Modern bushcraft !?!

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Bumbler

Nomad
Feb 22, 2013
256
0
Norway
www.bushcraft.no
Wool doesn't keep help when it's wet at all. You'd be better of naked than in wet wool.
Read this if you want:)

http://woodtrekker.blogspot.nl/2012/03/does-wool-keep-you-warm-when-wet.html

I think I'll take the word of the Norwegians Army research institute, and SIFO over any random bloggers any day...

Wool will insulate you even if you do get wet. This is because it can absorb large ammounts of moisture compared to f.ex synthetic fibres. It can hold up to 35% moisture before it even starts to feel wet (depending on wool type). This means that a 100% wool sweater can suck upp up to 35% of it's own weight without feeling wet. In addition it will generate heat while absorbing moisture. This is why you feel dryer in wool, and is the reason why even moist wool clothes keep you warm.
 

rik_uk3

Banned
Jun 10, 2006
13,320
24
69
south wales
When its soaked through you will get cold and its a bugger to dry when camping, synthetics perform better in wet weather. I like a wooly jumper but I'd be daft to use it as a rain barrier.
 

Goatboy

Full Member
Jan 31, 2005
14,956
17
Scotland
"It was reported that in very bad weather - high winds, frost or snow -the Highlander would dip his plaid in water and then lie down in it.We're told that wetting it like that made the wool swell so that the plaid would give better protection against the wind and cold air. In sub-zero temperatures, it's said that the dipping would result in a thin glaze of ice on the outside surface which would further insulate the occupant. Wrapped up like this with his head under the blanket, the Highlander's breath would then create a warm and moist atmosphere around him which would keep him cosy during the night!" From here Whether apocryphal or not, I thought I'd stick an oar in. :pokenest:
 

boatman

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 20, 2007
2,444
4
77
Cornwall
Wool doesn't keep help when it's wet at all. You'd be better of naked than in wet wool.

I would disagree, a woollen jumper does keep you warmer and in the early days of snorkelling a thick woolly jumper was used before wet suits came in, see Alexander McKee's book "Farming the Sea". There is a difference between an active body and a container of warm water.

There is something to be said for bare skin in the rain if the wind is not too great.
 

Bumbler

Nomad
Feb 22, 2013
256
0
Norway
www.bushcraft.no
When its soaked through you will get cold and its a bugger to dry when camping, synthetics perform better in wet weather. I like a wooly jumper but I'd be daft to use it as a rain barrier.

Yes that would be daft. But in combination with an outer, wind/rain proof shell, it's superb.
 
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Bumbler

Nomad
Feb 22, 2013
256
0
Norway
www.bushcraft.no
"It was reported that in very bad weather - high winds, frost or snow -the Highlander would dip his plaid in water and then lie down in it.We're told that wetting it like that made the wool swell so that the plaid would give better protection against the wind and cold air. In sub-zero temperatures, it's said that the dipping would result in a thin glaze of ice on the outside surface which would further insulate the occupant. Wrapped up like this with his head under the blanket, the Highlander's breath would then create a warm and moist atmosphere around him which would keep him cosy during the night!" From here Whether apocryphal or not, I thought I'd stick an oar in. :pokenest:

In Norway, we have something called sea mittens. They are felted wool mittens, and can be a tad stiff. The fishermen used to dip them in sea water, then beat them "dry", and they would keep their hands toast at sea, in their open boats in the arctic winter.
My mother made me a pair last winter, and they are the best I have. Because they are felted they are fairly wind proof. But I use them inside a pair of wind proof canvas mittens.

They often get quite wet with melting snow etc, but never failed to keep me warm.

The Norwegian army use the same system. Wool mittens inside a wind proof shell. These days they have replaced the cotton (canvas?) wind prrof shell, with gore-tex, but the inner woold mitten is the same as 40 years ago. They have never been able to find a modern material that could replace the wool.
 

Goatboy

Full Member
Jan 31, 2005
14,956
17
Scotland
In Norway, we have something called sea mittens. They are felted wool mittens, and can be a tad stiff. The fishermen used to dip them in sea water, then beat them "dry", and they would keep their hands toast at sea, in their open boats in the arctic winter.
My mother made me a pair last winter, and they are the best I have. Because they are felted they are fairly wind proof. But I use them inside a pair of wind proof canvas mittens.

They often get quite wet with melting snow etc, but never failed to keep me warm.

The Norwegian army use the same system. Wool mittens inside a wind proof shell. These days they have replaced the cotton (canvas?) wind prrof shell, with gore-tex, but the inner woold mitten is the same as 40 years ago. They have never been able to find a modern material that could replace the wool.

