Just five things
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It put me in.mind of a joke with the same punchline my grand-dad told me about four Desert Rat gunners stuck in Africa in WWII. I.thought he was telling me one of his stories abouy his time there till the punchline.
Sorry to the OP for me going off topic.
Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.
I have a Germany army shirt, it's cotton, and quite a tight weave. I use it as a light coat during the summer, it would be what I would improvise a filter from. So your choice of shirt sounds about right.
Yesterday Birchwood of this parish handed me her zippo to light my stove with, after a couple of minutes I through it back and asked for something else (we were sat 6 foot away, it was more a gentle pass...). Zippo's in my experience are not reliable, ditto most lighters. You would be better off playing with a ferro rod. It is also more likely to be within the spirit of the event.
The Knife cum axe cum survival tool. Without know which one it is, it's hard to say for sure, but in my experience anything like that is going to be pretty useless at everything. You are better off either having a decent axe, or a decent knife. Trying to combine both is just going to end in pain. If you wanted something more substantial than a knife, consider a Kukhri. Tho I doubt you'll find much a Mora clipper isn't good enough for. If you wanted to combine two multi use cutting tools into one item, then you are better off taking something like a SAK Farmer, the saw plus knife combo is likely to be more useful. A saw is likely to be more energy efficient.
As for the taking food. I am assuming the idea of such an activity is to survive for a period of time using your skills and the 5 items you've brought with you? You can forage for food, it's harder to forage for a bivvi bag or tarp or what ever extra item of kit you can think of. If I was going to have any food with me, I would most likely forget that I had those salt and pepper sachets in my pocket from the take away the other day... oops
.If you can't eat grains anyway, don't worry, look for carbs. Making the assumption you're in the UK, this means Primrose and Cattails. Or you could go with the Atkins diet approach, and eat Dewi for that land rover door joke
Why carry food, when it can walk itself upto the moment you need it, and you can also then have his 4 things (don't bother taking the door from him )J
tent, sleeping bag, mattress and
https://www.fortnumandmason.com/products/f-m-backpack-4-person
https://www.fortnumandmason.com/products/the-hampton-picnic
https://www.fortnumandmason.com/products/f-m-backpack-4-person
https://www.fortnumandmason.com/products/the-hampton-picnic
Oh, just to add, if you are going to take the approach of eating the others on this exercise, don't eat the spinal cord or the brains, for there lies prions...
Good luck, and let us know how you get on.
J
Good luck, and let us know how you get on.
J
That's a hard requirement to follow even at home. No rice, no corn (maize) or it's products, no oats, no breads or pasta (not even the gluten free ones)
It put me in.mind of a joke with the same punchline my grand-dad told me about four Desert Rat gunners stuck in Africa in WWII. I.thought he was telling me one of his stories abouy his time there till the punchline.
Sorry to the OP for me going off topic.
Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.
Pretty much how I heard it... a gent telling war stories about his time in Africa and he finished off with the Land Rover breaking down. His mates carried water, food, ammunition etc and he carried out the passenger door. He sat there stony faced waiting for one of us to ask why and the grin on his face when he delivered the punchline!
Depends entirely on the Zippo...
Do you mean Zippo...
Or do you mean British Zippo...
Or do you mean ZIPPO?
Depends entirely on the Zippo...
Do you mean Zippo...
Or do you mean British Zippo...
Or do you mean ZIPPO?
First one looks like a 'Star' brand multi coloured clone, the second like an Imoco, the third a bog standard Zippo?
Big enough to brew up on.
Exactly
Saves building a fire for that quick survival nettle brew!I can confirm that the huge Zippo lighter stove...
Doesn't stand a chance of boiling water!
Only took 2 miles of walking, 3 different shops (to get large quantities of lighter fluid), a new wick, a new flint (stolen from the other zippo) and half an hour of sitting waiting for water to boil
Doesn't stand a chance of boiling water!
Only took 2 miles of walking, 3 different shops (to get large quantities of lighter fluid), a new wick, a new flint (stolen from the other zippo) and half an hour of sitting waiting for water to boil
The no grain thing is indeed a pain - but it has almost solved my chronic migraine (which comes with special effects vertigo as well as the usual nausea, pain, visual auras and general misery) which is fantastic.
Cannibalism sounds fine to me, fair amount of evidence in the whole primitives anthropological accounts stuff and clearly practised by members of this forum. Anyone for Dennis? Or Dewi. Will depend on others in the group - but you know that thing when you think ooh this group is nice, no- one annoying at all, and the rest of the group is thinking - this would be a great group except for, and it's you on the menu once all other food sources are exhausted? Don't know that thing? It's cos you're nice.
So, the zippo I have comes from the U.S. And has never not worked, but I take the point. I will practice fire making over the next few weeks.
I think we're supposed to not gang up (though very good idea) so I can wear my shirt, carry my Poncho, plus take my glasses and migraine pills and then have five other things
knife (yes to the mora companion),
crusader cup - ahh refreshment
Sleeping bag - hmmm sleep
Zippo/ferro rod - depending on how the garden practice goes.
Mat - respect for old bones
Nice, maybe I could use the bag that I made from a blanket which could then be a pillow? I do use it regularly - and I've just realised I'm trying to convince myself it's not cheating - ho ho ho. Who made these rules up anyway? I'm going in a few weekends time, so I'll let you know how I get on. Some of the group are saying they only want to do one night. I'm being boastful and saying 'what? Only one? Why not two?' Bet I regret that piece of hubris.
