Bushcraft Club thread

BatMan 1993 · 04-04-2010 6:26pm

Hi everyone, I just wanted to find out about the storage of knifes in this country. I am a bushcraft enthuasiast, and have 2 bushcraft knives, as well as a few handmade blades for outdoor use. I just wanted to know if anyone know's the laws in relation to owning and storing such knives.

duckysauce · 04-04-2010 10:29pm

how did that paddle work out?

preacherman · 05-04-2010 10:26pm

BatMan 1993 wrote: »

Hi everyone, I just wanted to find out about the storage of knifes in this country. I am a bushcraft enthuasiast, and have 2 bushcraft knives, as well as a few handmade blades for outdoor use. I just wanted to know if anyone know's the laws in relation to owning and storing such knives.

Hi Batman, I have not read this myself but you can read the law in full here and interpret it for yourself.

http://www.acts.ie/en.act.1990.0012.4.html#partiii

Hope this helps

Crapbag · 06-04-2010 8:58am

duckysauce wrote: »

how did that paddle work out?

The paddle is coming along great. In hindsight, I would have used a different wood to pine. When it dried out, it is quite brittle and flakey to work with which is difficult when you are trying to be precise. Ill post up a picture when im done. I will also post up about my Sweden trip aswell. I forgot to put it here

Crapbag · 06-04-2010 9:13am

I didnt want to start a new thread for my little trip but I thought it would be nice to write about the trip in which I was looking for this jacket.

Our destination was a town called Sveg. Half way up Sweden and is proud to be the Bear capital of the country. Brown bears are the native species there. My aim for the trip was to get some cold weather experience and to test my gear, myself and my knowledge over the week. It wasnt a hardcore week of survival, rather a nice mix of learning new skills and enjoying the country.

Temperatures were -10 to -12 at max, so it wasnt exactly artic conditions. Although I was little disappointed, I was gonna make it count. My friend Pontus is a member of the Swedish survival guild and has experience in Canada, been to the tracker school in New Jersey, done a 3 month Residential program in Ireland and done Artic survival courses. So he is a bushcraft nut.

Out first challenge was to learn how to do a bit of Nordic (cross country) skiiing. We were using 1940s Swedish army ski's. For anyone who read 'Heroes of Telemark' this is the gear we were using.

We had to learn the basics of skiing as we intended to travel into Norway and back over a 2 day trip. This is us at the Norwegian border. Me on the far right.

We were accomodated in an amazing school for ancient skills called Bäckedals Folkhögskola. This school was dedicated to studying subjects such as blacksmithing, tanning, weaver, carving and ancient textiles. It was an incredible place to be.

We built a quinze and slept in one for a few nights before skiing into Norway. Reindeer hides instead of roll mats. It was great. Quinzes are very warm and a great bushcraft shelter

We also did the usual, fire lighting, water purification and edibles in the area.

All in all it was a fantastic trip. We learned lots of different skills from the students and also got out and about quite a bit. I would recommend Sweden to anyway. Beautiful country. So if you are interested in some of the things that I learned, here is a small list

- Wool, wool, wool and more wool. It is great stuff, there are alternatives but wool is great for these temperatures
- Attention to detail. When packing and having you kit ready. Make sure you have everything accessible to cold hands. Minimise the amount of bare skin that is exposed.
- You should be able to use most of your gear with gloves or mittens on
- Snow is a great insulator, as long as you dont touch it
- Drink lots of water as you expend more than normal in this kind of climate
- Give yourself plenty of time to set up as it gets dark early in winter
- A shovel is your home, bring one wherever you go. Dont sleep beside it if its metal.
- Layer up and down like a yoo-yoo to prevent getting too warm or too cold
- The inuit have a saying 'If you sweat, you die' so take care not sweat too much. Make sure you have spare clothes if you do
- Boots, hiking boots are crap for these conditions. The insulation allows water in which can freeze the boots at night. The Swedes have great boots for this climate that allows the inner boot to be removed and dried.
- When wearing wool socks, you still need to be able to wiggle your toes
- Leave your quinze to freeze before you dig it out. 1 hour at -20 was the figure I was given
- Learn how to spot hypothermia in yourself and others

Thats my 2 cents. Feel free to chip in with your experience.

irishlostboy · 06-04-2010 7:12pm

class trip mate! good to see you living it up. totally jelous of ya.

