D Walker, Author at Walker's Braintan Leather & Bushcraft

Men’s Camping Trip 2023

Mens Winter Camp 2023

One thing I’ve always enjoyed is winter camping; the cold, crisp air, sitting around a camp fire, and best of all, no mosquitoes. 2021, I invited some friends that I met at Sigma III on a winter camping trip so they could test their new found survival skills and experience the thrill of camping up North. This last year was a sad one however; too much work, and no winter camping, so something had to change. To remedy from this disaster happening again, I organized a winter adventure for this year.

The month of February can be interesting; with temps ranging from -40 to 40. On this endeavor, we were blessed with highs in the 20’s, and lows in the negative teens…and not much wind. We were dropped off near the Clear River Bridge. We loaded up our gear on sleds and trekked to our destination. I was able to break in my new toboggan made with Northern Toboggan Co. There was a light dusting of snow on the trail that revealed we weren’t the only predators in the woods. Timberwolf tracks nearly packed it down in places…and the next few nights we would hear them howling not far from where we slept. By the time we arrived, it was early afternoon. We set up camp; one hammock, one canvas tent, and a super shelter. Gathering firewood kept us busy the rest of the evening.

The first morning at camp, we cooked up breakfast and spent the majority of our time gathering enough firewood to sustain us through the trip. It was a lot of work, considering it was all done with an axe and a few Silkie saws. Later, we filled our water containers from a spring in the cedars, and worked on a double lean-to frame. It was the only project we didn’t complete since we had other places to sleep anyways. That evening, I had the privilege of teaching one of the guys how to make his first friction fire kit. He was able to get a coal and a fire on his first attempt.

Day two; breakfast, and then building saw frames. There’s something about guys and building these things; getting all the pieces to line up, tightening the windlasses, and making the frames snug. It’s always a great project, no matter how many you’ve made. Around noon, Stacie and one of her friends came to do a plant walk. All 3 of the guys enjoyed learning about what was in the woods for food, medicine, and tea. The last project was making Roycroft ski shoes, which took the rest of the evening to finish.

The final morning was spent packing up camp. We then headed into town for lunch, and said our goodbyes…until next time.

If you are interested in experiencing winter camping and cold weather survival, let me know. I’d love to have you join us.

Crafting a Trekking Toboggan with Northern Toboggan Co.

CRAFTING A HAND TOBOGGAN WITH NORTHERN TOBOGGAN CO.

Last Friday, Darrik had the privilege to collaborate with a locally owned shop, Northern Toboggan Co. Started by craftsmen John Harren and now operated by his two sons, Jackson and Gabriel, they specialize in creating hand made toboggans, sleds, and snowshoes. Darrik worked with Nathan Jeffrey, one of their craftsmen, who also happens to be his friend. Their project was a trekking toboggan (Hand Toboggan), which can be pulled by a single person and is designed to easily follow in your snowshoe tracks. The wood had been previously steam bent. They took them out of the jigs, sanded, assembled, and coated them in linseed oil. One of the sleds was crafted with ash; the other oak. The toboggans are quiet long, measuring in at 8 feet on the flat portion, 13 inches wide at the front, and tapering to roughly 10 inches at the rear. Darrik plans on going winter camping and trekking in the next couple of weeks using the new oak Hand Toboggan. Stay tuned for more!

HIKING THE WIND RIVER RANGE

Hiking the Wind River Range

I had the privilege of hiking the Wind River Range of Wyoming this July. I was able to partner with my friend Matt Kessler of Revelo to lead a group of men on a wilderness expedition, and I plan on wandering the wilderness more in the near future. If you are looking for an experienced woodsmen to guide you through the wilds and teach you some basic bushcraft skills, please contact me to learn more!

SIGMA 3 SURVIVAL: Week 4 & 5

We migrated to Rob’s backyard to cowboy camp for the next few days. Oh, to sleep under a dry tarp, with a warm sleeping bag…what a treat! It was almost as good as staying at the Hilton.

