Weekend Bimble

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Oliver G

Full Member
Sep 15, 2012
392
286
Ravenstone, Leicestershire
Good Morning All,

I'm going for a little bimble this weekend as I have not been out for quite a while.

The general plan is to walk from mine to the in-laws (50km) and sharpen up a few skills.

My aim is to set up camp while it is still light (I usually set-up after dark and set off before dawn) and carry out the following:

Build a wind shield for a fire.
Set a fire without lighter / matches (I'm making some char cloth tonight and will be using a lexada fire box type affair)
Maintain a small fire for at least 1 hour.
Gather a maya stick (There is some dead pine around).

I plan this year to carry out small focused trips to sharpen skills rather than try everything at once.

Does anyone have any tips or tricks for what I plan or general advice?

Kind regards,

Ollie
 

Bishop

Full Member
Jan 25, 2014
1,716
691
Pencader
Without knowing things like the route, load-out carried and your level of fitness that's a tough call. Hitting the ground cold and covering 25km is possible, the problem comes repeating it the following day. Most long distance hikers will work up to this kind of daily average distance over the course of several days.

Ibuprofen, Cho-Pat knee straps (failing that compression bandage or duct tape)
 

Oliver G

Full Member
Sep 15, 2012
392
286
Ravenstone, Leicestershire
Ah, good point, apologies.

It's a gentle stroll across the national forest from Melbourne to Tamworth, only about 40km in total after a second check.

The actual walk is very much a walk in the park, we were carrying about 60 kg of fighting gear on exercise so distance and weight is no issue now, I'm carrying pretty much everything in a 60 lite bag weighing about 15kg.

Ibuprofen is always a winner, as long as I have that and my omeprazole I can do anything.
 

Oliver G

Full Member
Sep 15, 2012
392
286
Ravenstone, Leicestershire
So total score for the weekend was 3/4:

Great success starting a fire with ferro rod and char cloth I had made during the week and I managed to maintain the fire for 4 hours before turning in for the night. The little wind shield built did a cracking job reflecting the head back under the tarp. Unfortunately I didn't find a pine tree for the maya stick.

Lessons learnt were:
Gather as much firewood as you need and then triple it.
Keep the tarp higher and tighter. (Not in the military any more so unlikely to get a bollocking for being too visible)
Inflatable roll mats go outside of the bivvi bag. (It might be worth getting a ground sheet to prevent punctures on the roll mat.

Luckily I had the foresight to fill my mess tins with water before I went to bed so I could melt the ice in the morning, my water bottle was frozen when I woke up.
 

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