I started out by going into the woods to test out my new Trangia and practice some skills. I set up both the Swedish Army (SA) Trangia and the Trangia 27. They both performed well, but I couldn’t help thinking that despite the 27′s refined looks, the SA Trangia was still my favourite. I had bought additional accessories with the 27 like the small 0.6 litre kettle (which is great) a non-stick pan and hard plastic “multi disk”. This made the weight as heavy as the SA Trangia. I decided that I would use the 27 for longer expeditions or when I wanted to do fancy cooking (as opposed to beans and sausages from a tin!) I would use the SA Trangia for smaller or “Bushcraft” excursions. Now have I got room for that kettle?!

I was just finishing off a brew when my wife called to say she would be going to her friends. This meant she would be staying over as a trip to the friend usually involved a bottle of wine. Okay, this was it then. No excuses. I had enough food, water, two cooksets (!) sleeping bag and hammock. It was time to stay out in the woods. What follows is a short account in log form taken from my hard copy journal.

3pm – This is it then. Let’s get organised. Gathered firewood. Decided to start fire later and at least boil water as opposed to cooking by Trangia. Gathered various sizes from kindling to larger wood. Should have enough tinder from birch bark gathered earlier.

4.15pm – Made a quick spoon and billy rests. I’m finding that I’m using the folding saw more than any other tool now. I also carry the crook knife in my shoulder bag as a matter of course. Much easier to fashion a spoon. After this, I had a rest and listened to the sounds of the wood. Mostly *** crows!

This was followed by a walk to take pictures of woodland and field flowers. Ragged Robin; Greater Stitchwort; Birds-foot Trefoil; Common Vetch. Saw Scorpionfly, Cardinal beetle and orange-tip butterfly.

8pm – Having trouble with the fire. Managed to light tinder and kindling, but wood too damp. Should’ve cut though outer layer to get to dry insides. Constantly blowing to maintain flame. Failure. Gave up with fire. Time to light Trangia. Tinned Baked beans with sausages, soup and 2 x apples. Comfortable and feeling good despite fire failure.

9.30pm – Preparing for dark and badger watch. Re-tied hammock; laid out foam mat with sleeping bag on top. Covered with excess from hammock in case of rain when away. Tidied site and memorised position of everything. Tied two small bungees to trees. Collapsible bowl and ration bag hooked to one and utility bag on the other. Tested Tikka XP light with red filter. Swapped bush-hat for fleece hat and stuffed bivvi bag into shoulder bag ready for a long wait on damp grass. Started the 10 min walk to badger sett.

11.30pm – Heard the badgers about 6 feet to my left. Very dark and can’t see them at all. The bank has overgrown so much since last visit. Wind getting up and going in the wrong direction. Using red light to scan the area now and again. Still no sign. Time to go. Easy first part of the walk as it’s a track. No need for red light. Actually going into the wood is quite difficult. Very damp and slippery. Down a slight hill and…Straight on my a***e. No harm done. No injuries. Despite the red light, I missed my site by about 10 yards, but quickly realise I’ve gone wrong. Contemplated white light, but no need. Red light reflected off the Trangia kit.

1215 am – After a cup of tea, clambered into the sleeping bag (not so slippery with the foam mat on the hammock). Zip is rubbish or is it because it’s new? Damp socks off and laying next to trouser legs, fleece as a pillow. 10 minutes of wonderful peace and stillness and then…

3.15 am – Woke up cold. Can’t be less then 12 degrees C. Sleeping bag said comfortable to -10 degrees. What a joke! It was a cheapy however. Not really too uncomfortable though. Dozing off again, then it starts. Barking deer. 20 minutes later it stops. So much for a peaceful night! Eerie false dawn. What a fantastic place.

5 am – Woke up again. Cold. Wind seems to have got up. Quite comfortable in the hammock though.

7.30 am – The sun is up, but outside of the wood. Wide awake now and wanting to do the normal things one does first thing in the morning. Time to get up. There’s a chill in the air, so on goes the fleece and neck scarf. This is what sleeping in the wood is all about. A wonderful picture of green with the sun coming through the trees; the smell of fresh vegetation and a deep sense of peace.

With the morning ablutions over, I wash using the collapsible bowl. What a great purchase this was. No need to shave – in built face warmer! Breakfast is a banana and fresh milk saved from yesterday. 2 x cups of coffee. How’s the water situation? 1 litre left for the rest of the day out of a total of 3 1/2.

After breakfast, I went through the woods again, to do some more tracking. I tidied the site, packed up and made my way to the van. I gratefully dumped the pack and climbed in the van exactly 24 hours after I originally left it.

I felt as though I had achieved something significant. Of course I’d slept out before, but always under canvass (ie tent). This is probably why I didn’t even want the tarp up. It was a great feeling being part of the wood. I still think that I can cut down on some kit, and I was really disappointed about the fire, but that will be something for another time. Nothing will detract from the feeling of being a first time true “tree dweller”. As I looked over to the passenger side, I noticed that my wife had driven out and left me a blanket on the seat! You can’t beat that sort of support!

There’s very little animal or bird movement in the woods. It seems everyone is suffering from the heat…except me. Here I am still making sure everything is ready for this weekends Bushmoot. By the way, a moot is an old English word for meeting.

I’ve tried a full kit load out and modified the rucksack. I’ve also completed the best way to tie up the tarp, hammock and insect netting. So everything is just about ready. I’ve tried out some of the food I’m taking. I was quite surprised to find a lack of ‘instant’ foods when I went shopping. I want to eat well but not lumber myself down with heavy tins. All I managed to find was dehydrated pasta meals and instant soups. It looks like a trip to the camping store to find some decent grub is in order. I did find some instant porridge that I tried out this weekend. It was surprisingly tasty even though it was made with water and not the recommended milk.

The last task this weekend was to try out the Crusader cup over a fire. I lit the fire by firesteel and tinder and kept the fire small. It took about 15 minutes to come to the boil (about 1/2 litre). There was an ulterior motive to doing this. Well…you can’t go to a Bushmoot with new shiny kit can you?