Back to Danemead Part 3

It was a reasonably nice night so I decided to sleep outside, rather than in Stuarts tipi. I can't remember the last time I used my hammock, so I set it up and then used my black sleeping bag bag and bivvy bag from my modular sleep system together with a 3/4 length mat inside. If I do not carry a mat with me but have my Swanndri hooded bushshirt as insulation in the bottom of my hammock and it works very well. After a very comfortable nights sleep I was awoken at about 7am by Stuart reviving the fire and getting the kettle on.

Once the kettle was on Stuart started to prepare breakfast, so I decided I should get up and give him a hand.

After breakfast I walked around the site with Stuart and Acer to show them the right types of wood to collect for different parts of the bow-drill. We gathered Hazel (Corylus avellana) for all parts of the set with the exception of the bearing block for which we used HornBeam (Carpinus Betula).

We made a couple of bow-drill kits from the materials collected and Stuart was keen to give having spent a lot of time recently trying without success. Within 15 minutes he had his first ember and then proceeded to produce a second ember a minute later.

After a late lunch we sat and chatted and then mid-afternoon we headed home.

Back to Danemead Part 2

Stuart cooked eggs, bacon and fried bannock bread for lunch


Before lunch some of the Sea Cadets and leaders had called in to say hello as they were doing navigation in the area. We set the cadets the task of gathering fire wood for us and the result was a large pile of mixed sized wood which was great!


They returned in the afternoon as I was about to make a debris shelter and were all keen to help. Firstly I cut 4 forked poles, interlocked then and pushed the ends into the ground.


The Sea cadets gathered a large amount of medium sized branches which a laid between the poles (leaving the front open). And then we all began to gather leaves to cover the shelter. I was impressed with a couple of the cadets who found a bread tray which they used to carry a greater amount of leaves.

This is my good friend George who was proving that a man can infact multi-task by drinking a cup of tea and gathering leaves at the same time!

Unfortunately one of the Horn Beam support poles wasn't strong enough once the weight of wet leaves was on it and as you can see below, bent under the weight.

After the cadets left us we spent the early evening preparing a meal and then Sheila, Mark and Acer joined for food and an evening around the campfire.

To be continued....

Back to Danemead Part 1

I returned to Hoddesdon this weekend and Danemead Scout Campsite. Originally I was going to be teaching a small group of leaders, but for various reasons some people cancelled and for most of Saturday it was only me and my friend Stuart.

As I arrived and got out of my car there was a large party of Long-tailed Tits and Goldcrests moving around feeding in the trees. As I was watching I heard the short, loud, distinctive "tsu-weet" of a Yellow-browed Warbler (Phylloscopus inornatus), a bird which breeds in Siberia and Russia and migrates to Asia and has wondered off course. Each Autumn this uncommon vagrant arrives in varying numbers for a brief stay as they make their journey south. During my years of serious birding I spent many ours chasing around looking for them. This bird called several times and then departed with the tit flock and I did not hear it again for the rest of the weekend.

There is a brief piece of video of a Yellow-browed on YouTube here

Stuart had purchased a Tentipi (made not that far from my cabin in Sweden) and was keen to get it set up and try it out.


Here is a view from the front.

After erecting the tipi, we cut and split some logs for fire wood

and then got a fire going and put the kettle on.

Another surprising find, especially for mid November was this Comma butterfly

It gets its name from the white mark you can see on the underwing.

To be continued!!

Spring in Lapland

My first task was to get a fire going in the stove to heat the cabin and melt snow as this was my only source of water at this time. The most efficient way to melt snow is to put a small amount of water into the saucepan first and to then keep adding snow as the water heats.

You would be amazed at how much snow is required to produce a saucepan of water!

There was a lot of leaves, Pine needles and many other items in the snow, so after melting the snow and boiling the water, I then filtered it through parachute material.

The next task was to clear paths through the snow to the toilet and wood store, and remove the shutters from the cabin windows. It was -5 degrees and snowing quite heavily and I was so pleased that I had thrown a set of merino wool thermals into my pack at the last minute.

After cooking a small meal of meatballs and dehydrated potato mash, my warm sleeping bag was calling to me and I decided it was time for bed.

Fineshade log shelters

A few months ago I was offered the opportunity to assist with the construction of three log shelters for the Forestry Commission at one of their woods at Fineshade in Northamptonshire. Unfortunately I was unable to get time off work at the time, but today i was invited to visit to see the end result.

There are three shelters around a fire-pit and there is a small table.

An expert from Denmark was brought over to advise on their design and construction and all the materials were sourced from local trees.

The shelters are set in beautiful surroundings and each shelter will sleep up to six people and they are available to hire via the visitor centre. More information about Fineshade can be found here;

Top Lodge Fineshade Wood

Butterbur

In this previous post http://fenlaners.blogspot.com/2008/03/coltsfoot.html I made a typing error which may have confused people. Referring to Butterbur (Petasites hybridus) I said.....

"The leaves of this plant can be dried and burnt, then the resulting ash residue used as a salt substitute for stews. I have used Butterbur leaves in the same way and it does work."

What I meant to say was......

The leaves of this plant can be dried and burnt, then the resulting ash residue used as a salt substitute for stews. I have used Coltsfoot leaves in the same way and it does work.

My apologies for any confusion and I have now edited the original post.

I am told that Butterbur is so called because the leaves used to be used to wrap butter in to help keep it cool.

Here is a picture of Butterbur flowers and a very young leaf.

The leaves grow incredibly large (over 12 inches in diameter) and I once used them as a shelter cover. They dried and shriveled the next day, but were good for one night.

Lean-to shelter

There are many adaptations for the lean-to shelter, depending on the circumstances and materials available.

