The Bushcraft Show lake windermere Weekend the 3rd till the 5th of June 2011

[Ben Casey]

Hi Guys and Girls

I went to the show at the weekend and it cost me 80 quid for the weekend :( so I thought I would do a right up about my time there :) It was an eventful weekend I have to say. On arrival at the reception I had the feeling of being herded into a spot I didn’t really want to go. When I explained to the people that I had difficulty in walking and asked if I could drop my kit of close to my spot they just sort of looked at me stupidly and as if I came from another planet :(

Anyway I finally just drove up close to where I was going to be and dropped my kit of and then parked my car (On the website it did state that it catered for the disabled). I setup my Tarp and Hammock and made a brew and some food. I have to admit where I was a lovely site and the views where really good but being near to a marshy bit I managed to get my arms covered in bites :(

Next morning I awoke to a couple of guys walking past saying I had a good setup and quite a few people stopped to take pictures and ask questions so I thought I had better get up out of that old hammock LOL Anyway I had a brew and thought I batter go have a wash and plonk the old backend on a toilet somewhere.

I bimbled of down the track and meet a guy and his son who said the toilets where just round the corner :) Anyway after about half a mile I had to stop as the pain in my legs was killing me the guy was great and sent his kid of to check see if the toilets where open :D Who promptly reported they where locked ARGHHHHHHHHHHhh

Anyway of back I bimbles and on the way I bumped in to this blond haired bird who worked there. I must point out here I love blondes well I love women full stop :) But not this one she bounced past me on her phone with me shouting Oi at her in the end I shouted Oi I'm looking for the toilets and she stopped looked at me and said they are locked and broken then bounced on along. I could have told her that well anyway I thought it is a good job though as meds bung me up I don’t have to go for at least three days and well I can save having a wash as I love the smell of sweet :D

Anyway up and on I thought I got back to my pitch and people where stopping and asking about the tarp and hammock I was dead chuffed and felt like a famous person for once. Well in the end I had to go get some water as I had ran out some one had drank it all must have been the tea fairy :D

To be continued

[Woodwose]

she stopped looked at me and said they are locked and broken

Where there no portaloos onsite? I'll bet the toilets wern't broken, they just didn't want the public using them. This has happened to me before at different venues.

[J_P]

Hi there were several problems there i agree, did you come to us on the woodlife stand??

[Ben Casey]

Where there no portaloos onsite? I'll bet the toilets wern't broken, they just didn't want the public using them. This has happened to me before at different venues.

They arrived on the second day :(

[Ben Casey]

Hi there were several problems there i agree, did you come to us on the woodlife stand??

I went to all the stands I was the one with a funny stick LOL

[Ben Casey]

Anyway it was a hot day and when I reached the car park to get some water I bumped into a guy controlling the traffic (his name is Mike Metcalf I think he said it was ok to mention him). Being a nice chappy he asked if everything was ok unfortunately for him he had grumpy Ben this day :( I said no and if I had not paid in advance I would be of on my travels he was amazed and asked why I told him the lot he got both barrels. Anyway after listening to my moans and groans he reassured me it was a hiccup and all would be sorted soon and even said I could go in the other entrance if I wanted with my car (for the Exhibitors).
Well if it hadn’t been for him I would have been of :)

Well later that day I had a good walk around the stands having a good old natter to people and generally enjoying life :) Then I got hungry so I went to the cafe for some food :) All good i think standing in the queue well an hour later I was back to my grumpy me and still in the queue if I had known it would cost £.50 for a small bun with a bit of pigeon in it I would have cooked my own :(

I got back to my pitch later on to find a couple of Indians had moved in as my neighbours :) I thought cool we can get some scalps later on that should keep me happy but I was let down to find out they where like me and not scalp hunters :( Anyway we had a good old natter swapping stories and stuff and I mentioned all of you lot on here and how nice you are so they might come on and say hello :)

The next day I spent packing away but it was great one of the guys staying in a tepee came over and asked if I fancied a bacon and egg butty naturally I had to try it out :) Yum it was lovely I would have paid £3.50 for that now anyway I bimbled of home and got back to lick my wounds and the midgy bites still itch.

In general I had a good time but not due to the venue basically making my own entertainment and chopping bits of trees down to make things and talking to people :)

If I would recommended it to anyone for next year WELL if it is the same as this years then save your money and go to somewhere better.

