The Phillosoph Blog - Self-reliance and Self-defence

Crash Combat Fourth Edition Out Now!

Post author By losophyp
Post date 17 January 2022
Sticky post

I am pleased to announce that the Fourth (and final!) Edition of Crash Combat has now become available.

This version has been extensively expanded, being about 50% longer than the first edition.

More content, extra illustrations, more techniques, new techniques and generally much more book for your money.

In addition, much of the book has been rewritten and restructured so information is more easily assimilated and learnt.

While Crash Combat was originally written for a military context, it remains relevant to any individual wishing to learn to protect themselves in this dangerous and uncertain world.

Crash Combat Fourth Edition Epub
Crash Combat Fourth Edition Paperback

Visit the Author Spotlight for my other books.

May be purchased direct from Lulu.com in either print or epub format.

It will take a few more days or more for this version to appear with other retailers.

Buying from Lulu costs you less and more of the money goes to the author.

Tags baton, book, books, crash combat, fighting knife, knife, machete, martial arts, military, new edition, publication, self-defence, self-help, unarmed

Phillosoph

Morse Code without Electricity

Post author By losophyp
Post date 3 November 2024

Recently I was recently reading a science fiction novel. The crew of a spaceship are without power, and have to warn another ship to keep its distance. They can be seen at a window. They resort of pantomiming “pushing‑away” actions. Using Morse code does not seem to occur to them.

How do you use Morse code without electricity? There are ways to do this, and they are possibly not so well known as some other methods.

The first method is taken from this useful website. It has a passing resemblance to semaphore, but uses standard Morse code, which is far more likely to be known by the sender or viewer.

You do not need to have flags to use this system. You can use the motions if your hands are empty. Holding a scarf, bandana or branch in each hand may be used to make your motions more visible. Coloured stuffsacks may be stretched over a flexible stick bent into a racket-shape. Depending on the background, taking off dark‑coloured gloves or wearing lighter gloves may aid empty‑handed signalling.

Back when I was blogging about American Civil War outfits, I read the book “Hardtack and Coffee”. A fascinating book, which finished with a chapter on the pre‑Morse signalling system used during the war.

This system, called “Wigwag” in some other sources, used a single flag (or disc).

This system may also be used with Morse code, and may be still referred to as “wigwag” or “wig‑wag”.

The convention here is a little different to that used with two‑flags. Flag up is “ready” or “word begins” rather than “dot”.

“Dot” (Two) is starboard: to the right of the signaller, to the left of the observer. Easily remembered because we read from left to right in English.

“Dash” (One) is port, as in “a dash of port”.

No flag? You can use the single pole method with a rifle, a hiking pole or a branch. Add a scarf to the end or anything else that makes your signal more visible.

You can also clasp your hands together as though you are about to dive and point your straightened arms up, down, left and right. Point them straight ahead between dots and dashes.

That said, my personal feeling is that the two-flag method is better for empty handed signalling. The shapes made are more distinct and wider or taller.

In these days of electronic warfare and eavesdropping, such simple visual methods of signalling still have a place. Establish a shorthand of one, two and three letter signals.

Non‑Electric Morse at Night

If you want to signal at night, you may flash a light. If your light cannot easily be turned on or off, you may be able to cover it with your hand, hat, map or similar.

This is not so easy if you are using a light source such as a burning brand. When viewed at a distance at night, a single light source can appear to move about even when it is not moving. “Hardtack and Coffee” tells us:

“The services of the Signal Corps were just as needful and valuable by night as in daylight; but, as the flags could not then talk understandingly, Talking Torches were substituted for them. As a “point of reference” was needful, by which to interpret the torch signals made, the flagman lighted a “foot torch,” at which he stood firmly while he signalled with the “flying torch.” This latter was attached to a staff of the same length as the flagstaff, in fact, usually the flagstaff itself. These torches were of copper, and filled with turpentine. At the end of a message the flying torch was extinguished.”

Our spacemen in the book could have used a non‑electric method of Morse signalling. Perhaps a piece of material with a different symbol and/or colour drawn on each side. Later in the book the natives of a planet signal using a pivoted disc painted white on one side, black on the other. It is commented that this is the local equivalent to Morse.

Morse by Sound

Morse signalling with sound was not an option for the spacers.

Often in movies, someone will bang on pipes and a character will identify it as “Morse code”. Morse needs two distinct signals, so most Morse letters cannot be transmitted with a single note such as a tap on a pipe. The code you need for this is POW tap code.

One of the few messages you can transmit with a single note is SOS (…—…). With a signal whistle, you make three short blasts, three longer blasts, then three more short, no pauses between the letters.

If you are drumming against a tree trunk or piece of wreckage, you cannot do this. Instead you vary the interval between the notes: three quick notes, three notes with a longer pause after each, then three more quick.

I have recently updated my blog on learning Morse with some new reference and some new tricks to help you remember certain letters.

Phillosoph

Knife Throwing: Strength and Spin-Less Throws

Post author By losophyp
Post date 11 October 2024

Most of a lifetime ago, I encountered the “thrower list” on the then newfangled internet.

The thrower list was about knife throwing and other thrown weapons, and run by a gentleman we will call MJR.

The thrower list and thrower site has long since disbanded, but the knife throwing.info site maintains an archive of some of the valuable information the thrower held.

I was curious about a number of related topics, including Chinese piao/piau. I was to discover that no one on the list knew much about them, so I shared the little I knew. MJR turned my post into a webpage, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Over a thousand webpages, blog articles and several books later, I am still writing.

I also learnt to throw knives.

Recently, I reached out to a number of people I had lost contact with. One of these was Christian, the administrator of the knife throwing.info list.

Christian has asked me to write about “Taylor Power Throwing Technique One”, a derived version of which I call “punch throwing” in my book.

Before I can write about that technique, I feel I need to prepare the ground by addressing some other topics related to knife throwing.

Super Secret Spin‑Less Throws!

Reading an article on the knife throwing.info site, I was somewhat bemused to read the claim that spin‑less knife throwing was a lost art rediscovered in the early 21st Century.

I put a couple of techniques of spin‑less throwing in my first book: “Attack, Avoid, Survive”. The “secret” was there for anyone who brought the book!

Many of the members of the original thrower list, myself included, were using spin‑less methods in the mid-90s.

Kevin She had a very simple method I christened “She-Finger”, which I used. It took about a minute to learn.

I cannot recall how much success I had with the “Shirakami technique” after reading MJR's article on it. It proved relatively easy to learn once I acquired a copy of Shirakami’s book.

I sent another copy of that book to another thrower regular, Ed Sackett. Ed was an enthusiastic, generous and imaginative thrower, and I would be very surprised to learn that Ed had not persisted until he had mastered it. If he had had problems, I would have learnt of it, since Ed and myself exchanged emails on diverse topics a couple of times a week, at least.

Throwers of the World! Relax!

The “new” knife throwing.info pages often emphasise that spin‑less throws need strength or are tough on the joints.

Similar statements are made about gripping knives or other elements of knife throwing in general.

I can only disagree.

With the exception of “punch throwing”/“Taylor Power Throwing Technique One”, needing lots of effort is contrary to my own experience of spin‑less throwing and of knife throwing in general.

Firstly, do not grip your knife any harder than you need. One of the things that will cause problems with your knife throwing is an inconsistent grip. If your grip pressure varies, for example, because your hand gets tired from an unnecessarily strong grip, you will see variable results.

If you use more energy than your projectile can absorb, that extraneous power has to go somewhere else. If you are experiencing joint pain, this may be the cause and you may need to make an adjustment.

To any new throwers or throwers having trouble, I would advise “relax, let the mass of the knife do the work”.

Relaxed body parts may be moved faster, so greater speed is actually produced by “making an effort not to make an effort”. This is the foundation of all the better martial arts and fighting styles, incidentally.

The original thrower pages had some advice along the lines of: “as range increases, throw higher, not harder”. Good advice from MJR, although my recollection (possibly faulty) was that he liked to fastball his knives. My probably flawed, failing memory is that I suggested this might be contributing to problems with mastering Shirakami’s technique. I was lucky enough to meet the gentleman in real life, and we threw a few.

Incidentally, knives and other low‑velocity missiles are never thrown “point blank”, as some authors term it.

Point blank does not mean “close”, as it is frequently misused. Point blank means aimed without an allowance for drop.

Thus, knives are never thrown “point blank”. Their trajectory should always take them above their intended target. Some throwers inherently know this, but it is a topic books on the subject seldom touch on.

Throw Like a Girl?

On the subject of strength, why are there separate male and female sections of throwing competitions?

Knife throwing is a pastime involving accuracy, precision and skill. There is no reason why men and women cannot compete with each other.

If desired, you can maintain separate streams of prizes: Best female, third best male, second best cute Japanese schoolgirl, and so forth. Gender is a Gordian issue these days, however. Only a matter of time before the woke nazis stick their upturned noses in.

Shirakami Revisited

Last night, I took my copy of Shirakami Ikku‑Ken’s “Shuriken‑Do” down off the shelf, and finally broke my “no throwing in the nice house” rule.

I collected a diverse assortment of spikes (thank you, Jason!), and without looking at the book, tried a technique I had not tried in well over a decade.

The first was a “clanger”, but that is to be expected after such a long time, and may have been due to a poor choice of grip on a longer than normal spike.

Second and every other throw, hit and stuck in the target.

I wasn't aiming at a particular mark, but all were within a few inches of each other, despite their varied lengths, shapes and masses.

Yep! Still got it!

This is the first of the techniques called “push throwing” in “Attack, Avoid, Survive”, and is my interpretation of Shirakami’s spin‑less technique.

Shirakami’s book has far less text on spin‑less (“direct” p.42) throwing than you might expect. A single paragraph before moving on to half‑turn and multiple‑turn throws.

Useful range for direct throwing is given as 5.5 metres (which is about 18 shaku/3 ken in old Japanese units)

The contribution of finger brushing/friction is mentioned in the book. MJR actually writes more on this element than Shirakami.

From my experience, finger brushing is a component, but not something I consciously notice or attempt to do. The spike or knife leaves the hand with the hand pronated (palm down) so the rear part naturally slides across the lower surface of the fingers.

The throwing action that I use for “Shirakami-style” is rather like slapping down a card or domino, although with considerably less violence than some card and domino games I have witnessed!

It is an unhurried, relaxed, even lazy looking motion. Follow-through naturally.

I have described the Shirakami technique as “tai chi-style”‑throwing. You need to be able to relax your upper body and waist to use it successful. There is a motion in the shuriken kata (“The First Movement”, p.66) where you raise your arms up horizontally to the sides. I use this motion to loosen up and relax before a throw. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why it is in there?

I have some experience with tai chi and soft martial arts. This, and some would claim, my inherent laziness, made learning Shirakami’s spin‑less throw variant relatively easy for me.

If your method of knife throwing involves lots of sweat and muscular effort, you will probably have problems and may conclude that it cannot be done. It can. It is relatively easy. You need to learn to use less effort!