Crapbag · 25-05-2010 10:43am

For us forest dwellers who like our tea and shiney equipment, the idea of 'slumming it' is not in the bushcraft vocabularly. However as I challenge, we set out the idea of a days hike into an area, a camp and a hike out. Meaning, that all the nice equipment you just needed to walk out to the car for had to go. Shelter, water, food all had to suffer in order to get the 6km into the Muster hills and back out.

Each person had a personal challenge. The lads can come and say what they did but for me I wanted to make it harsh. As a hiker, I decided only to carry hiking equipment. My luxury item was a trangia pot. The only shelter equipment I was bringing was a 2 man bothy. I also had to last the 2 days on 1 litre of water with day hiker food, without building a shelter. So my challenge was more from a hikers perspective as I wanted to see how I did without the ability to purify water or scounge food. I wanted to experience the affects of de-hydration and fatigue on my ability to perform over a short period.

The Day itself was Gorgeous, 26 degree heat, clear blue skies and 7 enthusiastic bushcrafters ready to go. We hiked for about 4 hours in total to our wood. Most of us carrying less than half the usual weight. Our aim was to head towards a water source.

When we got there, our next step was to make a shelter. Indeed there were some impressive shelters made, with Kevins winning out and Andrews a close second for effectiveness. All made without axes or bow saws. Knives and leathermans were the only tool used.

Kevin in his shelter

Andrews shelter

After that we had to make fire and for once this was the easiest task given how dry the materials around were. In fact it was quite the opposite. We had to be careful where we were lighting it as bush fires are not unheard of in Ireland. A fire steel straight onto dry grass got it going in 10 seconds. Brilliant!

Personally I was in Bear Grylls mode and wanted to see how unpleasent a night out with nothing was and indeed. Take it from me, its ****. I froze my arse off in my bothy shelter and got about 45 minutes sleep in total. The clear night and northerly winds dropped the temperature down to below 5 degrees id say and we had cover from the forest. Still managed a smile though.

We were up at 5, mainly because none of us had a proper nights sleep and we were on the move by 7 and camp clean up. It was a fabulous weekend and definitely thought us all alot about roughing it.

Ill post some more photos when I get them off the GF's phone

preacherman · 25-05-2010 9:55pm

Nice one Donal,

My personal challenge on the weekend was slightly different to Donal but with similar results. The main thing to know about this weekend was that nobody had a sleeping bag, some had bivy bags and some had a tarp. This weekend was all about seeing what worked and didnt work and learning from it.

I carried 1 litre of water in a stainless bottle nested in a mug,(this gave me the potential to boil water for purification) a PET .5 litre juice bottle filled with water in my pocket for hydration on the move and a filter for when we found water.

In my pack I had the usual first aid kit, and a firesteel with a small amount of tinder, a bread roll and some cooked meat to make a sandwich and emergency snickers bars in the bottom of the pack.

I brought a poncho as raingear and potential shelter but I challenged myself to build a shelter on site using nothing more than a mora. I also packed a german army folding kipmat that I always have in my pack as a sit mat and a snugpak sleeka for the cool evening and of course the obligatory wooly hat.

I built my shelter in a natural hollow from deadfall around me and covered it with spruce boughs.

I insulated myself from the ground with more spruce boughs and slept on the kip mat in just the clothes I had on me. This mat is not by any means comfortable on its own as its made from a hard pvc type stuff a few mm thick but provided protection from prickly spruce boughs.

During the night it got nippy enough so I pulled the poncho over me to try and warm up, big mistake, the poncho being completely waterproof was trapping moisture and soaking the inside of the poncho and making me even colder. Lesson 1 learned...

We gathered water from a nearby stream which I filtered and then we all boiled in whatever containers we had. My stainless single walled bottle was ideal for this and left me with a full litre of purified water for the morning.

The point of this excercise was to see what we could learn from a night out with no gear and how it could teach us to pack in the future. We have read all the books and already know that you should pack just in case items in case something goes wrong but if you have to hike then volume and weight is an issue especially for an unfit fecker like me so what extra gear would I bring on a minimum kit basis the next time to ensure a more comfortable night.

1. A folding saw.... The mora did the job but I would have had a shelter up in no time if I had a saw. This will go back in the bag.
2. Gloves... During the night my hands were the coldest as they were exposed and gathering spruce boughs for the shelter would have been a hell of a lot more comfortable with gloves on. They go back in the bag.
3. Snugpack paratex bivi bag and thermalon liner... packs up small and doesnt weigh much. Worth the weight for a nights sleep. Back in the bag it goes.

