How about people writing about their expierences and posting photos in the bushcraft blogg forums ;-)
Ed
Ed
BCUK Meetup - Archive
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Jamie
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Roving Rich said:
Dont you mean 'Stalking Fish's' fox walk????? :roll:
It was fantastic to see old friends and to make new ones! To everyone a BIG thank you for making it such a huge success and I hope that you all got as much out of it (or in my case, lost a lot of leg hair) as I did.
Roll on the next one and hope to see everyone else there then!
Just thought I should post a quick apology to all those who missed my plantlore walks.
The previous demos ran on quite a bit (think Mr C is vying with Stuart for longest lecture spot!
) and I had people waiting to get out and find out out about plants on site.
I'm gonna do walks on future meets, but if people want me to meet them to do a walk in their area, so long as I can get there and there are enough people, without having to spend 14hrs travelling, I'd be willing to discuss this.
The previous demos ran on quite a bit (think Mr C is vying with Stuart for longest lecture spot!
) and I had people waiting to get out and find out out about plants on site.I'm gonna do walks on future meets, but if people want me to meet them to do a walk in their area, so long as I can get there and there are enough people, without having to spend 14hrs travelling, I'd be willing to discuss this.
Stuart said:Thanks to everyone who came and brought their knowledge to share. The meetup was a resounding success):
Oh yes. Quite definitely.
Yikes! I could have done without that fright!
For those who were asking about the bellows - there are some pretty good plans here - http://www.twinoaksforge.com/BLADSMITHING/bladesmith home.htm
Would you believe I have no photos of the finished knife (from coilspring to completion in 6 hours, BTW)??? I shall be witholding beer from my photographer...
Thoroughly enjoyed myself - and apologies to those everyone else whose workshops I would have *liked* to have attended, but was excused on the grounds of being up to my elbows in glowing charcoal. Apologies too for talking to the anvil so much - but when I'm waving glowing bits of metal around, I prefer to be absolutely sure of where it is.
You're obviuosly looking to lose your mule then Peter!ESpy said:
):Poor Taz, younger brothers are never appreciated
You may have to wait a bit..... everyone is tired from the weekend, and many are at work today.... Keep an eye out in the blogg forums as I'm sure there will be alot posted about the weekend.
As to the next one, thats depends on alot, namely where to hold it, Merthyr mawr gets booked up reallyfast, we were lucky to get this weekend. But when everyone has recovered I'm sure organisation for the next one will start soon.
Ed
jakunen said:You're obviuosly looking to lose your mule then Peter!
Poor Taz, younger brothers are never appreciated
I know... I bought him his ticket, the t shirt, the food, the beer, keep doing leatherwork & knives for him...
You're right, I treat him terribly. I don't know how he puts up with it
):I am a jealous as hell!! :-( ... Just as i got the OK form the missus to coma along and meet all you guys, I found out i had to do a 12 hour shift on Saturday night... still its not all bad, it will buy me a North Star if nothing else...!
I can't wait for the next opportunity to tag along to one of these shin-digs... it looks like it was a crackin weekend...
Nice one guys for organising it..!! :You_Rock_
And i hope to see you all at the next one (SOON hint hint)
ack:
I can't wait for the next opportunity to tag along to one of these shin-digs... it looks like it was a crackin weekend...
Nice one guys for organising it..!! :You_Rock_
And i hope to see you all at the next one (SOON hint hint)
ack:
I really enjoyed the whole event! There are so many people I want to thank and great friends I am honoured to now know. However, for me the highlights were getting the chance to meet the guys and gals, put faces to names, meeting Stuarts Dad, who is without a doubt the coolest dad in the world! :You_Rock_
Peters forging demo was great fun for me!, Using the Hennesy Hammock and realising thats more money I now need to find (thanks Tony!
) and and and... the list is endless, meeting Boaty, Tony, Jamie, Jack, Wayne, Simon and Alick and and and... all of you! :You_Rock_ The list is too long for me to list in this post! I am still quite tired! (Where is the Zzzzzzz in a hammock smilie?)
