AllOutDoors includes Bushcraft and Wild Camping with some hiking, tree climbing, exploring, kayaking, green woodworking etc etc .. mainly getting away from a misguided society
I recently nominated the father and son team from The Axel Show on youtube to join in the ” Show Us Your Steak ” challengewhich is to help raise awareness for Mens Mental Health. For this challenge, Patrick and Axel have to go outside whether it be in their back garden or in a forrest / woodland or park somewhere and cook up some steak (meat or veggie) and have a small discussion about Mens Mental Health – make a video of it and post it online, then nominate their own nominees …
Patrick (L) and Axel (R) from The Axel Show on Youtube
Where I need help is to put pressure on Patrick to accept the challenge, I do not run other social media such as Instagram and Facebook and so, I am only able to inform them via youtube comments about the challenge … YET, Recently youtbe has started closing comment sections on channels / videos featuring children, I have managed to post one comment on their latest channel ”The Adventurers”which they seem to have seen, we just need you to comment, thumbs up and show your support for them to accept. If you cannot find my comment on their channel, please just tell them you support them in accepting the Show Us Your Steak challenge for Mens Mental Health.
The main reason why is because I know Patrick would have some very good things to add as well as a great message regarding this awareness campaign.
I would be most grateful for you to help out in this regard, the guy is extremely busy managing so many channels, he just needs some extra reminders 🙂
If you are unaware of this challenge, below is my video on it – you can find quite a few (possibly more than 100) on yotube already. Many Thanks!
Hi everyone, I hope you all are having a great weekend so far! This is a quick post just as a reminder for anyone interested in Wild Food Foraging, that due to the mild winter we have had, Spring edibles are popping out a little bit earlier than usual!
I managed to harvest ‘Auricularia auricula judae’ Fungus (Jews Ear / Wood Ear) all the way through February! Nettles up until December and already we have Hawthorn‘Crataegus monogyna’ leaves shooting from bud and in some cases are already able to be harvested!
Hawthorn leaves are known as ”Tree Salad” and are not the only ones considered as such …
As an avid outdoorsman, I spend most of my free time outdoors so if you havent seen it yet, Head Out with your dump pouches because there is food available Now!
Below you can find a few pic’s on leaf identification, Hawthorn leaves remind me of Gooseberry leaves when they are young and still forming from bud.
As always, remember that if you cannot positively identify it, then Dont Try It!
Young Fresh Edible Hawthorn LeavesThe Edible Leaves of the Hawthorn Tree
I had this idea that I would really like to see if my 40 year old, Cold War Era Polish army surplus tent would withstand stormy conditions. Subsequently I took the opportunity during the recent Storm ”Freya”. I set the tent up in a single infantryman fashion (these tents are two ponchos buttoned together to form a tipi-style tent, singular setup would include half of the center pole and only one of the ponchos.
The forecsast for my evening outdoors in my local woodland was 8 – 27 m.p/h winds, 5 degrees centigrade and 2 degrees centigrade wind chill or ”feels like temperature” as the Meteorlogical Office likes to call it with the possibility of two showers. Unfortunately for Continue reading “Wild Camping – Storm Freya (04 March ’19)”→
Hi all of you lovely people! I finally uploaded the second Show Us Your Steak challenge video just on Friday. Here is the video below, I have nominated Patrick from ”the Axel Show” channel on youtube, Patrick is Axel’s dad and I know that he will add a very good message to the online community regarding the Mens Mental Health Awareness Campaign.
Here is my first Show Us Your Steak Video, I made a second one because none of my tags (I tagged three people) have accepted the challenge yet and that was over three months ago!
I’m hoping that tagging Patrick and Axel will also help bring the awareness into other areas of Youtube and social media because ”The Axel Show” channel is all about a father and son enjoying playing together and especially in the wilderness / outdoors. this may help being it out of the bushcraft / wild camping box and into more areas.
If you have a youtube channel or other social media, please head over to The Axel Show and let them know that you wish for them to accept the challenge, you can also head over to thumbs up my comment where I am informing them about the nomination, please comment there as well!
Thanks a lot! I am knackered and need to hit the sack, it’s 1am and I have promised my boy an early morning adventure plus I might wildcamp tomorrow night ….
PS: My comments section is open! you don’t need a wordpress account to chat with us here, please comment! 🙂
Wild Camping is really just going out, to where ever you like and setting up camp for a period of time,you cannot really label it a wildcamping session if you head over to an official camping ground, it really has to be done somewhere you normally cannot set up for an overnighter.
Wild camping is probably what is the main factor that got me interested in Bushcraft and experiencing life outdoors in such a way.
I have had a longing for it for quite a few years now but couldn’t put my finger on what I was missing? The thought of buying loads of family camping equipment and going on a few annual trips would only fill a small part of what was missing.
