Arcturusschool1

Today I got to thinking about the many uses of Cattail. I have been to many survival schools and at one of them, the survival instructor pulled up a Cattail, peeled off the long leaves and had us eat the raw stalk. I actually did not mind the taste; I put some salt on my second helping of Cattail and it reminded me of celery. There is a reason why Cattail is known as “nature’s supermarket.” Cattail can be found in wetland areas, along streams, ponds, or even in ditches or drainage areas. I literally find it growing in the ditch in front of my house. In spring, eat the young shoots while they are edible, like I once did. The yellow pollen from the head can be used as flour. The inner part of the root can be chopped up, dried and ground up into flour as well. Mash up the root and make a poultice out of it for cuts, stings, burns and wounds. The stems contain a sap that is good for toothache and burns. Put on a sunburn as the sap has pain-killing properties. You can use the long leaves of the plants to make baskets or sleeping mats. Try braiding the leaves to make cordage. Use the fluff in a t-shirt as a type of absorbant bandage for heavy bleeding, or you could fashion it into a diaper. Cattail also makes a fine tinder that falls under the category of a flash tinder. To make good tinder, harvest a few cattail heads with the stalks attached, tie them together and hang from the rafters and let them air dry for 2-3 weeks. The dried cattail stalk has been used as a hand drill when making primitive fire or as a spindle for a bow drill fire. You can transport fire by soaking a cattail head in fat or oil, then lighting it. This fire will burn for about 6 hours. You can also use it this way as a torch. Arrow shafts can be made from dried cattail stalks. You can even build a wigwam type shelter from cattails. Come on out to Arcturus Primitive Skills Institute and I will show you these and other uses for this versatile plant. See you in the wild. -Art

This winter season, fight the flu with these must-have herbal medicines. Disclaimer, I am not a doctor or pharmacist; this information is for educational purposes only. Try them at your own risk. Now, let’s dive into it. A couple of weeks ago I had the flu pass through my household. As a result, I am finishing a video about cold and flu medicine. At the beginning of the video, I was on the mend and just coming out of the flu. You can see this in my face and demeanor. The medicine I describe is best used in the cold months. Use this when you can’t find other plants (beebalm, mullein, which are other great plants to use for lung ailments). I also did this video based on the season of its making, which was late winter to early spring. In the video, I start with White Pine. White Pine is native to Michigan and can be identified by its cluster of five pine needles. The needles are packed full of vitamin C. Pound-for-pound pine needles are said to have more vitamin C than a lemon. This high vitamin C content makes these pine needles an effective immune booster that was once used to treat scurvy. This vitamin C content is what makes my medicine an immune booster to help treat colds and flu. The needles are good for treating colds, flu, fevers, and your respiratory system. To aid your respiratory system, include some thin twigs with the pine needles when you make your infusion (tea). White Pine also has vitamin A and can boost your brain health. This tree also has antibacterial, antiseptic, and anti-inflammatory properties. In the video, you can see a small amount of sap flowing out of the tree. I describe how you can put the sap on cuts and use it for other first-aid applications. You can mix the sap with crushed charcoal from your fire and dead grass material to make bushcraft glue. The White Pine has other survival uses. During times of starvation, you can cut into the tree’s inner bark for food. Then cut it into strips and leave it on a rack to dry. Once dry, cut it into small sections and eat it. I recommend cutting it into a small cracker size. I admit it’s going to taste like pine sol, but it will get you through a famine. Herbalists like to talk about triangle formulas and Chinese medicine, but I am going to keep it more simple than that. Next we add Wintergreen. Wintergreen is a plant you can find on the forest floor throughout Michigan. I find it all over the ground at the location of my survival school. The leaves of Wintergreen contain methyl salicylate, which is the same chemical found in aspirin. Like aspirin, Wintergreen reduces fever, reducing pain and swelling (note how White Pine was also fever reducing and anti-inflammatory). Wintergreen can help with digestion (this makes sense, as Wintergreen is minty and minty things are often carminative) and can be used to relieve pain from arthritis, joint pain and rheumatism. Wintergreen often has a red minty berry attached, which you can eat. I have eaten these red berries many times ever since I was young. I have learned that eating one red berry is like taking one aspirin. In addition to medicinal uses, Wintergreen also simply makes a pleasant mint tea. In a 2023 class, I introduced my students to Wintergreen tea and offered to let them sample it. Afterwards, I had a student ask his girlfriend to make him a cup of the tea. I have made this tea on many occasions throughout the years and have found that the strongest medicine is made when the leaves of the plant are purple, which usually takes place in late winter to early spring. In the video, I point out a Wintergreen with purple on its leaves. In the past, I tried using Wintergreen like icy-hot and did an experiment with the plant. My knee was bothering me so I made a Wintergreen poultice and applied it to my knee. I then held it in place with a strip of t-shirt for external medicine. I then drank some tea for internal medicine. All I know is that somewhere between the two, it worked at eliminating my knee pain. Try this at your own risk. The final ingredient to my medicine involves raw honey. Raw honey helps with bronchial asthma, throat infections and in soothing a sore throat. Raw honey, like White Pine, is also an immune booster. Raw honey is also antibacterial and antifungal, which are reasons why it aids in wound healing (much like the sap of the White Pine). Raw honey can be applied directly onto cuts, wounds and is particularly effective with burns. Now, lets summarize the main qualities of our medicine. It is an immune booster and cough suppressant because of the pine needles and honey. It is anti-inflammatory because of the pine needles and Wintergreen, while the Wintergreen itself is a pain-killer. So, we have effectively created a cold weather cold and flu medicine that is an immune booster, cough suppressant, anti-inflammatory pain-killer. It is perfect medicine during the cold months when you are suffering from coughing, cold and flu. Take a sip, it also makes a wonderful tea. To learn more and to make medicine in the field, sign up for a class. I will see you in the wild. -Art

