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I have used a matttock on occasion, but for rough ground I do like my digging bar. It was described as a "fence hole digger" when I bought it many years ago. It is a 6-foot length of inch-diameter steel with a chisel end (a couple of inches wide) and a big knob on the other end. I sharpened...

The car vs bag thing is an issue. If you leave stuff like clothing in a car over a soggy UK winter, it will get damp, no matter how well sealed the car is. This was a constant challenge when I had a camper van. I leave some things in a vehicle, other stuff willl go in a bag I take with me. I...

It's a stupid and futile exercise, job creation for the civil service. The mentality of those persons who consider this seriously enough to start a consultation is difficult to comprehend. Fact is, they cannot stop illegal drugs coming into the UK, nor can they stop illegal drugs being...

That's more where I am. I live rural with some solid fuel heating, a stream, power station/-Starlink etc. Practice craft skills- make stuff- grow a bit, and polytunnels going up. It's that bit of resilience. GC

I suppose it depends on what "Bushcraft" is to you. For me it's primarily homesteading, so having some idea of what could impact things like heating costs is helpful in life planning. For example, what baseline level of coal/wood to store- buying extra now hits cash flow but is also a hedge for...

Completed. Bats**t crazy idea it is. GC

Quite possibly, as "rare earths" are not actually that rare in occurance. Certainly there's lithium deposits in Cornwall which are apparently economic to mine by injection of hot water/brine. [Lithium is not a rare earth but is used in batteries so one of the "stretegic" elements.] The issue...

I think that the biggest mistake we make in the "West" is to believe that other people think like us. That's not necessarily the case. The Western cultural mind-view ("self evident" things like "human rights"and getting rid of cultural acceptance of slavery) was actually the outcome of 2000...

Indeed. The attacks hit the headlines precisely because they are rare (as well as terrible). It's difficult to "Run, Hide, Tell" on a moving train. I suppose the difference was in the 1970's that the IRA typically phoned a warning so the damage was mainly property (not always of course as the...

The storm last night/this morning dropped more rain than we had for years. The local NRW gauging station shows the last time the river was higher was back in 2002- this storm broke the previous "recent highest" from 2019. The catch pool which is normally 6 inches deep was about 5 feet deep...

More wind and rain, Amber weather warning for rain, expecting a couple of inches or more over 24hr..... I de-silted the stream and cleaned the trash grate this morning in expectation. Took over 350 shovels of silt/fine gravel out..... the pile is growing..... so I regraded it and made sure its...

I don't want to put words in @Woody girl 's mouth, but the phrase/sentiment "we need a good war to sort things out" is something one hears in various places. I doubt that either @Woody girl or any other sensible person would agree that any war is good for those directly involved/impacted...

Probably. Green (i.e. fresh cut) willow is very flexible. Hoops for frame baskets were typically bent to shape (these days around a former) immediately then left to dry for a few months before use. Some baskets (e.g. the Cyntell) also used split willow (or sometimes hazel) for the ribs, this was...

Depends on the definition of bushcraft skills. Assuming it includes craft, DIY and homesteading, could be very relevant. Clearly I am not normal as I lit 2 fires (logburners in different rooms at different times) today- it was cold overnight) plus my other half woke up the coal fired Rayburn...

Hoyle and Wickamasingh posited space (comets in particular) as a source of viruses many decades ago and were mocked. Perhaps they were not so far out. ["Diseases from Space" was their book, can sometimes pick old second hand copies on t'interweb] GC

A squeegee is a great way of keeping a shower room less humid, just use it to pull off the condensation and push it down the plug hole. Much safer too.... GC

Plenty water here, about the same as last 2 big storms so prob a couple of inches. This time though it also fell further east in the central beacons, so the Rhondda/Taff rivers are full and floods possible further downstream. GC

Yeah, there's defo more rain more inbound. We are inside the Amber warning area (for rain) by about 5 miles.... however the hillside and watershed that feeds the stream is mainly in the yellow area...... (main orange area is to the east, but watershed is south.) The Bannau Brecheiniog will be...

That's a good point. I've had a couple of "shaman" type drums to play with over the years. The "authentic" one with a natural skin was a beautiful nightmare, needed to sit by a fire before it could be played.... but then eventually the wood frame broke from over-tension as it got too dry. I...

I've got a spring-fed stream. (Currently a very full stream, glad I cleared the trash grate this morning given the weather). Never dried up even in driest summers. Also some water butts filled with stream water- 4 x 250L- and at the bottom of my Willow chest freezer, I have a dozen 5L bags of...