Adding these three items to my bag will not weigh much but will make any night out a much more comfortable experience. In winter time extra clothing would be carried as well as waterproofs.

Obviously we could go the whole hog and pack the sleeping bag, tarp, axe etc., and we usually do, but this weekend was about learning and I think we all learnt something. A good weekend all round I would say.

Before we headed home we took time to "leave no trace" and return the site to the way we found it.

My shelter spot before we left....

The fire spot before we left.....

Andrew

neolithic · 03-09-2010 11:23pm

Out with the Bushcraft Club last weekend. Had a great weekend at our site . I arrived early ,it was the first time that I arrived first, so set about organising the site. Set up tripod brambles for cordage, worked fine. I then lit the fire, using flint and steel ,trying to take a few shortcuts but as everybody knows , piss poor prep equals piss poor performance. I had to go to my tinder bag take out some birch polypore and tinder fingus ( dried) and the fire was lit. Lucky for me I was on my own . Fire lit , the first thing to do was put on the kettle, after that every thing else seems easy. We had a couple of new people come out with us ( I won't mention names at this time as I don't know how feel about webstuff)
We had a great evening and discussed many bushcraft topics. I was asked could I use a Bow Drill to light a fire.
Next morning we eat a good breakfeast I had said that I would use the Bow Drill to start a fire, so I set about doing it,the first thing I said was that it's not something that you want to do after having a good meal ,so I started to Bow Drill . I then realised why I had said that. With a little luck and sweat sucess. Some of took a walk around the site it's great to see it coming to the end of summer. Blackberries galore
but just not ready to be picked yet. Looked at some Rose Bay Willow Herb
and spotted some Meadowsweet. All in all another great weekend I have
to say thanks to the two new people who came out to visit us one from Meath/Dublin and from Limerick/Estonia. Looking forward to the next meet already.
T

Rycn · 17-09-2010 10:54am

When is the next weekend?

Crapbag · 17-09-2010 6:27pm

Hey guys,

Sorry I havent been updating this thread lately. The club is still as active as ever. Next meet is 2nd/3rd of October

feck sake lads · 24-09-2010 10:26pm

don't think i would have the b...s to do what you guy's do fair play,can i as a silly question i'm sure most or all of you carry bush craft knives are they illegal:mad: like if a cop stopped you are you in trouble
on the subject of knives what is the best to buy ,on my cycle touring jaunts i use my swiss army knife .
thanks.

preacherman · 26-09-2010 12:32am

feck sake lads wrote: »

can i as a silly question i'm sure most or all of you carry bush craft knives are they illegal:mad: like if a cop stopped you are you in trouble
on the subject of knives what is the best to buy ,on my cycle touring jaunts i use my swiss army knife .
thanks.

We do own knives but we do not carry them in public areas as that would be illegal. They are stowed in packs until we actually need them much like any fisherman with a filleting knife in their box.

Which knife is best to buy depends on what you use it for. If you are on a cycling tour you are most likely carrying your shelter or staying in B&B etc so you will not need a fixed blade knife. We use a fixed blade knife because we rely on its strength to make shelter etc. but to be honest your average camper/tourist will do grand with a swiss army knife or my preference a Leatherman.

If you fancy buying a fixed blade knife you cannot go wrong with a Mora ... lightweight and cheap ..

Hope this helps

Andrew

luciusesox · 26-09-2010 1:19am

+1 to preacherman

My Leatherman is never off my belt but when I'm out camping etc I take one of my Moras and they've never let me down. Great blades, cheap, can make a shelter with them (battoning and splitting sizeable logs etc).

feck sake lads · 26-09-2010 3:19pm

Andrew great info thank's for the reply,although i probably will never go the route you guy's do I'm a big fan of ray mears/Bear grills did i spell that right:rolleyes:i had a look at ray mears bushcraft knife wow 300 sterling serious money .
anyway thanks again enjoy reading your adventures.;)

Crapbag · 27-09-2010 2:22am

feck sake lads wrote: »

don't think i would have the b...s to do what you guy's do fair play,can i as a silly question i'm sure most or all of you carry bush craft knives are they illegal:mad: like if a cop stopped you are you in trouble
on the subject of knives what is the best to buy ,on my cycle touring jaunts i use my swiss army knife .
thanks.

