The Dakota Hole Fire Pit Trial

For quite some time now I have been seeing YouTube videos about Dakota hole fire pits and, in my own way, just had to give it a try.  Out here in Manitoba we have some beautiful black soil so try not to drool on your tablet or keyboard too much as you see these few pictures of this trial ...
 At first I though it might be fun to try this with my knife, but then I realized I don't get enough well lit day to do it that way and grabbed an ice auger that I found when we moved in.  That sped things up quite a bit and now I find myself wondering if perhaps that may be a post hole drill ... So the goal with the fire pit side is to dig down deep enough that the fire will be hidden by the earth and you create channeled or focused heat.  Most folks seem to think that a foot or so is the correct depth but mine ended up being closer to 18 inches.  Not a big deal and with that blue tool, digging the air hole that deep wasn't going to be an issue!

 The first problem that I came upon was an old root about half the way down my fire pit.  If this had been fresh & green it wouldn't have presented much of an issue but since it was long dead there was the risk of an underground fire.  After filling that hole back in I simply moved a few feet over & drilled a new one.  Easy enough!

 Since there were now no roots to catch fire I was safe to dig out the airflow hole and connect the two pits with a quick tunnel.  I can honestly say there was a feeling of satisfaction when the two sides actually lined up properly on the first try.  I can also say that I would recommend taking the time to make a quick stick drill as it would have reduced my digging time quite a bit.  The general opinion here on the net seems to be that this tunnel should be at least wide enough for a fist to pass through it.  That's about how big I was going for ...

 I'll be the first to admit that my fire starting skills are in need of improvement and yet I did manage to get one going before too long.  As expected, there was a little smoke that drifted up from the air intake at first but once the fire pit side had warmed up an excellent draft was created and that stray smoke was no longer happening.  I would say that if I needed somewhere to cook more than a few times, this Dakota fire pit is an option.  For a single meal though, I don't think it would be worth the energy spent to dig it out.  Just my opinion though ...

Making the Solid Wooden Archery Release

Fresh off the saw and ready to test!

When I started teaching my boys about archery I soon discovered one very simple and painful fact.  My fingertips didn't like that kind of treatment anymore.  Since I otherwise enjoyed both the sport and the bonding time, I needed to come up with a solution I could afford.  Which means I needed to make something from scrap materials in the yard …
One thing I seem to have a great supply of is lumber so at least I knew what I would be making it from.  Now the tricky bit of what the heck was I going to make?  I started searching around on YouTube, as I tend to do, and found that Backyard Bowyer had made almost exactly what I needed, except using heated PVC.  While I did have some extra PVC pipe sitting unused I didn't have a heat gun to warm it or shape it properly.
Okay, now I had a general idea of what I was going to make and what I was going to make it from.  Two out of three is a solid start and all I needed now was some sort of pattern.  Easy enough since I almost always have some paper within arms reach of my desk chair.  Before long I had whipped up a sketch that I felt would do the trick!  So I glued it to some plywood and fired up the old scroll saw.  I do mean old too, I had to shove down on the arm to get it running but it still did the job!
A quick test with the plywood prototype showed me that I was pleased with the design and I then copied it onto a piece of ¾ inch plank board I had in the scrap wood pile.  After cutting the thicker release and rounding the edges, the new version shot quite well and I am still impressed with how well it has performed.  It does feel a little odd at first though, I’ll be honest.
I've seen similar devices cut from assorted metals that look pretty amazing but the prices have been a little crazy if you ask me.  Some have even been well over $100!  Since so many folks have asked for it over the years I have finally posted a downloadable PDF with a quick pattern to make a wooden archery release at home!  It only costs a buck and helps support us in our effort to fund Clean Valley Farms.  You can check that out on GumRoad.com by clicking here.
This little project is quite simple and can easily be done in a single afternoon.  Why not give it a try?  Want to watch the video where I did all of this?  You can check that out on YouTube by clicking here!
-JT Bear