Phillosoph

Improving My Fine Screwdriver Set

Post author By losophyp
Post date 29 September 2024

Recently, it I began to suspect that the battery of my watch was running down.

I ordered a replacement.

When the new battery arrived, I went about changing the battery of the watch for the first time.

This was to turn into “one of those jobs”!

Part of the problem was an oddly shaped O-ring that needed to be exactly placed in position when reattaching the back of the watch, along with another component. (If an object with twelve sides may be called an “O-ring”!)

Another problem was partially of my own making. I managed to drop all four tiny screws on to the carpet.

Given how bad my vision is getting, I was actually impressed I managed to locate all four without recourse to magnification nor magnetism.

Before I had started the job, I had thought about the magnet sitting on a table within arm’s reach, but been too lazy to get it. My set of fine screwdrivers even has a magnetic tool I could have placed the loose screws on, although this might have been on the small side.

Lessons Learnt

So, after the job had been completed, I thought about lessons learned and solutions to problems encountered.

• One problem had been locating the fine screwdriver set in the cupboard where I keep my tools. The cupboard is rather dark, and the search was not helped by the fact that I had placed the kit inside another box and forgotten about it. While little can be done about my ageing and failing memory, I placed some red tape on the black box so it is a little easier to see.

• A larger magnet added to the box would be useful. I had planned to glue this inside the box, but instead attached it to the outside so that it would be more useful picking up dropped items. A second magnet inside would be useful to secure detached components, but I only have one small magnet handy at the moment, so placed it on the outside.

• Handling the tiny screws had been fiddly, and probably contributed to my dropping them. I have several sets of tweezers or forceps over with my modelling tools across the room, but laziness again. Adding a pair of straight and curved fine tweezers to the actual box of fine screwdrivers seemed prudent. None of my current examples would fit in the box, so I searched the web for examples that were short enough.

In the first photo you can see the magnet glued to the top left corner of the closed box.

In the second photo, you see the box contents with the additions below. Curved and straight fine tweezers. An additional fine screwdriver I got with a hard-drive enclosure.

Tags glasses, magnet, screwdriver, sunglasses, tools

Phillosoph

Surviving Management

Post author By losophyp
Post date 28 September 2024

There have not been many posts recently.

One of the reasons for this is that I have been concentrating on the fourth (and final) edition of Crash Combat. This has progressed quite nicely and is available now in both print and epub format. With lots of new techniques and concepts added, the fourth edition is 50% larger than the original edition.

I have touched on the topic of surviving an office space previously.

A week or so ago I happened upon a most interesting book: “First, Break All The Rules, what the world's greatest managers do differently” by Marcus Buckingham.

The business world abounds will all sorts of management strategies, methods and philosophies. Some seem to be well meaning, while others have a whiff of snake oil or butt-smoke about them.

Such systems seem popular with certain companies. Sometimes they are a way to avoid addressing genuine problems, and if things go wrong, “blame the consultant”.

Many of us have managers, or manage other people. A survival situation, whether it is an emergency or long-term, may involve organizing individuals to work together. If nothing else, this book will be useful in that it allows you to “know your enemy”

Unlike most management schemes, “First, Break All The Rules.” is based on actual empirical evidence. The well-known company Gallup interviewed over a million employees and 80 thousand managers, good, bad and mediocre.

Among other things, the book nicely explains why so many management strategies don’t actually work. They are based on false premises.

For example, a person’s abilities are based on their skills, knowledge and talents. Skills and knowledge may be improved, and may contribute to the use of a talent. Talents, however, are inherent. They may be hidden, may be discovered, may be developed, but they cannot be created!

If someone does not have a talent in a particular area, no amount of training, threats, bribes, diversity awareness, personal development reviews or bullying can change this.

Thus, a good manager will allow for this and organize to best utilize abilities and compensate for lacks thereof. They utilize an individual's strengths and talents and compensate for weaknesses and nontalents.

“People don’t change that much.

Don't waste time trying to put in what was left out.

Try to draw out what was left in.

That is hard enough.”

For example:

“Jim K., a full bird colonel in the army—an organization that might be forgiven for emphasizing flexibility and camaraderie over individual excellence—gives this description of team building:

'When I first assemble the platoon I ask each person to tell me what activities he is mostly drawn to. One will say sharpshooting. One will say radio. One will say explosives. And so on. I'll go around the whole group, taking notes. Then, when I build each squad, I try to assign each person to the role he said he was drawn to. Obviously you won't get a perfect match. And obviously every soldier will be required to learn every role on the platoon—we might lose a man in battle, and every soldier must be able to step in. But you've got to start by assigning the right duties to the right soldier. If you get that wrong, your platoon will falter in combat.'

Whereas conventional wisdom views individual specialization as the antithesis of teamwork, great managers see it as the founding principle.”

In a short blog such as this I cannot really do justice to all the interesting information in this book.

Have a read and judge for yourselves.

Tags crash combat, management, office, survival

Phillosoph

Survival Library: Chapter 3, Practical Outdoor Survival

Post author By losophyp
Post date 10 July 2024

In “chapter one” of the Survival Library, I recommended a number of books on the subject. Many of these are available in free on-line editions.

In the subsequent chapters, other books are to be examined.

One of the things I will be looking at is if these additional titles offer supplementary information to that in the books from chapter one, or handle common topics in a more easily digestible form.

For chapter two, I looked at “Bushcraft 101” by Dave Canterbury.

For chapter three, I read “Practical Outdoor Survival” by Len McDougal.

I will admit, chapter three has been a long time coming. There are a number of reasons for this:

For one thing, Practical Outdoor Survival is in many respects similar to Bushcraft 101.

Both are mainly written for North American outdoorsmen. Both are essentially “what to do if lost in the woods” books, although other environments such as deserts are dealt with.

I wanted to make a fair review of Practical Outdoor Survival without recent impressions from Bushcraft 101 clouding my recollections.

A second delay was that I acquired two copies of Practical Outdoor Survival, one from 1992 and another from 2008. I wanted to read both editions to give a more comprehensive review.

I will start by saying I do think Practical Outdoor Survival is worth a read. In fact, it nicely complements Bushcraft 101.

The 2008 edition naturally includes updated information. For example, we now know that iodine is not 100% effective against waterborne pathogens.

Information on some new products that have become available since 1992 is also included.

We also see an evolution in techniques: In the 1992 version, Len McDougal was carrying his “survival gear” in an LBE massing around 15 pounds. In the 2008 version it has been realized that a backpack is a better way to carry camping gear. Details of the contents of a “day and a half” pack are given.

I will note that often the initiation of an emergency situation is finding yourself unable to access your LBE and/or rucksack. Then you must get by with what is in your trouser pockets, on your belt and in your coat or jacket.

Shelter

The shelter section has some interesting ideas.

Using leaf litter to “thatch” your shelter is a good trick.

Another interesting technique is to use a fire to melt a shelter into deep snow rather than trying to dig one in subzero conditions.

In the 1992 edition is the idea of digging a “den” or “bunk niche” into the side of a leeward earth bank (p.62). For some reason this technique was dropped from the 2008.

Clothing

Sometimes your hands need protection from things other than the cold and rain. McDougal makes the wise recommendation of adding a set of leather work gloves to your outdoor kit.

McDougal also points out that faces also need protection from dust, sand, wind and cold.

Your outdoor kit should already include keffiyeh, scarves, neck gaiters and/or headovers.

One of the woolly hats in your kit should be a ski-mask or the type of balaclava that covers the nose and mouth.

Hunting and Fishing

The sections on hunting and fishing are very good. Adding a “frog gig” to your outdoor gear is a good idea, since such multi-tined spear heads can also be used to fish.

A fishing float improvised from a foam ear plug is interesting.

Unless you are issued them for free, using an ear plug is actually a relatively expensive option. Any small piece of scrap foam, bottle cork or polystyrene could probably be used. Trim corners off kip mat? Use that foam!

Ideally you want a float some distance above the hook, with room to add some shot to weigh the bait down.

Cut a thin slit halfway through the foam, place the line of snood/trace/leader through the slit. Wrap the piece of foam in a few centimetres of bright coloured electrical tape.

I differ with the author on a couple of points:

Carrying multi-vitamins seems redundant. Problems from vitamin deficiencies take months or even years to develop, so you are unlikely to carry enough tablets to make a significant difference. You can avoid “rabbit starvation” by eating your greens!

As an aside, consequences of hypervitaminosis can be very rapid. You are unlikely to get this from most over-the-counter vitamin supplements. Liver from polar bears or bearded seals is toxic because of high concentrations of vitamin A. Since 100% positive identification (seal of approval?) may be problematic, best avoid the liver of any seal.

Carrying glucose tablets for hypoglycemia detracts from the potential of other sugar-containing foods and drinks that are an equally effective or better treatment.

I don't see the point in carrying a glass heliograph that weighs several ounces when there are cheaper, lighter and larger plastic mirrors available.

Rimfire .22 for Survival

The section on a survival rimfire rifle in the 2008 version is very good, but I disagree with the comment that “first guns should not be semiautomatic”.

Money is tight for many of us, and the first survival rimfire may be the only one for many years to come!

A semiautomatic means less body motions to alert sharp-eyed game. Semiautos are also better suited to emergency defensive fire with a .22. Less fumble factor under stress!

I also recommend that at least half of your .22 ammo be solids.

In a genuine emergency hunting situation, your .22 rifle may have to be used against targets larger than this chambering is generally recommended for. Penetration and headshots are a priority. Hollowpoint rounds for 22s are designed for very small game and will lack sufficient penetration for larger targets.

Hypervelocity loadings such as CCI Stingers or Remington Yellow Jackets and Vipers also need to be carefully considered. Some authors have noted that the performance improvements these loadings shon on paper do not result in a similar;y sized increase in performance in the field. Tissue damage (aka “loss of meat”) may be greater but shot placement still needs to be effectively the same as a lethal hit for a standard high-velocity .22LR. Are a few extra yards of range worth what may be a 65% increase in price? Many hypervelocity loadings are also only found in hollowpoint configuration.

Compass

A comment worth digesting is that “basic orienteering with map and compass can be learned in a matter of minutes”.

The Phillosoph crash course in compass:

1: To find the bearing/heading of a landmark: Point the reference mark of your compass at the landmark. Turn the bezel until the “N” (0 degrees) has the magnetic tip of the needle pointing towards it. The value on the bezel next to the reference mark is the bearing.

Compasses that do not have rotating bezels and reference marks on the body or baseplate are considerably less useful!

2: To find the direction of a desired heading/bearing: Turn the bezel until the desired bearing is next to the reference mark. Move your body until the point of the needle points to “N” on the bezel. The reference mark will be pointing in the desired heading. Pick out one or more landmarks in that direction and walk toward them.

Bonus Lesson: The difference between a bearing and its back-bearing is always 180 degrees.

