a day in the woods ???

A day in the woods....

I was asked by me nephew Brendan if i would take him to the woods for the day as he didn't want to stay out in winter, the day was upon us and off we went ! with all we could need for a comfortable day in the woods in winter.

When we arrived i gave Brendan his first axe a mini hatchet he was chuffed to bits and set about teaching the young lad the importance of safety when using an axe.

i then lit a small fire to keep the Mrs warm and to boil water for our hot chocolate

i started to make a lean-too shelter for the following weekend and completed the main framework and started the thatching with leaf litter all the time Brendan was helping in the way kids do!!!. We then stopped for a light lunch of beans and sausages that hit the spot perfectly on such a cold day!!!..

as the day progressed the light began to fail us and we headed back to the car for the journey home and stopped to take a final photo of all three of us standing by the lane leading to the woods....

A brilliant time was had by all winter is a brilliant time to be in the woods as the cold short days make decisions simple Warmth, Food, and Shelter.. anything else is a bonus!!!!

knives used in bushcraft ????

Bushcraft knives and their choice .....

Choosing a bushcraft knife is a personal and often costly experience but with a little honest guidance you can get a tool that will give you years of service and enjoyment.

like all little boys i had a penknife (my mum hated that) a small folding type knife but for serious bushcraft a full tang fixed blade knife is a must. Having been a victim of poor knife choice in the past i have come to hate buying a new one but i am constantly upgrading to the point that i now have designed and had hand-made by a professional knife maker my own knife as in the picture above (the small one with antler handle) so i get the knife that i want.

but to start off in bushcraft you wont want to spend lots of money on a knife so a good start would be a Frosts Mora at around £8 its a good knife that far out performs more expensive mass produced knifes. If you are serious about your bushcraft i would opt for a hand made tool-steel blade with a flat scandi grind and avoid at all costs survival knives with hollow handles and if at all get a full tang knife if you cant decide on what knife to buy do not ask the person selling the knife ask a person who uses a knife....

if you have any questions just drop me an e-mail and i will try my best to help you out !!!

Its been a long time

Figure four dead fall trap.

I have not been around for a while and i must apologize as i have been moving into my new home, anyway back to the bushcraft.

The figure four dead-fall trap.

I have been making traps for as long as i can remember i have had loads of fun making them but one that always draws a crowd and attracts the attention of the group I'm with is the figure four dead-fall it is a brilliant trap to make relying on reasonable carving and a willingness "to get it if it drives you mad !!!" this trap falls into one of the following four styles Mangle, Strangle, Dangle and Tangle. using these words you can guess that this trap falls into the mangle section as it is a trap the kills by crushing. The trap should be placed in a spot where your intended quarry has been feeding and baited with a food item or item of interest such as some offal for carnivore's or fruits for herbivore's it is possible to catch birds with this trap also.

To make this trap you need three strong sticks i have used live hazel here but any strong sticks will do the vertical stick is to be stuck into the ground and carved with a square section in it and the horizontal stick must have a notch with square sides carves into it these join up to create the lock of this traps trigger mechanism the diagonal stick needs to be strong as this takes most of the weight and carved carefully to allow the weight of your weight n this case an old log to be suspended and the end of the horizontal stick ts the trigger knock this and crunch the log falls this trap will take some practice and patience to get right but once you have success it is like riding a bike you never forget and only get better.

I recommend attempting a small version of this trap first as it can cause injury with falling logs ever present.

Never leave your traps unattended and this trap is, in the UK also illegal...

trapping for food is not to be taken lightly and is a serious pastime please use common sense and don't trap anything you do not need and are not going to eat... trap for the plate only!!!!!!!

Burdock.

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Burdock (artincum minus)

Burdock is a brilliant plant to learn as it has lots of edible parts.

Widespread and common throughout Britain,at the edges of woodland, roadsides and waste ground. A stiff bushy plant up to 4ft high,conspicuous early in the year for its floppy heart shaped leaves (often mistaken for rhubarb). Flowers July to September.

The parts to pick are the young leaf stems which sprout around May (after September they are too tough and stringy) cut the stems into 5cm lengths and the hard outer stripped off, this moist veg can be used raw in salads or boiled and served like asparagus (tastes a little like new potatoes)

Burdock roots are used extensively in Japanese cooking. about the size of a good parsnip and really hard to dig up (don't pull on the root it will snap) can be boiled or fried or added to stews and meats as a good source of starch.

(you must get permission from the land owner before digging up any wild plant by the root)

(NEVER PICK ANY WILD PLANT YOU CANNOT 100% ID)

see you out there...

Paul...

