Scotland - a learning experience (long story, pic heavy)

[Nat]

I've just woken 2 kid and an angry wife laughing so loudly at that write up. It's excellant.
It sounds like you had a fantastic time despite the few hiccups (hope yer thumb heals ok matey).

Throughly enjoyable read guys, especially the pictures.

 

[BOD]

You did well and we need these sorts of stories as much as we need tutorials.

Great bandage Twoflower put on you!

 

[hanzo]

Thanks guys.

If you got your thumb stitched up proper, it should heal very nicely. My friend nearly took the tip of his finger off near the first joint with my ax, you guessed it...cutting wet wood. It has healed really nicely. Your scar will just be a reminder of the time you spent with a buddy and to be careful in the future.

Thanks again for sharing.

 

[Matt Weir]

It seems it's just one of those trips. They are bound to happen and it looks like you guys have taken it as a character building experience

Thanks for taking the time to write it up.

 

[dwardo]

Great honest write up !

Sometimes trips just go that way but hey it beats working

I would love an underblanket my self but i fear the same thing that happened to you, no hammock spots and your a bit knackered I think ill stick to my big old army bag and bivy bag as its a little mroe adaptable if not a PIA to get into a hammock with

I always carry a backup tent in the car when going on a long trip especially up north where the weather can be a little "changeable" I dont carry it with me but it does add more options to your trip when you get up there, never had to use it yet but would not be without it.

Hey at least you were out there living it and a slip of a knife happens to us all especially when cold wet and hungry I love the people who say "never use an axe or a knife when its cold or your tired" in an ideal world yes but in reality its not allways possible to avoid.

 

[Twoflower]

Great bandage Twoflower put on you!

Just seeing that picture makes me laugh.

I should explain though ... I used to have a few different FAKs for various situations (eg, one for the car, one for when climbing, one for camping etc) but they've all, over the years, dissappeared. So I bought a lifesystems compact for carrying in my pack and never really checked the contents properly. It turns out that the smallest bandage is the one I put on Switches thumb as it was bleeding too much for just a dressing and tape or a plaster.

So part of what I learnt was (and i'm sure this list will get much longer)..

1) Always throughly check a new first aid kit to make sure it has what YOU need in it, not just what the manufacturers think you need.

 

[huntersforge]

Great thread guys . Fully agree with your FC opinions . Having worked for them some time ago as a sub contractor I frequently called them FB.
The memory of this trip will stick forever .:You_Rock_

 

[Heathenpeddler]

Loved the writeup guys, thanks Glad it wasn't ALL bad news! I know if it'd been me out there I'dve been off to a hostel after that first night - I don't have the experience to deal with that much bad luck and I know it

 

[dwardo]

Just seeing that picture makes me laugh.

I should explain though ... I used to have a few different FAKs for various situations

1) Always throughly check a new first aid kit to make sure it has what YOU need in it, not just what the manufacturers think you need.

I allways base my FAKS around chop, slice, bite, burn and hangover

 

[JFW]

Great post Switch,

I can sympathise with you as I went out last weekend for a couple of nights with my mates and Kids - it was the wettest/coldest weekend there has been for the last 4 months.
Just my luck.
Anyway I enjoyed your report and I actually think you were lucky.....
There is no mention of midgies.
Nice one and thanks for sharing.

Cheers

JFW

 

[suburban bushwacker]

great post. thanks for making the effort.

 

[spamel]

Sometimes, a big bandage is applied to teach the poor victim a lesson! Pull up a sandbag and swing that lantern, it's story time!

I remember a guy came to try and fix my CET in my Army days. The batteries weren't charging and i suspected the generator. As a Plant Fitter, I should have checked the basics but it was a vry long and cold exercise and I just wasn't thinking. Tightening the pulley belt would have took all of two minutes and prevented the whole sorry tale, but some things are meant to be!

A chap called Aaron, a time served Corporal coming to the end of his service in the REME, and an absolute guru in the CET world, came to have a look. The engine was running as the batteries were dead and I didn't want to stop the engine as I wouldn't get it started again. We opened the top decks to look into the hull, and I said to be careful as there are three or four pulley belts whizzing around unprotected. He said he was OK and new what he was doing. As time went on, I got more and more concerned as his fingers got nearer to one belt in particular and I said Right, I'm gonna turn the engine off, it's a bit dodgy this! Aaron replied with a no, and about ten seconds later his finger was caught by the pulley belt and went round the pulley with the belt on top!

