Bushcraft Etiquette (resurrected)

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Nice65

Brilliant!
Apr 16, 2009
6,438
2,859
W.Sussex
I'm not keen on the L E D car headlamp head torches that seem to be the rage nowadays. Fine on a mountain while night walkingand you need to navigate. Just not nessasary in the woods or round a campfire.

I like headtorches, but they need to have adjustable brightness, a warm or neutral led, and be on a tilting hinge to aim downwards so as not to blind people.
 
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Broch

Life Member
Jan 18, 2009
7,978
7,755
Mid Wales
www.mont-hmg.co.uk
I have a couple of Pretzel head torches; one switches on at low brightness and gets brighter with each click, the other switches on at full brightness and gets duller with each click! There ought to be regulations :) - all torches must start off at lowest brightness!

But then, if people didn't insist on bring all their unnecessary gadget gear (that they want to show off) around the camp fire, we wouldn't need bright torches to stop tripping up over the clutter :)
 
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Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
I have been using (a family heirloom you might call it) WW2 German flashlight up until early 90’s when I invested in a small Maglite.


I had to give up using the German one because quality batteries were staring to be difficult to find. It has a green and red screen you can slide in front of the light. Perfect setup, I wish they made them like that today!

The Maglite is very powerful, which is a huge negative, so I hardly use it.
 
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Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
Any extra light is always useful to avoid tripping on guy-lines and packs and kit.
We always put the lights no more than 30 cm above ground so only the ground area is lit.
Much easier on the head. Just the typical LED/solar garden walk-way lights.
Campfires destroy your night vision. Turn away from the fire and it's hard to see much at all.

There are 7,000' mountain ranges within 5 miles of both the east and west sides of my house.
Those clip at least (zig-zag tops) 1 hour off each end of the day at my house.
On the solstice, I will see the sun go behind the west range at 1:52 PM PST.
Makes for a very long and drawn-out gloomy afternoon with real dark before 4PM.
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
I was thinking about this earlier, and though headtorches are lightweight and very reliable now, they do dazzle. I nipped out to the greenhouse the other night with a hand torch, and when I need to use my hand I pushed the butt of the torch up my sleeve. The cuff held it in place just along the back of my hand. It was really, really practical there, showed right where I was working, and even walking back it was easy to see where I was putting my feet.
Maybe it's not so much the head torch but the hand torch that needs elasticated.

M
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
Dad told me the idea with the two screens was not only for signalling ( green - go, red - stop) but also to dampen the light emmission so you did not became so visible for the enemy, and not do destroy your own night vision. I do not remember which colour was the least n. vision damaging.
The screens could also be used simultaniously and be placed in a position so you covered a part of the light.

You would think the manufacturers of the LED lights would give us the option for at least one, n. vision preserving colour.

I hate nightdriving these days. The HID or LED lights some vehicles have are so incredibly bright and blinding!
( I have cars with both techs so I should not complain, but they are well adjusted)
 

Broch

Life Member
Jan 18, 2009
7,978
7,755
Mid Wales
www.mont-hmg.co.uk
You would think the manufacturers of the LED lights would give us the option for at least one, n. vision preserving colour.

Sorry Janne but they have :) all Pretzel torches come with a red LED - the colour that's supposed to not damage night vision. It's ideal for checking the map in the dark or reading the time etc.
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
Only if you go to a NHS dentist.....
:)

Just joking. Us old geezers do have plenty of cracks in out teeth. Large fillings, opening beer bottles with our teeth, years and years of chewing...

Cracks, even infractions, hurt when we bite down.
 

Woody girl

Full Member
Mar 31, 2018
4,518
3,458
65
Exmoor
I'd love to see your stumbling about in the dark with a pretzel on your head. I laughed so much it made my sides ache.... Where do I find light up pretzels? Gotta try one. great emergency rations too.
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
You mean you want to look like Royalty?
:)

I miss a good pretzel. Not the US abomination, but a proper, German one. With a Weisswurst, Kremser mustard and a huuuuge beer....

You have so much nice foods in Europe I miss!!
 
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Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
Went with son last night to the supermarket. Saw they had the latest delivery of food from UK had arrived. Waitrose Essential smoked ham, just over 4 pounds. 103 KYD .
I almost fainted. That is almost £100...........

Weirdly, the Waitrose1 organic smoked ham was just over half of that.
But they only took in pieces less than 2 pounds in weight of that one.

One supermarket, Foster’s, brings in Waitrose stuff ( small selection) and the other one, Kirk’s, Tesco (small selection)
 

gonzo_the_great

Forager
Nov 17, 2014
210
70
Poole, Dorset. UK
What is it with the 'hedge baubles' and thrown bags?
Is it that the owners are picking up the crap, because they are being watched, then ditch it at the first opportunity?
Or is it that not picking up dog crap is a heavilly fined offence, but littering sin't?

We see them adouring the treeline along the path around the bay. When it would be far better to just flick it off the path and into the water.
 

mousey

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jun 15, 2010
2,210
254
42
NE Scotland
As a dog owner, that has always got me as well, you go to the trouble of actually picking it up just to throw it away! it is no real hardship to carry the bag a little till you find a bin.

If you are getting dog poo over your hands when cleaning up after your dog then you are doing it wrong...

I always have dog poo bags in my back pocket and even offer them to other walkers I see who are not going to pick up after their pet.
 
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Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
In the Swedish mountain and other trails, if you use a hut or prepared shelter, it is considered good ethics to chop up the same ( or more) wood than you used.
It goes without saying - leaving the place cleaner than it was when you arrived.

Also, in case more than you want to use a such facility, to give the preference to women and children.

I know this is in Scandinavia, but as many of you will go there....
 
I really don't know where this thread is going :)

But, I agree about noise. Why anyone thinks it's acceptable to sit around a campfire at night and start playing YouTube videos on their phones is totally beyond me and will always get a few choice words from me - either that or I just walk off these days :(
The thought of watching YouTube out in the woods is crazy! After all, the vids are what we watch when we can't get out in the woods and do it for real...it seems counter productive?
 

Trojan

Silver Trader
Mar 20, 2009
688
57
The Countryside
I have been using (a family heirloom you might call it) WW2 German flashlight up until early 90’s when I invested in a small Maglite.


I had to give up using the German one because quality batteries were staring to be difficult to find. It has a green and red screen you can slide in front of the light. Perfect setup, I wish they made them like that today!

The Maglite is very powerful, which is a huge negative, so I hardly use it.

Put some tape over the end, cut a bit out and make the beam smaller perhaps?
 

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