Chapter 718 Success is just around the corner
After tanning, the next step is to smoke the hides.
Bifang formed the animal skin into the shape of a bag, extinguished the open fire, set up a tripod on the charcoal fire, and put the animal skin bag directly on it with the bag opening facing downwards.
"The smoking step is very important. It is to prevent the hide from turning back into rawhide after it comes into contact with water. Rawhide cannot be used as clothing. Once it loses moisture, it will become hard and cannot be worn at all. So I am very serious every time I do this step."
"I remember I told you not to use an open flame, as it could easily burn the hide. Wait a few hours, then turn it over and continue. When you're done, it's cooked leather."
While waiting, Bifang was not idle. He took out a reindeer stomach bag filled with liquid that had frozen into ice cubes.
This was collected by Bifang from the reindeer's eyeballs. It wasn't much, but it was very useful.
"You can also make super glue by mixing the liquid in the eyes with branches. In addition, you can also keep the hooves and use them to make super glue. When boiling, skim the grease on the surface of the water, which is very good bone oil and can be used to soften leather."
"Because the musk ox wanted to reduce weight as much as possible, I gave up four large hooves. This time, the carrying capacity was improved, so I kept them."
After completing the process, the next step is pure hard work.
The next day, the animal skins were tanned and everyone was exhausted. The low temperature last night made everyone involved in the activity of rescuing the ice cave. Bifang also joined in after making the animal skins and had almost no free time.
Fortunately, thanks to everyone's efforts, the ice cave did not freeze, the whales under the ice field were still full of energy, and the temperature temporarily rose to more than 40 degrees below zero. Although it was still very cold, it was already considered "warm" compared to yesterday's more than 50 .
The good news is that the Tethis broke through the thick ice layer and continued to ram, and its forward speed suddenly increased significantly.
Now the distance between the two is less than two miles. If someone has good enough eyesight, they can even spot the blurry figure directly under the starry sky!
Thinking of this, everyone became very motivated, and the number of tourists near the ice cave increased again, remaining at around 30, providing sufficient labor.
"Anyone want to try some roast reindeer?"
In front of the campfire, Bifang held up the piece of meat high and asked everyone.
Reindeer meat?
Everyone, whether they were cutting ice or taking a rest nearby, were stunned when they heard this.
Bifang was standing nearby, and everyone knew what he had done. Today, Bifang roasted half a deer at one time during breakfast. They were wondering how one person and six dogs could eat so much, but they didn't expect that it was for them.
Seeing no one responded, Bifang shouted again: "It may not taste that good, does anyone want to try it?"
The people present finally reacted and gathered around with a bang.
"Me! I want to give it a try!"
“Let me have a taste!”
"Get out of the way, let me see!"
There were obviously only more than thirty people, but they managed to surround Bifang so tightly that no one could get in or out.
After spending two days on the Arctic ice field, even those who were previously unfamiliar with Bifang knew about his identity and deeds, and everyone was very interested in the reindeer meat roasted by the adventurer himself.
Bifang quickly cut the meat from the reindeer, sprinkled it with a little salt, and handed it to everyone.
Half a reindeer weighs nearly 100 kilograms. Even if each person eats one kilogram, it is more than enough for more than 30 people. Moreover, an ordinary person cannot eat more than a kilogram of pure meat in one meal. In addition, although the roasting technique is sophisticated, reindeer meat is a bit dryer than musk beef, so it is not particularly delicious.
It can only be said that it is just average, but the fact that wild reindeer meat can be made to an "ordinary" level using only salt can only be attributed to the great help of Bifang's own wilderness cooking skills.
"It won't taste good if it's cold, don't wait too long."
Even though it had just been taken off the fire, Bifang couldn't advise people to be careful about burning their mouths, because once away from the flames, the huge temperature difference would cause the temperature of the meat to drop rapidly.
"No need to fight, everyone has one."
Bifang was like a small barbecue vendor, skillfully cutting the meat, putting it on clean branches, and handing it out one by one.
[Wow, I'm so envious. I also want to eat the barbecue made by Fang Shen himself.]
【Fang Shen, feed me! 】
[Fang Shen's barbecue in the wild, I really want to try it]
[Peter Pan presents the anchor with a meatball*1. ——I’m curious about the taste of reindeer meat]
"Phew, it tastes surprisingly good!"
"I didn't have breakfast, and I'm just hungry. This smells good!"
"It's OK, but a little dry."
"It's definitely worth the money. I never thought that an ordinary trip to the Arctic would be so interesting. I'm so happy!"
After a simple sharing of the food, Bifang also fed the sled dogs that were anxiously waiting beside him, had a simple meal himself, and then began to make clothes.
"Making clothes and other items from things around you is a very basic skill when surviving in the wild for a long time."
“Although it takes a lot of time and effort to turn the hides into finished leather, you will also find that leather products made in this way are stronger and more durable than modern industrial leather products.”
“This is also a rare case where a product made in the wild can surpass a modern industrial product.”
Normally, things made in the wilderness are generally not as good as industrial products. For example, soap made by Bifang using alkaline water and oil cannot be better than the ones sold in supermarkets. Otherwise, has the development of human chemical industry extended to dogs?
But animal skins are different. As a natural product, they are stronger and more durable. Moreover, they are natural products that can effectively cover up their own smell, making it easier to get close to prey. They also do not make noises when rubbed like down jackets or windbreakers, and can be used for good camouflage.
" When , you can use a variety of materials to sew animal skins, and animal tendons can also be used to sew clothes, but it is best to use them in a relatively dry place."
"Of course, plant fibers are also possible, but the seams are prone to tearing and need to be mended frequently. For this reason, I choose to use animal hide glue to glue the edges first, and then sew them, which makes them very strong."
The reindeer skins were cut into long strips, most of which were made into barrels and could be worn directly on the legs as trousers.
"We should pay more attention to keeping the knee joints warm, otherwise it is easy to get arthritis or rheumatism. We can put on another layer."
Over the long tube of animal hide, Bifang put on a short tube at the knees, and finally put on a deerskin coat. His whole body suddenly swelled up.
Although some beauty was sacrificed, it gained a bit of wildness in the wilderness. The most important thing is that Bifang finally felt his body warming up!
Until the afternoon, the Tethis was less than 500 meters away from the gray whale. Even people with poor eyesight could see its silhouette under the starry sky at this moment!
"Okay, let's turn the Tethis around. The next step is to get the gray whale back to the sea!"
Bifang's words were inspiring, and everyone started high-fiving each other and laughing.
Success is just around the corner!