Silver birch

Silver birch, (Betula pendula)

Silver birch has to be my most favorite tree it has so many uses besides having the best looking bark!!
I will do the science bit first, then get on to the best bits.

With a wide distribution throughout Europe and Asia minor, Silver birch is recognizable by its distinctive bark. It grows to an average of 30 meters.

The best bits, birch bark is a really useful material one of my favorite uses for it is fire lighting, by peeling its naturally shedding bark as above in the picture (top left)and not peeling more than the tree is naturally giving shredding into thin strips or scraping the bark to a fine mass of fibers and dropping a spark from your ferro rod into it. The bark burns very hot because of the oil content content of the bark which preserves the bark after the tree has died off and the timber has rotted.

Another amazing use for birch bark harvested from dead trees only !!!! is to make containers or matchboxes i glued these containers and gave the matchbox away to a very good friend and fellow bushcrafter as a little quirky gift, the containers are used for collecting wild foods.and are simple and very decorative and make great little gifts to your friends.

When you want to collect birch bark please do not peel the bark any deeper that the tree is naturally giving up as this damages the tree and could cause it to die as a result.

See you out there

Paul

( i will not be showing the tapping of birch as i have come across to many permanently damaged trees by poor tapping techniques)

my favorite wild nibble

My most favorite wild green nibble.

Wood-sorrel,

(oxalis acetosella)

my most favorite of wild greens has to be wood sorrel,

it is widespread and common in British woodland and other shady places. a small creeping plant 5-15cm high,leaves are lime green when young. Flowers April to May, five white petals on a delicate stem.

Wood-sorrel is a plant primarily of ancient deciduous woodland, but it can tolerate the shade and acid soils of evergreen plantations better than many other species. The leaves of wood-sorrel have a sharp, fruity taste much like green apple peel. They were used as a salad ingredient as early as the fourteenth century.

i love this little plant as a salad or just grazing as i walk by its a real burst of flavour.(Never pick any wild food you cannot 100% identify)

See you out there Paul......

My first two bows

First and second attempts at bow making with green wood !!!

After watching many videos on You tube, i watched several really informative videos by a guy called Malc (johnjayrambo11111) and really learned from them (cheers mate) :) and i knew that i had to try and make a bow using Hazel i used green wood to start just so i could get shaping the wood and finding out how the mechanics of bow making works. Choosing the stave was really easy as the woodland i use is surrounded by Hazel coppice's (a real bonus!!) but i have yet to learn what makes a good stave from a bad stave.

I started by looking for a bow stave about the right size for a long bow and started to carve the rough shape with my axe this wasn't as easy as i thought and after i finished both ends i realised that the bow was quite twisted bit not too much but this was ok i tested the bow with a simple hazel arrow fleched with wood pigeon feathers the arrow flew about 50 yards WOW i was really chuffed but after further inspection i had taken more wood off a small part of one of the limbs causing an uneven bend......(this first bow had a draw weight of 36 pounds at 24")

Second try......

I wanted to try and make a flat bow (not sure what the correct name for this type of bow is) with a much thicker stave again carved a rough shape of the bow and carved the finer parts with my knife and started to string up to see if there were any stiff or bendy part i had learnt from my first go and left this bow much thicker and it was too stiff to even pull but after much careful carving i had achieved a reasonable draw weight of 67 pounds at 24" (i checked when i got home) this bow shot the same arrow 60 to 70 yards....

I finished this bow at home with a rasp and sandpaper and a light coat of linseed oil.

i really enjoyed making these two bows and will continue to make more and more differing each one until i run out of ideas.

(in piccys the bow on the left is the second and first on the right)

cheers Malc for the videos !!!!

see you out there Paul.......

Hand drill fire by friction

Hand drill, the hardest fire by friction i have ever tried..

Hand drill is in my opinion the hardest way to light fire by friction but i had to try as i could not comment on its use and application as a method to light fire, its very hard.. Start the same way except on a smaller scale as bow drill the only parts you need is a long pencil thickness drill about 40 cm long and a board 10cm thick made from any of the prime friction fire lighting woods. Drilling the board in is as hard as getting a coal. i only tried to get a coal as its the same to blow any coal to a flame!!! i will let you know that it is very hard on your hands and i would not use this method in the field and would plump for bow drill. If you fancy a go at this give it some time as it is not a method that is easy to get the hand of but do not give up keep it up and hey presto you will succeed....

give it a go !!!!!!!!

see you out there Paul.........

i was chuffed to bits when i got a coal as you can see in the above photos

Birch bark containers& another willowbark basket

Birch bark containers and another willow bark basket

I have been trying to make several useful items this week using what i can find in and about the woodland i use i started by making a match box out of Birch bark as seen in many bushcraft books and the container i double walled the larger container so i can put soft fruit in it and not get too sloppy. they are simple to make just roll into a size you require and use a tab and groove method and plenty of glue and leave to dry i stitched the Base and the lip of the container for added strength using split spruce roots simple just give it a try but practice first on some cardboard as birch bark is a valuable material..... the willow basket is made just the same as my earlier ones .......

give them a try

see you out there Paul....

