One year after husband badly injured, I had to cut wood for heating our house. Cut and split 14 cords of wood. Great exercise. Learned a lot...bought an electric saw after that because I ruined both wrists from the vibrations. We had land and just dragged the wood within electrical cord distances to cut it up. Also learned to butcher deer that year using my Good Housekeeping cookbook...yes, butchering a cow is similar to processing a deer. We survived in style until he recovered and I was able to return to my studies (I was his nurse for a few years) and graduate with a useful degree. You never know what challenges you will face in life.
I know you're just trying to defend your boi, but it's a bit of a narcissist mindset to gaslight and espouse anyone critical of your opinion is evidently some loser that lives with their mother. *"I'm so intelligent and accurate that no logical, educated person would host a critique."* Hating isn't a necessary antecedent to criticism, and this logic triggers me to no end because my wife employs the same mindset. I live in Tokyo, my wife is a mainlander, so their logic is VASTLY different than ours as in it does not exist. Literally any time I attempt a constructive criticism, or a critique *"Babe maybe next time you should try X. Well Liu, if you would try X, maybe there would have been a different result."* She looses it like shes some kicked dog, and if Im some abusive Western man, for not exclusively sitting there listening, and feeling sorry for something she could have easily avoided had she employed literally any gd common sense. Anyone that's ever spent any meaningful amount of time with Chinese people realize they are completely devoid of basic logic and common sense tho; it's a cultural thing, and it is so gd triggering. Your comment reminds me of hers. Now Idgaf if he cuts down trees, and I'm just venting because my petty Chinese wife, but I've seen a litany of content creators betching about going out in the woods, and encountering literally dozens of the bushcraft shelters, that random guys are out building because they encountered some YT video, and subsequently cut down a dozen trees to attempt the technique. I've seen far more RUclipsrs betch about people cutting trees down in the woods, than some rando YT comment. Sure this was standing dead, but I've have seen Cley fell DOZENS and dozens of lodgepole to build bushcraft shelters. One of his more popular videos he builds a bushcraft cabin with his kids out of like three or four dozen live standing. People are allowed to have their opinions, and Cley butchers living and dead standing. Who gaf; some people evidently do, and that doesn't make them betches for doing so. Imo it's his plot of land, he can do whatever tf he wants with it. I don't gaf, and I presume you don't either, I just think it's such a gd petty, ignorant argument to claim someone is a loser that lives with their mother for disagreeing with me. You really think man children that live with their mothers are consuming bushcraft content? Cmon man, they're presumably hippies, and hunters.
I worked for the DNR and did natural resource restoration as a youngster. I learned a lot about trimming certain trees in areas to allow healthy trees to grow. You are right to cut certain trees down. In order to allow the stronger trees to grow and give more habitat to animals. Thanks for your knowledge you did a great job with everything Brother! Loved the video
That's called a Rakovalkea in Finland, although I believe the classic version only has two really big logs. Apparently you can get 1 hour of burn time for each 2 inches of diameter - I suppose that sounds about right with the heat rising and the oxygen reaching your smaller logs. Interesting stuff, thanks for the demonstration
Nice to hear from our northern experts, and this was an excellent subject to bring up Clay. If you do build two I'm curious how much wood density matters. Softer pine = half the burn time of hardwood? Also, I imagine building this in front of a large blow down or rock face would radiate more heat your way (if this is an option without much searching). I also suspect a folding saw and mallet would be enough if one was not carrying a hatchet (stone or heavy branches are decent pounding tools). Good times!
Our stakes burnt trough and when we woke up we had 3 logs lying half around a gone fire, biggest advantage was the broader radiation heat wich was nice
One preference that I have for the Siberian fire vs this one is that with the Siberian method the logs can’t really fall on you during the night. With this method I wouldn’t want to sleep too close in case the supports burned through and the burning logs fell towards you. Another great video and words of wisdom concerning the benefits of selective cutting to improve forest health.
Love that you took the time to explain forest health & wildlife habits. I think people just "assume" cutting a tree down is bad, but without understanding of the greater health & vitality of the forest. I have a terrible tree in my yard I want to cut so badly, but it remains home to an owl and so it stands! ❤
It's strange that people don't know that apparently. The facts about forest thinning are common knowledge - we were taught that at school, I've seen them mentioned in many if the books I've read outside of it, and mentioned in many educational/nature documentaries. It's hard to imagine a person with ears and eyes who could miss all that.
Hello from Norway. These is the same way the loggers in the old days used, it did keep them alive during winter. Yeah, a lot of them did not have a cabin to sleep in, a tre wall shelter was all they had. Great video.
Hey Clay , you know what you're doing out there in the woods so don't let any of these scrubs rock your boat . You don't owe anyone any explanations about chopping down any live trees .💯 You're one of the best RUclipsrs out there whos teaching the public on how to survive in the cold weather . So Thank you for what you do 💯🙏🏻😇✌🏻👋🏻💪🏻🙌🏻👍🏻
This is why I really like your channel. You set things up so that folks can see what happens if things don't go as planned and show the way to fix those issues. It is also great that you actively teach rather than quickly demonstrate. Great visuals. That camera has pretty good dynamic range and a super crisp image. This channel is not a carbon copy of the rest. Kudos and many, many thanks!
Thank You for clarifying that piece about cutting down the trees. I felt an tinge of ...resentment when I saw beautiful big trees being cut down. Here in California, we have such beautiful giant redwoods and sequoias that are worth preserving at all cost. On the opposite spectrum, we have devastating wild fires where some areas could benefit from cutting down massive dead trees. And fires do help to replenish the soil and encourage new growth. So thank you for putting it into perspective; sometimes its necessary.
Thank you, Clay, for turning hatemail into an opportunity to educate, raise the mood, and just generally being a wholesome guy. Good goin’. 6:04 I remembered you talking about one of the Alone episodes, how there was an area of forest with certain age/type of trees… I think you mentioned being a wildlife biologist there. Said to myself: My God, he knows what animals to expect to come in the night and season just from the trees. (I think you were estimating bears to come through)
I'm not a survival but to answer your question as I recall We would build a wall with very dry logs Then light A fire in front of The Logs. It would reflect the heat. And? As the night went on, the logs would catch fire and burn. So it wouldn't have to be tended during the night. Test it out it's been years. Love your videos.
