Team Madagascar Survival Training - Fire & Edge Tools

Place: Jonas Vildmark's Cabin, Långhundra Härad, Sweden
Time: 1 day in May

Here you have some pics from my latest training session with the inspiring guys from Expedition Team Madagascar. This was an tailored survival training session for Nicklas, Alexander and Albin to develop their skills in making fire. Besides general survival discussions we also covered some edge tool techniques and the safety aspects of knife, machete and axe. Turned out these guys was natural borne survivalists.

The expedition will take place in July this summer crossing the magnificent island of Madagascar by foot. This will be an 500 kilometer long hike through wild jungle and over the Madagascar high lands. The guys want to prove that anything is possible and at the same time bring light to the environmental situation on Madagascar. The island is the 4th biggest in the world and used to be covered by rain forest, today only a fraction of the island's original forest is left.

Now it's also official that the expedition will add one team member; it's Elias that is the lucky one to tag along on this adventure. It's a pleasure and honor for me to support these guys in their exciting project. Looking forward to the next survival training session to drill the gangs skills even further before they leave.

Follow the expedition by blog and Facebook.

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Bow Drill Fire Training a Moist April Morning

Place: Jonas Vildmark's Cabin, Långhundra Härad, Sweden
Time: 1 day in April

It's a peaceful and moist April's morning. This Easter Eve is perfect for training my bow drill skills under damp conditions. It's a challenge to get a fire started by drill using somewhat wet materials in the fire twigs and Bird's Nest (the ball of grass and other fine material to help catch the amber into flames).
Sonia and I found a handful of decently dry dead grass and some birch bark. Spindle and board I carve from Aspen that has been down for some while. For pushing down the spindle into the board and protect my hand I use a peace of Roe Deer hip bone. The bow I make from fresh Rowan stringed with a piece of laundry line. On the bottom I use a piece of wood from the shed to catch the powder I want to turn to amber.

With the moral support from Sonia I eventually manage to get the damp grass to catch on fire. But as you can see in the movie; the morning moist gives a smokey fire playing hard to get.

Always rewarding to train with the bow drill, and when it all falls into place; this is how happy you get...

By now the warming sun is starting to light up this beautiful morning; looks like this will be a great Easter Eve... My best wishes to you all!





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Wood Carving by the Good Friday Lunch

Place: Jonas Vildmark's Cabin, Långhundra Härad, Sweden
Time: 1 day in April

Easter holidays and this peaceful Good Friday is gratefully spent with the family by the fire cooking. The pan sizzles and I need something to turn over the meat. One of the pieces of wood get to taste my axe and five minutes later I have a decent turner.

And after the coffee the tool looks like this.

Carving is real fun, especially when it's this improvised... And the more I practice the merrier it gets.
Thank you for a tasty lunch!

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Driving Fox in Bogesund 2014

Place: Bogesund, Vaxholm Municipality, Sweden
Coordinates: Lat: 59.41233, Lon: 18.23497
Time: 1 day in March

It's the 15th of March and this season's last day of foxhunting here in Mid Sweden. As usual I'm attending the Driving hunt for fox out in Bogesund; always nicely arranged by Jägareförbundet.
The morning offer some wet snow and the afternoon sun and refreshing winds. A fairly big gang is gathered here today; over 30 persons are eager to spend this beautiful Spring day hunting. We get to see Roe Deer, Moose, Wild Boar, Hare and fox, but nothing is shot today. This got to be a great day filled with exercise, fresh air and lovely muddy boots. A special thanks for the nice lunch served in the woods. Hope to see you again next year.

See past years fox driving by clicking HERE


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Jakt & Vapen - April 2014

Hope you're having a great Spring weekend, preferably out by the fire enjoying your coffee and the latest issue of the Swedish hunting magazine Allt om Jakt & Vapen. In the April mag you can read my latest magazine article. This time the topic is the sharp 50 year old knife model Buck 110 Folding Hunter, see more by clicking HERE... Enjoy and take care.

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The French Riviera - Côte d'Azur

Place: French Riviera, France
Time: 7 days in March

Saint-Tropez, Saint-Raphaël, Cannes, Antibes, Nice och Monaco.. all along the coast line of Southern France; a beautiful landscape shaped by the glimmering water of the Mediterranean Sea. I just got back from a week of touring the French Riviera (also called Côte d'Azur by the French) and then got a taste of the interesting nature of the area. In between the glamorous harbors the Riviera also offer an exciting outdoor landscape I hope to get a chance to further explore in the future.

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Hunting Ripsa

Place: Ripsa, Södermanland, Sweden
Coordinates: Lat: 58.96916, Lon: 17.03473
Time: 1 day in January

Today I'm acting back up shooter on the beautiful and game full hunting grounds of Ripsa located about 30 kilometers North of Nyköping. It's Svensk Jakt together with Holmen that are arranging today's hunt in favor of a group of young hunters. The excited gang is gathered this crispy Winters morning when the temperature shows -4°F (-20°C). Today we have our sights set on Fallow Deer, Roe Deer and Wild Boar. The cold weather forces us to keep the dogs in the trucks for now and let the service mind Holmen people do the driving of the game.
I get to see a lot of beautiful Deer but none within good reach during the morning. But later in the afternoon when the temperature has climbed up to +5°F (-15°C) we let the dogs lose and I get two animals within reach, but unfortunately I can't get a good shoot so I let them pass.

This has been a terrific hunting day. I'm impressed with the amount of game these grounds are holding. Seven animals were laid down today and together the shooters have sighted over 100 Fallow Deer.
I want to give a big thanks to Svensk Jakt and Holmen for a good job arranging this perfect hunting day. Now I'm off for a nice and warm dinner together with friends telling spicy hunting stories.


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