PLANT ID

The first thing discussed was how to use our field guides with 100% accuracy to forgo death in the field. Remembering plant names hasn’t been my forte, but it comes more naturally to my wife. She has made and sold salves, tinctures, and even taught a few plant classes. I was sure that without her by my side, this would be one of my least favorite endeavors.

Rob turned the class loose on his backyard to gather plantain and yarrow. About halfway through, his daughter came to help us. After noticing a pile of deer turds, I commented to a fellow student, “Oh, somebody left their chocolate covered raisins out here.” The student repeated this to his daughter, to which she replied (with something along the lines of) that she was too smart to fall for such stories because her IQ was higher at 3 than his was today. She had a great sense of humor and was smart as a whip. He is truly blessed to have such a great kid. After we had filled our bags with herbs, we brought them in to dry. In between gathering sessions, we’d watch slide shows about plants, dry off from the continual rain, and warm ourselves with a cup of coffee. That afternoon, we foraged for acorns, or as my Southern friend would say… “A-kerns.” This project took longer than planned because it was late in the season, and by then many had gotten worms in them…but on the bright side, the little grubs made a tasty, pan-fried treat. That evening, we ground the acorns into a fine meal. Later that evening, we leached the tannins out of the meal using a slow stream of running water throughout the night.

USING THE PLANTS

We ended up with just enough flour to make pancakes using 50% acorn meal, and 50% whole wheat flour. William is “the man” when it comes to making pancakes. They may have been the best I have ever eaten. Later that afternoon, we worked on making salves, wound powder, and tinctures from the plantain and yarrow we’d dried.

PERSIMMONS

Out of all the wild foods I had eaten in Missouri, persimmons were my favorite. We picked them on our plant walk that day. I was glad to hear they would be growing where our Scout Week would be taking place. We dehydrated the persimmons to make fruit leather. The three days we spent at Robs learning about plants were a lot more interesting than I had expected after all.

FIRE IN THE RAIN

For the past week it had been raining continually, so it was more than kind of wet throughout camp. To help morning PT go a little better, most of us had decided to stow away our bow drill kits in a dry location in advance. Knowing this, Rob and William decided it would be a great idea if I soaked mine in a puddle while I did PT… just to challenge me a bit. I knew it was not going to be easy to bust a coal after that… and because it was still raining out. Getting a coal to stay dry seemed like an impossible task. Surprisingly, I got it on my second try. William, with a slight grin, instructed me to soak it again, but this time for a half an hour. So, I did, and half an hour later I busted out another coal. The next words I heard came with a chuckle… something along the lines of don’t let it go to your head and get to work on your bow.

TRADITIONAL BOW BUILDING

Bow building is a skill that I have not yet mastered, even though I have made a few. I was honored to learn this art from my friend Tim, who has crafted hundreds of bows in his lifetime…so today I was going to try my best to play the role of simpleton during class. The native woods used back home in Northern MN are traditionally Black Ash and Juneberry. At Sigma Three, we’d be using hickory. First, we shaped our bows using wood rasps. Then, we tillered the limbs to the proper draw weight, which took most of our time. Some of the guys wanted to make really heavy bows, but since it was their first rodeo, both Rob and William urged them to make lighter ones. They believed it was better to practice with a lighter bow initially so that they wouldn’t develop bad shooting habits. This class went by quickly, and by the end we had some pretty nice bows. The highlight of the week for me, however, was putting my friction fire skills to the test.

SIGMA 3 SURVIVAL: Week 3

Sigma 3 Survival: Week 3

ADVANCED PRIMITIVE SKILLS

Tom Brown Tracker School 2004; I had flint napped, made bone tools, and tried my hand at pottery. Class size at the school was large, which left little time for individual hands-on learning. Now it was Sigma’s 3 turn to teach me these skills. With smaller class size, more instructors, and a whole five days to learn these ancient skills, it was going to be great.

