I did this camp trip over a week ago, but have been too busy to post until now. In this elongated winter we’re having in the Northeast I wanted to get in one more cold weather camp in before it warmed up. The low was 29F and the wind was howling like a wolf. I got a package from SOL for some products I am writing up for a magazine. They sent me what I would use as part of my base gear for an emergency or just a camp night. I went to my other camp to resurrect it and do some much needed repairs. With the snow still lingering in some places and the rain making a daily appearance I decided to just use a saw and fixed blade knife for all camp chores without any splitting or chopping. Shaving wood down is almost as effective as splitting small diameter wood. It took longer, but I wanted to practice this as I have before with a SAK or stick-tang knife. However, I was using a full tang because it is super comfortable, always. Harvesting smaller sticks and shaving wood down to produce twigs is often the answer. I rarely split wood! I tried the canon fire-lay I saw my friend do up in Siberia (Survival Russia) and did a smaller version of it for cooking and warmth. A good night with new gear, food, new skills, and Mr. Walker! Wild Onions Old Camp Tools Went to work constructing the Cannon fire-lay About 4-5 feet long, but it can vary Front view Top view where I would cook and boil. New SOL Magnesium ferrocerium rod. Magnesium shaved off super easy and with larger pieces, while the firesteel is soft, it would ware down fast if you needed to light wood shavings. When one end is lit, I guess it looks like a cannon firing…? Large enough to lay other things on and even sit Chicken Stir-Fry Finished Back to setting up camp with my zip-tie rig…super fast set-up Pole acted as a weight for the tarp in super, heavy winds! Sunset Adding some small kindling I converted it to a long-fire that would burn for hours. Eventually, it was just a long fire Morning embers were all consolidated and with a small amount of air…it was ablaze again for some coffee and roasted SPAM! All was great with the tarp and bivvy, which was supposed to cut 15F off your sleep system. Waterproof it was, breathable (zero condensation) it was.