Hi Bumbler, excellent, felted wool is great stuff, I have felted wool liners for my Sorel winter boots. Though the boots are waterproof you can get a condensation build up and the felted wool is great for keeping you cosy. We've an artist who works in fabrics in the village who felts wool.
 

CACTUS ELF

Need to contact Admin...
Feb 16, 2012
108
0
Cheshire
@ Cactus Elf

Have you seen how BG uses a firesteel ?
Hit and hope for the best springs to mind...very example if you ask me!

Ha ha and yet he still survives those tough situations, Wow if only we all could hit and hope so successfully when doing fire by friction etc maybe its just a reflection of his great skill with such tools rather than blind luck :D

As for the Ateam Goatboy, they rock. no one got killed cause its a kids show :) wouldn't be much fun for 10 yr olds if it was like watching Rambo 4 every week. Still they've always got Bear Grylls :):)
 

Hile_Troy

Need to contact Admin...
May 2, 2013
77
0
Stalybridge
Just thought I'd throw my hat in the ring, even though I may be too late...
I think most of my kit is a blend of modern and trad, I have a wax jacket because I can repair and reproof it endlessly and I can abuse it everyday and it keeps going, repetitive daily use of modern waterproof membranes causes them to fail after a year or two in my experience... But I have a GoreTex shell for when I need light kit. I have a great Akubra felt hat that has never let water in, but I also have a lovely warm Thinsulate woolly one, and a Barmah squashy leather one which is too warm in nice weather and leaks in the rain, it doesn't perform so I don't use it. I have full grain leather walking boots... that have a GoreTex layer (because I couldn't get a pair that fitted well and performed well without)... This could go on. In esscence, I couldn't care less how old or new the tech is, I care about how well it performs and how long it lasts.

One of the major issues I have with newer kit is that it is often overdesigned to the point where it compromises the performance of the item, how can I expect my boots to stay waterproof if they have loads of unneccessary seams all over the show, sure it makes them look all funky and different to the previous year's model, but it makes them a lot harder to keep watertight. A lot of old kit is designed to the principle I like:

Design it to do the job it is meant to do, the best it can. Then,... stop designing.

Sadly, more and more I see stuff that has been designed by folk who forgot the last bit of that principle.
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
....As for the Ateam Goatboy, they rock. no one got killed cause its a kids show :) wouldn't be much fun for 10 yr olds if it was like watching Rambo 4 every week. Still they've always got Bear Grylls :):)

Actually it was a "family" show on prime time when the whole family watched TV together. Kids like much, much, much more blood and gore. The Rambo series is actually pretty mild for today's kids.
 
Jul 30, 2012
3,570
224
westmidlands
on news of the 2011 soyuz rocket crash (satelite only on board) this was reported in the media

"The people in the Altai Mountains of Siberia are
regarded as frugal and tough. In late summer,
many live from harvesting berries and cedar nuts. They are also used to having burned-out rocket stages crash in the wilderness after spacecraft launches. When, in the middle of last week, a large ball of fire was seen in the sky above the taiga, residents of the village of Karakoksha were not alarmed. "I was at home when I felt the tremors," said Yelena, a 26-year-old local woman with a dark ponytail. She heard a rumble and went to sleep."

Space age bushcraft !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Macaroon

A bemused & bewildered
Jan 5, 2013
7,209
362
73
SE Wales
It ought to be a consideration for any thinking person concerned with the environment - stuff we use should at the very least be biodegradable.
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
It ought to be a consideration for any thinking person concerned with the environment - stuff we use should at the very least be biodegradable.

Possibly. Sometimes the biodegradable stuff uses more resources though. If you need durable goods it might well be better (on the environment) to buy the one synthetic rather than a half dozen natural.
 

Macaroon

A bemused & bewildered
Jan 5, 2013
7,209
362
73
SE Wales
I've got tweed clothing I've been wearing for well over thirty five years; when it wears out, (not in my lifetime!), it'll be re-processed and come back as still natural blanket, floor covering etc.
 

Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,151
1,544
Cumbria
That's it ive had it with this forum, that was blatantly an inflammatory remark designed to belittle
my chosen sport and upset me, going off now for a good cry LOL.

Oh dear! I better not make any comments anglers I've met on my Kayak trips...

They were all nice people who offered us cups of tea as we passed by!! ;)
 

John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,106
2,833
66
Pembrokeshire
Possibly. Sometimes the biodegradable stuff uses more resources though. If you need durable goods it might well be better (on the environment) to buy the one synthetic rather than a half dozen natural.

Do what?
Most of the synthetics I have used have died well before my natural s are showing any real wear!
 

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