In this case I used a horizontal ridge pole supported by two trees at either end with dead leaned against it and a piece of parachute material secured over to wick away any rain. The bed is made of spruce boughs.

Here we used Spruce boughs as thatching for the roof and this created a very effective waterproof cover. The bed is again made of Spruce boughs. The two logs across the front of the shelter prevent the occupant rolling into the fire when sleeping.

Here we are using leaf litter as covering for the roof, held in place with a second layer of dead wood.

The most effective type of fire-lay for this shelter (particularly in cold weather) is the long log fire.

With this lean-to which I used on a survival course in Canada, I have incorporated a raised bed, lined with Spruce boughs. In this case I was sleeping in this shelter at -22 degrees, without a sleeping bag.

A snowy day out

I was up early this morning to make the most of the weather conditions.

After a long walk, I headed in to the woods to find shelter, make a fire and have some lunch. You can see that this Spruce tree would provide shelter as there is no snow beneath it, but it is still rather exposed.

This fallen, Ivy covered tree provides shelter and is much less exposed, so this is where I decided to stop. The ground beneath was dry and there was sufficient dry, dead wood within as fuel for a fire.

My first task was to clear the ground of leaves and debris and to remove settled snow from above the fire site because it would melt and then drip onto me and the fire. Then I made a platform from dead wood to make my fire on. Using a firesteel with two feather sticks and some Birch bark from by tinder pouch, I made a fire.

My next task was to get some water boiling to enable me to make coffee and soup.

Having soup would give me the chance to try out the new Birch bowl I had completed yesterday.

The water took about ten minutes to boil and I soon had coffee and a warm bowl of soup prepared.

All I had to do then was sit back and enjoy it.

Wind damage

Whenever we have strong winds, it tends to create a lot of work for us clearing trees which have blown across paths and fences.

We cut up the trees using chainsaws and pile most of the material nearby to create habitat piles for small mammals and insects.

Of course fallen trees also supply me with wood for projects. I am currently making a kuksa and dough bowl out of a piece of this Birch.

A group shelter in the woods where I run my courses had a lucky escape when this Wych Elm came down.

Although the door was smashed the rest of the shelter was left intact. I am still rather pleased that I wasn't sleeping in it at the time though!

The Pole Bed

A pole bed is made by lashing three pieces of wood together to form an "A" frame. Having constructed a second "A" frame, you lash them to two trees about 7 feet apart.
Two long poles are then rested on the horizontal bar of the "A" frames. I carry a piece of rip-stop nylon which I have sewn into a tube and this is threaded over and along the two poles. This is what I lay on and supports my body.

If I do not have a sleep mat or Reindeer skin with me, I stuff the inside of the nylon tube with dry grass or leaves as insulation. I can then put a tarp over the bed for protection from the weather.

The pile of material beneath the pole bed is Wych Elm bark which I spent the night processing to make cordage.


It's the site where I run my courses Norseman ;>)

Daily kit

I have been fencing on the reserve today.

The work took longer than expected so I did not get back for lunch, but fortunately I carry the following items in a 15 litre rucksack.

Two pieces of nylon material, two bottles of water, a wooden spoon, a tea-light candle, a 10cm billy can, parachute cord, a packet of soup, some kuskus, a small tub of coffee and one of vegetable stock.

The material and cord allow me to set up a simple shelter.

With a small fire I can boil water and make coffee and cook soup and kuskus. It always amazes me how large a fire some people have just to boil water. With the aid of some pine cones (fantastic fuel) a small fire on a spade is large enough to boil a billy can of water and make the soup. The spade helps to prevent the risk of fire burning into the ground.

Making a snow shelter or quinzee

Step One

Clear a circular area in the snow about 8 feet across.

Step Two

Using a shovel or snow shoe make a large pile (about 6 feet high) of snow on top of the clearing (the snow should be heaped, not packed.) Mixing snow of different temperatures will facilitate the hardening process.

Step Three

Allow the mound to freeze and so harden for 1 to 12 hours depending on weather and snow composition. Push sticks 20 – 30cms long into the snow heap, as this will help you to maintain an even thickness over the whole of the shelter when hollowing out. When you find the end of a stick from inside the shelter, you know you have a thickness of 20 – 30cms.

Step Four

Begin to hollow out the mound once it has hardened sufficiently. Dig straight in at first to create your initial opening, and then dig upward slightly in order to make an elevated sleeping area. This will allow cold air from inside to flow down and out of the shelter.

Step Five

Use the snow you dig out to make a windbreak in front of the entrance, or heap it onto the exterior of the shelter to thicken its walls and increase the available interior space.

Step Six

Smooth the interior surface of the walls and ceiling to prevent any melting snow from dripping on you.

Step Seven

Poke a ventilation hole through the top of the dome using a ski pole or long stick. Make sure this hole stays clear of ice and snow.

Step Eight

At this point I usually reduce the size of the entrance hole by packing snow around, but the snow was so powdery, it was impossible to do this. Use your pack or reindeer skin to block the entrance of the shelter once inside, but leave space for air to flow in and out. Keep your shovel inside while you sleep in case you need to dig your way out.

Building a shelter is hard work, so wear the minimum clothing necessary, to reduce the risk of sweating. When you are working you should be cool enough to feel that you need to put another layer of clothing on. Excessive sweating can lead to hypothermia. Once the shelter is completed put all your layers of clothing back on.


Personally, I find this type of shelter hard work and time consuming to construct. The locals just dig a trench in the snow and line it with reindeer skins and sleep in the trench in a sleeping bag. If the air temperature is very cold, they use a stick to prop a reindeer skin over there face to reduce the effect of the cold.