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At the cosmic scale things are held together by gravity. At the
molecular/nuclear level, electromagnetism does the trick. In our world
it's friction and adhesives. A nail or screw depends on friction, as
does a knot. The greater the friction the stronger the binding.
Friction is a function of surface contact (which increases with rough
textures) and pressure. Adhesives generally work by greatly increasing
the area of contact (their opposites - lubricants, reduce contact). A
loose knot may work if there's enough surface contact, and a very tight
knot needs little string. Each binding method is suited for different
situations - permanent versus temporary, binding material available,
material to be bound and your skills.
As a Boy Scout I learned many useful knots and lashings that served me
well in most circumstances. As I got into primitive skills situations,
some of these knots continued to work while some entirely new needs
turned up. The following is a compendium of my thoughts on this "bind"
we find ourselves in as well as some of the more useful bindings one
might need, and descriptions of some varied natural binders and special
ways of dealing with them.
Tying knots with flexible cordage (thread, string or rope) is pretty
well covered in books put out for Scout groups, sailors, etc. so I
won't dwell on them here. Instead I will concentrate on bindings which
work using found, natural binding material and some specialized cases
where the books I have read don't provide information.
Some binding terminology:
1. Knot - technique for attaching things with cordage.
2. Bend - knot used to attach one cord to another.
3. Hitch - knot used to attach a cord to something else (often a pole).
4. Lashing - knot used to hold two or more things to each other.
5. Lacing - techniques used to connect a piece of fabric to something else along its edge.
6. Active end - end of a cord that you're working with.
7. Standing end - part of a cord that's left behind in the binding. Or the fixed end of the cord..
8. Open loop - 'U' shaped turn in a cord (the ends don't cross).
9. Closed loop - 'O' shaped turn in a cord where the ends simply lay one on top of the other.
10. Overhand loop - 'O' shaped turn in a cord where the ends intertwine around each other
11. Weave - working the running end over, then under, then over . . . a series of adjoining strands.
12. Frapping - wrapping a cord around two or more parallel bindings and pulling them together, tightening both.
13. Gordian Knot - a knot you untie with a cutting tool.
Working With Stiff Stuff
The most common problem with 'instant' natural binders is that they are
stiff (except for wet rawhide). Most knots don't work well, with a few
exceptions. Knots in string typically increase friction by creating
some kind of loop in the cord. Picture, if you can, a square knot, as
two interlocked open loops. Pulling around a corner increases pressure
tremendously, so friction soars. Many stiff materials refuse to make
tight loops, but improving surface contact can increase friction. A
good example of a knot that uses surface contact is the clove hitch.
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BushMoot, the best event of the year - from 1st -5th August 2008 at Merthyr Mawr in South Wales. 
I used Hazel wood. Choose the
thin long shoots of wood which i would think are a couple of years old.
If you don't catch anything at first don't worry. It may just be a case of
changing a few things.
Most bushcrafters know that Birch bark is fantastic for fire lighting
because of all the oil concealed within it. This tutorial guides you
through the process of extracting that tar from the bark.
Now we could bung a label on (which should always say they type of wine and when it was bottled). I suggest you cross-reference to a book of recipes and notes so that when you get a cracking wine you can recreate it. We are going to add a little something to the presentation of the wine by putting a foil cap over the neck. First we drop a foil cap (available for a couple of pence from a wine shop) over the bottle neck.
Right, we now have clean, fined and filtered wine. We pour it into clean (yes and sterilised) bottles with a funnel. We need to cork it. Its possible to put corks in with a mallet. I use a corking gun and waxed corks that do not need to be soaked (plain corks do)
Well, the finings have worked – the wine is beautifully clear.
As soon as I'd finished my Paracord Bracelet, I'd decided to write a tutorial on making one. A good thing considering the majority of the responses since I posted it were asking me how to do it! Here goes.. You will need approximately 3 metres of paracord with the ends already sealed/melted, and something to make a temporary knot - a twist tie or piece of string should suffice.
I have been asked a number of times recently to provide some advice of guidance on the best way to sharpen an axe. Whilst I am always happy to provide input, I thought that it might be worthwhile to put together a tutorial on the basic techniques. The techniques used in here are intended to provide not only a sharp axe but also a safe and efficient axe.
There was a period in my life where I lived out of a pack for months at a time and this was one of my staples.
I like to coil it like a rope on a stick and bake it over hot coals...
There are many different ways you can make a berry picker but this is just a design i came up with which uses a packet of kebab skiewers and some discs of wood.
The whole kit took less than three hours to finally pull together — though that really overlooks by far the most time-consuming aspect, the preparation of materials. In fact, preparation has two components, actually. The first is the selection of materials. The second is the actual preparation.