Recent content by Ishmael

How about The Mad Trapper of Rat River, by Dick North? The true story of Canada's largest manhunt in the 1930s. The fugitive (the Mad Trapper) performed some absolutely astonishing feats of survival in the Canadian wilderness, yet to this day nobody knows who he was.

For washing up, I dig a small square hole in the ground. Line it with my poncho, then fill it up with water.

Try time and date.com

Very nice craftsmanship, Paul. I have made two tinder pouches. The first one is small enough to fit in a shirt pocket. I waterproofed it with Nikwax. I went out in the rain today and got pretty wet, hence the dark stain. It is only big enough to carry a fire steel, cotton wool and a...

Wish I could say that my grandfather gave it to me on his deathbed, but it's brand new, (Oswald Bailey, about a tenner).

Thanks for the offer, but I'm way down in Wessex. This sign, at the beginning of the trail, suggests that the problem is a long-term one hereabouts.

Yesterday, I went here... To do this... But found this... Kind of makes you want to cry, doesn't it?

Is it safe to drink water taken straight from a spring, or is it best to filter/boil it first?

How do tramps get on when they camp on roadside verges, or under bridges, or in barns and outhouses? Are they ever prosecuted for trespass? Are they above the law? Or are they beneath the law?

On backpacking trips I take two 1.5L poly-bottles. On my last trip, I stopped at a pub each day for lunch and a pint and asked the landlord to refill a bottle. At other times I have bought bottled water along the route. However, I am increasingly drawn towards attempting to avoid all human...

I nearly always go out alone. Only last Saturday I returned from a 3-day, 36 mile hike, camping in woods and cooking on a fire. On day trips though, and overnight canoe trips, I often take one of my sons with me.

I'm the same as everybody else and try to keep washing up to a minimum, eat out of the pot, boil up some water afterwards, and give a good rinse. Sometimes, if there is a lot of washing up or the pots are very dirty, I'll dig a small hole in the ground, lay my waterproof poncho in it to make a...

Fortunately, the cut was completely healed after a couple of weeks. It was my own stupid fault. I was holding the log in my left hand and the axe in my right. The axe head was resting against the top of the log as I raised them and brought them down together onto the chopping block. Like an...

A couple of years ago I bought an axe. I have it on my desk now as I write. I can still see the blood stains on the leather pouch. How I admired that axe. It possessed a strange primitive beauty – the curve of the handle; the rugged casting of the head; the menacing sharpness of the cutting...

I don't bother with stones usually. I just do this.