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I have to admit that it was a new technique to me! Useful to know about, too, as I've always been slightly wary of thumping the back of my blade with a heavy club; this a least avoids that direct impact.

Fruit woods are lovely and produce very fine spoons but don't be afraid to try other woods! Things like sycamore, lime, wych elm are great for spoons and can be forgiving to carve; as you get more confident, oak, beech and even box(!) can produce stunning results. Enjoy the hook knives that...

I've still got a Munro and, while the pack bit of it is good 'n' serviceable, the padded part of the shoulder straps is a bit short. It works but it's not great.

Hardness issues aside, there's some lovely grain in that wood and the symmetry of your carving is great.

I managed to obtain some tiger poo many years ago to deter foxes from eating my hens. It worked a treat but boy, did it stink! The problem is the size of the field where the sheep live and the difficulty in obtaining 'scented warnings' locally. I have put what is dubbed 'Scandinavian...

The weather's improving and so the time has come to wash and store the heftier weight woolly tops. But it is still chilly in the evenings. What to wear? Well, I have now turned my back on synthetic fleece: it feels clammy and cling-y, can be bulky to pack, is not great near fire. Up until...

I have two sheaths with slots for a ferro rod; one I use a lot, the other I don't. I cannot understand why I am happy to use one of them but not the other - that's a mystery. Are they worth it? Maybe. I do find it convenient to have my knife and the knowledge that I've also got a firesteel...

I agree with the original post: breast pockets are, for me, almost entirely useless. I wear my glasses and so do not ever store them in my titty pouches; I find it always a struggle to get to things put in there; they get in the way of the chest strap on a rucksack and I always seem to have...

I'm not sure if these will tick your '25-year shelf life' criterion but I have used - and, for the most part enjoyed - the freeze-dried offerings from Expedition Foods, Bla Band, Firepot and Mountain House. Generally, I choose them because they are light in weight and high in calories - well...

For reasons still unknown to me, I decided I'd try one of these and duly took delivery of a long-handled version. I've been trying it out for a little while now and thought I'd offer my observations. Yes, it is a peculiar-looking tool when compared with many/most other options in the field but...

I've just finished "Act of Oblivion" by Robert Harris - a bit ponderous in places but interesting in a broad kind of way. For work, I have completed "The Lie Tree" by Frances Hardinge - a proto-Victorian fable with some superb descriptive passages. I've moved on to "Spying on the Reich" by...

But, by the same token, if you're using the cordage as ridgeline for your tarp - even without toggles and prussiks - you're still only giving it a single use at that moment. The toggles and prussiks can come off very easily to restore the versatility of the line. I have to admit that I quite...

I do like the addition of a prussik loop to one end of my ridge line; clipping in a carabiner (something I always carry...) and then using the hitch system seems pretty bombproof and versatile to me. At the other end, I am a dyed-in-the-wool Evenk hitch fan, so I'm not about to change that! It...

Although I've only ever handled a Sten gun in my boyish dreams back in the 1970s, I do understand how I can tweak my Bushnot-so-lite. I might give it a go this afternoon... Mind you, the Sten is not, perhaps, the best example to give: fairly ropily manufactured and prone to jamming...

I posted on the recent Bushlite thread and made it reasonably clear that I have not been impressed with their offering. Mechanical issues aside, the thing that narks me is the inordinate weight of the thing - Bushlite it is not! I like my UCO lantern and particularly either the citronella or...

I will always try and support a U.K. company and so, based on what I read above, I bought a Bushlite. I have spent a little while trying it out but have come across a number of problems/flaws. The spring that drives the candle through its sleeve as it burns seems to be too strong for the job...

I reckon softshells are neither fish nor fowl. When backpacking, where everything has to justify its rucksack space, they just don't cut it for me. If it's windy, I'll put on the shell layer; if it's cold, I'll add a fleece/woolly layer; if it's raining, it's the shell again. For me, they...

Certainly! It sounds very interesting...

I reckon a Finnish loue might fit the bill. Simple and versatile, easy to set up and some even have a sort of aluminium/silvered inside to reflect the heat of your strategically placed fire on to you as you slumber. Since they originate in a country that basks in a proper winter, I think...

This sounds like something lifted directly from the pages of Harry Potter!