We might not be able to travel through time just yet but with the help of nature we are able to slow down and be present in the moment. Paradoxically it’s also at that point time flies.

This is how I feel when I step foot outdoors, everything else fades away, the necessity to be present is imminent, I need to plan my moves and watch my step. This time I had the luxury to build my own home and adjusting the temperature using nothing but a knife. After the 3,5 hour drive I finally arrive in nowhere, it will get dark soon, no time to loose. It’s funny how you see a potential home for the night everywhere you look in the woods, just adding a few branches and your’e good to go. I found the perfect spot, two spruce trees standing close together already blocking the wind and providing cover from the snow. I quickly collect the building blocks for my lean-to shelter, two Y-shaped branches and longer straight one to be used as a beam on top of the other two. I break of the unnecessary twigs, sharpen the bottom part of the branch to be able to stick it in the ground and then I place fir twigs on top of the branch grid that is now leaning on the shelter, it goes surprisingly quick.

Once the walls and roof is in place its just the final touch with the floor remaining. More fir twigs or spruce rice depending on how you prefer to say it, this will make the perfect bed and protect me from the cold ground. Just like that my bushcraft shelter is built, perfect for a winter overnighter. Time to turn up the heat, mind you all this work kept me warm but as its getting darker its harder to move and work. There was some leftover firewood from the building process but it will not last long, I gather more firewood nearby, since its cold, damp and wet outside I have to break of som branches from standing trees (Make sure you contact the owner and get their permission before.). Now when it comes to the amount of firewood needed in a situation like described its hard to get too much, I usually get what I think is enough then I double that and then I go out like a maniac in the night to gather some more. of course it’s a different story when its warm and dry.

I hope I painted a clear picture of the situation I was in, now to the knife. So far I just used it to sharpen the Y-shaped branches, but now i’m collecting birch bark to start the fire, I start by cutting of a couple of big pieces from a dead tree, the knife sits good in the hand both with and without thick gloves, the TPE-rubber in the handle makes sure that I can hold it steady even if my hands are wet. The blade is a bit thinner in the front, this comes in handy for collecting bark and general poking tasks. I now have small, medium and large branches together with the bark I just collected, I put thicker pieces of pine bark as a foundation then I place the birch bark and start to scrape it with the knife in order to get those small thin scrapes that will catch a spark. Im using the 90 degree spine on the Kansbol to create sparks while sliding it down the fire steel that’s sitting flush on the birch bark, a couple of slides later and voila, the fire is going and slowly the temperature starts to rise and the shelter starts to melt.

-So why is this the perfect knife? Well, simply put because Morakniv just knocks it out of the park on every parameter, the quality is excellent, perfect grip, well tested design, it doesn’t weigh a ton(134,0 g), it definitely gets the job done and best of all it doesn’t cost a fortune. This is the basic standard knife for the outdoors, fishing and hunting included. With the survival kit you get a firesteel and a diamond sharpener that gets you all the way when you're in the field. Not only did it get me through the night, it made me want to do this again, all I need is time.

I hope you enjoyed this review, as always you’ll find the video review on my YouTube channel.

See you,
T