Method using Arithmetic: If the value of the bearing is less than 180, add 180 to it to get the back bearing. If the value of the bearing is greater than 180, subtract 180 to get the back bearing.

Non-Maths Method: Take a non-ferrous straight edge such as the edge of a map or page. Place the straight edge next to the value of the bearing on the bezel. Make sure the straight edge also passes over the pivot point of the compass needle or card. Where the straight edge crosses the bezel again is the value of the back bearing.

A variant of this technique uses the corner of a page or map to add or subtract 90 degrees from a heading. This may be useful when “boxing” an obstacle.

How to use a map and compass together is another set of lessons. You may like to read my blog on magnetic declination. A number of field manuals explaining how to use a map with a compass are available on-line for free. These include:

FM 3-25.26

RP0505- Land Navigation (USMC)

How To Find Your Way (GTA 05-021-013)

FM21-25 (1944)

I cannot really say which version of Practical Outdoor Survival is better. 2008 is more up-to-date, but 1992 seems to have a few extra ideas and I prefer how some sections are written.

If possible, get both, and read them alongside Bushcraft 101.

Tags book review, compass, fishing kit, hunting, navigation, survival library, survival manual

Phillosoph

A Handful of Advice on Food

Post author By losophyp
Post date 21 June 2024

Rummaging through a on-line drive the other day and I came across a filename that was just a string of numbers and letters.

This turned out to be a copy of Air Force Survival Manual AFM 64-5. I had not originally paid much attention to this particular work when I downloaded it along with some other military survival manuals.

Unlike most works of its ilk, AFM 64-5 is concise and very readable. It also contains a number of items of information that do not usually appear in many of the survival manuals that will be more familiar to the reader.

One of the many things that interested me was the manual emphasised that a survivor only needed about three ounces of protein a day.

A surprisingly sound and up-to-date piece of nutritional advice in a book that dates back to the 1950s.

It also flies in the face of the current food-fad of boosting the protein content of everything!

For those of you who did not pay attention in school, your daily protein needs are relatively modest.

Even if you are a body-builder, you are not likely to grow more than a few grams of muscle a day.

Having a little extra protein is not likely to harm you. Most of it just gets peed out.

Foods rich in protein have been noted to increase satiation, which is why items such a nuts are sometimes recommended for snacking.

Excessive quantities of protein consumption may have medical effects, however.

Most protein sources also include fats, oils, salt and other things we generally consume too much of already.

I have become more interested in portion control since I was declared diabetic. Like so many of us, I could do with losing a few kilos. This may help me keep the diabetes under control.

Also, on a planet where much of the population is either going hungry or obese, it seems morally abhorrent to deliberately be eating much larger quantities of food than I need.

Portion control has obvious applications for survival, hiking or prepping. It allows you to more accurately judge how much food per day you will need for a journey or a stockpile.

Reading about daily recommendations for protein introduced me to the concept of estimating portions relative to the hands. You will find many websites and illustrations of these. Some differ on the fine details and recommended quantities. My personal take-away may be summarised thus:

Protein

A portion of meat should be about the size of the palm of your hand. This is about the size of a burger, one or two sausages, a small chop or chicken quarter.

Lean meat, and meat cooked by methods that minimise fat content are obviously preferable.

Fish is a little more complicated.

Oily fish has oils and fats, so is treated the same as meat, with a portion about palm-sized.

You may have a larger portion of white fish. A piece should be about the size of your open hand (i.e. palm and fingers, a hand-length). If you like your fish battered or breaded, I recommend baking it in a halogen oven rather than frying it. Quick, easy and delicious!

An old book I have suggests that meat should be used like a condiment, and only consumed in quantity one a week.

I feel that remains sound advice.

Carbohydrates

The carbs that you are most likely to be eating are mainly derived from cereals and grains. This class also includes beans, potatoes, and some vegetables such as sweetcorn. These are all rich in starches, which digest down into sugars. Sugar is also a carbohydrate, but we will deal with that separately later.

The carbs component of your meal should not exceed a cupful.

A clenched fish is equivalent to about a cupful (236-250 ml). The “face” of a fist is about half a cupful.

An alternate/additional approach to estimating a portion is that your carbohydrates should occupy about a quarter of the plate.

Some carbs, such as brown rice or wholemeal bread or pasta are a little richer in fibre or nutrients, but there is more merit in having a variety of types.

Fruit and Vegetables

Or more specifically, plant foods that do not count as being high in starch.

Some fruits are high in sugars, which some readers may need to bear in mind.

Generally, the recommended portion size for the non-starchy veg is two handfuls, or about half the plate. And unlike the above, this is a minimum recommended portion.

If you want to add more low-calorie foods such as vegetables, pile them on.

Have a good variety of vegetables to prevent eating them becoming monotonous.

Fingers and Thumbs

Other meal components such as sugar, salt, oil/salad dressing should be used in moderation.

A fingertip is about the equivalent to a teaspoon (5 ml). A thumb is about two tablespoons (30 ml), so half a thumb one tablespoon/15 ml.

As an aside, I was bemused to see my local pharmacist offering a bag of glucose/dextrose (with a hefty markup!) as “an alternative to sugar”.

Back to school again! Glucose/dextrose is a monosaccharide of glucose. Sucrose is a disaccharide of glucose and fructose. All are digested by the same route and have the same food value. You will see marvellous claims made about honey, but foodwise it is mainly glucose and fructose.

I like a sprinkle of sugar or drizzle of honey on my porridge, but make sure it is only a teaspoon.

Americans tend to write recipes in volumes (cups and spoons), while Brits are more likely to use masses.

If you are a Brit and considering paying more attention to your portion sizing, I recommend investing in a set of measuring cups and spoons.

Very soon you will understand equivalents like that a 40 gram portion of oats is about half a measuring cup, and how much this is compared to your fist.

One of the beauties of the hand measuring system is you always have it “handy”.

Spice is the Variety of Life

It is a good idea to have an assortment of sauces, spices and salad dressings to add extra variety to your meals from day to day.

This recommendation applies to both your home kitchen and your backpack. When you are out in the sticks and may need to eat the same food several days running, a dash of sauce or sprinkle of curry powder or chilli can make a lot of difference.

Snacking

One definition of a snack is eating for entertainment or a non-essential meal. I therefore try to limit my snacking.

Sometimes, however, you do need something quick to tide you over until dinner, or ward off a imminent migraine attack.

The recommended portion for a snack is a handful (about a quarter to third of a cup, or 30-55 mls may be a better measure). This may be a piece of fruit such as an apple or orange, or a handful of nuts, sultanas, cherries or similar.

Protein containing snacks may satiate you better. At other times you may need the carbs and sugars.

A handful of fruit makes a nice dessert to end a meal.

The important point is to stick to the handful portion size. This takes a bit of self-discipline, but you are unlikely to lose weight without this. Self-discipline is a personal property that grows with exercise and practice.

If you are prone to snacking, I suggest you stock up on some dried fruit (apricots, sultanas, etc) and some nuts and seeds.

I found that a plastic sauce container from the takeaway holds about 30-55 ml of nuts, sultanas etc. I keep one with my snacks as both eating bowl and measure.

Packaging and Portions

Actually achieving the above in practice is a little more complex. Often food is marketed in large packets.

For foods such as rice, sugar and porridge that has a long shelf-life, this is great. For other foods, it is problematic.

For example, the recommended serving for a low-fat yogurt (which may be quite high in sugars) is four tablespoons or 60 ml. It is sold in 500 g pots, with the advice to consume within “three days of opening”. Theoretically, for many households, if this advice is followed, most of this yogurt would be thrown-away rather than consumed.

Many snack foods are sold in large packets, and their is a great temptation to finish the packet rather than consume just a handful.

Bread and vegetables are often sold in plastic bags. These bags retain moisture and encourage food to rot or go mouldy. So you throw it away, waste your money and go back to the supermarket for more.

If you find yourself wasting food (or eating too much!) I suggest you invest in a variety of storage containers.

Remove the plastic packaging from perishable foods and store in containers. It is surprising how much better a lettuce keeps in box rather than a bag.

Some foods keep well in the fridge, others do better at room temperature.

Occasionally, inspect the contents of a box and shake out or mop-up any condensation and excess moisture that has accumulated.

This is also the solution to those large bags of snack food. A sealed storage box will keep them from going stale, and let you enjoy the occasional handful over a more reasonable time interval.

Ween yourself onto healthier alternatives such as nuts, seeds and dried or fresh fruit.

Chop Chop

If you have done any Chinese cooking, you will know that food chopped small takes less time to cook and is less likely to be underdone. This applies to the oven, pot and frying pan as well as the wok.

A palm-sized portion of meat or fish goes much further when diced or sliced.

All the ingredients cooked in this fashion may be served mixed together in a single bowl, which I find makes a meal more interesting and varied to consume. Many of my meals involve just a single bowl in one hand, a spork in the other.

If cooking without vessels, divide your food into small pieces before threading it onto sticks for grilling before a fire. Briefly pass the food through the flames or place it on the coals to sear and seal the outside.

Eat the Rainbow

“Eat the Rainbow” is a phrase I only encountered recently, but nicely summarizes something that I have been practicing for decades.

Consider a meal of something like chicken and chips, which is just yellow and brown or orange. Suppose we make it multi-coloured by adding some sliced baby tomatoes, coleslaw, shredded lettuce, a little onion, some mushrooms. Suddenly this meal has got a lot more interesting and more nutritious.

Not only does such a meal look better, it is also more interesting to eat, with a greater variety of tastes and textures.

Tip: Ramekins (or Gü jars!) are useful for one-person oven cooking.

Tags catbs, cooking, food, protein, sugar

Phillosoph

Throwing Arrows, Ouneps and Amentum

Post author By losophyp
Post date 14 April 2024

In my recent post about throwing sticks and stones, I mentioned that creating a good spear was not as easy as some survival manuals make out, and that the throwing stick might be a better investment of your time and energies.

I had wanted to link this comment to an article that I had written back in my early days on the internet. However, the throwing weapons group I had originally written it for had long since disappeared, and to my surprise, I had not placed a copy on my other website.

Since then, I have discovered several of my original articles are preserved on this site.

The spear article, in turn, referenced an article I wrote on throwing arrows, so I have updated that and reposted it here.

Throwing arrows, or at least javelins that resemble arrows, have been used by several cultures, including the Romans and the Plains Indians.

One form of Roman weapon, the plumbata, is described as being about 10 inches long with an iron head, lead or lead‑weighted shaft and tin fins. There are references to legionaries carrying a rack of such missiles on the inside of their shields, at least in some regions or periods of the empire.

The Celts are known to have used a hardwood and iron weapon of about 21 inches length. (These are the weapons termed “Irish darts” in “Slash and Thrust” by John Sanchez. Sanchez claims these were the inspiration for the lead, iron and tin Roman dart. The example of the latter that he illustrates differs from most modern reconstructions.)

