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Mr Claycomb, of course you care. I hold Mors Kochanski's teachings in very high regard, but not so exalted that they cannot be examined or challenged. I feel certain (though I've never met him) that Mr Kochanski (perhaps, after re-arranging the odd ruffled feather) would be pleased that his...

Yes, dogs had occurred to me, but Kochanski makes no mention of them and is specific about the 'family of four', so I am inclined to think he meant human consumption. Burnt Ash

Mr Fenna, It is clear that we do not see eye-to-eye. You accuse me of being rude and abusive? Inevitably, some things come down to interpretation. I am robust in my views as, I am sure, you are in yours. I must, however, challenge your accusation of my being 'plain nasty'. I invite you to...

I was re-reading Mors Kochanski's Northern Bushcraft the other day and came across something that had niggled me at the first reading of the book. In Chapter 11, 'The Moose', Kochanski states that amongst Northern peoples "A family of four may consume 80 moose a year, compared to about three...

I remember reading R.M Ballantyne's The Gorilla Hunters when I was about eleven. I thought it very exciting stuff at the time. Granted it was written in the 19th century, but the zoological content is pure cobblers. Ballantyne was hugely popular in his day, but far too proselytizing for my...

Be sure to get the full version (there were some abridged editions, intended for children). Apart from the text, the book is a delight for Caldwell's pen and ink marginal illustrations on every page. Burnt Ash

Many of those already mentioned, but also Jock of the Bushveld, by Sir Percy FitzPatrick. I was born in South Africa and know the places mentioned. The author was urged to write the book -originally, bedtime stories for his children of his experiences as a young man- by no less than Rudyard...

These accidents are not uncommon. Deer are remarkably durable creatures and cases of three-legged deer surviving quite well after injury are not at all rare. Such animals would be culled as a management priority, though. Incidentally, I absolutely hate barbed wire: it is the bane of the...

I love external frame packs. I had a Fjallraven 'Gyro' that went 'missing' when we moved house five years ago. It was a fabulously comfortable pack loaded up for a long trek: it rode on the hips beautifully, with plenty of ventilation between one's back and the pack itself. Even the best...

Me too! I bought two 'Laplanders' for £8.00 (the pair) from the bargain bin of an ironmongers in Tunbridge Wells that was closing down. That was several years before the Sandvik Laplander received the public RM seal of approval. Before that, I had been a great fan of the old 'Bridgedale'...

On Sunday afternoon, while I was sitting half asleep and replete after a good lunch and a hard morning's work clearing a tree that had been blown down across the stream, I had a call from a neighbour. A walker had reported an injured deer caught in a fence. Could I come and assist? When I got...

Just had e-mails from two old mining buddies in the last few days: one in Perth; the other in the Pilbara. Burnt Ash

I got as far as alder, too. Or at least as far as this bit: "Most Alder leaves contain about 5,000 ppm of molybdenum, a rare and necessary mineral." You people are so credulous! You will swallow any bull**** as long as it's wrapped up in this sort of touchy feely hogwash. I, too, posess...

I've never understood the attraction of battoning a knife. To me, it's knife abuse. Supposing one were in a survival situation and your knife was your only cutting tool. Would you risk bashing it with a big stick and breaking it? In other circumstances, you'd probably be better prepared and have...

Companion books to factual TV series are rarely very wonderful in my experience, but they are worth having to accompany the DVDs where these are produced, IMO. The books are usually available at heavily discounted prices not very long after the first broadcast/publication. For cookery/foody...

I have to say that this does not tally with my experience. We have several bird feeders with peanuts, sunflower hearts and niger seeds (also fat balls in hard weather) outside the kitchen window. Whilst there is certainly a pecking order, everyone seems to get a look in. I do not often put out...

I was watching a repeat of one of the Wild Gourmet TV series a few days ago. I may have been mistaken, but I'm sure I heard one of the presenters referring to this as a 'monkey's ear' fungus. I thought, at the time, that this was a sop to political correctness. Jew's ear is, I understand, a...

Oh, right, so nearly all my fishing rods are 'Micarta' then? And a few of the boats I've owned? And the repairs I've made to various odd dings in my motor cars over the years? All done with/in Micarta? Not convinced, sport. Micarta is not a synonym for anything dunked in epoxy resin. Anyway...

Tasted like effluent from a petro-chemical works, IMO. I reckon I have a pretty catholic and robust palate and a like of strong and pungent flavours, but cuckoo flower (leaves) was too much for me. Burnt Ash

I'm a great fan of 'bushcraft orange'. It's one of my pet hobby horses and a standing joke between me and Roger Harrington. I've never understood the sense in having one's small, valuable items in olive or camouflage. Bark River offers its knives in a huge range of handle material options. There...