Another try at glass knapping

Knapping more glass arrow heads.

I looked at the arrow heads i made earlier in the week and decided i could do better, i looked on several primitive skills web-sites and used the designs to come up with better arrow heads and started to be bolder with my work. The piccy on the right shows my latest work. This is just an up-date on glass knapping and if you have any ideas and want me to try them out for you give me an e-mail and i will gladly try....

See you out there

Paul

Knapping arrow heads from glass

Making glass fly.

Making arrow heads from glass is an easy alternative to flint and is a good use of broken bottles left by irresponsible people. Glass is much easier to knap than flint but BE CAREFUL!!! glass and flint are extremely sharp.

The best part of bottles to make arrow heads is the base its a tad thicker and has a uniform shape so its easier to plan your work, or another good source of material is broken window glass as its flat and much easier to knap than bottle glass!!!

The technique for making arrow heads from glass is exactly the same as with flint, start with a shard of glass about the size of the arrow head you want and begin by flaking the edges so you can drive larger flakes off to shape into the rough shape required then carefully pressure flake the final shape and sharpen to a nice piercing point.

This is my first attempt at knapping glass and i must say it,s very easy compared to flint and it,s a great way to learn as glass knaps in the same way as flint. It is a good way to learn the nature of flint and is good practice to make arrow heads and spear tips but these glass points are not as resilient as flint but are a good survival tip and good to look at too!!

Any questions or demonstrations with knapping let me know and i will show you how too!!

See you out there!!!

Paul

A few wild edibles

Wild edibles just a nibble.

I thought i would share some wild edibles i have found in the woods near where i live and tell you about them i have chosen some of the easiest British greens to identify first and will add more and more as i am going to make this a regular blog .

(NEVER PICK ANY WILD PLANTS YOU CANNOT %100 IDENTIFY)

I will start with the picture on the top which is the commonest dock called the broad-leaved dock (Rumex obtusifolius) a widespread dock, happy to be found in shingle beaches to suburban field edges and has leaves that can be in excess of 30cm long but get incredibly bitter but it has been used as a vegetable in the US.the leaves are best gathered when they are young and cooked with bacon and onions.

The next plant (center) is called Goose grass (Galium aparine) a children's favorite which clings to clothing and any rough surface that touches it. Found in wooded areas often with dock and nettles as neighbours it is best boiled like spinach before the hard round seeds appear it make an edible but not fantastic tasting green but is good to know as it can be picked through snow and frost when few other greens are to be found.

Last but by no means least is the Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) bottom picture, is abundant in almost every sort of environment and flowers June to September, a coarse upright plant,growing to four feet high and covered with stinging hairs (ouch!!). the leaves are toothed and heart shaped.

The formic acid found in the stings is destroyed by cooking, and should not be picked after late June a the leaves become coarse and unpleasantly bitter and are a strong laxative. Nettles are best gathered when they are young and no bigger than a few inches or the very young leaves of older plants (is is wise to use gloves when picking as the treat it mean rule doesn't always work). Cooking nettles is easy, as you need no more water than clings to the leaves after washing. And are boiled for 15 mins straining after cooking and the addition of a knob of butter and plenty of seasoning and simmer for a couple of mins more mashing the greens while simmering, the result is a fluffy puree rather insipid to taste but in my opinion is better used as an addition to other dishes rather than a vegetable in it own right.

See you out there, Paul

One for the pot.....

Cooking pots are a very personal part of your kit and also one of the most important as it is very hard to replicate in the field.

As you can see i have a large selection of pots, pans and kettles all i have used for some time or another but now i have a choice i tend to use specific pots for special purposes like light weight and large camps to simple one pot trips. my personal favorite cooking pot is the 10cm zebra billy made from stainless steel as this is just big enough for one person meals and all my simple cooking needs.

I tend to use kettles lots as i like to keep hot drinks flowing especially in winter and i can cook and make a hot drink at the same time and it is good to offer a hot brew to my fellow bushcrafters as they return from a days foraging.

