As most folk on here know I have been experimenting with using Wool Blankets and a predefined kit list (see The Boone Challenge Thread) and my thoughts had turned to using just wool blankets throughout the winter.
So when I received a newsletter from Joe O'Leary's company Wilderness Survival Skills describing the Winter Bushcraft Challenge I've got to say my interest was well and truly caught.
After a "few" emails between Joe and Myself (mainly to reassure me that i was up to spec on the skills and wouldn't either make a fool of myself or hold others back). I whinged, begged and generally annoyed folk until it was agreed that the challenge would be my only Yule gift.
Fast forward to February and we find ourselves in the dampest winter i can recall.
The horrific windy conditions meant that the woods were unsafe for us to meet on the Friday as originally intended. So at 03:00hrs on Saturday I dragged myself out of bed, crept downstairs and got dressed so as not to disturb the rest of the family and ambled down to my folks for a lift to Wiltshire. The journey went smoothly and after a service station stop off for poncy coffee and food we arrived at the course site.
Joe had been held up but the other course attendee's knew where they were going so cars were parked, packs with standard winter camping kit(to be used only in emergencies) were slung onto backs and we wandered to the main parachute shelter. A fire was lit and the kettle was put on.
Joe arrived and we had a safety brief/discussion about the weekend ahead of us. This covered things such as signs of hypothermia, things to watch out for, usual rules and so on and safe cutting techniques (as it happens I was the only one attending who had not been on other courses with Wilderness Survival Skills).
We then went and had a looksee at a demo shelter which was nearby.
This shelter had been standing since last February and was still done dry within.
Brews were then finished, the packs with our standard winter kit were left in the parachute area and off we went with only a standard bushcraft knife, folding saw, metal cook pot,non metal mug, spark stick, head torch, whistle, wool blanket and first aid kit( I also had smokes and lighter and Boris my mascot Badger)
Originally it was intended for us to pair up for safety but four of the guys decided to go solo. This left me and two others banded together as a group.(more on the differences between solo and group as I continue)
Chris, Andrew and Myself decided on a two sided lean to with one end sealed in a bay as our shelter and set about with gusto
Fortunately Joe appeared and gently 'hinted' and advised that we may wish to consider a larger shelter to comfortably house the three of us. Luckily we hadn't gotten too far into the construction and having three of us mean that whilst the workload was larger it was also split into three parts. A quick rethink resulted in us building a shelter more U shaped which gave sufficient space to fit in (I'm so glad Joe suggested we change tactics it would of been a dreadful nights sleep)
To transport the debris/leaf litter to thatch the shelter we used my wool blanket. I swear we must of shifted two tonnes or more on my blanket.
We must also of stripped the surrounding areas of all the leaf mould(fortunately there were several demolished shelters we raided) and uncovered quite a few shoots using the debris as insulation
Slowly (painfully slowly it felt) we thatched the entire shelter. The temperature difference was noticeable immediately whenever you entered the shelter- I noticed my trousers were steaming whenever I went in there.
Whilst two of us were thatching the shelter the third was working on getting the fire going.
Joe appeared at this point and after pointing out that it shouldn't take three men to light a fire (I confess I had hit a slump point and was having a smoke whilst Chris and Andrew were focusing on the fire) demonstrated feathersticks (first sign of dehydration starting to kick in not thinking it through).
Whilst Chris and Andrew made up some more feather sticks I focused on gathering boney oak and ash for the fire wood and the fire was soon lit
So when I received a newsletter from Joe O'Leary's company Wilderness Survival Skills describing the Winter Bushcraft Challenge I've got to say my interest was well and truly caught.
After a "few" emails between Joe and Myself (mainly to reassure me that i was up to spec on the skills and wouldn't either make a fool of myself or hold others back). I whinged, begged and generally annoyed folk until it was agreed that the challenge would be my only Yule gift.
Fast forward to February and we find ourselves in the dampest winter i can recall.
The horrific windy conditions meant that the woods were unsafe for us to meet on the Friday as originally intended. So at 03:00hrs on Saturday I dragged myself out of bed, crept downstairs and got dressed so as not to disturb the rest of the family and ambled down to my folks for a lift to Wiltshire. The journey went smoothly and after a service station stop off for poncy coffee and food we arrived at the course site.
Joe had been held up but the other course attendee's knew where they were going so cars were parked, packs with standard winter camping kit(to be used only in emergencies) were slung onto backs and we wandered to the main parachute shelter. A fire was lit and the kettle was put on.
Joe arrived and we had a safety brief/discussion about the weekend ahead of us. This covered things such as signs of hypothermia, things to watch out for, usual rules and so on and safe cutting techniques (as it happens I was the only one attending who had not been on other courses with Wilderness Survival Skills).
We then went and had a looksee at a demo shelter which was nearby.
This shelter had been standing since last February and was still done dry within.
Brews were then finished, the packs with our standard winter kit were left in the parachute area and off we went with only a standard bushcraft knife, folding saw, metal cook pot,non metal mug, spark stick, head torch, whistle, wool blanket and first aid kit( I also had smokes and lighter and Boris my mascot Badger)
Originally it was intended for us to pair up for safety but four of the guys decided to go solo. This left me and two others banded together as a group.(more on the differences between solo and group as I continue)
Chris, Andrew and Myself decided on a two sided lean to with one end sealed in a bay as our shelter and set about with gusto
Fortunately Joe appeared and gently 'hinted' and advised that we may wish to consider a larger shelter to comfortably house the three of us. Luckily we hadn't gotten too far into the construction and having three of us mean that whilst the workload was larger it was also split into three parts. A quick rethink resulted in us building a shelter more U shaped which gave sufficient space to fit in (I'm so glad Joe suggested we change tactics it would of been a dreadful nights sleep)
To transport the debris/leaf litter to thatch the shelter we used my wool blanket. I swear we must of shifted two tonnes or more on my blanket.
We must also of stripped the surrounding areas of all the leaf mould(fortunately there were several demolished shelters we raided) and uncovered quite a few shoots using the debris as insulation
Slowly (painfully slowly it felt) we thatched the entire shelter. The temperature difference was noticeable immediately whenever you entered the shelter- I noticed my trousers were steaming whenever I went in there.
Whilst two of us were thatching the shelter the third was working on getting the fire going.
Joe appeared at this point and after pointing out that it shouldn't take three men to light a fire (I confess I had hit a slump point and was having a smoke whilst Chris and Andrew were focusing on the fire) demonstrated feathersticks (first sign of dehydration starting to kick in not thinking it through).
Whilst Chris and Andrew made up some more feather sticks I focused on gathering boney oak and ash for the fire wood and the fire was soon lit
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