Overnight Winter Bushcraft Camp with a Dog under a White Tarp.

Hey guys, how you doing? Joe here. Thanks for clicking on the video. I'm with my dog Scout. We're up north in the middle of the forest. Plan for today is use some new camping gear I got, set up a tarp, camp out overnight. I have an axe with me, I have a small backpack, I have a wool blanket for my dog, I have a rock to cook some bacon on and to cook some steak on. This is gonna be an awesome trip. I haven't been out in like two weeks so I'm super stoked to be here. Alright folks, getting ready to leave for that camp that you just saw the intro for. Before I do, I'm going to give a huge shout out to my sponsor for this video, Vikings the Video Game, which is a great way to pass the time, whether I'm camping or just hanging out. If you enjoyed the old school strategy and RPG games of the 90s and 2000s like I did, you're going to love Vikings. The latest update was so good that it placed the game on top of 5 charts. The opportunity to choose your own playstyle makes Vikings unique. You know how to manage people, be a clan leader and reign your empire. If you have a killer instinct, annihilate your enemies. That's my favorite part. If you're an economist by heart, use your skill to build a prosperous city. Vikings' game recently reached 20 million players. That's over 10 times more than the total population of Vikings that ever lived. Alright guys, install Vikings now using the links below and get 200 gold and a protection shield for free. Okay, enjoy the video. It's 9.30am. I got here at around 9.00. I've been walking around for a good half an hour. So I'm starting to warm up. I'm starting to actually get a little sweaty, which I've got to be careful of. This morning it was negative 5. It's supposed to warm up to about negative 2 Celsius, and then drop down to negative 7 Celsius tonight. So I do have a sleeping bag for me, and Scout will be warm in his wool blanket. I've just been scouring the woods for an ideal location to set up. Right now I'm in kind of like a cold well, and if you look behind me you can see the land kind of raises up. So considering it's winter time. I don't want to be in a cold well We're gonna camp on like a little bit of a ridge. There's not much wind So that's not really an issue. The other thing I do want to look out for are widow makers There's a lot of rotting around this general area some big trees some soft trees and you have to be really careful around them What are you doing? Yeah, I'm liking this a whole lot. Look you can see the ground barely any snow up here lots of melt going on I'm a good six hours north of my house and And the whole drive up here there was no snow at all. I get to this property where I come There's a bunch of snow, but back up in here on this hill. It's not so bad I'm not trying to deal with snow on this trip. I want to be like a on the verge of spring trip All right. Well considering I'm up here on this Ridge. I want to look for a specific spot I want to camp at tonight I will drop my backpack cuz it if I'm being honest, it's pretty heavy I got a lot of stuff in this backpack including Scott's wool blanket So I'm gonna leave that up here. It doesn't sit in the snow and Go around and look for a suitable spot up on this ridge. What I do want to look for is wind direction and Widow makers are slopey over on this side up here is not so bad actually right here or so it is Well, nothing too promising that way. I'm starting to think where I first originally came up onto this ridge is the best spot I'll have to do some like housecleaning and moving stuff around. Yeah, let me show you what I think I might do there's that solid tree standing up and I think I want to make my shelter going this way because that's the way the wind is going parallel but on this side there's not a decent tree there's this half fallen one but I feel like if I clean off the branches and take take this one completely out of there I can use that for firewood that's a solid piece of oak and test this make sure I it's not going to fall this might work this piece might work to tie off to it seems like it will it seems like it's solid yeah she's up in the crook there too she's caught in the crook so that seems pretty solid to me i might do that so the wind is almost non-existent it's kind of going like this on like a 45 to what i am right now so that's even actually pretty good because if i tie this here and then there it's going to stretch it back that way or that way whichever way i want to do it it's all coming together it's all coming together i'll have to take this tree out but she's dead anyway that's a cherry so i'll be able to use that for firewood too i don't have big heavy duty tools let me show you what i do have so this is the setup i hiked in with i got my italian wool blanket on top of my hidden woodsman day ruck and for tools and then sorry my sleeping bags on the bottom for tools i have my 19 inch sandvik and i also have a silky gomboy but neither neither of those things are big tools it's okay though they'll work okay let's get this backpack ripped down and uh clean up my area where i can hang my backpack pretty good pretty good so this has got to come off solid bud she's