Category: Day Trips / Hikes / Scouting & Recce

UK Bushcraft & Wild Camping Blog / Vlog 2020 UPDATE!

~ Bushman All-OutDoors ~ 2 Comments

Hi all, This is just a very quick update on what’s been going on and also time for me to throw down my excuses as to why the online presense has been low …

uco bushcraft wild camping candle and hultafors axe
Great Bushcraft Candle Lantern with Hultafors Bruks Trekker Axe (Bushcraft Day Camp, Breakfast and Spoon Carving) Circa October 2018

So, Despite the Covid … thing, we have been super busy at work despite uncertainty in my line of work, but the Main factor for being away on youtube is a huge operating error with the ”good computer” this is the one I use for video editing and video / image storing etc. at the moment it is just inoperable so until it’s sorted there will probably be no videos online or if any, they will be short.

The 4×4 … As you know (if following the channel and previous posts on the blog) I am busy modifying a Suzuki Grand Vitara 4WD as an Overlanding 4×4 – this is taking up some of my time too mainly due to researching etc.
The Car hasn’t been on any trips yet other than the few days after purchase but I will most definitely be sure to video the first off roading or family trip for uploading and sharing with you all!

The Youtube Channel … Things took off very nicely maybe about a month or so after initiating the 250 subscriber give away (at time of writing, I am at 1,200+ Subcribers) – although the views and subscribers didn’t come around from the give away but mainly because of this one very lucky video upload (I took my Canvas French Army 2 man tent out for a first try during the week, for some reason it became very popular and at the time of writing it is somewhere above the 130,000 view mark).
As for the give away, only one winner actually followed the channel and claimed their prize ( Druthian Outdoors ) who was the first place winner and shall be recieving his package shortly.
I will try make the effort to contact the other two winners, but this is testament to the fact that subscriber pushes (the give away ones) only gain you one time subscribers and not actual followers who are interested in your content!

Morakniv Mora Heavy Duty Companion MG
My Original Bushcraft Knife – the Mora ”clipper” Heavy Duty Companion MG – Still taken out on some trips to this day

Losing Followers … Sadly the channel lost a hand full of subscribers, these would have been the ”bell notification” types – so real followers, this was in reponse to uploading a short video of myself doing an Engine Guard Installation on my 4×4.
I am truly sad to see these people go, even though I never knew them … but still, the main issue is that they either didn’t understand the purpose of my channel – or perhaps they are people who walk / hike or journey by other means through the countryside on Green Lanes and just don’t like the 4×4 / 4WD culture, for whatever reason.
My channel is ”Bushman AOD” the AOD stands for ”All-Out-Doors” so in essence, anything to do with the outdoors, not only Bushcraft and Wild Camping but also Hiking, Kayaking, Overseas Trips and yes, 4×4 Overlanding too as this will inevitably take me further into the countryside to discover new places!

Wild Camping with other Friends / Youtube Buddies … This is something I have been trying to organise for more than a year now! Long story short, I will be meeting up at some point with a YT friend but want to keep this quiet before we both upload the video/s – it all depends now on their own belief about this Covid thing and whether or not they are cool to camp with others, I do know the person in question will most likely be very busy once they are back at work!

Gear … I have attained quite a lot of new gear over the last year or so and most have been seen on some videos however some of it hasn’t really been featured or spoken about in any detail – I might make the effort to post about them here and briefly explain all of it. Things include Shelters, Rucksacks, Sleeping Gear and Clothing.

lixada wild camping bushcraft bush box stick stove
Lixada Stick / Twig Stove – great Wild Camping companion! Folding on hinges, weighs a fraction of the weight of the famous BushBox range and 4 times less cost!

Oversea Trips … I went to the Philippines in 2019, I did spend time in the mountains of Cebu and did some hiking / wild swimming, I even almost ran into a Rebel Group called the NPA (New Peoples Army) – don’t worry, we got out safe!
So loads of good footage of our travels is upcoming and perhaps also some photos and blog posts here too (once the computer is back online).

Interesting Upcoming Content ? … YES indeed! but when time allows, I have great plans mainly in the ”bushcraft” part of things with little and bigger projects planned, but things are quite hectic at the moment so .. literally only when time allows.
– One Very interesting event happened in the Philippines, I discovered a very unknown Fire Tinder and managed to create fire with it, whilst I am not claiming to be the only person in human history to have done so, I do think this is something very unknown and definitely not seen on any social media especially Youtube .. I will edit the video and upload once the time is right.

Wild Camping when everyone else wasn’t … did I camp in my garden? Did I ”wild camp” on a balcony? HELL NO! 😉

4×4 Again … As a reminder, the car will make me mobile, I can now reach places accross the UK and even farther, once the Bothies reopen (Hiking stop-over cottages in the UK), I will be travelling around and vising quite a few per year which will inevitably take me into Scotland – I got interested in Bothy culture through Funsized Earthling on youtube who spent a very interesting night in Cadderlie Bothy in Scotland near Glencoe.

I think that’s it, thanks for surviving this far, I do hope you take a look at the Youtube channel as I have spent many many hours editing videos for online viewing – it’s all free, if you don’t want to follow I am always grateful even just to see you in the comments just to say hi or even to give critical feedback!

