Was just at a party with friends. Lots and lots of kids, and we were going to make a nice fire for mashmallows. There were about 9 kids between the ages of 3 and 6 and they all wanted to help make the fire. They all gathered bits of wood, sticks and such. Then I said "I'll light the fire with no matches or lighter" Using my tiny Boy Scouts of America keychain-sized fire starter, I struck several blasts of sparks off the firestarter with my leatherman into a handfull of straw and dry grass I placed in the middle of the pile. It lit within 10 seconds. The kids we happy to have the fire, but the dads all wanted to see the little keychain doo-dad. A fun night.

That sounds like fun. My son is 2 years old. I sure hope he is impressed with all of these "unusual" skills I have like making and using bow drills and using firesteel, tanning hides, etc. Right now he is pretty thrilled when I put him up on my shoulders and go for a walk in the woods so I guess I'm on the right track. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

"Right now he is pretty thrilled when I put him up on my shoulders and go for a walk in the woods..."

You do this without thinking, don't you? What's really pathetic is the number of fathers (& mothers) who would never, ever even THINK of doing something like this EVER, much less on a regular basis.

Your kids will never be a Brennan Hawkins!

Sue