Armchair Bushcraft
- Thread starter Wayland
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I'm very fortunate to still be physically fit, although it now takes more work to keep it so. These days I have little interest in my modern kit, if I sleep out I'm usually wrapped in wool blankets and a plash palatka, and it'll just be an overnight as I have to get back to feed the cat. All those youthful dreams of heading off for weeks on end, with minimal kit into the wild never came to fruition. I now find joy in the little pockets of nature close to home before the rest of the world is awake.
I don't think I'm more eccentric than I used to be but I just don't care who knows it now
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It's a shame the forum doesn't get the traffic it once did as I don't use any other social media.
As a footnote, when I typed joy the predictive text substituted not. The times we live in eh...
I don't think I'm more eccentric than I used to be but I just don't care who knows it now
.It's a shame the forum doesn't get the traffic it once did as I don't use any other social media.
As a footnote, when I typed joy the predictive text substituted not. The times we live in eh...
Oh I don't. When I say small pockets I mean the little bits of uncultivated land nearby. I live on the edge of a small town in rural Norfolk, so I'm very lucky.
Those little pockets of peace are all over. Most people never see them, are never even aware that they're there, but it's surprising just how much wildlife there is in those spaces. Better yet if they have some kind of corridor that lets them join up, and that leads to healthy diversity too 
Old railway lines, hedges, bridle paths, even just a run of back gardens, it all helps.
M
Old railway lines, hedges, bridle paths, even just a run of back gardens, it all helps.
M
This COVID19 malarkey has stopped us all camping out hasn't it! So what does one do when not allowed to camp....? Why, prepare camping gear of course!
It may have been noticed that I have been selling stuff on here recently quite a bit. Well that's because I've been trying to get money together for a new rucksack. Now, due to the brilliance of the For Sale thread and the generosity of those who frequent it, I am now the chuffed to bits owner of a new Kelty Redcloud 110. Why am I buying stuff that for the foreseeable future I cannot use? Because like Wayland, I find a lot of enjoyment simply in the planning of a trip as well as the trip itself. The tinkering of gear, 'umming and ahhhhing' over which pot to take, pouring over maps and Google earth........ I love it.
FWIW I have packed my rucksack to the gunnals with all that is needed for an extended journey through the mountains (I've got a whisp of a notion to do a multi day walk in Scotland in the autumn, COVID19 dependant). Maybe I shall do an ever popular 'Gear List'? And then we can debate my choices! Fortunately, I have a trip planned for this weekend actually. To the garden. My kids will love it!
Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
It may have been noticed that I have been selling stuff on here recently quite a bit. Well that's because I've been trying to get money together for a new rucksack. Now, due to the brilliance of the For Sale thread and the generosity of those who frequent it, I am now the chuffed to bits owner of a new Kelty Redcloud 110. Why am I buying stuff that for the foreseeable future I cannot use? Because like Wayland, I find a lot of enjoyment simply in the planning of a trip as well as the trip itself. The tinkering of gear, 'umming and ahhhhing' over which pot to take, pouring over maps and Google earth........ I love it.
FWIW I have packed my rucksack to the gunnals with all that is needed for an extended journey through the mountains (I've got a whisp of a notion to do a multi day walk in Scotland in the autumn, COVID19 dependant). Maybe I shall do an ever popular 'Gear List'? And then we can debate my choices! Fortunately, I have a trip planned for this weekend actually. To the garden. My kids will love it!
Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
I wonder if our lives don't mimic the time line of a butterfly.
Every stage has a different interaction with the environment.
The eggs. The several instar stages of the feeding caterpillar threatened by all manner of predators.
Parasites? Hangers-on to incubate in the silken cocoon? Life is a little more hazardous.
Eclosion into the magnificence of the butterfly. Dramatic shift in the ecological niche of environmental demands.
I'm content to sit in the sun and flex my wings from time to time before I find a warm place to roost for the nights.
I like the smell of the cedar and the sound that it makes under the knife. I don't need to be the one dropping the tree.
I recognize and dislike my failing memories. Should have taken 10X more pictures.
With my improving health, the lasting echoes must be the food and cooking.
There will always be grouse that need to be shot.
Every stage has a different interaction with the environment.
The eggs. The several instar stages of the feeding caterpillar threatened by all manner of predators.
Parasites? Hangers-on to incubate in the silken cocoon? Life is a little more hazardous.
Eclosion into the magnificence of the butterfly. Dramatic shift in the ecological niche of environmental demands.
I'm content to sit in the sun and flex my wings from time to time before I find a warm place to roost for the nights.
I like the smell of the cedar and the sound that it makes under the knife. I don't need to be the one dropping the tree.