He pulled his finger back when it was released at the other side and gave me a look as if to say Oh Bugger! You saw that didn't you!

The blood started to flow, so I got the FAK for the vehicle out. It wasn't too bad, but I taught him a lesson and put the biggest bandage I coukld find on his finger! In the end, it looked like a turban on the end of his finger! Totally ridiculous, but very funny!

You had to be there I suppose!

 

[Cobweb]

Wow, sounds like a hell of a good time. It does test your abilities and self control when you have a run of bad luck like that. Congratulations on surviving and staying happy.

 

[Grooveski]

Sounds like a rough one.

There's a knack to camping on FC land and cars mess it right up. Hiking or on a dirt bike or canoe it's no bother but finding places to park a car can be a right pain.
Cracking report, thanks for posting. Having seen my share of squidgy trips I have to admit that I was giggling while reading it.

 

[dave k]

Can I ask why the FC are so against people camping in their woods? I thought there was a lot more of an access granted in Scotland for people to camp wherever they really liked?

 

[Clark]

Thats a nice story, i go hammock camping all the time up here in scotland and mostly in FC forests, a couple of years ago we were told in no uncertain terms by two FC idiots to clear off and no fires allowed. Balls to that we thought and just went to a different forest but on my return home i e-mailed the FC and i recieved an e-mail back apologising for the behaviour of these two "gentlemen" and also that wilderness camping was encouraged and also small fires were allowed on the land aslong as they are small. Unfortunately i have lost this e-mail but i think i'll e-mail them again and keep a laminated copy in my pack. We have many a camp song now about the FC.

 

[Twoflower]

Clark, any chance you could ask them about their stance on overnight parking and all the signs they have up in their car parks saying things like "no camping, no fires" etc.

It seems to me that the FC don't even know themselves what is allowed.

 

[Grooveski]

They know fine well what's allowed .

They have a bit more right to flex their muscles is all. :swordfigh
When the new access laws up here were being bandied about there was a lot of talk of the "Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park" and what public access to those had meant.

A few years down the line the aforementioned park is lucky that it floods during the winter or we'd all be camping a four year old latrine. Other folk are just carrying on with what they used to do, including sticking "Get lost" signs up.
The FC land is a crop, so is vunerable to fire damage. That's why they say "Walkers welcome", folk walking through are no bother.
Always has felt odd camping on FC, even when it was the hazy law before.

 

[spamel]

I hate the concrete jungle, but I hate the fact that you cannot sneeze in some woodlands without somebody poking their nose in. I was out choppping some staves off of a fallen tree yesterday when a guy came up walking his dogs. Great, here we go I thought. I said hello, just harvesting some fallen dead wood. I expected him to go off on one, but he was really cool. He said that the particular tree had been fallen for some while and should be cleared as it is a hazard and near to a path where dogs get taken for a walk! If I had taken my Small Forest Axe, I would have done as he asked!

That's the attitude we need, not so many bigoted idiots that think they are right because they are a bit older. I'm afraid that this is the way society is heading, I live in hope of bird flu! That'll sort the men from the boys!

 

[ol smokey]

Sorry to hear your tale of woe, though. It is amazing how the rivers up here can rise without much warning. It is great to gety a nice site beside water, but you really need to look for the [High tide marks} I remember being on the Isle of Skye one time and when we crossed the Sligichan burn (stream} there was so much water coming down it, it nwould have shifted a Sherman Tank, and the next day you could have almost have crossed it wearing Wellington boots. Sorry to hear about your hand, I hope that you had no after effects from your cut. I did not note what time of year you were up here but I would suggest for the North West of Scotland, early May is best as that tends on the whole to be drier , sunnier and not yet into the midge season. I was a Rep for a number of years up there and was digging myself out of snow drifts on the way south from Inverness,
and yet they were having trouble with forest and heather fires further west it had been dry so long. I hope your experience has not put you off the area.