Pablo’s Woodlife: Wildlife, Tracking and Bushcraft

We arrived at the site in Buckinghamshire in the pouring rain and it didn’t stop until 7 o’clock the next morning. There was something familiar here. Every time we arrive at these woods it’s either raining when we arrive or raining when we leave. Luckily the temperatures were reasonable at about 18 degrees C and the wind was only moderate but cold being from the north.

We helped put up the parachute and everyone settled into a rhythm of setting up, cooking and having a good chat with a few beers.

I settled for what’s become my standard setup; DD camping hammock, and 3 x 3 Tatonka tarp in an open front configuration. Despite the weather there was absolutely no ingress of rain water. I’d put my kit into the All Arm’s Bergen and there was more than enough room to spare. This bag also seemed to have an additional benefit of being even more waterproof than the Sabre when I deliberately (!) left it outside of the tarp. The contents were bone dry when I retrieved it. There was no need to carry the kit any distance, so I couldn’t test this aspect to any great effect. But as I’ve said, this Bergen is great for stuffing in kit for 3-4 days.

My colleague Paul tested out his Hexy stove by cooking a corned beef and potato vegetable stew from scratch in about 40 minutes while I struggled making a brew with my hashed up lightweight experimental stove of Trangia burner and Hexy stand! I realised that not only was the wind affecting the burn, but also the Hexy stand wasn’t low enough for the burner’s flames to be effective. Back to the drawing board! Later in the evening I saw a demo of a Bush buddy stove (photo) which was pretty impressive. This might be the solution to my lightweight stove dilemma. Certainly worth investigating.

It was a busy Saturday. A few of us went tracking in the morning while in the afternoon, Dave showed us his rabbit skinning and prep technique. It wasn’t easy to remember everything when I had a go, and I think you’d have to do it a couple of times to implant it in the ol’ grey matter. But overall, it appeared a better technique than any I’d previously seen. A couple of folk practiced their bow drill to great effect.

Later Mark showed us some spoon carving and again I picked up a couple of new techniques for carving the handle. I’ll have to describe this later when I’ve had a practice myself.

While we were away, Jason and Adam had built a pretty solid lean-to type shelter with bracken and twig thatching. The photo shows the shelter before the bedding had been laid down. The next day Jason reported that his night had been comfortable in the shelter.

The promised evening meal of rabbit stew, mash and carrots was simply outstanding. The sauce was out of this world and hopefully, I’ll be able to post up the recipe. The rest of Saturday evening was spent around the fire with the usual “show and tell” sessions of machetes, kukris and blades being brought out and compared. This picture shows a fabulous Alan Wood Damascus blade with a pretty unreal value. Also thanks to Andy who showed me his lightweight tarptent. Another impressive piece of kit.

As with any meets, all you have to do is watch and listen to those present and you can’t help learning. It was great to see some craft work (spoons, kuksas and bark containers) completed and in progress as well as looking at different sharpening techniques. At last, I know how to sharpen my crook knife!

I’d just like to say thanks to everyone at the meet for making us welcome and taking time to do the tutorials and of course, to Swyn who looks after the woods. It was a great weekend. I’ve not laughed so much in a great while and as usual, I’ve come home with ideas, learning and a sense that the UK bushcraft community is not only thriving but impressively affluent in terms of knowledge. Who needs to go on courses when there’s this amount of skill at your back door?

Pablo.

As you can imagine, after a week indoors with a chest infection, I couldn’t wait to go back out to the woods. So far, I’ve not missed a weekend throughout the winter, which was something I didn’t expect when I first started Bushcraft. I think I described myself then as a fine weather Bushcrafter, but I’ve been out in the rain, shine, snow and frost and enjoyed every minute.

I started the weekend by doing a bit of Archery practice. I decided to set up a target as opposed to going into the woods itself. I wanted to really hone my point of aim. After a couple of hours, I was quite pleased with the grouping. I made a mental note to come out a practice more on the target just to ensure the point of aim is consistent.

It felt good to be back in the woods, even though I didn’t really have a specific project. I took the 3×3 tarp just to practice a couple of different configurations. I actually found it more difficult to do this than the smaller tarp and concluded that I would probably just use the larger tarp in the most simple configuration, extending the sides to the ground if the weather got bad. I do like to look out from under the tarp and the raised front type configuration is still my favourite. The large tarp is pretty good for this.