Knives are not illegal to carry but without a proper cause they are. The law around carrying knives is a grey area because it is enforced at the discretion of the Garda Siochana. Whether or not yours is a valid reason to have one is up to them. For instance, a tradesman who walks onto a building site with a leatherman (containing a knife) has a legitimate reason for having one but if he walks into a bar with the same leatherman on, he could be commiting an offence. My advice is to think very carefully where and when you bring your knife. Every time I bring my knife with me I ask myself the following:

"Is there another tool that can do the same job?"
"What would I tell a questioning Garda?"

There is no black and white here im afraid. You could be charged criminally for possessing it even if you felt you had a good reason. Better off to just play it safe. When in doubt, leave it out. If im out for a walk in a public woods, with allot of foot traffic, If I was to bring anything, it would be a secateurs and a small japanese saw.

Crapbag · 27-09-2010 2:52am

Recently we had a few bushcraft mates from the club meet up for a day of forging. This wasnt an official club meet as we are not insured to do this. So unofficially, we as friends met up to give it a go. I had done this before but the lads as experienced bushcrafters were dying to give it a bash (get it?.... ill get me coat)

Anyway this skill is not for total beginners and requires some safety considerations but after that, its great to try your hand at. Our goal was to make some working flint strikers to light fires with

Our forge consisted of, a beer keg with legs attached. An electric matress pump and a garden hose. Thats it. Some charcoal as fuel and a set of Steel suspension springs and we were set. Again I stress if you are interested in forging, learn from the experts. We are not!

There is an association for Irish blacksmiths

http://www.irishblacksmiths.com/

but as bushcrafters, our ethos is to improvise.

Our Forge

Trusty matress pump

Strike while the Iron (Steel) is hot!!

Taking shape. What an amazing colour!

The finished product.

This is a skill from out not so distant past that is still in use today. Making something like this really makes you appreciate the craftsmanship of more complicated pieces of work.

preacherman · 28-09-2010 12:49am

Good post Donal ..

preacherman · 04-10-2010 1:11am

Back in Jan 2007 a thread was started here that was the germination of what is now known as the Irish Bushcraft Club. While there are many people on here that have had some involvement in the formation of the club as we know it, and we thank them all, there would not have been any club without Donal Carroll. I know he won’t thank me for this but as he is heading to Canada on Tuesday I reckon I am safe...

Donal, as has been said before by others, is one of those rare people who actually does what he says he is going to do. There was a general consensus on here that our chosen hobby needed to be organised into a formal organisation so as to be accepted into mainstream outdoor pursuits. Through Donal’s persistence, the club became an official associate of Mountaineering Ireland in 2008. This has given us the ability to approach landowners and government bodies alike, with the legitimacy that Mountaineering Ireland gives us, so that we could pursue our hobby in areas that would have been inaccessible to us in the past. I think that it is fair to say that Bushcraft in Ireland would have remained an underground activity without Donal’s determination and persistence. An activity that may have once been regarded with some suspicion is now photographed and recorded on a public forum thanks to Donal (and Evil Phil

) and is generating more legitimate interest than ever. This is to Donals credit.

I think it was fitting that on Donal’s last Irish Bushcraft Club meet for now, in Cavan, over the weekend, that we had a particularly impressive turn out of experienced as well as potential new members to the club. At this meet Donal handed over the keys to the woods to our new President ... duly elected etc.

:D...Who I am sure will introduce himself over time::cool:;):D but this post is about saying thanks and farewell to Donal and Maire who will be missed by their friends.

I’m sure I won’t be alone in wishing ye both a safe journey and a great time away on your travels. Ye will both be missed and we look forward to seeing ye both again soon...

Take care

Andrew

PS its our club now:D:D:D

neolithic · 06-10-2010 8:55pm

Well said Preacherman. All true . As this was to be Donal's last meet in Ireland for a while we decided to do a final project something memorable that everyone could get involved and take part in so we decided to do a sweat lodge. And for anyone that was there I think they will agree that it was memorable!! :eek: I have just realised that it was the same weekend two years ago That I first met Donal at a gathering up in Northern Ireland. I had seen that He had set up the club and I made sure that I would be at their next meet. At that meet we were asked if anyboby was intrested in a sweat lodge. Most people were not intrested but Donal was one who was. I have looked back and seen some of the scary comments about semi naked men running through the woods. Maybe thats what karma is.
Watch this space as I feel we may be looking at The Canadian Bushcraft Club soon.
The IBC now know where we are going for our International meet next year.
Best of Luck and Happy Bushwacking.:D
I think Andrew meant to write,
P.S. It's our Club now Ha Ha Ha HaHaHa HaHaHaHa HaHa Haaaa Ha Ha:D:D:D:cool:

jamesieboy · 09-10-2010 11:31am

Best of luck Donal & Maire on your travels and thanks so much for all you've done. There would be no club without your hard work. We'll do our best to keep things running to your high standards in your absence!

