The start of my archery classes has been postponed for a week so I thought that as my blog roll has been expanding recently I’d do a round up of who has been added, and why they deserve a read.
Living Primitively
If you’ve every thought about putting your bushcraft and hunting skills to the test Torjus’s site is a must. He’s living in the back country hunting and fishing for food and doing some cool projects.
Jeremiah Quinn - The Fly Guy On The Fly
As recommended by the UrbanFlyFisher a nice site with some cool pix. he describes himself 'Writer, director, washed up boxer and incompetent, but passionate fly fisherman'.
I’m a big fan of urban fishing and fly fishing will be next on the bushwackers learning agenda after archery.
Decado's Bushcraft
A relatively new blog with a bushcraft-meets-ultra light hiking theme (so far).
Best of all he said nice things about me, making him one of the good guys!
Jon’s bushcraft site
Jon’s site has the best tutorials of any of the bushcraft sites I’ve seen.
A very good artisan, and by the looks of things a very good explainer too.
Wayland the professional Viking of Raven Lore
His cooking stove has cult following on some bushcraft sites, you can see why.
Great photography and some serious craft skills.
Wayland makes a living being a Viking! Well played Wayland!
Enjoy
Bushwacker.
A tubby suburban dad watching hunting and adventure shows on TV and wondering could I do that? This is the chronicle of my adventures as I learn to learn to Forage, Hunt and Fish for food that has lived as I would wish to myself - Wild and Free.
Sunday, 14 October 2007
Saturday, 13 October 2007
When Going Nuts, First Take A Leek.
Been a while hasn’t it? I’ve been ‘up north’ with The Northern Monkey and on my return the lair of the Bushwackers has suffered from water ingress, so I’ve had to dedicate the last few days to plumbing.
The chestnuts are now on form at more northerly latitudes, and I promised I’d post a recipe for my pal The Northern Monkey.
If you’re fortunate enough to be picking your chestnuts off the ground (as opposed to buying them) early picking really seems to help processing, as the dew makes the skins are a little more flexible.And of course your beating the competition to the last nights crop.
When I started using the SharpMaker on everything in the house with a blade, I noticed that I habitually started the sharpening stroke a little way down the blade and this has given my F1 a very slight (1mm) curve with a steeper blade angle on the 5mm nearest the handle. And I’ve started to see this as a lucky accident. The slight curve made the ideal ‘nicker’ for opening the skins and then peeling them off.
Once you get inside the nut you get to the pith which when fresh and damp is much easier to scrape off. If your roasting your chestnuts the pith isn’t really a problem as it crisps up inside the shell and falls off. When you buy pickled or dried chestnuts from the deli they are perfectly pithless, just beautiful ‘brain like’ orbs of, well, yummy-ness.
I’ve always wanted my gathered chestnuts to look like that too. This year I’ve gotten a bit closer.
As I was peeling, I put them into salted cold water, then blanched them in boiling salted water, before plunging them into cold water. Quite a few more ended up skinless this year. It was all pretty time consuming; a carrier bag three quarters full took four hours to go from park to freezer.
Despite this success I had no joy at all remembering that, while my thumb nail is the ideal peeling tool, its my nail-bed that pays the price for the next few days. Ouch!
For the next batch:
I have a boning knife (somewhere?) that has an exaggerated curve at the start of the blade, I’m interested to know how it works out. Also I’ve just learned that the tannin rich skins were extensively used in traditional hide tanning, either dried or fresh. Which will be handy as TNM has a source of unprocessed deer hides. Sadly the skins off the first lot are already in the compost heap.
If any of you have any pointers on how to get a skinless finish they’d be much appreciated.
Marrons du Gallois or to you and me ‘Welsh Chestnuts’
Your going to need:
Leeks (easy to grow or buy)
Cream (Organic unpasteurised is best)
Splash of white wine (maybe a Chardonnay)
Hand picked-hand processed-artisan chestnuts (or failing that ones from the shop).
