Winter Bushcraft Challenge with Wilderness Survival Skills (Grab a brew first )

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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

 
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Once the fire was lit one member of the group went off with all our cook pots and collected water and food from two spots marked with a dot on the map. Meanwhile the other two continued gathering firewood and in my case squirrelled away any and every tinder i could find in case the fire went out.
I also spotted this interesting Fungi and would love to know what it is if anyone knows?

Upon the third members return it was time to boil the water to simulate purifying gathered water. By this time it was around 15:30 and I was feeling the first stages of dehydration. never has tepid boiled water tasted so good!

Next our thoughts turned to bedding. Hazel staves raised us ever so slightly from the ground

and whilst I built these the others went off and gathered fallen Douglas Fir boughs

Here was where being a group held advantages over going solo as the work could be split between us rather than it all being dependent on one person.
I stripped the boughs whilst the others gathered more and i constructed the beds.

As twilight fell we were confident that our beds were up to the task and so thoughts began running towards food. This was a personal hurdle as whilst I am not fussy in what I eat there are certain things I dislike and lucky me the food we got rice and trout are both things i am not keen on. As I dislike fish it isn't something I've really looked into cooking primitively so Chris and Andrew demonstrated and talked me through ponassing the trout.
Whilst the rice boiled and the trout cooked we hung my soggy blanket across the open side of the shelter to dry. Warm, dry, with dinner cooking and sipping tepid water we had a bit of banter whilst watching the trout cook

Once the food was cooked we munched our way through it (I'm not so anti fish and rice that I wasn't going to eat it, it was the first food since 05:30 and that was a ropey steak slice from the services)
After dinner we went off convinced we knew where the water was-oops after stumbling around hunting for it we backtracked and started again one of the group staying on the track which acted as a focal point for the other two to prevent them getting misplaced in the woods. (another perk of being in a group I could of still been there come sunrise)
once we had gotten the water we returned to the shelter. Belly full, warm and dry I dozed off around 22:00hrs.
Joe appeared at 22:30 and the sound of conversation woke me up. a half asleep conversation was had and I dropped off once more.

I woke at 03:00 convinced i had rolled out of bed and into the fire!
In reality what had happened was one of the group had woken up cold and shivering and stoked the fire well up. It was so hot that I ended up sleeping on top of the blanket until around 06:00 when Joe appeared again and said "you've lost your blanket!" to which I mumbled a reply of "it was too ruddy hot". (Joe checked all the course attendees every three hours day and night if asleep he just tucked himself between the fire and the sleeping area to check how warm it was and if awake he had a chat and offered tips,suggestion and advice) i slept once again until 08:30 when i was woken to the offer of boiled rice for breakfast which I declined.
 
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i wet my whistle with some refreshing tepid boiled water and had a smoke and Chris decided to pay a visit to another of the participants Andrew and I elected to remain sat around the fire and chat, Joe made another appearance and told us if we wanted a brew to go grab one, after checking this wasn't some kind of slightly off joke we practically sprinted to the main parachute and got a brew (those of you who camp regularly with me will know I am a tea based life form and that brew was like ambrosia after nothing but boiled water i can tell you)
we then had some grub for the communal fry up and two dutch ovens delivered, there is nothing like the smell of bacon cooking especially after short rations of food and food you are not keen on at that
as the pic shows Andrew was quite excited too

All the course participants gathered at the main parachute and had brews and brunch
possibly the best fry up of the year

After brunch we ambled around everyone's shelters and we all gave a brief talk about what worked, what didn't work, what we would do differently and answered any questions the others had.


side view to give you an idea of the depth of thatching



I found it quite interesting that all the fellows who had gone solo had very very similar shelter designs but with certain variations to them all
our shelter

Scarlet Elf Cup

Mr O'Leary's Lab rats all smiling despite sleeping out in February with minimal kit

After packing up our kit we all chipped in and cleared up before heading back to the cars and making our good byes.
I got home at 18:30 to be greeted by this banner made for me by Lisa and Jake


Before I did this course I had a fair bit of theoretical knowledge and this course allowed me to gain practical experience to go with the theory side of things.
I learnt just how important certain pieces of kit are and also how superfluous other pieces are.
Even when not minimal kit camping this course will influence my thinking on what I take and how I use the kit I have.
Some Naysayers will no doubt say that they can replicate my experience without having to pay for it, i would argue having a professional instructor checking regularly really added to it. Joe was polite but firm when needed, he gently guided us with hints and tips and occassional brutal honesty so we genuinely learnt from the experience.
He was also monitoring us to ensure we were if not comfortable then safe.
Being in a group was definitely an advantage. It meant we could divide the workload, we had more resources (such as three cook pots so one was used to cook the rice, one was containing boiled water to drink and the third was holding water waiting to be boiled) and it meant we could jolly each other along when one of us hit a slump. It really brought home to me why tribal groups were the norm rather than individuals, its just a darn sight easier the more folk involved.

I thoroughly enjoyed the winter bushcraft challenge and I am already debating about doing it again next year but solo.

My thanks to Joe for an excellent course and to my two collegues in the shelter for really adding to it (also my apologies for snoring)

disclaimer I have no connection with Joe O'Leary or Wilderness Survival Skills although I seriously doubt this will be the last course I attend with them

Hope the write up hasn't been too long or dull
Sam
 
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Big Stu 12

Bushcrafter through and through
Jan 7, 2012
6,028
4
Ipswich
Great report so far bud, I look forward to the rest of the reports, great way to take the Boonie onto the next step :), thanks for sharing so far, wish I could of afforded to come.
 

Albus Culter

Maker
Jan 14, 2013
1,379
1
West Yorkshire
And the last installment was a nice summary.

I agree with the group thoughts but I too would like a solo shelter. Maybe in a communal area. Tribes etc are good, but personal space has it's advantages too.
 

decorum

Full Member
May 2, 2007
5,064
12
Warwickshire
Glad it was a good weekend, I know just how much you were looking forward to it ~ pity about the amount of snow though ;)


Good write up too :D
 

addo

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 8, 2006
2,485
9
Derbyshire
Good to see you there Sam, it was a cracking weekend.
Your shelter looked and sounded really warm, so quite a positive experience I imagine.
It recharged me no end as I always feel healthier running around woods and I'm lucky that my favourite food is Oak smoked Trout ;)
See you again sometime fella.
 
Good to see you there Sam, it was a cracking weekend.
Your shelter looked and sounded really warm, so quite a positive experience I imagine.
It recharged me no end as I always feel healthier running around woods and I'm lucky that my favourite food is Oak smoked Trout ;)
See you again sometime fella.
bleurgh you can keep the trout :)
hopefully see you around the fire again sometime mate
 
Apr 25, 2012
161
0
Wolverhampton
Awesome write up bro! Really enjoyed it, looked like a very good and challenging weekend! I've been thinking next year I'm going to do just wool blankets, see if it's doable.

Thanks! Brian.
 

Shewie

Mod
Mod
Dec 15, 2005
24,259
24
48
Yorkshire
Great write up Sam, well done for remembering it all and taking some pics too

Your shelter looks really good, I'd like to give that a go one day

That addo bloke pops up all over the place :)
 

GordonM

Settler
Nov 11, 2008
866
51
Virginia, USA
Thanks for the most excellent after action review! Looks like you had a wonderful effort, Sam.

"bleurgh you can keep the trout :)..." The old West had John Liver-Eating Johnson just might have to dub you as Sam Chorizo-Eating Man of Tanith! :You_Rock_
 

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