The weather was quite mild (10 degrees C) and the wildlife seemed to appreciate the reprieve from the latest cold snap. I managed to get close to a herd of 35 fallow deer in a nearby field (photo above). I also spotted what I think is lesser celandine shooting through the leaf litter (edit: please note that these leaves are from the poisonous Arum Lilly and not Lesser celandine). Apparently, these young leaves are good in salads. I need a positive identification first before I try it though. A sighting of a dog fox, red legged partridges and mosquito larvae in a slow moving stream finished off a good weekend for wildlife spotting.

At last my new tarp has arrived. I decided a few months ago that the 2.50m x 1.50m Kathmandu tarp might not be big enough for excursions over a few days. I was in a bit of a dilemma whether to get another one. I finally succumbed and ordered a Tatonka 2 tarp.

Coming in at 3m x 3m this tarp is really the business. This poly version only weighs 93 grms although the polycotton version is a bit heavier. The tarp is well made as you would expect from a reputable company with reinforced loops on all corners as well as eyelets. There are also loops in the middle and in the centre of the ridgeline. They’ve even put a small Velcro loop in the centre underneath the tarp so that you can run a utility line under the tarp. The advantage over the smaller tarp is that apart from more room to stash kit, cook under and cover the hammock or other sleep system, the 3m sides can be pulled almost to the ground in bad weather, and there will still be enough head room to move about comfortably. The smaller tarp certainly won’t be made redundant. I like this tarp because it is small and will be still be used for shorter excursions, use in closed woodland and for daily use.

I use the 10 meters of 7mm paracord for the ridgeline and 5meters of 3mm cord for the guy lines. The length of the ridgeline allows for a utility line to be rigged underneath the tarp. This is handy for hanging stuff on (like stuff sacks, torch, glasses etc). I took the opportunity of filming setting up and packing away the tarp. There’s definitely a knack to this and I think it’s good to keep practicing. There’s nothing worse than fiddling about when it’s pouring with rain. In inclement weather, the tarp should be first up. I’ve also demonstrated the knots I use. If these aren’t very clear, let me know. The Evenk and slippery knots work quite well for me, being quite simple and more importantly, quick to set up and easy to release. The slippery knot helps keep the ridgeline nice and taut. Since I made the film, I decided not to wrap the ridgeline around the folded up tarp, but to fold it separately after the tarp has been put into the stuff sack. This way, when unpacking, time is saved unrolling the line from the tarp and there’s less chance of the line getting tangled.

All in all I’m very pleased with the tarp. I’m now going to experiment with different configurations but I’ll mainly use the ‘open front’ configuration (photo) unless it’s really bad weather when, of course, the whole thing will be closed down.

I must apologise for not posting the promised mid-week post as I had Internet connection problems. I’ll try and post mid week if all goes well. Thanks for the visit.

I was reflecting on the bushmoot and going through the pictures again when I realised just how many people brought along tents. I had success with hammock and tarp and in fact it proved more effective than some of the tents at the bushmoot. But now that the autumn and winter is just around the corner, I thought it would be prudent to look for a proper ten to give me a fully sheltered (and hopefully waterproof) option. I was also concerned that not every location I could visit would have trees close enough to rig a hammock and where bivving would be unsuitable.

After dragging out the kids dome tent (they’ve both left home and there’s a distictly musty smell filling the garden), I decided that it wouldn’t stand up to a quick shower let alone a weekend wildlife watching or bushcrafting in the UK. I browsed the internet looking for suitable tents. The criteria were under £150, light enough to carry a short distance, enough room for me and kit, 3-4 season, green and suitable for bushcraft and wildlife watching and a reliable make.

To cut a long story short, I found the ideal tent for my purposes: the Vaude Ferret 1. It cost £90 (including delivery). Naturally, I haven’t field tested it yet, but I did sleep out in the pouring rain on a few ocassions. Not a sign of a leak. So far here are my thoughts:

Great idea of side opening entrance as well as front porch entrance.
Great field of view (even sitting) from side opening
Side opening flap can be used for canopy with addition of two sticks or ali poles
Stacks of room
Pitching and striking very quick (two hoops and 4 anchor points initially)
Simple webbing strap system for tension (very good)
Decent sized porch (although not huge - enough to cook or leave out boots etc)
Outer can be pitched with inner (Good for quick bad weather pitching)
Inner tent pale yellow colour (avoids gloom)
All entrances have good mossie net options
Outer tent green
Option to remove inner (to make outer into tarp)
Loads of ventilation options for inside (including porch)
Pockets galor inside (all around inner tent)
Well made and thought out - German make (Vaude - Mountain Eqpt makers)
Max weight 3.1kg (Just manageable for backpacking)

As you can tell, I’m like a kid with a new toy. I’ve never actually owned a tent even as a kid - and my tenting experiences have only ever been with the military. I think I now have every shelter option available. I’m conscious that I might be drifting away from my original ethos of using minimal equipment for bushcraft. (I think I’ve said this before) but…hey I might be looking at a mid life crisis here (or second childhood).

