The Woodsman's Journal Online: April 2020

Sunday, April 26, 2020

A Trip To Tifft Farms: Social Isolation, Exercise, and the Outdoors, During COVID-19 ©

“Tifft Nature Preserve: An Urban Sanctuary”, a Seaway Trails map. A larger copy of the map can be found HERE.

So how are you getting your exercise these days, what with “social isolation” and “no unnecessary travel”? It’s tough getting enough exercise, since all the gyms are closed, and you have to stay away from places that everyone else might be going to. Myself personally, I have been going for a lot of walks and I try to go to places where I can see interesting wildlife, whenever possible.

So anyways, on Tuesday, April the 14^th, it was a cold, but sunny day, about 40^o Fahrenheit (4^o Celsius), although with the windchill it felt much closer to freezing, when we decided to get out of the house and get some much needed exercise. We decided to go to Tifft Nature Preserve, which is only about 4 miles (6.4 km) from my house, not a very long, unnecessary, trip.

An excerpt from the Tifft Nature Preserve website, found HERE

But what is Tifft Nature Preserve, you ask? Well, before 1845 it was a typical Great Lakes, lakeshore wetland; then it became a farm; later a system of canals and railyards; then a dump and since 1972, it has come full circle back to be a lakeshore wetland! In 1845 it was on the edge of the village of Buffalo and now it is an urban nature preserve surrounded by the city of Buffalo, New York!

Since it is spring and Tifft Nature Preserve is a system of lakes and marshes, it is a natural place for migratory birds to stop and rest on their travels north. A total of 265 bird species have been seen in Tifft Nature Preserve and 66 different bird species have been known to breed here or have been seen during breeding season. Birds that are regularly seen in the preserve are the common loons, northern harriers, peregrine falcons, common terns and many others. The nature preserve is also home to beaver and eastern coyotes, not to mention the ever-present white-tailed deer.

Very weathered scat, most likely from an eastern coyote, based on the size and amount of hair, as a comparison the knife in the picture is 5 inches (12.7 cm) long, photograph by the author.

Evidence of beavers at work within the nature preserve, photographs by the author.

The preserve is also home to a nesting pair of ospreys, and although bald eagles aren’t common in the preserve, they have been seen there and are becoming more common in the region around Buffalo, NY. In 2018 the ospreys nesting in the nesting box above Lake Kirsty in the Tifft Nature Preserve drove away a bald eagle who wanted to take their nest, HERE.

An excerpt from the Tifft Nature Preserve, Osprey Cam website, found HERE

While out walking we saw the ospreys, who have returned to Tifft each year, since 2011, building a nest above Lake Kirsty. Unfortunately, the nesting box is on the far side of the lake and it was too far away to get any good photographs. We also saw a common loon, which had stopped here on its way north, diving for fish in the middle of the lake: it was also too far away to get a good picture.

The mounds across from Kirsty Lake, photograph by the author.

Old Tifft Street, photograph by the author.

During our walk up the trail to the North Viewing Blind, on Lisa Pond, I saw a kingfisher who flew past too fast to do more than say “Hey is that a ...”?! I remember when kingfishers were common in the 1970s, and then I didn’t see any for a couple of decades. Now, however, I am starting to see them more often again.

A canadian goose¹ sitting on her nest near the North Viewing Blind on Lisa Pond

All in all, we had a great time, we got out of the house, got some much-needed exercise and saw some cool wildlife! So, if you are in the Buffalo, New York area, or are going to be, take a trip to Tifft Nature Preserve! For more information on trails in the Buffalo, New York area go HERE. If you don’t live anywhere near the Western New York area, find a nature preserve near you and get out of the house and get some exercise, just remember to social isolate and stay six feet (1.8 m) apart, oh, and wear a face mask!

Two views of Berm Pond, photographs by the author.

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE. Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site. I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Notes

¹ According to Languagehat, while the name for this goose is officially canada goose, over time, it has become more common to call it canadian goose.