As a karuk native from NorCal we are always told to cut the smaller trees and clear around the bigger ones to where only the canopies of the trees touch not the trunks.. the bigger the tree the bigger the bark which is better fire protection for the forest! Keep at living with natural law brotha, us natives see real ones living with the land and not over it and all you do is come with respect! Much love always
From everything I've seen and experienced, it seems to me that this problem of a no-maintenance, all-night fire has been with us for a long time, and instead of truly solving it, we for the most part moved on with other technology where possible. It's interesting to consider how integral fire is to our survival, and for how long we have lived alongside it, and yet there remains this issue. Great job and good insight on this version of an all-night fire. From my own fires, I know that I personally would not have been satisfied with the amount of heat that would've been giving off, lol. Still, I applaud you for taking on this problem and contributing your own innovations. Maybe someday we will solve it. Until then, I don't expect to get enough sleep in the winter, lol.
And thats called a "Widow Maker" ..Im 70 now, but my Father was a hardwood lumberjack back in the 50' and 60's. Back then, if a lumberjack created a "widow maker", there was an unwritten code between those men that said that you dont leave that day unless that hung up tree was brought down and any other timber cutter in the area would happily help bring it down with you- Knowing they played their part in NOT creating a widow that day
This video was a great lesson for me. I’m a complete noob and I’m sitting back here wondering why you were cutting down live trees. Thanks for being patient and teaching guys like me.
We always like the full explanation and complete walk through of the things you are teaching. You show when issues happen and how to deal with them for the next time. The hinge method for controlling tree fall was taught to me by an old logger over in Minnesota but I had lost some of that skill after moving to central Washington, treeless area. If everything goes well we may be moving back to the woods.
Hey Clay, when you were going over your reasons for taking down dead and live trees, you made a great argument. One thing I think that most people forget is that trees are a cash crop. They take longer to gestate, but they are a cash crop. Just like corn, wheat, soybeans, tomatoes, etc. On the personal level, if you own the land, the trees are yours to do with as you see fit. I see you look at the conservation end of things and the hate mail is not justified. Great vid. Thanks from Georgia, home of the Pines and the Dawgs.
Hi Clay, those haters most probably burning plastics in stead of woods. Their brains are toxic. I support your knowledge and skills of how to survive in the woods by using surrounding trees and materials. It could safe life if someone stuck in the woods with some knowledge to survive, keep warm, cook food, keep animals away in the dark. That is how trees serve its purpose for man kind. Knowing how to use trees safe life. ❤ support your channel.😊
Really like watching all the things you do Clay. Things don’t always work out perfectly that’s nature, it’s the way you react to the situation that can mean the difference between life and death. And I’ll put my money on Clay every time!
Very realistic. No one knows the sheer amount of effort it takes to use a bow saw or an ax to segment or drop a tree until you do it. There's nothing like trying to acquire food in the middle of winter, in the middle of nowhere without sleep. It's more important than most would imagine.
Whenever I watch someone spending a night out in the open and see them making a small fire, I wonder why they don’t build a long fire which provides a wind-break and will burn through the night without much maintaining apart from slipping a narrow log between the main log every so often. Nice job mate!
Yeah, I’m sticking with the self feeding fire. It’s much much quicker to set up and last 10 to 14 hours.with nice flame and more heat. Great info on selecting where to cut I’ll always keep that in mind for our forest friends
Interesting video...! The haters will always be around... its human nature! My 2 cents... I do agree that proper thinning/management of the forest by the professional, knowledgeable, experienced people is a good thing. However... Far too many people making videos in the woods (National forests. Not private land) promote taking live trees and boughs as a regular outdoor acceptable practice for shelter & bedding. It is really a "have to" technique to stay alive based on ones situation. There is always so much dead duff & debris laying around to make shelter & bedding. Its so easy to pack a tarp & ground pad! Thanks for the video...
Nice work, I live in Northern Ontario Canada , been in and around the bush my whole life and your never too old to Learn, take care and be safe out there GOD BLESS
Humanity has a creator that has given us everything we need and abundantly. You more than many can appreciate how rich humanity is. Grateful and loving we should all be.
Jesus is Lold! ✝️ Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap, or store away in barns, asd yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Thank you for silvaculture study. Very few people understand proper forest management requires removing certain trees to open the stand for healthy growth. Also, for wildlife habitat as well.
Anyone complaining about you chopping down a few trees probably lives in a house made of wood that was harvested from live trees. They were probably sitting in their favorite coffee shop that was also built with wood when they were typing their outrage out on their iPad that was built by a guy that was paid 50 cents a day to build it... They're just complaining about you to make themselves feel better... No need to explain...
You are absolutely right about building a long fire and warming up rocks on the coals on your bed spot. If the dirt is soft enough, kick dirt over the remaining coals, enough that you don't have 'hot' spots. Then build up your bed of boughs. Another tip is to build a long fire in front of the shelter with a couple of logs to add during the night. If birch is available, the bark, peeled off in thin strips is an alternative to lighter wood for fire starting. Dry birch burns well, but fast. You need a good store of it before it gets dark, or you turn in. Of course, that all requires time to prepare. Fire and water are first requirements.
From my humble experience with high sap trees, and dense trees like poplar, they never fall where you want them to fall. They have a mind of their own. Love your vids, keep up the great work. You will probably save lives with your information about survival.
I feel I have a good understanding of fires. I might suggest using stones ( if you can find some) to separate those logs. Using wood is great until they burn out and collapses cutting off oxygen. You need good airflow and the chance for the gas to stay in between the lower and upper flammable limit to have a good maintaining fires. Than feed the center with fat wood if needed. Have you tried building a wall behind it so you don't lose all that radiant heat? Great job I like this concept. Will look to see if you do a update video.
For upright posts, try green pine. It's far, far more resistant to burning than aspen. And you can add a couple offset from your originals as back-up if you're concerned about the fire rolling out - maybe at you asleep.
Clay , have you ever done a log cabin drop down from top down . This is a big fire for multiple people . Every one gets their own side . Very simple ,very fast . Producing heat in 15 minutes after built and started .
If you are looking for a bigger bow saw, get the Agawa 21. It is bigger than the 24 you already have, but with the special dry wood blade they sell is awesome for sawing larger logs like the one you did. Saludos!
