BOX THEME: The TAIGA BOX

This box is themed after one of Creek’s favorite documentaries titles HAPPY PEOPLE:  A YEAR IN THE TAIGA.  This documentary features a remote community of trappers in the Russian Siberian Forest and everything included in this month’s box relates in some way to this incredible documentary.  You can see the documentary here:  http://www.myapocabox.com/taiga-videos/

APOCABOX SURVIVAL SKILLS CHALLENGE

Carve your own net needle and weave a gill net!

The small Russian community featured in the HAPPY PEOPLE documentary depended on the Yenisei River not only for transportation, but food as well.  One of the primary methods for pulling fish out of the river is with the use of gill nets.  I was shocked to see the quantities of fish each gill net produced, even when the river was frozen over with ice.  The use of these gill nets sparked me to film a video tutorial about how to carve your own net weaving needle and teach you the basics of using that needle and any twine to weave your own survival gill net.  All you need is a wooden PAINT STIRRING STICK from your local hardware store, a knife and the roll of cotton twine included in this month’s APOCABOX.  This is one of my more entailed teaching videos and definitely requires patience to complete so save this one for when you’re in the mood to sit down and focus for a few minutes.  I consider net-making to be one of the more critical foraging skills and gills nets are remarkable in their ability to put fish on the table.