Bushcraft Skills

Whyner

I thought it would be good to share bushcraft skills. Perhaps you know some edible plants or tracking techniques. I'm not experienced myself but would like to make more of my hikes.

I plan on trying out the bow drill fire technique soon. What would be the best wood to use for the various parts?

For those not familiar with this it is a friction method to create a coal which can then be carefully placed in some tinder which will shortly cause a flame.

I think it's possible to pick up one small bushcraft skill everytime you hike. The knowledge is the difficult part. I plan on doing some courses soon so that I'll have something to build on.

So, has anyone successfully created fire with the bow drill or any other bushcraft technique?

Evil Phil

There Irish Bush Craft club started her on this forum so there's a lot of people who are interested. They're website is http://www.irishbushcraftclub.org/ but they're all regulars here.

Myself I'm developing an interest in hedgerow and wild foods as I love to cook. Don't know much about it yet other than what and elderflower looks like (and hemlock :pac:).

woundedknee

A good wood to use is Sycamore for the hearth and spindle with a harder wood such as oak or ash for the bearing block. I have used a few different woods and have found sycamore to be very reliable. Try to get dead free standing wood and then its a lot of practice. A good book on wild foods would be Wild Foods by Roger Philips.

preacherman

In my experience of the bowdrill it can be very frustrating in this country because of the residual moisture content in our wood. I would reccommend using a piece from a skirting board etc. as a hearth board and a drill carved from a bit of 2x1 or 2x2 as your practice kit to begin with.

Getting an ember is hard going at first and takes lots of practice, trying out different lengths/widths of drill to see what works best for you is best done using the woods above. Get yourself some good string for the bow as the bowing action frays inferior string quickly. Pullchord for lawnmowers etc. is good stuff for this job.

As you walk in the woods you can gather dead standing willow, hazel, or ivy etc to make your second kit after it has seasoned indoors for a while.

Over time you should be able to use dead standing wood found at source and make a kit from that, but that only comes with lots of practice in my experience.

Hope this helps

Andrew

Whyner

Great advice, cheers.....

I'm going to try and get some pieces together this Saturday and see how I go

Luckily I'm patient

preacherman

Good luck with that.

I was shown how to use the bowdrill for the first time during the summer and I was frustrated myself until one of the lads recommended the skirting board for a first kit. At least you know it is dry enough and that it is just technique that has to be worked on.

Andrew

irishlostboy

ya, bowdrills are a tough one even when all the materials are correct it can be hit and miss. this is where hands-on practice comes in. and meeting up and sharing info with others. regards fire, remember there are a number of ways in which you can make fire. probably the easyist (natural) way is flint and steel. (meaning the real flint rock and lump of metal.) bit of charcloth, some good dry bits of tinder to get it going, and you are right. i have some spare flint that was kindly sent to me from a nice fella in antrim a while back, and next bushmeet i will give it out to the needy. you need to find your own steel though.
the man-made fire steels are good too. i also always carry some back-up fire stuff. shredded tyre innertubing and a tampon. this is for when you really NEED fire, and cannot afford the luxury of messing with sticks. thankfully i have never needed to use this kit.
regards edible foods, this is a curious area for us all i think. the natural land produces such an amount of edible plants. identifying them all takes time and practice. then being able to actually stomach them can be a pain. a lot of them are not really all that tasty. (but some can surprise you) time of year is an important factor.
evil phil; my mom makes a GREAT elderflower sparkling drink. i will try get the recipie off her.
whyner; definately join up with our bushcraft club. it is winter now, and a lot of people are busy and the weather is ....blah blah etc, but we will be meeting up sometime soon. at these things there is always things you can learn.

Evil Phil

Hugh Fernly Whatshisface has a good recipe for Elderflower champagne but I didn't get around to making it this year

loz

preacherman wrote: »

In my experience of the bowdrill it can be very frustrating in this country because of the residual moisture content in our wood.

Lies Andrew !!!!!!

joking.

My first set was b&q pine !

preacherman

Seeing as you were the first one to show me the bowdrill I will let you off with that slanderous statement

As you know even the instructors had problems with my kit that day. :rolleyes:

I have taken good advice since then and raided the kindling pile for a hearth board and drill. I have a bit of teak for the bearing block. I can't blame the tools now

Andrew