@@outlawcountry6069 Indeed. Excellent saws. Sorry Clay, is the other way around (24 bigger than the 21 obviously). I love my Agawa 24. It is a beast and you sometimes can use both hands to saw, because the handle is wider. Cheers!
@@jameswalter3136 I have a Katana and it’s great saw as well but I always grab my Agawa Boreal 21 . I used it for several weeks on a trip I did and it is truly incredible. It comes with me on every journey now . VERY reasonable price as well.
Great video and i look forward to seeing this done as beyond a test and for purpose. I watched Lonnie from his Alsakan Bushcraft and Survival channel and the Russian fella from Siberia. Lonnie goes into great depth about the long fire. He said to keep the long fire about 1 full step or about 3 feet from ones shelter. I dont know if sleeping between two long fires would be safe. In fact he mentioned to place another log between you and the lig fire so as that in the event that one of the logs roll, that it does not roll into your structure. The Grey Bearded Green Beret has another great way to produce the long fire as well. Either way the three guys used the wood chips from flattening out the long logs along with copious amounts of birch and dead conifer branches from pencil size up. Your long fire did fantastic but I think the Siberian fire is where one would gain the most heat. This, I think is, second best but with that said this rèquires less room than a Siberian long log fire. Plus the Siberian fire I think was intended more for dire situations where this is meant to cast just enough heat into ones shelter to make one comfortable. Thanks for the tidbit on deadstandings that have holes in them. I will keep that in mind when I go out looking for firewood. Thanks again great video. Learned a lot.
I really have come to love the Swedish upside down fire method. Very low maintenance and long burning if stacked properly. Have you had any experience with this? Any chance of a video on that type of fire? Thanks, great video..
Got a very similar medkit for Christmas about five years back and it came with that same exact glass breaker pen. Out of all the stuff in the kit that damn goofy oversized pen has become part of my daily carry. I love it.
Saw one fire video where they stacked the wood high, and lit it towards the TOP of the stack and it burned slowly towards the bottom like a candle wick. Not sure how much heat it put out. Another method was mixing wet wood with dry wood to slow the process of the burn. The dry wood burns up faster, but dries the wet wood as it burns, which eventually catches the wet wood on fire. Standing dead wood is the dryer wood. Wood laying on the wet ground was the wet wood. I think the wet log technique is/was also used in fireplaces. Have heard some call it a backing log. Burning wet or green wood can create a lot of creosote build up in chimney pipes. Creosote can build up and catch on fire inside the chimney, burns extremely hot, and can start a house fire. Good to clean the chimney and replace the stove pipe on a regular basis. I replaced my old stove pipe and was amazed to see how much creosote had blocked the chimney flow. Inside a six inch pipe, there was probably only a 3 inch diameter hole. Thanks for sharing the test.
This is the best type of all night fire in my opinion although getting it going is a chore. I have used it couple of times while winter camping with great sucsess. Longest I have had one going was 16 hours. What i do is use only 2 logs to make it esier to maintain. When you had the 2 humps together not burning, you should have moved the top log to left or right side so the humps are not together anymore. Stakes burning out is a problem but it can be avoided. If you nail them to the top log spreading out and down away from the heat they wont burn, but make sure the top log is not hanging on them and is free to fall down when space frees up. If you are using smaller logs from higher up in the tree you can leave couple of branches to do the job, that way you can avoid using nails. Cheers!
Great video. It’s great you reveal just how much effort is required. One shouldn’t expose themselves to situations like this unless they have some minimal knowledge of survival strategies. Without that, tragedy is unfortunately a likely outcome.
It's kinda trippy watching those mushrooms on timelapse 😝 I've decided as of tonight that I'm going to try to ingest at least one, probably 2-3 bushcraft vids a night going forward. It seems like a pretty good start to watch yours!
I learned something pretty awesome on this video that I never knew before. I always thought that you could fall a tree in the general direction you want by just the front wedge taken out but when you said that it leaves a hinge that clicked in my head and makes so much more since. 😎 Awesome
Yours appeared to perform as well as any I've ever seen. Lars on "Survival Russia" channel has done the Russian style that you describe and the vertical design you show in this video. Lars also does an "upside-down" fire tower, where he made layers of shorter logs, laid clay between the layers, and got a good fire started on the top. The clay kept it from burning down too quickly, or something. They used an auto-feeder system at Valley Forge, during Revolutionary War times, where they pounded two thick green stakes into the ground at an angle. Got the long fire going, and then stacked logs on the fire, going up the stakes. As the fire burned out the bottom log, gravity would feed the next log. Such designs are prone to collapse at some point, but with practice, you could probably just about perfect the technique. Indeed, yes, building two fires and sleeping between them is an often-used method from centuries past. You can't really dig in the winter, but a Dakota fire pit, where you use the tunnel between the two holes as a chimney, rather than as an air intake, would create a warm spot above the chimney. It would also hide your fire, unlike the white-man versions of the Dakota fire pit everyone does on RUclips. Make that connecting tube a chimney, and all your flames and sparks will be invisible. I think the trouble is that people make way too big of a fire in the fire hole. Build a small fire and slant the tunnel up from the fire hole (not in that order). Once you get a little smoke going up the chimney, it will draw perfectly from then on. As your tunnel heats up, the burn will be almost 100% and there will be no smoke or sparks giving away your position, unlike the white man versions I always see.
I've tried this method many times. Works best for me to set it up before bed and have the logs starting on coals. When I wake up I just need to stoke it.
How am I just now finding this channel? I appreciate your insights on nature and wildlife being a wildlife biologist. You are a true steward of the land. Liked and subscribed!
Another reason for forest fires is also due to a lack of biodiversity (the lack of deciduous trees in a replanted forest and the sprays used to keep down leafy trees). At least in my region.
That went like I thought it would. Interesting version of a self-feeding fire. I would stick with the Siberian log fire in very cold conditions but, I'll be looking forward to your two fire experiment. Cheers!
Fatwood is definitely the best firelighter. There's a lot of Birch where I live so I use both. Birch bark will take a spark from a ferro rod but has that annoying habit of rolling up on itself as it burns. Fatwood burns hotter and longer and is easier to poke into holes when the fire is struggling to get going.