By the Middle Ages, such short spears or darts were also popular in other regions, particularly with the Arabs and Spanish (no doubt with the latter due to Moorish influence). “Spanish Darts” were one of the many weapons Henry VIII was proficient with. “Top dartes” were thrown from the rigging of warships.

Hand‑thrown arrows are sometimes referred to as “dutch arrows”.

This article will deal with less conventionally thrown arrows.

In his book “The Art of Attack”, H.S.Cowper refers to a class of weapon that he calls “javelins”, although he concedes the term is also used for conventional spears.

Cowper uses the term javelin to define "“…short pointed missiles flung by the wrist, not propelled straight by the forearm, but twirling in the air end over end before striking the object aimed at”. In other words, something that looks like a spear but is thrown like a knife.

Most of these weapons he describes are between one and three feet in length.

Obviously, this use of the term “javelin” has fallen into disuse.

Cowper suggests such a javelin was the type of weapon Saul threw at David: sitting around the throne room with a full size spear and throwing it a such short range seems to him unlikely.

Cowper describes several examples of javelin:

The Persians used an all metal weapon 2.5 feet long, and sometimes carried two or three in the same sheath. The Arabs used the “mizrak”, which had a 15 inch head, 23 inch shaft and a spiked butt.

The Greek version had a head at each end, but then so do certain much longer Greek spears.

The Knights’ Armoury at Malta had large stocks of sticks with a spear point at each end. These two foot long weapons were intended for throwing from the walls.

Most of the two‑pointed weapons have one head smaller than the other. It is true that this is a feature seen on many double pointed throwing knives, but it is just as likely the lesser point is for close combat or sticking the thing in the ground.

Short throwing sticks with a point at each end date back to prehistoric man.

Two‑pointed examples certainly exist, but the majority of these weapons are single‑pointed, and single‑bladed tumbling weapons seem to have seen very little battlefield use .

Cowper's javelins resemble short spears or throwing arrows, but are thrown end over end like a throwing knife. Pretty obviously, it is hard to tell by looking if a short spear was thrown knife fashion or spear fashion, and in many cases the answer may be either.

I have seen suggestions that the Roman plumbata may have been thrown like a German stick grenade.

The best evidence for such missiles being used that I have found comes from Japan. The “uchi‑ne” resembles a short stocky arrow about 12 inch long with a 4 inch head. naga-yari and uchi-ne

The “nage‑yari” (“thrown/throwing spear”) is a short spear about 17 inch long with a 5 inch head. Often tassels are fitted behind the head, which may aid drag stabilisation.

According to some books, these short missiles are used in the defence of palanquins.

Michael Finn's book “The Art of Shuriken” plainly shows an uchi‑ne being thrown in the same way as a knife, but holding the bottom of the shaft just above the vanes. Finn’s illustration appears to show an uchi‑ne brought up to touch the shoulder and then flipped forward by straightening the arm.

Throwing uchi-ne from Michael Finn's "Art of the Shuriken"

Don. F. Draeger, in “Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts” lists “uchi‑ne jitsu” as a skill practiced by samurai.

In Shirakami Ikku Ken's book “Shuriken‑Do”, there is also an illustration of uchi‑ne throwing, but this arrow is about two and a half feet long, and obviously thrown as a spear. Interestingly, this illustration also shows a retrieval cord, and the text mentions that some uchi‑ne are fitted with these. Shirakami tells us that for long ranges the uchi‑ne is thrown like a spear, but for shorter ranges it is gripped differently and thrown in a turning style.

Interestingly, Shirakami precedes this description with a few words on more conventional Japanese throwing spears, which he terms “uchine” (spelt without a hyphen).

Most illustrations of uchi‑ne that I've encountered have been of the shorter variety, however.

The uchi‑ne was obviously intended to fly point first, and there is some indication that the nage‑yari was drag stabilized: the shaft appears to be tapered and there seems to be a tassel behind the head.

The question that intrigues me is were nage‑yari thrown like spears or like knives, and did they have enough drag stabilization to fly point first or did they tumble as Cowper assumes?

These weapons pose several questions which are worth investigating.

How long a shaft is needed to get a knife to fly point first? This will of course vary with head length and mass. Could a formulae to predict the length needed be found?
Will adding a shaft to a knife significantly increase its range?
Will adding a shaft to a undersized or too light knife turn it into a more effective missile?

Sadly, I don't have the room nor resources to experiment with these ideas at the moment, but would like to hear from anyone who decides to give them a try.

In addition to wood, a good shaft material may be plastic pipe.

Throwing with Strings

In his book “The Crossbow”, Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey describes arrow throwing as it was practiced by pitmen of the West Riding region, Yorkshire.

Where the Yorkshire technique differs from most arrow throwing is that it uses a length of string.

This string had an overhand knot tied at one end and this end was attached to the arrow by means of a half hitch. Hitching point was 16 inches back from the head, just behind the centre of gravity. The other end of the string was wrapped around the index finger of the throwing hand.

The arrow was then grasped just behind the head with the thumb and second and third fingers, the index finger keeping the string taunt.

The arrow is thrown like a spear, but the string increases the efficiency/duration of energy transfer. (I'll leave it to a physics teacher to explain this better!)

As the arrow leaves the thrower, the half hitch unties itself and so the string stays with the thrower.

The arrows used were 31 inches long, with an ogival tip and 5/16 of an inch wide at the head end. The arrow tapered to a point 3/16 of an inch wide at the back end.

Centre of balance was 13 inches from the head.

The entire arrow would have weighed only a little more than half an ounce. Usual material was hazelwood with a pith core. This would be dried for two years before being used to make an arrow.

A good arrow was highly prized by its owner.

The purpose of this arrow throwing was for amusement and competition.

An typical throw ranged from about 240 to 250 yards, although the better throwers may manage 280 to 300 yards.

The longest recorded throw was 372 yards.

As an experiment, Payne-Gallwey asked a thrower to use this technique with a flight arrow from a bow. A range of 180 to 200 yards was achievable. Given Payne-Gallwey's other interests, I suspect that the arrow used was a Turkish arrow which would have weighed 7 dr, or 7/8th of an ounce.

The arrows used in Yorkshire were not used for hunting or war, but the technique of throwing a missile further with a length of cord was used in a more belligerent manner by other cultures.

Natives of the New Hebrides, New Caledonia and New Guinea used a device called the “ounep” by Cowper.

The only difference between the ounep and the Yorkshireman's string is that the ounep was used on full‑sized spears and the hitch was tied at the centre of gravity rather than the butt.

The finger end of the cord might have a loop tied rather than just being wrapped around the finger.

The ounep allowed a spear to be thrown further, and theoretically a thrower would not be in danger from a return cast unless the enemy had a ounep of his own.

The principle of the ounep was known to the Greeks and Romans, although they used a loop of cord tied permanently to the shaft. This was known as the “amentum” (thong or strap) to the Romans and the “ankulé” to the Greeks. This device was used by the javelin armed pelasts of the Greek world.

A comparison of hand‑throwing, ounep, amentum and atlatl spear‑throwing would be interesting.

Tags hunting, japan, spear, spears, throwing

Phillosoph

Survival Spears

Post author By losophyp
Post date 7 April 2024

Below is the original article from many decades ago, with some minor updating and editing.

Since I wrote this, I have discovered several of my original articles are preserved on this site.

A Short Essay on Spears

Sometime ago, I started putting together notes on easily-made weapons and started off with spears since most survival books make this out to be quite simple. Just grab a length of wood and sharpen one end, and off you go!

Not quite!

Assuming that you do have a handy forest nearby, you won't see that many six foot+ lengths of timber of suitable width just growing from the ground, not anywhere I've been, anyhow.

If you do find something without needing to chop down a tree, it probably won't be straight, so you have to beath it.

Beathing involves gently roasting the wood over a fire or in hot ashes to make it temporarily supple. After this, you will probably have to hang your spear up to dry a day or so. Hanging a heavy weight from it may help the shaft stay straight. Bell towers were sometimes used to make and store pikes and spears.

Throwing Spears

For a throwing spear, just sharpening a point on one end and throwing it may not be enough. The spear will probably yaw like crazy and you may miss your mark by at least a foot.

Your spear needs flight stabilization.

Although fletching is sometimes used, most throwing spears are stabilized by drag, for which the front half needs to be heavier than the rear.

For a “self” spear (one made of a single piece of wood), drag stabilization may be achieved by tapering the shaft towards the butt, or better still. selecting a length of wood that is already tapered.

Captain Cook's expedition to Hawaii acquired a very nice example of such a spear (above), which must have been the product of many hours carving, particularly since the owner was unlikely to have had metal tools.

A simpler option is to fit a heavier head or a fit a weight just behind the head.

Most spears that have a separate head have a head that is denser than the shaft material.

Flint heads are well known, but one can also carve a blade from wood, maybe gumming flakes of flint or shell to it.

Fixing a knife as a spear point will do, but the blade length handy for a knife is often too short for a good spear and any cross guard will limit penetration. Traditional boar‑spears penetrated at least ten inches, and bear‑spears more than double this.

A point can be carved from wood, and fire hardened in some cases, but if for a throwing spear, ensure it has sufficient weight.

Fire hardening is a process that is often mentioned, but not described in detail in many survival manuals. Fire hardening is “lightly toasting” the sharpened point of a wooden weapon to drive out some of the moisture. The point is then sharpened further. Fire hardening may make a wooden tip harder, but also makes it more brittle. Sometimes grease, oil or fat is applied to the treated point afterwards.

Other useful construction materials include flint, obsidian, glass, shell, slate, bone, horn, antler or metal, either on their own or added to a wooden head.

Drag stabilization may also be increased by adding cloth streamers or long tufts of grass or hair behind the head.

Thrusting Spears

Sometimes your intended meal will have other ideas and will want to come up and inform you of its differing opinion. In such a situation, a thrusting spear is useful, no matter what other weapon you were using to hunt.

Forward balance is not such a problem for a thrusting spear but penetration still is. In this situation your concern is too much rather than too little.

Some beasties have been known to impale themselves further onto a spear or sword attempting to get the hunter within reach of their horns, tusks, claws or teeth!

The solution to this hazard is some form of arrest, usually a crossbar a foot or more down the shaft.

Examples of methods of creating barred spears

A number of examples are shown in the illustration above, taken from “Hunting Weapons” by Howard L. Blackmore.

The leftmost uses a boar tusk thrust through the bindings. Several others use plates of bone or horn attached by cordage. Blackmore, p.91: “To start with, in the fifteenth century, the bar was a piece of wood or horn held firmly in position by thonging. It was then realized that if the bar hung loose it was still effective and was not so liable to cause accidental injury to the bearer or his companions. The piece of horn forming the bar, often only roughly shaped, was fastened to the haft by a leather strap passing through a hole in the socket or woven into the binding which normally criss-crossed the head of the haft to provide a grip.”

In some weapons, the arrest is not so obvious, being incorporated into the design of the blade or socket. Examples of this include the partizan and the lugged or winged spears.