I will post some pics in a min I hope the write up is ok for you lot :D

In comparison Footsteps of Discovery I will defo do again :)

[Ben Casey]

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5312/5808274415_03ce67fa8d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/60757769@N03/5808274415/)

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[MikeWilkinson]

I was there on Sunday, I'd be the one with the two mad little blonde girls blowing sycamore whistles constantly.
I'd have to say on the sunday the show wasn't as great as I expected. Don't get me wrong the stands were fantastic and the people great, however the event organisers moved and swapped so many things that our plan for the day was thrown completely out of the window and my little 'uns didn't get to do what they wanted.

Never got around to your stand JP, the crowd around it when we did get there was pretty big, so we gave it a miss hoping to catch you at the Childrens woodland walk at 1130, only that appeared to be either cancelled or started somewhere else - the event staff couldn't tell me which. I nearly gave up on any of the childrens activities until Perry managed to get out of rope making for long enough to teach my eldest some tracking skills and bow drill in an almost one on one lesson. A big thankyou to him as it made her day.

[Ben Casey]

Oh I hope I havent caused a misunderstanding here Im not knocking the stands they where great the organisers should have been shoot tho :)

[J_P]

I was there on Sunday, I'd be the one with the two mad little blonde girls blowing sycamore whistles constantly.
I'd have to say on the sunday the show wasn't as great as I expected. Don't get me wrong the stands were fantastic and the people great, however the event organisers moved and swapped so many things that our plan for the day was thrown completely out of the window and my little 'uns didn't get to do what they wanted.

Never got around to your stand JP, the crowd around it when we did get there was pretty big, so we gave it a miss hoping to catch you at the Childrens woodland walk at 1130, only that appeared to be either cancelled or started somewhere else - the event staff couldn't tell me which. I nearly gave up on any of the childrens activities until Perry managed to get out of rope making for long enough to teach my eldest some tracking skills and bow drill in an almost one on one lesson. A big thankyou to him as it made her day.

Aye it was moved but no one was informed buddy ! we will be at the wilderness gathering as always so be there or be square as they say :D

[Adam Savage]

Nice little write up mate and some great photos.

[Thumbcrusher]

I was there all weekend Ben and i agree that the organisation was b******s frankly.The stages/show areas were poorly marked. the majority of staff were at best unhelpful and at worst damn right rude! there was supposed to be wood supplies dotted around the venue for burning but i saw one VERY sad couple of bits of wood near the caravans/motorhomes who of course all had nice stoves to cook on. we were told we couldn't forage for wood to cook with yet they didnt supply any! i also thought that the original advertising was not exactly honest. you could go canoing, axe throwing etc etc - yeh but what it didnt say was that you would have to pay extra on top of the 80 quid you'd already paid GRRRR!
the bush tucker "cafe" was rediculous. As you say the food was pityful and grossly overpriced which was bad enough without having to wait so long for it. we waited 45 mins much like yourself.
I'd really been looking forward to going but was disappointed in the end. many of the advertised events weren't there and Lars Falt wasn't and he was the main reason for me going!
Over all a disappointing event only made slightly better by the friendly punters attending who all chatted and seemed to get on well.

Would i go again? Not unless they admit mistakes were made and promise improvement! incidentally if i'd got three day tickets instead of my £80 one i could have saved myself about £35 just to rub salt in my face!!
Maybe i'm being harsh and it was their first event so they might learn from it. They better do or it will be dead in the water within a year or so.
Seems a few of us were there so maybe we need some sort of badge or cap or shirt to ID ourselves with? Sorry i didnt spot you! (Did see the little girls with the not very annoying whistles though ha ha!).

[Ben Casey]

Hi mate I glad Im not alone in my thoughts I was a bit worried I may be being a bit harsh :) I see your from the Boro I'm a Makem but up in Bishop Aukland if you fancy a meet up some time we could pull up a sandbag and stuff. Anyway I was up in the enviromental area just of to the left of the track there where two guys in front of me with tepee type tents :D Where were you at in the end I just got some wood myself they said we couldn't take any from there so I used dead stuff that kept falling in my hands LOL

[Ben Casey]

Nice little write up mate and some great photos.

Thanks mate :)

[Thumbcrusher]

I'm a Makem

Won't hold that against you mate LOL! sounds like a plan mate. will get back to you next time me and my buddies are planning an outing.

We were camped about 20 metres to the right of the white ticket tent near the entrance. We must have only been about 100 metres or so from you then!!

As i say maybe we should try and get some way of identifying each other sorted out like a cap or something. Any plans to sell anything like that Ashley? It might help fund the site!

[J_P]

Get to the Wilderness Gathering to see how its done properly lol ;)

[Ben Casey]

Won't hold that against you mate LOL! sounds like a plan mate. will get back to you next time me and my buddies are planning an outing.

