No gear weekend full report

[Chris the Fish]

Great write up, good to see you were so effective with the snaring.

What was your style of firelighting? I'd imagine a bow drill would be difficult without a knife to shape things


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[mick91]

Great write up, good to see you were so effective with the snaring.

What was your style of firelighting? I'd imagine a bow drill would be difficult without a knife to shape things


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I did have great luck but I'm also experienced in trapping. considered bow drill, but would have involved sacrificing a shoe lace. I actually used a hand drill because some of the wood was already split. And I had found a straight dead stick. But it took an age without a usable blade. That was before I found wilson
If conditions and gear found was worse, it would have been a real issue. Its something I'll learn more about now. Its not something that's a real world problem because I keep ferrocium on my keyring

 

[mick91]

One thing I ment to stress in the report but seemed to miss. There is no such thing as a temporary shelter. Next time I will put much more effort in, and treat it like building a permanent shelter. Making it messy made it less effective. For the want of maybe an extra hour I could have made it exponentially better

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[Harvestman]

One thing I ment to stress in the report but seemed to miss. There is no such thing as a temporary shelter. Next time I will put much more effort in, and treat it like building a permanent shelter. Making it messy made it less effective. For the want of maybe an extra hour I could have made it exponentially better

That is a great point.

 

[mick91]

That is a great point.

Don't know what possessed me if I'm honest. If I was only camping 2 nights and I had a rip in my tarp I would have repaired it so why not in a natural shelter?

 

[Chris the Fish]

Cheers mick, sounds like you have a great set of skills


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[mick91]

Cheers mick, sounds like you have a great set of skills


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Cheers mate. Looking to amass some more soon

 

[mick91]

Anybody know if a book or books that will highlight British edible foods SEASONALLY? I've perused a few but seem to be a generalised guide and would like to learn more about where they grow and when.

 

[Alan 13~7]

Anybody know if a book or books that will highlight British edible foods SEASONALLY? I've perused a few but seem to be a generalised guide and would like to learn more about where they grow and when.

Take a look at This little filed guide it has where & when seasonal references... it might be just what you are looking for... 2nd time today I have recommended this little book.

Food for free field guide by Richard Mabey by Alan 13-7, on Flickr

 

[mick91]

Take a look at This little filed guide it has where & when seasonal references... it might be just what you are looking for... 2nd time today I have recommended this little book.

Food for free field guide by Richard Mabey by Alan 13-7, on Flickr

Cheers for that mate that's exactly what I was after

 

[Goatboy]

Cheers for that mate that's exactly what I was after

Classic little book. Well thumbed through in this house.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

 

[bopdude]

Thanks for the heads up, just bought a copy from the Bay, £2.81 with free delivery

 

[Harvestman]

Take a look at This little filed guide it has where & when seasonal references... it might be just what you are looking for... 2nd time today I have recommended this little book.

Food for free field guide by Richard Mabey by Alan 13-7, on Flickr

I will add my usual caveat here. Guides like that are excellent, but they only tell you what is edible. What they don't tell you is how to distinguish it reliably from the non-edible stuff, never mind the poisonous or harmful stuff. For that you need a full plants book.

(with apologies to regular members who have to put up with me banging on about this repeatedly )

 

[mick91]

I will add my usual caveat here. Guides like that are excellent, but they only tell you what is edible. What they don't tell you is how to distinguish it reliably from the non-edible stuff, never mind the poisonous or harmful stuff. For that you need a full plants book.

(with apologies to regular members who have to put up with me banging on about this repeatedly )

That's a good point. Maybe a poisonous plants book may be more useful

 

[Harvestman]

That's a good point. Maybe a poisonous plants book may be more useful

Still doesn't solve the problem. Basically, you just need to slowly acquire the knowledge when it comes to foraging. There is no single book that will give you reliable identification every time, with edibility information for the edibles.

 

[Alan 13~7]

Thanks for the heads up, just bought a copy from the Bay, £2.81 with free delivery

No probs. m8, A bargan @ £2.81 on the backcover the official Collins bar-code price is £12.99

 

[mick91]

Still doesn't solve the problem. Basically, you just need to slowly acquire the knowledge when it comes to foraging. There is no single book that will give you reliable identification every time, with edibility information for the edibles.

That's a very good point. Suppose it's something I can learn over time really. I know some basics and with fungi I know what will definitely kill me or make me very ill. And tend to avoid anything I'm not 100% certain on

 

[Harvestman]

That's a very good point. Suppose it's something I can learn over time really. I know some basics and with fungi I know what will definitely kill me or make me very ill. And tend to avoid anything I'm not 100% certain on

Make that an absolute rule and you will be fine. People ask me how I know that this plant is safe to eat. I ask if they have ever picked blackberries. How do you know they are safe, and really blackberries? You just do. You have seen them enough times that you know them. That's the rule. You have to know what it is, and that it is edible, and have not the slightest doubt about either. Any doubt, leave it out.

 

[Alan 13~7]

I will add my usual caveat here. Guides like that are excellent, but they only tell you what is edible. What they don't tell you is how to distinguish it reliably from the non-edible stuff, never mind the poisonous or harmful stuff. For that you need a full plants book.

(with apologies to regular members who have to put up with me banging on about this repeatedly )

I have to politely disagree with you on that point, I cant speak for other field guides, & i don't want to get in to a heated debate here but my copy of Food for Free just (randomly leafing through) does tell you how to distinguish reliably from the non-edible stuff, listing similar looking non edible plants & risky hard to identify plants that might be mistakenly identified are flagged with a warning to leave well alone & also has entries on poisonous & harmful stuff. Random example "Hemlock". Can I ask if you are familiar with this particular book or were you just randomly generalizing & judging a book by its cover, so to speak? This book is what it is a useful little field that gives you an awareness of seasonal,fresh,local & unusual produce & might I also add no one likes a smart ars* only saying...

 

[mick91]

Make that an absolute rule and you will be fine. People ask me how I know that this plant is safe to eat. I ask if they have ever picked blackberries. How do you know they are safe, and really blackberries? You just do. You have seen them enough times that you know them. That's the rule. You have to know what it is, and that it is edible, and have not the slightest doubt about either. Any doubt, leave it out.

That's my hard and fast rule. If I don't know it I don't eat it and in all honesty I do ok. I would still like to learn more though