I am pleased some of you enjoyed the sharpening class, sorry the second one was not so good, but I really wanted to get an edge on the knife Peter made. I tried to keep things as informal as possible, so people could walk in and out as suited. I just made myself available and waited for the questions! You chaps really pick up some quite difficult concepts with frightening ease! I was also pleased with the genuinely good level of sharpening I saw at the event. I was able to offer a refinement to already very sharp knives and axes! :biggthump
Thanks again!
Peters forging demo was great fun for me!, Using the Hennesy Hammock and realising thats more money I now need to find (thanks Tony!
) and and and... the list is endless, meeting Boaty, Tony, Jamie, Jack, Wayne, Simon and Alick and and and... all of you! :You_Rock_ The list is too long for me to list in this post! I am still quite tired! (Where is the Zzzzzzz in a hammock smilie?)I am pleased some of you enjoyed the sharpening class, sorry the second one was not so good, but I really wanted to get an edge on the knife Peter made. I tried to keep things as informal as possible, so people could walk in and out as suited. I just made myself available and waited for the questions! You chaps really pick up some quite difficult concepts with frightening ease! I was also pleased with the genuinely good level of sharpening I saw at the event. I was able to offer a refinement to already very sharp knives and axes! :biggthump
Thanks again!
Well, I was there and I am pretty speechless.
How 40-50 people can turn up in the middle of know where and just all click, is beyond me. Remember, this was the first of it’s kind for BCUK and the whole weekend went with out a single hitch ( except the knots that Ed and Stuart were using in there trapping lecture). This was down to good management and good planning and a great deal of enthusiasm on everyone’s part.
Tony, you must be proud of seeing all of you work coming together. And I hope you wife can see what you have created, first hand. Glad that you have stuck in there and glad to see that your shoulders are broad enough to take all of the nonsense that you have had thrown at you since the beginning of BCUK.
I am so impressed with the amount of skills at that were on offer, from people who just turned up and said, I will do that, I will show you how to do this and so on..........it gets stranger, no one asked for money!
I went there to meet a few friends and to make some more and met my friends and, I made some more. I can home with was a head full of information and a head full of inspiration. The following list of people are outrageous and I hate them, surely no one is really that clever, are they?
Pete Bond
How can you make a knife, from start to finish, in a sandpit from a suspension coil and still have the manners and the grace to smile while answering my questions! Your demonstration was amazing to watch and was the talk of the weekend.
The General
We all think that we can put an edge on a blade, don’t we. Well forget, you can’t! You might be able to, once you have been in the company of The General for an hour or two. This wizard, answered all of the questions that we have all ever had about sharpening, unbelievable attention to detail that he had. He even put an edge on Jamie’s knife. You will be pleased to know that my knifes are now all razor sharp and I have just proved the point by shaving my dog.
Rhoda
Tracking. Now this subject, opened my eyes. Spend sometime in the company of Rhoda and be prepared to be astonished. This lady will enlighten you on the very environment that you walk on. We all leave a trace of who we are, again, we all need certain things to be pointed out to us but to spend sunny afternoon in Wales, tracking Otters, is something pretty unique in my book and I hope to do some courses with them (www.shadowhawk.co.uk) in the near future. You certainly flick a switch within me on this subject. Thank you.
Ed and Stuart.
Great lecture and demo on trapping and a great lecture on the legal side of trapping. I was really pleased that Stuart managed to stay within his allotted time slot of one hour...........it only over ran by two hours!
On a serious note, you two chaps know the knowledge on trapping and Ed, you make snare making look so easy. Git!
Roving Rich and Dave.
Last but not least. It has been one of my childhood ambitions, to make fire by friction. Have tried for many years, read all the books, but never been able to achieve to the end result. Been close, but never got fire.
The history books can now be rewritten. I am now the king of fire by friction! Dave gave a wonderful demo and talk on how to get fire by friction. He said it only takes about 30 seconds to get a cole, yeah, very funny Dave. Meanwhile, after about 30 minutes I hit the jackpot, there it was, this insignificant little red thing, looking back at me, smiling! This was mission accomplished, my life now had meaning, it all made sense, I was sent to be the God of fire by friction and they it was in front of me, my first cole, my first child!