We were camped about 20 metres to the right of the white ticket tent near the entrance. We must have only been about 100 metres or so from you then!!

As i say maybe we should try and get some way of identifying each other sorted out like a cap or something. Any plans to sell anything like that Ashley? It might help fund the site!

That would be an idea :) Yeah I could see the tent from my pitch up on the rise LOL

[Ben Casey]

Get to the Wilderness Gathering to see how its done properly lol ;)

I have it pencilled in :)

[luresalive]

Great write up Ben and it's nice to see the honesty come through in your article as too often people try to sugar coat it just to be nice, but that ends up benefitting no one.

[Ben Casey]

Like I say if it hadnt been for the one guy I spoke to I would have gone he made it for me :) But they need to do a lot of work before the next one I was just looking on there site to see if I could leave feed back. There is only an email address so I may drop them an email to say my thoughts to as it is unfair to say it on here and not to them personally I will let you all know what happens :)

[Ivan]

Maybe a little off topic but. I am new to this game and was really worried about hosting my first meet , having never attended one let alone hosted! i just thought oh well lets give it a go , and people will tell me where i had gone wrong or where i could improve .

I think the main thing is be honest , and don't promise things you can't deliver , you know, like the beach being a stones throw from the hotel scenario. I f you are up front with people as regards , access,parking, distance,amenities etc , then you should be ok .
I waited for a bit of a slagging after so many people came to my place and was ready , coz the old saying you can't keep all of the people happy all of the time thing . But luckily because they knew what to expect , i just had a few good ideas on how to improve things , then again i dont charge like the others !!

[Roadkillphil]

As i say maybe we should try and get some way of identifying each other sorted out like a cap or something. Any plans to sell anything like that Ashley? It might help fund the site!

T shirts and sew on badges? I'd buy one..... :D

[Ben Casey]

Maybe a little off topic but. I am new to this game and was really worried about hosting my first meet , having never attended one let alone hosted! i just thought oh well lets give it a go , and people will tell me where i had gone wrong or where i could improve .

I think the main thing is be honest , and don't promise things you can't deliver , you know, like the beach being a stones throw from the hotel scenario. I f you are up front with people as regards , access,parking, distance,amenities etc , then you should be ok .
I waited for a bit of a slagging after so many people came to my place and was ready , coz the old saying you can't keep all of the people happy all of the time thing . But luckily because they knew what to expect , i just had a few good ideas on how to improve things , then again i dont charge like the others !!

Hi Ivan the thing is the meeting they had was largely advertised and had a lot of Exhibitors there so they should have planned for that :( I think in your case you have been up front about what you have and we are all coming for a bushcraft weekend :) That means a bit of what is to be expected for a weekend :) I the lakes I expected to be away from the main part of things but if your expecting anything from over say 50 to a 100 people you should plan for that like toilets being in place on time and working. I think in someways they did not expect the numbers they got and that was bad planning :(

Whereas you have organised and planned and know just about exactly how many will attend :) I think from what I have read your doing a good job and I can't wait to get there :)

Ben

[Ben Casey]

T shirts and sew on badges? I'd buy one..... :D

Me tooooooooooooooooooooooo :D

[BUSHCRAFTTOOLS]

I was there too...
The organisation was a bit dis-organised and yes there were a few problems. However, it was their first show and there were bound to be mistakes. Lets hope they get as much feedback as they can, inorder to improve the show for next year.
The woman on the stand next to us waited 2 hours for food, in the hog roast que. She ended up being handed some oven cooked pork in a bap (apparantly they ran out of hog roast). What a P*ss Take!

I was the one selling and demonstrating Fire Pistons.....I think I met a few of you: MikeWilkinson & J_P it was nice meeting you. Did I meet anyone else from here?

See you at the WG

[J_P]

Hi buddy, your firepiston has gone into my fire demo bag of doom lol, ive engraved my initials into it so i wont give it away!! Yup look forward to seeing you at the WG !!!!

[Thumbcrusher]

I think I met a few of you. Did I meet anyone else from here?

Yes you did fella! Me and my buddy each bought the large fire piston set off you first thing friday and then crippled ourselves laughing trying to get them to work back at the tent (despite your excellent tutorial). On the second day we came back for more help and bingo we are both getting a good coal now just about every go so thanks for the help. Oh and the cramp ball you threw in for free!
Top bit of kit, very well made and an excellent price so thanks again.

[Ben Casey]

I was there too...
The organisation was a bit dis-organised and yes there were a few problems. However, it was their first show and there were bound to be mistakes. Lets hope they get as much feedback as they can, inorder to improve the show for next year.
The woman on the stand next to us waited 2 hours for food, in the hog roast que. She ended up being handed some oven cooked pork in a bap (apparantly they ran out of hog roast). What a P*ss Take!