Shallots (onions wont really do it)
Pancetta (or ‘dry cure’ bacon pieces not the factory farmed watery stuff )
Garlic
Fry the bacon in its own fat until its got some colour leaving the bacon fat in the pan set the bacon aside.
Slice the shallots and garlic as thinly as you can and add them to the pan, reducing the heat to a flicker. Put a lid on the pan and sweat them to a syrupy mush.
While that’s happening you can thinly slice the leeks LENGTHWAYS so the slices look almost like spaghetti.
When the shallots and garlic are really slimy in go the chestnuts, bacon, and the wine.
Turn up the heat to evaporate the alcohol, and reduce by about ten percent.
Pour in the cream and as it starts to reduce add the leeks.
Its important to time the last bit so the cream reduces enough while the leeks are still a vibrant colour. Better under cooked than over cooked for the leeks.
Serve with
Pie crust: (to guarantee a perfectly cooked crust with no nasty stodgy bits, I cook the crust separately – just roll it out put it on a baking tray and stick it in the oven)
Pasta: I vote for papadeli!
Mashed potatoes: or better still mashed potatoes with forest mushrooms stirred into them!
If you’ve got any left add milk and water, wiz the whole lot up in a food processor to make a great soup.
Hope you're all well, thanks for reading
Bushwacker
Thursday, 4 October 2007
Mother! Behave Yourself!!
Just in case you didn’t believe me when I told you about the foraging septuagenarian matriarchs!
As I was taking this picture I got into conversation with one of the park guys who told me he blamed the current crop of wildfood TV show’s.
“They only show cooking, people don’t know when they’re ripe and they just try and pull ‘em down. It’s a problem for us”.
Keep ‘em peeled
Bushwacker
“They only show cooking, people don’t know when they’re ripe and they just try and pull ‘em down. It’s a problem for us”.
Keep ‘em peeled
Bushwacker
Shh Keep 'em Under Your Hat
They've arrived! Ripe and ready to gather!
I picked (picked up?) this crop yesterday.
Had a few for tea, after last nights running club.
More details and Recipes in my next post
(I didn’t have a camera with me and there’s something in the park I want to show you)
Bushwacker
Saturday, 29 September 2007
Is That A Survival Kit In Your Pocket?
Viridari was kind enough to post a comment on my last post so i visited his site
where i saw this - great isn't it!
Reading a few of his other posts i found out about the Every Day Carry Forum.
A site where guys boast about who has the smallest......
Not something you hear everyday!
Bushwacker
where i saw this - great isn't it!
Reading a few of his other posts i found out about the Every Day Carry Forum.
A site where guys boast about who has the smallest......
Not something you hear everyday!
Bushwacker
Friday, 28 September 2007
A Round Toit

I’ve just added a bushcraft blog by lad called Leon to my blog roll.
If you’ve ever fancied learning some bushcraft skills but not gotten round to it YET his enthusiasm and experiences may give you some impetus.
Careful with those sharps now!
Bushwacker.
Round toit
Thursday, 27 September 2007
Those New Chestnuts
Like the our pal the American Bushman I’m noticing the shift in the seasons; London was decidedly nippy today, and the prelude to last nights fitness training was a drum roll of chattering teeth as we gathered at the park gate.
I’m not sure where it went (I’ve even been having salad for breakfast!) but I’d certainly let things slide in the last week. The regime of running, sit ups, burpees, star jumps and press ups seemed almost as tortuous as the first time I attended. I sweated like a carthorse and my legs felt like I had tree trunks tied to them. Having struggled and slithered across the wet grass praying for the strength to continue or at least a merciful end to the torment.
Having survived I started to think of myself as a rather heroic figure. Back at home; as I lay panting and moaning on the front room floor, I was quickly disabused of even this crumb of comfort. Mrs SBW delivered a ‘motivational’ lecture about the ads she seen on TV where tubby fellas of a certain age are putting their health at risk by eating and drinking to their harts content. She succinctly pointed out that it was my harts (fat) content that means it’s not a choice. I will be going back, rain or shine, like it or not.