Languagehat, “Canadian Geese”, January 12, 2004,

Sources

“Tifft Nature Preserve, Important Bird Areas, New York”, Audubon, [National Audubon Society], https://www.audubon.org/important-bird-areas/tifft-nature-preserve, accessed April 24, 2020

“Rare Sighting at Tifft Nature Preserve, Photographer captures an Osprey & Bald Eagle”, May 17, 2018, WBEN, [Entercom Communications Corp, © 2020], https://wben.radio.com/articles/rare-sighting-tifft-nature-preserve, accessed April 24, 2020

“Social distancing recreation in Buffalo: Know where to go”, April 26, 2020 , WBEN, [Entercom Communications Corp, © 2020], https://wben.radio.com/articles/social-distancing-recreation-in-buffalo-know-where-to-go, accessed April 26, 2020

Sunday, April 19, 2020

Two-In-One Match...Splitting Matchheads! ©

An excerpt from Scouting Magazine, Vol. 70, No. 2, March/April 1982

Splitting hairs is pointless, but splitting matchheads could save your life!

Today, very few people choose paper-matches as their primary means of starting a fire in the bush. Most people who make a habit of going out into the wilderness bring a butane lighter, strike-anywhere matches or a ferrocerium rod, and in my case all three!

However, you never know when you might get dumped into a survival situation with just what’s in your pockets to help you survive. And just like Les Stroud, the Survivorman, who in the first episode of season one, which aired in 2004, found himself stranded in the Canadian boreal forest of northern Ontario, you might only have only one paper match left!

Now, you might be asking yourself, “Do I attempt to split the match so that, that one match becomes two?” Maybe you are asking, “What are the pluses and minuses of splitting a paper match?” Most likely, your question is, “How do I split one paper match into two?” These are all good questions that deserve answers.

“Do I attempt to split the match so that, that one match becomes two?”

Well, if your supply of paper matches is limited, by splitting the ones that you do have, you will be double your total number of matches. Twice as many chances of making a fire, is always a good thing, right. Usually yes, but just like anything there are pros and cons, pluses and minuses to be considered before you attempt to split the match.

“What are the pluses and minuses of splitting a paper match?”

The biggest plus of splitting your paper match in two, from a survival perspective, is that you now have twice as many opportunities to light a fire as you did before you split it.

There are several minuses to splitting a match.

Match splitting is unpredictable, and you run the risk of ruining scarce and irreplaceable matches. The largest minus that you face is that you might break off or damage the chemical head of the match. And, if that happens, you have just gone from one match to no matches!

The second largest minus is that split matches, because they have only half as much stick, burn out in half the time, that the original, whole match would have.

Tim MacWelch, in his article titled “Survival Skills: The Pros and Cons of Splitting Matches”, states that split matches are also more vulnerable to wind and moisture, than the original whole match was.

Unfortunately, and just like everything in life, there are more minuses than pluses and, in the end, you have to weigh the minuses against the plus of having twice as many chances of lighting a fire and make your own decision.

“How do I split one paper match into two?”

A paper match from a matchbook is the simplest to split¹, photograph by the author.

To start, rip a match out of the book, and carefully with your fingernails, starting at the torn end, peel the match down the middle of the “stick”, photograph by the author.

Make sure that there are equal amounts of paper on either side the split paper-stick, photograph by the author.

When the split gets to the chemical matchhead, with a careful pull, you should be able to pop it apart into two matches, photograph by the author.

As long as you are careful, you should be able to light both halves of the match, photograph by the author.

To watch a video demonstration of how to do this, watch “Two-In-One Match...Splitting Matchheads!”, HERE.

Hopefully, you will never find yourself in a survival situation where you have to rely on only a couple of paper matches, but if you do, and you have practiced this little trick at home, you will have twice as many chances of starting a fire!

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Notes

1Paper matches are the easiest to split, however you can still split wooden stick matches. Tim MacWelch wrote about how to split large kitchen matches in two with a razor blade or a sharp knife. He explained that by pushing the point of the razor blade or knife into the stick, just below the match head and rocking the blade, you would be able to carefully cut the match in two. As the stick splits so should the chemical match.

