As a young man hunting in Colorado in the early 60's, was returning to camp through what should have been a hundred yards or so through standing timber. Found myself deep in timber, totally turned around! Couldn't see my landmarks and was completely turned around and panicked. Settled myself a bit and found my way out. Matured a bit that day and learned 2 very important lessons.... take a compass and if panic is setting in calm yourself and use your head. Good video.

@TwoPlusTwoEqualsFive32

3 жыл бұрын

Suunto make a really good and accurate button compass, normally I am wary of button compasses as there are many, many shit ones but I've had my suunto for years attached to my bag always being thrown around and it's still accurate.

@danemmerich6775

Жыл бұрын

So true my man! I did the same thing awhile back. Never had a compas on me. I was stalking a deer and found myself LOST! was in an area that I never was in before. After I Calmed down, I found my way out. Always try to carry a compass on me all the time So i can deadreckon, panic Azimuth etc.....anyway to get close back to starting point!

"Ain't never been lost, just powerful confused for a month or so", excellent points Dan. Thanks for sharing with us looking forward to the next video, as always…..Ed

I always bring along some orange trail marker tape into areas to assist me in not getting lost, it helps if you're hunting and trying to determine your way back to your vehicle if you're dragging game, and trying to navigate the woods simply by flashlight.

I actually learned how to do this from Minecraft I know its a kids game but hear me out for a minute. every time you load up a new game in Minecraft it drops you out into the middle of no where its always randomly generated terrain so you can never know where you are. And You never know where your going or what you want to get to. instead you venture around until you find a good spot to start making a cabin or house for the night after a few hours of playing you most likely die to something an animal, you drown or something else happens. Minecraft will always drop you back where you spawned originally the first time you loaded the map and from that spot you have to use pure memory to navigate yourself back towards your cabin or back to where you died. After playing Minecraft for a few years I started doing the land mark navigation naturally just in my day to day life I started recognizing land marks that I have only seen once it was a skill that kind of snuck up on me. So really what I'm saying is if you want your kids interested in Bush crafting you can get them "Minecraft" NOT "Minecraft story mode" (that's a cash grab game Microsoft made to make more money off Minecraft) fully in essence Minecraft is a game about bush crafting you start with nothing you need to make wood tools then stone tools to build up your camp you make weapons to defend yourself or to hunt for food, then you make things to cook that food or you can just farm potatoes and carrots. Its really about building what you need and building it the way you want it.

Never fails I learn stuff every time I watch 1 of Your videos .

Great video, easy to understand and very well presented.

Yeah, great video as all other vid's, but i don't understand that 2 guys that are disliking it, i just don't get it.. this man tells you so many usefull things and there are people just ahhh... Well i got lost once dirtbiking in the woods, and it was before i started to watch this chanell, and i can tell its not a good feeling! It was muddy so i could follow back my tracks and get out, but i started to panic first, but find a way however! And later i saw a vid on this chanell that says not to do that, but rather calm down and just take a sec to think about... So, all of this stuff this man is telling is very usefull, thats my point. Sorry if there are false spellings, i am not an english speaking person. Greatings to ccb, keep up that good work!

Greatly appreciate all the quick and well explained lessons I've learned by watching your channel. I'm a teacher by profession with a passion for bushcraft. I think you are a bushcrafter with a passion for teaching. 😊

“Yeah, I hurt trees…” lol, you rock man

I have a small correction. At least in my area, NY, the top blaze is showing the direction of the turn, not the bottom one (there has to be such consensus, otherwise people will get lost). Therefore, on your first 2 examples "the trail" is actually turning in the opposite direction: 1 example - right, 2nd - left.

For those of us with base camps or returning to familiar territory this is what we are using 99% of the time as you said. Same concept as when you leave your house and drive to work or the store and come back afterwards. Well presented Dan.

This has been an excellent informational series. Blaze marks have been used for centuries. That is, before we started hugging trees. Of course, we had more trees and less people. Now, I use flagging tape to be more "PC" on public land. Just take them "down" upon return! TP also works.Thanks for your hard work in putting this info out.

@mrbigolnuts3041

4 жыл бұрын

Small can of spray paint?

@TwoPlusTwoEqualsFive32

3 жыл бұрын

Trail ribbon or brightly colored cord is good to have on hand everytime you change bearing tie it onto a head height branch and right down your new bearing and distance, similar to how ships navigated by bearing and distance.

I was always taught that when their are two blazes that the top blaze is the direction of travel. I've never seen 3 blazes in that configuration I've only ever seen them in a triangle arrangement and I was taught that means the beginning or end of a trail.

I saw you on WNEP outdoor life and had to subscribe! Just made a fire today with birch bark, pine resin, and a ferro rod. I will look for the fatwood next time.

@coalcracker

6 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Thanks for checking out our page

Great video! I grew up in NE PA and we were always in the woods playing and hunting. We used these techniques and didn’t even know we were using them 😊. I guess growing up in the woods, a lot of this is instinctual, but I still bring a compass and map when I go hiking today. Just wanted to say I really like your channel - from a fellow “Coalcracker” 👍

Great info on your channel Dan. Really digging all the info. Some I know , some awesomely new techniques. Keep up the great videos. I really appreciate all th r hard we or you do to pass on the knowledge. ..Thanks again...

If you're lost isn't it good to understand to either get to high ground first and if it that fails, go to lower ground as that is where water naturally goes and will eventually lead to a creek that will lead to civilization as people live along bodies of water and it will eventually lead to a coast line or lake that more people will be at.

