Tarp patterns from DD

Thought this might be of use, shows various tarp patterns and pitching variations. There are quite a few of these online, if you find any more, post it and lets see em! www.ddhammocks.com/tips/tarp-tutorial

Corracle - how to make and use one

Just spotted this link on how to make a corracle for fishing and general river, lake crossing ... Looks like fun! www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcAzWOBAfo8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Stoves and stove building

Here is a link you must see Just been sent this link for all you stove builders out there, this site is a cracking site if you enjoy making your own stoves for the trail. Big ones small ones simple ones and tech ones .... Knock yourselves out and give em a go" http://zenstoves.net/Stoves.htm

Choosing the right Bushcraft Knife

A bushcraft knife is a very individual thing, we all have our preferences, but when we look at a bushcraft knife there are a few pointers that I think most people will agree on.. Iit’s important to carefully consider what jobs you’ll need your knife for, and there are knives made specifically for certain jobs, for example skinning and filleting. For Bushmen who rely heavily on their knives as all-purpose tools, there are a few things to look for in an all pourpouse bushcraft knife. A Bushcraft knife is generally suited for light and medium duties, such as skinning game, general food preparation, carving wood, cooking, making feather sticks, shaving tinder and so on. You can choose these in either fixed blade or a folder, but generally a fixed blade is best for endurance and for reliability.as your knife needs to be able to withstand splitting heavy wood, chopping through  branches, prepping material to make a shelter, splitting wood for the fire

KEY FEATURES:

BLADES
Bushcraft knives are generally about 4 to 5 inches long, which is a good compromise between size and dexterity. As we talked about, you’ll want a knivs for finer work so a small or medium sized blade allows you to do finer work than a large blade.  I still refrain from buying anything larger than 6-8 inches, but again this is a personal preference, partially determined by your environment. There are exceptions where you choose a machette or perang over an axe for chopping

ALLOY
There are many types of alloys which are used to make the blades. Most often you’ll have to choose between stainless steel for your blade, or carbon steel. As a rule of thumb, carbon steel is harder than stainless steel and will stay sharp longer. Most people prefer carbon steel for this very reason, as having to resharpen your blades continuously is rather inconvenient to say the least. The downside is once carbon steel is dull, it’s more difficult to resharpen. Stainless steel also tends to cost more, because it’s more complicated to manufacture than other types of steel. A warning to the wise, some people believe stainless steel is impervious to rust. This is not true, so caring for your knife, wether you choose stainless or carbon steel, properly is important regardless.

GRIND
One last thing we need to know about blades is the grind. This is the shape of the sharp edge. The two most common are the Scandinavian grind or scandi grind, and the Flat grind. The scandi grind is used on thinner blades that require a very sharp, keen edge, where the flat grind is usually found on thicker blades. The flat grind will not dull quite as fast, but the tradeoff is it’s not as sharp, but only mildly so. Neither are difficult to resharpen.

HANDLE
The Tang is the part of the blade that sticks into the handle. This is where the handle attaches to the blade. This is one area where you should not compromise because it greatly affects the strength and durability of your knife. Look for what is called a Full Tang. The blade and tang are one solid piece of steel. A full tang is the same size as the handles, and the handle is often visible around the edge of the handle. Generally the handle is two pieces sandwiched around the tang. Some knives have a hidden full tang, so it’s not as apparent, but always check, if you’re not sure.
Stay away from those “survival knives” with the hollow handle full of useless tools. This greatly compromises strength and is not suitable for serious outdoor work.

As far as handles go for your bushcraft knife, you’ll want one that fits comfortably in your hand and offers a grip that will not be slippery, especially when wet. There are hundreds of knives that look stunning with a fancy, designer handle, but in the back country, your outdoors knife needs function over form first. Stag bone, seems to be a popular choice. Ask around for the best bushcraft knife recommendations from someone you trust, try some out, borrow from friends if you can. Your knives will get wet, so you may want to see how it performs under different conditions, you dont want it slipping out of your hands! You will know if the handle is for you after working with it for a few hours.

FURTHER INFORMATION
For more information on Knives and the specialists that make them, there are two great sites/forums where you can learn everything there is to know about knives. You can even purchase custom built knives there too.
They are UK Blades forum and European Blades forum.

Kind regards
Shiver

The 4 Fundamentals of Bushcraft

There are 4 basic fundamentals that you need to follow for survival or bushcraft, they are as follows, in order of importance.

1.Shelter
2.Water
3.Fire
4.Food

1. Shelter, If you believe to be in a survival situation shelter is the most important preparation, without it you are exposed to the elements and things go from bad to worse without one. Protection from sun will help preserve valuable water content in your body, prevent hypothermia in cold climates and keeps spirits up, if you are dry and warm/cool depending on climate you will function better. A shelter will keep you and your gear dry, making fire lighting easier and helping you to plan out your next move. Remember, you can become hypothermic even in summer months, all it takes is for you to get caught in the rain and the temperature to drop and a breeze to pick up and prety soon you will be in difficulty. Always spend the time and make a good shelter first off, hopefully you wont need to make another one for a while, so build it while you have good strength and are fit to carry out the work. If food becomes a problem you dont want to waste valuable food energy rebuilding one later on. Remember choosing your shelters location can be as important as building one. Choose an area thats not prone to flooding or that is in an exposed or dangerous area.

2. Water, hydration is very important, you will need to find and purify your water, by boiling, chemical sterilisation, filtration or all of the fore mentioned. You will find that your body constantly uses water when you eat food and when you work hard, through sweat, building shelters or collect wood etc. Secure a safe area, contamination free, for water collection and a means of collecting it. A condom packed in a survival tin can be used to carry water, plastic bags can be used to get water from plants and for collecting dew, rivers and lakes are the obvious choice, but water will need to be boiled, so secure the items needed for collection and boiling.which leads us on to the next point, which is third in our priority list (fire for sterilisation of water)

3. Fire, creates warmth and the ability to cook food forraged from your surroundings. The ability to steralise your drinking water is of great importance killing off most bugs and bacteria found naturally in water. Don't forget that a fire also creates smoke to reveal your position should you need to be found in a rescue situation, smoke can be easily seen from the air during daytime and it also gives you light. During the night it will  keep away unwanted visitors in the night such as wild animals. Fire is man's friend and has always entertained people giving them a sense of security and a sense of home a base to work from .... believe me, all the little comforts will make the difference when you are in the wild for a long time.

4. Food, once you have the 3 main tasks complete, you can start to forrage or hunt for food, you will be hungry by now and food will be an important task from here on in. Catching fish by line fishing, tickling fish by hand or spearing, netting, are all viable ways to take food from a lake or river. snares for open rabbit runs or bird traps, these can be left and checked every 8-12 hours. if you have time you may wish to make spears or bows to help hunt rather than trap, it will take your mind of things a bit and help you focus on something positive. If you are bushcrafting, rather than surviving out of necessity, you may have a firearm with you for hunting which will greatly increase your chances for killing eddible game.

These are the 4 basic necessities you should secure first and in the correct order, following these guidelines will make life a whole lot easier for you. feel free to share your ideas and pictures of your camps and shelters, we would love to hear from you and how you set up your living areas for survival or bushcraft.

Stay safe and be prepared.
Shiver