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:

Bushcraft Wild Camping – Summer 2019 -MIDDLESEX United Kingdom

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I enjoyed a long overnight wild camping session in a Wildlife Trust managed woodland outside of London UK, late summer 2019.
During this session I pretty much just enjoy the serenity of the outdoors, I craft the simplest Pot Hanger possible so that I can adjust my cooking pots and drinking cup (for coffee / tea) over the open fire. The woodland is an Ancient Oak and Hazel (which is coppiced routinely) and to date I have camped here three times in the Polish Army Lavvu Palatka (a 40 year old Cold-War canvas tent), The British Army BASHA tarp and the French Army F1 Canvas two man tent.

polish lavvu suspension setup no poles
Polish Army Lavvu Palatka Canvas Tent – Bushcraft Wild Camping – No Poles Suspension setup

28 hours away from home, 4x fire cooked meals and I even experimented by making Blackberry Glazed Nordic Style Bacon!!!

Enjoy all 28 hours Crammed into this video:

4WD 4×4 Suzuki Grand Vitara – Off Roading Mod #1

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As followers may already know, a new interest of mine is Off Roading / 4×4 Action, and a couple of months ago I bought an older model Suzuki Grand Vitara for the purpose of a family car primarily then as a capable off roader – we are an outdoors oriented family and so it makes sense to have a car capable of taking us all across the UK countryside and perhaps farther.
It was looking for videos of various smaller 4×4’s such as Suzuki Jimny’s and the smaller Jeeps and even Rav-4’s (more of a Mom’s Taxi to be honest) that I came across some pretty Gnarly footage as well as images online of the Second gen Grand Vitaras going quite hard on some serious tracks, sometimes out performing larger cars.

My First Post shows more-or-less what kind of forby I want my GV to end up looking like and then on the Second Post I show you the newly delivered Insa Turbo – Ranger, All Terrain tyres which works out to be the first real step needed taking to move forward in this venture …

Insa turbo ranger all terrain 4x4 tyres install
Insa Turbo Ranger All Terrain 4×4 tyres – loaded and ready to head off that morning to the Tyre Fitters – super excited

Anyhow, over the recent weekend I finally got the time to be able to make an appointment to have the Tyres fitted – and here’s the results.

Insa Turbo Ranger All Terrain Large 29” (205/80/r16) – Successful Fitting to Suzuki Grand Vitara

ABOVE – L & R: (Click on photo’s to get detailed / expanded views) 
(L): Rear tyre showing the gaps between the wheel arch – the tyre guys had to remove the guards as this was something I hinted they might need to do, this ensured that they didn’t need to call me to confirm or explain anything to me.
(R): I placed the old stock tyre 235/60/r16 next to the new Ranger A/T 205/80/r16 to show the gain in height, I could definitely feel the lift when driving home – I also admittedly caught myslef smirking in the mirror!

Space Gap – Insa turbo ranger all terrains half to 1 inch gap between mud guards
Space Gap – Insa turbo ranger all terrains half to 1 inch gap between mud guards

ABOVE – L & R:
The 29” or 205/80/r16 tyres are pretty much the biggest / tallest tyres you can fit to the Suz G.V. without much Rub (where the tread of your tyres rub on part of the mud guards etc.) – What I mean is, you don’t have to do a whole lot to sort out the rub (it is likely some removal of wheel arch inner guards or mud flaps is all that is needed – the tyres will not rub on the chassis / metal).
(L): The rear of the wheel shows about half an Inch gap – this will only cause a problem when off roading proper! So an easy and non-expensive solution is adding in extended bump stops, JimnyBits sells these bump stops for Grand Vitaras at 25mm, 50mm and 75mm.
(R): The front of the wheel has a larger gap of around one inch so is less of a concern.

Next Modification: I have an order on the way from Radzikone over in Poland, they are a Suzuki Grand Vitara specialist and I have been following their online material for some time, unfortunately initially I thought it was just a youtube channel of some 4×4 enthusiasts.
I will keep it on the shush what is coming up, but the next modification/s from Radzikone will be fitted by myself DIY – all these mod’s wherever possible will have both image documentation as well as video which will end up on my youtube channel – please take a look if you enjoy the Great Outdoors!