Stay safe in the Canadian wilderness

Jim

irishlostboy · 12-10-2010 4:29am

didn't know Donal was off. been ages since i communicated with anyone here. remember the very first club meet well. shame i didn't get to many more.
Donal started something special with the bushcraft club. i wish him well in whatever he is doing.... and you lot, dont go break your new toy.

neolithic · 12-10-2010 7:40pm

irishlostboy wrote: »

.... and you lot, dont go break your new toy.

We haven't been able to get the wrapper of it yet

irishlostboy · 14-10-2010 2:48am

neolithic wrote: »

We haven't been able to get the wrapper of it yet

wat, with the number of sharp things you have in your posession? lol
here, i will lend ya one.

Celt_Ginger1 · 28-10-2010 10:00am

irishlostboy wrote: »

wat, with the number of sharp things you have in your posession? lol
here, i will lend ya one.

Love the Saw. Really nice job there.

neolithic · 30-10-2010 12:37am

Tim , thats a beauty, it reminds me of the first time I was out with The Bushcraft Club I brought a bow saw , the guys were looking at me as if to say where are you going with that. It was in November and as it got dark the temp went down to between -4 to-6 . We had spent the time before it was dark finding dead wood and cutting it up (bow saw) . As we sat beside the fire it was quite warm as we moved away it was very cold . I am pleased to say that all of the members that came out with us that night are still with us. Our next meet will be in Nov so I think the Bow Saw will be out again. Great to see that you have found us Gary, How does that bs compare to the rm bowsaw? Tim if you come across an anvil please let us know.
Tony.:D

Celt_Ginger1 · 30-10-2010 9:48am

I didn't like the Ray Mears Bow saw. The blade had a tendency to wander. It just didn't want to cut in a straight line. Having used a number of bow saws, my favourite one is a Bob Dustrude folding Buck saw. It's a superb bit of bushcraft kit. Folds completely flat, is very light weight and, at a full 24 inches gives a good long cut as well.

Le Loup · 03-11-2010 9:34pm

Your group sounds like a lot of fun, and if I was not 14 thousand miles away I would definately join you.
All the best.

neolithic · 04-11-2010 10:38pm

Thanks for the kind words, you're welcome to join us if you are ever over this way.
Tony

eoinkildare · 05-11-2010 1:37pm

Hello!
Can you guys recommend a website to buy a mora? i tried lakeland bushcraft but they don't ship to ireland.

Eoin

neolithic · 05-11-2010 9:59pm

http://www.heinnie.com/Knives/Mora-Knives/c-1-92-304/ or http://www.raymears.com/Bushcraft_Products/Knives/page/2/ . These are only two of many places. I have used both and have had good service from both. Check out the postage on both to see who will give you the best deal.

preacherman · 06-11-2010 10:40pm

http://www.survivalschool.co.uk/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=2&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=9&vmcchk=1&Itemid=9

No postage fee from here ... I have used them myself several times and can recommend them.

Andrew

eoinkildare · 08-11-2010 10:26pm

Cheers lads, thanks for the responses.
Tony I'll chat to you at the next meet and decide on one.
Thanks again,
Eoin

Mac2010 · 10-11-2010 3:04am

Hello guys I'm originally from Mongolia and Didnt know the meaning of the word "BUSHCRAFT" until a few seconds ago.(English is my second language):D This is the exact thread I have been looking for ages...I used todo this kinda stuff when i was kid.Hopefully I'll learn alot of stuff from u's:) most of the above photos look cool.

neolithic · 25-11-2010 12:47am

We were back in Cavan again last weekend. We stayed Friday and Saturday night. We spent time around the fire carving and getting back to basics. Friday night was very relaxed around the camp fire, I arrived about 8.30 the fire was lit and the kettle was on thanks to our newest member.
As usual the talk around the fire was very entertaining. Saturday was spent looking at some of the plants we have in the area , looking at the various tinders local to us and different methods of fire lighting. We also found a large Birch Polypore which can be used as a plaster when cut into thin strips ( as some one who was there can prove, no names mentioned).
We then spent time making some camp furniture and carving . A great weekend with temps just above 0'C . Looking forward to the snow.

