When Survival Isn’t Enough... Chapter 9

John wandered through the woods until he found what he was looking for; a stand of Birch trees. Using his knife and hatchet as well as a sturdy stick with a wedge carved into the end, he began to cut and peel large sections of the birch bark off of several large trees. He hated to do it as it would cause the trees to die, but he consoled himself with the fact that he would come back later and use them for firewood and other projects should he be there into the winter.

He stacked several pieces and carried them back to the camp where he laid them flat and put several large stones on top to help them flatten out further as they dried. He went back and forth a dozen times and made the same number of stacks by the cabin in the sunlight. All this time he had also been periodically tending to the fire, boiling water to drink and checking his fishing locations. There were no fish caught and so he nibbled on dandelion leaves throughout the day as he made his trips. If his fish situation did not improve soon, he was going to have to build those traps and begin to hunt as well. But, the cabin came first as he was extremely tired of sleeping in less than desirable conditions and the last storm clinched it for him. The cabin had to be finished immediately.

By now, it was nearly 10 pm and he was feeling the weariness of the long day plus the effects of the lack of sleep and discomfort from the previous night’s storm. His bed of boughs was still soaking wet from the deluge and so he climbed over the cabin wall and began throwing the soaking limbs over the top. Back over the wall he went and dragged the entire soggy mass into the edge of the trees. Then, he cut several armloads of fresh Spruce branches and carried them over to the cabin where he heaved them over the wall and then climbed over himself. He was going to have to cut the doorway in tomorrow as all this climbing was exhausting and he had had little food for the last two days.

He piled the outer limbs into a framework with their needles pointing outward in a North, South, East and West fashion with the thicker ends toward the middle. Then he filled in the center of his “nest” with the branches that had the most needles making sure to thoroughly cover all of the ends from the frame so that he had a comfortable bed once more. As he had waited all day to make the bed, the wind and sun had completely dried out the boughs while they were hanging in the air on the tree and so with a mattress that was a good 12 inches thick, when he laid down, he was kept dry from the soggy ground as well as insulated from the cold soil beneath.

Going back over the wall one more time, he drank deeply from his pot of water and banked the fire with three large logs, two on the bottom and one in the center of them, in the crack on top. Then, back over the wall and onto the fresh bough bed where he pulled his cap over his eyes and his jacket over top of his torso with one jacket arm toward his head and one toward his feet to maximize the coverage of the thin shell for a blanket. It was 1 am in the Land of the Midnight Sun.

The night passed uneventfully and he slept like the proverbial log. He awakened damp with dew and was thrilled because he knew that this meant fair weather lie ahead. By his watch, it was nearly 9am and so getting up and stretching himself to his full height, he rubbed his eyes and taking his hatchet, climbed over and out of the unfinished cabin. He drank the rest of the cooled water and building up the smoldering fire, put some more on to boil. He checked his lines and found one small fish which he took back cleaned and ate for breakfast. The other two lines were still baited but he took off the old bait and re-baited them all with fresh entrails from the newly caught fish.

That done, he brushed his teeth with a bit of a spruce twig with the ends chewed and frayed into a brush like affair with finely ground charcoal for toothpaste. He also used the torn off shirttail from his shirt to take a sponge bath using some of the powdered charcoal from his fire as a soap. If he could somehow get some fat to render, he would attempt to make some proper soap but for now it would have to do.

Taking a small chunk of charcoal from his fire, he went over to the long side of the cabin facing the lake, where he carefully measured and drew the outline of the doorway. After this, he began to cut through the logs with the hatchet, taking his time and making accurate strokes. This took him four hours, but when he was done, he was quite satisfied with the result. He also had used a stick for a baton and using the hatchet and baton together, cleaned up the edges of the doorway making them as smooth as possible.

Next, he needed to make some boards so he went to his pile of dried wood and selected several logs of the right diameter. Dragging them over to his working area, he picked out scrap pieces of wood from his doorway cut-offs and made ten wedges eight inches long. He used the charcoal again and drew a line across each end of the logs and down the length of both sides. He now had a line running all the way around the center of the log length-ways. He used the hatchet and chopped all the way around this line deep enough to insert the wedges. Then, starting at one end, and using the poll of the hatchet as a hammer, he began one by one to place the wedges until the log laying on it’s side had wedges all the way around. He pounded them one after the other until the log split evenly down the center. He repeated this process on the two halves until he had made four boards from the one log. He did this to the other logs he had picked out as well. They averaged from 3/4 to a full inch thick and he used the edge of the hatchet to plane down the roughest spots and try to make them as straight and smooth as possible. As he had paid special attention to the grain of each log, there was little twisting of the boards when split and overall, it was a good job, especially considering the rude tools at his disposal.

Standing one of the boards beside the doorway, he measured and marked the board to the inside of the door way and using the tiny saw from his multi-tool, laboriously cut the board at each end squaring it off as best he could. He did this for each side of the doorway as well as the lintel at the top. Then, using the awl from the multi-tool, he bored holes into the board starting with the two sides and holding each one in turn, he bored them into the logs behind which made up the wall of his cabin. Then, he used some more of the scraps and carved wooden pegs which he hammered into the holes of each board and into the logs behind. He left each peg sticking out a full inch and then cut a saw notch into each one. He then hammered them the rest of the way in and put a small wedge in the saw cut he had made in the end of the pegs. When these were also hammered into place, they put enough pressure on the peg that they held very securely. He fastened each side board on and then the top piece. Now his doorway was framed in.

He made the door the same way using the boards length-ways and double thick and running one board at an angle from top right to bottom left on the back. He fastened them all together using the peg and wedge method all the while wishing for the ease of common nails and determined to never complain again about modern carpentry methods and tools. For hinges, he used the roots of a gnarly old tree stump boring and carving holes in one piece and making a pin with the other piece. He made three hinges. He hung them to the back of the door and the cabin’s logs by using the pegs and wedges and then hung the door itself. The top and bottom hinges had the pin facing down so he just lifted the door into place and lowered it into the sockets of the hinges. He waited until this was accomplished until he installed the third and middle hinge. This hinge had the pin facing upward, opposite of the other two and when he had finished, the door could not be lifted up or down from off it’s hinges and pins. For a latch, he just used a bit of the left over wire from the plane through a hole bored into the edge of the door which he could tie to the outside or inside depending on where he was. A better latch would have to be made later.

By now it was again late into the evening and he went and checked his lines again. This time there was two large fish and so he took them off, re-baited the hooks and ate them for supper. He banked the logs again and saying a prayer that the good weather would hold off for a day or two longer, he opened up the new door with not a little bit of accomplished pride and went to bed. As he drifted off to sleep, he meditated on the truth of Ecclesiastes 5:12 “The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much….”

Hard work is a blessing and one of the secrets to a good night’s sleep. God intends for us to work and enjoy the fruits of our labors. Through the storms and through the long nights He will watch over us and protect us. However, we must continue to do our part. If we want God to bless our labors, then we must have some labors for Him to bless! No matter where you are in life, if you will surrender to God’s Sovereignty and trust in God’s Supply, then you will surely experience God’s Salvation!

Thanks for reading!

PS.  Friend us at our Facebook Page – WayPoint Survival.  Check out our videos on YouTube at WayPoint Survival.  Make sure to click the subscribe button so you can help us get more viewers: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpgGLHAPVIm5se3T7I1-pEg?sub_confirmation=1 You can also check out the website where you can sign up for training in survival and bushcraft skills at www.waypointsurvival.com.

James B