Comments on: Willamette Valley Bicycle Romp

By: L. Claudia

L. Claudia — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Highly impressive and entertaining, Mr. McCammon. Always interesting to note differences in individual
priorities when packing for travel- forget the sunblock, remember the Jiffy Pop! I’m almost ashamed of myself for daring to tease you about an otherwise enviable and ambitious trip. Wow!!!

By: Topher

Topher — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Ok, I’m officially jealous (except for the sunburn part). Not only am I envious of your great adventure, but also the shape you must be in and the ability to just disappear for two days. See you just made me break on of the seven deadly sins, envy. One day you will tell me your secrets.

So I like the look of your bow drill kit, and am thinking that it would not be too hard to make. The only problem I can see so far is finding California Buckeye and Incense Cedar. I wonder if the wood matters all that much.

If you are ever interested in attending something like M.O.S.S. let me know. Although I think M.O.S.S might be styled towards hunters a little to much for your taste.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

The bow drill link was for info only – its not my specific kit. I made mine last fall at one of Ray Jardine’s Connection Camps. My fireboard and spindle are of cottonwood, and the bow is of I think box alder. You can use a number of different woods, some being fairly easy to get a coal with, some being extremely difficult. Here is a page comparing many different woods.

If you want to make a kit, I must say that you will be greatly rewarded if you take extra care to carve your spindle perfectly. Also, pay very close attention to notch geometry. An equilateral notch seems to work very well. Put the point of your notch just short of the center of your burn hole. With the point right in the center you’ll have trouble keeping your spindle from flying out.

Toph: your M.O.S.S. link didn’t come through (I just fixed it though with what I hope was your intended site). I hope html tags aren’t broken on this comment system. I’m afraid I wouldn’t be into hunting with anything but a camera, however the class does look very interesting. For a five day course its dirt cheap too. Have you or anyone you know attended?

By: Topher

Topher — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

I have not attended a class nor do I know of anyone who has attended a class at M.O.S.S. I did hear quite a few rave reviews about it one morning on a talk radio station about two years ago. I just haven’t looked into much since then. I’ll have to look around a bit more.

By: Katie

Katie — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Ya know, I don’t remember Ronnie’s Rap – but I figured out why. I discovered that it had its featured debut on the Dr. Demento show, and alas I wasn’t tuned in to the wonderful world of Dr. D. back then. (Here’s the link, from an IU person no less!)
http://mypage.iu.edu/~jbmorris/FAQ/drd87.0104.html
I couldn’t find the complete lyrics anywhere, but here are some nice excerpts with a whole collection of Presidential Reagan raps!
http://members.aol.com/ProfQuater/Fun.html

Now if I can only figure out how to paste links in text within this comments box…