Kit : Bushcraft Fire Kit

Fire lighting has been one of my favourite skill to learn in bushcrafting. To me fire lighting comes in to different forms, firstly being the no fuss fire or sure fire and for this I carry a lighter and some home-made tinder tabs (made from rolled up make-up removal pads wrapped in cotton to hold its shape and dipped into wax to waterproof them)

These tabs can be cut open to reveal some of the cotton material and the wax acts as a flame extender. If I want a fire without any fuss this is what I use to get it going.  These tabs can be ignited by a lighter or a ferro rod and burn for about five minutes. 

The second form of fire lighting is using traditional methods, when I have more time to relax and can take time to start a fire I enjoy using a flint and steel striker kit. 

The kit contains the striker and flint along with a tin of char cloth and some coal extenders (birch  polypore (Piptoporus betulinus) and cramp balls/King Alfred's Cake (Daldinia concentrica) When out in the woods I collect material to make a tinder bundle to ignite into flame. If the materials are damp I attempted to dry these by storing them in my pockets, hopefully by the time I will need them they will be dry.  Failing the natural tinder bundle the kit also contains a small amount of jute twine to make a tinder bundle.

Fire by friction is another method of fire lighting that is practised but I rarely use this method to get a fire going. I find this a great skill to have so I attempt to  get a flame by friction a few times a year. Currently my fire kit contains some cordage for the bow, however my aim is to successfully start a fire using some natural cordage made when in the woods. 

I also carry a lens to allow fire by sunlight, rarely used but nice to have. the lens is stored in some rubber inner tube which give me another method of surefire with the lighter.

When out in the woods I always have a second lighter and a ferro rod on my personal.

Kit Contents

Pouch - Maxpedition M-2 Waistpack

Outside Pocket Contents

• Small tin (contents : Wax covered cotton tinder tabs)
• Lighter

Inner Pocket Contents

• Birch bark
• Lens
• Large tin (contents : flint and steel striker, charcloth in small tin, jute twine, slow match, birch polypore, crampballs)
• Small ferro rod

Tool : Crook Knife

Whilst attending the CLA Game Fair at Blenheim Palace I purchased a Lauri Hook Blade from English Handmade Knives stall, I had wanted to try my hand at handling a stick tang blade for a while.

The gentleman at the stall gave me some tips on how best to go about handling the blade as well as a helpful fact-sheet.

The Lauri Hook Blade dimensions are 60x18 mm

The first job was to cut down the stick tang to the required length and then file down the brass bolster to fit the blade.

For the handle I used a piece of Sycamore, after squaring the end off I marked out where the stick tang would go.

Using the drill press I removed most of the required material, after that it was a simple matter of filling out the fit the profile of the blade.

Once the blade was fitting nicely I marked out the handle shape.

Clamping the handle into a vice I cut the handle to shape, from here I sanded the handle to the shape I wanted.

At this point I used some epoxy resin to set the blade in the handle, once set I did a final sanded down until smooth and fitted nicely in my hand.

Night Out : First Night Out At The New Permission

After several years of trying to get a local permission for overnighters and general bushcraft activities it has finally happened.

Recently my brothers friend Dave has started joining us out camping, over a camp fire chat he mentioned he does some work for a guy who has some woodland. After a few phone calls we  got permission to use the woodland for what ever we wanted to do.

Turns out the guy owns 5 acres, but he wanted to confirm with another guy who owns the rest of the woods that it would be OK for use to be in the woods.

This week we got the green light.

Originally I was on a ban from nights out as my daughter was born only a few weeks ago, but with a bit of smooth talking SWMBO gave me the second green light of the week.

So 30 minutes later my brother Bev, Dave and myself were heading out to the woods.

Soon the tarps started to going up

Mine

Dave

As it was a late start to the day it soon became dark and dinner was cooked and eaten.

Firewood was plentiful, bearly having to move to get some.

For the rest of the night was camp fire TV and campfire discussion

The guys started some late night carving, I warned them to keep they eyes on their fingers as I left them too it, being a second time dad I was already tired.

6am I was up

And found my brother just about in his hammock (after feeling a bit restricted he made a late night adjustment)

I thought I better get back to my baby girl and mommy so packed up early and headed home, with strict instructions on how to deal with the remains of the fire.

Back to the cars (on a short walk due to getting to the woods late it didn't give much time to explore)

And I headed out

Stopping at Costa to get some croissant for SWMBO as a breakfast her letting me out on early parole for good behaviour.