Trying to explain forestry/forest maintenance to city people who (most likely) only ever saw real forest in TV, is futile :) But I appreciate the effort.
That looked like a brilliant way to have a fire burning all night, would be a great heat source if you had a super shelter, What if you hammered in another duplicate set of upright supports just behind the ones closest to the logs - they can support the logs as they burn through the first ones
It would so tempting to try live trees for the some of the uprights and use bulkier logs to match, but replacing them makes sense. I have not tried one of these types of fires, in most of all example it seems very stubborn to get going well. I like the idea of two and sit between them, what is your spacing for comfort and not to be come a human hot dog? If its at all wet I go out of my way to find a little fatwood even if I have birch bark which is usually the case, I use the birch bark as an addition to the fire once it has decent flame, wet birch bark will sizzle out easier than I like. I would likely find some nice standing dead cedar and split it down for a bulky supply between the large logs, I'll have to try it, chainsaw in hand.
Really great ! I hope to see you setup an expedition with that kind of fire. And thanks for the explanation and showing the process of trials and errors, I really appreciate.
Love your videos. Have you tried top down fires? I watch some of the Eastern Euro wilderness folk, and they have a ton of long burning fire techniques. Saw one where the support logs were slanted and they stacked 8" thick by 4' long logs. They would roll into the firs as the one in front burned. They did set up some safety stakes 2-3 feet away from the fire so if the logs rolled, they would stop at the stakes.
@clayhayeshunter oh I see, ok. I was just thinking, while watching your video, i wonder if it would be worth the effort to make a three log base, then two, then one? Lot more work, but a lot more heat, possibly for longer (depending on multiple things). Thanks Clay!
Before making the back-cut, a small face-cut about 1/4 to 1/3 the tree's diameter, even if not removing a wedge, would help direct the fall and promote a cleaner break-away of the tree from the stump. Doing that would also effectively increase the range of tree diameters that you could cut given the limitation of the saw's blade-to-frame distance.
@@donphillips7329 Clay did indeed have an axe! I wasn't even thinking of that 😁😂 as I posted my comment before he got to the point of making wedges. One of these days, I might learn to watch videos to the end before posting commentary 🤣!
I have a winter "go bag" in all my vehicles, living in Alberta, Canada, it happens, as for haters, I will clear cut a forest to keep my Family warm and safe
And as an environmental scientist, having done studies of sapling growth under canopy....I can agree with him. Taking some live trees to thin out canopy can enhance growth of new trees. And thanks to him for saying "excavate" instead of "escavate" 😂
I wonder if getting some wet mud or piling sand or rocks around the support poles would keep them from burning through. The only other thing I can think of would be to bring some metal rods or potentially wrap the logs in metal wire. If you were to use the wire method you could carve a groove on the non burning faces of the logs in the middle so that it’s exposed to as little heat as possible and so that as it burned down it would still be supported.
I don’t know much about this, so this may be a dumb question but how come you don’t find a couple decent size stones to make the space between the logs? Then they won’t burn away and collapse. Loved the tutorial, thanks!
Greetings, my friend from Slovakia. You have amazing videos. It's a pity that you put out less videos about hunting with traditional bows. Your hunting videos are the best on youtube. I cross my fingers for you.
![Jack Harlow - Hello Miss Johnson [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Q86_nlRoIGw/mqdefault.jpg)
One year after husband badly injured, I had to cut wood for heating our house. Cut and split 14 cords of wood. Great exercise. Learned a lot...bought an electric saw after that because I ruined both wrists from the vibrations. We had land and just dragged the wood within electrical cord distances to cut it up. Also learned to butcher deer that year using my Good Housekeeping cookbook...yes, butchering a cow is similar to processing a deer. We survived in style until he recovered and I was able to return to my studies (I was his nurse for a few years) and graduate with a useful degree. You never know what challenges you will face in life.
Sounds like you did an amazing job!
Gee. It's almost like you turned your marriage into, uh, a team.
You're a good woman, and if you'd do what you did for him, I bet he's a good man.
😂M’😂😂😂😂
Ion😅/ am just 😅
😂😂
lol and your man was doing all of this without complaining... or trying to have the validation of people on internet lol.. just saying 😂
Clay, THIS kind of info is most needed for "survivors" stuck in the woods overnight! You're saving lives.😊
Why on earth would YOU of all people listen to haters? Probably some 24 year old girl who still lives with her parents!! Love your videos!!
🫵😂👍
I know you're just trying to defend your boi, but it's a bit of a narcissist mindset to gaslight and espouse anyone critical of your opinion is evidently some loser that lives with their mother. *"I'm so intelligent and accurate that no logical, educated person would host a critique."* Hating isn't a necessary antecedent to criticism, and this logic triggers me to no end because my wife employs the same mindset. I live in Tokyo, my wife is a mainlander, so their logic is VASTLY different than ours as in it does not exist. Literally any time I attempt a constructive criticism, or a critique *"Babe maybe next time you should try X. Well Liu, if you would try X, maybe there would have been a different result."* She looses it like shes some kicked dog, and if Im some abusive Western man, for not exclusively sitting there listening, and feeling sorry for something she could have easily avoided had she employed literally any gd common sense. Anyone that's ever spent any meaningful amount of time with Chinese people realize they are completely devoid of basic logic and common sense tho; it's a cultural thing, and it is so gd triggering. Your comment reminds me of hers. Now Idgaf if he cuts down trees, and I'm just venting because my petty Chinese wife, but I've seen a litany of content creators betching about going out in the woods, and encountering literally dozens of the bushcraft shelters, that random guys are out building because they encountered some YT video, and subsequently cut down a dozen trees to attempt the technique. I've seen far more RUclipsrs betch about people cutting trees down in the woods, than some rando YT comment. Sure this was standing dead, but I've have seen Cley fell DOZENS and dozens of lodgepole to build bushcraft shelters. One of his more popular videos he builds a bushcraft cabin with his kids out of like three or four dozen live standing. People are allowed to have their opinions, and Cley butchers living and dead standing. Who gaf; some people evidently do, and that doesn't make them betches for doing so. Imo it's his plot of land, he can do whatever tf he wants with it.