If you aren’t on your own property, carry bright colored string, tape or even a bandana in your back pocket. It’ll work as a blaze, won’t damage any trees, and is actually a good bit easier to spot if you lose your way. When I worked in forestry, we used bright pink ribbon, and yellow to mark of hazards like snags or yellow jacket nests

Great video Dan. I'm really liking this series, thanks for sharing,take care.

Awesome video Dan. I think that many folk need this information. I personally am directionally challenged and navigation is my weakest bushcraft skill. This was very useful.

Also wise to recognize poor conditions and to progress forward with caution, when not using the compass. Over cast foggy or snowing, low light conditions and when dusk is approaching. Perhaps put blazes on lower quality trees rather than the nice pine if you have a choice. Also those blazes on pine can yield some decent fat wood over time. There are plenty of blaze marks on old trees along boundary lines, they are still decently healthy. They will leave a poor spot on your saw log though, which can cause rot into the trunk.

Instead of blazes, I use a special chalk, which is fatty and thus cannnot be washed off. I don't know the term in English, but it's a "forest rangers chalk", also used to mark trees to be felled.

Your channel is great. Thanks

Ahhh... i knew I should’ve taken that left at Albuquerque!!! Brilliant explanation Dan. Thanks!

great expansion of your blaze topic on your website blog. like a wise man once posited, "no matter where you go, there you are." huzzah!!!

excellent video-simple easy to the point....good stuff!

Thank you for a very clear and useful video. In a heavy snowstorm or after heavy snowfall some of the environment might not be visible due to white out conditions or snow covering a stream or a frozen pond. Blazes might also be covered with snow in the winter.

Good video good information Dan

Just saw you on POL and came to check out your KZread channel. Good stuff, thanks.

Thanks once again for an excellent presentation giving out new knowledge and reinforcing old knowledge. ATB

Great advice!

You are making really amazing videos man. Thoroughly enjoying them and your passion is beautiful to behold. I am jealous, frontier living is what we all should have, not this bullshit we are forced to!

Great video!

Excellent.

Great vid... tnx

best like for you old man 👍🇸🇦

@mrbigolnuts3041

4 жыл бұрын

Saudi! Land of good will!

Very good video, I never knew the terms but have been using them for years. That is aside from blazes, have never done that and just recently learned about them! But in a sense I guess in a way I have used something similar, because I usually will break a branch on a tree. It's not as noticeable but kinda the same thing!

Could substitute a reflective spray paint for those blazes, especially if you're marking new areas and a can doesn't weigh much.

Do you have any videos (or maybe request one be done) where we can see start from point A to B live demonstration using compass/(no map) showing the steps,and process, to your destination? Learning orienting, it'd be wonderful to see a whole start to finish using a compass without a map. I go scouting often, or mushroom picking and lose sight of my start point often after bouncing all over. Trying to learn to navigate into the woods, and then back to my start point. (Taking into consideration of being "parallel" as you've stated in previous videos)

As a hiker who relies on blazes, I noticed an error in your understanding. When it comes to tree blazes, it's important to clarify that the blaze at the top of the tree is the one that indicates a turn, not the bottom blaze.

Great video like always... Ok so I'm not really one to trip out over things like making blaze marks or such but what are your opinions about "alternative blaze marks"? At some outdoor stores I've seen reflective thumbtacks, I've also heard of people using flagging tape or ribbons and just tying a piece around a branch or such and sometimes taking a sharpy and writing the date/time or whatever to help searchers know how old the mark is...

@richardbenson4750

6 жыл бұрын

Oh heck I've even heard of people using a can of spray paint to mark.

Great vid Dan, very difficult to find nav uploads without a map, what about with photos or Google Earth prints only?

Travel right to joust that windmill!

I learned this in Dayz 😂

If you try to go in a straight line you usually go in circles. Really wierd. Usually the sun can be helpful to keep track.

Your turning blaze patterns look backwards to me. The offset should be on the top, not the bottom. So the blaze you said indicated a right turn actually indicated a left turn, and vice versa. At least, that's the way I was taught when I was a kid about 55 years ago. (Just checked Google, yep.) Sorry, I bet you've already got dozens of these comments. By the way, I'd use some spray paint and a piece of cardboard with a rectangle cut in the middle of it to spray through rather than whack on the trees these days. The classic work on this is Finding Your Way Without Map or Compass by Harold Gatty. Tristan Gooley currently writes a lot on this topic.

You’re my favorite KZreadr but, I’m from Texas, and the way you say compass make squint

I would never do that to any tree. It looks terrible. Same goes for people cutting of big chunks of birch bark to start fire or make a barsket. It's like garbage to me. Takes focus away from the beautiful forrest.

go to youtube and type in how to pronounce compass

@coalcracker

6 жыл бұрын

O perfect! I’ll also issue a public apology for my regional accent. You actually have perfect grammar and ...o wait a minute you don’t Even have 1 video on your channel... Maybe worry less about my accent and more about content and the work we put into these videos?

@shariris

6 жыл бұрын

kenny cadarett Really? That's your comment? Pffft. Travel much?

Haha! Deer, elk, bear, ect. all blaze the f out of trees and nobody whines about that. Maybe because you are culturally appropriating blazing from them.. Rayssisss!

Great video, easy to understand and very well presented.