I was the one selling and demonstrating Fire Pistons.....I think I met a few of you: MikeWilkinson & J_P it was nice meeting you. Did I meet anyone else from here?

See you at the WG

I saw you doing the demo but I was sort of in the background I think I may have had a quick natter with a girl at your stand.

[BUSHCRAFTTOOLS]

I saw you doing the demo but I was sort of in the background I think I may have had a quick natter with a girl at your stand.


.....I saw you chatting my girlfriend up!! :guns:



;)

[Ben Casey]

.....I saw you chatting my girlfriend up!! :guns:



;)

Is that the girl with the Tats on her feet I would never chat someones girlfriend up ;)

[ghost]

I went to the show by myself and fortunatley for me i had a whale of a time. It was my first event of this type and it was a bit daunting being on my own. I was told at the booking tent that the field at the front of the lake might be full but to try it and see if there was a space. the staff i spoke to couldnt have been more helpful one even went off and got me a pot scrubber for my billy when they saw me scrubbing it with grass! The toilets i used were fine, other than people stuffing bog roll down one and causing it to over flow and the usual dirt coming in on peoples shoes i had no problems with them. One thing that was a bit crap was that some people insisted on parking their vehicles on the camping area beside the lake. This took up space that could have been used by others and i did hear one rude camper giving off to one of the staff when they asked them if they would move it to allow access. The only thing i did find was pretty poor was the catering, the staff manning the cafe were obviously not catering staff and didn't really have a clue what they were doing. this to me is a minor hiccup and could be fixed easily. I spoke to one of the staff who approached me for feedback when i was packing and he told me they had not anticipated so many turning up. I would say buy next year it will have improved. The stalls and traders were first class as i said it was my first time but wont be my last. The only thing i forgot to do was head back to the BUSHCRAFTTOOLS stand and pick up one of their Pyro pistons, they were doing an excellent offer one them and they are a first class piece of kit, im annoyed to have missed that show offer!!!!

[Ben Casey]

I sent them an email and still havent heard back from three days ago :( Oh well I will be at Ivans or Cornwall next year anyway :)

[MikeWilkinson]

Seems like most people had the same experience as us.

Definitely agree we need a NB forum T-shirt/Shirt/Hat or something - maybe see if we can get a few people interested in a group buy and organize for a nice Long Sleeved Cotton Tactical Shirt with the Natural Bushcraft Logo embroided on and a space for a name perhaps?

[Ben Casey]

Seems like most people had the same experience as us.

Definitely agree we need a NB forum T-shirt/Shirt/Hat or something - maybe see if we can get a few people interested in a group buy and organize for a nice Long Sleeved Cotton Tactical Shirt with the Natural Bushcraft Logo embroided on and a space for a name perhaps?

Love the ideas we just need Ash or Martin to get on here now and say something I think ;)

[BUSHCRAFTTOOLS]

The only thing i forgot to do was head back to the BUSHCRAFTTOOLS stand and pick up one of their Pyro pistons, they were doing an excellent offer one them and they are a first class piece of kit, im annoyed to have missed that show offer!!!!


Shame you missed the offer......send me an email if your still kicking yourself.

Bushcrafttools.com.

Actually....if anyone else missed out, then email me (mention Natural Bushcraft).

[Ben Casey]

Come on Martin comment please I know your reading this :)

[Martin]

Come on Martin comment please I know your reading this :)

:p

Martin

[Ben Casey]

:p

Martin

Not good enough mate any ideas about T-Shirts I got a dry mouth in the lakes telling everyone what nice guy and gals yous are LOL

[Martin]

I have some experience of this in another life. The problem, as I see it, is that there are several people who say they want a tee shirt, or fleece, or sweat shirt etc. So, 'someone' takes it on board and gets prices for the garment along with printing. The suppliers want a minimum number to make it worth while which is always more than demand. No one wants to stump up money up front so 'someone' decides he will put his hand in his own pocket and buys the said shirts which several of those who were keen say that they are either too dear, or the wrong colour, or the wrong style or in the wrong fabric etc etc, and the poor bugger who's spent time and his own money on a shed load of tee-shirts is out of pocket.

