With a sudden free day off work, I decided to head to the forest.
I've been preoccupied with lightweight camping, with the intention of going overnight once every month this year. I've managed four times.... not been for two months due to work commitments, and with work again tomorrow a day trip will do, and what better way than to go back to some bushcrafty stuff. I went into the garage, and being influenced by the Wilderness-Survival Bushcraft Challenge, I packed as closely as I could to Joe's packing list...
A poncho liner (in place of a wool blanket).
Possum fur/Merino wool hat.
Briars leather garden gloves.
GSI kettle.
SWC Woodlore knife (pre-RM days).
Silky F180 folding saw.
Sawyer mini water filter with 1ltr MW bladder.
A budget heavy flannel shirt.
8m(?) Of 550 cord. (More than Joe's allowed amount).
A bowdrill set. (Made last year, stored.)
I packed it all along with my lunch into a 22ltr ortleib canoe bag, using some 550 cord as improvised rucksack straps (thanks to Simon A Bloke In The Woods
). On my body I wore an army surplus merino wool base layer (dutch I think, got from a charity shop), Fjallraven Vidda Pro trousers, and a pair of Vasque Juxt hiking shoes. Outer layer was my trusty waxed jacket, now battered but still going strong, and a small first aid kit. I jumped in the van and off I went to the forest!
Upon arrival I was glad to see the small carpark empty. The top end of the forest is a popular bridleway, but fingers crossed I wouldn't see another soul all day. I donned the improvised pack and moved into the trees.
It was creeping up on 24 degrees and under the shade of the leaves it was quite humid. I unzipped the jacket to my sternum and moved slowly, trying to tune in. What didn't help was I forgot my glasses, so anything past 60 or so yards got a little blurry. I heard the sound of chatter and paused...
I had been following an animal trail some 30ft off the bridleway and as the voice drew nearer I spotted an elderly couple enjoying a stroll. I remained still and they passed by without noticing me. Realising I had been holding my breath, I took in a slow deep breath and moved on, happy to be alone again. They were the last people I were to see all day.
I took my time. It was nice to smell the woods again, and with Joe's bushcraft challenge idea in my head, I had decided that I would do what I assumed would be the day one priority tasks, those being find a place to build a shelter, make fire, find water. I added the additional little task of finding edibles. I'm not familiar with this forest, so food and water were going to test me. Obviously, if I were to actually do the challenge, I would of had to have made the bowdrill set in the woods, but seen as I already have a set made and going with the notion that a woodsman from days of yore would have carried a ready made set if he could..... well, you get my drift?
After about 2hrs I came across a nice little spot and chose it for my camp. There appeared to be an abundance of materials to make a debris shelter, and there was a lot of fallen oak and beech for a fire, if I could make one! There had been heavy rain the previous two days and everything was still quite damp, if not still wet in the lower ground, so finding the driest stuff for a coal was definitely going to be a challenge!
The chosen site...
About an hour and a half later, i had this...
A small debris shelter with a raised bed. I had used my poncho liner to gather the leaf litter from spots around my camp. It took 6 loads to get this far. The right hand side still needed to be done but I was sweating like the proverbial in the humidity and needed to rest. The side wall could wait and I knew that I needed to find a water supply because I was dehydrated already. Packing everything up, I went on the search....
As I headed downhill in the search for water I also looked for suitable tinder for my bowdrill. Everything below the knee hight was either damp or wet. The foliage was lush and green. Bugger.... I cam across a puddle in a forest break and being so thirsty I seriously contemplated filtering it, but something (I suspect a dog or human) and moved through the water and sandy soil was suspended in the water so thick I couldn't see the bottom... deflated I paused to look around for signs of water nearby when I recognised a small stand of red ceder! Result! The stand had about a dozen shoulder thick ceder trees, surrounded by the rest of the deciduous forest. If I hadn't of stopped at the puddle I probably wouldn't of seen them. I used my knife to scrape a cricket ball size mass of the outer bark off several trees to minimise damage, putting the collected bark in my pocket for later. Still thirsty but now a tiny bit more confident of making that fire, I moved on, continuing my way downhill in the hunt for water.
I wasn't having much luck on the water, but I did find some lovely edibles for my trail snacks...
I know... not exciting! But I flipping love blackberries and there was an abundance of them so I collected handfuls of those juicy sweet little gems as I walked through the forest. I had been walking about for over an hour with no luck for the water and I was quite parched to say the least. I hadn't even found a tree well despite the recent rains and I had nearly given up hope, when I came across a plastic 10ltr water can that had been sawn in half and held about 5ltrs of water. I dipped my finger in and gave it a taste. Fresh water and it was cool. Thank the stars! It was on a fire break and having walked past a tree stand for deer stakers, I guessed it was meant for the deer, but beggers can't be choosers and out came the water filter (just in case) and I drank about a ltr right there. Refilling my water bladder I packed it away and headed back in the rough direction of my camp, with the aim of collecting more tinder if I could.
I didn't find any, but upon returning to my camp from a totally different direction to the one I left in, I spied a fallen birch, so I collected quite the load of bark. My luck was looking up for that fire.....
I slumped next to a tree at my camp and I realised that I felt quite tired. So I rested for about a 15 minutes to catch my breath, sipping some of my water.
Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk
I've been preoccupied with lightweight camping, with the intention of going overnight once every month this year. I've managed four times.... not been for two months due to work commitments, and with work again tomorrow a day trip will do, and what better way than to go back to some bushcrafty stuff. I went into the garage, and being influenced by the Wilderness-Survival Bushcraft Challenge, I packed as closely as I could to Joe's packing list...
A poncho liner (in place of a wool blanket).
Possum fur/Merino wool hat.
Briars leather garden gloves.
GSI kettle.
SWC Woodlore knife (pre-RM days).
Silky F180 folding saw.
Sawyer mini water filter with 1ltr MW bladder.
A budget heavy flannel shirt.
8m(?) Of 550 cord. (More than Joe's allowed amount).
A bowdrill set. (Made last year, stored.)
I packed it all along with my lunch into a 22ltr ortleib canoe bag, using some 550 cord as improvised rucksack straps (thanks to Simon A Bloke In The Woods
). On my body I wore an army surplus merino wool base layer (dutch I think, got from a charity shop), Fjallraven Vidda Pro trousers, and a pair of Vasque Juxt hiking shoes. Outer layer was my trusty waxed jacket, now battered but still going strong, and a small first aid kit. I jumped in the van and off I went to the forest!Upon arrival I was glad to see the small carpark empty. The top end of the forest is a popular bridleway, but fingers crossed I wouldn't see another soul all day. I donned the improvised pack and moved into the trees.
It was creeping up on 24 degrees and under the shade of the leaves it was quite humid. I unzipped the jacket to my sternum and moved slowly, trying to tune in. What didn't help was I forgot my glasses, so anything past 60 or so yards got a little blurry. I heard the sound of chatter and paused...
I had been following an animal trail some 30ft off the bridleway and as the voice drew nearer I spotted an elderly couple enjoying a stroll. I remained still and they passed by without noticing me. Realising I had been holding my breath, I took in a slow deep breath and moved on, happy to be alone again. They were the last people I were to see all day.
I took my time. It was nice to smell the woods again, and with Joe's bushcraft challenge idea in my head, I had decided that I would do what I assumed would be the day one priority tasks, those being find a place to build a shelter, make fire, find water. I added the additional little task of finding edibles. I'm not familiar with this forest, so food and water were going to test me. Obviously, if I were to actually do the challenge, I would of had to have made the bowdrill set in the woods, but seen as I already have a set made and going with the notion that a woodsman from days of yore would have carried a ready made set if he could..... well, you get my drift?
After about 2hrs I came across a nice little spot and chose it for my camp. There appeared to be an abundance of materials to make a debris shelter, and there was a lot of fallen oak and beech for a fire, if I could make one! There had been heavy rain the previous two days and everything was still quite damp, if not still wet in the lower ground, so finding the driest stuff for a coal was definitely going to be a challenge!
The chosen site...
About an hour and a half later, i had this...
A small debris shelter with a raised bed. I had used my poncho liner to gather the leaf litter from spots around my camp. It took 6 loads to get this far. The right hand side still needed to be done but I was sweating like the proverbial in the humidity and needed to rest. The side wall could wait and I knew that I needed to find a water supply because I was dehydrated already. Packing everything up, I went on the search....
As I headed downhill in the search for water I also looked for suitable tinder for my bowdrill. Everything below the knee hight was either damp or wet. The foliage was lush and green. Bugger.... I cam across a puddle in a forest break and being so thirsty I seriously contemplated filtering it, but something (I suspect a dog or human) and moved through the water and sandy soil was suspended in the water so thick I couldn't see the bottom... deflated I paused to look around for signs of water nearby when I recognised a small stand of red ceder! Result! The stand had about a dozen shoulder thick ceder trees, surrounded by the rest of the deciduous forest. If I hadn't of stopped at the puddle I probably wouldn't of seen them. I used my knife to scrape a cricket ball size mass of the outer bark off several trees to minimise damage, putting the collected bark in my pocket for later. Still thirsty but now a tiny bit more confident of making that fire, I moved on, continuing my way downhill in the hunt for water.
I wasn't having much luck on the water, but I did find some lovely edibles for my trail snacks...
I know... not exciting! But I flipping love blackberries and there was an abundance of them so I collected handfuls of those juicy sweet little gems as I walked through the forest. I had been walking about for over an hour with no luck for the water and I was quite parched to say the least. I hadn't even found a tree well despite the recent rains and I had nearly given up hope, when I came across a plastic 10ltr water can that had been sawn in half and held about 5ltrs of water. I dipped my finger in and gave it a taste. Fresh water and it was cool. Thank the stars! It was on a fire break and having walked past a tree stand for deer stakers, I guessed it was meant for the deer, but beggers can't be choosers and out came the water filter (just in case) and I drank about a ltr right there. Refilling my water bladder I packed it away and headed back in the rough direction of my camp, with the aim of collecting more tinder if I could.
I didn't find any, but upon returning to my camp from a totally different direction to the one I left in, I spied a fallen birch, so I collected quite the load of bark. My luck was looking up for that fire.....
I slumped next to a tree at my camp and I realised that I felt quite tired. So I rested for about a 15 minutes to catch my breath, sipping some of my water.
Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk
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