It goes to show what you can do when you ego is under threat!
Roving Rich played a massive part in my achieving this result, he helped and explained every to me and didn’t give up until we got there. Thanks Rich, that is really appreciated. I would also like to add that Rich was a great help to me on the tracking course, thanks mate and I look forward to learning some more from you.
To everyone else who didn’t manage to get a cole........... TOUGH, WHO’S THE DADDY NOW.
These were the classes that I managed to attend and I missed some others but I am looking forward to listening to Chris’s bow lecture and going for a walk with Jakunen, but that is for next time.
I would also like to point out that Hammocks are the way forward and sleeping on the ground, out in the open, is for girls.................just ask Kath ‘the Fox walker, oouch’ what I mean, so people just aren’t normal!
Lots of things were discussed and lots of kit was passed around. Ed and I exchanged Hennessys and Mat had some wonderful cider, thanks mate. Stuart, as always, steals the kit show as he always has something up his sleeve,( and I mean quite literally up his sleeve) ask to have a look at his sun glass’s the next time you see him!
All of the above cost me nothing.
And one more thing, axes are so last year. UP THE BILLHOOK.
How 40-50 people can turn up in the middle of know where and just all click, is beyond me. Remember, this was the first of it’s kind for BCUK and the whole weekend went with out a single hitch ( except the knots that Ed and Stuart were using in there trapping lecture). This was down to good management and good planning and a great deal of enthusiasm on everyone’s part.
Tony, you must be proud of seeing all of you work coming together. And I hope you wife can see what you have created, first hand. Glad that you have stuck in there and glad to see that your shoulders are broad enough to take all of the nonsense that you have had thrown at you since the beginning of BCUK.
I am so impressed with the amount of skills at that were on offer, from people who just turned up and said, I will do that, I will show you how to do this and so on..........it gets stranger, no one asked for money!
I went there to meet a few friends and to make some more and met my friends and, I made some more. I can home with was a head full of information and a head full of inspiration. The following list of people are outrageous and I hate them, surely no one is really that clever, are they?
Pete Bond
How can you make a knife, from start to finish, in a sandpit from a suspension coil and still have the manners and the grace to smile while answering my questions! Your demonstration was amazing to watch and was the talk of the weekend.
The General
We all think that we can put an edge on a blade, don’t we. Well forget, you can’t! You might be able to, once you have been in the company of The General for an hour or two. This wizard, answered all of the questions that we have all ever had about sharpening, unbelievable attention to detail that he had. He even put an edge on Jamie’s knife. You will be pleased to know that my knifes are now all razor sharp and I have just proved the point by shaving my dog.
Rhoda
Tracking. Now this subject, opened my eyes. Spend sometime in the company of Rhoda and be prepared to be astonished. This lady will enlighten you on the very environment that you walk on. We all leave a trace of who we are, again, we all need certain things to be pointed out to us but to spend sunny afternoon in Wales, tracking Otters, is something pretty unique in my book and I hope to do some courses with them (www.shadowhawk.co.uk) in the near future. You certainly flick a switch within me on this subject. Thank you.
Ed and Stuart.
Great lecture and demo on trapping and a great lecture on the legal side of trapping. I was really pleased that Stuart managed to stay within his allotted time slot of one hour...........it only over ran by two hours!
On a serious note, you two chaps know the knowledge on trapping and Ed, you make snare making look so easy. Git!
Roving Rich and Dave.
Last but not least. It has been one of my childhood ambitions, to make fire by friction. Have tried for many years, read all the books, but never been able to achieve to the end result. Been close, but never got fire.
The history books can now be rewritten. I am now the king of fire by friction! Dave gave a wonderful demo and talk on how to get fire by friction. He said it only takes about 30 seconds to get a cole, yeah, very funny Dave. Meanwhile, after about 30 minutes I hit the jackpot, there it was, this insignificant little red thing, looking back at me, smiling! This was mission accomplished, my life now had meaning, it all made sense, I was sent to be the God of fire by friction and they it was in front of me, my first cole, my first child!
