Update.....finally

So haven't written in a while. My day job has been kicking my butt with overtime, but I've still managed to get some projects done. What have I accomplished? First, I took a week off and went on a cruise to Mexico. Never been on a boat in the ocean, much less any boat the size of a cruise ship. It was a good experience. I'm glad I did it before the recent cruise disasters. Mexico was fun and beautiful. Saw the Mayan ruins at Chacchoben (since it is 2012, after all) and went to Xcaret (best animal exhibits ever.) The only heartbreaking moment was pulling out of port in Tampa Bay and watching the random trash float by before getting out to sea.

Next, I made a sweet sinew-backed flat bow out of Black Birch. I used deer rawhide for the string, made a few arrows, and some really cool deer bone arrowheads. This is the first bow I've made that didn't break, was hunting capable, and durable. I definitely owe my success to the Traditional Bowyer's Bible Volumes 1, 2, and 3. 

And lastly, went camping in National Forest for a couple nights, with no tent. I built a cozy shelter out of materials around the campsite, and actually slept in it. That was also a first for me, to sleep in a mostly natural shelter. The temperature was close to 60 during the day, and a little below freezing at night. I did have warm clothes on, and the cheapest sleeping bag rated 30 - 50 degrees I could find.
While camping, I foraged for foods also, just to see what I could find in late winter in the forest. This food finding experiment opened my eyes to something. If you depend on the land for your survival, it is really hard to feed more than yourself. I found just enough food for me, and no more. I managed a couple dandelion plants, giving me some small roots and a few greens; a fish just a few inches long; a few partridge berries; an earthworm; and some trout lillies. If I had stayed longer, maybe I would have caught a big fish, a crayfish, or some small game. But....the point is, although I wouldn't have starved, I would have been hungry. If I had had to share with others, we would have all been VERY hungry. My conclusion: Everyone in a group must be capable of finding food, if the group wants to eat.

And now...off to work on some more projects. Promise there will be more soon.

Bamboo Bundle Bow Nock Test

Hello. First I would like to say that I'm no expert on any primitive skills. I've researched and read a ton about how to do things, but when I moved to the mountains is when I really started practicing my skills. And boy have I learned a lot from living out here in the middle of nowhere. Well, anyway, recently I've taken an interest in making bows. I wanted to start with something simple like a bamboo bundle bow, but I wanted to come up with something different for nocks, besides just string nocks. So this is my experiment using hockskins from a whitetail deer with the dew claws and dew claw bones still attached to hold the bow string.

Things I Used:

Twisted rawhide 

Hide glue

Dried Glue

Reconstituted Glue in old Tuna Can
I put this in a hot water bath, while I was working.

Hock Skins from the lower leg of a deer

with dew claws and dew claw bones left in

This was just a crazy idea I had. I thought these would make really cool knocks for the bowstring.

Sinew

Dried, pounded, and separated

Pieces of Seasoned Bamboo

I got these at Lowe's Hardware in the Garden section. But, not wanting to spend much money on this project, I only got 2 of the 6 ft stakes, and a 25 pack of 4 ft stakes. (The 6 ft stakes were $3 a piece, and the 25 pack was about $3 also)

Process

Bamboo end

I scraped just a little on the bamboo, to give the glue something to hold onto.

I smeared some glue on the bamboo and the inside of the hockskin. I let the glue on the bamboo dry a little until it was tacky to the touch.

I also wrapped these with some sinew just as extra hold, and to hold them in place while i wrapped them in rawhide.

And...the rest to come. I did test it a little before it was finished just to see if it was going to hold up. I cheated some during this test by wrapping the handle area in duct tape, and wrapping one layer of duct tape around the rawhide lashings...but my goal is to use all natural materials. I removed the duct tape after testing and will finish it up with all rawhide lashings.

Drawn Bow

The nocks held very well. I put a strip of duct tape on them at first for safety, in case they slipped. But after a couple days the rawhide, sinew, and glue were cured enough to hold on their own without the tape. I was very impressed with the glue, considering it was my first attempt at making it.