Woodlife Trails

After a few days of downpour during the week, the weekend once again saw a bright sky with slight south westerly winds. The temperature was 6 degrees C . Again, just enough to make the fingers tingle if you weren’t moving about. I went to my normal woods with a couple of minor projects in mind. The first was to rig up the tarp again and think about whether it was big enough or not for hammocking needs.

During the recent bushmoot, I noticed that a lot of people had tarps about 3m x 3m. What I liked about them was that the tarp just reached the ground and still left quite a bit of head room, which was ideal for windy and rainy conditions. There seemed to be stacks of space for kit underneath the tarp. At the moment my tarp, which is a 2.5m x 1.70 Katmandhu is just long enough to cover the hammock, but the width wouldn’t really be suitable for really adverse weather conditions.

After rigging up the tarp and hammock, I weighed up the pros and cons of upgrading the tarp. What was in my mind was obviously more expense and the number of times I would use the tarp in adverse conditions. I had survived the summer downpours with no trouble. Even a 5-day expedition saw all of my kit under the tarp without getting drenched. I decided to defer the decision and prioritise the upgrade after looking at what else I needed in the new year. The project did get me wondering about drip rings, as I was sure that the wicking from the hammock rope had caused the dampness under my Thermarest and reindeer skin. I tried a couple of karabiners and they looked ok. In theory, this should work but of course I will only know for certain if I have some rain. But not today thanks!

The other mini project was to carry out the ongoing test with the Bark River PSK. I’m nearly ready to do a full review on this, which I’ll post in the New Year. I can say that I am getting quite fond of this little knife, and it now resides around my neck with the trusty Clipper.

I know some people who read this will baulk at this next item, enjoying traditionalist primitive methods. Conversely, there are some who like the more modern approach to bushcraft. I’ve often said that I probably fall into the latter camp with aspirations to become more traditionalist as skills improve but only up to where reasonable comfort allows. I purchased the Primus lighter in the photo on a whim not with actual fire starting in mind, but to light my trusty pipe. It turned out to be a bit more than just a pipe lighter when I thought of the possibilities of this item in emergencies (and of course when I was too lazy to light a fire or trangia stove with a firesteel.)

The blue flame burns at 1300C and is windproof. The butane fuel reservoir lasts for 30 minutes (plus) burn time and there’s a lock to keep the flame going without pressure from finger or thumb. It’s bit heavy perhaps, but at least you know it’s there. I’ve always used throwaway lighters, but this is a nice (non-essential) item is handy to have around.

A couple of interesting wildlife experiences this weekend. When plodding through the woods (not attempting to be particularly quiet) I flushed out what I thought was a pheasant, until I saw the flight pattern which continued low and winding through the trees. I’m still not 100% sure (as I’m sure I saw a curved beak) but it was most probably a woodcock. These birds have migrated (literally) from wading areas to the woods and make homes in brush and leaf litter. The other sighting was a silent, but slow and low fly-by of a sparrow hawk. I stood amazed as it approached from behind me at head height (I was standing) and glided effortlessly between a couple of trees at no more than three arms lengths away. A couple of wing flaps and suddenly it had accelerated to the top of a tree 50 yards away. I didn’t have time to get the binos out before it left the tree and headed out of the woods to the east.