As Carl the PTI keeps pointing out “there’s plenty of time to think about it later, just do it”.
The park is the site of an ancient hunting ground and although we’re denied the chance to shoot (or even trap) the squirrels or stalk the deer there are still some foraging opportunities to be had. I’ve only ever had chestnuts and puffball mushrooms, but my foraging days have only just begun there must be more edible species for a re-wilded bushwacker to find. The chestnuts are getting a little riper but the first sightings of the granny migration that signals their ripeness are still a little way off.
It would seem I’m not the only person visiting the park hoping to invoke the aid of the gods, I saw this offing left at the foot of one of the bigger chestnuts trees.
The history of the site as a place of worship is at least as old as the roman invasion/settlement of Brittan. Discovered in 1902 the park has the remains of the mosaic floor of a roman shrine, supposedly dedicated to Diana the Huntress an imported deity the Romans took to their harts.

The area is steeped in history; first as a hunting ground and later as a pleasure park for the royals. Just as the invasion/settlement of Virginia was getting under way Le Notre (the gardener to Louis XIV) was commissioned by king Charles II to design the layout of the park we see today. The avenues of Sweet Chestnuts were planted from Spanish seed and some of them are now 400 years old.
I was more than a little off in my tree-size-estimate this fella is 24.5 feet around the trunk!
More trunk reduction for the bushwacker to follow – thanks for reading everbody
Bushwacker
Monday, 24 September 2007
Life After 50
Pablo has asked what I’ll happen when I reach my goal.
Been thinking about this myself; when it started I thought the project would last a couple of years. But as anyone who’s met Mrs SBW will tell you there is no end to her DIY ambitions and they are a major drain on my resources.
This year’s program is largely about fitness and archery practice, with some field craft and collecting and cooking wildfoods along the way.
Before I go after Mr Elk here are a few things I NEED so they’ll be ‘just a little bit’ of kit collecting! To insure I make it back in one piece I’m going to be attending and reviewing some survival, tracking and bushcraft schools.
Once Mr Elk is safely in our freezer, (with his antlers out of harms way on my wall) there are some other hunting and fishing challenges. Cutthroat Trout in Colorado, Upland Pheasants in South Dakota, Sanglier (wild boar) in France. Red Stag with a rifle in Scotland, and with a bow in New Zealand, Bronze Whaler Sharks from the shore in Namibia, and most exotic of all Shotguns for Pigeons in the wilds of Essex and Kent.
I may even find time to make Mungo that Kuksa
Bushwacker.
Been thinking about this myself; when it started I thought the project would last a couple of years. But as anyone who’s met Mrs SBW will tell you there is no end to her DIY ambitions and they are a major drain on my resources.
This year’s program is largely about fitness and archery practice, with some field craft and collecting and cooking wildfoods along the way.
Before I go after Mr Elk here are a few things I NEED so they’ll be ‘just a little bit’ of kit collecting! To insure I make it back in one piece I’m going to be attending and reviewing some survival, tracking and bushcraft schools.
Once Mr Elk is safely in our freezer, (with his antlers out of harms way on my wall) there are some other hunting and fishing challenges. Cutthroat Trout in Colorado, Upland Pheasants in South Dakota, Sanglier (wild boar) in France. Red Stag with a rifle in Scotland, and with a bow in New Zealand, Bronze Whaler Sharks from the shore in Namibia, and most exotic of all Shotguns for Pigeons in the wilds of Essex and Kent.
I may even find time to make Mungo that Kuksa
Bushwacker.
Friday, 21 September 2007
Bushwacker at 50!
Wow fifty posts already!!
Some of you I know personally, some of you I’ve gotten to know as you’ve posted comments – please keep writing ‘em! If there’s anything you think I should include, learn or investigate, on my journey from Fat Boy to Elk Hunter let me know.
Thanks for reading everybody – I really appreciate it
Bushwacker.