Please also follow the blog to keep on top of this build – who knows how far this GV will go with me?

Cheers
Bushman-AOD

My First National Park Wild Camp (Peak District – UK)

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Eyup! Here is the full installment of my Peak District (United Kingdom) wild camp session I had a few days before the UK Corona lockdown was announced – what a beautiful place! If I had the time I would have definitely stayed another night at least and, if I am somehow able to convince my wife, I would seriously want to go on a week long trip there and camp everynight at a new location!

In this video I set up the French Army surplus F1 Canvas 2man tent, as the rain was quite persistant I decided to whack on the British Army BASHA shelter as a rain fly – we had driving winds all night, quite moist and reasonably cold (although this was very mild for the midlands area at that time of year …

Wind, Rain, Views of Howden Resevoir, Mountain Rescue Chopper almost buzzed me, some rivers etc etc…. Good food, good drink.

Enjoy the viddy!

 

Detailed View – Insa Turbo 4×4 Off Road A/T Tyres

detailed zoom insa turbo all terrain ranger A/T
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Here’s a Quick Overview of my newly delivered Insa Turbo Ranger A/T (All Terrain) Off Roading Tyres for the 4×4.

I found that online when searching and attempting to decide on a particular brand or tread pattern for tyres, there were no real detailed images of the tread in order to attempt to gauge the depth and decide for yourself – so here I have added the best detailed pictures I have been able to take up close for those who may be considering these tyres made by the Spanish Re-tread company Insa Turbo.

NOTE: All Images Can Be Clicked For The Expanded View

DSC04660
Insa Turbo Ranger All Terrain – Max Tread Depth is 16mm / 05⁄8in

TREAD DEPTH ANALYSIS:

  • Depth At Edge / Curve of Tyre: 16 mm – 0.5/8 in
  • Depth Between Center and Edge / Curve: 14/15mm – 0.37/64 in
  • Depth in Centre of Tyre: 13mm – 0.33/64 in

OTHER DETAILS / FEATURES:

  • Marking on Side Wall: Text (M+S) indicated in a mountain-top looking symbol which has a frost / snow flake possibly representing; Mountain (Off Roading) & Snow?
  • Tubeless Tyres
Insa Turbo Ranger All Terrain 4×4 Off Road Full Tyre 205/80/16 – 29”

Click on Image’s above for detailed / Zoom view !

detailed zoom insa turbo all terrain ranger A/T
Insa Turbo Ranger A/T Tread Detail View / Zoom

Insa Turbo are a Spanish Re-tread company and online I have found plenty of comments where long-term users are sharing testimonies that their tyres have not had a change for 100,000 Km’s! Their products are marketed as Green / Eco Friendly Tyres.
Note: I am not affiliated with the brand, this post is merely to give other 4×4 enthusiats a better in depth look at the tread pattern and shape etc.

insa turbo 0ff road 4x4 tyre detail tread side wall chunks depth
Side Wall Tread Depth Detail at Curve / Edge INSA TURBO RANGER A/T – Some Decent Chunks!
tread detail side chunks insa turbo ranger all terrain
Side Detail INSA TURBO RANGER A/T Side Wall and Tread Chunks

WildCamp Session Fire Nostalgia (Session #5: Polish Lavvu 5th Wild Camp) & Stick Stove Fuel Experiment

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Here is the Fifth installment of my #WildCampFireNostalgia moments / memories! But this is a special edition, in that I experimented with a new fueling concept that I thought of in the hopes of making the #Lixada Stick Stove more efficient in burn time …

So I got bored with spending so much time fueling the stick stoves I own, I was thinking of the #SwedishFireLog or #SwedishLogTorch method and wanted to bring the same / similar concept to the stick stove.

Below: The fire from the evening and cooking my dinner (I forgot what else there was but meat was Polish Sausages).

polish sausages polish army palatka tent wild camping
Polish Sausages over the Lixada folding stick stove

The next day I got the cut branches together and went ahead with the experiment:

Above: Packing the stove with thick cut branches and ensuring there is a center cavity to drop your lit tinder in to ignite the main fuel

Fire Starting – lixada stick stove
Fuel taking – lixada bushcraft stove

Above: (Left): Center taken and spreading over the rest of the fuel in the Lixads Bushcraft stick stove then (Right) much of the fuel is ignited and efficiently burning.

