Traditional ciggies?
Besides the traditional fire piston, Tok Ali was also kind enough to tell us more about his blow pipe, aquarium and herb garden. With his charm and willingness to share his knowledge, we felt that the 2 hours spent with him is nowhere enough to learn more.
Starting a fire is never an easy task when it is in the jungle. Of course having a lighter and strips of rubber would make life much easier but many times, the materials found in the jungle are usually wet or damp. So, I decided to try out some different methods of starting fire in [...]
Nadir busy bushcrafting
This kayaking trip to Ulu Muda dam is probably more bushcraft inspired than anything else. While I have been trying to learn and trying out bushcrafting, Nadir seems to have it built into his genes. Both of us tried our hands on a few projects, some turned out okay, some better left [...]
A coil of wild rattan put aside ready for use
Natural jungle vines and rattan has long been used by people as cordage to tie and lash things together. And I got a first hand experience it’s application during a trip into the interior jungles of Sarawak. The ability to utilize these jungle produce demonstrate [...]
Terap tree fibers makes excellent jungle cordage
There are many types of natural jungle cordage available if one knows where to look. Besides the usual vines and rattan, another good source of cordage is from the Terap (Artocarpus) tree. The method of stripping the Terap tree bark for cordage is something I have heard of [...]
There's 'em water in the bamboo grass
“Bamboo is another sure source of drinking water in the jungle”…well, that’s what people say anyway. So, we decided to give it a go to see how true it is during a recent walk in the jungle.
Our Orang Asal guide proudly showing off his Keruing torch
It was an amazing experience watching an Orang Asal makes a jungle torch using the resin of a Keruing tree. The Semelais may have relied on this jungle torch for hundreds of years to ensure their safety and comfort during the nights of the rainforest [...]
Part of the Keruing extraction process
Traditional extraction of the resin from the Keruing tree is a rare sight there days. Keruing (Dipterocarpus kerrii) is an important tree to many cultures because of its many uses resin. The Keruing name is used by the Semelais of Peninsula Malaysia. It is known as Eng in Burma, [...]
The fibers from a Terap tree has many uses and applications
During a trip into the jungles of Pahang, I was fortunate to have Pak Abu demonstrate to me how the fibers of a Terap tree are harvested. Terap tree is from the Artocarpus genus covering more than 60 trees is commonly found in South [...]
My hand carved wooden spoon is almost completed. [...]