Tools: Stick Carrier

When living off of the land you will certainly be dealing with fire on an almost daily basis. Fire requires firewood and that means collecting firewood year round. Lots of it!

Having something to help you keep your small firewood pieces and kindling for getting your fire going would be a big help and convenience. Here is a simple stick carrier that you can make from nothing more than a couple of sticks and a couple of pieces of string about three feet long each.

The idea is to bind a bundle of sticks for easy carrying! You can do this with a single piece of string, but that would involve tying and untying the bundle each time. And of that would provide any sort of handle either. There must be a better way! There is and it is as simple as tying a knot.

To make this carrier you need to cut two sticks. Each should be about 12 to 15 inches long. One of these will serve as a handle. So I prefer to strip off the bark from both pieces with a knife to make it smooth. Sanding is optional, but does serve to make the sticks smoother.

The sticks should be about an inch in diameter. You can either cut a groove around or drill a hole through each end of the stick about an inch from each end of each of the two sticks.

If you cut a groove, then wrap the string around the stick and tie a knot such that the string ends up tight and secure inside the groove. The string will not be able to slide up and down the stick after the knot is tied. Now perform the same procedure with the other end of the string to the second stick. Repeat with the second string, but obviously to the other end of each of the sticks.

If you drilled a hole, then thread the string through the hole and tie a knot or three in the end of the string so that the knot will not fit back through the hole.

When laid out your stick carrying tool will form a rectangle. It will have two sides of string and two sides of stick.

To use the carrier, lay it on the ground spread out. Lay your collected firewood sticks across both of the strings. Grab one of the sticks and lift it over the firewood and pull it through the other side between the second stick and the firewood. Now lift.

That is it! Your bundle of sticks of firewood is now held securely in place by the strings and its own weight. And you have a nice handle with which to lift it with. Now go collect you firewood!

The length of your sticks will vary depending on what type of sticks or logs you are collecting. You can add a center string to accommodate smaller sticks or you can adjust the position of the string using multiple drilled holes or multiple grooves.