It goes to show what you can do when you ego is under threat!
Roving Rich played a massive part in my achieving this result, he helped and explained every to me and didn’t give up until we got there. Thanks Rich, that is really appreciated. I would also like to add that Rich was a great help to me on the tracking course, thanks mate and I look forward to learning some more from you.
To everyone else who didn’t manage to get a cole........... TOUGH, WHO’S THE DADDY NOW.
These were the classes that I managed to attend and I missed some others but I am looking forward to listening to Chris’s bow lecture and going for a walk with Jakunen, but that is for next time.
I would also like to point out that Hammocks are the way forward and sleeping on the ground, out in the open, is for girls.................just ask Kath ‘the Fox walker, oouch’ what I mean, so people just aren’t normal!
Lots of things were discussed and lots of kit was passed around. Ed and I exchanged Hennessys and Mat had some wonderful cider, thanks mate. Stuart, as always, steals the kit show as he always has something up his sleeve,( and I mean quite literally up his sleeve) ask to have a look at his sun glass’s the next time you see him!
All of the above cost me nothing.
And one more thing, axes are so last year. UP THE BILLHOOK.
Well had an absolutely amazing time at the meetup (unlike being back at work today but thats another story), learnt loads, met some great people and probably most importantly, had a really good laugh. Still think that Jack and Jamie are in the wrong business, they really area double act. Btw Jack you weren't drinking fast enough, came home with 4 cans....
Sam enjoyed herself and with any luck I should have her frequenting here as well, although maybe not under the name that Cindy came up with... AlwaysTired...
I should really apologise to Cindy for keeping her awake for 2 nights solid, but really it wasn't me, I'm sure we pitched over a family of asthmatic frogs!!
I have to say many thanks to Rhoda for the tracking demo, amazing how much of an eye opener it was (actually it was worth it just to see how easy it is for someone to get a group of people on their bellies and up to their knees in mud looking through a magnifying glass )
Lastly many, many thanks to Tony and the mods for organising the event, still buzzing from it now, can't wait for the next one.
All the best everyone
Matt & Sam
Sam enjoyed herself and with any luck I should have her frequenting here as well, although maybe not under the name that Cindy came up with... AlwaysTired...
I should really apologise to Cindy for keeping her awake for 2 nights solid, but really it wasn't me, I'm sure we pitched over a family of asthmatic frogs!!
I have to say many thanks to Rhoda for the tracking demo, amazing how much of an eye opener it was (actually it was worth it just to see how easy it is for someone to get a group of people on their bellies and up to their knees in mud looking through a magnifying glass
)Lastly many, many thanks to Tony and the mods for organising the event, still buzzing from it now, can't wait for the next one.
All the best everyone
Matt & Sam
It wasn't long enough . it ended too soon .. a week next time 
keep 'em coming Tony .. great work
got a few to get out of the way first though
keep 'em coming Tony .. great workmy next blade project me thinksJack said:
got a few to get out of the way first though
A huge thank-you to Tone and everyone else who made the weekend one to remember for a long time to come! Kurt (my other half)was totally inspired (as was I)thanks to Stuart, Ed, Peter, Chris and everyone else who were so skilled in their chosen crafts. It was also so nice to meet you all and to run around such a perfect site!
Lets hope another meet will soon be on the horizon!
Jack you may be a god when it comes to fire by friction but you still walk funny!!!
Thanks Roving Rich for helping with explaining the finer points of tracking, Adi for 'fixing' our stove and to Kath for inspiring me to touch a spider :yikes:
Brilliant. :You_Rock_ All of you!!
Lets hope another meet will soon be on the horizon!
Jack you may be a god when it comes to fire by friction but you still walk funny!!!
Thanks Roving Rich for helping with explaining the finer points of tracking, Adi for 'fixing' our stove and to Kath for inspiring me to touch a spider :yikes:
Brilliant. :You_Rock_ All of you!!
