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    book recommendation

    How about The Mad Trapper of Rat River, by Dick North? The true story of Canada's largest manhunt in the 1930s. The fugitive (the Mad Trapper) performed some absolutely astonishing feats of survival in the Canadian wilderness, yet to this day nobody knows who he was.
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    Canvas Bucket

    For washing up, I dig a small square hole in the ground. Line it with my poncho, then fill it up with water.
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    Moon light

    Try time and date.com
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    Tinder Pouches

    Very nice craftsmanship, Paul. I have made two tinder pouches. The first one is small enough to fit in a shirt pocket. I waterproofed it with Nikwax. I went out in the rain today and got pretty wet, hence the dark stain. It is only big enough to carry a fire steel, cotton wool and a...
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    Lets see your teapots

    Wish I could say that my grandfather gave it to me on his deathbed, but it's brand new, (Oswald Bailey, about a tenner).
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    Fly Tipping

    Thanks for the offer, but I'm way down in Wessex. This sign, at the beginning of the trail, suggests that the problem is a long-term one hereabouts.
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    Fly Tipping

    Yesterday, I went here... To do this... But found this... Kind of makes you want to cry, doesn't it?
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    Water while out and about

    Is it safe to drink water taken straight from a spring, or is it best to filter/boil it first?
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    Wild camping videos

    How do tramps get on when they camp on roadside verges, or under bridges, or in barns and outhouses? Are they ever prosecuted for trespass? Are they above the law? Or are they beneath the law?
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    Water while out and about

    On backpacking trips I take two 1.5L poly-bottles. On my last trip, I stopped at a pub each day for lunch and a pint and asked the landlord to refill a bottle. At other times I have bought bottled water along the route. However, I am increasingly drawn towards attempting to avoid all human...
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    Frame of mind/Psychology of solo trips.

    I nearly always go out alone. Only last Saturday I returned from a 3-day, 36 mile hike, camping in woods and cooking on a fire. On day trips though, and overnight canoe trips, I often take one of my sons with me.
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    Cleaning up.

    I'm the same as everybody else and try to keep washing up to a minimum, eat out of the pot, boil up some water afterwards, and give a good rinse. Sometimes, if there is a lot of washing up or the pots are very dirty, I'll dig a small hole in the ground, lay my waterproof poncho in it to make a...
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    Learning The Hard Way

    Fortunately, the cut was completely healed after a couple of weeks. It was my own stupid fault. I was holding the log in my left hand and the axe in my right. The axe head was resting against the top of the log as I raised them and brought them down together onto the chopping block. Like an...
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    Learning The Hard Way

    A couple of years ago I bought an axe. I have it on my desk now as I write. I can still see the blood stains on the leather pouch. How I admired that axe. It possessed a strange primitive beauty – the curve of the handle; the rugged casting of the head; the menacing sharpness of the cutting...
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    What's the point of stone hearths?

    I don't bother with stones usually. I just do this.
  16. I

    Methods of coping with stress......

    Thank you for that, Firecrest. It is an inspirational story. To read of such acts of kindness and compassion makes it all worthwhile. The word hero is over-used these days, but I think it can justifiably be applied to that young lad. Reading some of the other posts on this thread made me realise...
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    Methods of coping with stress......

    Thank you, everyone, for your kind words of welcome. In answer to Malente’s very valid question, you are quite right. I may well return from a trip to the woods de-stressed, but I am just as powerless as I was when I set out. But I don’t feel that way. I feel as though I have the power not...
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    Methods of coping with stress......

    All is wrong with the world. I think that is one of the main causes of stress. But people like ourselves, who practice arts such as bushcraft, have a distinct advantage over most other people – we possess the means of escape. It does not matter whether we disappear into the woods for a whole...