River Cane is in the grass family and is the native bamboo of North America. It grows only in the Southeast. Because of its relation with bamboo with the introduction of Asian bamboo through time it has cross bred into more varieties than I can number. Some of the cross breeds are still very useful but if you can find a patch of the native cane keep it a secret and keep it to yourself (well, you can tell me, heh, heh, heh.). It is often confused with bamboo. Native cane is without a doubt more resistant to cracking and splitting as it dries. It heat straightens easier. The long sections between joints make it great material for arrows and blow guns. I can’t speak highly enough of this versatile plant. —Benjamin Raven Pressley (more…)

This blog I want to discuss some ways of lighting your camp or making a torch or lamp for exploring a cave. It is a whole new experience to explore a cave with a light you have created, lights up the whole cave. I researched many methods used by primitive people and as you can imagine not many remnants of torches survived to study. So I took what I could find and then experimented on my own. It was a great experience and here is what I learned…

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