As those who have been here a while are aware i did the Hunter Gatherer Challenge several years back
its run by Joe O'Leary at Wilderness Survival Skills and whilst i survived the experience i wouldn't say i felt i really thrived it felt more like an endurance test than a real living off the land comfortably type event.
so i booked it again this year and had another crack at it.
in between the two HGC as i will call it for ease rather than typing out Hunter Gatherer Challenge every time i refer to it quite a lot has happened in my life i have got married moved house and also done pretty much all of Joe's syllabus and a lot of practice in my own time so i felt a lot more confident this time round.
for those completely unfamiliar with the HGC it is a minimal kit challenge living off the land for 5 days, equipment is limited to
(direct quote from Joe's website below)
•A small quantity of wild meat on day one to be butchered and made into jerky (supplied – this should be viewed as a ‘loan’. By way of repaying the debt you must make an improvised projectile hunting weapon to take part in a shooting competition on the morning of your last full day living from the land)
•3 metres of strong cord (supplied)
•One cloth bag for filtering water (supplied)
•One metal cooking pot
•Your bushcraft knife
•Your folding saw
•The clothes you stand up in. These must be natural fibres only – no Goretex outerwear or synthetic/down filled clothing (there is logic behind this – we’re not just being mean). We recommend a tightly woven cotton shell over several wool base layers.
flint knapping equipment
You may also take a small back up kit consisting of a personal first aid kit, mobile phone plus reliable method of re-charging, a pocket sharpening kit, a journal and pencil and a head torch.
as well as the above i did sneak a couple of contraband items
my kupilka kuksa
my Julu
my Sicut knife
the two sharps were to test as they were in my eyes in keeping with the challenge as they are metal tools based on flint tools (plus i wanted to test them out)
Clothing wise i had with me
swedish m59 cargo trousers
merino underwear and base layer
brit army wool shirt
swanndri wool shirt
two dogs wool hoody
oil cloth smock
german army combat boots
tools i took were
mora classic no 2 knife
silky pocketboy
swedish army cook set
there was also some physical preparation before doing the HGC in that i quit caffeinated drinks completely before i did it, apparently i wasn't the most pleasant to be about when i did this but it certainly saved me from some horrific withdrawal symptoms.
unusually for the HGC the forecast was dry which makes it the first one Joe has run where torrential rain wasn't forecast.
Monday morning at first light saw us all being weighed by Joe so we could see how much weight we had lost during the week (i will come back to this later) then off the intrepid group of us left.
its run by Joe O'Leary at Wilderness Survival Skills and whilst i survived the experience i wouldn't say i felt i really thrived it felt more like an endurance test than a real living off the land comfortably type event.
so i booked it again this year and had another crack at it.
in between the two HGC as i will call it for ease rather than typing out Hunter Gatherer Challenge every time i refer to it quite a lot has happened in my life i have got married moved house and also done pretty much all of Joe's syllabus and a lot of practice in my own time so i felt a lot more confident this time round.
for those completely unfamiliar with the HGC it is a minimal kit challenge living off the land for 5 days, equipment is limited to
(direct quote from Joe's website below)
•A small quantity of wild meat on day one to be butchered and made into jerky (supplied – this should be viewed as a ‘loan’. By way of repaying the debt you must make an improvised projectile hunting weapon to take part in a shooting competition on the morning of your last full day living from the land)
•3 metres of strong cord (supplied)
•One cloth bag for filtering water (supplied)
•One metal cooking pot
•Your bushcraft knife
•Your folding saw
•The clothes you stand up in. These must be natural fibres only – no Goretex outerwear or synthetic/down filled clothing (there is logic behind this – we’re not just being mean). We recommend a tightly woven cotton shell over several wool base layers.
flint knapping equipment
You may also take a small back up kit consisting of a personal first aid kit, mobile phone plus reliable method of re-charging, a pocket sharpening kit, a journal and pencil and a head torch.
as well as the above i did sneak a couple of contraband items
my kupilka kuksa
my Julu
my Sicut knife
the two sharps were to test as they were in my eyes in keeping with the challenge as they are metal tools based on flint tools (plus i wanted to test them out)
Clothing wise i had with me
swedish m59 cargo trousers
merino underwear and base layer
brit army wool shirt
swanndri wool shirt
two dogs wool hoody
oil cloth smock
german army combat boots
tools i took were
mora classic no 2 knife
silky pocketboy
swedish army cook set
there was also some physical preparation before doing the HGC in that i quit caffeinated drinks completely before i did it, apparently i wasn't the most pleasant to be about when i did this but it certainly saved me from some horrific withdrawal symptoms.
unusually for the HGC the forecast was dry which makes it the first one Joe has run where torrential rain wasn't forecast.
Monday morning at first light saw us all being weighed by Joe so we could see how much weight we had lost during the week (i will come back to this later) then off the intrepid group of us left.
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