The easiest way to describe this is, carving the basic and essential bushcraft notches on a single stick with a knife, to be applied later each to its specific purpose.
Exercise #1: The stake point:
The stake point is basically making a spear point at the end of a stick. Can be used for making tent pegs, primitive traps, cooking tools like the Aures cooking crane…
For folks that are right handed, put one end of the stick under your left arm pit and hold the other end of the stick with you left hand, 2 to 3 inches away from the edge. With your right hand, hold the knife with a firm grip with the back of the spine towards your chest and the edge of the blade towards the second end of the stick. The length from the edge of the blade to the end of the stick should be slightly longer than the diameter of the stick to keep the point as strong as possible. With the hand holding the blade make a deep shear cut to remove substantial amount of wood from the stick aiming to meet the edge of the blade with the center point of the stick. Repeat the same process all around the stick to meet the desired shape. Should be done in 3 to 4 cuts.
Exercise #2: The cabin notch and the bow drill hole:
The cabin notch is used to make notches in logs to make a log cabin on a big scale and you can use it to make pack frames on a smaller scale.
Choose a desired place on the stick to make 2 parallel stop notches slightly wider the knife spine. To make a stop cut, put the stick on a solid surface, a log or a stump, put the edge of the knife on the desired area and hit the back of the spine with a baton (a piece of hardwood with a diameter equal to your wrist). The blade should penetrate 1/3 of the diameter of the stick. Repeat the same process to make the second stop cut. Once you reach the desired depth with the second stop cut, holding the knife firmly in your hand, rotate your wrist towards the respective end of the stick. By doing so you will pop of the wood between the 2 stop cuts. Clean the carved area with the your knife and your cabin notch is ready.
To make a bow drill hole, you can either make an additional cabin notch symmetrical to the first, with the same depth (like how it is shown in the picture above) or you can thin both sides of the stick by creating feather sticks until you reach the desire depth. Once you clean the second cabin notch, choose the desired area on the flat surface of the cabin notch, ideally the hole should be in the middle with its width equal to 1/3 of the diameter of the stick. Score with the edge of your knife 2 parallel lines all around the diameter of the stick to determine the length of the hole.
The hole will take a square or rectangular shape, having 4 corners. With the tip of your knife push across the grain to cut the four corners of the square from both sides (SAFETY TIP: To avoid get cut, put the back end of your knife under your palm and hold the knife with the tip of your fingers). Once you do all the cuts, you can pop out the piece of wood with the tip of your knife and the bow drill hole is ready.
Exercise #3: The V notch:
The V notch is used for making toggles for hanging pots, trap triggers or for setting tarps on a ridgeline with the prusik knot among other uses.
To make a V notch, make 2 opposite push cuts @ 45 degrees angle towards the center of the stick forming the shape of the letter V. The V notch should not be wider than the diameter of the stick nor deeper than the center of the stick.
Exercise #4: The pot hook notch:
The pot hook notch is used for pot hangers. Making several pot hook notches on one stick will allow you to have an adjustable pot hanger.
To make a pot hook notch, choose the desired area on the stick (when performing this notch at either ends of the stick, make sure to do it at least 3 fingers away from the end. Lay the stick on a solid surface, make 2 push cuts with your knife – you can use a baton – to form an X. Proceed with shaving 3 sides of the X, 2 on the outside and one of the remaining 2. Don’t go deeper than the center of the stick. At this stage, the remaining part of the X should have a spear point shape, under the tip of the spear point shape stat making under cuts to make a hook allowing the pot bail to rest. It should be deep enough so that the pot doesn’t fall off if shaken.
Exercise #5: The bow notch:
This notch is used to hold the bow string in its place.
To make this notch, choose a desired area on the stick, and with the tip of your knife, score the shape of a boomerang, and carve it deep enough to hold the string of a bow, somewhere between 1/3 to 1/2 of the diameter of the stick.
Exercise #6: The stake notch:
It is a notch that is used when making tent pegs and traps.
To make this notch, on a desired area of the stick make a push cut perpendicular to the length of the stick, 1/3 to 1/2 of the diameter deep. Away from this push cut, around the length of one diameter, make a deep cut at 45 degree angle towards the bottom line of the push cut. After making these 2 cuts, the notch will look like number 7.
Exercise #7:The saddle notch:
The saddle notch is used to join 2 perpendicular logs to form the corners of a cabin.
To make a saddle notch, make a push cut on the desired area of the stick and carve 2 stake notches on both sides of the push cut.
Exercise #8: The blunt end:
The blunt end is used when making tent pegs, it prevent the stick from splitting when batoned in the ground, or to prevent the stick from tearing down your clothes while using a pack frame.
To make the blunt end, put one end of the stick under your arm pit and hold it the other end of it with the same hand, using a firm grip on the knife start rounding the edges of the stick by cutting towards the outside of your body, with the back of the spine facing your chest.
