What a week!
excursions No Comments »I had a terrible week last week. Work was too busy and family issues interfered with bushcraft arrangements. I had too many drinks on my birthday and took two days to recover! Luckily all was sorted out by the end of the week but at the expense of me forgetting to put in my field shoot registration. To top it all, the weekend brought very high winds and torrential rain. Even so, I had to escape to the woods and find a bit of solace, nearly drowning in the process. It was actually a kind of cleansing process. Through a break in the rain, I managed to fire off a couple of arrows at a makeshift target to make up for not going to the shoot. I gradually relaxed and started to enjoy life again.
My original plan was to try out a number of options for winter sleeping arrangements. The best bit of news to balance out a miserable week was BCUK’s announcement of a Christmas Bushmoot, and I wanted to try out a newly purchased fleece sleeping bag liner. I also wanted decide what method I would use for sleeping out at the two day event. It would either be tarp and hammock, bivviing or taking the tent. I was actually surprised how many people took tents at the August meet, so this wouldn’t be out of place. I want to try out the tent in winter in any case, so this is a viable option. My preferred option is tarp and hammock, but it’s not the best wet or cold weather solution. I’ll think I’ll take all the kit with me (the tent will be the only extra item really) and decide when I get to the site.
The worst part about sleeping in a hammock is getting into your sleeping bag (or at least trying to get in your sleeping bag). Not an easy manoeuvre in summer, but when there’s an additional fleece liner and possibly a bivvi bag to climb into as well, the exercise is three times as difficult. Hence the intention of trying to work this out today. I normally climb into the sleeping bag and pull it up around me while standing up with my back to the hammock, then gently falling back into the hammock. Much wriggling ensues thereafter, trying to get everything comfortable.
I really didn’t have the inclination to get everything wet and muddy for the sake of practicing this today, so I just plodded around the woods. I came back soaked to the skin with nothing really accomplished.
“I managed to shoot a mammoth though,” I said to my wife, thinking about the only accurate shot on my makeshift, dead wood target. She put a huge roast dinner on the table and said, “Yep, and I just cooked it.” You can’t beat moments like that.