Having more than one point automatically limits penetration, as can be seen with the Chinese tiger fork.

Thrusting spears are also used for hunting, usually from ambush.

A thrusting spear should lack any barbs so that it can be easily withdrawn for a second thrust or to be used against another target.

Barbs and Multiple Points

A throwing spear may be barbed, and in a hunting situation this may be done for two reasons:

Firstly, it is done to keep a poisoned blade in the animal's body long enough for the poison to take effect. Often the head detaches so that the shaft (the production of which may have involved quite a lot of work) will not be lost or damaged as the animal escapes through the brush or tries to rub the head loose. Having a wound partially plugged by a shaft reduces the rate of blood loss, but the movement of the shaft will also inhibit clotting, prolonging bleeding time.

Heads are also barbed to prevent an animal escaping from the spear head when the shaft of the spear is held or the weight of the shaft will hinder escape.

The most familiar examples of this are fishing spears (which may be more effective thrust rather well as thrown).

Sometimes the head of a spear will be designed to detach but will be on a line so that the fish/seal/hippo(!) can be hauled in once exhausted.

The drag of the detached shaft through the water may further tire the animal and sometimes a bladder or buoy is added to the shaft increase this effect.

This technique is also used with arrows.

An very nice example (above), taken from “The Art of Attack” by Henry Swainson Cowper. The drag of the arrow shaft being pulled sideways through the water tires the prey. The barbed arrowhead is made from bone and inserts into a socket in the end of the shaft.

Because fish are often hard to hit, many fishing spears (and arrows) have multiple points, and this strategy may also be used on small elusive furred and feathered game too. For ideas for such designs, I suggest browsing Cowper and Blackmore, paying particular attention to the multi‑pointed spear, harpoon and arrow heads made from non‑metallic materials such as antler, wood and bone.

Throwing Cords

A useful trick that can be applied to spears is to tie a loop of cordage to the shaft and slip the first two fingers through the loop when throwing. This increases energy transfer to the shaft and was known to the Greeks as the “ankulé” and to the Romans as the “amentum”. Cowper describes this on p.230.

A variant of this is to tie the cord with a half hitch, either near the centre of gravity or the butt. Using this knot allows the cord to remain with the thrower after the spear is cast. Cowper describes this on p.231, using the term “ounep”.

Miners in West Riding, Yorkshire, used this method to throw 31 inch long drag stabilised arrows, and ranges commonly exceeded 200 yards. Cowper describes this on p.230, the source being “The Crossbow/The Book of the Crossbow” by Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey.

Conventional arrows can be thrown by the same method and this maybe a useful hunting technique for a bow hunter should your bow be broken.

If suitable materials are available, and the above design principles are borne in mind, quite effective spears can be made.

Spears are also useful as walking and wading aids, as carrying poles, shelter supports etc.

Tags arrow, bow, bows, food, harpoon, hunting, spear, survival, throwing, weapons

Phillosoph

Throwing Sticks and Stones

Post author By losophyp
Post date 5 April 2024

Recently, my computer began to lag, so I ran a chkdsk on it. This took some time, so I decided to read in the more traditional manner.

My choice was a printed copy of Richard F. Burton’s “The Book of the Sword” (1884). I have dipped into this book on occasions, but never actually read it from cover to cover.

Throwing Stones

In the introduction and preamble, Burton discusses humanity’s need for weapons, their disposition to violence and the forms and possible inspirations of early armaments.

I was particularly struck (pun intended!) by the discussion of hand‑throwing of stones.

Various apes, monkeys, kangaroo mice and some octopuses will throw a variety of objects to discourage intruders and predators.

Humans, however, are able to throw with sufficient accuracy to deliberately hit and injure an intended target. Indeed, there are indications that aptitude in this ability may have been an evolutionarily selected trait and have contributed to human sexual dimorphism.

In the Iliad, duelling heroes pick up great rocks and hurl them at each other.

Classical armies are believed to have included units of stone throwing warriors, known as “petrobóloi” or “lithobóloi”. Since these terms mean “stone-thrower”, some of these references may alternately refer to men armed with slings or catapult‑type war engines.

A little later in history, the Roman Vegetius states: “[Legionary] Recruits are to be taught the art of throwing stones both with the hand and sling.” and “Formerly all soldiers were trained to the practice of throwing stones of a pound weight with the hand, as this was thought a readier method since it did not require a sling.”

It is worth bearing in mind that accurate use of a sling is very difficult and requires considerable time and training. Having legionaries lob stones at enemies was much more practical.

Japanese armies also had low-ranking warriors whose speciality was throwing stones (ishinage/ishiuchi/inji/sekisen/tōseki/isi arasoi/isi gassen), the stones known as tsubute. (“Classic Weaponry of Japan”, p.156, Serge Mol)

Burton gives several examples of stones used in hunting or war (p.16): “Diodorus of Sicily (B.C. 44)…says that the Libyans [possibly a generic term for North Africans] ‘use neither Swords, spears, nor other weapons; but only three darts [javelins] and stones in certain leather budgets [bags/sacks], wherewith they fight in pursuing and retreating.’”

He also describes how raiding “Arab Bedawin”, rather than use their matchlocks, will pelt an enemy with rocks, causing him to uselessly expend his ammunition.

Burton also remarks: “As a rule, the shepherd is everywhere a skilful stone-thrower.”

In “The Art of Attack” (1906), p.153, Henry Swainson Cowper notes: “Stone throwing as a method of attack would come natural to our earliest forefathers, like the use of the simplest club. Indeed such use might precede the last named, since no branch could be used without some trimming, while suitable stones lay ready almost everywhere.” and on p.159, footnote 2, “It seems natural for man, when irritable to " chuck " the nearest available object, whether a stone or a decanter, at the offender, whether that be a dog or a relative.”

As well as being a weapon system for hunting and war, stone‑throwing has been used for a number of other purposes.

Stones may be used to bring down fruit and nuts from trees. It is probable that thrown stones have been used to drive predators and scavengers away from a kill, and birds and other animals away from the crops and herds. Thrown stones have been used for duelling, as a means of execution, and as an exhibition of disapproval, discouragement, harassment and religious devotion. I even encountered suggestions that throwing stones could be used for stress relief (other than the obvious option of throwing them at whoever bothers you!).

One might also reflect at the various sports and fun‑fair or carnival games that involve throwing balls or other stone‑like objects.

While researching this topic, I came across this interesting scientific paper.

Stones deemed most effective as missiles were those of 0.5 to 0.75 kg (figure 6). The stones used naturally weathered into spheroids, and diameter of suitable missiles was approximately that of a tennis ball, which would be around 67 mm, incidentally very close to that of an M67 grenade (64 mm).

Another interesting feature of this study was that the simulated target was a 57 kg antelope at 25 metres.

In a genuine survival situation, a thrown stone may be useful for more than just squirrels, rabbits and birds!

Not all stones are created equal, and good throwing stones may not be as readily available in some environments as you may wish.

Cowper (p.150) notes that the natives of Tierra del Fuego carry a little store of stones for throwing in the corner of their mantles. Many other stone throwing peoples also carried stones on their person.

Undoubtedly, stones were often selected for suitable mass, and for regularity and consistency of shape. Shaping and polishing stones to create better missiles is not unknown.

“Ancient Chinese Hidden Weapons” by Douglas H. Y. Hsieh suggests carrying a bag a foot deep and seven inches across to hold suitable “locust” (sharp) stones encountered, or two bags each holding six pebbles. Readers can probably think of other practical uses for a bag of stones.

Hsieh's book also suggests “Anyone who intends to jump down from a height in poor visibility must use a stone to see if the ground is safe”.

Despite this long and broad history, the potential of hand‑thrown stones is often overlooked by survivalists.

In modern times, we associate stone‑throwing with rioters and hoodlums.

Survival manuals that describe field expedient weapons generally ignore the use of stones, other than as ammunition for slings and hand‑catapults/slingshots.

Rubber and elastic perish and break.

While a sling is easily constructed and has formidable power and range, learning to use it accurately enough to hunt with will probably involve weeks and months of practice.

As an aside, if you do have the cordage to make a sling, you may be better off making a bolas! The bolas is a clubbing weapon as well as an entangling one, so is related to the thrown stone.

Bolas are best used in open terrain. Bushes and trees give them problems.

Cords of more than a metre may be used for bolas, and heavier weights than those suggested in FM 3‑05.70 used. Blackmore (p.327) gives a range of 1 to 1.5 lbs for each weight.

Many people interested in survival or martial arts devote considerable time and money acquiring and learning how to throw knives, axes, shuriken, coins, darts or spikes. Stones are far more likely to be available in a defensive or hunting situation.

In his book Shuriken-Do, Shirakami suggest women carry several golf balls in their bags. Hold one in each hand and throw the pair in quick succession.

If you are serious about keeping yourself fed or defended, putting in some practice at throwing stones by hand would be prudent.

A practice range for stone throwing is easily constructed, even when out in the wilds. A tree, post, mound or object hanging from a tree may be used as a target.

Start learning at a range of about three metres. Increase distance and reduce target size as you improve. Cups or buckets on their sides make good targets,

“Shuriken An Illustrated Guide” by Fujita Seiko in the section on stone throwing (Tsubute Jutsu, also known as Ishi Hajiki Jutsu) gives the useful advice: “You should always aim to hit above your actual target while your hand should drop down below your target as you throw. For example, if you want to strike an enemy in the face, your hand should drop down to his chin as you throw…To throw properly you need to understand how to aim, stand with your foot facing your target and throw as if you are trying to impale it”.

In the illustrations a right handed throw is shown with the left foot forward and the left hand pointed toward the target. Hold some “reloads” in your free hand.

Throwing Sticks

Throwing stones may be supplemented by throwing sticks.

Compared to a thrown stone, a throwing stick has a greater chance of hitting a target, and a greater range.

In their very simplest, a throwing stick is a piece of wood picked up off the ground or broken from a tree and thrown at a target. Such simple throwing sticks are useful for knocking fruit out of trees, or casting a bear‑line over a tree branch.

This video shows a very simple baton-style throwing stick made from a length of hardwood timber, as long as the arm and as thick as the wrist. Ideally this should be as free of knots and other non‑aerodynamic projections as possible.

Sharpening each end will increase its utility both as a weapon and as a digging tool. The other end may be cut into a wedge shape to aid in removal of loose soil.

More effective throwing sticks will take a little more fabrication.

Throwing sticks may be dived into those that have an aerodynamic cross‑section, and those that do not.

The latter type (above) are often weighted towards one end, and may resemble a knobkerry or shillelagh.

The next illustration is taken from “Hunting Weapons” by Howard L. Blackmore, and shows hyrax being hunted.

Two hunters would work together, about 50 yards apart. Both would throw at the same time so that an animal dodging one club would be hit by the other. When hunting birds, one hunter cast his club above the bird, the other below.

A knobkerry or shillelagh‑type club may be made from where a branch or root grows from a larger part.

