2 Nights in the woods

[great white ape]

Am off out with Friend. Starting on Friday morning, back Sunday. With that in mind my current kit list is as follows.

1) Karrimor SF45
2) 3l camelpak - (were debating to fill this with local ale)
3) Para boots
4) Buffalo sleeping bag
5) British army bivi
6) Buffalo mountain shirt
7) North face WP trousers (Looking at some new Keela ones)
7) Fire steel
8) Folding saw
9) SBT (waited 2 years for this baby)
10) Map, compass and waterproof map case
11) Eating kit (tin cup, spork, can opener)
12) German army mess tin
13) Poncho or my patagonia rain away - very very light
14) Cordage
15) Food - Belly of pork, stagg chillie, coffee, sugar etc
16) Toothbrush
17) Medical kit (enough for cuts etc)


Plan is to do some miles in the mornings, get to somewhere fun, set up camp - brush wood shelters etc, prepare food. Get set off to pub with our kit, return to camp for some gentle fire and a nights sleep outdoors.

Not into the alaskan wild, but the bucks countryside. With a bit of luck will be on our own walking tails and finding the nearest remotest spot to the pub.

Will let you know how we do.

[IBrown]

That sounds great, where are you off to?

[Martin]

Sounds like a perfect weekend in store GWA. Welcome to the NaturalBushcraft forum by the way. :)

Martin

[great white ape]

Thanks Martin.

Will upload some pics when were back in from the field. Trip is scheduled for Weekend 5-9th March. With luck the weather will be clear and cold.

Will start off near Tring Herts, as for route... not sure as yet. Still studying the OS map. Guessing we will end up SW from there and into trees. As said were looking into getting in a few miles each day with rural watering holes on route. Minimum camp with zero impact. Just fresh air, good times and time out from the usual stresses.

[Kiltie]

15) Food - Belly of pork, stagg chillie, coffee, sugar etc
no requirement for bog roll then

Hi and welcome to the forum GWA, and just exactly is a /an 'SBT' ?


Jim

[JonnyP]

You going to fit all that lot in a 45L pack..? Them buffalo sacks are not small..
Have a goodun.. :0)

[great white ape]

Skookum bush tool. Placed order 30th April 2009 and its on its way as we speak in the post from Montana USA.

A treat I decided to invest in for my 30th. Trick is... patience. Hand made bush knife in A2 steel. Have personalised it with my initials on the metal plate.

http://www.skookumbushtool.com/

18) Bog roll

[FrenchBen]

Skookum bush tool. Placed order 30th April 2009 and its on its way as we speak in the post from Montana USA.


Hi great white ape!
Don't take offence at what I'll ask you. I'm not a native english speaker so I may be a little tactless without noticing it.
The point is I hardly understand why you bought a knife with a two-year long waiting list.

Britain is stuffed with remarkable blacksmithing artists who would create a unique knife for you for say about £200 I guess. And they sure wouldn't take years to make it! (I'm putting aside Alan wood's Woodlore-Ray Mears Knife :D)

I assume you had good reasons for that though... ;)

Anyway, as we're on the lightweight section of the forum, could you tell us how heavy will be your pack once all your gear stuffed in it?

Cheers ;)

[great white ape]

Not a problem,

Got the knife because its made of A2 steel (and the wait was supposed to be 1 year) It is much much harder then your standard carbon steel alloy, but it is not any more brittle. The only draw back is that you dont get as much spark on a fire steel, but the knife will hold a sharper cutting edge for longer.

Fianl point is that not many people out there use A2 for thier knives. Fingers crossed after many years of work and abuse it will be something highly sought after by the male grandchildren which I hope to have.

Pack weight will be what it is and will let you know.

Only real weight is pack, sleeping bag and bivi, food and water. Doing without tarps or hammocks or stoves and fry pans etc. Hoping it does not rain or our shelter building skills better be up to scratch !

Will let you know when were back

[FrenchBen]

Thanks for the additional info great white ape.

I'm looking forward to reading your report ;)

[Allthegear-noidea]

Sounds cracking. Hope you have a good time

[great white ape]

Rightio !

kit packed and roll on the weekend, will take some snaps and upload when back.

Now all i need to do is survive today in the office and get the Train home !

Thanks for the feedback and Enjoy the weekend folks,

GWA

[great white ape]

Oh...

Bad news. My SBT is still under construction ! which means the trusty and ever faithful Opinel is out for the duration.

Had this favourite for ages, bought it for my grandfather and inherited it back again a few years back.

Whittling time is on

[The Big Lebowski]

Have a fantastic time.... I would go with the camelbak proposition too!

Regards, al.

[great white ape]

Ok,

Trip was great. Kit was minimal, but mate did carry cordage and food, so to be fair if on your own would of needed to take some more.

Had a great time walking and here are some photos of the camp and local area. To be fair, am gutted to be back at work.

[great white ape]

Again,

Breaking it down, we walked to spot, made camp.

As you can see we used local fir trees and made sure to only take off the lower branches. We then covered the roof with moss and made little fire sheild for cooking and basic heat.

All the wood was lying around.

Camped out for a couple of days and got some good walking in. Plus a a couple of beers in some of the surrounding villages.

Any questions please ask,

[Fletching]

Looks like you had a great time. Good pics too.

Steve

[paul standley]

That looked like a fantastic trip and a great shelter, I'm very envious. Without giving away the location, where did you go ?

[great white ape]

We did some OS research and there is a place just south of Tring which fits the bill. Technically we probably should not of been there, but as we replaced it all back to its original state nobody would mind or get too upset.

If members want to know please message me and I will let you know,

[LandRoverMatt]

looks like a good list