Rain - bushcraft and survival - discuss

[stephendedwards]

Well as I sit here steaming dry after the short muddy walk from the car to the door, it occurs to me how different bushcraft would look like on a night like this. Fire by friction or flint and steel, no dry tinder, no dry kiddling, shelter? Stiff wind, heavy rain, and you're out in it, how do you handle it - what is the minimum kit and what are your first steps?

I thought this might be an interesting discussion as this is the real climate we live in and if we only do bushcraft on warm summer days with a bergen's worth of kit, what odds?

Steve

 

[Nightwalker]

There's no getting around it... most of us prefer hot sunny days, just right with a gentle breeze but sheltered a little by the woodland canopy

However, yes with limited kit on a horrible day, heavy rain and wind there's only so much you can do. And thats where your knowledge and skills really come into the equation, whether its a little bit of ingenuity, using a certain knot or knowing how to change your Tarp configuration to something different can really make the difference to your comfort. With your wider knowledge and skills you've got a better chance of getting some comfort in the outdoors.

However having said that, a bit of wet and wind dosent bother me, (I said a bit! ) I've much got the feeling; if its wet, its wet, expect to be wet, needn't fight mother nature as for tomorrow may be dry and wonderful. Life is forever changing and out of all the things a bit of water is never a bad thing! Water brings life and activity, refreshes out lands, plants and animals and provides us with the variety and world we live in.

 

[h2o]

tarp is important shelter building in the rain is rubbish

 

[sheepdogbob]

The problem is'nt rain & wind, unless you can't see the hand infront of your face; the problem is when you stop and cool down! Insulation and air flow will see you right, unless you have to sleep in a puddle. If the worst comes to the worst, you can always light a fire (if you can, in those conditions), and the rain will evaperate before it reaches you.
All things are possible, remember Netche?

 

[irishlostboy]

LMAO. i am a perculiarity, (now, not just my face, and my attitude,) but i like being out and about in the nasty stuff. winter is my favourite time for it. no biting bugs. no being woken up by the dawn at five in the morning. nobody else crazy enough to go out in it, so you have peace.
my kit approach is, the stuff you wear walking, clothes, jacket, dry-pants, boots etc. then i set up bivy before i sleep, change into dry stuff and stuff my wet stuff into a bin liner for the next day. the tricky bit is getting changed and into the bivy bag (bivy bag, with no tarp is what i am talking about here) without getting everything all wet again. thats where a good poncho comes in handy, cos you can get changed under it, slip into your bivy bag, and slide down and seal it up, without getting out of the poncho. of course the approach i would take depends on what the terrain is like. ireland is very open and exposed, so at best, you have some minor scrub and bushes. it would be a LOT easier in woodland.

 

[Levinin]

That is a very good point. I've been out in camp situations where cooking was done on a wood fire in the very wet and cold of November and it's not easy to light that first fire, although it is possible. The important thing is to be thinking about the next night, and the next, and to gather wet wood to place by the fire to dry and then keep it dry in the shelter. If you set this wood up opposite you and near the fire it will also act as a reflector for a lot of the heat which is nice.

I was camping so I didn't have to look for food or actually build a shelter but if they weren't available in a survival situation the order is to assess first aid needs and deal with anything which needs immediate attention, build a shelter because wet clothes will probably kill you and in a shelter you can (a bit later) change and keep from getting wetter (and stay out of the wind and off the floor) and complete non-urgent first aid more easily, then build a fire to dry out with and set something up to collect that useful water falling all around you . Food you can wait until tomorrow to find, or even the day after if necessary.

To make the fire it is a case of chopping down into a piece of wood to get the dryer center and cutting that up to start - and light it with the lighter from your suvival kit - which is also much easier to keep dry during cutting if you already have that shelter! Actually that's why I rate tinder boxes which can carry enough dry stuff to get a fire going from a fire piston/steel coal or a match. This can then be re-filled with material dried out by the fire made with it. As I understand it tinder boxes have been carried by travellers for centuries although I don't know what they used to get it going - flint and a piece of steel to get a coal perhaps?

 

[Ed]

no dry tinder, no dry kiddling

As said above, knowledge is the key. Always carry dry tinder and when you use some of it, gather more and dry it next to the body so you always have a good supply. Kinderling is not much of a problem as it can be made from dead standing wood.You'll find the outside wet, but in the middle it should be useable.... or use green ash as that will still burn.

Shelter also is no problem if you have a tarp, but if you are using a lean-to or debris shelter just make sure your angle is around 60 degrees to the horizontal and you have a thick layer of debris on it (fingertip to elbow thickness) and all should be fine... remember to check it every day and top it up .... no problem at all really.

