4 Skills to Perfect in Fort Backyard

So you’ve been reading our articles, went to one of our camps, or maybe just looking for something fun to do with the family. Here are four skills you can perfect in your back yard before you have to use them for real.

Fire Craft

The single greatest skill for both confidence and usefulness is mastering fire craft. But don’t play with matches; work on two paths of mastery. The first is using a sparking device like the Light My Fire from Industrial Revolution. The second is learning a primitive technique such as the bow-drill.

Once you begin to master- push yourselves to experiment with various tools and harder conditions. A great activity for gaining experience is to tie natural fiber rope to two stakes or rods in the ground about 18 inches high and time yourselves on how long it takes to bundle materials, get a flame, and then burn the rope down.

The ability to start a fire is key to staying alive in the wilderness. This means fire starting is a priority in the list of bushcraft skills.

Some residential zones may restrict fire to specified enclosures. If restricted then use a homemade or purchased fire-pit for containment. We built a pit using 8”x12”concreate pavers to create a pit to practice in.

Gimme’ Shelter

Many backyards don’t have ready-sized trees to practice with. Still, there are many things you can do to create shelter. You can use t-post stakes purchased from local farm and feed stores to create anchor points that simulate trees and common tent stakes to represent natural wood stakes you would normally make in the back country. Just know where water, electric, and sprinkler lines lay.

Experiment with tarps, ponchos, and even a few discarded pieces of lumber. You kids will love that you are building a fort with them.

Learn a few knots, get some decent 550- cord and get to it!

Wood Splitting- Knife Skills

Wood splitting with a survival knife- also known as batoning can add a valuable wilderness survival skill to your toolbox. This is useful because it helps you in creating smaller- easier to ignite pieces of wood even when the wood is wet. Learn with a full blade survival knife and work your way to using a small axe or hatchet.

Bushcraft Cooking

You’re getting the hang of fire building so might as well use it to try your cooking over an open fire. You can choose to use a grate in the beginning- but move yourself into experimenting with cooking with Dutch Ovens, #10 cans, and wooden spits.

Try making a “survival stew (anything you find in the fridge) in a coffee can or pick up a Cornish hen and cook it over open coals. Be sure to follow all safe food handling protocols- and it’s okay to use a meat thermometer to help you learn.

We still use Fort Backyard to master skills, and these four will get you on a path to perfecting skills before you have to use them.

Repost- The Warrior is Back (2004)

Before I start I have to give a huge thumbs up to my iPad. I am on a steady path to making this my sole device. There are a few limitations to it…but for blogging, managing our social media, etc it is awesome. I still have to go into my laptop for podcasting and website updates, but I tend to carry it much less. I only wish I had this thing when I first started blogging. Now if I can teach my fingers to hit the space key instead of “b” and “n”.

We are such creatures of habit. Yesterday when I found my old blog, I realized I was drifting back into the trap I sprung us from several years ago. Maybe this is more of a reminder for me to continue to pursue the life our hearts so desperatly battled for.

In 2003 and through 2005, I was on a fast track. People where interested in my career. I was enrolled in a graduate program, given assignments at work to expand my horizons, placed with an image consultant who monitored every action I took, how I dressed, my hobbies, and what kind of vehicle I drove. I found myself either on the road each week or trapped in work for 12 to 18 hours a day. The only saving grace was that when I was home (rarely) I was allowed to work from an office in my house. Money was great….life was a drain.

During the project I took a highly controversial day off. Against the wishes of the project team, I took a personal day. Eight years later I’m sure nobody voluntarily recalls the event, the project went fine and within six months of execution they moved on to a different model anyway, and I have a great memory of a day with my daughter. You do the math….

The Warrior is Back (2004)
To be checked out. Seems like I have been taken out of the battle more lately than I ever hoped to be. Odd thing is–its been situations that don’t normally bother me.

The past few weeks I’ve been developing new management training courses for my company. Day and night–this is all I have been focused on. All the things that seem to matter most have taken a back seat. Important things like prayer, spending time with my family, spending time with myself, calling to check on my band of brothers, oh yea– and time for God. So I carved out time for two important events today.

The first was an all out mountain bike assault combined with a little “geocaching”. Geocaching–heard of it? It a new sport–very similar to an exercise we used to do in the military when GPS units became part of our map and compass training. It a sport where you use your GPS device and find hidden caches. In the caches is usually a log book and some kind of memorabilia. Today I signed my name to the log book and took a finger puppet as a prize for my effort. In return I left an old Susan B. Anthony dollar.

The second item on today’s agenda was to take my 3-year old out to play. Putt-putt was scheduled but the sign that said “year round” didn’t include Mondays and Tuesdays as part of that year. So we sacrificed and found ourselves at the playground in the nearest McDonald’s. So after 40 minutes of stairs, slides, smiles, and sticky seats we headed back to the house. She worn out from the play- me worn out from the Happy meal I picked at in addition to my “Number 1- Super-sized”.

My realization is this. We work hard- but we also have to play hard. And in the end–getting a cool toy in the bottom of a burger bag or in a sealed bucket in the middle of the woods is an extra bonus. The real prize is the time we spend with those we love.

I have no regrets for taking the time off and I think its time to do that again. A few weeks ago I became very concerned in a meeting I was going to die. I was so focused on that one thought, I barely remember the meeting. I am currently on another demanding project that is robbing me of time with family. I need to reconnect with my crew at home. I do not want to leave this earth doing fantastic things….and yet never taking my daughter to the Boise Zoo. My mission next week is to do just that. We have to have missions in life that make a difference.

Abby and I are incredibly close. Part of that is the emphasis we place on time together. In addition to Daddy/Daughter dates, we have been doing weekend breakfast together since she was six-months old. Again….do the math. Figue out the 1×1 time we have had together.

Taking off next Monday to take my kiddo to the zoo….and Friday to do lunch with the wife. These are the things worth fighting for. The Warrior is back…….again.