Tim MacWelch, “Survival Skills: The Pros and Cons of Splitting Matches” June 10, 2015,

Sources

MacWelch, Tim; “Survival Skills: The Pros and Cons of Splitting Matches” June 10, 2015, [© 2020 Outdoor Life, A Bonnier Corporation Company], https://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/survivalist/survival-skills-pros-and-cons-splitting-matches/, accessed April 13, 2020

“Two-In-One Match”, Scouting Magazine, Vol. 70, No. 2, March/April 1982 [Boy Scouts of America, Irving, Texas], p. Scout 2 Jun 82, https://books.google.com/books?id=XSsbxPzAVfUC&pg=RA5-PT21&lpg=RA5-PT21&dq=scouting+%22we+ought+to+take+a+minute%22&source=bl&ots=vxOmVqq7Ak&sig=ACfU3U02ibVcmaTtuT10LmaPJSeYRwcNWA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi-s8PJxY3oAhUOTN8KHVNNDQcQ6AEwAHoECAMQAQ#v=onepage&q=scouting%20%22we%20ought%20to%20take%20a%20minute%22&f=false, Accessed March 9, 2020

Saturday, April 18, 2020

Two-In-One Match...Splitting Matchheads!

Sunday, April 12, 2020

COVID-19, And A Simple, Homemade Respiratory Mask, Part Two ©

A do-it-yourself face mask, made with a vacuum cleaner filter bag and a gas mask, as a joke, photograph by the author.

There are a lot of different articles on the web these days, which write about how to make your own COVID-19 face mask (an example is found HERE), but I would rather use peer-reviewed study whenever I can. So, for information from a Cambridge University study, titled “Testing the Efficacy of Homemade Masks: Would They Protect in an Influenza Pandemic?”, read on – Author’s note.

It has been widely reported in the media that you can make a do-it-yourself COVID-19 face mask from a vacuum cleaner filter bag. But what is the best household material to make a DIY face mask out of?

A do-it-yourself face mask, made with a vacuum cleaner filter bag and a gas mask, as a joke, photograph by the author.

Hmmm...That got me to thinking. I even had visions of putting a vacuum cleaner filter bag onto the hose end of the Russian gas mask that I bought last year for Halloween. Now, I never trust what I read in the news, without checking it out first, and so, I did what I always do, and I did some research.

I found and read the 2013, Cambridge University study, “Testing the Efficacy of Homemade Masks: Would They Protect in an Influenza Pandemic?” which wrote about using vacuum cleaner filter bags to make face masks (to read the study go HERE, and for a very good summary of the study, read “What Are The Best Materials for Making DIY Masks”, HERE).

But, before we get into the nitty-gritty of what is the best household material to make a DIY face mask out of, let’s talk about what face masks are supposed to do.

A commercially made surgical mask and a commercially made N95 mask, photograph by the author.

Face masks such as commercially made surgical masks or commercially made N95 masks¹, reduce your exposure to airborne contaminants by sealing off your mouth and nose from the free flow of outside, contaminated air and by filtering the outside air before you breathe it in. Face masks can’t prevent infection, they can only reduce your chance of becoming infected. Also, if you are already ill, they will reduce the chance that you could spread your illness to others, by the respiratory droplets you produce when coughing, sneezing and talking. Also, no matter how efficient a face mask is at filtering out contaminants, if you don’t practice good preventative measures, like regular handwashing, not touching your face and eyes and social isolation; it will not reduce your chances of becoming sick.

An excerpt from “Testing the Efficacy of Homemade Masks”, page 416

So, what did the authors of the 2013, Cambridge University study, titled “Testing the Efficacy of Homemade Masks” find when they tested common household items, including vacuum cleaner filter bags? What is the best household material to make a DIY face mask out?

According to the authors, Davies et al., breathability is as important a consideration in face mask design, as filtering efficiency. This is because, if the material that your mask is made of is difficult to breathe through, then your mask will be less comfortable to wear and if it is not comfortable to wear, then that will influence how long you will wear the mask.

