Bushcraft Club Ireland

[Andy B]

sounds good lads will see i am free

[jonnno]

Bit far for me at the moment unfortunately. Hope you all have a top time!

[deepforest2501]

can you lads keep me informed of any gatherings, Im working in County Down. At a communion this wekend but very interested in joining ye if thats ok?

[preacherman]

can you lads keep me informed of any gatherings, Im working in County Down. At a communion this wekend but very interested in joining ye if thats ok?

Hi deepforest2501, if you check out the club website you can sign up. Once you have signed up you will be on the mailing list and will be contacted about all events. The club is only beginning really but has already met a good few times since last summer.

This is the website http://www.irishbushcraftclub.org/

[Crapbag]

Well we had another great weekend in Cavan. The more I use the area the more I love it. The weather had threatened how much we'd get done but luckily it only rained on the Saturday morning. Still we would be able to do a good bit even with the rain. First task was to get the steak and start to jerky it over the fire. It took most of the day for them to dry but they were great. Smoked and salted, they were much tastier than any I had done in the oven



I brought down some bannock mix. Although a bit doughy to touch, they turned out very tasty.



I wanted to experiment with purifying water. So we gathered some of the most stagnant filthy water we could find. I used a sock, some moss, charcoal, stones and grass to make a filter.



It worked quite well, to make it perfect, just use 2 sock filters. The water came out alot better than it went in, almost completely clear with only small bits of charcoal showing, which would be ok to boil id say. Tony got working on making a primitive bowl



Using embers from the fire, he got a perfectly shaped bowl. He then heated some stones up to boil the water. The granite worked very well, though the quick immersion in the water caused them to crack. Thankfully Granite doesnt seem to spit with it cracks. It didnt take too many stones to get it to a rolling boil



So with your socks and a fire, you can manage to purify even extremely dirty water :-)

Myself and Jim work on a Debris hut while Tony work on the bowl. I always like building these, although they are a bit of work. Here Jim tries it out for size



We touched on other such useful areas like; Bluebell glue, more foraging, water collection from a tarp, fire management, cordage and an Elder straw. Unfortunately the camera ran out early, so not everything was documented. Although a quite relaxed weekend, we got alot done and the weather turned out to be great

[redneck]

What a cracking day out, looks like you guys had a ball, thanks very much for sharing.

[deepforest2501]

Hi deepforest2501, if you check out the club website you can sign up. Once you have signed up you will be on the mailing list and will be contacted about all events. The club is only beginning really but has already met a good few times since last summer.

This is the website http://www.irishbushcraftclub.org/

Cheers, I just sent them an email requesting they add me to their mailing list. Heres hoping to meet you soon. Thanks for the advice. Alan

[jonnno]

This looks like a great day. Especially the jerky. I've never tried it but it looks yummy!

[Mouldsy]

Looks like a great time was had by all, thanks for sharing guy's
Davy

[Lore]

Great weekend. Time just seemed to go so fast. Before I knew it , it was about five o clock on Sunday and time to go home. I see that the members of the NIBA were making a shelter probably the same time as we were making ours. It just goes to show that great bushcrafters think alike. The food was great and the conversation around the campfire on Sat night was a right laugh, thanks lads. I used my group buy hammock and found it very comfy. ( Not my first hammock or my first night sleeping in one just my first night in the Nomads Land one) Gets a thumbs up from me. Keep up the good work both North and South. Or should that be South and North.
Tony

[combatblade1]

North and south is finr Lore, LOL! You all look like you had a good time, keep up the good work 2009 really is the time for the Irish bushcrafters to take the lead and show what we can do!

[jonnno]

Maybe someone should organise some sort of super meet - North and South together somewhere close to the border.

[Crapbag]

I agree. I would love to meet up with you guys, I know there is a wealth of experience with you guys up North and we should definitely meet up.

The area we practice is perfect to meet up but because the land is private, there is a restriction on the numbers we can take out. So maybe Anthonios place would be an idea as he invites people to camp wildly on his land for a minimum fee? We would need to clear this with him first though of course

[Celt_Ginger]

Nobody has heard from him in ages though.

[Crapbag]

Another weekend at the IPNA and another weekend among some great people. We again had the pleasure of visiting the fast growing IPNA in Cahersiveen Co. Kerry. It has come along way since we first helped place the tarp over the classroom. Now complete with school house/kitchen, paths and facilities. It is good to see the guys/gals getting on so well.

I had the pleasure of meeting the first students on the residence program. Although I was disappointed not to be joining them, I am delighted to see them getting on so well.


Máires first ember spoon


Pontus one of the Res. students shared his passion for plants


Some of us managed to get our hands on fresh flint for our fire kits. Then I left it behind :-/


One of Aebhrics favorite lessons is the emergency fire. I wont ruin the lesson content. All Ill say is, if you do any of the bushcraft courses, you'll light plenty of these.