I don't gaf, and I presume you don't either, I just think it's such a gd petty, ignorant argument to claim someone is a loser that lives with their mother for disagreeing with me. You really think man children that live with their mothers are consuming bushcraft content? Cmon man, they're presumably hippies, and hunters.
if it wasn't for the haters, then he wouldn't have educated me about the stress of competing trees
Let's not talk ill of people we've never met. Very unbecoming.
Yes, let us deal with the haters. Perhaps, and I do mean perhaps, they could be educated. Mostly, though, they are just too narrow and closed-minded.
Sometimes I do love RUclips’s algorithm. I wouldn’t have found this gem of a channel without it. New fan from Denmark 😊🇩🇰
many thanks
I worked for the DNR and did natural resource restoration as a youngster. I learned a lot about trimming certain trees in areas to allow healthy trees to grow. You are right to cut certain trees down. In order to allow the stronger trees to grow and give more habitat to animals. Thanks for your knowledge you did a great job with everything Brother! Loved the video
That's called a Rakovalkea in Finland, although I believe the classic version only has two really big logs. Apparently you can get 1 hour of burn time for each 2 inches of diameter - I suppose that sounds about right with the heat rising and the oxygen reaching your smaller logs. Interesting stuff, thanks for the demonstration
Thanks for the info
Nice to hear from our northern experts, and this was an excellent subject to bring up Clay. If you do build two I'm curious how much wood density matters. Softer pine = half the burn time of hardwood? Also, I imagine building this in front of a large blow down or rock face would radiate more heat your way (if this is an option without much searching). I also suspect a folding saw and mallet would be enough if one was not carrying a hatchet (stone or heavy branches are decent pounding tools). Good times!
Yep similar to how we do it in Sweden I have seen people use 3 logs 2 for the base and 1 on top so it wont move around basically.
Our stakes burnt trough and when we woke up we had 3 logs lying half around a gone fire, biggest advantage was the broader radiation heat wich was nice
One preference that I have for the Siberian fire vs this one is that with the Siberian method the logs can’t really fall on you during the night. With this method I wouldn’t want to sleep too close in case the supports burned through and the burning logs fell towards you.
Another great video and words of wisdom concerning the benefits of selective cutting to improve forest health.
I was thinking the same thing
And they are 10x more efficient and warmer.
Love that you took the time to explain forest health & wildlife habits. I think people just "assume" cutting a tree down is bad, but without understanding of the greater health & vitality of the forest. I have a terrible tree in my yard I want to cut so badly, but it remains home to an owl and so it stands! ❤
Forest whole ecosystem is fascinating ! Owls are so cool.
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@@ARAW-__-hnmj
@@clayhayeshunter It's cool that you reply to your audience man. Was rooting for you in Alone btw 😁👊
It's strange that people don't know that apparently. The facts about forest thinning are common knowledge - we were taught that at school, I've seen them mentioned in many if the books I've read outside of it, and mentioned in many educational/nature documentaries. It's hard to imagine a person with ears and eyes who could miss all that.
I just wanna say , clay you love nature and we all should appreciate this gift that God has given us.
In Russia we use this type since ever. I like the 3 log version better because you can cook on it more easily.
Hello from Norway. These is the same way the loggers in the old days used, it did keep them alive during winter. Yeah, a lot of them did not have a cabin to sleep in, a tre wall shelter was all they had. Great video.
Hey Clay , you know what you're doing out there in the woods so don't let any of these scrubs rock your boat . You don't owe anyone any explanations about chopping down any live trees .💯 You're one of the best RUclipsrs out there whos teaching the public on how to survive in the cold weather . So Thank you for what you do
💯🙏🏻😇✌🏻👋🏻💪🏻🙌🏻👍🏻
Thanks 👍
This is why I really like your channel. You set things up so that folks can see what happens if things don't go as planned and show the way to fix those issues.
It is also great that you actively teach rather than quickly demonstrate.
Great visuals. That camera has pretty good dynamic range and a super crisp image.
This channel is not a carbon copy of the rest. Kudos and many, many thanks!
Thank You for clarifying that piece about cutting down the trees. I felt an tinge of ...resentment when I saw beautiful big trees being cut down. Here in California, we have such beautiful giant redwoods and sequoias that are worth preserving at all cost. On the opposite spectrum, we have devastating wild fires where some areas could benefit from cutting down massive dead trees. And fires do help to replenish the soil and encourage new growth. So thank you for putting it into perspective; sometimes its necessary.
My goodness, you're so smart and such an incredible teacher. Thank you for all you're doing to share your skills, knowledge and passion.
Wow, thank you!
As a Land Surveyor I see the wildlife all the time!!!..it's probably the greatest part of it!!
Thank you, Clay, for turning hatemail into an opportunity to educate, raise the mood, and just generally being a wholesome guy. Good goin’. 6:04 I remembered you talking about one of the Alone episodes, how there was an area of forest with certain age/type of trees… I think you mentioned being a wildlife biologist there. Said to myself: My God, he knows what animals to expect to come in the night and season just from the trees. (I think you were estimating bears to come through)
😊
Thank you for the experiment & Please continue to
educate those lacking knowledge of good conservation
practices!
We can all learn something valuable!
I'm not a survival but to answer your question as I recall We would build a wall with very dry logs Then light A fire in front of The Logs. It would reflect the heat. And?
As the night went on, the logs would catch fire and burn. So it wouldn't have to be tended during the night. Test it out it's been years. Love your videos.
As a karuk native from NorCal we are always told to cut the smaller trees and clear around the bigger ones to where only the canopies of the trees touch not the trunks.. the bigger the tree the bigger the bark which is better fire protection for the forest! Keep at living with natural law brotha, us natives see real ones living with the land and not over it and all you do is come with respect! Much love always
From everything I've seen and experienced, it seems to me that this problem of a no-maintenance, all-night fire has been with us for a long time, and instead of truly solving it, we for the most part moved on with other technology where possible. It's interesting to consider how integral fire is to our survival, and for how long we have lived alongside it, and yet there remains this issue. Great job and good insight on this version of an all-night fire. From my own fires, I know that I personally would not have been satisfied with the amount of heat that would've been giving off, lol. Still, I applaud you for taking on this problem and contributing your own innovations. Maybe someday we will solve it. Until then, I don't expect to get enough sleep in the winter, lol.
most likely you are asleep when the heat is right and naturally wake up when it gets too cold?