Some of you I know personally, some of you I’ve gotten to know as you’ve posted comments – please keep writing ‘em! If there’s anything you think I should include, learn or investigate, on my journey from Fat Boy to Elk Hunter let me know.
Thanks for reading everybody – I really appreciate it
Bushwacker.
Thursday, 20 September 2007
Running, Eggs, And Posts I Re-Read
Last night I had a glimpse of the future, a bit like Scrooge seeing the Ghost of Running Club yet To Be….. And re-read some of my favorite blog posts
This morning I’ve just had the perfect poached egg for my breakfast, it smiled at me from the plate, sitting next to some toast and a pile of smoked salmon – a boy needs his Omega 3’s!
The holy grail of poached eggs: add just two drops of vinegar to a shallow pan of gently boiling water, put some spin on the water creating a vortex. As soon as you crack the egg and slowly add it to the centre of the spinning water, you can see the egg white coalesce into the perfect form.
Towards the end of our run I moved briefly from pound, pound, pant, pant wheeze to that fluid movement where the amount of effort drops considerably, but the amount of forward motion rises. Steps that had crashed against the ground now have a lighter touch, the jarring of my spine gave way to a glimpse of the serenity of motion I’d forgotten I could have.
Two of my favorite ‘good eggs’ of the bloggersphere
Pablo has a very handy list of REASONS, (proper valid reasons honey), for buying ESSENTIAL kit from Ebay.
The Hobo Stripper separates the person from their behaviour, and spends her post remembering angels with dirty faces.
Bushwacker.
PS
Sorry I didn’t explain that very well at all
How to spin water:
Carefully stir the boiling water with a spoon, until it is ‘spinning’
SBW
This morning I’ve just had the perfect poached egg for my breakfast, it smiled at me from the plate, sitting next to some toast and a pile of smoked salmon – a boy needs his Omega 3’s!
The holy grail of poached eggs: add just two drops of vinegar to a shallow pan of gently boiling water, put some spin on the water creating a vortex. As soon as you crack the egg and slowly add it to the centre of the spinning water, you can see the egg white coalesce into the perfect form.
Towards the end of our run I moved briefly from pound, pound, pant, pant wheeze to that fluid movement where the amount of effort drops considerably, but the amount of forward motion rises. Steps that had crashed against the ground now have a lighter touch, the jarring of my spine gave way to a glimpse of the serenity of motion I’d forgotten I could have.
Two of my favorite ‘good eggs’ of the bloggersphere
Pablo has a very handy list of REASONS, (proper valid reasons honey), for buying ESSENTIAL kit from Ebay.
The Hobo Stripper separates the person from their behaviour, and spends her post remembering angels with dirty faces.
Bushwacker.
PS
Sorry I didn’t explain that very well at all
How to spin water:
Carefully stir the boiling water with a spoon, until it is ‘spinning’
SBW
Sunday, 16 September 2007
Deer Hunter Ed
The Buck Hunter Blog have just posted a link to Fresh Tracts an outdoors school with a deer hunting course. There are a few people doing a deer stalking certificate in the UK. The way UK law works there are only certain weapons considered suitable for deer hunting and the bow isn’t one of them. I’m not sure if I’ll take the course here or fly out to take their course. Either way one of them’s going to get my money sooner or later!
Bushwacker.
Bushwacker.
That Old Chestnut.
I’m eating one of the last apples from our tree, as I recover from the mornings exertions. Outside its still sunny but the season is starting to change, apples over, blackberries still good, chestnuts about to begin.
On the sofa my legs are aching, and I wanna go back to bed, but the goal is in sight.
Finally I feel I’m on the road to fitness, I’ve attended Military Fitness three times this week!!!! Twice to the running club, and once at the military fitness class.
Trying to keep my head up as I ran I saw that the chestnuts are in abundance, and will be starting to fall in a week or two. I really love collecting them with Bushwacker Jnr, and eating them with pork. I’m not so keen on peeling them, but its a small price to pay for the satisfaction that wildfood brings.