Le Loup · 25-11-2010 1:08am

Warming up here but plenty of rain, so I guess trekking and camping will be slowing down untill next autumn. The rain means lots of frogs, and frogs attract snakes. A beggar when you are weeding in the garden!
Thought I would post our latest group promo video. Unfortunately it has the wrong forum address on it, but I still think it is a great 30 second film.
Our new forum is at: http://eighteenthcenturylivinghistory.freeforums.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go3i6FP4m3o

neolithic · 02-12-2010 1:04am

Hi Will,
Thanks for your kind words and we are always intrested in listening to advice and stories about our chosen subject. We arrange weekends away eleven months of the year through Summer and Winter, we find that we are learning all the time and there is nothing like getting out and experiencing it for yourself. We don't promote commercial courses as a Club . We have as a Club attended community weekends in various parts of Ireland. I have copied the introduction thats on our website below.

The Bushcraft club is Ireland's first official club dedicated towards the study and practice of Bushcraft and primitive living skills. The aim of our club is to practice the skills of bushcraft and primitive living in a community of like minded people. We do not run any commercial courses but we welcome complete beginners to veterans of bushcraft. All we ask in return is respect for other members and for the resources which we use. If you are interested in joining the club or you simply just wish to talk about bushcraft matters, please check out our forum or email us.

Because we are a non commericial Club,I wish you luck with your new business but this may not be the best place to advertise.
Tony.

will and away · 02-12-2010 2:52pm

Tony,

Thanks for the message.... I'll be sure not to use this tread for advertising purposes.

I'll keep track of it though and maybe we'll get to bump into each other out there.

It's nice to have people to share a bit of knowledge with and to learn from each others experiences.

Crapbag · 02-12-2010 4:20pm

Enjoying the new role as president Tony? ;-) How did the Ray Mears thing go? Ill have to update you guys with some photos from Canada. Havent done much but I think I found some Black Bear tracks in Whistler. Then again, you sometimes find what you want to find :-)

neolithic · 16-12-2010 10:56pm

Looks like this is turning into "The Bushcraft Sales Tread"
T.

neolithic · 18-12-2010 12:23am

Commercial Posting

Topics/posts that contain commercial advertising will be both edited and locked. If you wish to buy ad space, contact sales@boards.ie.
This includes charities running events.
It also includes businesses running free events/courses/whatever.
Commercial threads will be deleted, repeat offenders will banned.
Boards.ie is not market research tool - try to use the Outdoor Pursuits forum as one and your thread/post will be deleleted. You will be banned.

Davy ,
Thanks for your post, I have seen your website and admire your products. It's great to see an Irishcraftsman. As a member of the Bushcraft Club we are trying to keep this tread non commercial .
Thanks
T.

Crapbag · 18-12-2010 2:12am

Agreed, guys we would really like to support the home grown industry for bushrcraft. Really we would but there is a place for it and its not on this thread or the boards im afraid. If you are interested in bushcraft and want to advertise, than contact the club directly for a link. This thread would not be viewed if it was full of Ads and right now it has good ratings because of its current content. Dont take it as a personal attack, its just how the forum works.

Evil Phil · 21-12-2010 5:49pm

Sorry folks, been AFK for a few days.

hick · 17-01-2011 9:30pm

Lads pleasure to meet yis yertderday up in Cavan @ club HQ
Have to say much respect to everyone for pitchin up a tarp in this

76FADBB511F94B2F815CA5564D428115-0000326051-0002126946-00240L-00000000000000000000000000000000.jpg

but luckily enough we were ready for anything mother nature threw at us, Noah dropped by and knocked up a handy vessel, god bless all who sail in her

052695EBC0914CFDAA9D71396CA6583B-0000326051-0002126944-00240L-00000000000000000000000000000000.jpg

Thankfully before we were all torn assunder with the hunger Jim pitched in with his latest purchase

I mean accessory which he's had for ages. Of course it was dark by the time we figured out how to turn the feckin thing on!!!