And thats called a "Widow Maker" ..Im 70 now, but my Father was a hardwood lumberjack back in the 50' and 60's. Back then, if a lumberjack created a "widow maker", there was an unwritten code between those men that said that you dont leave that day unless that hung up tree was brought down and any other timber cutter in the area would happily help bring it down with you- Knowing they played their part in NOT creating a widow that day
This video was a great lesson for me. I’m a complete noob and I’m sitting back here wondering why you were cutting down live trees. Thanks for being patient and teaching guys like me.
We always like the full explanation and complete walk through of the things you are teaching. You show when issues happen and how to deal with them for the next time. The hinge method for controlling tree fall was taught to me by an old logger over in Minnesota but I had lost some of that skill after moving to central Washington, treeless area. If everything goes well we may be moving back to the woods.
good luck!
Hey Clay, when you were going over your reasons for taking down dead and live trees, you made a great argument. One thing I think that most people forget is that trees are a cash crop. They take longer to gestate, but they are a cash crop. Just like corn, wheat, soybeans, tomatoes, etc. On the personal level, if you own the land, the trees are yours to do with as you see fit. I see you look at the conservation end of things and the hate mail is not justified. Great vid. Thanks from Georgia, home of the Pines and the Dawgs.
Hi Clay, those haters most probably burning plastics in stead of woods. Their brains are toxic. I support your knowledge and skills of how to survive in the woods by using surrounding trees and materials. It could safe life if someone stuck in the woods with some knowledge to survive, keep warm, cook food, keep animals away in the dark. That is how trees serve its purpose for man kind. Knowing how to use trees safe life. ❤ support your channel.😊
Blows my mind that people will complain about cutting down a tree in the comfort of their stick built home.
Best critical thinking longtime forgetmenot.hmn? Freud again
Really like watching all the things you do Clay.
Things don’t always work out perfectly that’s nature, it’s the way you react to the situation that can mean the difference between life and death. And I’ll put my money on Clay every time!
Very realistic. No one knows the sheer amount of effort it takes to use a bow saw or an ax to segment or drop a tree until you do it. There's nothing like trying to acquire food in the middle of winter, in the middle of nowhere without sleep. It's more important than most would imagine.
I live in Fairbanks, been wanting your version of this technique to try. Your teaching method really works for me
Have fun
I don't know why I love videos on different types of fire builds. Must be because it appeals to the caveman still inside me. 🔥🔥🔥
Whenever I watch someone spending a night out in the open and see them making a small fire, I wonder why they don’t build a long fire which provides a wind-break and will burn through the night without much maintaining apart from slipping a narrow log between the main log every so often. Nice job mate!
Yeah, I’m sticking with the self feeding fire. It’s much much quicker to set up and last 10 to 14 hours.with nice flame and more heat. Great info on selecting where to cut I’ll always keep that in mind for our forest friends
Interesting video...!
The haters will always be around... its human nature!
My 2 cents...
I do agree that proper thinning/management of the forest by the professional, knowledgeable, experienced people is a good thing. However... Far too many people making videos in the woods (National forests. Not private land) promote taking live trees and boughs as a regular outdoor acceptable practice for shelter & bedding. It is really a "have to" technique to stay alive based on ones situation.
There is always so much dead duff & debris laying around to make shelter & bedding. Its so easy to pack a tarp & ground pad!
Thanks for the video...
Nice work, I live in Northern Ontario Canada , been in and around the bush my whole life and your never too old to Learn, take care and be safe out there GOD BLESS
Humanity has a creator that has given us everything we need and abundantly. You more than many can appreciate how rich humanity is. Grateful and loving we should all be.
Jesus is Lold! ✝️
Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap, or store away in barns, asd yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Thank you for silvaculture study. Very few people understand proper forest management requires removing certain trees to open the stand for healthy growth. Also, for wildlife habitat as well.
💯
Anyone complaining about you chopping down a few trees probably lives in a house made of wood that was harvested from live trees. They were probably sitting in their favorite coffee shop that was also built with wood when they were typing their outrage out on their iPad that was built by a guy that was paid 50 cents a day to build it... They're just complaining about you to make themselves feel better... No need to explain...
Viking long fire. Used this to the amazement of some city raised privates in the field in winter.
Put two log side by side at the bottom with air gap. I have done this and it worked great. Also a top down fire works really well as well.
I stumbled on your canal and I'm 74 but always learn new useful things to survival into extreme circumstances.
You are absolutely right about building a long fire and warming up rocks on the coals on your bed spot. If the dirt is soft enough, kick dirt over the remaining coals, enough that you don't have 'hot' spots. Then build up your bed of boughs. Another tip is to build a long fire in front of the shelter with a couple of logs to add during the night. If birch is available, the bark, peeled off in thin strips is an alternative to lighter wood for fire starting. Dry birch burns well, but fast. You need a good store of it before it gets dark, or you turn in. Of course, that all requires time to prepare. Fire and water are first requirements.
From my humble experience with high sap trees, and dense trees like poplar, they never fall where you want them to fall. They have a mind of their own. Love your vids, keep up the great work. You will probably save lives with your information about survival.
I feel I have a good understanding of fires. I might suggest using stones ( if you can find some) to separate those logs. Using wood is great until they burn out and collapses cutting off oxygen. You need good airflow and the chance for the gas to stay in between the lower and upper flammable limit to have a good maintaining fires. Than feed the center with fat wood if needed. Have you tried building a wall behind it so you don't lose all that radiant heat? Great job I like this concept. Will look to see if you do a update video.
Thanks for sharing the great info- FORGET THE HATERS!!!
For upright posts, try green pine. It's far, far more resistant to burning than aspen. And you can add a couple offset from your originals as back-up if you're concerned about the fire rolling out - maybe at you asleep.
i just got done doing fire mitigation and miss it a lot so this was an awesome surprise to see some tree felling and education :) love from colorado
This is the coolest part of the internet
Clay , have you ever done a log cabin drop down from top down . This is a big fire for multiple people . Every one gets their own side . Very simple ,very fast . Producing heat in 15 minutes after built and started .