My Sincere thanks to Aebhric and Anna again for another fantastic gathering. My thanks also to Greg and Cat, with the Res students Ciara, Pontus and Bee. Their patience and time is greatly appreciated.

[Lore]

Great to see pictures of the weekend. Lost flint again Donal. I would also like to thank Aebhric and Anna for organising the Solstice gathering.Thanks for the support of the Residental Students, Ciara, Pontus and Bee and the time given from the two guest instructors Cat and Greg. ( I know this has been said above but it has to be said again) Alot of people arrived on Friday evening it gave everyone a chance to get to know each other around the fire. People sat and carved and chatted. Saturday morning there was a tour of the site with a very impressive debris group shelter ( big enough for four or five to sleep.) The rest of the day we were kept busy with plant walks , I learnt some new plants there. We were then shown how to make a fire bow drill set. I have done this before and thought no problem. I made all the pieces but when it came to using it I had alot of trouble getting an ember , I could get the black power and smoke but I just could'nt get it to burn. A quick cup of tea and with alot of effort I managed it. Lesson learned things don't always go as want them to. Saturday night we had a sing song around the fire and then time to tell tall tales. More activities on Sunday including some tracking and awareness exercises.
Very good weekend thanks to all at www.ipna.ie
Tony.

[Crapbag]

We are hoping to have an outing on the 11th/12th of this month for those interested. It will probably be in Mount Nugent, Co. Cavan

[Crapbag]

Well another great weekend in Co. Cavan and despite the weather we had a great time. Our thoughts were with those at Oxygen as we sat under Tonys tarp (thanks again Tony!) and drank tea and practiced some skills. We got a bit done and my wish for the weekend was to experiment with some tanning. I had some rabbit hides from a previous hunting trip that I wanted to play with. I hadnt done it before so it was all just a bit of playing around and seeing how I got on

Here are some of the pictures of the process. I tried a brain and egg mix and will smoke the hide when it dries. We'll see how it turns out.





Maire wanted to try make a salve for infections and bleeding, it turned out quite well with a lovely natural green colour. She was just needed one of us to cut ourselves to see if it worked. No volunteers obviously



We also had a go at firing some pots. I have done this in a ground over before but with the right clay and practice (minus one pot) they turned out fine.



Still for me the most impressive experiment was Kevins Scandinavian fire log. This one log with only a little fuel cook his breakfast dinner and boiled water for his coffee. Kevin did this with a very wet piece of timber, out of the cover of the tarp. Fair play and it worked so well even in the rain with only the canopy covering him.




We also managed to fit in another ground oven. This time a Chicken which was another sucess. Moist and delicious.



It was a great weekend and most made it out despite the forecast. I look forward to our next outing in August all going well.

[Crapbag]

Another weekend in Co. Cavan and the weather was much more cooperative. Although I was exhausted from work all week I had a great time. We experimented with lots of types of cordage. Kevin used brambles, the other Kevin and Flora gave the Willow a shot and I used a type of palm leaf that I think would be good enough for bow drilling with.





Maire made her first Willow basket which turned out very well





Myself and Tony also gave the hand drill a go. Given the difficulty of the hand drill in our climate, we teamed up. We got smoke, dust but were just short an ember



Kevin also brought down his Ash bow project which seemed to be coming along well



We also touched on bow drilling with wet, unseasoned material, making Rowan berry jelly (too early in them season for them) and also tested out our clay pots, identified different fungus and finished our debris hut.

All in all it was a great weekend. We did lots of exploring and had lots of experiments on the go. I cant wait for next month when a good deal of the berries, nuts and other edibles start to appear. Thanks to all those who came!

[Celt_Ginger]

Looks great Donal. Fingers crossed we'll be able to make the next one.

[Crapbag]

No worries Gary, you're welcome anytime mate

[Celt_Ginger]

We've been in touch with the park rangers at Castlewellan Forest and as both the NIBA and the Irish Bushcraft club are proper organisations, we can book a large group camp site at Castlewellan. the sites are well away from the main camping area and have plenty of space for tents, hammocks/tarps etc. It's only £2.50 per night/per person. We can also use our site at Carnfunnock though it needs a lot of work by ourselves at the moment before we could host a meet up there, but it's one for the future. Your site in Cavan looks great as well.


PS. tell Tony to wrap his beard around the spindle of that hand drill. All he has to do is keep nodding his head. You'll have fire in no time! lol

[Lore]

I can''t do that as thats where all the wood wasps Live. Its also a great place to keep my kit.
Tony

[Crapbag]

We've been in touch with the park rangers at Castlewellan Forest and as both the NIBA and the Irish Bushcraft club are proper organisations, we can book a large group camp site at Castlewellan. the sites are well away from the main camping area and have plenty of space for tents, hammocks/tarps etc. It's only £2.50 per night/per person. We can also use our site at Carnfunnock though it needs a lot of work by ourselves at the moment before we could host a meet up there, but it's one for the future. Your site in Cavan looks great as well.


