Primitive Camping & Bushcraft

In this Fundamental Friday lesson we break down shelter from the inside out. Chris starts with clothing as your first layer of protection and how fabrics behave in heat, cold, and wet conditions. From there we move into shelter site selection using U.S. Army standards: finding level ground, spotting widow makers, judging water levels, avoiding rockslide or avalanche zones, and positioning yourself near resources without exposing yo...

This episode digs into a cold night that didn’t go the way it should have gone. A simple overnight trip with Dave turned into a long reminder that winter camping will expose every weak spot in your gear and your planning. I took my military issue extreme cold weather sleeping bag, my Helinox ultralight cot, my wool blanket, and my down puffy blanket from East Hills Outdoors. On paper, everything looked solid. In reality, the setup ...

SHOW NOTES
• This Fundamental Friday expands on Monday’s podcast and breaks down each lantern demonstrated on-camera.
• Gear covered: Luci / BioLite solar lantern, LuminAID Titan, the unnamed crank lantern, and the Blavor power station lantern.
• I show how each device works, how bright it is, what it weighs, how long it runs, and where it belongs in a primitive camping setup.
• These are the exact lanterns I use at Camp Wut Da Heck fo...

Today’s conversation is all about practical lighting in camp. I walk through the lanterns I actually use, why each one has a job, and how they’ve held up in real weather, river nights, and deep woods trips. From ultralight inflatable solar lanterns to heavy basecamp chargers, I break down what each one is for and why I keep them in my kit.

Gear Mentioned (Remember to add affiliate links):
• LuminAID Lantern – your main work light
• Lu...

In this Fundamental Friday, Chris takes a baseplate compass and a USGS topo map into the Mississippi woods and walks a full mile to test how accurate a simple bearing can be in real terrain. You’ll hear how the compass works, how contour lines tell the truth about the land, how to judge distance, and why old tools still matter when batteries fail.
Referenced links
USGS Topo Maps
https://www.usgs.gov/products/maps/topographic-maps
Primi...

In this episode of the Primitive Camping and Bushcraft Podcast, Chris shares a real story of getting turned around in the woods after losing his map five miles from the truck, and how nothing but a single compass bearing brought him home. After the story he walks through practical, beginner friendly navigation skills anyone can use with a simple baseplate compass and a topographic map.

Resources Mentioned:

• USGS Topographic Map Down...

check out the new Primitive Camping & Bushcraft App on mobile www.primitive-camping.com here is the link to the app: https://www.mobileapp.app/to/lHKdPm1?ref=mam

In this episode of the Primitive Camping and Bushcraft Podcast, Chris takes you from the smell of fair food and shaking hands with listeners to the quiet focus of bow-drill firecraft.

He opens the Primitive Camping and Bushcraft book to page 150 and walks through starting a ...

Welcome back to Fundamental Fridays here on the Primitive Camping and Bushcraft Podcast!
Today, we’re breaking down the Primitive Camping Fire Starter Kit — everything that’s packed inside, how it works, and why it belongs in every outdoor pack. From fatwood and ferro rods to char cloth and fire plugs, this kit is built to help you start a fire anywhere, anytime.

Chris walks through each piece of gear, demonstrates how to make shavin...

In this episode we are sitting under the tarp at Camp What The Heck with the fire working in the background and talking about something small that becomes a big deal fast in the woods your light
Chris tells the story of a bow hunt in the Mississippi Delta where it got dark fast the mosquitoes were thick the woods went dead quiet and something in the water let out a roar so deep it made every hair stand up
For a minute it felt like ho...

Show notes

Today’s focus: Backcountry calories, simple meal planning, and faith for “daily bread.”

From the book: Primitive Camping & Bushcraft, p.182 (dehydrated/freeze-dried options, flavor add-ons).

Why calories matter: Field burn ≈ 3,500–5,000/day vs ~2,000 at home; shivering, climbs, paddling all spike needs.

Pack by calories, not meals: Target ~120 cal/oz (peanut butter, nuts, olive oil, granola, jerky, calorie-dense rat...

I’m sitting under the tarp at Camp What The Heck with the fire going and the smell of fall drifting through the woods. This season isn’t just about cooler nights and deer tracks in the mud—it’s about seeing months of work finally come to life. What started in early spring as an idea to create something real for campers and outdoorsmen is now a full line of freeze-dried meals, fresh-roasted coffee, books, and handmade fire kits laun...

Welcome back to the Primitive Camping & Bushcraft Podcast and another Fundamental Friday around the fire. Today Chris shares how he’s been creating his own freeze-dried meals at home for camping — specifically a homemade beef stroganoff that rivals anything you can buy in a pouch. He walks through every step of the recipe using Thrive Life freeze-dried beef, mushrooms, sour cream powder, and brown gravy mix, all packed into vacuum-...

When most folks picture campfire cooking, they think of flames licking the pan and sparks flying into the night sky. Looks good, doesn’t it? Problem is, flames lie to you. They burn hot, fast, and uneven. You end up with food that’s black on the outside and raw in the middle. I’ve been there—trust me, I’ve ruined enough meals to learn the hard way.

In this episode, I talk about learning to cook over coals instead of chasing flames. ...

Clean water is one of the most important needs in the outdoors — but not every source is safe to drink straight from. In this episode of the Primitive Camping and Bushcraft Podcast, Chris takes you step by step through pre-filtering methods that remove grit, grime, and debris before you boil or use a commercial filter.

You’ll see how a Campcraft Outdoors filter bag works, why a handkerchief or even a cheap coffee filter can extend t...

On this episode of the Primitive Camping and Bushcraft Podcast, Chris shares a story about camping with his sons when a brand-new stove broke on day one. What started as frustration turned into a lesson in improvisation, open-fire cooking, and teaching his boys to adapt.

Chris also reads from his book Primitive Camping and Bushcraft about “Thinking Outside the Box” and dives into Philippians 4:11–13 to remind us that true strength a...

in the final episode of this series, after a full day of primitive camping setup, it’s time for food, fire, and light. In this episode, I’ll show you how I:

Slice and fry Spam for a hearty, easy camp meal.

Clean cookware the simple way with hot water while it’s still on the fire.

Use compact solar lanterns for red light, strobe signaling, and camp illumination.

Improvise a pillow using a tarp bag and extra clothes.

Wrap up camp life wit...

At Camp Wut Da Heck, with smoke drifting from the fire and Mississippi kites overhead, Chris dives into a lesson every hammock camper eventually learns. He recalls his first cold night in a hammock when comfort quickly turned to misery and explains the science behind convective cooling how moving air under a hammock strips away body heat once insulation is compressed.

From there, Chris unpacks real-world solutions. Under quilts that...

In Part 3 of our Fundamental Friday series, This episode of Fundamental Friday takes you deeper into the camp setup process—moving from survival basics into evening comfort and cooking. You’ll see step-by-step how I:

Use a gravity-fed water filtration system to purify a gallon of water.

Test out a self-inflating sleeping pad with a wool blanket.

Assemble a portable wood-burning stove for safe camp cooking.

Gather kindling, manage fire ...

on: John 4 — Jesus offers living water that never runs dry

Action step: practice filtering and boiling water, then reflect on what truly quenches your thirst

Resources Mentioned

Book: Primitive Camping and Bushcraft

Facebook Group: Primitive Camping and Bushcraft

Call to Action

Practice filtering and purifying your own water this week

Share your experience in the Facebook group

Reflect on whether you’re drinking from “wells that run dry” o...