Over time I have experimented with various different tinder material while out in the wild. Most tinders in the wild can fit into 1 of three categories: inner/outer bark of trees, woody stalks/outer fibers, light fluffy material/seed heads. In the first category of inner and outer tree barks, in particular I like: cedar, willow, paper birch (perfect for cold and wet weather; good initial tinder), aspen, poplar, tulip poplar (hard to find this far north) and some pines. As far as wood stalks/outer fibers I like: milkweed, fireweed, thistle and stinging nettle. As far as light fluffy material/seed heads I have had luck using several different plants, such as cattail. To use cattail as a tinder, first gather it, tie the stems together and hang upside down and let air dry for 2-3 weeks for a “flash” tinder. My first successful bow drill fire was lit using cattail as tinder. Dried out goldenrod is another good tinder source. Not only is goldenrod a good tinder source, it has numerous medicinal uses. Another favorite tinder of mine is the white fluffy silk of milkweed. This is the real fine stuff that floats through the air and goes all over the place. Inside the milkweed pod, from where the white fluffy stuff comes from, you can find a light brown papery material which is the plants ovum. This too is also good for starting fires. There are of course numerous other tinder sources out there in the wild. So get out there and experiment. I hope to see you sometime in the wild. Come train with me at Arcturus Primitive Skills Institute.

When carving feathersticks for fire lighting, I have found that the best woods to use are similar to wood you would use for a bowdrill set. Like with a bow drill set, I have had good luck making feathersticks from cedar, willow and certain types of pine. I have been told that Sweet Chestnut, Sycamore and Ash also work very well for making feathersticks. Some bushcrafters have also claimed luck making feathersticks out of oak and maple, but in my experience, I tend to have better luck with softer wood. I would imagine that tulip poplar would work well for feathersticks; it certainly works well for bow drill sets, for making birds nests and for tinder. I have found that I am a little too far north for tulip poplar to grow, however, I swear I found a tulip poplar tree nearby a creek south of Whitehall, Michigan, which needless to say surprised me (maybe I’m wrong). So get out there, practice making feathersticks, and come see me sometime at Arcturus Primitive Skills Institute. Stay safe out there and I will see you in the wild.

Over time, I have tried numerous different materials when experimenting with char cloth. Some of the materials I have used include: punk wood, cattail leaves, pampas grass, cut up t-shirts, cut up bandannas, rolled up cotton balls, dried mullein leaves and a variety of dead plant material. What I have learned with char cloth is that it needs to be 100% natural plant fiber to work best. I have found that the thicker the material, the better it will hold a spark. I have seen some bushcrafters use cut up long underwear. While I have found that this does work, I find it to be too brittle and that it crumbles too easily. My current favorite material to use is from cut up jeans. One hundred percent cotton jeans. Even more effective than just cutting up 1 inch squares of jeans to char, try cutting along the length of the seam. Cut a section about 3 inches long and 2 inches wide. Roll it up lengthwise, put it in your tin and char it. This will give you the best char cloth with the most effective ember I have seen. A similar technique involves coiling the fabric like a rope and charring it. You want to make sure you are using the right material. I learned this lesson the hard way in 2015 at Self Reliance Outfitters ran by Dave Canterbury. I had purchased one of his metal water bottles. I had also purchased a (cheap) bandanna at an outlet mall prior to my arrival at his school. When I cut up the bandanna and tried to char it in the water bottle, I melted the material inside the container, ruining my nice water bottle. This bandanna was not cotton. Make sure you are using natural plant fibers such as cotton. If you are looking for a natural alternative to char cloth, consider using Milkweed pod ovum, as it will take a spark. Another natural alternative is tinder fungus, also known as chaga. This fungus can be found growing on birch trees. At Arcturus Primitive Skills Institute, you will learn to make char cloth using different materials. You will also learn how to use your char cloth to make a primitive fire. See you in the wild.

2023 was my first commercial year with APSI, and I must say, it exceeded my expectations. While I held a few classes in 2022, 2023 is when I went “live.” If 2023 is the beginning, I can’t wait to see what the future holds. I held several classes throughout the spring, summer and fall of 2023 and met great people. I heard many good stories around the campfire and really enjoyed instructing these fine people who visited APSI. I met Ronda and Shonda, two retired sisters who were still actively hiking and seeking out adventures throughout the United States. I appreciated their feedback at the end of the course (they said my skills were on point and that they learned a lot, but were not the biggest fans of my cooking). I met a fire fighter from Detroit who had very interesting stories, and a boy I nicknamed “Macguyver” because I was more than impressed by his knowledge of knot tying. In the fall I had the honor of doing a class for a large group of U.S. Veterans. 2023 was a success greater than I anticipated, which makes me excited for the 2024 season. I have posted the training dates for 2024 and I look forward to seeing you next year! Remember, “train as if your life depended on it, because someday it will.” See you in the wild. -Art