SUNDAY

We went on a little field trip to the Top of the Rock’s Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum. The museum had many attractions including original artifacts similar to the ones we would be making soon. The highlight for me was the impressive amount of Native American buckskin clothing on display. Someday, I hope to go back.

MONDAY

Finally, the long-awaited day arrived…I busted out a coal with my oak board and spindle. With one side of my fire board full of holes, and three spindles ground to dust, victory was mine. Pottery was next. Some of the guys were naturals at it…possibly on their way to making real works of art. While the pottery was drying, we gathered hickory staves to turn into green bows.

TUESDAY

We spread out a large tarp to catch broken shards of stone and glass, creating a knapping pit. I spent most of my time working glass. Back home, quality stone is hard to come by, but there is an abundance of old glass bottles littering the woods. What an enjoyable and relaxing start to the day. Midafternoon, we took a break from flint knapping to work on bone tools. I made a pendent that could double as an arrowhead. The bones we used were left over from processing the goat. We finished the day removing hair from our dried goat hide. Gary and I were chosen for this undertaking. When I said the goat was a stinky little beast, this was an understatement. Thankfully, this task didn’t last for more than 45 minutes with the help of my razor-sharp tomahawk head. The fragrance of old goat wafted from our clothes throughout the camp, which the others made known to us. We ended up driving to town for showers just so we could tolerate our own stink.

WEDNESDAY

We worked on green bows and flint knapping. That afternoon, we went on plant identification walk with Josh.

THURSDAY

We made atlatls, pine pitch glue, arrows, and darts. That evening, we started a huge bonfire as a kiln to temper our previously made pottery. Staying up in shifts, we kept the fire going all night.

FRIDAY

We discovered that most, if not all, of our pottery had cracked. I wasn’t too heartbroken. The stoneware cup I made resembled something a small child could have made from Play Doh. I commented, “A thousand years from now, this will be a dig site, where archaeologists will ponder what was mentally wrong with the people who made this pottery.” Everyone laughed. Later that morning, we cut down trees to make tables and chairs. Rob had a little hand auger called a settler’s wrench which we used to drill holes and cut tenons for the furniture. I would like to purchase one of these handy little tools in the future. That afternoon, we finger weaved shoulder straps and belts for our Roy Craft pack frames. The last project of the day was tying a gillnet. I had previously made dip nets, gillnets, and bags using a net needle and gauge. At Sigma, we used an overhand knot instead. The nets weren’t as uniform using this method, but they were quicker to construct, which was useful for teaching a group of students with time constraints. This wraps up another fast-paced week at Sigma 3.

Winter Camping w/Sigma 3 Brothers

WINTER CAMPING WITH SIGMA 3 BROTHERS

One of my last weeks at Sigma 3, I woke up in my shelter to notice a text message from one of the guys who had attended a previous class here with me, Peter. He was wondering about going hunting this fall, but I already had plans to hunt with my dad’s cousin, so we decided to plan a small game hunting and camping trip the end of February. Other guys started hearing about the trip, bumping up the number to 5. When the time finely came, it ended up being just 2 men left… Josiah and Dave. We chose this weekend for the camping excursion since it was the last week in Minnesota for legal small game hunting, and hopefully it would be starting to warm up. The weather was almost too nice. They were lucky because they didn’t get a taste of a real Northern Minnesota winter. Just the week before, it had been a bone chilling -30F, or including windchill, -50F. Over the course of the week, we cut a lot of firewood with an axe (Helko Werk Classic Expedition) , an antique 1930’s crosscut saw I had restored, and a chainsaw. We also foraged for winter medicinal plants and chaga, made wood framed bow-saws, hand drill and bow drill fires, built a super shelter, and spent many long nights around the campfire telling tall tales. One of the days, we hiked a 6 ½ mile loop, with over 2 miles of it bushwhacking. During the hike, we stopped by to look at a wiki up shelter I had built for a submission video for the Alone TV show, and under the bed was a porcupine napping! Since we hadn’t seen any fresh sign of game, other than a few rabbits the whole day, we decided that Mr. Porcupine was looking mighty tasty. Upon noticing us, he came bolting through the wall of the shelter with the speed of a slow-moving storm. We ended up dispatching, cleaning, and turning him into a fine stew. Dave and Josiah each made a highlight video of the trip, which you can watch below.