PS. tell Tony to wrap his beard around the spindle of that hand drill. All he has to do is keep nodding his head. You'll have fire in no time! lol

Many thanks again Gary. I am really looking forward to this. It would be nice to visit Castlewellan again. Its where it all started for me.

Cheers
Donal

[Crapbag]

Well those who said bushcraft is all tea and bannock. This weekend was mainly concerned with building a winter shelter for the coming months. It was a good bit of work and took most of Saturday/Sunday to get this far. Thankfully the weather held off and all the heavy lifting and sawing is done. We will be filling the gaps as much as possible and making the door a little smaller. There is plenty of room for 4 people plus fire. We have debated on the size and are agreed that it is a bit big but we are going with it anway.



It will be quite cool when finished but there is still a good bit to go.

We also did some small food experiments including making dandelion more palatable and making some use of the elder berries. Robert also played with boiling an egg in an orange, interesting taste apparently



Robert also volunteered for sleeping in the debris hut



Apart from the bit of labour, it was a nice and relaxing weekend. It will be very interesting to sleep in the group shelter when the weather gets worse. We have decided on a rule for sleeping in it. Every time you sleep in it, you must do one piece of maintenance to keep the shelter in good order.

This is the badger sett I unwittingly slept beside when I set up in the dark on Friday. It was quite active



Luckily their reputation as fierce,ankle snapping, rabid lunatics seems quite unjustified. In fact I relocated the next evening and the sett was used that night with fresh tracks sitting at the entrance.

We will be back out next month so keep an eye on the site

[Celt_Ginger]

Looking good Donal. Can't wait until we can all get together again.

[Crapbag]

Another weekend up in Cavan and you can start to feel winter coming. The difference in temperature is obvious and the winter sleeping bag came in handy. We got some of the basics covered including making good old char cloth, made some bushcraft seats for by the fire and also made some progress on the shelter



I made a heat trap for to jerky some pork, it worked very well. The trap stood at the top of a tripod and was much more affective than leaving them over the open fire.



The jerky was very nice



I didnt get any photos of the seats but they were excellent, nice work lads! I didnt get any pictures of them because I forgot my camera.



A nice relaxing weekend. We also do a scout of the area and found that Lough Sheelin is a 5 minute drive away. Im hoping to get a canadian canoe and get some fishing going so we can get some fish for dinner next time. It also means that we can test out any fishing spears, lines or traps we make on the lake. So if anyone knows of someone getting rid of a canoe, drop me a line :-)

[loz.]

It also means that we can test out any fishing spears, lines or traps we make on the lake. :-)

And get arrested.

Trout season is only just finished at Sheelin, and the wardens will still be around. Fishing without a licence is a heavy fine, usegin spears/traps - will put you in lots of bother

The 59 statuet is a nightmare for the unlicenced.

I suggest stealth ! ;-)

[Crapbag]

And get arrested.

Trout season is only just finished at Sheelin, and the wardens will still be around. Fishing without a licence is a heavy fine, usegin spears/traps - will put you in lots of bother

The 59 statuet is a nightmare for the unlicenced.

I suggest stealth ! ;-)

We already have that sorted Loz ;-) but thanks for the warning. Besides its all just theory at the moment. So how come we havent seen you in Cavan yet?

[Crapbag]

I was asked by a mate of mine to run a bushcraft/survival course for Limerick County Venture scouts last weekend. As executive officer he wanted to re-introduce a good outdoor program for the county and asked me to put together a Bushcraft basics course to start it off. I was happy to oblige although I had never instructed these skills before. Andrew also volunteered to instruct on the course which was a great help. The course was based around making shelter, making fire, finding water and an introduction to food.



I have to say that the Ventures were a pleasure to teach. They were very receptive, well behaved and enthusiastic. They all had a good bit of camping experience already so we concentrate more on wilderness living skills



Our first topic was shelter. We went through the different types and shelter and built a medium term shelter. I explained the principles of the shelter and scouts had some experience already but never built a completely primitive one.



We then we covered shetler we went on to fire. The uses of fire, different configurations and methods of lighting it. We went from the modern lighter and matches to the not so modern fire steel and eventually the bow drill. Nature once again taught us a valuable lesson. The forest was so damp after 2 weeks of rain it was very difficult to light fire using basic materials.



From fire we moved to water and had a go trying to boil water in objects other than metal pots, such as plastic bottles. The idea being to try and think of a different way of solving a problem.



Lastly we discussed food. We made some basic traps and discussed cooking. They really enjoyed the ground oven although it almost didnt happen due to the unsuitability of the local rock type.



Altogether it was a very enjoyable weekend. We got alot covered and The ventures and leaders were a great group. We promoted the activity of bushcraft and the schools in this country and hopefully made some people think differently about their time in the forest