If you've ever been camping, you've probably experienced the joys of tent stakes either stubbornly refusing to enter the ground, or equally stubbornly refusing to stay in it. Sticking tent stakes...

Many tents are made with bottoms that are not quite as water-resistant as campers may hope. Even when selecting an optimally-drained camp site, pitching your tent straight on the ground can lead to...

Perhaps you've heard (maybe even from me) that flint can't throw a spark from stainless steel knives. The other day, I was doing some experiments in anticipation of shooting a video, and realized...

Perhaps one of the easiest devices to make and use reliably is the bow.  While a crude, albeit useful, version may be cobbled together from a bundle of sticks satisfactorily enough for a...

A hatchet is a small axe, designed for use with one hand. Hatchets usually have slim profiles, meant more for biting deep into wood on the cross-grain than for splitting. While a hatchet or axe...

Hatchets are extremely versatile tools. They can be used for splitting kindling and building shelters, but it doesn't end there. A hatchet can quickly remove material, shape and carve like a knife,...