In the park some of the chestnut trees are literally hundreds of years old, as I ran (OK speed-waddled), I made a note to dig out the big tape measure and try to find out just how old they actually are. Some of them look at least ten feet (3m) around the trunk.
The best sign that the worthwhile nuts are falling is to watch out for the migrating herds of - Chinese Grannies! Seriously, the nuts that fall first aren’t really worth the effort, but as soon as the big fellas start to drop there’ll be septuagenarians matriarchs using broom handles and plastic bags as yokes, harvesting the parks bounty.
While we were collecting last year we’d often meet a few dog walking toffs who know the nuts are edible but are surprised that anyone would bother, they are encouraging in that patronising yet indulgent way toffs often have.
The nuts are never as big as the Spanish imports but some how they taste a little sweeter.
I’ll let you know how I get on.
Bushwacker.
Saturday, 15 September 2007
Safe Drinking Water - From The Toilet!
You wouldn’t want to, but if you HAD to, you could now drink from a water source that had fecal matter floating in it!
The water purification revolution moves on a pace with a new invention by Michael Pritchard of Ipswich (UK). Inspired by seeing disaster relief teams unable to provide safe drinking water after the 2004 tsunami and again in the aftermath of Katrina, Pritchard set to work. At £190 ($380) it’s not cheap, yet, but prices are expected to fall as demand grows.
Up until now even the best filter has only removed bacteria 200 nanometres long from water. Viruses are typically only 25 nanometres long and would pass through the filter. Pritchard’s invention, which filters right down to 15 nanometres means instant access to safe water whatever the circumstances. Amazingly one filter is said to be good for 4,000 liters.
For the full story
Bushwacker
The water purification revolution moves on a pace with a new invention by Michael Pritchard of Ipswich (UK). Inspired by seeing disaster relief teams unable to provide safe drinking water after the 2004 tsunami and again in the aftermath of Katrina, Pritchard set to work. At £190 ($380) it’s not cheap, yet, but prices are expected to fall as demand grows.
Up until now even the best filter has only removed bacteria 200 nanometres long from water. Viruses are typically only 25 nanometres long and would pass through the filter. Pritchard’s invention, which filters right down to 15 nanometres means instant access to safe water whatever the circumstances. Amazingly one filter is said to be good for 4,000 liters.
For the full story
Bushwacker
Friday, 14 September 2007
Thursday, 13 September 2007
Edging Closer
You must be wondering: when’s he going to get on with it?
Where are the pictures of smashed targets and gleaming broadheads?
Today saw a couple of significant steps in the right direction...
Today was one of those days, not those days, those days.
After yesterdays run I felt, well, well, not just well, well good!
I could actually walk without wincing. I was almost invigorated. Unbelievable I know.
Then I got the email I’d almost given up hope of receiving; I finally have a place on the program, only a month to go until my archery lessons begin! Really you’d think in a city of 6,000,000 there’d be the odd archery coach going spare. It’s been a long search.
I bet it wasn’t like this the year we won at Agincourt!
I felt so inspired by the morning’s events I went back to the park for a bit more of the living hell that is British Military Fitness. Where BMF beats the gym is in it’s sheer relentlessness, you can’t kid yourself. There’s nowhere to hide.
Let’s hope it’s the same for Mr Elk.
Bushwacker.
PS Pablo - thank you for your kind offer - see the comments on the last post.
Where are the pictures of smashed targets and gleaming broadheads?
Today saw a couple of significant steps in the right direction...
Today was one of those days, not those days, those days.
After yesterdays run I felt, well, well, not just well, well good!
I could actually walk without wincing. I was almost invigorated. Unbelievable I know.
Then I got the email I’d almost given up hope of receiving; I finally have a place on the program, only a month to go until my archery lessons begin! Really you’d think in a city of 6,000,000 there’d be the odd archery coach going spare. It’s been a long search.
I bet it wasn’t like this the year we won at Agincourt!
