WHAT IS A FEATHER STICK?? I'm sure there are as many different definitions of of what it is as people who make them( they think theirs is correct I'm sure haha) For myself through a lot of trial and error as well as evolving through the process, a feather stick is when you take a cutting tool and a dry piece of wood and create very thin shavings that that stay on the stick( hint feather STICK). As for my personal mentor I look no further than the great Mors kochanski. In my eyes he is one of the more skilled carvers in bushcraft, and to me that is the single most important physical skill that you can have in the woods I as most started out with thicker shavings that didn't really curl because I wasn't skilled in knife control or depth,pressure,or angle of the knife edge. These feathers should be thin and light enough to catch a spark from one of those mega ferro rod I mentioned in a previous post!( I normal ferro rod will work but bigger is better right?)
WHY USE A FEATHER STICK?? For myself I use a feather stick as my go to for easily ignitable tinder to get my fire going. While in inclement weather it is nice to be able to use a big of fat wood scrapings. The reason in my eyes the feather stick still holds validity in bushcraft and general outdoors bumming around is because one can go out with old a knife and ferro rod ranger banded on the side and start a fire pretty darn easily off the landscape and there is a romantic,sexy, manliness about being able to somewhat resort back to our primitive roots. Also that's one less thing you have to carry and keep up with while out in the woods.
Another reason the feather stick is so important is during the fantasy or nightmare of the one tool option( people always say their knife/sheath/ferro rod is one tool) you can start a fire with just that small bit of kit.
(this photo has about 6 feather sticks that once completed I broke them off so I could pile them up)
HOW TO DO ONE? I personly as previously mentioned believe that carving is the single most important skill to have. So after years of doing this every day I can say with some confidence make a pretty damn good feather stick.
-What you will wanna do is gather a dry piece of wood( branch, ect..) If its been very wet or damp( like where I live is year round) you may wish to gather a larger stick 3-4in and split it down to reach the dry inside to make the feather stick.
-Once you have selected the choice prized piece of wood you will then what to find a high ridge of the wood that is very pointy( the tip of the triangle if you will) and take you knife at a very shallow angle to remove just the slightest sliver of wood, When you do this you will then create two ridges, you then do the first step over and over again until you create your feather stick.
