You old salts are going to scoff at this, I know, but some of us have to take that step one day. This was mine and a first in a long long time. Must be over 10 years since I went camping. (Sleeping rough doesn't count though.)
Friday afternoon. Got the rucksack all packed up as well as two gasmask cases with some assorted tools, camera and water. Loaded up the bicycle (Yes I own one of those, as well as a Kawasaki 600) and was out the door by 5pm. Cycled to some woods very locally. Actually only a ¼ mile away at the most. It's a nice spot that I scouted out earlier in the month.
Arrived having waded through waist high stinging nettles. (Mental note to self: wear long-sleeved shirt on the way out!) Parked bike against tree and looked for dock leafs. Gave up trying as they all look alike there.
Set up tarp, actually it's a camoulflaged poncho I traded with Tengu for a drawknife. (Thanks Hon'!) Very nice it is too. Unpacked the brand new netting hammock I got from ebay (£8.50) with a breaking strain of 200kgs, my paltry 89kgs should be fine in it. Got that all rigged and ready and tested it with the sleeping bag on it. No such luck, it just wouldn't stay open and flat, kept forming into a rope. Found a seasoned fallen branch and cut two poles 18inches long and cut a V notch in each end using my folding saw. Wedged it between the end ropes to force the strings into a net and not a rope. Worked a treat. Laid out the sleeping bag and used the handy toggles to loop it into the netting to hold it in place.
Everything hunky dory.
7.30pm Fired up the hobo stove on it's maiden voyage and it worked a treat. Tested how long it took to boil water and it was just over 6mins, once the smoke and flames died down a bit of course. Dinner methinks. Dug out the tin of Baxters Spicy Parsnip soup. Had in on a shelf in the basement for-evah and though it's quite hot here I had to have a reason to warm something on the stove, I don't drink tea, coffee was asking for it since I was planning on sleeping in a hammock for the first time and the hot chocolate was still in the cupboard at home. D'oh! :togo:
All was going well, the nifty little handle to lift off and on the pots worked fine, then I lifted off the tin of soup and in a moments lack of concentration let the grip relax a bit and I dropped the lot on the ground.
I had a banana instead between curses.
Damped out the smoldering coals, cleaned up the set as best I could and wondered what to do now? No room for my drawing pad so no Bushcraft Betty tonight and I doubted I could be bothered to read another chapter of his Lordship Mears' Complete Outdoor Handbook. Not exactly gripping litrature. So I adjourned to the boudoir and retired at 9.30pm. :yikes:
Sat gingerly in the hammock lifted one foot up and slipped off one paraboot, somehow did the same with the other foot without upsetting the who shabang, got my feet inside the sleeping bag pulled up the zip ... and broke it. The zip opened up behind the toggle part. B*****ks!
Wrapped myself up, put on my peaked cap with the fly net over the top so that the peak kept it from touching my face (cunning eh?) and snuggled down for the night.
Someone forgot to tell the insects, birds, lions, tigers and bears it was now officially bed time.
Laid there trying not to move and let sleep overcome me, but my brain was having none of it. Just when I was about to give up, I woke up around 1.30am to find someone had forgot to turn off the moon. I could see it above the mound of my feet. Dug out the new torch and played with that for a bit expecting the light to reflect dozens of hungry beady eyes reflecting back at me in the darkness. Not a sausage. I discovered now that my bum was a bit cold too. Groped in the darkness for my sitting pad (Gardener's kneeling pad) and slipped that under myself and soon I was warm as toast again.
Sometime in the night my stomach rumbled and I cursed again my stupidity for dropping the soup.
Woke again at silly o'clock when I heard, and especially felt, one of the strings holding my hammock together snap. Maybe skipping dinner hadn't been such a bad idea after all. The ground got just a bit closer and my right shoulder dropped 2 inches too. Should be fun the rest of the night teetering on the brink.
7.20am I woke listing badly to starboard but still in the hammock. Exhaled and saw condensed breath (bit like steam) Twas a tad parky out there... what am I saying? I AM out there! No tent. Naked to the elements. Suddenly I felt very different, like I'd turned a corner somehow, from reading about it to actually doing it.
Somehow I'd survived my first Bushcraft night. A few nights flaked out at biker rallys in a field without a tent and under a plastic sheet didn't really count. That was dossing not Bushcrafting.
Surprised myself by dropping off again till 8.20 then got up. Had the other banana for breakfast and really missed my Weetabrix and cornflakes slurry I normally have. Sat back on the hammock sideways and read several more chapters of Mr Mears' book and learnt how to make snow shoes and how to make fish hooks from thorns and baby dolphins.
So began my Saturday. I set myself a few tasks to do while in the wilderness. Making fire was first on the list.
Made a bow drill having disregarded Mr Mears advice about which wood was best as they all looked alike to my untrained eyes. But did pick dry wood for drill and bottom piece and green wood for the bow. I set to feverishly and soon got plenty of soot and embers and got them going into something that I knew would actually burn. I didn't have kindling etc to hand but that wasn't essential, it was the process to get the that stage I was aiming to crack.