I felt so inspired by the morning’s events I went back to the park for a bit more of the living hell that is British Military Fitness. Where BMF beats the gym is in it’s sheer relentlessness, you can’t kid yourself. There’s nowhere to hide.
Let’s hope it’s the same for Mr Elk.
Bushwacker.
PS Pablo - thank you for your kind offer - see the comments on the last post.
Wednesday, 12 September 2007
Sharpening and Reprofiling

Oh the pain! Whinge-moan. Whinge. Moan. Running club! Battered. Whinge moan.
Delicious fried food danced before my eyes.
Imaginary Elk snorted contemptuously and sauntered away over the great mountain range that separates my homeland from the lands of my dreams.
Have you ever heard an Elk laugh?
Well they did, safe in the knowledge that I’d never get my wheezing butt within rifle range. Bow range? Ha!! They’re still laughing now.
Bushwacker.
The stunning picture is of the appropriately named cardiac range
Monday, 10 September 2007
The re-wilding of Mrs SBW

The weekend saw a return to the regular weekend schedule; kids to drama class and vegetable shopping in the market afterwards. On Sunday I really wanted to see The AJS & Matchless Owners Club’s show at the Woolwich Arsenal, theses bikes are very good looking and were real giant slayers in their day. The display circuit was very short but it was still good to see and hear these museum quality bikes on the move.
I admit, I also thought I’d pick up a few brownie points by spontaneously taking the kids out. To my surprise Mrs. SBW offered to come and pick us up afterwards, she too had an agenda “let’s pick some blackberries for a crumble”.
Oxleas Wood is that rarest of things, an ancient deciduous woodland within the confines of a city. Most of the 8,000 year old woodland is on the southeastern slope of Shooters Hill, which overlooks London. On the 72 hectares grow Oaks, Silver Birch, Hornbeam and numerous coppices of Hazel. Being inner city woodland, litter has ‘sprouted’ everywhere you look. The kids loved it and even put 1-2% of the blackberries they picked into the tub. They were covered in juice by the time we headed for home.
Lets get crumblin’
Put your medium sized ovenproof dish into the oven and turn the oven up high
Peel, core and chop your apples. Rinse your berries in cold water.
There are many different ideas as to how to make a crumble, in this recipe I’ll show you the quickest and I think easiest method. The ruination of many a crumble is letting the stewed fruit juices soak into the uncooked crumble mixture. Don’t panic! I have a way round this! Miss out the stewing.
Once the apples (3+ per person) are chopped, chuck half of them into the pan.
Sprinkle the berries over the apples and add the remaining apples on top.
The apples and berries will get hot and some of the juice they make as they cook will evaporate the rest will sink to the bottom, away from the topping.
Yes it’s that simple!
While all that’s happening lets make the crumble.
In a big bowl put
Two parts flour – the 00 stuff from Italy is best – but whatever you have will be fine.
One part sugar – I use half and half, white and brown sugar
One part butter
For a medium sized pan each ‘part’ would be two ounces (50g). Squidge the flour, fat and sugar together until they make an ‘almost pastry’. A crumbly mix of, crumble.
Now sprinkle the crumble over the top of the hot fruit.
Slam the oven door shut with a confident swagger.
Cook until you’ve finished the main course or it looks done, which ever comes sooner
If you like a very think crumble topping treble the amounts.
Ground hazelnuts included with the flour are really good.
The better the ingredients the better the results.
Serve with crème anglais or my favourite, regular custard out of a packet.
Last word to Mrs SBW
“I keep finding purple spoons in the dishwasher, I hope you don’t think your eating anymore of my crumble”
Bushwacker.
Saturday, 8 September 2007
Yes Deer.

It’s that time of year again, the bloggersphere is full of men and women (sadly it’s still mostly men) either preparing for, or starting the deer season. I’ve not been able to get a stalking ground lined up for this season (YET!), so disappointingly I’m still buying meat.
While the other bloggers are telling you about fletching new shafts and honing new broadheads I’m heading for the kitchen ...
