Basket weaving: what's the first thing you think of when you read that? Some kind of joke class that you take in high school for a few easy credits? A hobby for sissies? WRONG!
In fact, in my personal opinion, to be real man, you need to know at least the basics for basket weaving. Why? Well, as many of you know, one of my big hobbies is wilderness living skills which--for people who have never heard of this--is the accumulation of various skills that dramatically increase one's chances of surviving (and if need be, actually make a living) in the wilderness. These skills include the ability to assemble temporary and semi-permanent shelters from natural materials, make fires by friction, make primitive tools from stone/bone/shell, make rope from bark/leaves/roots, reliably hunt/trap/gather food, and along with that to identify a large variety of edible plants and animals, just to name a few.
Basket weaving falls in with primitive pottery as a way to hold/transport various items without actually having to hold them in your hands, which could be a big deal when you're getting berries or acorns or small stuff like that. Also, if you know how to basket weave, there's also a pretty darn good chance you also know how to make cordage (rope) out of various natural materials, which is many times literally a life-saving piece of gear, but I won't even get into that. If you know the basics of basket weaving, you could make yourself a wide-brimmed hat to keep out the sun; you could make a mat to lay on; you could even create fish traps and bird nets to catch food!
So, summer's coming up, and some of us are going to have some free time on our hands. Need something to do? My advice; BASKET WEAVING...a real man's hobby! Haha!
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