So, let's look at the household items that were tested and see how they stack up on both breathability and filter efficiency, when compared to a commercially made surgical mask. The authors of “Testing the Efficacy of Homemade Masks” tested the following, a 100% cotton T-shirt, a scarf, a tea-towel², a pillowcase, an antimicrobial pillowcase, a surgical mask, cotton blend cloth, linen, silk and of course, vacuum cleaner filter bags.

The authors of “Testing the Efficacy of Homemade Masks”, tested these household items against Bacillus atrophaeus, a rod-shaped bacterium, that is .95 to 1.25 µ (micron) and against Bacteriphage MS2, which is .023 µ (micron).

An excerpt from “What Are The Best Materials for Making DIY Masks?”, March 3, 2020, by Paddy Robertson.

When the researchers tested these various household items against the .95 to 1.25 µ (micron) sized Bacillus atrophaeus, they found that the vacuum cleaner filter bag was 94% efficient at blocking these .95 to 1.25 µ (micron) sized particles, the tea-towel was 83% efficient, cotton mix or blend cloth was 75% efficient, 100% cotton T-shirt was 69% efficient, followed by an antimicrobial pillow case at 66%, a scarf at 62%, a normal pillowcase at 61%, and with all other fabrics being between 60% and 58% efficient. By using two layers of tea-towel material, two layers of 100% cotton T-shirt or two layers of normal pillowcase material, the researchers found that filtering efficiency increased to 97% for the tea-towel cloth, 71% for the 100% cotton T-shirt material and 62% for the pillowcase cloth. As a comparison, when tested, a commercially produced surgical mask filtered out 96% of the .95 to 1.25 µ (micron) sized particles of Bacillus atrophaeus in the atmosphere.

] An excerpt from “What Are The Best Materials for Making DIY Masks?”, March 3, 2020, by Paddy Robertson.

Since the COVID-19 virus particle is only .1 µ (micron) in size, the crucial test, in light of the current worldwide pandemic, is the test the researchers performed using Bacteriphage MS2, which at .023 µ (micron) is smaller than the COVID-19 virus particle. When this test was performed the researchers found that the vacuum cleaner filter bag was 86% efficient at blocking the .023 µ (micron) sized particles, the tea-towel was 72% efficient, cotton mix or blend cloth was 70% efficient, an antimicrobial pillow case at 69%, a normal pillowcase at 57%, a 100% cotton T-shirt was 51% efficient, followed by a scarf at 49%, and with all other fabrics being between 62% to 54% efficient. In contrast, a commercially produced surgical mask filtered out 90% of the .023 µ (micron) sized Bacteriphage MS2 particles from the atmosphere.

So, what does all this mean. If you are only measuring filtering efficiency, then you would want to make your mask from two layers of tea-towel material, or from vacuum cleaner filter bag, since these had the highest filtering efficiencies in both tests and were equivalent to a commercially made surgical mask, with regards to filtering efficiency. However, filtering efficiency isn’t the only consideration when designing a face mask, just as important is breathability.

The authors of “Testing the Efficacy of Homemade Masks” felt the comfort and breathability of the DIY mask was just as important factor as filtering efficiency, since you will not wear a mask that is difficult to breathe in or uncomfortable to wear, for very long. If the mask you are wearing is difficult to breathe in, you will have to work harder to get enough air, this is particularly a problem if you are doing heavy labor or have an underlying breathing difficulty. Additionally, a mask which is difficult to breathe in may suffer from air leaks around the edges of the mask, as the wearer struggles to draw in enough air.

Based on data from “Testing the Efficacy of Homemade Masks”, Davies et al., graph by the author.

To determine how breathable ordinary household materials were, Davies, et al., measured the pressure drop across the materials, noting on page 417 of “Testing the Efficacy of Homemade Masks”, that the pressure drop across a mask would be, “a useful measure both of resistance to breathing and the potential for bypass of air around the filter seal”.

What the authors found, is that the vacuum cleaner filter bag and the two layers of tea-towels, while the best at filtering, were the worst when it came to breathability. The two household materials that came the closest to the breathability of a commercially made surgical mask, were two layers of 100% cotton T-shirt and two layers of normal pillowcase material.

Don’t use a vacuum cleaner filter bag to make a do-it-yourself face mask, according to the authors of “Testing the Efficacy of Homemade Masks”, photograph by the author.

