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A few years ago I bought a small potjie from the bring and buy stall at the Bushmoot. When I picked it up off the table I was immediately impressed with how little it weighed. Turned out that despite looking like a cast iron pot it was made of aluminium. It has been a regular part of my camp...

Filmed by Zed Shah of Zed Outdoor YouTube channel at the Retro Outdoors Meet.

I've just finished the trip report for our trip to Kittila this February. I'm not going to try and post it all up on the forum because it's a nightmare keeping the picture links live so I'm linking you to the first page here: https://www.ice-raven.co.uk/html/2023-expedition---kittila.html Hope...

I almost hesitate to post this thread for fear of Jinxing it. We first started to plan a trip to Kittilä for February 2021 but the pandemic scotched that for us. We rescheduled it for 2022 but the airline cancelled our flights at the last minute so that was a bust too and we ended up having a...

I have long been a fan of the thin, cheap and cheerful fleece gloves from Decathlon. I take a small bag of them on trips so that I can swap them when they wet out although they never seem to get cold when they do. I’ve also had some of these Swedish Army wrist warmers for a while but I was...

I was looking to add something to a post I was sure I had started somewhere only to discover that I don't seem to have posted about this here. This came about from an idea I had on the first winter trip I made to the Arctic. For some time now I have been using a square cotton tarp, set up...

Wishing you all the best of the season.

I’ve been tinkering again. I wanted some spirit thermometers for working in sub zero temperatures. They are useful for tracking the weather and snow conditions. I found some simple thermometers on a brewing site that spanned the range I needed +50°c to -42°c. They came in a simple plastic case...

A little tip I was given to speed up the inflation of my Exped Down Mat in cold conditions. The built in pump works but rather slowly when cold but the intake valve is about the right size for a brewers demijohn cork. Drill a few holes, or get one with a hole already in it. Cut the corner of a...

This is a Mad Idea that has taken form... The snow block cutter / mould / kitchen / windbreak. It is one of those crazy ideas I wake up with occasionally but I thought this one might have wings. It’s primary purpose is to push into wind compacted snow to cut blocks for building an igloo. If...

My new/old snow goggles have arrived. The original lenses were cracked and de-laminated so I’ve swapped them out for some acrylic ones. Brushed up the rims a bit and they are good for another few decades I reckon. They came in a dinky little tin as well. Not sure how old there are but the...

Just came across this mentioned in another place and I thought it was disgraceful. A plastic fleece fabric being marketed as "Marinowul+" https://www.trademarkelite.com/trademark/trademark-detail/90461445/MARINOWUL- That's not designed to be misleading at all is it? Always found Orvis to be...

Recently I took a new look at the saws I was carrying into the winter woods. For a long time I just carried a Laplander and a light weight wooden snow knife that I made based upon an Inuit design. I own a classic Camp Snow Saw but rarely carry the thing because it is so heavy and only really...

While packing kit away after the Wilderness Gathering, including a "new" vintage Marlin Spike, second from the right, it occurred to me that I have a few of these tools now and I think they are greatly underrated by landsmen. I have lost count of the number of times one of these tools, drawn...

As a group, we are very fortunate in our friends. Because so many of us have moved around in the different circles of outdoor life like Bushcraft and Re-enactment for so many years we have developed a good reputation that sometimes precedes us and leads to opportunities that might not...

I always like to come away from the Bushmoot having learned something or made something new. This year a great little workshop given by Anna and Ian ??? ticked both of those boxes with one of the nicest, simplest "foraged art" ideas I have seen.

Meet Merthyr the Mallet. I have a variety of wooden mallets in my camping gear but sometimes things require hitting with a bit of metal. A lump hammer does the job but is, as the name suggests, a bit of a lump to carry round. While wandering around Merthyr Mawr at the Bushmoot this year, I...

Just a few pictures of my pitch at the Bushmoot this year. Great event once again, looking forward to the next time I can get there.

One of the minor annoyances of Summer camping is the number of Kamikaze flying insects that consider an open drink to be an irresistible opportunity. At the BushMoot, the wasps tend to be a particular problem. I usually attempt to frustrate their attempts with something like a tin plate, but...

Wishing you all a Merry Craftmas and hoping for a better New Year.