solid that one there this thing is packed to the nines i'll show you what i got a little bit here right now i'm just looking after or looking out right now i'm just looking for my saw that is some seasoned seasoned oak okay good i wish i had bigger tools I'll still use it for firewood but it takes some doing it's already looking like home myself up some warmth which is nice just again I don't want to get too warm so stripping down layers as I can let's get this cherry tree over the way here I love my dog you feel bad you feel bad for knocking my camera over okay that cherry tree's down I'm gonna clean up the little stump so it's a flat flush and continue on just cutting these uh pine branches off this fallen pine tree so that i can set up my tarp here without fear of cutting them as close as i can to the tree because they have resin in them it's a little bit of like a fatwood type deal so i'll keep those and start my fire with it too double purpose with my plane my area is cleaned out see scooter magoots there right where my tarp is going to go i've cleaned off the pine tree pretty good pretty good so i'm just hoping that that's enough space i think it is if i tie near higher up on the tree over there and i'll do an adirondack adirondack wind shelter good boy you're good and that'll be the first time i'm using the tarp that i have with me now okay time to set up gear bomb action i just did a gear video that's going to be posted before this trip video so if you want to know about the gear I used on this trip click on the link and now the snow is coming down pretty readily I'm going to have to get my tarp set up and get all of my gear out of the elements now it's always fun I do that a lot I shoot the gear video after I've been out here for a little bit and then like pack all the gear back into the backpack and continue filming the normal video the big video but okay I gotta do this I gotta pee if you real bad okay so I got my one piece tied up on the other side I'm gonna come to this tree this fallen tree just do it on a diagonal like it is here I'm sure it'll be fine I taut line hitching both sides actually you know what I don't want to taut line hitching both sides because I want my tarp to be able to stretch as far as it can and if there's a taut line hitch sometimes the rope doesn't start till over here when you tighten it up so retie that side actually too I know what I'm gonna do I know so my whole my whole point is between this tree here where I'm tying off and then be there it's not the longest distance so i want the tarp to have as as much distance as it possibly can and with me tying a canadian or sorry a taut line hitch you can see you can see it doesn't start right at the tree right like the because it's taut pulling out here it makes the knot start not start out here instead of back here so i'm losing like half a foot space and it might not be long enough to reach to there i hope that makes sense so what i'm going to do So if I had a taut line hitch on both sides, I would lose about a foot because it'd be away from the both trees so what I'm gonna do is tie a Jolin so like a bowline knot but tied incorrectly so it's called the Jolin that way It's just basically a loop that I'm going to feed the running end around Just a little loop and feed the running end through and that way it'll be cinched right up to the tree on this side And I'll only lose if anything on that side Half a foot or whatever. Hopefully that makes sense to you guys. I understand what I'm trying to say You have a much mouthy way of explaining things Okay, so now you can see right taught to the tree and I'll be able to get more distance Yeah, excuse me I will tie a taut line on this side because I do have to adjust the tarp after and all that stuff I think it'll be fine. Okay, she own considering this is white and it's wintertime try and keep an eye on where the case goes and the stuff sack goes she's durable man this is not a sil nylon tarp this is definitely rip stop a little bit more heavy but very durable you guys have seen me use my coyote tarp the yellow one for probably the better part of seven or eight years and that's the same deal as this so I want to do an Adirondack shelter so I'm going to go on a diagonal. I just want to make sure that this is a 10 by 10, seems like it's square. So we're going to go on a diagonal. Put the corner over. I want to go to the third tie out I believe. So if I'm looking, there's one, two, three, and one, two, three. Perfect. Next thing I got to do is get some toggles and that'll be really easy considering I have all these twigs and little shoots growing all around me so there's one there's two one of the reasons for tying the top line hitch if this is too tight which it is i can go over and loosen it up so okay it should it should work now all i'm trying to do is and you guys have seen me do this a bunch of times but bend the cord put it through the tab easier said than done and then take the toggle and slide it through and that kind of locks everything in place there okay see slide it and all that fun stuff now the other side tabs are a decent size on this tarp bigger than my coyote one that's good tighten this back up okay sliding a lot i might have