Hibernation... What have you been up to over the winter?

[Unspoken Degree]

Hello all

Haven't been to the site in a couple of months, for various reasons, and haven't done much bushcraft over the winter months.

So seeing as its thawing out a bit now what has everyone else been up to during hibernation?

Personally I been trying to put together various bits of improvised/budget gear whilst also deciding on what should stay/go/be added to my fire kit.

[Humakt]

I've made various bits of leather gear - pouches, sheaths, and that kind of thing.
But I've also managed to get out quite a bit as well. Mainly just for the day - no camping out (which I don't seem to enjoy as much nowadays). Lots of wildlife watching, which will get even better now Spring is here. And lots of good walks as well - I've got in quite a fair bit of the North Downs Way (not all at once, mind you).

[paulthefish2009]

Much the same as Humakt to be honest,quite a lot of bird watching,bit of fishing,I've got four dogs so I am out with them a lot. Paul

[Unspoken Degree]

Yeah I've got a couple of dogs that need walking daily too so thats the extent of the outdoors for me this winter so far... pretty much exhausted all the local walks though so am looking forward to going a little further afield now its getting to camping weather again.

It'd be lovely to be close enough to an area like the downs for daily dog walking Humakt. Would'nt mind getting into the old leather working myself but I try to limit myself to ten or so new hobbies a year haha.

[Silverback]

what has everyone else been up to during hibernation?


wishing some people would stay at home and...others not ignore road closed notices when theres deep snow on the moors ;)

Honing skills at home, learning new skills at work, and making bits and bobs

[David_JAFO]

hello,
Honing the skills, teaching Winter survival skills, bird/fox family watching as well
as photography plus wildlife protection in support of 'Op Meles' :wink:
Regards
David

[Bob W]

Pike fishing and putting together my "kit" ready for some canoe hammocking as opposed to canoe camping with all mod cons.

[BJ]

Pike fishing and putting together my "kit" ready for some canoe hammocking as opposed to canoe camping with all mod cons.

like the sound of that. T^

[Bob W]

like the sound of that. T^


A mate has a Coleman Ram X 15' Canadian that we use for paddling about the local rivers in the fishing close season, we both need to be on the water and when March 14th comes round the rivers are shut until June 16th for our type of (coarse) fishing, so paddling about and camping on isolated banks has been a great way of keeping in touch with the water. We normally use my little Vango banshee but have decided to get the hammocks and go all "bushcrafty" with it. I've also developed a massive interest in compass navigation and map reading and intend to do some open access walking this year. Hopefully combining it with the bushcraft and hanging side of things too.

There's plenty of open access land local to me with sensible hikes between villages etc.

I've spent the winter looking into it all.

[Unspoken Degree]

like the sound of that. T^


Pike fishing and putting together my "kit" ready for some canoe hammocking as opposed to canoe camping with all mod cons.


A mate has a Coleman Ram X 15' Canadian that we use for paddling about the local rivers in the fishing close season, we both need to be on the water and when March 14th comes round the rivers are shut until June 16th for our type of (coarse) fishing, so paddling about and camping on isolated banks has been a great way of keeping in touch with the water. We normally use my little Vango banshee but have decided to get the hammocks and go all "bushcrafty" with it. I've also developed a massive interest in compass navigation and map reading and intend to do some open access walking this year. Hopefully combining it with the bushcraft and hanging side of things too.

There's plenty of open access land local to me with sensible hikes between villages etc.

I've spent the winter looking into it all.


Sounds fantastic... been wanting to try open canoeing for a while now, seems to fit so nicely with British bushcraft, just my lack of swimming ability thtas been holding me back from doing something about it. I'd like to do something about it one day though.

[nilo52]

Waxing up my surfboard , patching up my wet suit. Also planting more bulbs for next year, chopping down various trees/Palm trees and other strenuous stuff for " SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED" [ I stole that from Rune ]
The REAL truth is in California there's not much "winter" here :happy-clapping:
Nilo

[Bob W]

Sounds fantastic... been wanting to try open canoeing for a while now, seems to fit so nicely with British bushcraft, just my lack of swimming ability thtas been holding me back from doing something about it. I'd like to do something about it one day though.