Rewarded myself with a chocolate eclair toffee. Think how they reward trained seals and you won't be far off the mark. "Ark! Ark!"
Next I tried using sparks from a fire steel and got nowhere fast. Resorted to magnesium shavings and still no luck, sparks were going off in all directions but not right bloody there where I needed it. Lunchtime was looming and still I hadn't got my fire going and I promised myself I wouldn't eat, figuratively speaking, if I can't cook it I'd go hungry. Some perseverance and well a well aimed lucky spark firing soon got an ember that stayed alight long enough for me to blow on it and next the magnesium caught. Way hey! Lunchtime!
Ham bread roll, an apple and some water with a choclate toffee eclair for dessert. Yes I pushed the boat out. I could have even had it candlelit if I'd chosen to.
Did a few other things I wanted to do like learn a couple of new knots, made some wooden toggles for my ex-army sleeping bag, sharpened up my whittling knife and stropped it. Checked all the rest of my kit and figured the night and day had been a success. I was well pleased with myself. Smug even.
Packed up the bicycle with all the gear. Went back through the stinging nettles forgetting to wear a long-sleeved shirt but avoided getting stung. Was about to step out of the wood onto the road and saw a 2 foot long grass snake basking in a patch of sunshine. Never seen a snake before in the wild, at least not a live one. :yikes:
Boy, was I glad I slept in a hammock last night.
Conclusion and lessons learnt:
Take less gear unless I plan on using all of it. I didn't even get to try out my take down bow saw. The small entrenching tool stayed strapped to the bikes carrier. The other water bottle I took didn't even get used. The other poncho stayed wrapped up as well as the bivvy bag I had in case I had to resort to ground dwelling if the hammock proved too uncomfortable.
I liked the hammock but missed sleeping on my side and the feet up sitting position could be a little flatter for my liking. Can horizontal sleeping positions be achieved in a hammock? I hope so.
Going solo is OK, but lonely. I'm the type of person who works better in a team, even with just another person there I'd have probably got a lot more achieved I'm sure had we pushed each other into trying different things. Bushcraft Betty where were you when I needed you?
So I survived my 22 hours in the big bad wilderness. Came home at 2pm with only 2 mozzy bites. One on my right forearm when got hot using the bowdrill and another on my left big toe when I got hot in the night and put my foot and an armoured piercing mozzy got me through my sock. Git.
I had fun and lived to tell the tale.
Thanks for reading.
Biker
Friday afternoon. Got the rucksack all packed up as well as two gasmask cases with some assorted tools, camera and water. Loaded up the bicycle (Yes I own one of those, as well as a Kawasaki 600) and was out the door by 5pm. Cycled to some woods very locally. Actually only a ¼ mile away at the most. It's a nice spot that I scouted out earlier in the month.
Arrived having waded through waist high stinging nettles. (Mental note to self: wear long-sleeved shirt on the way out!) Parked bike against tree and looked for dock leafs. Gave up trying as they all look alike there.
Set up tarp, actually it's a camoulflaged poncho I traded with Tengu for a drawknife. (Thanks Hon'!) Very nice it is too. Unpacked the brand new netting hammock I got from ebay (£8.50) with a breaking strain of 200kgs, my paltry 89kgs should be fine in it. Got that all rigged and ready and tested it with the sleeping bag on it. No such luck, it just wouldn't stay open and flat, kept forming into a rope. Found a seasoned fallen branch and cut two poles 18inches long and cut a V notch in each end using my folding saw. Wedged it between the end ropes to force the strings into a net and not a rope. Worked a treat. Laid out the sleeping bag and used the handy toggles to loop it into the netting to hold it in place.
Everything hunky dory.
7.30pm Fired up the hobo stove on it's maiden voyage and it worked a treat. Tested how long it took to boil water and it was just over 6mins, once the smoke and flames died down a bit of course. Dinner methinks. Dug out the tin of Baxters Spicy Parsnip soup. Had in on a shelf in the basement for-evah and though it's quite hot here I had to have a reason to warm something on the stove, I don't drink tea, coffee was asking for it since I was planning on sleeping in a hammock for the first time and the hot chocolate was still in the cupboard at home. D'oh! :togo:
All was going well, the nifty little handle to lift off and on the pots worked fine, then I lifted off the tin of soup and in a moments lack of concentration let the grip relax a bit and I dropped the lot on the ground.
I had a banana instead between curses.
Damped out the smoldering coals, cleaned up the set as best I could and wondered what to do now? No room for my drawing pad so no Bushcraft Betty tonight and I doubted I could be bothered to read another chapter of his Lordship Mears' Complete Outdoor Handbook. Not exactly gripping litrature. So I adjourned to the boudoir and retired at 9.30pm. :yikes:
Sat gingerly in the hammock lifted one foot up and slipped off one paraboot, somehow did the same with the other foot without upsetting the who shabang, got my feet inside the sleeping bag pulled up the zip ... and broke it. The zip opened up behind the toggle part. B*****ks!
