Very interesting setup. It's a fair bit different than mine; I always used what you describe on your channel as the "Joseph" method of flint-and-steel firestarting. In your "no-charcloth" video, I think I might be able to see why--I can't come close to getting the shower of spark...

To be completely honest, I personally prefer to use natural materials in my impression... I personally have always had a little trouble with the use of modern materials in place of the more "magical" elements of middle earth. I think it can become a slippery slope... I get that. For the u...

When Pippin asks the Galadhrim if the cloaks they give the Fellowship are magic, their response could be reasonably paraphrased, "Silly hobbit, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." The properties of the cloak certainly seem magical, even to our modern eyes...

What of the possibility of mallorn wood being the material the "harps of gold" are made of. It might account for those of the elves, but Thorin is described as having a harp of gold, and I doubt his family used much Mallorn in their lutherie. ...our earthly metal strung harps use single-t...

Elleth wrote:That must have been a "fun" midnight hike out.

Hiking in the snow by moonlight is actually really, really cool. It's funny how such a cool and unique experience only happens due to screwing up.

I've slept out in the snow in modern kit a few times. Bombed out on my most recent trip, but I hope to have a successful overnight sometime very soon.

Hunh.. is that.... a pack saddle? For a goat? OMG that's hilarious. :) Yup. That's Victory, my pack goat in training. He's still young, but when fully grown should look approximately like this: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/70/5d/e4/705de49c556194de5eb5565af6710b38.jpg ...Or maybe not q...

Greg wrote:Hear, hear. They won't even allow leashed dogs in the park.

This is the case in Yosemite, too. Which is why I take my goat instead.

My god, that's gorgeous! Everything about it is so sturdy looking... based on that picture of the blank, the tang looks incredibly solid. An amazing tool!

In terms of portability and aesthetic, I like the Gothic harp. Thinking back, I always pictured either that or some sort of lyre. I'm intrigued that all the harps I find mentioned in the books that bear any description at all are referred to as metallic, for some reason. Golden, or silver, in the ca...

the terrain indicators look true and detailed enough they're still useful for navigation, at least on a coarse / "reminder" basis - have you found that to be true? I haven't taken these out into the field yet, but I have reservations about relying on the terrain indicators. For one thing,...

Are these hand-made in a kind of "Paint" program, or are you using some kind of map software? I start with USGS digital elevation models, align them in a GIS program and standardize the raster values. Then I plug those into a program which renders the terrain in an isometric projection. T...

These are BRILLIANT! I love the style you chose for them! I've been wanting to try my hand at making some for the Colorado Front Range, but I'm afraid my skills as a cartographer are limited to pure fantasy. I've been considering making up a bunch of these and selling prints. The Front Range as a w...

I thought about apending these to my original post , but they're a sufficient improvement that I decided to post them on their own. I've drafted two new maps of my favorite stomping grounds in the Sierra Nevada: Yosemite and the John Muir Trail. http://i.imgur.com/UhrUAiT.jpg http://i.imgur.com/APNx...

This is the year I want to run the race of the Three Hunters. I've been training recently and feeling it take effect, but I've got a long way to go. I'd also like to get better at starting a fire with flint, maybe learn to do it without charcloth, and start learning how to do it with a hand drill. I...