A decent life jacket will see you able to make it back to bank or boat in the warmer months, Canadian canoes don't "really" lend themselves to white water if you're inexperienced and you should mainly be paddling slow and steady stretches. Having said that, you can push them a bit and my mate and myself have had some exciting moments :evilgrin:

[Stamp]

Coppicing;
Hedge Laying;
Fitting Kitchens;
Making Furniture;
Rights of Way maintenance;
Being a Dad and husband;
First Fundamentals course of the year this weekend, very wet and cold.....
And of course, the day job :(

[FishyFolk]

We still got 2-3 months left of winter, but here it is so far, the ones with a white backdrop is the winter ones. :-)


http://www.youtube.com/my_videos?o=U

Been recuperating from internal surgery,
had my first winter overnight in a hammock
had my first winter overnight during a blizzard in a hammock
Taken the kids ice fishing
Up graded my sleep system to winter ready
Purchased a good axe and bow saw
learned some new knots usefull for hammocking
Watched more You Tube vids than is healthy
Started a Nordic Bushcraft discussion board where people from the Nordic countries i.e Norway, Sweden, Denmark Finland and Icleand can discuss Bushcraft in our own languages
Started a Bushcraft blog in Norwegian in connection with the forum
Launched a facebook page for the same forum

[OakAshandThorn]

Honing the skills, snowshoeing (when there WAS enough snow on the ground), a bit of winter foraging, picking up the endless litter from careless fools, and (inevitably) working at the day job.

[Unspoken Degree]

A decent life jacket will see you able to make it back to bank or boat in the warmer months, Canadian canoes don't "really" lend themselves to white water if you're inexperienced and you should mainly be paddling slow and steady stretches. Having said that, you can push them a bit and my mate and myself have had some exciting moments :evilgrin:

The life jacket is a good point Bob, I'm def more interested in the less hairy side of canoeing, I'd love the opportunity to give it a go someday.


Honing the skills, snowshoeing (when there WAS enough snow on the ground), a bit of winter foraging, picking up the endless litter from careless fools, and (inevitably) working at the day job.

Unfortunately the littering seems to be fairly universal... I'm fortunate enough to live next door to a small, very small, nature reserve and I find myself picking up rubbish daily when walking the dogs.


*wanders off to make a cuppa whilst muttering about littering morons and day-dreaming of building a a canoe Ray Mears stylee :p

[CanadianMike]

Lots of knife making, and outdoors-wise stuff, got a large Bergen type backpack, been sorting out need gear from nice to have gear, both for my 4Runner cargo boxes and the pack. Also been playing with new air rifles, and modding a Crosman 1322 pistol into a sweet carbine with a scope.

[OakAshandThorn]

The life jacket is a good point Bob, I'm def more interested in the less hairy side of canoeing, I'd love the opportunity to give it a go someday.



Unfortunately the littering seems to be fairly universal... I'm fortunate enough to live next door to a small, very small, nature reserve and I find myself picking up rubbish daily when walking the dogs.


*wanders off to make a cuppa whilst muttering about littering morons and day-dreaming of building a a canoe Ray Mears stylee :p
Well, here they try to say that the park is a "Nature preserve", but folks like me know better. If that was true, it would be a state park not a city-owned park, and there would be forest rangers looking after it. What does this park have?...none of the above. Not even the volunteers do much about reckless fools in the woodlands except for one person, a good friend of mine; but with his health, he can't do much besides call the police - but by the time they show up, the morons have left.
I live across the street from the park, yet I can bike 9 miles to the nearby town of Redding and visit Putnam Park where people OBEY the regulations (which are more strict than those here) because there are rangers there to ENFORCE them. And I've never seen so much as a plastic bottle amongst the trails in their lush woods.

[Olly]

My wife has had our first child and are in the process of moving from the midlands back up to our native Yorkshire - managed to get a couple of spoons made though. Had to do them in the kitchen as whittling area now nursery! I also bought a knife blade from Bernie Garland and put a handle on it.

[Kernowek Scouser]

Been recuperating from a knee injury since just before Xmas, so my outdoor fun has been seriously limited. Spent plenty of time cyber crafting and buying interesting bits of gear online though :D

I have been doing a bit of wood carving, mainly different sized/shaped spoons, a couple of cups and a bowl or two. Also been making interesting things with paracord (bushcraftland utility rope), occasionally playing with fire and trying to learn some new knots to add to the 'Double Granny' I use far to often.