to get thicker toggles a big old heavy duty uh stake here just a little bit too heavy duty it won't fit in the tab trim it down a touch i've been able to peg some out and i've had to tie some off the trees the ground's frozen and it's not in different spot all right let's go around check out the shelter okay there she is I do have to do some adjustments pull it up a bit in the back like attach a piece of cord to that tab and pull it way out to get myself a little bit more taut and more room which is looking pretty decent out like crazy which is gonna bring the whole thing in together big old stump right in my way i'm gonna have to saw that down air cord over through the loop you created nice and easy my plane my plane's here so this tarp is small one is made by the same people who make this white one bushcraft outfitters you can find them online at bushcraftoutfitters.com right back after these messages from loud planes okay well now that the plane is gone this will be my ground sheet um i don't really need to put it underneath this goat's blanket there's a couple cool things about this tarp that can be um used for two different purposes depending on the time of year you use it right just take my firewood don't even worry about it man in the winter time you know especially if it's not like this if it's actually winter winter with white everywhere snow You're not seeing leaves on the ground. This can be like an inconspicuous incognito kind of stealth part Whereas in the summertime it can be a signal like this stark white against like green or the brown of grass or whatever It could be definitely a signal. So it's kind of cool Yeah, so far. I like how durable it is and Anticipating getting it dirty I'm just like a knife when you get a brand new knife and you like can't wait for the patina to get on it Same thing with this white tarp like I can't wait for it to get just usage I've got my Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm. This is a great sleeping pad. I use this all the time. To have a sleeping pad that packs down small. That still has a good R-value. This thing is just as fine in the wintertime as it is the summertime, which is awesome. Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm. So a sleeping pad is one of those things that's not really that fun, right? It's not a fun thing to buy. It's not an axe. It's not a knife. It's not even a saw. not even a backpack sleeping pad right when there is opportunity to use natural materials for a sleeping pad i like to do it but that doesn't always come into play right it's not always allowed it's not always a good use of your time if i'm doing a canoe trip or a backpacking trip or whatever i'm not going to get to my site and make a bow that's just not going to happen you know i mean when i backpack i'm backpacking anywhere from 10 to 12 hours a day i don't want to get to camp and have to make that's why i have things like this i want to get there and just be ready to go but then again just for change too right like my last real trip i used bows this trip i'm going to use this i'm doing a little fun backpack kind of thing the last trip was like super minimalistic this trip i wanted to bring stuff that i actually enjoy using like i think of like yeah i want to go to the woods and like bushcraft up a bit my kit that i actually really like like uh personally that i've used a lot the backpack really doesn't fall into that because it's new and the tarp is new but i have very similar things that i know i like previous backpacks by malcolm and previous tarps by Bushcraft Outfitters so my point is for this trip this is what i wanted to bring i wanted to like tools that i enjoy using and pieces of equipment too not just tools gear and everything my dog i enjoy my enjoy my dog i almost brought my twig stove i'm gonna save that for my first uh either maybe i'll do like a hammock camp in the spring or my first canoe trip i do like to put the twig stoves away like after the fall and not bring like till spring you guys got any plans for the spring any big canoe tripping plans or backpacking or anything like that now is really the time of the year that i i find like the outdoorsy people really start having that wanderlust right that like that's why like all the outdoor adventure shows are now this time of year late late uh late winter early spring kind of deal although we're still a ways out from early spring i'm sure it will snow quite a bit more still should be that's where I'll sleep. That's where Scout will sleep. Relatively flat. That'll do. Do, Scout. That'll do. Am I the only weirdo who picks things out of my dog's eyes like gunk and crust? Is that super weird? Let me know in the comments if I'm a weirdo. Oh, man. I'm glad to be out here, guys. I really am. I'm so, so needing this. It's been over two weeks since I've been out, man. It's like, I need it. I need to stay going out to keep my sanity. Good boy. He knows not to step on the sleeping pad. Oh doggo boys. Yes, cook up some bacon and cook up some bacon pretty soon The model of this sleeping bag is called the Talon if I'm not mistaken They came out with this a few years ago pretty decent. Why so close on my stuff Why am I grill bro? Why off of my grill