Sigma 3 Survival: Week 2

Advanced Survival Course Begins

Day 1

I was getting into a routine of waking up around 5:30 without having to rely so heavily on my alarm to do the job. I was enjoying having Matt, Josiah, and around 2-4 other guys showing up for eggs, coffee, and to talk over the upcoming day. After getting the morning dishes done, we all headed up to the main camp. I was enjoying the morning challenge of trying to get a coal from my oak fire board and spindle. As the old saying goes, “Where there is smoke, there is fire”, but in this case is was just an old wives’ tale…especially this morning. Next, we started building a new double lean-to shelter. It took the better part of the day to complete, even with the whole crew working on it. Around 3:00 pm, a strange, but familiar smell came over the camp. It was the arrival of the billy goat that we were about to butcher. In my life, I have butchered everything from squirrels to cows, so I didn’t want to deprive the others of the privilege of dispatching and cleaning the stinky little beast.

Day 2

After friction fire practice in the morning, we started processing the rest of the goat and made racks for smoking the meat. While the meat was smoking, we cut down an oak tree, made wood benches, some cooking utensils, and a sweet wood mallet, which we named Thor’s Hammer.

Day 3

Rob added a fun twist to morning bow drill practice … PT. Fifty push-ups, fifty sit-ups, fifty air squats, twenty-five burpees, one hundred jumping jacks, and a ½ mile run was a good way to get the heart pumping. After all that fun, we went right into learning the hand drill fire. I previously learned this at Rabbit Stick Primitive Skills gathering from Myron Cretney, but here we added finger straps with downward pressure to the spindle. This was new to me, and would definitely help when I teach kids in the future. After lunch, we made a bunch of different traps and discussed many others.

Day 4 & 5

Camping at Assumption Abbey

The first thing we did was go on a hike up to some caves. On our way back, we gathered some nettles and bamboo for making cordage and a fish trap. On the beach along the river, we all cowboy camped and worked on projects, the first one being basket making.

When asked if I had made baskets before by one of the other students, I replied, “I am a level three basket maker.”

A little later, he was struggling with his basket, and asked, “How do I fix my screwed-up basket?”

“ I don’t know, I am just a level three basket maker.”

“That’s why I am asking.”

“You know there’s over one hundred levels of basket making”…

We both laughed and I helped him fix his basket. After that, we started on the fish trap. When finished, it was real work of art.

We made many crafts, including fish hooks and spears, but the greatest accomplishment for me was making a friction fire with nettle cordage. This alone was worth the whole trip.

Sigma 3 Survival: Week 1

SIGMA 3 SURVIVAL SCHOOL
Week 1

Sept 28, 2020. 5 a.m. : started the short 1,100 mile drive in the old work truck towards Reeds Springs, MO. Why would I risk driving a truck with over 350,000 miles on it so far? Well, after watching the news over the summer, I wasn’t about to risk driving our Tahoe through an area where a riot could take place, and having to abandon our vehicle to an angry mob…who knows what could happen during the 45 days I planned on being gone. This was my maiden voyage using the GPS and not relying on my maps…and yes I still have a flip phone but I like being old school, so get over it.

The next day, I arrived at the school around 3pm. The first people I met were William and Josh. They welcomed me and gave a brief rundown of the property, showing me where to park and mentioned that I could sleep wherever I wanted to that night. Being a kid at heart, I chose the tree house that was located in the center of camp. As the night went on, students slowly filtered in. We stayed up pretty late visiting and telling stories around the camp fire. It’s not often you meet so many like minded people.

