The funny and the idiotic mistakes

[Ph34r]

I just thought I would start a 'confession' of idiotic things that I have done. A few years ago when i did my duke of edinborough gold, i put my mapdown on a car, along with the compass to tie my shoelace. I then stood up to see the car pulling off!

My friend from across the pond (in oregon) said that he left his leatherman crater on the bear box (used to store food), and then watched a bear eat it!

So now I have started the trend, Are any of you willing to offer your mistakes?

 

[gregorach]

Hmmm.... OK, this one is probably far enough in the past that I can confess to it now... Should you decide to take your boots off to cross a fairly small but fast-flowing river, do not think it would be a good idea to throw your boots over first. If you should decide to throw them over first, do make sure that you've got a clear throw. I made both of those mistakes once... My Lowas hit a low-hanging branch right over the middle of the stream, and dropped straight into the fastest part of the stream. I did get them back (full of water obviously), but only at the cost of throwing myself in after them. :togo:

Fortunately, it was a nice day.

Lesson learned: never do anything that could result in getting separated from your boots.

 

[Ph34r]

 

[Peter_t]

i packed in a hurry and missed out my knife (had no other cutting tools). i usually don't bother with cutlery, i just make a rough spoon shaped thing to eat with then sling it when im finished so without any tools i had to eat with my fingers and try tipping the pees and rice into my mouth lol. i was planning to play with a bow drill too and make a few other bits and bobs which didn’t happen

finally cracking fire by friction with my first ember then realising i had no tinder. well tbh i wasn't expecting a success but still quite stupid.


Pete

 

[JonathanD]

A friend of mine paid a fortune for a handmade longbow and found his brother using it in an attempt to start a fire. Heaven knows what he was thinking as it was six foot long. A massive amount of damge was caused where it had been rubbing to and fro across the crazy paving.

 

[Peter_t]

iv had plenty of those 'i shouldn't be cutting this way' then 'ok now im bleeding' moments.


pete

 

[Hugo]

I once saw a woman drive away with her baby on the roof of her car, in one of them there cradle things.
I, along with a few other people tooted there horns to warn her.
All ended well when she stopped to see what we were tooting for.

 

[Ph34r]

Great, keep 'em coming

 

[gregorach]

Yeah, c'mon, somebody must have something as stupid as mine... You're all making me feel bad here!

 

[Hugo]

OK I'll own up to this.
I was a tanker driver for 30 years delivering domestic heating oil, one day I was delivering to a place that was, shall we say industrial, it was raining heavy and when I pulled out the hose and connected to the tank, checking how much fuel was already in the tank, looked like it was nearly empty.
Now the people who ordered the fuel said that it was urgent .
So as it was pi**ing down I started pumping oil, sat in the cab and made myself a cup of tea ate a sandwich and after some time walked over to the tank thinking there was plenty of time :yikes: cant say how much was running down the back of this building and conveniently going down a drain, but it was an awful lot.
A very foolish thing to do, sitting in the cab.

 

[TJRoots]

ok here's a fresh one, happened last night. not exactly funny or idiotic, but rather ironic. as bushcrafters we all use sharp tools alot, so you'd think if any of us had to go to hospital to get stitches it would be due to an accident with something sharp, or at least from doing something bushcrafty, but not me, i managedto cut my head open in my sleep whilst doing nothing but sleeping, here's how it happened.
above my bed i have a big wall mounted cabinet full of gubbins, yesteray evening when getting a lighter out of it i noticed it was starting to come loose on the wall, so i took out the heavier stuff thinking "it'll be fine till the morning then i can re-mount it". boy was i wrong, at 1am last night when i was sound asleep, it fell off the wall and straight onto my head, cutting my head open right by my left eye, i awoke in a pool of my own blood buried beneath this rather heavy cabinet. one ambulance ride down the hospital later (i was too concussed to get there any other way) i have 6 stitches, 4 steri-strips and one half of my face is considerably larger than the other. here's some pics:

at the hospital

when i'd gotten home from the hospital 6 hours later

rather ironic that with all the stupid stuff i do my worst injury to date happened to me whilst i was sleeping. and i'll tell you this for nothing, its not a nice way to be woken up, not at all!