that and fancy fancy Joe has a new pillow Super jazzed on this pillow. I probably showed it a few times now soft got insulation in it packs down smaller than my down It's lighter than my down and it actually works as a pillow any good quality cold-weather sleeping bag should have this Just like this little pocket in the in the hood here where you can stick your backpack All right, your backpack where you stick your pillow. This one also has a yoke you can see here Just like a though it goes around your neck get right in there. She doesn't go anywhere. I'm looking forward to sleeping So look at this setup you can actually fit two people in here like Like, um, wherever, where Scout's back there, I can pull it, I can pull this tight, you know what I mean, get more room. A second person could definitely sleep back there, no problem. For two people under one tarp, if you're out and you need to have, like, a lightweight shelter for a couple people when there's no bugs, like, that's pretty decent, man. And then if it were to rain, people are worried about sleeping in tarps in the rain and stuff, I would just pull this straight down, you know what I mean? You get a pretty good, uh, protection from that. And I've also before used this 5x7 tarp that I have on the ground as a straight door. So I connected it to this tie out and this tie out. And it fits perfectly 5 feet that way, or sorry, 7 feet that way and then 5 feet down. And it's like a complete straight wall. And the only openings you have are a little tiny gap on either side where you can use it as a door. So it's like, and then also you can throw this on over top too for extra protection. So it's very versatile. So, the way I camped there, like I said, with the 5x7 down in front, I camped like that for at least two or three nights in the middle of the winter years ago when I was camping with Ken and Kyle. And those guys were in tents, and I was completely fine. It was just as good as a tent. I had all the room back there to store my stuff because I was single by myself in the tarp. But anyways, very impressed with tarps in general. Square tarps, I do like. Gotta start making a base for my fire. I'm gonna cook up some bacon for lunch I definitely don't need a fire all night long to keep me warm because my sleeping bag is legit So I'm not worried about burning wood all day long I don't have to conserve and in this immediate spot. I see a ton of dead wood My only problem is the small tools again. You can chew on it, but do not take it anywhere. I'm burning that okay It's a good base anyway straight. Sorry nice and flat pieces See if I can chop this one without and find the way it sits best There's more more of a challenge than actually chopping or splitting it. That's decent for my platform for some fuel I'll grab some smaller stuff Which again should be pretty easy man. There's lots of stuff readily available right around here I actually see a lot of really gnarly burls. I'll show you some of these burls Hey, that's my firewood homie bonus points for anyone who knows what this is called This is a fungus and I've talked about it a hundred times my channel grows on cherry black knot of cherry Episporina morbosa, so that's not the burl. I was talking about this one is here burl boy There's lots more to all around actually on that same tree more. It's like a canker. Why are you crying man? Seriously, hey, why are you crying? Why are you crying? Find me some sticks. Find me some sticks. Get your stick Get a stick. Where is it? Get a stick. Get a stick. Get a stick and come. Go do it. So I figured I'll grab all the pieces that I cut off that pine tree with the fat wood in them And I'll make some shavings. Let's go. No, you have to leave that stuff alone now. Go over here and lay down Here here take this. That's for you. Lay down now. Lay down. Good boy. Okay Anyways, I'm gonna take the the pieces that I cut off the pine tree that have the sap in them and I'm gonna just make some curls or whatever the thing is the sap doesn't go up very far into branches once you cut them off like it's like literally a couple inches or whatever but it's okay I still have to make like some kind of like kindling or whatever so might as well use the resin from those pieces it'd be nicer if Scout was in the way you can kind of see but that's alright all I'm doing I'll explain to you I'm shaping wood I'm shaving wood I I got my newer Adventure Sworn Mountaineer I'm using that Actually, I haven't been using it too much I got it a little while ago, and I haven't I maybe only took it out on one or two trips I think I took it out with Griff and Scott and then I think I had it out one time after that Love the knife, though Just super, super sharp for bushcrafty Man, I need to get this closer up here so you guys can see This goat's just thinking I'm teasing him here Don't touch the knife, buddy. I'm going to let him take it I'm just going to let him take it, so he goes over there No! What are you doing? He's coming back for more? Dude, you took it already, homie. You took it. It's yours. It's gone. Don't come and think you're going to take more I'm getting bullied. I'm getting bullied by my dog here, bro I'm not even a bully breed Can you see it? See all