The first five days were known as the Standard Class and pretty much every class started at 8am. Each morning, I was getting up around 5:30 to make breakfast and read. With a pot of liquid energy ready to go, it didn’t take long to gain two early morning coffee buddies. In our quest to help each other, they offered to share notes and pictures with me, which was great because my picture taking ability is on-par with a small child.

After introductions on day 1, Rob gave the instructor candidates the rundown on what was expected of them and the main rules… the big one being no sleeping in your car or truck no matter how bad the weather.

GEAR

The first subject we covered was gear. This included everything from what you wear, to what is in your truck. The teachers were well versed in both modern and primitive skills. I tend to lean more towards the primitive skills end of things. Being a not so gear heavy person, I appreciated learning about tools I had never heard of before. It made me think that when I taught in the future it would help bridge the gap between the old and the new with some of my more modern thinking students.

SHELTERS

When I first enrolled in class, I wasn’t really expecting to enjoy building shelters so much because I had built and stayed in debris huts and lean-tos before. Surprisingly, it ended up being quite enjoyable because so many people were helping construct them, which consisted of raking lots and lots of leaves…hence the battle cry, “MORE LEAVES”. We also learned different lean-to variations using tarps and ponchos. Knots were demonstrated to aid in quick take down and setup of shelters, which included the trucker’s hitch, the lark’s heads, and the slip knot to name a few.

WATER PROCUREMENT

In this part of the class, we talked about sip wells, primitive filters, and filters that can be carried on you.

THE ALL-IMPORTANT FIRE

I enjoyed this part of the class the most. We covered everything from ferro rods to bow drills. We even got a coal using a fire plow, though it was a group effort, not a lone wolf method as told in the story books. When we were working on the bow drill, I was trying to learn as much as I could to improve what I already knew. Back in 2005, I had learned how to make and use the bow drill at the Tom Brown Tracker School.. but I didn’t get my first coal until I got home a week later, and still have a picture of that fire. Since then, I have not only made kits for myself and taught classes on bow drill, I actually sell kits online. While using the bow drill at class, every time I got a coal, Rob and William would challenge me to use harder and harder wood, building up to oak (which I didn’t get a coal with for a whole week).

FOOD PROCUREMENT

Trapping is something I have been doing since I was a teen. I’ve used snares, conibears, and leghold traps to catch everything from weasels to coyotes. I have made primitive traps, such as the figure four and Paiute dead fall, but the split stick version of these traps I learned at Sigma 3 is superior to the way I had been doing them in the past. It’s kind of funny…if you do the same thing long enough, you overlook the obvious.

This is just a small taste of what I learned in the standard class, and just the beginning of the journey. Hope to be writing more soon. Remember; to keep your eyes on the skyline, and your blades sharp.

Sigma 3 SURVIVAL SCHOOL REVIEW

SIGMA 3 SURVIVAL SCHOOL
Why I chose the 45 day certification course

For the past 15+ years, I have been teaching survival and bushcraft skills in some capacity. This being so, some people might ask why I would go to a survival instructor certification course then….

I believe a person should test themselves mentally, physically, and spiritually.
See if I even remotely knew what I was talking about.
Learn different variations of the skills I was already teaching.
Learn to be a better teacher and communicator.
Test my skills for more than just a week or a weekend.

After much research, I decided on Sigma III. From what I read, Founder/Lead Instructor Rob Allen, and Instructors Josh Hamlin and William Hunsaker had many years of proven experience. They looked to be the best, and fell into my budget.

The school is located in Reed Springs, Missouri, which is just like Northern Minnesota; except it has hills, mountains, poisonous snakes, spiders, chiggers, and a lot warmer weather.

Having been a survival instructor myself, there were a few things I tried to make a point of doing from the beginning; have my cup empty, ask a lot of questions… some simple ones at that, try to go slow, not answer other people’s questions, and always point students back to the teachers. Nothing is worse than a student who thinks he knows more than the master and attempts to show his fellow classmates a “better way that he saw on YouTube.” Hmm, I wonder if I’m talking from past experience?

