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Field Notes from Jess ~ Rewilding in 2022 | Week 11/52 | Spring

blades bowdrill bushcraft rewilding Mar 13, 2022
Buschcraft | Bowdrill | Blades
Field Notes from Jess: Rewilding 2022 Week 11/52
 
Blades & Bow Drill
 
Nathan Donnelly @northwest.resilience IG has many super powers as he demonstrated on season 6 ALONE using ingenuity, intelligence, exceptional blade skills and his bold move to not take a ferro rod with him and rely only on his ability to use a bow drill to ignite his collected tinder. He will be teaching some upcoming courses for Wildkind Academy.
I rolled up north and caught a ferry to Lopez Island to learn some hard skills from Nathan. I loved touring his beautiful property set up with permaculture design and complete with ducks. He spent many hours answering all my questions about his experiences in the field and our days were spent outside as I wanted to deep dive into some basic principles of wilderness engagement.
I was given an axe and put to work. It took some time getting used to the many ways I might use this tool and my education involved sharpening techniques, a skill that just isn't taught anywhere unless you seek it out or are an interested student of YouTube University. After making some stakes, tripods and finding the right center beam, I set up a simple tarp shelter to provide some cover from the rain while I practiced the next skill...bow drill.
Making fire using primitive methods is truly a powerful testament to the human story of survival and our primal motivation to be creative with the resources available to us in nature.
As Nathan so eloquently stated, "frustration is a luxury". I did not have a successful fire by friction, but I have moved through the motions which will help as I continue my education from home. Every single one of us has a spark of recognition in our DNA that "knows" how to do these things. To engage primal skills is to remember our roots and honor the strength of our human spirit.
Rewilding my relationship to nature one skill at a time, one week at a time, is the slow and steady path to discovering a new kind of freedom and independence. I feel that we are collectively moving into a time in our modern world where foundational skills training once again has relevance and meaning.
Jess_wildkindacademy IG