70B88770C64048169905521073463FCD-0000326051-0002126942-00240L-00000000000000000000000000000000.jpg

Look forward to getting together at the next meet which may be under a tarp with a laptop and 3g card in phoenix park by all accounts!!

PS I believe the committee may deciding on whether calls/txt's may be made after dark from now on

PPS thanks to Andrew for putting me onto the right thread!!!

neolithic · 18-01-2011 9:56pm

Great to have you along Hick.
The first meet of the New Year.The weather was pretty wet. It's always good to have your gear put to the test. I'm looking forward to next month already.
I have to say that modern technology is great, a phone that tells you it's raining when you are ..................sitting in the ...............rain

T

hick · 21-01-2011 8:09pm

and it begins

1AAD6B724AF54F9CA01AC3C4B286340D-0000326051-0002133960-00320L-89ACF62472A047B5A00C7AF49BF665BA.jpg

preacherman · 21-01-2011 11:07pm

Ah ... I remember the days .... new packages arriving weekly ... pretending you've had the gear for years ... hiding the credit card statement ....:D

Andrew

Nagura · 09-02-2011 9:20pm

Guys,
Really enjoyed the weekend and good to meet you all.Thanks Andrew for your help with the Tarp, practice makes perfect!!

I'm raging i missed the Feb meet in the Galtees but hope you all had a good time. the weather seemed a bit rough, but i'm sure this just added to the outing.

hope to see you all for the March meet.

Gearóid

preacherman · 09-02-2011 10:30pm

No bother Gearoid, hopefully we will see you next month.

It was a bit damp last weekend alright

We have appointed a new club secretary/PR guru who was supposed to put up a report from the hike but he mustn't have dried out enough yet to go near electricity. I'm sure he will be along soon with a few pics from the weekend

Andrew

hick · 10-02-2011 12:22am

The 2nd outing of the year took the club down south this time.

The 10am start kicked off at 10.45 much to the chagrin of The President who is currently considering a new tardiness policy. The commitee is to ratify th new "If they turn up late they'll be left behind in future policy" at the next meet, this will superceed the "Should of left 'em behind" policy that was tabled on the day.

The camp was preceeded by a 5k hike up the side of the mountain and tree line through what what started out as a light rain but gradually increased throughout the day. Not long up the road I took some footage of the impressive flow of what is normally a large mountain stream but that day it was nature showing off. At this spot last May a few of the guys popped in for a paddle, needless to say there were no takers this day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x60HVuakfwI

The hike although wet was great and despite the beautiful views the highlight was the river crossing. Due to the route and heavy rain we were faced with trying to cross the river at an awkward point just before we arrived at the site.

10AE002565D84F2A9ED47DC94FE681CE-0000326051-0002159066-00240L-00000000000000000000000000000000.jpg

A lot of scouting was required and minor reroute to find an appropriate point to cross. Luckily for us we came across a point where there were some stones and we were able to cross using the fallen branches from on old dead beech tree.

E5C637F31A744A9BA62320595BF89C4D-0000326051-0002159064-00240L-00000000000000000000000000000000.jpg

We finally got to the site at about 14.30 and nearly everyone chipped in setting up the tarp for the camp and getting firewood, which was some craic given how wet it all was. We got the fire going about 16.00 and some folk began setting up their shelters while others continued getting the firewood. There were 8 of us out on the day so plenty was needed, incidently 2 newbies. Thankfully everyone got set up cos as ye can see below it didn't clear up much!

151BF6F7C3584BD488EAB7BA77871239-0000326051-0002159078-00240L-00000000000000000000000000000000.jpg

Most of us got dinner by 19.00 and then a few headed off for an early night, yes some of us need 14 hours sleep it seems!!!! The rest of us stayed up till around 10 before heading to bed. The main theme from this trip was ensuring you are prepared in future. Whether it's the right kit, from shoes to wet gear, or just a map so you know where to go, planning a trip such as this with as many folk in these conditions means that you have to be well prepared and I think the whole team got a good lesson out of this trip.

The camp rose round 8.30 and we got to making fire and breakfast
and some of us got to enjoy this view over a bowl of porridge.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMq6SHeRftI

We took a more direct route back down to the carpark and got back down in good time, hitting the cars at around 12

A motley damp crew!

A298ADBF83894240AC330C826C8FE019-0000326051-0002159074-00240L-00000000000000000000000000000000.jpg

More updates to follow later
thanks to gris for the photos

Bushcraft Club thread

Comments