fandomhigh | Wilderness Survival Redux (Week 2) | Thursday Morning, A Clearing in the Woods

Looking even less happy than last class, Callisto pointed to the box. "Put your shoes in there and take a handout."

"Knowing how to make fire is one of the most important wilderness survival skills possible. Without it, you can't keep warm, cook, or use it to keep predators away from your camp."

"For today's exercise you will be split into two groups, one group will start a fire using a bow drill, and the other with flint and steel. You don't get to go home until you have a fire."

Callisto waited until the students had split into their groups, before speaking again.

"Another useful survival skill is the ability to create tools from scratch, even more important is the ability to figure out how to make the best use of the tools available." Callisto held up a pointed stick. "If you want your shoes back, I want a different use for a pointy stick from each of you at the end of class.

"One more thing, you're unlikely to find dry fuel for your fire," she said, picking up a bucket of water and tossing it over the firewood. "So consider this a touch of realism."

Group One - Bow drill

Samuel Anders
Bridge Carson
Walter Dornez
Rory Gilmore
Peter Pevensie

Group Two - Flint and Steel

D'anna Biers
Samantha Carter
Tyler Durden
Gwynn Hood
Dean Winchester

[OCD threads are ~~coming~~ up, up, and away!]
[Class Info]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

"You got a cold too?" Tyler asked, raising an eyebrow. "I shouldn't have gone swimming at night."

He punctuated the statement with a brief sneeze.

"Okay, so the wood's all wet... maybe if we find some dry leaves?" Bridge says.

Peter shows up barefoot.

"Some dry leaves or pine needls should work for the kindling," Peter said. "Or if we had any fabric to catch the sparks."

"You can use one to clean your horse's feet if you've lost your hoof pick," Peter said since most of his other ideas had already been taken.

Gwynn nodded miserably. "I would have just stayed in bed, but I've heard scary stories about this class and Callisto."

She covered her face as she coughed.

Tyler winced. "Looks like you got it worse than me," he told her. "And yeah, I didn't want to skip class either. I'm not THAT sick."

Anders looked down and saw his big toe poking out through the hole in his left sock. "I got your fabric right here."

Walter shows up barefoot and looking quite ill. It must be what Gwynn has, not a hangover. Really.

Walter sat down next to the pile and blinked at it. "Right. Fire. Fabric. Kindling."

"Booby traps. Set point up in the ground or in the bottom of a pit," Walter said, since the friendly options had been taken.

Tyler watched Dean carefully. "Okay, but will that work if the wood's wet?"

"You okay, dude?" Bridge asks, worriedly.

Walter waved a hand dismissively. "Nothing I didn't do to myself."

Peter started pulling the sock into threads to use as tinder and, having listened to the radio last night, glanced at Walter sympathetically.

"If we get the threads going then add leaves and twigs, we should be good to start. Maybe split some of those bigger pieces into littler splits," Peter said.

Dean looked at the wood. "Maybe," he said slowly. "If we have a lot of kindling and tinder. That's dry."

Rory sighed and set her shoes in the box.

Rory had gathered up some twigs and the deadest, dryest leaves she could find. She held them up. "Unless the alive ones are better?"

"Not at all," Peter replied with a grin. "Those shall be perfect. The alive ones will just be stubborn about catching on fire."

Anders started peeling the bark off one of the twigs and shredding it into the thinnest strips he could manage. "Are we going for toothpick-sized here, or bigger?"

Walter grabbed a few of the larger pieces of firewood and started reducing them to smaller pieces by the simple expedient of holding a length of wire between his fingers and drawing it down the length of the wood. With a little work, he was able to expose the dry centers.

"Different sizes, I would expect. So that as the smaller pieces burn out, the larger pieces are just catching on."

"Sort of like a ladder of flammable. Got it." Anders piled up his shredded bark and started sorting through their accumulated piles of tinder and kindling, arranging it all in order by size.

"Right. We just need to get the fire going well enough that it'll dry out the wet wood and so it catches," Peter said. "We probably have enough to go with if someone wants to start with the bow."

"I could," Rory said tentatively. "Unless you want someone stronger or inherently better at this."

Sam handed over her boots without argument.

Page 2 of 3

Wilderness Survival Redux (Week 2) | Thursday Morning, A Clearing in the Woods

Re: Group Two - Flint and Steel (WSR-Wk2)

Re: Group one - Bow Drill (WSR-Wk2)

Re: Sign In and Shoes (WSR - Wk 2)

Re: Group one - Bow Drill (WSR-Wk2)

Re: Uses of Pointy Sticks (WSR-Wk2)

Re: Group Two - Flint and Steel (WSR-Wk2)

Re: Group Two - Flint and Steel (WSR-Wk2)

Re: Group one - Bow Drill (WSR-Wk2)

Re: Sign In and Shoes (WSR - Wk 2)

Re: Group one - Bow Drill (WSR-Wk2)

Re: Uses of Pointy Sticks (WSR-Wk2)

Re: Group Two - Flint and Steel (WSR-Wk2)

Re: Group one - Bow Drill (WSR-Wk2)

Re: Group one - Bow Drill (WSR-Wk2)

Re: Group one - Bow Drill (WSR-Wk2)

Re: Group Two - Flint and Steel (WSR-Wk2)

Re: Sign In and Shoes (WSR - Wk 2)

Re: Group one - Bow Drill (WSR-Wk2)

Re: Group one - Bow Drill (WSR-Wk2)

Re: Group one - Bow Drill (WSR-Wk2)

Re: Group one - Bow Drill (WSR-Wk2)

Re: Group one - Bow Drill (WSR-Wk2)

Re: Group one - Bow Drill (WSR-Wk2)

Re: Group one - Bow Drill (WSR-Wk2)

Re: Sign In and Shoes (WSR - Wk 2)