

Rocky Mountain Bushcraft would like to thank the editorial staff of New Pioneer Magazine for their quick action in addressing the issue of six RMB Tips & Tricks articles being used by a guest writer without proper accreditation.

The material not correctly attributed (see jpeg scans below) was "Healing with Honey," "Aspen Bark Bushcraft," "Protect Your Hacker," "Improvised Spark Makers," "Bandana Wring Out," and "Put a Corkscrew to Work."

To New Pioneer's credit, as soon as they were notified of the improperly credited text they took immediate action. An apology was quickly posted on their Facebook page-https://www.facebook.com/NewPioneerMagazine/posts/1138258732868978, and they will also be publishing a printed apology in their Winter 2016 edition, due out October 20th. New Pioneer was also nice enough to invite me to be the new author of their Woodsman's Almanac, which will renamed the Bushcraft Guidebook. In addition, their online listing of the Almanac was updated to reflect the correct authorship www.realworldsurvivor.com/…/the-new-pioneer-summer-2015-is…/

Hats off to New Pioneer for stepping up, and I'm looking forward to working with them on the upcoming Bushcraft Guide.

Cheers, Jason

New for 2015: Gerber Freescape Hatchet

Photo credit: Rocky Mountain Bushcraft

New for 2015, Gerber updates its classic Camp Axe II with a jazzy new high-viz lime green paint job and new bushcraft-style sheath. The new axe, called the "Freescape Hatchet," remains unchanged from its predecessor, except for the updated colors and sheath. Here is Gerber Gear's promo video for the Freescape:

The new sheath stows conveniently inside the bottom of the handle:

In addition to the new bushcraft style sheath, the Freescape also comes packaged with the original style sheath in case you'd rather stick with a classic.....

As some of you may recall from RMB's "Battle of Compact Bushcraft Axes," the Gerber Camp Axe II acquitted itself surprisingly well against the top bushcraft axes from Wetterlings and Gransfors Bruks.

With the addition of the convenient bushcraft-style sheath, the Freescape/Camp Axe II ups the ante even further as a budget-priced yet high-performance bushcraft axe for the masses.

For more information visit Gerber Gear at www.gerbergear.com/Outdoor/Gear/Freescape-Hatchet_31-002536

About the author

Jason Schwartz is the founder and senior editor of Rocky Mountain Bushcraft. He is a former Red Cross certified Wilderness & Remote First Aid Instructor, and has taught bushcraft and wilderness survival techniques to the Boy Scouts of America, interned with the US Forest Service, and studied wilderness survival, forestry and wildland firefighting at Colorado Mountain College in Leadville, Colorado. Jason has also written for magazines such as The New Pioneer and Backpacker, including writing the "Tinder Finder" portion of Backpacker's "Complete Guide to Fire," which won a 2015 National Magazine Award (NMA). Email him at rockymountainbushcraft @ hotmail.com (without spaces)

New outdoors film- "A Walk in the Woods" starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte

There is another interesting new outdoors film coming out in September called "A Walk in the Woods," starring Robert Redford (star of "Jeremiah Johnson") and veteran actor Nick Nolte ("48 Hours"). The film is about two aging friends Bill (Redford) and Stephen (Nolte), who, after seeing too many of their friends die or be crippled from old age and disease, attempt to hike the entire 2,000 mile long Appalachian Trail for one last adventure together. Neither has much outdoor experience, so they read books about backpacking and wilderness survival to prepare. What follows is a crazy adventure with the two men trying to complete the insane trip.

A Walk in the Woods is due to be released on Sept 2nd, 2015. Like "The Revenant," I'm adding this one to my "must see" list.

Cheers, Jason


About the author

Jason Schwartz is the founder and senior editor of Rocky Mountain Bushcraft. He is a former Red Cross certified Wilderness & Remote First Aid Instructor, and has taught bushcraft and wilderness survival techniques to the Boy Scouts of America, interned with the US Forest Service, and studied wilderness survival, forestry and wildland firefighting at Colorado Mountain College in Leadville, Colorado. Jason has also written for magazines such as The New Pioneer and Backpacker, including writing the "Tinder Finder" portion of Backpacker's "Complete Guide to Fire," which won a 2015 National Magazine Award (NMA). Email him at rockymountainbushcraft @ hotmail.com (without spaces)

New Jeremiah Johnson-esque movie called the "The Revenant"

"The Revenant" is an interesting new Jeremiah Johnson-esque movie based on the amazing real life story of 19th Century mountain man\trapper Hugh Glass. Glass was left for dead after being seriously mauled by a grizzly bear. Healing his wounds using maggots, and without weapons or equipment, Glass managed to trek 200 miles through the wilderness to Fort Kiowa in Missouri.

Bushcrafting legend Mors Kochanski was the technical advisor for this film, so my guess is that it will show real survival techniques that mountain men would have used during that time period. It is due to be released in December. I'm definitely adding this movie to my "must see" list.

Cheers, Jason


About the author

Jason Schwartz is the founder and senior editor of Rocky Mountain Bushcraft. He is a former Red Cross certified Wilderness & Remote First Aid Instructor, and has taught bushcraft and wilderness survival techniques to the Boy Scouts of America, interned with the US Forest Service, and studied wilderness survival, forestry and wildland firefighting at Colorado Mountain College in Leadville, Colorado. Jason has also written for magazines such as The New Pioneer and Backpacker, including writing the "Tinder Finder" portion of Backpacker's "Complete Guide to Fire," which won a 2015 National Magazine Award (NMA). Email him at rockymountainbushcraft @ hotmail.com (without spaces)