The next illustration shows an alternated configuration of throwing club, cut from the junction of where a minor branch joins a major one.

Throwing club made from join of two branches

When it comes to aerodynamic throwing sticks, some mention must be made of the “boomerang”.

In modern usage, the term “boomerang” is generally used for returning throwing sticks. To return, a boomerang needs to be launched in a specific direction, relative to the wind. It also needs to be relatively light, making it impractical as a hunting weapon except against lightly-framed fowl.

Non-returning boomerangs intended for hunting and warfare may be up to a metre long, and may have a range of 150 yards (Cowper, p.166).

The term “boomerang” was originally a name only used in part of Australia, and according to many authors, was originally used for non-returning hunting and fighting weapons!

Burton notes (p.33): “The form of throwing-stick, which we have taught ourselves to call by an Australian name ‘boomerang,’ thereby unduly localising an almost universal weapon from Eskimo-land to Australia, was evidently a precursor of the wooden Sword. It was well known to the ancient Egyptians.”

Survival field manuals such as FM 3‑05.70 tell you to make a “rabbit stick” from “a stout stick as long as your arm, from fingertip to shoulder” (p.8‑26) and from “a blunt stick, naturally curved at about a 45-degree angle” (p.12‑8)

Some sources will tell you that a hunting throwing stick should be widest at the centre and thinner and tapered towards the tips. This is an effective form, but even if we restrict ourselves to looking at Australian designs, other forms may be encountered.

The illustration below shows a “beaked” war‑boomerang (3). Boomerangs

The image below shows an Australian weapon known as a “lil‑lil” besides a more familiar style of throwing stick.

The lil-lil is classed as a club rather than a boomerang, but is also used as a throwing weapon. This design has inspired some weapons that do have an aerodynamic cross-section.

Both the beaked boomerang and lil-lil clearly concentrate mass towards one end rather than the centre.

Cowper shows a wide variety of curved throwing sticks, ranging from gentle S‑forms to sabre, hook and horn shapes.

In other words, you have considerable leeway in the shape of your throwing stick.

FM 3‑05.70 also tells the survivor to “Shave off two opposite sides so that the stick is flat like a boomerang.” which I think is a little misleading.

Aerodynamic throwing sticks often have a cross‑section that is described as “semi‑lenticular”. In other words, the lower surface flat‑ish and the upper convex. The edge formed concentrates the force of impact, hence Burton’s reference to wooden swords or edged clubs.

Cowper notes that some war‑boomerangs have one side flatter, which suggests this may not be as pronounced as seen on “comebacks”. He also mentions an Indian war-boomerang with both sides rounded. There is therefore some leeway in the cross‑section you give your throwing stick, depending on the tools and the time you have.

A practical bow and arrow, or even a good spear take considerable skill to produce in a survival scenario.

Manufacture of a throwing stick is easier and more forgiving. Your chances of bagging a meal with it are also much greater.

Like any other weapon system, you will still need to put in the time practicing!

It is much easier to make a hunting boomerang to take down a deer than a bow and arrow.

There are plenty of websites and videos describing how to make and use throwing sticks, so I will not go into further detail here.

Depending on how it was constructed, a throwing stick may serve other purposes too.

Many types are suitable for use as digging sticks. Some knobkerry or shillelagh are long enough to serve as walking sticks, which is handy when traversing rough terrain. Throwing sticks may also serve as hand weapons, useful in dispatching caught fish or trapped animals.

It is a good idea to construct a pair of throwing sticks, providing you with the means to make a follow‑up attack, or defend yourself.

Tags food, hunting, sticks, stones, throwing, throwing club, throwing sticks, throwing stones

Phillosoph

Rucksack Packing

Post author By losophyp
Post date 19 March 2024

My previous article was on taking the foundation survival items to the next level.

Having given you a list of items that you might need, some comments on how to carry it were logical.

It is always prudent to get some different views on a subject, particularly if it is a subject you feel you are already familiar with. Even after my many decades, I occasionally I pick-up a new idea, such as using a sandwich box to carry a wash kit!

And so, I find myself browsing videos and webpages on rucksack packing.

There is no single right answer, but a couple I encountered do stick in my mind.

One character starts by producing a waterproof bag. This is one of the expensive drybags that cost more than a reasonable takeaway:

“These are my waterproofs! Always keep them in a drybag!” they tells me, very proud of themself.

Why?, I ask the screen. Are you worried that they might get wet, or is it to stop them drying out once they are wet?

If it is raining heavy enough to penetrate the rucksack, I want to be wearing the waterproofs, so a bag to keep them dry is redundant. Once they are actually wet, I will be stowing them somewhere on or in the rucksack where they can drain and dry.

Nit-pickers will doubtless waste time thinking of rare scenarios where having the waterproofs in their own dry bag will be valid, but I will move on.

It is not an efficient packing strategy nor use of money that could be better spent on something else.

A lot of rucksack packers have a selection of accessories for their electronic gadgets. I have to marvel that many of them carry numerous flexible electronic cables in hard cases, yet are content to throw expensive and valuable compasses in pockets or soft pouches.

Once I have some funds, I intend to find a rigid camera case suitable for my best compasses. That is a post for another day.

If it is a “72‑hour pack”, why carry boot polish and associated brush and paraphernalia? Freshly polishing boots only adds a little to their water‑resistance, and your boots should not be totally water‑proof anyway.

Air needs to circulate, your feet need to breathe and the interiors need a chance to dry‑out once water gets in over the tops. And you are better advised to wear matt-finish boots in a natural or neutral colour(s).

I can recall only one three week or more duration trip where I bothered to carry boot‑cleaning items. Most trips were to a climate and/or season where canvas or canvas and Goretex boots could be worn.

When carried, my boot cleaning kit was a single brush, can of polish and a shred of rag carried in an old cotton sock. Sock could be used to buff the cleaned boot.

Rather than continue on this vein, I will pass on some useful ideas that I have gathered over the decades.

Firstly, I will suggest a premise:

• Your pack will contain some items that you do not want to get wet. For example, your warm clothing, your bedding, your food etc.

• There are some items that will get wet, and once wet you will want them to dry. This includes parts of your tent, your waterproof clothing, etc.

• There will be some items in your pack that it does not matter if they get wet. This includes water bottles, cooking vessels, canned or pouched food, etc. If the exterior is contaminated by water containing sewage or microbes, that needs to be addressed, but leaving these items out in a quick rain shower would not be a concern.

Bags within Bags

A well thought out bag is a bag of other bags.

No rucksack should be considered to be totally waterproof. Thus, one or more waterproof liners are used to enclose the contents.

Items within these liners will themselves either be in plastic bags or stuff sacks.

You can buy drybags large enough for the main compartment of a rucksack. Some armies issue these, although examples may have gone through many hands and no longer be fully waterproof. Personally, I have never used these.

A heavy-duty plastic sack is a good alternative, and the usual choice before drybags were commonly marketed.

I used to be able to get 100 litre yellow bags from work. The current ones have things like “clinical waste” and “biohazard” printed on them, so not something that may be re-purposed and used in public!

The plain yellow bag I currently use has served on many trips.

Should I need to replace it, I am considering an orange plastic survival bag for the role. This could be cut down to size, or used intact with the mouth partially rolled down. In the latter case, it may still be used as an emergency shelter, or as a signalling panel.

Incidentally, if things turn extreme, your feet may be kept warmer by placing your feet (or the foot of your sleeping bag) into the emptied rucksack. If that bag contains the emptied liner or the end of the orange survival bag, so much the better!

When the tactical situation allows, I highly recommend using a light coloured bag as a liner. It is much easier to find items within a yellow or orange bag than in a black rubbish bag or dark-coloured liner.

There is an obvious niche in the market for sand-coloured plastic liners or drybags. Failing such an item, try a clear bag.

If you expect your pack to see heavy use, it is not unreasonable to “double bag” your main rucksack compartment. When I add the orange survival bag, the older yellow bag will probably be place around it, if it is still reasonably intact.

Similarly, if attempting to cross a river, placing a black rubbish bag or two around your rucksack liner is prudent. A few rubbish bags may be squeezed into the corner of a pack and take up very little room, but can prove useful.

Clear bags are useful in the construction of solar stills or transpiration traps.

I am sure someone will soil their panties over my use of plastic bags. The real issue is the disposal of plastics, not the use of them. I expect my bags to be in use for years, possibly decades.

Some people pack the contents of their rucksacks in colour-coded stuff sacks or packing cubes. Acquiring a suitable variety of colours and sizes may take some effort and expense.

Most stuff sacks are not totally waterproof, so for things you want to keep dry, such as clothes or food, you will probably end up lining the bag with a plastic bag or two anyway.

For many items, you may be better packing them in clear plastic bags and not bothering with a stuff sack.

Clear plastic lets you see what is actually in the bag rather than memorizing stuff sack colours. You may even label the bag with its contents with a marker pen.

If planning a trip or building an emergency or camping kit, I strongly suggest that you stock up on some five‑ or ten‑litre clear plastic bags, such as freezer bags. Avoid getting rubbish bags in “biodegradable plastic”!

Bags that can be sealed watertight, such as “Ziplocs” are an obvious asset.

You should probably invest in a quantity of smaller bags too. These may be used for carrying EDC items or making fire kits.

Items that are particularly vulnerable, or that may cause serious problems if they leak, should be double-bagged.

A range of plastic bags is a much more prudent initial investment than a flashlight that can be seen from the moon!

If your bags do not have sealable closures, avoid overfilling them, roll over the opening and secure with mini-bulldog clips. If you lose a clip, or put it to another use, such as hanging up a survival blanket as a reflector or signal, twist the bag shut and use your cordage in a strangle knot. You may alternately roll the opening and use a piece of duct tape, but this solution may have only limited life.

Stuff-sacks are good for items that do not need to keep dry, such as your frying pan, or stuff you want to breathe and become dry, such as waterproof clothing.

Putting It Together

The above is the “how” of “how to carry items”.

The “where” is based on frequency/urgency of need and on the bulk/mass of the item(s).

Popular High or Outward

Items that are frequently needed, or may be needed in a hurry, are placed where they are most accessible. Such items are often carried in the external pouches and/or lid pocket of a large rucksack.

Smaller items, that might be hard to locate within the main compartment, also tend to get carried in external pockets.

Most large rucksacks would be considerably improved by more external pockets, and more smaller pockets and/or interior divisions to better organize gear!

My favourite hostelling and hotel rucksack has six large external pouches. I knew the water bottle would be in the bottom-left side pouch, my wash kit and towel in the bottom right-side, and my journal and medical kit in the top, front.

I could even send someone else to fetch the medical kit by being able to unambiguously describe its location.

Items that are not so frequently used, or only carried as spares, tend to be placed toward the bottom of the main compartment. You will only need to unpack your sleeping bag once a day, for example, and not until your tent or shelter is erected. The sleeping bag is thus at the bottom of the main compartment.