If you are looking for a bigger bow saw, get the Agawa 21. It is bigger than the 24 you already have, but with the special dry wood blade they sell is awesome for sawing larger logs like the one you did. Saludos!
They are the best saw on the market in my opinion. I carry mine on every trip I do .
@@outlawcountry6069 Indeed. Excellent saws. Sorry Clay, is the other way around (24 bigger than the 21 obviously). I love my Agawa 24. It is a beast and you sometimes can use both hands to saw, because the handle is wider. Cheers!
Thank ya
Would you say it is better than the Silky saws? I have a 14" big boy adventure series and am wondering about the 21" Boreal AC saw.
@@jameswalter3136 I have a Katana and it’s great saw as well but I always grab my Agawa Boreal 21 . I used it for several weeks on a trip I did and it is truly incredible. It comes with me on every journey now . VERY reasonable price as well.
Great video and i look forward to seeing this done as beyond a test and for purpose. I watched Lonnie from his Alsakan Bushcraft and Survival channel and the Russian fella from Siberia. Lonnie goes into great depth about the long fire. He said to keep the long fire about 1 full step or about 3 feet from ones shelter. I dont know if sleeping between two long fires would be safe. In fact he mentioned to place another log between you and the lig fire so as that in the event that one of the logs roll, that it does not roll into your structure. The Grey Bearded Green Beret has another great way to produce the long fire as well. Either way the three guys used the wood chips from flattening out the long logs along with copious amounts of birch and dead conifer branches from pencil size up. Your long fire did fantastic but I think the Siberian fire is where one would gain the most heat. This, I think is, second best but with that said this rèquires less room than a Siberian long log fire. Plus the Siberian fire I think was intended more for dire situations where this is meant to cast just enough heat into ones shelter to make one comfortable. Thanks for the tidbit on deadstandings that have holes in them. I will keep that in mind when I go out looking for firewood. Thanks again great video. Learned a lot.
I really have come to love the Swedish upside down fire method. Very low maintenance and long burning if stacked properly. Have you had any experience with this? Any chance of a video on that type of fire? Thanks, great video..
Got a very similar medkit for Christmas about five years back and it came with that same exact glass breaker pen. Out of all the stuff in the kit that damn goofy oversized pen has become part of my daily carry. I love it.
If you have rock's to put between the logs, they dont burn and kep the air gap. You can use the hot rocks to keep you warm. Great content again.
Saw one fire video where they stacked the wood high, and lit it towards the TOP of the stack and it burned slowly towards the bottom like a candle wick. Not sure how much heat it put out. Another method was mixing wet wood with dry wood to slow the process of the burn. The dry wood burns up faster, but dries the wet wood as it burns, which eventually catches the wet wood on fire. Standing dead wood is the dryer wood. Wood laying on the wet ground was the wet wood. I think the wet log technique is/was also used in fireplaces. Have heard some call it a backing log. Burning wet or green wood can create a lot of creosote build up in chimney pipes. Creosote can build up and catch on fire inside the chimney, burns extremely hot, and can start a house fire. Good to clean the chimney and replace the stove pipe on a regular basis. I replaced my old stove pipe and was amazed to see how much creosote had blocked the chimney flow. Inside a six inch pipe, there was probably only a 3 inch diameter hole. Thanks for sharing the test.
That's some good info, I'll have to try that dry/green mixed technique. thanks
Never seen this setup before. Pretty impressive! Sleeping between two walls of fire though might give me uneasy dreams... Great video!
Glad you liked it!
Nice explanation Clay! I worked in forestry for awhile and you are spot on! Great video!!!
This is the best type of all night fire in my opinion although getting it going is a chore. I have used it couple of times while winter camping with great sucsess. Longest I have had one going was 16 hours. What i do is use only 2 logs to make it esier to maintain. When you had the 2 humps together not burning, you should have moved the top log to left or right side so the humps are not together anymore. Stakes burning out is a problem but it can be avoided. If you nail them to the top log spreading out and down away from the heat they wont burn, but make sure the top log is not hanging on them and is free to fall down when space frees up. If you are using smaller logs from higher up in the tree you can leave couple of branches to do the job, that way you can avoid using nails. Cheers!
Good tips!
I've only done this by accident with my firepit backwall windbreaker 😅
Seen @swedwoods do this the other day.
Fun stuff 👍🏻
Looool same
I like this guy. No click bait. Ne screwing around. Right to the point.
Great video. It’s great you reveal just how much effort is required. One shouldn’t expose themselves to situations like this unless they have some minimal knowledge of survival strategies. Without that, tragedy is unfortunately a likely outcome.
It's kinda trippy watching those mushrooms on timelapse 😝
I've decided as of tonight that I'm going to try to ingest at least one, probably 2-3 bushcraft vids a night going forward. It seems like a pretty good start to watch yours!
Cool. My only issue was leaving a fire unattended for so long but you know your stuff. Great ideas.
I learned something pretty awesome on this video that I never knew before. I always thought that you could fall a tree in the general direction you want by just the front wedge taken out but when you said that it leaves a hinge that clicked in my head and makes so much more since. 😎 Awesome
Glad I could help!
Yours appeared to perform as well as any I've ever seen. Lars on "Survival Russia" channel has done the Russian style that you describe and the vertical design you show in this video.
Lars also does an "upside-down" fire tower, where he made layers of shorter logs, laid clay between the layers, and got a good fire started on the top. The clay kept it from burning down too quickly, or something.
They used an auto-feeder system at Valley Forge, during Revolutionary War times, where they pounded two thick green stakes into the ground at an angle. Got the long fire going, and then stacked logs on the fire, going up the stakes. As the fire burned out the bottom log, gravity would feed the next log.
Such designs are prone to collapse at some point, but with practice, you could probably just about perfect the technique.
Indeed, yes, building two fires and sleeping between them is an often-used method from centuries past.
You can't really dig in the winter, but a Dakota fire pit, where you use the tunnel between the two holes as a chimney, rather than as an air intake, would create a warm spot above the chimney. It would also hide your fire, unlike the white-man versions of the Dakota fire pit everyone does on RUclips. Make that connecting tube a chimney, and all your flames and sparks will be invisible.