Reeves Muntjac are one of the smaller species of deer and by all accounts one of the tastier species too. At about twenty to forty pounds (10-18Kg) with antlers 2-4 inches (5-10cm) long they might not have same trophy status as the Whitetail, but for ‘pot hunters’ they are highly prized.
I have a haunch of Muntjac in the freezer, I want to casserole it in a red wine and plum sauce. Served with root vegetables, glazed carrots, shallots and mushrooms it’ll be just the kind of hearty autumnal (fall) fare I love.
[Pause to take kids out and do some food shopping]
Mrs Bushwacker says I’m not allowed to cook big dinners or have people round until I’ve finished re-glazing the dining room windows. Bah!
Better go I can hear her calling me
“Yes Dear”
Bushwacker.
Friday, 7 September 2007
Why Weight?
The morphic resonances of the bloggersphere never cease to amaze me. Just as the American Bushman was posting ‘unloading superfluous gear’ BoB and I were having a conversation along similar lines. As well as using his visit as an opportunity to give me the Opinels he told me the location of a long-time-no-see Trangia stove that he didn’t have a need for. As things do, the conversation rambled round to talking about the lightening the load, travelling with as little kit as possible, while still having everything you need to look after yourself. I showed BoB the amazing Anti Gravity Gear site and the caldera stove system, which is basically a Trangia that’s been seriously slimmed down.
BoB said he’d seen an article from the 1950’s where guys going on a climbing expedition carrying framed rucksacks had wielded up the holes in the frames, enabling them to use their frames as fuel bottles.
As even the most cursory look at the scouting and hunting technologies of the first nations shows, the need-for-speed in backcountry travel is as old as backcountry travel itself. Saxton Pope took instruction from Ishi’s in the art and science of travelling light.
‘In our early training with Ishi, the Indian, he taught us to look before he taught us to shoot. "Little bit walk, too much look," was his motto. The roving eye and the light step are the signs of the forest voyageur.
The ideal way for an archer to travel is to carry on his shoulders a knapsack containing a light sleeping bag and enough food to last him a week.....This will weigh less than ten pounds. With other minor appurtenances in the ditty bag, including an arrow-repairing kit, one's burden is less than twenty pounds, an easy load...... If you have a dog, make him carry his own dry meal in little saddle-bags on his back...
Nessmuk was also an early devotee, taking it as a focus in the classic Woodcraft and Camping.
While I was looking for a downloadable copy Nessmuks book for you I found Nessmuking, a site about super lightweight canoeing with this interesting ‘gear list’ challenge.
How light can you get a 35-day pack?
Last word goes to Mors Kochanski
"The more you know, the less you carry."
Bushwacker.
BoB said he’d seen an article from the 1950’s where guys going on a climbing expedition carrying framed rucksacks had wielded up the holes in the frames, enabling them to use their frames as fuel bottles.
As even the most cursory look at the scouting and hunting technologies of the first nations shows, the need-for-speed in backcountry travel is as old as backcountry travel itself. Saxton Pope took instruction from Ishi’s in the art and science of travelling light.
‘In our early training with Ishi, the Indian, he taught us to look before he taught us to shoot. "Little bit walk, too much look," was his motto. The roving eye and the light step are the signs of the forest voyageur.
The ideal way for an archer to travel is to carry on his shoulders a knapsack containing a light sleeping bag and enough food to last him a week.....This will weigh less than ten pounds. With other minor appurtenances in the ditty bag, including an arrow-repairing kit, one's burden is less than twenty pounds, an easy load...... If you have a dog, make him carry his own dry meal in little saddle-bags on his back...
Nessmuk was also an early devotee, taking it as a focus in the classic Woodcraft and Camping.
While I was looking for a downloadable copy Nessmuks book for you I found Nessmuking, a site about super lightweight canoeing with this interesting ‘gear list’ challenge.
How light can you get a 35-day pack?
Last word goes to Mors Kochanski
"The more you know, the less you carry."
Bushwacker.
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