You do not need your sleeping clothes until your sleeping system is set up, so this clothing will probably be stored under the sleeping bag.

Some packs have the main compartment divided into two sections, often with a removable partition and separate access to the lower section. The lower part is used for your sleeping bag and related items.

Hard Up, Soft Down

A sleeping bag is soft and compressible, which is another reason it is carried toward the bottom of the bag.

Denser items, such as spare water bottles, canned food and cooking vessels are held towards the top of the pack, so their weight helps compress the items below. These items may be needed more than once a day.

Conventional wisdom is that heavier items should be carried towards the top of a pack, and close to the back.

I have seen an alternate view that ammunition should be carried with the sleeping bag in the lower compartment to avoid the pack becoming excessively top heavy. This rather depends on just how much you are carrying.

In general, I would keep the dense items “high and to the back”, but keep in mind the option of redistributing some items if the pack becomes excessively top-heavy. Better still, have a rethink of what you are taking!

I have previously written about what to carry in a daysack, so will not repeat that information here, although some of those concepts will also apply to what items and how you carry them in a “big pack”.

In a previous blog, I explained my use of a soft-core pack, which allowed me to easily transfer a number of useful items between different packs.

In a follow-up, I suggest a similar range of items packed into the detachable side pouch of a military rucksack. This pouch would be worn as a pack when the large pack was not, but when a soldier might still have need of items such as googles, extra water, protective gloves, dry socks, or rain poncho.

The other side pouch would carry CBRN items, and also be carried if such threats were anticipated.

Many modern soldiers carry lots of items on their webbing that are not immediately combat relevant and would be more efficiently carried in a light pack.

On many of my trips, I have ensured there was room at the top of my main pack to carry a daysack. This was packed with most of the items that I might need to hand for a day sightseeing. Many of these items were things it was always handy to have at the top of a main pack, such as a rain jacket, toilet roll and sun hat. Effectively, when the daysack was in my large pack it served as extra pockets.

I could dump my main bag at my accommodation, grab the daysack, transfer across my water bottle and journal, and I was set to see the town.

Some soldiers advocate carrying a “grab bag” of “mission essentials” at the top of their pack. This will contain relatively dense items such as ammunition and communication gear. The idea is that if the main pack needs to be abandoned, the grab bag and its contents go with the soldier.

An extension of this idea is that under the grab bag there should be a bag of “personal admin” gear that may be taken with the grab bag if possible.

Some soldiers already carry an unpacked daysack within or strapped to the outside of their large pack.

It seems to me that the above ideas may be combined with the creation of a daysack that fits into the upper part of an army large pack. The daysack would have an upper section optimized for carrying dense “mission essentials”, and a lower section for “life support” such as 24 to 36 hours of rations, a brew kit, a stove and mess kit/canteen cup.

This “assault pack” would have a compartment for a water bladder and provision to attach the side-pockets of the large pack, holding the contents suggested above.

Which “personal admin” items belong in the small pack and which should remain in the large pack will probably be hotly debated in certain circles and forums!

As is so often the case, I digress! Back to the topic of rucksack packing.

For convenience, I will divide the contents of a large pack into seven generic categories:

• Clothing

• Cooking

• Food

• Water

• Sleeping

• Shelter

• Miscellaneous/Any Other Business.

Clothing

You will probably have several bags of clothing, based on form or function.

Most of your clothing will be packed into waterproof plastic bags. Several small bags may utilize the available volume better than on larger bag. “Dirty laundry” I tend to keep in a stuff sack, so that it may air.

Recently washed items such as socks may be tied to the outside of the pack, or held in a mesh bag pinned to the rim of the pack flap. This lets them air dry, and they may be easily slipped under the flap should it rain. Some rucksacks have external mesh pockets which are useful for drying your laundry.

Rain clothing is carried in stuff sacks. My rain poncho will be with my soft-core bag or side-pouch, along with some cordage and light pegs so that it may be used for a shelter.

A rain jacket and trousers, if carried, will be in a readily accessible area such as a side pocket, lid compartment or top of the main compartment. If the storm clouds are gathering, these items may be placed directly under the top flap, above the snow‑lock for immediate access.

Rain items tend to migrate, depending on if they are wet or dry.

If wet, they are generally left unbagged and slipped under the pack flap or strapped to the outside of the pack to dry.

You will probably have a plastic bag for your socks in the main compartment. It is also prudent to have at least one smaller Ziploc bag holding a single pair of socks in a more accessible location. If away from your pack, have a bagged spare pair on your person.

If conditions are bad, change into dry(er) socks whenever you can. Let the wetter pair air dry, bag them if they get dry.

With most clothing, I usually reckon on “wash, wear and spare” unless carrying a lot of other gear, or a very short trip, in which case it is “wear and a spare”.

Socks are an exception, and it is not a bad thing to have a few extra pairs.

Underwear may be bagged with your socks, or separately. If you are packing an emergency or bug-out bag, you may have several different types of underwear to suit different seasons and conditions. Bag these separately, according to type.

Spare shirts and trousers are carried in the main compartment.

If you carry a spare uniform or set of clothes for sleeping in, bag these separately and stow at the bottom of your bag under the sleeping bag.

You will need a warm jacket or jumper should the weather be colder than expected, and to prevent you from chilling once you cease a hard activity. This should be bagged individually and carried in the main compartment, but above the spare and unused clothing so it is relatively easy to access.

Hats, gloves, scarves and bandannas, if not already being worn, some, at least, should be readily available in a side or lid compartment.

You may need several different types of gloves available.

It is prudent to carry spares of hats, gloves, neck gaiters and the like. These may be bagged in the main compartment if space is needed for other items in the outer pockets.

Most clothing items take up least space if rolled. There will be exceptions to this general rule of thumb, so experiment!

Cooking

Cooking is treated as a separate category to food.

On many of my “city-breaks” I have not carried any form of stove or cooking vessel.

Some backpackers take to the wilds only carrying food that will be eaten cold.

In general, you should have some means by which you are able to heat-treat water.

For general camping, I carry a pair of billies and a frying pan with a folding handle.

For more basic cooking, a canteen cup will serve, but a European mess kit is better.

The use of cooking fires is not permitted in many areas, and an unmodified canteen cup and many camping cook sets are not particularly suited to such heat sources. You will need to carry some form of stove, and an adequate supply of fuel for it.

Being relatively dense items, your cooking vessels, fuel and stove should ride high up in the main compartment, helping compress the clothing and sleeping bag below.

You will eat or brew‑up more frequently than you change clothes, so these items also sit high for ease of access.

Stuff sacks are suitable for many of these items. Fuel containers that could leak should be placed in plastic bags and packed so that they stay upright. Fuel in general should be kept dry, so pack it in plastic bags. This also reduces any odours the fuel may produce.

Brew‑kit items will also be vulnerable to water and should be in a plastic bag.

Canteen cups, and British and European mess kits are of a shape that allows them to fit in a relatively narrow pouch. Some types of stove are also very compact.

Some travellers like to carry these in the side pocket of a large pack. There is usually room also for some fuel, a brew‑kit and about a day’s worth of food and snacks. This makes these items very accessible, and is particularly useful if you tend to stop to brew‑up every 90 minutes. Additional fuel will probably need to be carried in the main compartment.

The downside of using a side pocket for your cooking kit is that you might need this side pocket space for something with a higher priority. Another problem is that your stove and other items will be rather vulnerable in this position. If anyone else is likely to handle your bag, expect it to be knocked over, manhandled and possibly tossed off the back of a trailer. If you have to trust your large pack to airline baggage handling, I suggest you repack the stove and other vulnerable items to the main compartment.

Food

Most of your food will be in the main compartment, above your clothes. You should be eating more often than you change your clothes, and the mass of the food helps compress clothing and sleeping bag.

Most of the food will be in plastic bags. For many things such as rice or flour, double bagging is a good idea. Yes, I have travelled carrying and using flour. I have read Kephart and James Austin Wilder.

I once saw a backpacker’s guidebook advocate carrying dried rice in a plastic ice cream container. I still have no idea why the author thought that was necessary.

Many packaged foods are already in a form suitable for carrying in a rucksack. You might throw them in a bag just to keep them together. Canned goods are also generally “good to go” right off the shop shelf.

Some fresh foods, such as fruit, cheese and bread may be better kept in their paper bags. Pack fruit carefully so it does not get smushed.

In the past, I have carried some spices and condiments in 15 ml centrifuge tubes. Essentially, screw-capped plastic test tubes. More often used items were in 50 ml tubes. Curry powder, chilli powder, cayenne, cumin, salt, sugar, powdered garlic, Tabasco sauce, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce can add welcome variety to meals. In hindsight, many of these could have been carried in small Ziplock bags, with the tubes only being used for the liquids.

Snacks, trail-mix and food for that day may be carried in external pouches for easy access. Some of these items end up in jacket pockets if you tend to “graze as you go”

In bear country, you will need a line and net to cache your food and other items..

Water

Water is quite heavy, so ideally rides near the top of your pack, near your back.

Many more modern rucksack designs include a compartment designed to carry a hydration bladder. Those that I am most familiar with are against the back and high up, so are the most efficient position to carry a large volume of water.

I suggest you get the largest hydration bladder that you can afford that is compatible with your pack, so a significant part of your water is carried where its mass is best dealt with.

Another advantage of such a hydration bladder is it lets you drink any time you want, or at least any time while you are wearing your pack.

Hydration bladders designed to attach to the outside of packs should be mounted as close to the top and back as practical. These may be better off carried within the main compartment for protection.

More conventional bottles are best carried in the main compartment, close to the top and the back.

If you do not have a hydration bladder, you will want to carry one bottle where it is readily accessible, such as in your daysack or an external pocket.

Sleeping

I once met a young Dutch backpacker who was rather offended that I was carrying my sleeping bag inside my rucksack.

“You are supposed to strap it to the outside!” he protested.

“But it fits inside! I have plenty of room.” I argued. Just to compound his annoyance, I was camping, so was also carrying a tent, stove, cooking kit and my daysack in my bag, while he was hostelling and had his pack so filled he had to carry his sleeping bag outside.

Admittedly, my Alaskan Packboard is a roomy beast, and I was using tricks such as wearing silk shirts. And my sleeping bag was my little Merlin Softee, which has a packed size about that of a rugby ball, without needing compression straps!

There are several approaches as to how to carry sleeping bags.

Firstly, use the right bag for the season and expected conditions. If you are hostelling in the Mediterranean in summer, you do not need your heavy, bulky extreme Arctic-rated bag!

On other pages I have given advice on what sleeping bags to acquire.

If you have to carry a sleeping bag on the outside of a rucksack, be aware that your bag is not protected against abrasion nor water. The stuff sack or compression sack you use with your sleeping bag is generally lightweight nylon.

Our ancestors knew to roll their blankets in a ground-cloth, tent section or gum blanket for protection. This never seems to occur to many modern travellers.

