Tracking v Bushcraft

Take a look at Pablo's view of the difference between trackers and bushcrafters. It's pretty much on the money!

Tracking v Bushcraft

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Jetboil PCS

As you know from my previous post, I have just got back from Alaska. Well, a day and half later I was out in the woods helping out on another weekend tracking course! This was still for Shadowhawk but this time facilitated through Jonny Crockett and Survival School. It was a very good course and all the participants were very switched on.

This time I'm not going to go on about the course but a bit of kit I bought a few weeks ago - the Jetboil PCS (Personal Cooking System). A lot of people I know seem to dislike this pice of wizardry for some reason but I took a chance and got one from Strikeforce Army supplies.

This little beastie is essentially a big cup with a heat sink attached to its bottom and a gas burner. The burner snaps onto the base and uses a standard camping gas cylinder which screws into its base forming quite a tall tower. It has an electric spark push button for ignition (just like your gas cooker at home). It seems to be very efficient at heating the contents of the main cup. It will boil 2 cups of water (maximum fill) in under 2 minutes if you have it on full blast. I used the Jetboil over the weekend quite extensively and I have to say that I like it - it is fast, efficient and quite convenient to use.

It boiled water quickly for cups of tea, it cooked/heated up some packet rice without any problems and it can cook a standard British Army ration pack in a few minutes. It could probably be safely used in a car for a quick brew but I haven't tried that yet! The burner is stowed in the cup but you have to detach the gas cylinder to do this. The downsides? It does form quite a high tower when everything is attached and so could be a bit unstable on rough ground and it can also be a bit awkward separating the cup from the burner, potentially resulting in spillage or worse, scalds. You also cannot really use it with other pots or fry pans so it does limit you to what you can cook in the cup.

Overall I am glad I spent the money on it. It's not cheap but it did everything I wanted and needed over the weekend. If you plan your food to suit the jetboil then it is a very convenient and easy to use bit of kit. You don't need matches as the ignitor is build into the burner which is a bit of a plus too! However, I will use other forms of stove if I want more flexibility with my cooking.

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Alaskan adventures

Now I know what you are thinking - what has Alaska got to do with bushcraft on Exmoor? Actually, nothing at all really except for the fact that I did some tracking whilst I was out there.

It was one of those mad trips because my sister decided to get married on Kodiak Island which is off the coast of Alaska. I flew out on the Friday and had to overnight in Anchorage, then fly to Kodiak on Saturday, wedding on Sunday, fly back to Anchorage on Monday and then leave for home on Tuesday morning. I think I travelled something like 16000 miles in 5 days! Needless to say I'm a bit tired.

The wedding was to be performed by the harbourmaster, of all people, on his boat. So, part of the deal was a boat trip to one of the smaller islands, a walk around for an hour or so, back to the boat for the ceremony, dinner, then a leisurely cruise back to base.

Our first visit was to see some of the local sealions, who were all terribly stressed (NOT!).

These guys make some very interesting noises and smells. If you get downwind of them then you know it! Very fishy. They also like to do a lot of snorting which carries a surprisingly long way over open water.

There were plenty of seabirds such as 2 species of Puffin, cormorants, kittiwakes, shearwaters, murrelets and quite a few Bald Eagles. Very good to see those in such numbers and also with youngsters.

We also saw a Sea Otter going about his business. I wasn't close enough to get a decent picture of the beastie but I did find feeding sign on the island.

These were the remains of various shellfish eg crabs, mussels etc. Unfortunately, as this was literally on the edge of a rocky beach, there were no easy spoor to see. There were a large number of compression shapes in the pebbles which could well have been otter but I'm certain some of them were deer - which are well known to roam that beach.

There were other sign of deer such as compression shapes in the soft moss that carpetted the island as well as some evidence of feeding. We headed back to the boat for the wedding ceremony and on our cruise back we were shadowed by a humpback whale! Absolutely fantastic. I don't suppose that many people can say they had a whale as a guest (without being rude to someone of course).

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The Wilderness Gathering

I have just come back from 3 days at the Wilderness Gathering. For those of you who don't know what the Gathering is, it is a 'festival' of bushcraft. It is very family orientated and has lots of stalls and a fair bit for the kids to do as well. The overall theme of the show is bushcraft and has lots of people wandering around with knives and axes but it is all very good natured. For more information on the venue and the show in general follow this link The Wilderness Gathering.