I've seen this happen too many times for it to be coincedence. If you would like to prove me wrong, by all means do the work and post some prices up on the forum for comments. ;)

Martin

[Ben Casey]

I have some experience of this in another life. The problem, as I see it, is that there are several people who say they want a tee shirt, or fleece, or sweat shirt etc. So, 'someone' takes it on board and gets prices for the garment along with printing. The suppliers want a minimum number to make it worth while which is always more than demand. No one wants to stump up money up front so 'someone' decides he will put his hand in his own pocket and buys the said shirts which several of those who were keen say that they are either too dear, or the wrong colour, or the wrong style or in the wrong fabric etc etc, and the poor bugger who's spent time and his own money on a shed load of tee-shirts is out of pocket.

I've seen this happen too many times for it to be coincedence. If you would like to prove me wrong, by all means do the work and post some prices up on the forum for comments. ;)

Martin

Ok mate I will have a look into it and see what I can find i will have to get Ash to give me the ok I think tho as it would be representing the forum or have the logo on it. So I will need a picture i will copy the one at the top and see what quality I get for now unless yous have a better one :D

[Martin]

Seriously Ben, before you go to a lot of effort and put any time or money into it, you should gauge how many people are likely to be interested. If it was going to be a big thing then I'm sure Ashley would have done somthing along these lines already. :)

Martin

[luresalive]

Maybe just get some patches made, then people can sew them onto their own bag, fleece, garment or gear and thus do away with the t-shirt colour, size,price thing.

[Ben Casey]

Hi lads I will just sort of have a look it cant hurt as I will do it when resting up from the garden I have inherited here :( But it would be nice I think we have a decent bunch here now with some leen guys and girls and why not push it a bit more :)

[Adam Savage]

I have been looking into embroidered polo shirts for a while now, for another company. The cheapest I found, getting a decent quality shirt and monochrome logo/name, was around £12.00 each with no minimum order. By the time you add postage, most people wouldn't be interested. :(

[Ben Casey]

I have been looking into embroidered polo shirts for a while now, for another company. The cheapest I found, getting a decent quality shirt and monochrome logo/name, was around £12.00 each with no minimum order. By the time you add postage, most people wouldn't be interested. :(

If you have the details mate stick a thread up with some prices and we could see what would come back I would have one at least for sure :)

[Adam Savage]

http://www.clothes2order.com/Polo+Shirts?source=gaw&kw=Embroidered-polo-shirts-ex&gclid=CJzYncq4tqkCFYEc4QodsxsVLQ

Just ran a mock order for 5, in bottle green, one logo 5cm wide on left chest. Total with standard delivery £69.95 !

[Ben Casey]

http://www.clothes2order.com/Polo+Shirts?source=gaw&kw=Embroidered-polo-shirts-ex&gclid=CJzYncq4tqkCFYEc4QodsxsVLQ

Just ran a mock order for 5, in bottle green, one logo 5cm wide on left chest. Total with standard delivery £69.95 !

Not each surely LOL

[Adam Savage]

No that's for all 5, so devide 69.95 (say 70 to round it off) by 5 and you get £14 each. Quite expensive really.

[Ben Casey]

It is I suppose but if the quality is good it would be worth it I will go on the link and have a look around :)

[Adam Savage]

It's fruit of the loom stuff, and it's embroidered not printed, so it will be good quality. The printed ones aren't worth bothering with, it rubs off after first use normally.

[Ben Casey]

It's fruit of the loom stuff, and it's embroidered not printed, so it will be good quality. The printed ones aren't worth bothering with, it rubs off after first use normally.

Ok I tell you what it may be an Idea to start a thread I will go start one just to get some numbers I suppose if I put it could cost £14.00 plus then people would have an idea an say yesy or no :)

[Adam Savage]

Ok I tell you what it may be an Idea to start a thread I will go start one just to get some numbers I suppose if I put it could cost £14.00 plus then people would have an idea an say yesy or no :)

Just had a closer look into those shirts on there. That price was plus VAT. So maybe not a great place to be getting them from. :(

[Ben Casey]

Just had a closer look into those shirts on there. That price was plus VAT. So maybe not a great place to be getting them from. :(

I have put a thread up to see what sort of interest there maybe I can always have a look at other places to see what they offer :)

[Adam Savage]

Ok buddy, well I'm hitting the sack now. Can hardly keep my eyes open after a couple hours of blade sharpening lol. Catch ya later and I will look into more options tomorrow.

[Ben Casey]

Ok buddy, well I'm hitting the sack now. Can hardly keep my eyes open after a couple hours of blade sharpening lol. Catch ya later and I will look into more options tomorrow.

Ok mate me to a day gardening is a killer :)

[Thumbcrusher]

Maybe baseball caps might be cheaper and are still very "visible" to forum members at events?

[Ben Casey]

Maybe baseball caps might be cheaper and are still very "visible" to forum members at events?

We have moved that to another thread now :D