Cannibalism sounds fine to me, fair amount of evidence in the whole primitives anthropological accounts stuff and clearly practised by members of this forum. Anyone for Dennis? Or Dewi. Will depend on others in the group - but you know that thing when you think ooh this group is nice, no- one annoying at all, and the rest of the group is thinking - this would be a great group except for, and it's you on the menu once all other food sources are exhausted? Don't know that thing? It's cos you're nice.
So, the zippo I have comes from the U.S. And has never not worked, but I take the point. I will practice fire making over the next few weeks.
I think we're supposed to not gang up (though very good idea) so I can wear my shirt, carry my Poncho, plus take my glasses and migraine pills and then have five other things
knife (yes to the mora companion),
crusader cup - ahh refreshment
Sleeping bag - hmmm sleep
Zippo/ferro rod - depending on how the garden practice goes.
Mat - respect for old bones
Nice, maybe I could use the bag that I made from a blanket which could then be a pillow? I do use it regularly - and I've just realised I'm trying to convince myself it's not cheating - ho ho ho. Who made these rules up anyway? I'm going in a few weekends time, so I'll let you know how I get on. Some of the group are saying they only want to do one night. I'm being boastful and saying 'what? Only one? Why not two?' Bet I regret that piece of hubris.
The trouble with these challenges is that they have to be done in our countryside and that means you can't muck about to much with the land or the creatures on it. Try anything Ed Stafford like in our fair land and you will end up in trouble. The older I get the more I realise that a knife and method of lighting a fire on any list given would be better substituted for something to eat and drink. For that reason my list would be :
Sleeping bag
Tarp or tent depending on the weather
roll mat
bladder of water
large loaf of bread
It's a bit of a curmudgeonly list I grant you but in most places in the UK you will have a happier weekend with it.
Sleeping bag
Tarp or tent depending on the weather
roll mat
bladder of water
large loaf of bread
It's a bit of a curmudgeonly list I grant you but in most places in the UK you will have a happier weekend with it.
In my Zippos defence ( standard flip top model) I had not filled it properly the night before, and the rubber band that lives on it to stop evaporation ,had not been put back on.
I too have one of those massive Zippos and despite filling it with a tanker load of fuel I cannot get it to light.
Sorry about the thread hijack.
I too have one of those massive Zippos and despite filling it with a tanker load of fuel I cannot get it to light.
Sorry about the thread hijack.
Absolutely know where presterjohn is coming from, and I think he's pretty much nailed the right stuff for existing quite happily for the weekend. I guess I'd come at it looking at the idea behind this sort of challenge, i.e. it's about a bit of fantasy if you like; "here's me surviving in the wilderness" sort of thing. Otherwise, taking it to a daft extreme, you could choose a fully-equipped caravan as one of your items (and there's always argy-bargy about what constitutes "an item" in these sort of things!) That fantasy I think includes viewing your knife as your life, as the saying goes; maybe true in that wilderness setting, but in a wood in the UK? That doesn't stop me bringing my current favourite along, though it's most often used to open packets and for a bit of recreational whittling.
After that rambling what would I take? Well I always think about PLAN as my starting point:
I think for this scenario we can disregard L (location, i.e. stuff/actions to help people find you) and N (navigation, because I think you'll know where you are!)
We don't know about A (acquisition of food & water, ie what is available there? Is there a tap, or suitable water course for example? Is food provided? If not I'd take some of both. Again the availability of water might dictate that you need a vessel of some sort to boil it in, plus of course hot food is always nice. So you'd need something to start a fire.
That leave P (protection); what you take here depends on what you can do at the location; are you allowed to make a debris shelter for example? If not I'd probably take a poncho to protect against rain & rig up as overhead cover. Definitely something to keep you warm at night, so a sleeping bag or - fantasy stuff again - maybe a blanket for that frontier feeling. I'd also think about ground insulation; do you want to / can you make a debris bed? Otherwise some sort of mattress / kip mat etc would be part of my gear.
I know not all will agree, but hope my ramblings help anyway. Have fun!
After that rambling what would I take? Well I always think about PLAN as my starting point:
I think for this scenario we can disregard L (location, i.e. stuff/actions to help people find you) and N (navigation, because I think you'll know where you are!)
We don't know about A (acquisition of food & water, ie what is available there? Is there a tap, or suitable water course for example? Is food provided? If not I'd take some of both. Again the availability of water might dictate that you need a vessel of some sort to boil it in, plus of course hot food is always nice. So you'd need something to start a fire.
That leave P (protection); what you take here depends on what you can do at the location; are you allowed to make a debris shelter for example? If not I'd probably take a poncho to protect against rain & rig up as overhead cover. Definitely something to keep you warm at night, so a sleeping bag or - fantasy stuff again - maybe a blanket for that frontier feeling. I'd also think about ground insulation; do you want to / can you make a debris bed? Otherwise some sort of mattress / kip mat etc would be part of my gear.
I know not all will agree, but hope my ramblings help anyway. Have fun!
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Annoyingly you have to prime the wick before you light it, which isn't the most ideal way of lighting a 'lighter'. Providing you've got the wick in the centre of the wadding inside the lighter though and its moist with fuel, it'll keep burning for a good long while.
Won't bring a cup of water to the boil though
+1
There is a relatively well known bushcraft school who run a course that has a similar element, they don't limit the number of items you can carry into the woods however they do prevent you taking certain items with you, this has the effect of making you think a little more about how to accomplish certain tasks and is certainly quite a challenge.
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