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Skills :: Basic
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Unfortunately, sometimes, for some quite often, it is even more complicated. There is something called magnetic declination. You see, the compass is pointing towards the magnetic north pole, and the map is pointing toward s the geographic north pole, and that is not the same place.
It's when you use both compass and map the compass is really good, and you will be able to navigate safely and accurately in terrain you've never been before without following trails. But it'll take some training and experience, though.
There are several kinds of compasses, one kind to attach to the map, one kind to attach to your thumb. The thumb-compass is used mostly by orienteers who just want to run fast, and this is the kind of compass most used. But for novice compass users I would recommend the third kind of compass. Let's take a look at it:
So we position the hammock on the floor and then tie up one end. I like to use an evenk hitch (aka falconers knot) for the first end – a quick release knot that lets me slide the climbing tape up the tree.
I saw one of these used on a recent Woodlore course and have been waiting to try it myself - and thought I may as well record the results. Basically, the 'cigar' is a tube of birch bark packed with tinder which is used to turn an ember into a flame.
As a matter of ritual, I engage in hand drill and fireplow everyday. One aspect of each that has bothered me in the past is that these techniques have traditionally required the participant to bend over and stress one's back muscles, of which I have significantly damaged in the past.
Instead of the disk I subsituted a piece of wood off my wood pile, split into to 2 and strapped them together with cordage so that they locked firmly onto the lower part of the drill. I shaped them minimally so that they bit onto the drill shaft with little risk of slipping. (They did slip a little and next time I will also slightly shape the drill as well.)
Latest Articles
| Summer Bushmoot 2008 (02.06.2008) |
 BushMoot, the best event of the year - from 1st -5th August 2008 at Merthyr Mawr in South Wales. The Bushcraft UK Bushmoot was conceived to provide an organised family event where people with an interest in bushcraft could gather with like minded individuals and expand their knowledge through mutual skill sharing. It doesn’t matter whether you are new to the world of Bushcraft or an old hand, everyone is welcome and all we ask is that you freely share what you know with as many people as possible and we promise you will leave with new found knowledge and friends. |
| Fish Trap (01.04.2008) |
 I used Hazel wood. Choose the
thin long shoots of wood which i would think are a couple of years old.
If you don't catch anything at first don't worry. It may just be a case of
changing a few things.
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| Birch Tar - How to collect it (23.02.2008) |
 Most bushcrafters know that Birch bark is fantastic for fire lighting
because of all the oil concealed within it. This tutorial guides you
through the process of extracting that tar from the bark.
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| Wild Wine (Part 8) (28.11.2007) |
 Now we could bung a label on (which should always say they type of wine and when it was bottled). I suggest you cross-reference to a book of recipes and notes so that when you get a cracking wine you can recreate it. We are going to add a little something to the presentation of the wine by putting a foil cap over the neck. First we drop a foil cap (available for a couple of pence from a wine shop) over the bottle neck.
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| Wild Wine (Part 7) (26.11.2007) |
 Right, we now have clean, fined and filtered wine. We pour it into clean (yes and sterilised) bottles with a funnel. We need to cork it. Its possible to put corks in with a mallet. I use a corking gun and waxed corks that do not need to be soaked (plain corks do)
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| Wild Wine )Part 6) (23.11.2007) |
 Well, the finings have worked – the wine is beautifully clear.
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Most Popular Articles
| Paracord Bracelet Tutorial (23.04.2007) |
 As soon as I'd finished my Paracord Bracelet, I'd decided to write a tutorial on making one. A good thing considering the majority of the responses since I posted it were asking me how to do it! Here goes.. You will need approximately 3 metres of paracord with the ends already sealed/melted, and something to make a temporary knot - a twist tie or piece of string should suffice.
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| Tarps - Benefits and Basic Instructions (16.07.2007) |
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| Bannock (05.04.2007) |
There was a period in my life where I lived out of a pack for months at a time and this was one of my staples.
I like to coil it like a rope on a stick and bake it over hot coals...
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| How to Sharpen an Axe (09.07.2007) |
 I have been asked a number of times recently to provide some advice of guidance on the best way to sharpen an axe. Whilst I am always happy to provide input, I thought that it might be worthwhile to put together a tutorial on the basic techniques. The techniques used in here are intended to provide not only a sharp axe but also a safe and efficient axe.
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| Berry Picker (23.04.2007) |
 There are many different ways you can make a berry picker but this is just a design i came up with which uses a packet of kebab skiewers and some discs of wood.
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| Fire By Friction - Using a fire-kit made with stone tools (31.05.2007) |
 The whole kit took less than three hours to finally pull together — though that really overlooks by far the most time-consuming aspect, the preparation of materials. In fact, preparation has two components, actually. The first is the selection of materials. The second is the actual preparation.
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