Over the next weeks I will be sharing about my adventures with new friends ,sleeping in all kinds of shelters ,making primitive tools ,reviewing the school and new gear, and more. Till we meet again, keep your eyes on the sky line and your tomahawk sharp.

1ST TIME AT THE FORT BRIDGER RENDEZVOUS

Some of the first books that I can remember reading were of the life stories of Daniel Boone, Jim Bridger, Kit Karson, Jedidiah Smith, and other epic accounts such as the Last of the Mohicans. When my dad told me about a cousin, Jim Walker, who went to mountain man rendezvous’, I could hardly wait to ask if I could tag along. The first rendezvous I ever attended was with my dad and Jim in Kindred, North Dakota, at the age of 12. Mountain men, voyageurs, long hunters, natives, pioneers, traders… all makes and models of wild men, with names like Three Legs (Jim), Fawn Killer, Wood Tick, Uncle Ernie, Crooked Nose, and Colonel Tom, just to name a few. I continued attending rendezvous’ through my early 20’s. My wife Stacie and I attended her first rendezvous in 2015, where we met up with my friend, Fawn Killer at the Bemidji, MN Hang Fire Rendezvous. Since then, we have attended around 1-2 a year, including the High Plains Regional Rendezvous’. It was at the High Plains where one of our friends, TC, was looking at some of my brain tanned leather, and said, “ Brother Man….you should bring some of this stuff to Fort Bridger.” The following fall, I saved out some hides to finish in August just before the Fort Bridger ‘Vous. In early July, we got an order from a costume designer who ended up buying all the leather we had.

“Now what?”, I thought to myself. “Do we still go with no hides to sell…and pass up the opportunity to attend one of the biggest rendezvous’ in the country? Horse Feathers!!! We’re going!”

Labor Day Weekend arrived at Fort Bridger with a bronze sculpture of Jim Bridger pointing the way. It was a beautiful location, with mountains in the distance and a small stream running through camp, which had beaver dam just up current. It didn’t take us long to find our friends, Lance, and later, TC.

Down by the river…

left to right: Derrik, TC, and Darrik
At TC’s custom hat, moc, and bag shop, South Fork Traders

While visiting with them, we thought it would be interesting to go around and talk with some of the people selling brain tan, to hear their stories on how they got started. These are their stories….

Scott Schniedervin of Laramie, WY

Scott has been tanning hides for a little over 20 years. When we asked about how he learned his technique, he mentioned that most of it was learned from the Matt Richards book, From Deerskins Into Buckskins. Another influential book for him was Blue Mountain Buckskins. He recalled how the original book came with an actual piece of brain tanned leather. Scott has had the privilage of teaching Native American students the art of tanning. He has worked with elk, deer, and antelope hides. He normally tans around 10-20 hides a year. Below is a slide show of some of his work, such as a beautifully beaded possibles bag, decorated by his skilled wife, as well as some pants and leggings.

Lance Grabowski: An Original Mountain Man

Lance started brain tanning in the 70’s using the method of much trial and error from books he found. Most of the books were truly vague on how to tan, so he’d have to experiment with things such as brain to water ratio, and other aspects of tanning. Blue Mountain Buckskin was the most influential for him however, because it had troubleshooting tips and an actual sample of buckskin…how it should feel. He recalls before reading the book proudly strutting around in the first pair of buckskin pants he had ever made, which had an interesting noise about them…resembling crunchy wax paper. He eventually transitioned from brain tanning to focusing more on creating art using brain tan. Lance has a long and colorful history of being a mountain man; riding horse back through the wilderness tracing Jedediah Smith’s path, being the first mountain man reenactor ever hired by the US Park Service, being a mountain man model for famous artists’, as well as creating western and Native American historically accurate garments and art himself! Below is a gallery of some of the intricate work he does. If you’d like to own a one of a kind custom piece of wearable art, visit his website at http://www.lancegrabowski.com/.