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I'd be much more interested in a statistic that states the distance from a road which people use with any regularity. It's all well and good being near a road, but if nobody uses it, then it's going to be less than useful.
yeah tried it this weekend at naturefest with the BCL lads, its a nice technique, but it hurts your hands and is alot more tiring than the bowdrill...
it would be extreamly hard to make a "good" bowdrill set without a cutting tool, even the string has to be picky for it to work well.
if i where caught in that situation i would find a broken bottle and use that as a cutting tool, shelter is relativly easy as long as there are materials to hand, for fire... most likley i would make a bowdrill, but slightly modified i.e the bearing block is attacked to a tree and uses a leaver to adjust the pressure.
forestwalker
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Any sharp edged rock can do for "carving" needed for the bowdrill.
Broken bottle... I usually state that around here there is no really knappable rock to be found naturally, but fortunately those that passed before us kindly imported a lot of it and left it around for us to use in a emergency. Scientists still have no clue as to the strange religious rituals that demanded that they shape the material into bottles...
I was give two huge pieces of real tinder fungus this weekend 
and even damp, they take a spark astonishingly good stuff
Josh, I reckon good usable cordage is just a matter of practice, even rushes can be used on a bow drill and work. I'm no expert but I've even done it with the leaves from the dried out crocuses.
cheers,
M
and even damp, they take a spark astonishingly good stuff Josh, I reckon good usable cordage is just a matter of practice, even rushes can be used on a bow drill and work. I'm no expert but I've even done it with the leaves from the dried out crocuses.
cheers,
M
ill second that, Mary's knowledge, on all things bush crafty is amazing, in fact just all things in general.
In Europe, presuming you're dressed properly, the only things that should worry you are water and warmth.
Natural shelter is you're best bet and going to sleep in a shaded spot is a good survival strategy throughout most of Europe in anything but the most extreme weather.
As far as survival cordage goes you're probably wearing huge amounts of "cordage" in your clothes.
Natural shelter is you're best bet and going to sleep in a shaded spot is a good survival strategy throughout most of Europe in anything but the most extreme weather.
As far as survival cordage goes you're probably wearing huge amounts of "cordage" in your clothes.
It's a bit of a vague scenario.
I can honestly say that when walking on a day trip i don't take a knife or anything that would start a fire.
I've been a little lost on a few occasions during fog and white outs, but with a bit of home work, map reading, compass, step counting and pre-planning i've walked out of every situation up until now.
In fair weather for a reasonably fit person my opinion is it's pretty much impossible to get lost in England unfortunately.
Your rarely any more than 1 hours walk away from a road, yes it may be a quiet country road, but still then there is a damn good chance it'll lead to a busier road.
In Scotland there are some areas where you could be at least 1 full days walk away from the nearest population.
But then in these areas if you go unprepared then your a fool.
That fact that someone has searched, found this forum, opened this thread to be pretty much rules out a fool.
With regards to a knife and fire making equipment, again it really depends on where your going, what your doing.
I've walked, cycled, backpacked around the world, it's extremely rare i'll take a knife with me.
If i do 90% of the time it'll only be a plate knife for eating my food with certainly not strong or sharp enough to cut wood with.
For fire making, if i'm on anything but a day trip then i'll usually have a alcohol burning stove with me, with a couple of lighters.
Again though that depends.
When we cycled across the US we started out fully kitted up and ended up selling stuff on the way as we never used it.
By the end of the trip we had just a sleeping bag, what was left of the tent and a few bits and bobs.
So my answer is, it really depends on where you are, the weather and how long your out for.
If i got lost (on foot) my first priority would be to walk out, rather than sit and make a camp.
Again i've never really had any problem.
I can honestly say that when walking on a day trip i don't take a knife or anything that would start a fire.
I've been a little lost on a few occasions during fog and white outs, but with a bit of home work, map reading, compass, step counting and pre-planning i've walked out of every situation up until now.
In fair weather for a reasonably fit person my opinion is it's pretty much impossible to get lost in England unfortunately.
Your rarely any more than 1 hours walk away from a road, yes it may be a quiet country road, but still then there is a damn good chance it'll lead to a busier road.
In Scotland there are some areas where you could be at least 1 full days walk away from the nearest population.
But then in these areas if you go unprepared then your a fool.
That fact that someone has searched, found this forum, opened this thread to be pretty much rules out a fool.
With regards to a knife and fire making equipment, again it really depends on where your going, what your doing.
I've walked, cycled, backpacked around the world, it's extremely rare i'll take a knife with me.
If i do 90% of the time it'll only be a plate knife for eating my food with certainly not strong or sharp enough to cut wood with.
For fire making, if i'm on anything but a day trip then i'll usually have a alcohol burning stove with me, with a couple of lighters.
Again though that depends.