the resin in there? Fat wood? This is like wax, eh, when you shave it? But the reason it's so cool, the reason it's so good, look at that. It just goes, burns with that black smoke. Look at the end resin pouring out of it. So that's all I'm doing I'm just gonna collect a bunch of that stuff make fire lighting kind of fun and easy. So I've got a lot of Resinous curls here, but it's kind of difficult because I'm only really going like this near the ends It's not the easiest way to make curls and I've really used up all pretty much all the resin I've got to the middle of the wood where it's actual wood again, not resin So I'm gonna take piece of one of the one of the piece of Oaks I just cut or just split. I mean try to find a nice spot to work Birds next man, that'll go up. I'll go up real well. Look at that taper boy that taper son lead been to Kindling and then my fuel pieces over here. So all I want to do is measure out my distance Like I said before I do not need yeah, just take it. I want to take it. I don't need uh the fire for warmth but i don't want it to be so far away from me that i'm not feeling any warmth from it either while i'm sitting here by the by the fire tonight so i might put it about one good step away one really big step away so right here seems good to me you gotta move buddy thank you watch out big boy watch out big boy okay that's where i want to have the fire we'll do couple flat pieces underneath it decent platform I'll even use a little brace there here's my oh my kindling or sorry all my shavings I want to use the resinous ones first off add the rest on got a nice matching fire steel with this This knife from an adventurous one close for comfort eh but so because there's some resin in those curls it will burn for quite a bit longer than just normal fire normal wood curls so it takes a little bit of the rush of it I guess not that there is a big rush anyway got my sticks up on my brace all at once not trying to one stick it no one sticking it so the nice thing about the brace is if you mess up and smother it you can kind of give it a little bit of air but I don't think it needs any right now this fire is going to go good some of this is a little bit wet the stuff near the bottom what I just cut so actually there's some but anyways I'm going to put it all on now so that while it's growing it's also thawing the wood out drying it out that's a nice big dense piece probably split that down actually that one, what's up buddy better off swinging it with two hands, this wood is legit man, nice and straight grained and easy to split and heavy BTUs it's probably the best of all i could ask for in firewood, the best of all i could ask for words that mean things with Joe Flair's not smoking anymore man she's going nice, great fire, it's gonna be a great bed of coals, Scott's loving it, you want me to put your blanket out here buddy, yeah that's what i'm gonna do, he's just laying there enjoying the fire so he should be laying on this instead of the cold ground get up right here buddy, guy here back on here, good boy, it's for you, good dog, it's a little bit better eh, a little better it's cold hips eh, cold hip, he's I've got his crocodile collar on, one of my subscribers made for him that lives in Australia. This stuff is very dense, and I don't feel like cutting it all up with my silky. I do start a long fire, not out of need of warmth, just out of not wanting to cut this solid, solid oak into pieces. So I'll just start it off like this with a piece of wood near it, and it'll eventually start to catch and everything. I'm not really going to force the long fire, but it'll happen. a heavy piece of oak here we go i'll break it into piece or i'll break it into place when i need to so instead of cutting it i'll just wait till it burns enough fold it over break it and then that'll be the way i cut my wood or the way i burn through my wood so i believe it's called an indian style i could be wrong with that though i used to make like maybe the indian star is the fire lay i'm thinking of where you build the fire right in the front and you have big logs sticking out at all different angles looking like a star and then you're just feeding them into the middle the same idea anyway I think I'm gonna go around and look for some rocks to prop up my rock that I brought for cooking I want to cook my bacon and my steak maybe not the bacon I might be able to hang the bacon but I'm definitely cooking the steak on the rock I did bring this rock in inside my backpack it was heavy but it's an ideal rock for cooking and I am a person who carries around rocks cook on instead of nice lightweight grill that I have so I'm gonna go out and look for other rocks to support this if I can't find that it's fine I'll use wood or I'll just throw it right on the coals or whatever everything will be fine but ideally I can support this up a little bit and push some coals underneath so while that's burning down that's a lot of hard firewood hardwood I'm gonna go around and look for some rocks I might even throw some more wood on there before I go but she's already starting to catch the oak on either side which is pretty cool it's only 12 so like it's a good thing I have a lot of firewood