I recognize and dislike my failing memories. Should have taken 10X more pictures.
With my improving health, the lasting echoes must be the food and cooking.
There will always be grouse that need to be shot.
Life does seem incredibly short. A butterfly is a good analogy.
It seems not a moment ago that I was walking the fells with a pack on my back but now if I'm honest, I prefer to pack the van.
My body is not what it was and that is no-one's fault but my own. If I had known I was going to live this long I might have taken better care of myself... But I doubt it. I have no real regrets.
I can think of very few things I would have do differently if I had my time again.
The restless soul inside this aging vessel is still the same, but I find my pleasures and enjoyment in different ways now. My hands are busier than my feet.
I still love going places and making things but a chair looks much more inviting than it used to.
It seems not a moment ago that I was walking the fells with a pack on my back but now if I'm honest, I prefer to pack the van.
My body is not what it was and that is no-one's fault but my own. If I had known I was going to live this long I might have taken better care of myself... But I doubt it. I have no real regrets.
I can think of very few things I would have do differently if I had my time again.
The restless soul inside this aging vessel is still the same, but I find my pleasures and enjoyment in different ways now. My hands are busier than my feet.
I still love going places and making things but a chair looks much more inviting than it used to.
Those little pockets of peace are all over. Most people never see them, are never even aware that they're there, but it's surprising just how much wildlife there is in those spaces. Better yet if they have some kind of corridor that lets them join up, and that leads to healthy diversity too
Old railway lines, hedges, bridle paths, even just a run of back gardens, it all helps.
M
As a teenager I used to pour over ordnance survey maps trying to identify those kind of areas within walking distance or cycling distance. So, old railway lines, stream gorges, gullies, steep woodland etc. Then, I would pack a bag for the day and go out and find them - sometimes they came up to expectation but sometimes not. I defined 'wilderness' as anywhere that I could not see anything man-made; ideally not hear anything either.
My parents never knew where I was half the time
Just came across this thread again,and have had time to reread it.
A lot has been said about how the forum has changed, some to the good, some not, but it is still my go to for resourses or information.
Back to the armchair bushcrafting though, does this count?
The lock down prevented me from going to my favourite woods for the weekend, but not from camping out.
Friday evenings meal cooked in an improvised oven.
.
I even persuaded the wife daughter and lodger to join me for an evening of sausages, marshmallows, wine and stargazing.
And Saturday was a repeat.
Next time I'll set up the Steam tent rig and break out the spitjack for some proper cooking.
A lot has been said about how the forum has changed, some to the good, some not, but it is still my go to for resourses or information.
Back to the armchair bushcrafting though, does this count?
The lock down prevented me from going to my favourite woods for the weekend, but not from camping out.
Friday evenings meal cooked in an improvised oven.
.
I even persuaded the wife daughter and lodger to join me for an evening of sausages, marshmallows, wine and stargazing.
And Saturday was a repeat.
Next time I'll set up the Steam tent rig and break out the spitjack for some proper cooking.
A dry and warm indoor bathroom has a great appeal to me. I can still remember the "fallen log loo" days.
I often used a peice of rope looped around a sturdy tree that I could lean back into when a log wasn't available.
The sites we use for the Steam Tent camps all have toilets and most have showers too.
Kephart loved the planning too, didnt he?
Im going to have to look out some of his recipes.
Am planning on exploring some local wild spots sometime, I am not bored with the house and garden yet.
(Im not sure Dad is keen on me loose in his garden but he may change his mind if I vanish all day...)
Im going to have to look out some of his recipes.
Am planning on exploring some local wild spots sometime, I am not bored with the house and garden yet.
(Im not sure Dad is keen on me loose in his garden but he may change his mind if I vanish all day...)
Here it usually was a log and a stick, the stick was used to shoo away the wolves ...
I dream of participating in one of those steam tent camps.
I just want to be there to cook a lot and have a slurp.
I'm so ill-equipped that I'll pitch my tent behind the bushes.
I do have a quite large and hand-made brass lantern which needs new glass panels.
If/when I fixed that lantern and polished it up, what can I do to prevent it from tarnishing again?
I just want to be there to cook a lot and have a slurp.
I'm so ill-equipped that I'll pitch my tent behind the bushes.
I do have a quite large and hand-made brass lantern which needs new glass panels.
If/when I fixed that lantern and polished it up, what can I do to prevent it from tarnishing again?
A thin coat of lacquer or varnish is one solution. Sprayed on is easiest.
A less long term solution is something like Waxoyl but I don't know if you have that on your side of the pond.
A less long term solution is something like Waxoyl but I don't know if you have that on your side of the pond.
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