Bushmoot Day 1 – Friday 28th
meets No Comments »As promised in my last post below (Back from the Bushmoot), I’ll begin a day by day account of the Bushmoot in log form as captured in my hard copy journal. I can’t promise to get all the instructional details in. It was just too much. My aim on this excursion was primarily to learn, but also to try out wild camping techniques and kit for the full 5 days. My travelling colleague is Paul who I’ve known for years. He’s a tent camper and this is his first bushcraft outing.
6am – It was an early start as we left for South Wales. We wanted to beat the traffic on the M25. Coffee stop , breakfast stop and a quick trip to the local supermarket to stock up on fresh rations. For me that was a pack of cigars(!) and some fruit. All rations had already been bought.
1200 – Arrived at Merthyr Mawr (MM) and immediately recce’d the area. Met Tony and Shel from BCUK who kindly outlined where things were. Seemed like very nice people. Camp looked well laid out with clean toilets, showers, wash up area and a covered workshop area. A walk through the area saw some good hammock/tarp and tent setups already in place. Very sandy soil; mixed, managed woodland. There were lots of cut timber and fallen branches. No need for felling here. I elected for an area about 200 yds away from the main area. Just right for peace if I wanted but in sight of what was going on. My new poncho covered my ration bag on the tree. The bark from the conifer is a bit sappy and sticky. I might regret this later as it will get on the cordage and tarps.
1430 – After a brew we explored the sand dune area of MM. A huge dune complex and hard work getting to the top. Great views though. Didn’t go too far on this occasion. Weather hot and sunny (28 degrees C).
1530 – Walking back through the site, we bumped into Mors Kochanski already talking to a group of people about knots. I’ve heard he starts teaching from the time he gets off the plane, but this is ridiculous! I’m enthralled by his style. Very amusing and anecdotal. I can’t follow the knots he’s doing. He’s demonstrating a pully system tied between two struts of a small purpose built covered area (with a fire in the centre). He says the pully is extremely effective. As he pulls, the large struts visibly move to the shouts of “Watch it, Mors!” “Well, that proves it works,” says he.

Mors then talks about lashings and skilfully moves on to shelter building. He demonstrates building a loose log structure with raised bed. This aspect is pretty technical. He describes the “inverse cube” theory and the surprising benefits of using black polythene even in hot weather. This guy is amazing. I’ve been sitting here for about 3 hours enthralled, and he’s still going.
1830 – At last I make dinner. MRE chicken stew (not bad but needs more seasoning) cereal bar.
1945 – A camp triangle sounds. Uhh??! Are we scouting or is there a fire? No, its Tony gathering the clans. He welcomes those who are here (about 45 people at the moment) and explains the site, health and safety and a few rules and regulations. The workshops will be detailed on a white board daily. Excellent. I really didn’t expect this degree of organisation.
2030 – 2200 – Rest and checked Paul’s site. He looks settles in. Couple of beers then a walk to the main congregation area. This is covered by a large parachute and has a large fire in the middle. Guess who’s looking after the fire? I manage to grab him for a photo. We start chatting to people. It’s a great atmosphere. Beer gets the better of us and we wander back. A couple of glasses of the obligatory port, and it’s time for bed. Hammock and reindeer skin very comfortable. Glad I tested it out before I came. I’m now used to it. I drop off to sleep, grinning like an idiot! What a great first day. No problems sleeping, apart from releasing the beer twice during the night!
More next time…