I live in wales so am quite used to the rain.... and in some ways i prefer it as not many people are out and about.


Ed

 

[Fin]

Get a detailed forecast if you plan to be out and pack accordingly. Sounds obvious but so many people get caught out - especially in summer. My job makes me a bit obsessive about weather forecasts - but, touch wood, I've yet to be out in inclement conditions without the right kit.
First on the list (but last in the pack) go top to toe waterproofs. Next (under the waterproofs) - warm layers - fleece etc. Next (on the top of another compartment of the pack) goes the tarp (actually a Clark Jungle Hammock with extra large fly - you can pitch it on the ground and totally enclose it like a tent). I'm never out now without my Bushbuddy stove which also works well with a Trangia burner - so I'm never out of means to cook/ heat.
Having said all of that - if the forecast is for horizontal sleet for the duration of the trip - then the attractions of my wood burner and a decent single malt take over

 

[Shewie]

Stiff wind, heavy rain, and you're out in it, how do you handle it ?

Steve

I`ll let you know on Sunday

Haven`t been out in the cold for a while so I`m really looking forward to it !


Rich

 

[john scrivy]

a few of the lads that have now become part of the essex meet are out again this weekend we will let you know how we cope with the weather DONT FORGET we are having a spring moot meeting and keep replying to the meet ups BIT pictures will be posted

 

[snoop Ex member]

i like the quote, " there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes"

 

[Tiley]

There is a feeling of real triumph if you can make yourself comfortable with a minimum of kit in vile weather. With practice, just about anyone can do it on those stunning evenings; when it's lashing it down and you still manage to get a fire lit and cook a slightly soggier than usual meal on it, that is a real achievement.

When it comes to kit, it's got to be the tarp, wetfire tinder, the hammock, billy can and the underblanket. I like the slightly smokier blaze and the sound of rain pattering on the tarp fabric. Apart from anything else, it makes you appreciate the evenings when it's still, quiet, dry and cold.

 

[John Fenna]

As I am now at a free end this w/e due to the river being in flood and my canoeing being cancelled I am contemplating a "backyard bivvi" just to get out of the house!
My wife already thinks I am mad....

 

[Greg]

I'll have to drive down and see that John!

As for enjoying yourself in the rain, I spent last w/end with friends bivvied out in a wood just outside Brecon. The weather was horrendous - Strong winds and it lashed down with rain.
But the rain wasn't continuos and during the couple of times it eased off we were able to collect enough small wood kindling and luckily the land I have to use has an ash woodland which is coppiced frequently so we were able to get our hands on some decent fuel wood.
Once we had our bashas up I got the fire going on the Friday afternoon using my flint and steel kit and some birch bark we collected. We soon had a roaring fire going!
On Saturday afternoon my friend Adrian got the fire going with his bow drill kit under his tarp and again we had a roaring fire going which coincidentily kept me warm until about 0500hrs Sunday when it eventually died down.
Kit wise I didn't even bother with my waterproofs. I wore a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, my Snugpak softie jacket and my SASS Ventile Smock. Below I wore a pair of M65 pants my boots and gaiters. And a Lowa Mountain Cap on my head.
I slept in two different styles of tarp basha which kept me nice and dry, I used a long log fire on the Saturday night and for food we cooked a beef stew on the first night and had a meat feast bbq on the second night.
All this while it lashed downwith rain & hail and blew a hooly!
Not bad for a w/end in the rain.

 

[Teej84]

I was amazed a while back when I went walking with a mate of mine (It was during the floods earlier this year!) over the Brecons. Although we were wet and could have been cold we had a whale of a time laughing and larking around and we had both been so excited about the trip it really didn't matter. Even getting lost after taking a dodgy baring off the top was a fun challenge!

Stay happy in your head and you will feel the benefits round your body! We also found that dancing while singing cheesy 70s disco music works!

HAVE FUN!!!!

Tj

 

[Ogri the trog]

It strikes me as strange that the Brits are the only race on the surface of the planet who are constantly supprised by rain in autumn, cold during the winter and other "Unseasonal" weather - when will they take notice - this happens regularly and predictably.
Preparation is surely the key, as the days shorten and the wind aquires a nip, take a hint. Collect your fire wood and keep it dry, look to your shelter arrangements and prepare to batten down the hatches if you can't get out to forrage more wood.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[John Fenna]

Grteg - that is "backyard" as in just up the back lane, in the woods I showed you...though I have bivvied in the backgarden when testing kit - I never trust gear on its first outing!

 

[big_swede]

rain? what's the problem? Are you made of sugar?

 

[John Fenna]

Nah - not made of sugar, just very sweet natured....

 

[big_swede]

lol