I think the trouble is that people make way too big of a fire in the fire hole. Build a small fire and slant the tunnel up from the fire hole (not in that order). Once you get a little smoke going up the chimney, it will draw perfectly from then on. As your tunnel heats up, the burn will be almost 100% and there will be no smoke or sparks giving away your position, unlike the white man versions I always see.
The best part about experimenting is finding new ways to burn stuff. This seems a good method.
Couldn't agree more!🤣
I've tried this method many times. Works best for me to set it up before bed and have the logs starting on coals. When I wake up I just need to stoke it.
How am I just now finding this channel? I appreciate your insights on nature and wildlife being a wildlife biologist. You are a true steward of the land. Liked and subscribed!
Another reason for forest fires is also due to a lack of biodiversity (the lack of deciduous trees in a replanted forest and the sprays used to keep down leafy trees). At least in my region.
That went like I thought it would. Interesting version of a self-feeding fire. I would stick with the Siberian log fire in very cold conditions but, I'll be looking forward to your two fire experiment. Cheers!
Fatwood is definitely the best firelighter. There's a lot of Birch where I live so I use both. Birch bark will take a spark from a ferro rod but has that annoying habit of rolling up on itself as it burns. Fatwood burns hotter and longer and is easier to poke into holes when the fire is struggling to get going.
Thaks for sharing! And about the haters……. It doesn’t matter nowadays what you do, you will always have haters. Love your videos 🙏🏼
Always!
Please don't worry about the haters...you always produce great content...what kind of axe do you use?
Thanks for the vid, was wondering if you could comment or do another vid but with the self feeding logs instead of straight up and down!
Trying to explain forestry/forest maintenance to city people who (most likely) only ever saw real forest in TV, is futile :) But I appreciate the effort.
Thank you for posting. This video sure gives me something to try next time I set up camp. Once again, thanks!
You bet!
That looked like a brilliant way to have a fire burning all night, would be a great heat source if you had a super shelter,
What if you hammered in another duplicate set of upright supports just behind the ones closest to the logs - they can support the logs as they burn through the first ones
Another favorite to the list. You are one badass wildlife biologist.
It would so tempting to try live trees for the some of the uprights and use bulkier logs to match, but replacing them makes sense. I have not tried one of these types of fires, in most of all example it seems very stubborn to get going well. I like the idea of two and sit between them, what is your spacing for comfort and not to be come a human hot dog? If its at all wet I go out of my way to find a little fatwood even if I have birch bark which is usually the case, I use the birch bark as an addition to the fire once it has decent flame, wet birch bark will sizzle out easier than I like. I would likely find some nice standing dead cedar and split it down for a bulky supply between the large logs, I'll have to try it, chainsaw in hand.
Really great ! I hope to see you setup an expedition with that kind of fire. And thanks for the explanation and showing the process of trials and errors, I really appreciate.
You bet!
Love a proper way of proper burning, cleaning and clearing areas to open for more game
Listen up haters, educate yourself don’t get your information from politicians
Love your videos. Have you tried top down fires? I watch some of the Eastern Euro wilderness folk, and they have a ton of long burning fire techniques. Saw one where the support logs were slanted and they stacked 8" thick by 4' long logs. They would roll into the firs as the one in front burned. They did set up some safety stakes 2-3 feet away from the fire so if the logs rolled, they would stop at the stakes.
I will check it out
I used this technique in Saskatchewan at - 30 C. Pine branch’s stuck in the snow behind you blocks wind and gives you something to sit on.
Looks like your wife did a great job on that shirt. Thank you for the info in this video. It’s very helpful stuff.
You bet
How IS this different than the Long Fire? Great content, as always, Clay. Thank you. 👊🏼
From what I’ve seen, most long fires have two base logs and one on top. But I could be mistaken.
@clayhayeshunter oh I see, ok. I was just thinking, while watching your video, i wonder if it would be worth the effort to make a three log base, then two, then one? Lot more work, but a lot more heat, possibly for longer (depending on multiple things). Thanks Clay!
I remember reading about a similar method in Woodcraft and Camping by Nessmuk! Really great read and I would highly recommend it!
Before making the back-cut, a small face-cut about 1/4 to 1/3 the tree's diameter, even if not removing a wedge, would help direct the fall and promote a cleaner break-away of the tree from the stump. Doing that would also effectively increase the range of tree diameters that you could cut given the limitation of the saw's blade-to-frame distance.
That and u had ur ax to make a notch.
@@donphillips7329 Clay did indeed have an axe! I wasn't even thinking of that 😁😂 as I posted my comment before he got to the point of making wedges. One of these days, I might learn to watch videos to the end before posting commentary 🤣!
@@willong1000 aint no fun in that :)
@@donphillips7329 🤷♂😄
I have a winter "go bag" in all my vehicles, living in Alberta, Canada, it happens, as for haters, I will clear cut a forest to keep my Family warm and safe
Try lissing on the supports it will keep people away as the urine and other stuff burns away. Great share
And as an environmental scientist, having done studies of sapling growth under canopy....I can agree with him. Taking some live trees to thin out canopy can enhance growth of new trees. And thanks to him for saying "excavate" instead of "escavate" 😂
4 Metal stakes, each pair held by wire at the top. Easy to carry on site and will hold the logs in place
I wonder if getting some wet mud or piling sand or rocks around the support poles would keep them from burning through. The only other thing I can think of would be to bring some metal rods or potentially wrap the logs in metal wire. If you were to use the wire method you could carve a groove on the non burning faces of the logs in the middle so that it’s exposed to as little heat as possible and so that as it burned down it would still be supported.
I don’t know much about this, so this may be a dumb question but how come you don’t find a couple decent size stones to make the space between the logs? Then they won’t burn away and collapse. Loved the tutorial, thanks!
Wonder if other guys start their fire in the middle to help their supports last a bit longer? Thanks for sharing this…from east Tennessee.
Greetings, my friend from Slovakia. You have amazing videos. It's a pity that you put out less videos about hunting with traditional bows. Your hunting videos are the best on youtube. I cross my fingers for you.
Great service as always! 👊
Love the axe too! 🔥
Thanks 👍
You’re the man Clay Stay safe hero 👍🏻🇺🇸
I'd love to see this again with a full timelapse, fascinated to see bow this burns
As always great video this technique is also important in predator country it will definitely keep them away even squach will not come near fire
No doubt!
I thought Squatch liked fire...