I'm going to keep this blog short as there is nothing as boring as a kit bore so if you have any questions regarding cooking pot choice e-mail me and i,l be glad to help you out........

See you out there

Paul

Baskets made from Willow

Making simple baskets is a really good thing to do on a quiet summers afternoon i went to a wood / scrub area near where i live and collected some pencil thick willow shoots and some willow bark as my materials to make this my first all willow basket. you start by taking 8 of the shoots and make a cross 4 on each then lash them together by looping the bark around the sticks and continuing until you have the size you want for the circumference. you then take a strip of the bark and twist both ends of the bark around each stick continuing to twist an ad more bark as needed until you have made a basket of any size you want. finish off by wrapping a strip of bark around to tighten up and trim off the sticks to look neat and that's it SIMPLE ........

As you can see by my piccys that its easy the hardest part is collecting the raw materials.

let me know if you have any success....

See you out there Paul

A few tips

I'm just going to give you a few tips today simple ideas and tricks to help you along in bushcraft.

as we all know carrying a small selection of "bits & bobs" is a good idea but what are those bits & bobs?? Well i,ll let you know what i carry every time I'm in the woods for longer than a couple of hours.

Firstly i ALWAYS carry a small first aid kit.

A small good quality fixed blade knife.

A ferro rod (fire steel), a small amount of tinder card, for lighting my fires.

550 para cord.

Folding saw.

Compass, map of the area.

waterbottle, steel mug.

tinder pouch (for collecting tinders)

and a handful of mints in my pocket.

Natural tinders

The collection of natural tinders should be always on your mind and when you are out in the field take advantage of them as you pass by. I use a small waterproof pouch to collect my natural tinders and always take advantage of silver birch shedding its bark (in my opinion the best natural tinder) and rose bay willow herb seed pods as these are really good.

Take note!!

I always take notes of the areas i walk and scout out for potential useful wildings as you might need to improvise food, shelter, medicine and tools all of which you might need in the future and may want to use. but remember to use all wild foods and resources sparingly and NEVER use all of one resource give it a chance to spread and grow.

Take only what you need not what you want!!!

fishing hooks made in the field

Making fish hooks is an easy little project for practicing your carving and has practical application's too, just to clarify i have made the sharp points out of wood but you should use bone or needles or any other hard material for usable points...

To make you will need a good sharp knife(be careful) wood and cordage. (I've used split spruce roots)

Carve the shaft of the hook as per the central picture about the same thickness as the point, and check the angle of the hook and sharpen as sharp as possible (so it will pierce the fishes mouth) then bind on the point to the shaft starting at the end and working up the shank of the hook locking in place with a simple knot.

Remember she smaller the hooks the more chance you have of a catch(big hooks catch big fish small hooks catch small and big fish)

I have made several styles of hooks as you can see in the bottom picture and the only limit is your imagination and ability to find materials...

Spring has finally sprung

Spring is here and racing by as i type this blog is just a quickie about what I've been up to lately and a chance to tell my story of my journey through bushcraft.

Spring came in with a blast this year giving me chance to really feel the changing of the seasons the camp fire was not used for keeping warm but only for cooking so less wood to cut and split. Wild foods are at the best like burdock and cleavers with pig nuts showing up too i look forward to eating them later in the year when they are a little bigger and cat tails are good eating too!!! and an early sign of a bumper harvest of wild raspberries to top it off i cant wait........

I have been spending time on my own in the woods and must say it quite nice to here all the noises of the Forest and doing what i want and when i want to it doesn't make up for all the fun and games around the fire in the evenings though !!!

see you out there Paul

FLINT AND STEEL

Primitive flint and steel

This method of fire lighting is one of the easiest to master if you prepare properly beforehand in needs several elements to be successful.

As you can see in this picture of my flint and steel kit i have a steel (top) some char cloth (bottom left) and a piece of flint (bottom right) and you also need some very fine tinder to blow the ember to a flame.

you start by tacking a small amount of charcloth (about the size of a stamp) and place it on top of your flint then you strike the edge of the flint with your steel (as top right picture ) trying to scrape the finest of slivers of steel (hopefully) producing a spark to which you add this to you bundle of tinder and blow into a flame ( as top left picture)

the most important lesson

The Rule of Threes.





I will start off this blog by saying learn the rule of threes and you WILL know what priority comes first in a survival situation.

the rule of threes is as follws

you can live for 3 minuites without air.

1. you can live for 3 hours exposed to the cold or extream heat.


2. you can live for 3 days without water.


3. you can live for 3 weeks without food.

All in all some very simple rules to remember as always when outdoors and in the woods

SAFETY FIRST FUN ALWAYS!!!