Anyway, I was there mainly to work on the Shadowhawk stand but also to promote myself and Tracks4life. On both counts we did well. I sold a bit of kit, Max (Ian 'Max' Maxwell who owns Shadowhawk) sold a fair bit of kit and generated a good interest in his courses. We also promoted some joint ventures such as Family Tracking courses next year hear on Exmoor.

Ros spent a fair bit of time tweaking Max's literature aiming for consistency throughout his promotional material as well as planning out the stall and its general look. Max was well chiuffed with the results and he is now more than happy for us and the other instructors (Nick, Duncan, Jamie and Rod) to take more responsibility in helping Max run courses. This is an important step as Max is doing more television work and is not always available.

We had great fun setting a competition based on scenarios we created in a spoor pit and the Junior tracker competition went down well also. Nick and I ran the tracking masterclass in the same way we did last year and that seemd to go down well too. Max was happy. The weather was very kind to us and stayed dry for the whole time we were there.

All in all a good few days and great for the family too!

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Kids and Bushcraft

It takes a lot to scare me but what I had agreed to do quite terrified me! Could this be bungee jumping over a crocodile infested river with only a single thread of elastic? No. Could it be stalking a lion and slapping it on the rump, blowing a raspberry before running away? No. Or could it be teaching kids some bushcraft skills. Ooh yes!

I was persuaded by a local play group (CLOWNS)to run some bushcraft things for some of their summer activities. Naturally I agreed. As it got closer I got more worried. What a wimp, eh! Anyway, I was nervous on my first day but luckily only had about 20 kids to teach. I basically showed them how to use a firesteel to light a piece of cotton wool. Well, kids and fire do mix.

I'm not sure how many kids I taught over the 5 days but I think it was a little over 150. They aged between 5 and 13 and every single one managed to light the cotton wool at least once. I had very positive feedback from all the sessions (including the day I had over 60 kids to teach) which has pleased me greatly.

Now that I have done this and survived I can look back on it and safely say that I would do it again. I enjoyed it, even though it was hard work, and it was fantastic to see some of the reactions when they achieved fire for the first time. Bless 'em!

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Summer Bushmoot and other stuff

Well it has been a while since I have posted anything which is mainly due to be being very busy this last month or so.

In the middle of July I helped out for a week at Canonteign for Shadowhawk Tracking School. We started off with an advanced course followed by a basic and intermediate. It was a bit difficult to swap your thinking around from running and advanced course to then running a basic but we managed. All the students did a fantastic job and everyone came away having had a great experience (life changing for some)! If you want to see a students eye view of the courses then take a look at Pablo's blog Woodlife: Nature, Wildlife and Bushcraft.

I then had a few days at home and then headed off with the family to the Summer Bushmoot for 5 days. This is an event organised by BushcraftUK. A big thanks must go to Tony and his crew for organising such a great event.

It was a fantastic few days. It was amazing how many people gave up their time to teach others their skills - all for the pleasure of it. I helped and ran a number of tracking seminars and was pleased with the responses I got. Again, thanks to everyone who attended. All in all I had a great time and so did the family and I'm looking forward to going again next year.

A few days after getting back from that I started my stint of teaching kids bushcraft but I shall leave that for another post.

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Man survives 54 hours out at sea

Michael Graham, 49, left Fort de Soto, Florida, for what he thought would be an overnight fishing trip. Unfortunately his canoe capsized and he spent the next 54 hours at sea until a casino ship, 11 miles off-shore, spotted him.

At the time of his rescue his joints were very stiff, with cuts and bruises to his legs, arms and feet. He also had a number of splinters in his hands even though his canoe was made of fibreglass and he had no wooden objects with him. Go figure!

He got caught in a storm about 2 hours into his trip. As he capsized, Graham managed to grab a lifevest, a bait bucket and his knife. He always knew where north was from landmarks on the coast.

He used his upturned canoe to provide protection from the blazing sun but also noticed that he had company in the form of a couple of sharks. Graham said that all that he did to survive came from instinct and what he learned from the "Worst Case Scenario" survival game he used to play with his daughter. The thirst was worse than the hunger - "The tip of my tongue actually feels like it shrunk a little or something because I was so parched. If somebody offered me a million dollars, I would have slapped it out of the way, just to get a bottle of fresh water."

During his ordeal he saw many cruise ships, tugs and small planes but none saw him until a casino ship nearly ran him down. He realised it would come within 200 yards of his position so he mustered all his strength for a final sprint swim and was finally rescued.

The next time he leaves on a fishing trip, Graham says he will give someone his float plan and take a whistle!

And the moral of this tale - even a little knowledge and minimal equipment can save your life. The simple expedient of carrying a whistle may have effected his rescue sooner.

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