Trip Report Pine forest Permission Camp

[Pattree]

It isn’t ’just is’, you have to learn them,

I would disagree (In the nicest possible way) about learning detail. I had to learn the details because that was my subject and I would be examined in it.

For bushcraft purposes few of us bother about things like vernation or care about lenticel structure. We get to know the tree more like a familiar friend than a study. We walk with them through the seasons and get to understand their characteristics and associations as we go

For me bushcraft is fun. Anything that becomes a chore doesn’t get done.

If dendrology interested you then of course you will study it and enjoy doing so I’m sure.

 

[Nice65]

I would disagree (In the nicest possible way) about learning detail. I had to learn the details because that was my subject and I would be examined in it.

For bushcraft purposes few of us bother about things like vernation or care about lenticel structure. We get to know the tree more like a familiar friend than a study. We walk with them through the seasons and get to understand their characteristics and associations as we go

For me bushcraft is fun. Anything that becomes a chore doesn’t get done.

If dendrology interested you then of course you will study it and enjoy doing so I’m sure.

I didn’t say detail, I used black bud/opposite branching as an example of recognising Ash, and pointy buds for Beech. You took it into detail by asking about Oak flowers and lenticels. You’re talking to yourself mate. I’m keeping it simple with recognition of easy features.

 

[MrEd]

Nice one, good you got him going with a relatively easy first fire start, he knows he can do it now. Douglas Fir makes great fatwood, really resinous stuff.

Yep I have set him some ‘homework’ to find out what else we can use.

Prior to that I showed him what to look for to find fatwood. Next time I will get him to find and process some.
I am hoping it’s raining next time!

 

[Moondog55]

Isn't the Douglas Fir really a sort of pine tho? Being a member of Pinaceae and almost all of us at times call conifers pines.
We have a Cedrus Deodora in our front garden and we are always cleaning up dead "pine needles"
Nice camp

 

[Pattree]

Isn't the Douglas Fir really a sort of pine tho? Being a member of Pinaceae and almost all of us at times call conifers pines.

Only if peaches are roses.
(Members of the rosaceae)

For most of us it’s not important. I had a friend who lived at a house called the Firs. It was surrounded by Scots Pine.

While most people don’t concern themselves, bushcraft probably introduces us to something more specific but the categories “fuel” “carving” and “poles” are probably more useful. Some of us will know the grain patterns within the wood especially if we carve, turn or are carpenters.

I have had to have a professional interest - that was my job long ago. It’s also part of my belief set but that’s in part because of my past.

It’s all tree wood to an awful lot of people.

 

[MrEd]

My primary concerns with regards to trees in the woods is ‘will it fall on my head in the night’ and ‘will it burn’

The advantage of where I have this permission is the abundance of standing dead wood, that burns well, the downside is how much resin it leaves on my pots and pans!

 

[Pattree]

I just wash what will come off with water and a fold of long grass. The rest stays on the pan. As long as the inside is clean I’m not concerned. Black pots will absorb heat better (I tell myself.)

 

[MrEd]

I just wash what will come off with water and a fold of long grass. The rest stays on the pan. As long as the inside is clean I’m not concerned. Black pots will absorb heat better (I tell myself.)

Yep I do the same, I don’t scrub them back clean lol, I don’t ever clean the chimney on my ghillie kettle though and I swear it boils faster due to the black. One day I will probably have A ghillie kettle chimney fire!!

 

[Falstaff]

I like the suggested headings of fuel, carving and poles, this nails the key bushcraft essentials, with a secondary in food/filtering, and within any of those three is there anything for cordage?
I would include fire drill materials under the fuel heading, but are maybe a bit more nice-to-have than essentials, unlike say birch and fatwood.

Personally I wouldn't know a Douglas pine if it fell on me, it would be a guess. I don't have confidence in my ability to match books to trees. Sometimes a patient friend has pointed out a few to me, but I'm a slow learner on plants and trees.
However, I found Kew Gardens and their East Grinstead site great, because all the trees are labelled. I was able to find, and see the difference between, 3 different types of lime tree for example. So maybe I need to lurk there again, looking for a specific tree per the 3 headings. Might take time but enjoyable and enriching.

 

[Moondog55]

It's going to get more difficult with plantation timbers tho.
Around here a lot of plantation timber is a hybrid