I still need to improve my knowledge of wild edibles / medicinals, a gap in my knowledge I hope to actively address this spring. And, having got to a point of confidence and comfort both ground dwelling and tree swinging when hiking about, I would like to try canoe camping at some point as this year as it just looks fun.

[Unspoken Degree]

I still need to improve my knowledge of wild edibles / medicinals, a gap in my knowledge I hope to actively address this spring. And, having got to a point of confidence and comfort both ground dwelling and tree swinging when hiking about, I would like to try canoe camping at some point as this year as it just looks fun.

Yeah I've been trying to improve my wild edibles knowledge (it all looks like weeds to me) I've also decided I really need to improve my knowledge of British Trees and shrubs as well so I might have to spend some time today hunting down a small book on the subject.

[Kernowek Scouser]

Yeah I've been trying to improve my wild edibles knowledge (it all looks like weeds to me) I've also decided I really need to improve my knowledge of British Trees and shrubs as well so I might have to spend some time today hunting down a small book on the subject.

There are plenty of books out there, that is for sure. But for some reason, I just can't get knowledge of wild edibles / medicinals to stick in my head. It isn't a lack of enthusiasm, at least I don't think so, but regardless if I'm out and about and referring to a book, following instructions noted down from a video or even on a course (and yes I have paid for one) and in the company of a walking botanical encyclopaedia, any knowledge I gain is gone by the morning?

What makes this state of affairs particularly annoying is when the girlfriend backs me into a corner and talks at me about what has happened on latest edition of I'm strictly a non entity without any X factor and the only way to Essex is via my big brother's driving school, every unwanted piece of trivial froth becomes etched in brain stone.

NO! The only people who are allowed to be know by a single name are South American footballers (and possibly Madonna, when she was younger).

So, if anyone knows of a way to help someone with a wild food learning disability, please get in touch.

[Silverback]

I'm strictly a non entity without any X factor and the only way to Essex is via my big brother's driving school, every unwanted piece of trivial froth becomes etched in brain stone.

LOL !!


So, if anyone knows of a way to help someone with a wild food learning disability, please get in touch.

When learning medical stuff I use flash cards and mnemonics dunno if that would help ?

[Kernowek Scouser]

LOL !!
When learning medical stuff I use flash cards and mnemonics dunno if that would help ?

Cheers fella, it might. My dyslexia may work against the effectiveness of flash cards (unless they were just pictures) but auditory mnemonics have worked for me in the past and I see no reason why they should not work in this instance.

[Silverback]

Cheers fella, it might. My dyslexia may work against the effectiveness of flash cards (unless they were just pictures) but auditory mnemonics have worked for me in the past and I see no reason why they should not work in this instance.

I have used pictoral flash cards as a method of teaching anatomy and physiology.......changing the subject matter should work just as well with any luck

[Kernowek Scouser]

If I used a picture of wild flora on one side and a couple of symbols on the other, such as:
7522 for an edible,
7523for a medicinal and...
7524 for something best avoided; I could probably at least group wild flora into basic categories, which would be a start.

If that worked, I could then try composing a helpful mnemonic, listing identifying features (and perhaps later down the line if it is sticking, properties) to try and remember names.

Fella, I think we might have a plan, cheers for your help T^

[Silverback]

Fella, I think we might have a plan, cheers for your help T^

No problem.....Its what i do for a living anyway...teach so I may actually utilise something similar for another project I have - mutual support thats whats great about this site eh Colin ?

[Chubbs]

My wife has had our first child

Congrats to you both Olly. Kids are great, I couldn't imagine been without my three little angels !!.

Made a few spoons and forks. Also made a spork and have just started my second. Also made a buck saw yesterday but not happy with it. I have part of an old oak beam in the garden so I will have a go at using that for the frame. Bought plenty of bits and bobs and nearly ready for my first camp of the year at next's week's Cornwall RV.

[Kernowek Scouser]

No problem.....Its what i do for a living anyway...teach so I may actually utilise something similar for another project I have - mutual support thats whats great about this site eh Colin ? It certainly is Wayne and I for one have definitely benefited from the wealth of knowledge the folks here are willing to share.

[Unspoken Degree]

I like that flash card idea... you could go out with a couple at random and hunt down whatever's on the cards T^

[Unspoken Degree]

Thanks for all your feedback guys