According to the authors, Davies et al, the answer to can you make a face mask from a vacuum cleaner filter bag, is yes, yes you can make a do-it-yourself COVID-19 face mask from a vacuum cleaner filter bag, but you wouldn’t want to, because a vacuum cleaner bag is stiff, there might be issues with fitting it properly and even more importantly a vacuum cleaner filter bag is not easy to breathe through! And while the vacuum cleaner filter bag and two layers of tea-towels made the best filters, they were the worst when it came to breathability, and therefore the authors concluded, they should not be used to make face masks. Instead, they found, that you should use two layers of 100% cotton T-shirt material or, as a second best, two layers of pillowcase cloth to make your do-it-yourself face mask, as these would be the most comfortable for long term wear, have the best breathability, and at 71% filter efficiency for two layers of 100% cotton T-shirt material and 62% efficiency for two layers of normal pillowcase cloth, when tested against the .95 to 1.25 µ (micron) sized Bacillus atrophaeus particles, still remove a high level of contaminants. These two materials when tested against Bacteriphage MS2, which at .023 µ (micron) is smaller than the COVID-19 virus particle, had for a 100% cotton T-shirt material, a 51% filter efficiency and for normal pillowcase cloth, a 57% efficiency.

For instructions on how to make a do-it-yourself, homemade face mask, according to the study a "Simple Respiratory Mask" read “COVID-19, And A Simple, Homemade Respiratory Mask ©”, found HERE. And for a video demonstrating how to put on the mask built according to the study a "Simple Respiratory Mask", go HERE or HERE.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Notes

¹ For my European readers, a United States N95 respirator is the equivalent of a Filtering Facepiece against Particles (FFP)-2 mask.

² A British tea-towel is made of a strong fabric with a thick weave and is called a kitchen towel or a dish cloth in the United States.

Sources

Achenbach, Joel, Sun, Lena H., and McGinley, Laurie; The Washington Post, March 30, 2020 “CDC considering recommending general public wear face coverings in public”, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/cdc-considering-recommending-general-public-wear-face-coverings-in-public/2020/03/30/6a3e495c-7280-11ea-87da-77a8136c1a6d_story.html, accessed April 3, 2020

Davies, Anna, BSc, Thompson, Katy-Anne, BSc, Giri, Karthika, BSc, Kafatos, George, MSc. Walker, Jimmy, PhD, and Bennett, Allan, BSc; “Testing the Efficacy of Homemade Masks: Would They Protect in an Influenza Pandemic?”, Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, Vol. 7, No. 4, April 9, 2013, [Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc., Cambridge University], page 413-418, https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/0921A05A69A9419C862FA2F35F819D55/S1935789313000438a.pdf/testing_the_efficacy_of_homemade_masks_would_they_protect_in_an_influenza_pandemic.pdf, accessed April 3, 2020

Robertson, Paddy; “What Are The Best Materials for Making DIY Masks?”, March 3, 2020, https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/best-materials-make-diy-face-mask-virus/, accessed April 6, 2020

Robertson, Paddy; “Can DIY Masks Protect Us from Coronavirus?” March 3, 2020, https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/diy-homemade-mask-protect-virus-coronavirus/, accessed April 6, 2020

Simpson, Leah; “Trump says N95 mask makers 3M 'will have a big price to pay' for selling to higher bidding foreign countries as he invokes Defense Production Act and forces the firm to supply to the US”, Dailymail.com, April 3, 2020, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8183153/Trump-says-N95-mask-makers-3M-big-price-pay-selling-higher-bidding-countries.html, accessed April 3, 2020

The Woodsman's Journal Online

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Sunday, April 26, 2020

A Trip To Tifft Farms: Social Isolation, Exercise, and the Outdoors, During COVID-19 ©

Sunday, April 19, 2020

Two-In-One Match...Splitting Matchheads! ©

Saturday, April 18, 2020

Two-In-One Match...Splitting Matchheads!

Sunday, April 12, 2020

COVID-19, And A Simple, Homemade Respiratory Mask, Part Two ©