Conclusion: Longer fuel processing time but this is mitigated by relaxing and just concentrating on cooking your food, boiling your hot drink water etc and overall enjoying the fire more … so this is the better option when time or resources allow!

Cheers, Bushman

My Typical Food Supplies ( Wild Camping in the Peak District – United Kingdom )

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I just thought I would share this photo of my food supplies for 24 hours Wild Camping session I did a couple weeks ago in the Peak District.
Off Camera was the meat which was 4x Cumberland Style chipolata suasages and a pre-marinaded Pork steak.

camping food, freeze dried meals wild camping
24 hours Wild Camping dried food and wet

I brought pre-mixed coffees and a home made Mocha mix, the breakfast was mixed organic oats from morn flake which were so creamy, chia seeds and pumpkin seed with a little milk powder – No Sweeteners … you will find that organic oats do not need sweeteners. The above was lunch and breakfast with some for dinner, the main at dinner was The chipolata sausages cut into pieces with the pork steak and slightly stewed in the Zebra 12cm Billy can as an All Meat Stew – this turned out pretty good!

The mackerel fillets in the tin can was Thai Green Curry flavour, I do highly recommend this if you can find it!

Here is a sneak peek of the trip (5min video – no talking just nature, and me):

WildCamp Session Fire Nostalgia (Session #4: Polish Lavvu Fourth Wild Camp)

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Here is the 4th installment of my Wild Camp fires, this was circa late 2018 or early 2019 Winter, I went out again in the Lavvu (Polish Army Palatka poncho tent) as it was still my one and only Shelter at that time.

This was a nice open ground fire which was cleaned up easily the next day (LNT style).

I have had another 20+ wild camp sessions after this one so keep an eye out or follow the blog or facebook page for the future posts!

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The World Of Off-Road 4WD’ing – A New Venture

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I think I was around 15 or 16 in the late ’90s when for some reason I got the bug and wanted the family to get a 4×4, kit it out with family camping gear and other necessities and go on regular trips duing the holidays or weekends.
Having grown up in Southern Africa, 4×4’s are a common sight even on city roads, I think it was a marketing exhibition one day in the atrium of a large shopping mall where various 4×4 manufacturers were exhibiting their cars, where I got the bug.

Nevertheless, more than 10 years later after moving overseas, my first car was a 4×4, or so I thought … The Honda CRV is technically four wheel drive but the process is all automatic, you cannot select 4WD as the computer senses the loss of tracTion in the wheels before it then engages 4WD. So, not what I really had in mind but that’s a story that ended years ago.

I got the bug again recently, we were driving behind an ’18 perhaps ’19 Suzuki Jimney and my wife thought it looked nice (although her perspective is more on looks and perhaps some slight 4WD capability, driving over camping feilds etc. but not for full 4WD with all the gear and jazz).

Suzuki Grand Vitara Rugged 4×4 Off Roader 4WD with Modifications, Lift, Off Road Tyres etc
Suzuki Grand Vitara – 3 Door $x4

Above, we both have slightly different ideas on what we want …

Long story short, I made the effort online in Classified sections, marketplaces such as Auto Trader and am now a proud owner of a Stock Suzuki Grand Vitara 4×4!

Stock meaning, factory specifications with regular tyres which don’t perform as well off the road as one would like, low suspension etc.
So we can all look forward to some future Off Roading Adventures and Green Laning trips across the UK in the coming months and years as well as updates on the various modifications I will undertake to make the car more capable.

suzuki grand vitara 1999 - 04
Stock Suzuki Grand Vitara 2.0 Petrol

Oh, for the Greta Thunbergs out there, I bought a lower emission Petrol version and not Diesel … so take that!

With this car which is not a commuter, myself and family after being car-less for more than a decade will be able to go out and explore the wilderness, go on camping trips and spend our time in nature away from Wifi and ”devices”, hopefully this will give my kids a better life growing up and make them appreciate the natural world more.

Keep an eye out!

Cheers, Bushman