Cheers
Bushman-AOD

4x Natural Seed Heads Tinders – Bushcraft Firelighting Test (randomly collected)

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Here I field test four random natural tinders (dry seed heads from native plants) – I desperately needed to practice my Bushcraft Fire Lighting skills and what better way than to just randonly pick up anything you can find in the wild (Urban and Rural) to test out?

Note: I stongly advise the use and reliance on ones own natural intuition and being more observant – When I travelled to S.E Asia in 2019, I observed a certain fruit which had rotted below it’s tree, something said to me that day, this husk if you will, would make a good tinder – so I placed it aside to dry out better and managed to get the material to light and crate a fire! So far all my searches have brought nothing when looking whether anyone else has managed to do the same with the same fruit …
That event was documented both on video and images and will be uploaded in the future.

I will endure to constantly practice these skills whenever I find useable natural materials which strike me as good for tinder – whenever possible I will be sure to post here or on my youtube / facebook as well.

Lets find out how these four tinders fared in this field test …

Enjoy the video:

WildCamp Session Fire Nostalgia (Session #1: Polish Lavvu First Wild Camp)

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Hi everyone, here’s a flick of the stick stove fire from my first ever #WildCamping session (Probably around October 2018) – as you can see the Lixada hinged folding stick stove is still pretty new and has not much soot on it!

lixada wood stove
Lixada Hinged Folding Wood / Stick Stove for Wild Camping / Outdoors / Hiking etc

I bought this stove originally for about £14/15 with delivery, this stove has hands down been one of my greatest ”gear companions” on many a day trip, wild camp session or woodland scout!
Looking online I have seen one seller recently selling for as low as £7/8 !!! now THAT’S a Steal!

Next to the fire you can see my Pathfinder canteen cook set stove / trivet thing, I used it once during wild camping and find it difficult to start a fire underneath, it has clearly been designed to be placed over an existing fire so as to work as a stove hob for either the canteen cup or the canteen itself for water heating etc.

There should be a post or two coming up before and after Christmas, from myself to all of you, have a great end of year and holidays / resting period!

OUTDOOR REVIEW / TEST: Polish Special Forces Military Ration

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I am still trying out and sampling various MRE (Meal, Ready to Eat) Military rations from around the world and when I saw a Polish Special Forces ration for sale I went straight in!
This menu is labeled S-RS-13 and the main course was Chicken with Rice and Vegetables – this is the second Polish ration I have sampled, and this main was very good!

Below is the load out of the Ration pack, this one differs from my first ration from Poland in that it has a water measuring line on the bag (so you can purify water in the field), water purification tablets, less crackers, no jam / honey, S-hook to hang your water purification bag etc.

POLISH ARMY RATION MRE LOAD OUT
Polish Army Special Forces S-RS Ration MRE Loaded Out

Below is the Main course and also the meal whilst it was being heated up by the FRH (Flameless Ration Heater) which is water activated:

FRH (Flameless Ration Heater) Polish Polska Special Forces S-RS Ration MRE

I hope you enjoyed the post and the video, please let me know what rations you want to see or are curious of? I have two filmed but need editing and uploading online (One multi national and one Asian).

commenting down below is free! haha, you dont need an account to comment, you can comment as a guest.

Cheers
BushmanAOD (All OutDoors)

I’m a Self Proclaimed Dendrophile

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Here’s a few photo’s from a recent wood recce I went on, this is one third (or part) of three large woodlands which merge together and although having public access throughout, they can be quite secluded in some spots so there is good amounts of wildlife to be seen …. (which sometimes is spoiled by dogs off their leads!)

I subsequently had an overnight wildcamping session here about a week or two later where it rained down on me for a good 10+ Hours non-stop! But I was a very happy man …
Two noteable creatures spotted and heard which aren’t as common especially nearer to London were a Muntjac Deer and I woke up to Owls (probably tawny owls) hooting in the morning for a few minutes.

1
Beautiful Woods: just next to one of the common public trails
3
Had to drop the rucksack for a few photo’s and take a look around for fungi
2
These woods consist mainly of: Beech, Birch, Common Oak, Hazel and random Hawthorn, Yew and others.
4
I set up the Polish Army Surplus canvas Lavvu tent as it was due to rain and as a chill-back / resting spot to brew tea and watch wildlife

Any videos of these events will be edited and uploaded to the youtube channel, thanks for stopping by, feel free to comment as comments are open to anyone even if you dont have an account!

Cheers
BushmanAOD

 

 

Taste Testing Army MRE Rations: Spanish Armed Forces ICR (Video Review)

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It’s Military ration time again, this time I’m swinging away from Eastern Europe and going Mediterranean! I got the ‘Fuerzas Armadas Racion Individual De Combate’ or Spanish Armed Forces Individual Combat Ration – Lunch / Comida ”A”5 – that’s menu #5 on the lunch list!