J
Jamie
Guest
Roving Rich said:
Whos Laurel and whos Hardy eh?????????? Be careful how you answer this one grasshopper :yikes:
Hi All - just got home. Too knackered to unpack and decided to read 596 posts here instead! :shock:
Had a fantastic time - you are all absolutely brilliant people! :You_Rock_ Thanks for a great weekend everyone. I will post some proper thank yous when I am more awake. (Still haven't had any proper kip as we stayed on in MM again last night. Blimey did it rain and thunder after you lot left! I spent the night watching the tree above me in case it got hit by lightning! Like I said before I left never bivvied in trees before. Had decided it was no big deal ... that is until last night! :yikes
Cheers!
Stalking Fish (Ouch!)
Had a fantastic time - you are all absolutely brilliant people! :You_Rock_ Thanks for a great weekend everyone. I will post some proper thank yous when I am more awake. (Still haven't had any proper kip as we stayed on in MM again last night. Blimey did it rain and thunder after you lot left! I spent the night watching the tree above me in case it got hit by lightning! Like I said before I left never bivvied in trees before. Had decided it was no big deal ... that is until last night! :yikes
Cheers!
Stalking Fish (Ouch!)
I'm not sure where to start. The weekend was one of the best no the best event I have been to.
First I have to thank Tony for his tireless work running this site and making the weekend possible. A true gentleman. :super:
There were so many highlights it's hard get it all sorted.
Stuart and Ed great lecture and endless patience. Stuart could have gone on for hours, oh he did and yet he left the audience wanting more. :You_Rock_
Rhoda many thanx for the tracking I can't wait to learn more from you and Max. Oh and thanx to your glamorous assistant Kurt. :claping:
Chris I hate you. Not only a great lecture on making bows you make a damn fine knife too.
Respect and admiration has to go Peter. Not only did he manage to forge a knife in the heat in 6 hours but had to cart his kit across the country and back. Fantastic effort much appreciated. :You_Rock_
The General Wayne. Good name BTW. The man has taken knife sharpening to a higher plane. If your stupid enough to think your knife was sharp give it to Wayne for a couple of minutes. For the first time ever i have managed to put a decent edge on a blade.
Thanks to Jakunen. First time i have eaten Squirrel. Watch out tree rats here i come. i am sorry i missed your plant walks. Will pm you.
Dave has turned bow drill in to a spectator sport. No that should be ballet. first rate. whats in the secret formula?
The list just goes on....
have to say i can't think of a finer bunch of people to share a campfire and a drink with. i have made loads of new friends what more cant you ask for.
Den, Alick, Cindy, Ed, Dean, Ivan, Tony, Wayne, Jim, Jack and Jamie et al, too many names to remember. You're the best. :uu: :hug:
Just put Val and I down for the next 4.
First I have to thank Tony for his tireless work running this site and making the weekend possible. A true gentleman. :super:
There were so many highlights it's hard get it all sorted.
Stuart and Ed great lecture and endless patience. Stuart could have gone on for hours, oh he did and yet he left the audience wanting more. :You_Rock_
Rhoda many thanx for the tracking I can't wait to learn more from you and Max. Oh and thanx to your glamorous assistant Kurt. :claping:
Chris I hate you. Not only a great lecture on making bows you make a damn fine knife too.
Respect and admiration has to go Peter. Not only did he manage to forge a knife in the heat in 6 hours but had to cart his kit across the country and back. Fantastic effort much appreciated. :You_Rock_
The General Wayne. Good name BTW. The man has taken knife sharpening to a higher plane. If your stupid enough to think your knife was sharp give it to Wayne for a couple of minutes. For the first time ever i have managed to put a decent edge on a blade.
Thanks to Jakunen. First time i have eaten Squirrel. Watch out tree rats here i come. i am sorry i missed your plant walks. Will pm you.
Dave has turned bow drill in to a spectator sport. No that should be ballet. first rate. whats in the secret formula?
The list just goes on....
have to say i can't think of a finer bunch of people to share a campfire and a drink with. i have made loads of new friends what more cant you ask for.
Den, Alick, Cindy, Ed, Dean, Ivan, Tony, Wayne, Jim, Jack and Jamie et al, too many names to remember. You're the best. :uu: :hug:
Just put Val and I down for the next 4.
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