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I have just read on another forum that somebody has set up a Hotmail account in the name of a high-profile UK bushcrafter and is sending abusive emails and postings to various forums. Hopefully not this one, as it is so well-moderated! The bushcrafter in question has contacted the Police and...

Hi I have been watching the latest series of Ray Mears Bushcraft and I have noticed something odd (along with his way with the English language - describing the crook knife as "virtually a unique tool to this part of the World" for example). :rolleyes: From my modest knowledge of using...

Found this last night trawling through page after page of sub-£10 "Spec Ops/SAS/Navy S.E.A.L./name your elite military unit here"-type rubbish. I don't know about you but I experienced an overwhelming sense of deja vu when I saw this...

I have a load of pine sticks which I am trying to make feathersticks from but with limited success. Could anyone give some hints on the correct technique to make feathersticks? I guess that the knife has to be at a very shallow angle to the wood. I am using a Mora knife, and I have tried...

Watching Horizon on BBC2 last night about the Neanderthals, there was a scene in it depicting the first encounters with homo sapiens hunter-gatherers. A couple of humans were shown hunting and killing a deer. One of them looked suspiciously like John Lord - did anyone else see this and can you...

Any ideas where I can get hold of Tang or Kool Aid in the UK? Thanks Bruce

Recently I converted an old pair of Levis 501s into charcloth using the method described by Ray Mears. In short, I got an old Nescafe coffee can, pierced the lid, rolled up a load of denim from the jeans and put them in, and then put the can on a small fire I made for the purpose. I can...

I wonder if anyone has experience of using this fine piece of kit. I have a Fiskars mini-axe (but branded with the Gerber name) which can be sharpened to a fine blade, making it useful for finer work. For example, the other day I shaved a number of shavings off a Maya stick to start off a...

I now have five holly staves (two cut last year, three just yesterday) which I am seasoning in my garage. What would be the best uses for these? Knife handles? Or has anyone tried them for bow drills? How long should I season them for? I don't just want to make spoons with them...

Anyone know where to get hold of some? I have never seen it on sale here in the UK. Every other conceivable plant extract, never pine..... :?: Thanks, Bruce

Following a go at archery at last weekend's Wilderness Gathering, I went to my local archery club this morning with my next door neighbour who is a member. I managed to at least hit the targets on all but one occasion. Seems that I have a few years' practise to catch up at the local Butts...

...and had a great time. My thanks to Neil1 for his patience in jump-starting my car in the car park yesterday afternoon. My thanks also to those kind people who helped me out of the ditch in the wooded area when I was trying to back out of it. Those two small mishaps did not take the...

Just got my tickets for the Wilderness Gathering in a fortnight's time. :-) Looking forward to it. See you there Best wishes, Bruce

Just picked up a couple of Swedish Army Cardigans (his 'n' hers). One interesting feature is the hole in the armpit. I take it this is a design feature to prevent overheating. On first inspection it looks like a nice piece of clothing; made of stretchy ribbed wool, it is olive green (of...

Just picked up a Swedish Army surplus mil-spec Trangia cooker. However, there does not seem to be a burner ring included with it. :roll: I have not had the chance to contact the seller about this. Everything else seems present and correct including the plastic fuel bottle. Is this...

On a brief stroll in the woods with my daughters I found an abundance of wild raspberries in Savernake Forest, in Wiltshire (just outside Marlborough). We collected a load and had them as part of our dessert for dinner that evening. You need to collect a lot of them but then you can graze...

I am a bit confused over Boletus Erythropus. In Ray Mears' book "Bushcraft" he says that it should not be eaten; yet in his earlier (and better) book "The Survival Handbook" it is listed amongst the edible fungi. My confusion is made worse by the fact that I have found, picked, cooked and...

....seems to have fallen out of favour with outdoorsfolk. I don't understand why, I have two of them (one is a spare, but I've not needed to wear it yet, and I have owned the other for about five years or so). Is there a big movement towards natural fibres? Or are we as prone to following...

Recently joined this forum and I must say I am impressed with the standard of discussion. I know a few of the members from another forum, and I went to the Wilderness Gathering last year with my daughter. We live in Devizes in Wiltshire, so West Knoyle is not far away for us. This year I...