Wrapped myself up, put on my peaked cap with the fly net over the top so that the peak kept it from touching my face (cunning eh?) and snuggled down for the night.
Someone forgot to tell the insects, birds, lions, tigers and bears it was now officially bed time.
Laid there trying not to move and let sleep overcome me, but my brain was having none of it. Just when I was about to give up, I woke up around 1.30am to find someone had forgot to turn off the moon. I could see it above the mound of my feet. Dug out the new torch and played with that for a bit expecting the light to reflect dozens of hungry beady eyes reflecting back at me in the darkness. Not a sausage. I discovered now that my bum was a bit cold too. Groped in the darkness for my sitting pad (Gardener's kneeling pad) and slipped that under myself and soon I was warm as toast again.
Sometime in the night my stomach rumbled and I cursed again my stupidity for dropping the soup.
Woke again at silly o'clock when I heard, and especially felt, one of the strings holding my hammock together snap. Maybe skipping dinner hadn't been such a bad idea after all. The ground got just a bit closer and my right shoulder dropped 2 inches too. Should be fun the rest of the night teetering on the brink.
7.20am I woke listing badly to starboard but still in the hammock. Exhaled and saw condensed breath (bit like steam) Twas a tad parky out there... what am I saying? I AM out there! No tent. Naked to the elements. Suddenly I felt very different, like I'd turned a corner somehow, from reading about it to actually doing it.
Somehow I'd survived my first Bushcraft night. A few nights flaked out at biker rallys in a field without a tent and under a plastic sheet didn't really count. That was dossing not Bushcrafting.
Surprised myself by dropping off again till 8.20 then got up. Had the other banana for breakfast and really missed my Weetabrix and cornflakes slurry I normally have. Sat back on the hammock sideways and read several more chapters of Mr Mears' book and learnt how to make snow shoes and how to make fish hooks from thorns and baby dolphins.
So began my Saturday. I set myself a few tasks to do while in the wilderness. Making fire was first on the list.
Made a bow drill having disregarded Mr Mears advice about which wood was best as they all looked alike to my untrained eyes. But did pick dry wood for drill and bottom piece and green wood for the bow. I set to feverishly and soon got plenty of soot and embers and got them going into something that I knew would actually burn. I didn't have kindling etc to hand but that wasn't essential, it was the process to get the that stage I was aiming to crack.
Rewarded myself with a chocolate eclair toffee. Think how they reward trained seals and you won't be far off the mark. "Ark! Ark!"
Next I tried using sparks from a fire steel and got nowhere fast. Resorted to magnesium shavings and still no luck, sparks were going off in all directions but not right bloody there where I needed it. Lunchtime was looming and still I hadn't got my fire going and I promised myself I wouldn't eat, figuratively speaking, if I can't cook it I'd go hungry. Some perseverance and well a well aimed lucky spark firing soon got an ember that stayed alight long enough for me to blow on it and next the magnesium caught. Way hey! Lunchtime!
Ham bread roll, an apple and some water with a choclate toffee eclair for dessert. Yes I pushed the boat out. I could have even had it candlelit if I'd chosen to.
Did a few other things I wanted to do like learn a couple of new knots, made some wooden toggles for my ex-army sleeping bag, sharpened up my whittling knife and stropped it. Checked all the rest of my kit and figured the night and day had been a success. I was well pleased with myself. Smug even.
Packed up the bicycle with all the gear. Went back through the stinging nettles forgetting to wear a long-sleeved shirt but avoided getting stung. Was about to step out of the wood onto the road and saw a 2 foot long grass snake basking in a patch of sunshine. Never seen a snake before in the wild, at least not a live one. :yikes:
Boy, was I glad I slept in a hammock last night.
Conclusion and lessons learnt:
Take less gear unless I plan on using all of it. I didn't even get to try out my take down bow saw. The small entrenching tool stayed strapped to the bikes carrier. The other water bottle I took didn't even get used. The other poncho stayed wrapped up as well as the bivvy bag I had in case I had to resort to ground dwelling if the hammock proved too uncomfortable.
I liked the hammock but missed sleeping on my side and the feet up sitting position could be a little flatter for my liking. Can horizontal sleeping positions be achieved in a hammock? I hope so.
Going solo is OK, but lonely. I'm the type of person who works better in a team, even with just another person there I'd have probably got a lot more achieved I'm sure had we pushed each other into trying different things. Bushcraft Betty where were you when I needed you?
So I survived my 22 hours in the big bad wilderness. Came home at 2pm with only 2 mozzy bites. One on my right forearm when got hot using the bowdrill and another on my left big toe when I got hot in the night and put my foot and an armoured piercing mozzy got me through my sock. Git.
I had fun and lived to tell the tale.
Thanks for reading.
Biker