ATB
TJ

 

[Peter_t]

high five toby!



pete

 

[leaf man]

Swmbo decieded we would have to go camping in a little spot we found in wharnecliffe woodslast spring. Bearing in mind we had very basic kit, ie my bare essential bush gear, cheap tent and 1 sleeping bag, i said it might be better to leave it till we get some more kit. ''no, no, it'll be ok, i'll take my dressing gown and some extra clothes to wrap up in,'' says she. Babe, you will need more than tracksuit bottoms and that, says i. In her infanate womanly wisdom she pressed me farther. Ever a sucker for an easy wayi said ok. Sigh....but made sure i was going to fine.
Off we went, set up what we had and had an ok meal of bacon and eggs and jacket spuds (burnt black ash ash). Managed to get settled in for the night in the tent and off to sleep i went.
Half past midnight and i get '' im cold'' in my ear. Chuckling to myself i get the fire stoked up and sit her next to it. It worked for a bit but she finally asked if we could go home.
Always remember the p's!

 

[tinkerer]

once put a very nice camp mattress on the roof of the car to dry in the sun (kids) whilst i packed the tent away , then drove home the mattress is now somewhere between bridport and bournemouth. i did drive back but never found it.

 

[Bushwhacker]

All I'll say is, if you drop a knife don't try to catch it. Just let it fall to the ground.

 

[TJRoots]

All I'll say is, if you drop a knife don't try to catch it. Just let it fall to the ground.

same goes double for a sword

TJ

 

[lamper]

All I'll say is, if you drop a knife don't try to catch it. Just let it fall to the ground.

Beautifully put...

 

[Shewie]

I think I've told this one before but it still makes me chuckle.

I was slip streaming one of those shopper buses one day going down a fairly long hill on my push bike, as we reached the bottom to cross over a small humpback bridge the bus braked so I slipped down the inside looking to sneak across before him. As I got along side the bus I noticed somebody I knew sat on the back seat, so looking up at them I was a little bit surprised when the front wheel of my bike hit something solid and threw me over the bars. That solid thing was a Ford Escort parked up just before the bridge, my bike was a right off, my collar bone was broken, I lost 1.5 teeth, lost a good 10" of flesh from my shins and had very little skin left on the palms of my hands for a couple of weeks.

I got nearly a month off school though which was pretty good.

 

[Fredcompanybushcraft]

I think I've told this one before but it still makes me chuckle.

I was slip streaming one of those shopper buses one day going down a fairly long hill on my push bike, as we reached the bottom to cross over a small humpback bridge the bus braked so I slipped down the inside looking to sneak across before him. As I got along side the bus I noticed somebody I knew sat on the back seat, so looking up at them I was a little bit surprised when the front wheel of my bike hit something solid and threw me over the bars. That solid thing was a Ford Escort parked up just before the bridge, my bike was a right off, my collar bone was broken, I lost 1.5 teeth, lost a good 10" of flesh from my shins and had very little skin left on the palms of my hands for a couple of weeks.

I got nearly a month off school though which was pretty good.

I didn't read that thoroughly enough the first time - I thought you were slipstreaming a bus in your car!

The most stupid thing I've done(so far) is messing around with my dad's SAK, screwing the corkscrew into random bits of wood (as you do) and, just as he arrived, it broke off...

 

[Mang]

I brought a pack of those gel tin burners (sugar palm derivatives I think) with a c shaped stand and expected it to be useful. Quite literally didn't warm an already cooked sausage at an airshow recently

*Outdoors fail* Won't make that mistake again-Might take one to Gilwell 24 for a laugh!