Went out with a friend today for an adventure across the savage wilderness of mid-Kent. We found some woods near the village of Doddington and off we went.
What a absolutely fantastic day it was.
The weather today is just wet and miserable. Nevertheless, we decided it was a good day to practice some 'wet weather' skills. Anyone can start a fire in summer.
We found a holly tree whose brances reached down to the ground to form a natural tent. So we set up in there. We hoisted a tarp to stop the rain falling on us and then we turned to making a fire. My hopes were not high. It has been raining non-stop for several days here, and everything was soaked. So we did what you are supposed to do: strip the bark and split the logs to get at the dry centre. That was the theory, and...it worked! We were both really chuffed to get a fire going in such conditions. Really chuffed. We then surrounded the fire with wet logs so the heat would dry them out before adding them to the fire.
And we also made bannock for the first time (as you can see in the pictures below). The bannock, a mug of hot chocolate, a hot fire and a real feeling of success and triumph and having really learnt something made it one of the best bushcraft days either of us had ever had. Really feel I learnt stuff today.
So, anyway, here are a couple of pictures. Sorry about the grainy quality - taken on a mobile phone.
What a absolutely fantastic day it was.
The weather today is just wet and miserable. Nevertheless, we decided it was a good day to practice some 'wet weather' skills. Anyone can start a fire in summer.
We found a holly tree whose brances reached down to the ground to form a natural tent. So we set up in there. We hoisted a tarp to stop the rain falling on us and then we turned to making a fire. My hopes were not high. It has been raining non-stop for several days here, and everything was soaked. So we did what you are supposed to do: strip the bark and split the logs to get at the dry centre. That was the theory, and...it worked! We were both really chuffed to get a fire going in such conditions. Really chuffed. We then surrounded the fire with wet logs so the heat would dry them out before adding them to the fire.
And we also made bannock for the first time (as you can see in the pictures below). The bannock, a mug of hot chocolate, a hot fire and a real feeling of success and triumph and having really learnt something made it one of the best bushcraft days either of us had ever had. Really feel I learnt stuff today.
So, anyway, here are a couple of pictures. Sorry about the grainy quality - taken on a mobile phone.
