Briefly about Gore-tex shoes...

On our last hike, I had the chance to compare my Gore-tex shoes to my friends trail running shoes. During heavy rain having Gore-tex meant about 30 minutes worth of dry(ish) feet, after which the shoes were completely soaked. But, without the heavy rain while hiking through wetlands where the trail running shoes were soaked within minutes, Gore-tex did keep my feet relatively dry for hours.

Gore-tex seemed to be a bit more time consuming to dry, but a long evening beside a camp fire did dry them up nicely.

So in a nutshell; if it rains enough, your feet will be wet, Gore-tex or no. But, in the most typical case, where the ground is wet but it's not raining heavily, Gore-tex can keep your feet dry for hours.

Making a tarp - "Erätoveri"

A few years back I decided to make my first actual tarp, and after some research ended up using the design of Finnish boyscouts' tarp, the Erätoveri. The tarp is square, measured 3x3 meters and has grommets in the corners plus three grommets in between on every side. Also, some grommets are also inserted in the center, but only on the inside. This was meant to help using a tensioned line while pitching, but I've actually never needed them.

For the fabric I used the only decent fabric available locally at that point, and that is "Autex". Autex is nylon with polyrethane coating with aluminized backside, weighting around 80g/m2. Not ripstop, but very waterproof and definitely not breathable. It cost me 5.95 euros per meter, 1.5 meters wide, so I needed 6 meters. This cost me about 36 euros.

First thing to do was to cut the six meter piece of cloth to two pieces, 1.5x3 meters each. Then I sew the pieces together with a flat-felled seam, creating a 3x3 meter square.

Then I measured and marked the locations for the grommets, and cut some reinforcement pieces. I used fabric pieces salvaged from an old broken-down backpack. I used pins and tape to hold the reinforcement pieces in place, and sew them on the fabric.

Next step was to sew the sides. I used only one pass with the sewing machine, with the fabric edge folded twice on itself to prevent fraying. Then I cut small cross-shaped slits into the fabrics and inserted the grommets.

Reinforcement and the grommet.

I did not use any kind of sealant on the middle seam. There is an ongoing debate on this, and it all boils down to the materials that are used. If one uses all-synthetic braid when sewing, the seam is supposedly stronger and lasts longer, but needs to be sealed with a seam sealant or tape. However, if one uses 100% cotton braid like I did, the cotton absorbs some water and swells, sealing the holes in the fabric all by itself. The downside is the supposed decomposing of the cotton thread. However, after three years of use, the seams are still fine, and no fraying is visible. No leaks have been detected either.

The entire costs of the tarp came down to about 45 euros, including the fabric, braid and grommets. The finished tarp weights around 800g.

Pitched with five stakes and a small piece of cord.

Pitched wit five stakes, a walking stick and one cord.

Three stakes and a walking stick, low-tetra design.

Pitching in a -10 C weather in February.

Actual use as a two-person winter shelter. Worked nicely.

Making a Puukko Sheath

This is just one way to make a puukko sheath, the way I was taught to make 'em. There are other methods also. I dont consider myself  qualified to make a proper tutorial, so if you are intrested in making such sheath, I highly recommend finding a good tutorial or better yet, a teacher.

1. Stuff needed: piece of leather, a wooden liner (made with the puukko in question), an awl, the puukko itself, glue, a couple of sturdy needles, thick thread (this one is waxed thread). Also needed were pliers (LM), leather wax, a sharp knife and a rivet.

2. Unfortunately I didnt have a camera while I made the liner, but its a pretty simple task: I just took a piece of pine wood, attached it to a vise, and carved away. A belt sander helped shape the outside. This liner is for right handed sheath.

3. I wrapped the puukko in plastic, taped it lightly, fit it in the liner, and measured and soaked the leather. The leather needs to go at least over the thickest part of the handle, but I like to make a more deep carry sheath. There are a lot of different views on how wet the leather should be. IMHO it's not that important, as long as it's wet enough to shape well 'round the puukko.

4. I measured and cut the thread (app. 5 x the lenght of the sheath) and put needles on both ends. Then I just started stiching. Heres the beginning: started from the top, went down a few stiches, back up making a "D" -shape, and then back down again through the same stiches. Here's where the LM came in handy; pulling the needle through was a little difficult. Since the leather was really thick, I decided to tie a knot on every stich like shown here.

5. Finally, at the end. While stiching, one needs to make sure the leather is tight, and I mean tight. A good rule of thumb is; if your right hand thumb isnt hurting at half way, your doing it wrong. Once I reached the end, I stiched back up a few stiches, and tied a double knot like shown in the previous pic. I then cut the remaining thread off.

I put some glue inside the seam, and cut off the extra leather with a knife (if you ever decide to make a sheath like this, this is where you need to be extra carefull. At this point its real easy to slip your knife and ruin the sheath. Or your fingers. Or both.

6. While the sheath was still wet, I made some decorations. I used a stainless steel high tech leather decorating device (aka. a "spoon")

After this I let the sheath dry overnight with the puukko in it (this is why the puukko is wrapped in plastic: otherwise it would rust).

After the sheath was dried up, I could have dyed it, but I decided just to wax it (I kinda like it more that way, since it shows patina better)


7. The belt loop is made from the same piece of leather. I drilled a hole to the "D" shaped circle (a SAK Farmer awl is great for this), and added an odd 8 shape ring to it (found these from our local hardware store. For example a D shaped ring would have worked just as fine). I attached the leather strap to the ring with a rivet.

8. And here it is. Not the prettiest sheath out there, but does the trick.

Miscellanious debris

Past projects and adventures in pictorial format.

Adu: My girlfriend's sister asked me to make a puukko for her. Her favourite color is purple, so I dyed the sheat accordingly

Adu: The easiest wood-burning stove ever: an Ikea utensils stand filled with twigs, a couple of metallic tent sticks, and a US Army cup.

Adu: Things found in the woods, part 1: A sight not so uncommon in the western parts of Finland. These rock-piles are called Pirunpelto, i.e. "devil's fields". According to current knowledge, they are ancient sea shores, dating back app. 6000 years.

Adu: Things found in the woods, part 2: A rare pine... pines. 

Adu: Landscapes from typical Finnish "rahka", i.e. swamp