Until next time…

Having had a bit of success with ‘tree-dwelling’ with hammock and tarp over the last couple of months, my attention has changed to sleeping on the ground. I’ve already practiced setting up the tarp as a bivvi with just a pole at the front as well as tying the ridgeline to two trees. Both these systems seem to work okay, but probably only for sheltered areas.

To try this without a tarp cover is a different matter but I have given it a go in the back garden. The bivvi bag is the most essential item, and I bought an ex-British army one from ebay. (Didn’t have them in my day!) It was reasonably comfortable and in fact increases the temperature of the sleep system by a couple of degrees celsius. The reindeer skin added to the ground insulation. It wasn’t entirely comfortable though, so I splashed out on a Thermarest. Quite an expensive item and probably the most money I’ve spent out on a single bushcraft item, but weighing up the pro and cons, I decided that at my age, I really can’t afford to get ill with back colds through lack of insulation. The Pro-lite 3 version duly arrived and I was soon testing out in the garden with my ‘bedroll’. Putting the reindeer skin on top of the Thermarest was an added luxury, but it did in fact make the bedroll a little cumbersome and heavy. To pack this away in or on the rucksack caused a few problems but I persevered and packed up the skin in the bivvi bag to make a neat (and waterproof) pack to strap on the outside of the rucksack. The Thermarest packs up in its own stuff sack.

All in all the Thermarest is great. After a few minutes, the self-inflating system has blown up the mat to a reasonable thickness, and a couple of extra breaths completes it to ‘luxury’ level. It appears quite robust and by placing it inside the bivvi bag, it is even more protected. I can’t help thinking that if I was really wanting to save space and weight, the reindeer skin would have to go, but at the moment, it’s still on the kit list for ground and tree dwelling.

I’ve yet to test the system in the field, but during a moderately cold and windy night in the garden, I was very comfortable.

I’m certainly beginning to feel as though I’ve got quite a few options now for sleeping out, including of course the ability to build basic shelters from natural material which I will try out pretty soon.

More next time.

At last, the late frosts have finally gone it seems and as predicted, a few warmer days, a few rain showers and the ground and trees seems to have sprung into life. Of course the wakening of the woods starts far earlier but it isn’t that obvious on the surface. There is actually growth to see now on the trees and on the floor of the woods.

Todays walk found me batting away flying insects, coming across two bumblebees and a fritillary butterfly. I also noticed a nuthatch and a willow tit. I even heard the sound of spring. The woodpecker’s hammering echoing through the wood. Before I settled down for a brew, I noticed a movement in the undergrowth and came across a young rabbit trying hard to remain camouflaged in the leaf litter. It remained stock still as I approached and I was able to get very close to take some photos. This moment was spring personified. The sound, the smell, the visions of spring.

With the arrival of spring came the arrival of my hammock from DD hamocks. This was the last piece of kit to make up my basic Bushcraft items. My main project today was to rig the hammock and try it out with the tarp. It was all quite easy and not as complicated as I feared. The tarp went up first (as it had just started to rain) and the hammock was slung underneath. I had researched into various types and makes of hammock. Hennesey Hammocks being the favoured it seems, but I just can’t justify £80. The DD came in at exactly £20. The tape ties are a bit strange as they are like draw strings. Thus there are two ends to tie around the tree. I ended up tying them as one piece and this worked quite well, but this method didn’t allow a great distnce between the trees. I will have to check this, but it worked ok for today and at least I didn’t collapse the hammock when I got in it.

The rain provided another situation and that was whether the tarp was long enough to cover the hammock. It wasn’t, therefore for severe weather, I would have to rig the tarp diagonally. The good thing about this hammock though is the double layer. I can slide in extra insulation or (as the photos on the website show) I can use the second layer as a cover. As it happens, there is enough spare material to almost wrap another layer around you anyway.

After rigging the tarp and hammock, I fired up the Swedish Army Trangia, had a brew and warmed through some baked beans. (Ok ok, not quite there with the wild fare yet!) It was so pleasant just to chill out, that my final task of finding some wood to make a couple of cooking utensils went by the board. Before packing away, I tried another few combinations with the tarp including the diagonal configuration. This did cover the hammock completely.

Verdict for the hammock…a resounding success. I think this beats tent and groundsheet my a long way. Wht didn’t we use this when I was in the Army? (Probably ‘cos we had to dig and dig and dig!) I still have to put it to the ultimate test though. The sleep out test!