Everyday Bushcraft: Kettle/Flower hanger

By Mike Lummio, Bushcraft Northwest

www.bushcraftnorthwest.com

One of the best ways to become comfortable with bushcraft skills is take them out of the woods and make them a part of your daily life. At home you can relax, take your time, and work out any kinks with the instructions at hand. Not only does mastering the basics help prevent mistakes when it matters most, but it allows you to improvise and create new items in different circumstances from your own imagination.

This device is often used in the bush to hang heavy kettles over a fire when forked branches for the vertical posts are not available. At home, it makes a great stand to hang flower pots, bird baths, etc. and has a wonderful aesthetic that reminds me of something found in a Japanese garden.

Point the end of two, straight branches approximately 1.5 meters tall.	Gently baton your knife across the middle of the vertical posts to start a split. Be careful not to split them too much or the branch will weaken or break.

Whip some cord loosely around the posts as shown.	Take a straight branch of the desired length and dovetail the ends. You want to make a “V” shaped dovetail for the best fit.

Pound the verticals into the ground and then seat the horizontal into them with the point of the “V” going into the split.	Here’s a close-up of the seated horizontal in one of the posts. The whipping becomes very tight as the split expands and locks it all together.

The finished product.	Another shot.