When we cycled across the US we started out fully kitted up and ended up selling stuff on the way as we never used it.
By the end of the trip we had just a sleeping bag, what was left of the tent and a few bits and bobs.
So my answer is, it really depends on where you are, the weather and how long your out for.
If i got lost (on foot) my first priority would be to walk out, rather than sit and make a camp.
Again i've never really had any problem.
I just don't get the question? if you have hands you have a means of making the tools to make fire, and you can collect food or make traps, in sufficient number to increase your chances of getting meat, It's knowledge baby!
forget building a fire it is the last thing to worry about really. Build a Debris hut fast, and stuff your clothes with airy material like cedar bark, birch bark which is water repellent if you get soaking wet. But make that debris hut. Rocks just slapped on other rocks make sharp enough edges to cut anything and sand stone rocks cuts vines, shapes wood like sand paper does. But if you had to make fire very quickly and you have quartz or flint, learn to make fire with sparks. it is hard to master but once done you are set for life, since quartz seems to be everywhere. I dont mean flint and steel, I mean quatrz with quartz or flint. te sparks are very small, so you need to study the best tinder finding skills you can do but the friction stick, not the bow drill is the 2nd master of fire starters. But really a master woodsman doesnt even need fire. that really is almost last, if you build your shelter right. 3 minutes air to breathe, 3 hours until hyperthermia, 3 days for water lost, 30 days without food, the rest of your life without fire.
A young girl nearly died once when sitting next to me in the infants, she stayed alive by picking her nose and eating it....I kid you not! It will stay in my mind till it's time for me to leave this place.
" Rocks just slapped on rocks make sharp enough edges "
What rocks ? 'cos I've spent three days grinding several varieties down to shape because I couldn't hit them hard enough to split them without metal tools or fire.
Not all rocks are the same. Igneous, sedimentary, crystalline, of assorted varieties, all behave differently under stress.
Toddy
What rocks ? 'cos I've spent three days grinding several varieties down to shape because I couldn't hit them hard enough to split them without metal tools or fire.
Not all rocks are the same. Igneous, sedimentary, crystalline, of assorted varieties, all behave differently under stress.
Toddy
We live in very different climates dude, I value fire lighting a a high skill, something to practise from lighting a pressure stove to iron pyrites, how would you deal with sodden wet clothes from an impromptu dip in a big puddle while out for an Autumn bimble for a few days or weeks, let alone in winter, why so anti fire if your into ancient technology and life styles, I believe they valued fire greatly, Just wondering is all chap.
If you are skilled enough, it is fully possible...
You could be interested in reading: "Surviethon au gré de la nature" by André-François Bourbeau, who actually has a doctorate in Survival Education from the University of Northern Colorado.
André-François Bourbeau set out on a journey in 1984, to test some of his research in what we today would call experimental archeology.
He stayed out in the canadian wilderness for 30 days, without any form of tools, gear or support. Upon his return to civilisation he had produced a full set of gear for wilderness travel.
Another interesting person in this respect is Lynx Wilden. She teaches month-long courses up at the rockies in US, where the participiants only use stone age technology. Really a capacity in her field!
//Kim Horsevad
A real master of survivlaist doesnt use fires. I used them up to 11,000ft in 28 ft of snows in colorado and Arizona- I lived in White Mountains Apache where American fire burned down all the woods down in june. It is cold there all year around. the weather there is like Canada literally. I true survivalist SCOUT needs to learn to live without fire so he is noy detached in a war zone, a fallout zone or end of th world zone. Fire can be seen, heard, and smelt from a long way away. You can use the sun as a heat source. I use sun to purify my water in a turkey oven bag. I dry my fish and meat. I am not saying not to learn fire and no I am not anti-fire But what is very impoirtant is not fire. Merely wringing out your clothes, Calming down (Shock reduced body heat), and patdry your clothes in snow or use leaves to wong out the clothes like you use a towel with wet clothes at a hotel. Stuffing clothes with leaves especially cedar or birch bark adds a water repellant as well. I good debris hut anywhere will keep you very warm. I know I lived in the woods for over 20 years. But all means learn the ways, but what really matters in that shelter more than anyhing after you can breathe and stop bleeding.
You make a good point about not needing fire. Most bushcrafters are verging on obsessive about lighting fires but winter climbers, winter hillwalkers, people in the Antarctic etc rely of shelter (tent) and warm clothing and not fires. I spent about 20 years four season hill walking and never, not once had a fire; only fires we had was in the summer if we went down to the coast for a day or two and burnt driftwood on the beach/dunes.
If your clothing and shelter is right you don't need a fire other than for heating food really, anything else is an indulgence (a nice one at times though).
If your clothing and shelter is right you don't need a fire other than for heating food really, anything else is an indulgence (a nice one at times though).
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