2/4/26 Rochester Backyard Start 2:00 PM, Ken Berry 33 Degrees F. at 3:00 PM peak temperature. Average wind speed 6 MPH, Dry 24 Degrees F, Wind 5 MPH gusting to 12 MPH, Wind Chill a factor at 5:35 PM, Dry Shelter Type: SRO Orange & Silver Emergency Shelter with rapid ridgeline Fire Lay: Elevated Platform with Tepee lay, ferro rod on grass and flower top tinder bundle. White Pine kindling from the site. I used white pine and birch, unsplit, as fuel. Approximately 3 feet in front of the shelter. I tried to use the Star Fire Method. The shelter material was reflective, I did not build a fire pit reflector. The ground insulation was white pine branches harvested from the adjacent area about 500’ away, Tyvek sheet, garbage bag, puffer, and coat. Scenario start: 2:00 PM Hike until 2:30 PM Shelter complete: 3:00 PM Fire Ignition: 3:30 PM Collect pine boughs: 4:00 Occupy Shelter: 4:30 PM Done: 5:00 PM Ended due to uncomfortable laying on the ground and cold from the ground. The shelter worked very well but the pine boughs on the floor were way too thin. I harvested what I could from trees 500-feet away. The fire worked great and although a little too close to the shelter warmed the space very effectively. To work overnight it would have required much more ground padding / insulation and I would have needed much more firewood. Someone suggested using a star fire lay instead of processing firewood and splitting it down. This method was not successful. Splitting the wood exposes the dry interior wood and burns much better. As I was packing up to leave, I noted my right foot getting cold. When I got home my right foot was soaking wet, source unknown. I have never had an issue with the winter hiking boots. To overnight, this would have been a significant issue. Follow-up: No issue found with the boot. Perhaps melted snow from my pants and walking around. I have heard several times to build your bed and place the shelter over the bed. Packing the snow better and raising the shelter would have made it much less claustrophobic. The fire being so close added to the tightness and caused sparks to melt holes in my shelter.

2/2/26 Rochester Backyard Start 3:00 PM Ken Berry, called at 6:00 PM 35 Degrees F. at 3:30 PM peak temperature. Average wind speed 3.5 MPH Dry 27 Degrees F, Wind 5 MPH gusting to 12 MPH, Wind Chill to 24 degrees F. at 4:35 PM, Dry Shelter Type: SRO Orange & Silver Emergency Shelter with rapid ridgeline Fire Lay: Elevated Platform with Tepee lay, ferro rod on grass tinder bundle. Hemlock kindling from the site. Split dried birch as fuel. Approximately 4 feet in front of the shelter. The shelter material was reflective, I did not build a fire pit reflector. The ground insulation was hemlock branches harvested from the adjacent tree, Tyvek sheet, garbage bag, and coat. Scenario start: 3:00 PM Shelter complete: 4:00 PM Fire Ignition: 4:30 PM Occupy Shelter: 5:45 PM Done: 6:00 PM Ended due to uncomfortable laying on the ground I let myself get sweaty processing the firewood. I should have removed the coat much earlier. The shelter worked very well but the hemlock boughs on the floor were way too thin. I harvested what I could from two adjacent trees. The fire worked great and although a little far from the shelter warmed the space. To work overnight it would have required much more ground padding / insulation and I would have needed much more firewood. Much more. The fire dried me out after I took the coat off. I’m sure that the ground would have been the limiting factor. Much more insulation. I intend to repeat this exercise in a remote location with only the materials in that selected pack.

December has been a very active fire month for me. After suffering from a drought and fire ban all summer it was great to have snow on the ground and a valid burn permit. I burn wood in a wood stove to supplement the heat in our house. During the month I made a point of not using newspaper in the starting process. Yes we buy commercial fatwood form Plow & Harth which I do use but started a fire every afternoon except Christmas Eve with materials that I know how to find in nature and with one exception started the fires with one wooden match. On the 6th, I started a fire with a ferro rod struck with my flavor-of-the-month knife. This was a fire in the woodstove. More on this below. On the 7th, I started a fire while out training with our grandson, G-Man, and started a fire in the snow with flint & steel. I used char cloth that came with the tabacco tin, but had char cloth and punkwood available that I should have used under the circumstances. This is one of G-man's next training items - the making of charred material. On the 22nd, I had run out of birch bark for fire lighting so started making birch curles for the woodstove fires. On the 28th, I started a fire in the Migizi Wanderer Stove on the training stumps in the back yard. Lessons: 1. Possum Mentality - I should always pick up birch bark that I find laying on the ground. 2. Be very careful with the ferro rod in the house. I have a new burn scar on the fire rug thanks to the efforts on the 6th. Fire Rug scar and not something more sever. 3. Use fatwood for starting the fire and not as fuel. The pitch makes a real mess on your equipment.

Intended to be practice for future modules. Brief: I attempted this challenge on two attempts over two afternoons. A total of.approximately 5 hours was spent between the two days. Saturday was a solar fire while Sunday was a ferro-rod on feather sticks in a Dakota Fire pit. Construction of said pit occurred over the two afternoons but overall less than an hour total went into digging. What worked: - Two types of ignition (solar, ferro/feather) - Construction of Dakota Fire Pit - Material collection - Fire lays What didn't/things I regret: - I focused more on filming at times than the actual skill. That will come with time. - I used a loose tinder bundle instead of a bird's nest, causing me to use charred punk wood with my magnifying glass. - Construction of fire pit not a one and done and used both mini-shovel and spade. If I were in the field, I would have struggled without the spade. - I sourced some downed wood which turned out to be half-rotted, causing my batons to chip out. Feather stick raws were difficult to create. - Need more practice with feather sticks - Conditions were favorable other than wind and not within the scope of the challeneg (damp/wet, cold) - I wussed out on day 1 and warmed my hands up after collecting my tools/gear before beginning material collection. It would have been better to attempt with cold, painful hands. Final Assessment: Practice, practice, practice.