Right then!!!!!
we set off for the woods as soon as Sam had finished school...
we got to the woods around 18:00 and parked up, I went to see Ike and give him the cash for us both, then we where away down the track after a bit of a chat. I found a tin can that had been chucked in the trees, I just could not pass it up and grabbed it to use as a cooking pot..
The weather was ok, bit of drizzle and bit damp but that stopped as we walked up.
I chose a spot by the stream, I like the sound of it and its good for washing your hands etc.......this turned out to be a bad move as its now got migies around the area....
Anyway, I picked a spot under the trees where I was going to make my shelter, Sam was just across from me with the tarp, it was his first time out so I helped him set up before I started.
All done and ready for OP “Build Shelter”. I was really lucky that the area has been coppices recently as there was loads of Hazel branches lying around.
I found some bigger sticks and whipped them together with vine to make it long enough for the centre piece. I propped them up with other sticks pushed into the ground with a Y shaped end... Next was to lay the Hazel sticks down from the main beam, this was made quite thick, and then covered with Fern, this was the waterproof bit, the idea was the angle would be great enough for the water to just run off...
All set up shelter done, not massive, just big enough to keep me dry if it tiddled down... I also used some Hazel and fern for my bed, it was quite good and did the job for 1 night...
Next was to get a fire going, I did try to use the wood that I found from the site but ended up using what I had taken as it was to wet, or not seasoned enough.... Got the fire going and chilled on my bed for a bit.... I went and got some good wood for the night before it got to dark....
The night was quite cold, I woke at 01:10 when the fire died down, I stoked it up and got my head back down... 03:33 and I woke up again, stoked the fire again... I got some birch bark and made a container or 2, and then I went for a walk, collected some wild plats, nettle tips, bramble leaves, dandelion leaves, wood sorrel, goose grass and the 1 thing I didn’t take a picture of was the blooming great thistle I got..... I used my tin after cutting the lid of with the axe and rolled the edge over, I boiled all the bits up to make a stew type of tea stuff, the thistle was stripped of leaves (which I binned as they where to spiky) and charred the stalk over the fire..... TBH it all tasted minging apart from the thistle which was sweet and lovely, it was a cross between spinach and celery but sweeter....NOM NOM NOM.......
Got some more wood for the fire as Sam is a right gonk monster, I had to wake him up at 10:00....lol....kids eh.....
In the mean time I had a look around the site and found some Sycamore that was dry and had a practice with the NEW bow drill kit, this lot of wood worked fine, I also used pine needle for tinder which I have never done before, worked treat too, think i will be getting some for the tinder pouch....
The things to note from this trip:-
The shelter held up to a good down poor in the morning which is good to know, the axe is a really really good bit of kit, but difficult to do fine work, easy to use for little jobs you just need to alter your hand stance etc.....it must be kept sharp though which is why im glad i took the dimond sharpener...
I got my fire going with the bow drill so happy with that....
I can cope with hunger no probs, but staple foods is what i need to lurn for the next trip......
All in all very happy, had a good time and glad I had taken what i did, the next trip i will defo take some form of carb though......
Enjoy the pics people....
Regards.
Chris.
http://img696.imageshack.us/slideshow/webplayer.php?id=5items001.jpg
http://img810.imageshack.us/slideshow/webplayer.php?id=20110610094546.jpg