Don't use your only waterproof item to wrap your sleeping bag or pack! You will have trouble donning it when the heavens open.

It may be prudent to find a sports bag or similar that can fully enclose your sleeping bag. If necessary modify the sports bag with attachment points to keep it more securely attached to your pack.

Inside the sports bag, have a plastic bag big enough to hold the packed sleeping bag. Generally you want your sleeping bag to dry out from any moisture it may have absorbed in use. If the heavens are about to open, or you plan to ford a river, put your sleeping bag in a plastic sack to prevent it getting any wetter.

Where to carry the strapped sleeping bag? Possibly the most common solution is to carry it on the bottom of the pack. This is not so bad when walking, but can get in the way if you try to sit with your pack on.

Top of the pack is generally not so practical. I have seen soldiers try this, then discover they cannot raise their heads to fire when they have gone prone. Even if you keep on your feet, you may feel that your pack seems top-heavy.

A sleeping bag strapped to one side of your pack can get interesting if you try to navigate narrow doors or use crowded public transport. It may also throw off your centre of gravity. I have sprained an ankle carrying too much weight on one side (I had a sports bag instead of a rucksack). Similarly, a bag strapped to the front of the rucksack, projecting behind you, can cause problems, assaulting strangers and demolishing scenery.

As you will have gathered from previous sections, a sleeping bag can be carried in the main compartment of a large pack, and should be placed close to the bottom. You only need to unpack your sleeping bag once a day, and it can be compressed by the mass of other items above.

First time you put a bag in your large pack, it can be a shock! Some bags will appear to take 50 to 75% of the volume. How will you be able to carry all the other stuff you have?

Generally, sleeping bags are an item you do not roll to pack.

Your new sleeping bag probably came nicely rolled up in a stuff sack or compression sack. You can drive yourself mad trying to get it back inside in the same configuration.

The best way to pack a sleeping bag is to insert the foot part into the sack, then grab handfuls and cram them in, pushing them down as far as possible and into any empty space you feel. Takes a fraction of the time and is probably better for your bag.

If you have compression straps, first “foot and cram” as described. The best method I have found is to then sit on the sack and incrementally tighten alternate pairs of straps.

It is worth repeating that for long-term storage, sleeping bags should not be kept in stuff/compression sacks. Mine are loose in large plastic bags to keep the dust off. My down bag is in a roomy cotton sack the manufacturer thoughtfully provided.

One of the problems of a bag in a stuff sack or compression sack is that it is fairly dense and will not compress much more. It may not be the best shape to efficiently use the interior volume of your rucksack.

An alternate approach is to just not use a stuff/compression sack!

“Foot and cram” your bag directly into the bottom of your rucksack. This allows the bag to “flow” into any available space. An interesting variation of this is to use a bivi-bag as the waterproof liner you cram the bag into. A nice example of making one item serve more than one role.

Not using a stuff sack is a relatively new idea to me, so I have not had time to try this “in the field”.

As an experiment, I placed a bivi-bag in the bottom of a British Army large bergen. Into this I crammed my Merlin Softee and a -15°C three/four season bag (A Eurohike “Backpacker Micro III” I have lying around. Amazing what people leave behind and never return for!)

The results were promising. The bergen is still 50% empty, not including the volume enclosed by the snow‑lock. That is impressive for two sleeping bags and a bivi-bag. I expect the bags will compress further once some mass is placed above them.

Unpacking the bags seems quicker than if they were in stuff sacks. More importantly, they may be packed up very quickly, which is useful if you have to vacate the area quickly.

Even if your rucksack does not have a separate sleeping bag compartment, I recommend keeping your sleeping system in its own liner/bivi-bag outside the liner with all the other items.

Kip mats are another sleeping item that is often strapped to the outside of a pack. While bulky, they are less massive than sleeping bags so cause less problems with the balance of your pack.

Items tied to the outsides of packs may not fare well through baggage handling. Wrapping the pack in a dozen or so metres of plastic may only be a partial solution.

Some mats may be folded and will fit inside the main compartment. These may be carried outside the liner, and are usually placed close to the wearer’s back to provide extra cushioning.

Shelter

I was taught that your tent was to be carried inside your main compartment, but outside the waterproof liner. A tent will often be packed up while still wet, so the logic of this approach is clear. Outside the liner, the tent components have a chance to dry‑off while you are in transit.

Most modern tents come in a nice bag, probably fitted with carrying handles. You will want to re-purpose this. Chances are you will never get the contents back in this bag as neatly as they came from the shop.

Separate the tent inner and fly and place them in separate stuff-sacks.

Tent poles are usually carried down the corners of the main compartment, near your back. If your main compartment has a partition, it should have cut-outs at the rear corners to accommodate tent poles. If you are buying a rucksack with a partition, make sure it has this feature.

When packing your poles and tent bags, be careful that you do not damage the waterproof liner(s).

Your bag of tent pegs should be stored with the tent fly, unless you are so unfortunate to have an “inner pitches first” tent!

Tent pegs can be in a plastic bag or a small stuff sack. A clear plastic bag lets you see the contents, but won’t let the pegs dry so readily. Galvanized tent pegs should not corrode, but if you brought them from a budget source, they may not be quite what they claim.

It is a good idea to have an additional bag of spare and special purpose tent pegs. Store these in an outer pocket where they are readily accessible.

If the tent fly or inner got a good soaking, lightly fold it and carry it without its stuff sack, under the pack flap, over the snow‑lock. This will let it air and drain.

If you use a basha or tarp rather than a tent, packing instructions are effectively the same: Inside the bag but outside the liner.

Some individuals have squeezed a basha and associated items into the top pocket of a rucksack. There is not really much room for anything else, and getting it in and out may take several minutes and a black-belt in origami, which is not the best situation if you need to pack-up fast and get somewhere else.

Carrying a basha in the top compartment may increase the rain resistance of the rest of the bag. The same effect may be achieved by carrying the basha or tent fly just beneath the snow‑lock, although this may hinder accessing the main compartment for other items. Carrying your waterproof jacket and trousers at the top of the bag may produce the same protection but be more practical.

Some companies that customize rucksacks offer external poncho/basha pouches. Typically these are high on the front of the rucksack, just below the edge of the lid when it is closed. There are various ways to rig something similar, either as a pouch, or a square of tough material the shelter may be rolled up in. If going for the former, make sure there are drainage holes that let the contents dry.

Miscellaneous/Any Other Business

The above six categories include most of the items that will occupy most of the volume of your large rucksack.

This last category includes a variety of other items, some of which are very important, others less so.

Medical

My EDC includes a number of first aid items. There is a more extensive kit in my large rucksack. An intermediate level kit may be found in my daysack/soft-core pack. I have described the contents of these kits on other pages. Many of the contents of these kits are individually in plastic bags to protect them from water. The larger pouches are within clear, sealable waterproof bags.

Your medical kits should be readily accessible, so an external pocket is preferred. It should also be obvious what it is.

You may have to send someone else to fetch your medical kit. They should be able to find it with simple directions such as “My pack. Top, front pocket. Green pouch with a white cross.”

Washing

Wash kits are another item that I have described in other blog posts. It is convenient to have them in an external pocket so they may be easily accessed when wanted. Some items of a wash kit inevitably get wet, and an external pocket gives them more opportunity to dry. The wash-kit is a large pack item. It would be a rare circumstance when I would want to carry this in my daysack.

Lights

My girlfriend: “Flashlight!”

I rummage through my bag and produce a flashlight.

“How did you know I had a flashlight?” I challenged.

“You have everything!”

A flashlight lives in my daysack, or other readily accessible pocket. I have other sources of illumination on my person. My soft-core pack has a hand-crank flashlight from a pound store. It is 100% waterproof if I keep it in a Ziplock bag.

Some campers carry lanterns. I have had little use for them myself. I am more likely to go to bed than curse the darkness. My only lantern is made from a soda can and a candle.

Maps and Compass

I have a Suunto Clipper compass as part of my EDC. If heading to the wilds, I will have a larger compass either on my belt or in a coat pocket. A mirror sighting compass lives permanently in my German desert parka.

It is not a bad idea to have a spare compass in your daysack or large pack. Pack it so that it is well protected from damage and moisture.

Maps in current use should be carried somewhere accessible, such as the daysack or top pocket of a large pack. Maps not in current use should be bagged against water and may be carried elsewhere where there is room.

Emergency Items

Emergency items such as flares, smoke bombs, space blankets and similar should obviously be in an easily accessible location. Bear in mind that the emergency may begin with you being separated from your large pack.

Repairs and Spares

Your repair kit should be relatively compact. A few buckles, a minimal sewing kit, some bladder patches and some tape. This is described elsewhere.

Despite its low bulk and mass, it is a large pack item. Tucked into the corner of a lid pocket is probably a good location.

Cordage

Various sizes of cordage will prove useful.

It sould be easy to find and access. In addition what I carry on my person, the soft-core pack contains several kinds.

Books and Notepads

I like to keep a journal when travelling, so carry a notepad. Also good for recording anything interesting, or drawing pictures when there is a language barrier.

Not surprisingly, the notepad is in a plastic bag. It lives in the external pocket of my daysack, or an external pocket of my large pack, depending on what I am carrying.

Guidebooks and novels currently in use migrate between the daysack and external pockets of the large pack. Guidebooks for previous areas or areas yet to be visited ride in the main compartment where their mass compresses whatever is beneath.

Electronic Gadgets

I never carried electronic items on my major adventures. Even my beloved iPOD stayed at home. I preferred to experience rather than to photograph and record. I know this approach will be alien and probably incomprehensible to younger readers.

Rationalize the electronic gadgets and accessories you intend to carry in your pack. A couple of USB adaptors will remove the need to carry half a dozen or more different cables. A hand-crank flashlight that also works as a charger and radio is a better choice than a more expensive and heavier power bank.

Miscellaneous Bag

Tucked away in the main compartment of my large rucksack I have often carried a “miscellaneous bag”. This might be an old pencil case or a Ziploc bag. It contained anything I might need in the future, but not at present: My home house keys, travel card to get me home from the airport, money that I could not use in the present country, presents for people at home, and so on.

Other Paperwork

It is amazing how many packing lists never mention toilet roll! This needs to be reasonably accessible and kept dry. My soft-core pack includes a roll in a Ziplock bag with a 100 ml bottle of alcohol hand sanitizer.

Ammunition

If you are armed, a realistic quantity of ammunition should be on your person. Spare ammunition may be carried in your pack. Since ammunition is dense, and may be needed in a hurry, it obviously rides near the top of your pack, and close to the back.

Final Thoughts

If your pack is totally full, you should probably rethink.

You will need some free room for unexpected contingencies. And free space lets you move stuff around when looking for something. You do not want to unpack your pack every time you want something lower down.

Tags backpack, bergen, bug-out bag, canteen cup, daysac, EDC, hostel, hosteling, hostelling, packs, rucksac, sleeping bag, soft-core pack, travelling