Spanish MRE Ration ICR
Spanish Armed Forces | Individual Combat Ration – Lunch Menu ”A” 5 (MRE)

Menu and Accesories List As Per The Info. Booklet Inside The MRE (Meal Ready-To-Eat)

Food Menu:

  1. 1x Bag of Chicken & Pasta Instant Soup 13g
  2. 1x Tin of Tuna Salad (Country Style) 195g
  3. 1x Tin Cooked Lean Pork 200g
  4. 1x Tube of Apple Cream

Accessories:

  1. 2x Water Purification Tablets
  2. 3x Solid combustible Tablets (For heating the food on the Esbit stove)
  3. 4x Bags Of Defatigant Isotonic Powder with Vitamin C 5g
  4. 1x Chewing Gum
  5. 1x Envelope of Matches (20 Matches)
  6. 1x Stove For Warming
  7. 1x Bag Cellulose Paper (10 Sheets)
  8. 1x Fluoride Toothpaste
  9. 1x Instant Hand Disinfectant
  10. 1x Info. Label

Video of the Review – Filmed Outdoors at my first Wild Camp location:

In conclusion, this was a very tasty and satisfying MRE / Ration! Albeit a little bit over the top with salt (it had a stock chicken and pasta soup which together with the salty lean pork main was a bit too much for me). I made the mistake of not reading the information booklet thoroughly, it has an ”Instructions” section which I thought was only for the Esbit Stove and Water Purification tablets etc. but it also gave instructions for the Isotonic drink powder.
My mistake was using two of the Isotonic sachets to make a +-300ml drink and it was very bland and almost tasteless, although being correct that the dosage of four sachets should be split into two, I made it with too much water.
Had the drink been a little bit more sweet and tangy, this would have offset the saltiness from the main and soup.

Interesting facts about Spanish Field Rations and Military Procedure is that, according to commenters from the Spanish Armed Forces, troops are issued with a hard-tack biscuit / cracker ration at the beginning of the day. This ration is kept aside and ONLY used IF there is no fresh bread supplied from a field kitchen, according to them, the supply of Fresh Bread is a high priority for troops in the field and deployment hence why the rations lack packed crackers / biscuits such as those in French and Eastern European rations.

I noticed the lack of Coffee or Tea, I expect the Spanish prefer Coffee and I suspect that the same field kitchen would probably be supplying fresh Coffe as well however, this is just my personal speculation.

I have since received two MRE / Rations, one 24 hour from Southern Europe and another 24 hour from a Eurasian country! … With 3 others on the way from other parts of the world so swing by, hit follow and keep an eye out for those.

Cheers
BushmanAOD

Early Spring River Thames Kayak Trip (Freezing Cold Water)

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A few weeks ago myself and some family went over to the Thames River in Southern England for a short Kayaking daytrip, we had an inflatable Kayak which can seat two adults and one child. The area was near Cliveden / Marlow with a very nice sunny day although, don’t assume the water was cool or warm, it was so cold that within 10 seconds of placing my foot in it, the center would get extremely numb and became very uncomfortable indeed! I attempted to keep my foot in for as long as I could in order to acclimatize but it simply didn’t work …

Other than that it was a wonderful day out, the river got busy with picnickers and some boat users etc. An awesome spring day out …

Enjoy the video (the audio wasn’t so great due to the camera’s waterproof casing so I added in some music to complement it):

 

I Have A New Backpack (Day Pack)

~ Bushman All-OutDoors ~ 2 Comments

Hi folks! I’ve been looking at something to replace my casual backpacks and my main rucksack for day trips for a while now, one of my smaller casual packs has broken zips now (due to all the things I stuff inside for day trips) and the other is just a little too luminous to be taking out into woods … then theres the Rucky, just a little too big for day trips and being Army DPM Camo, is just a little too much for me especially since I am still in an urban environment …

So I bought the Berghaus Centaurio 45ltr, my required specifications were;
1: Non Camo & also No bright colours,
2: Expandable (in that you can add on side pouches of your choice to increase holding capacity).

berghaus centaurio 45 rucksack backpack
New Bushcraft Rucksack / Backpack – Berghaus Centaurio45

This rucksack / daysack is a 45 Liter capacity bag, and has the option to add on two large side PLCE pockets which should increase it to a minimum of 65 Liters – thereby giving it the second purpose of becoming large enough to be used as a wildcamp / extended trip rucksack.

I’ve used it on two outings so far and can say that it is performing well however, I will prefer to give a better review of it’s quality further down the line after more use.

What I like is that the side pocket areas have both zipped edges (I suppose this is for when you buy the actual Berghaus PLCE side pockets) as well as clip straps so that you could basically use any PLCE pockets of your choice with slight or no modifications!

More to come in the future, why not follow the blog or Youtube channel to keep abreast of all future uploads and posts …

 

Polish Army MRE Ration: Hungarian Goulash – Video

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Hi all, here is the video of my Polish Army Individual meal MRE Review, the main in this Ration Pack ”Rat Pack” was Hungarian Goulash followed by Smoked Sprats in oil … on to the video!:

PS: Apologies in advance for the microphone / lens noises, I was testing out  a new external microphone on this outing / daycamp.

I already posted an article with photo’s for this day trip event, just scroll further down my main page to see …