This was my 4th Wildcamping session but the first in this new woodland which is an Ancient Wood as per the local maps, I am very lucky to have stumbled upon this place and for this, will be keeping it very secret (because it actually has very-very little human presence / activity) and therefore is a valuable place for wildlife and such – I have now been at this woodland on at least 6 or 7 times and so far have seen not a single soul even on the edges!
Grab a snack or cup of tea / coffee / cold drink, the below video is of the whole event and is only 17 minutes long, it starts at arriving at camp unluckily right after sunset, setting up, cracking open some IPA’s (Ales) then going on to making the fire for dinner, much of the footage if of the following day … I show you the inside setup and benefits of the Polish Army Canvas Tipi ”Palatka” Tent, bake up some Bannock (Cree) Bread on some Hazel sticks etc.
If you are interested in Wild Camping but have reservsations due to where you live and / or safety issues, the best thing to do is learn about ”Stealth Camping” as safety only gets risked if you are alone and advetising your whereabouts … loads of people have these worries and Stealth Camping helps you to be hidden .. obviously.
I will be practicing some Stealth Camping this upcoming Spring, Summer and Early Autumn season as I mostly do local-ish (within 25km of my location) and it is quite urbanised here. So I am likely to be purchasing some gas cooking equipment soon to enable myself to do overnighters … keep an eye out here or on my youtube channel for those upcoming sessions and updates!
I went out a few weeks ago and had a nice little daycamp, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip despite having to film! In the below video I harvest some Auricularia Fungi Aka: Jew’s Ear / Wood Ear fungi which grows predominantly on Elder ‘Sambucus nigra’ which I add into my scrambled eggs, I eat this on lightly toasted Home Made Italian Herb Bread.
There’s more on Spoon Carving, Wood Processing, trying out a very delicious Banana Bread Beer and another IPA Ale, then finish off with a tree climb session, trying out a very nice ”Peanut Soup Drink” From Taiwan – then I also have a heartening talk about our fellow memebers of society whom are disabled in some way who simply cannot move around and experience certain things like Bushcraft or hiking in the wilderness due to access issues etc. I truly hope that one day soon more people would realise what life like that must be like so that we can all push for better access and facilities for them!
Thanks for visiting, I hope you make it through the whole video especially to the point where I talk about people with disabilities, hopefully you will be able to give your view/s on the subject too?
I recently made probably one of the best purchases for my Outdoor Gear collection but mainly for when I’m wild camping or on day trips in Winter.
Swedish Army M90 Winter Arctic Bushcraft or Outdoor Pants / Trousers
I saw the Swedish Army M90 Thermal Winter Pants (pullover / suspender type) on my favourite Army Suplus supplier online, if it hadn’t had a review I probably would not have tried them out – AND I HAVE ZERO REGRETS! … well there is one, They are now Sold Out of any of the sizes I can wear, so I can’t get more! 😦
I would now definitely buy more (also for my wife) if they had the sizes available! Ah well, Further below is the video review I gave them it includes international pricing and other relevant infomation.
They are meant to be worn with suspenders over your normal combat pants, they have ankle-to-waist zips on each leg and this is where I had the ”epiphany” to get them! I was originally on the site to purchase either a winter grade sleeping bag OR a bivvy bag to cover my current sleeping bag in colder weather. As soon as I saw these and the review/s, I realised that I can use these as sleeping trousers inside my current 3 season bag and should the situation arise where I wake up at 3am bucketing out sweat, I can merely zip down the legs and vent out the warm heat.
M90 Swedish Army Surplus Durable Winter Pants / Pullovers
The result is now that I didn’t have to spend £35-40 for either a good Army Surplus sleeping bag or Bivvy Bag – I saved £23-28 British Pounds by spending £12 on these awesome Ex Swedish Military kit! They are super warm, very durable and soooo comfy!
One of the reviewers even commented:
I’d live in them if Society Allowed
I have put them through their paces, consider this a very good short term review! I was lucky enough to have received them in the Mail the very day before our most recent ”heavy” snowfall and so, grabbed the gear and went on a daycamp in the snow and cooked myself up some grub on my new Wood Gas Stove! They have been through Snow, Climbing up a large Pine tree whilst scavenging for Fatwood, in the Rain, through some pretty unforgiving Bogland, equally unforgiving bramble (blackberry scrubland) and I have estimated to have cycled with them around 20+ km’s so far (12.5 Miles). So far, they have not had any moisture penetrating anywhere including on the knees (on the snow daycamp I was kneeling down on very wet ivy and ground [the snow had started melting before I got to the site] and there was no penetration with barely any noticeable change in temp!
Please note that they are not to be compared with British Army ”Softies” and similar which are more likely to be used under combat trousers / pants or just when not in the bush, these are of a totally different level and can get you through the tougher bush without any issues!
Thanks again for stopping by, I hope my content helps you in any way!
About two weeks ago I gave in and bought one of the Wood Gas Stoves you see sometimes in blog posts or online videos, I didn’t really need one as I am still contented with my Lixada hinged folding stick stove, but it was the concept of the gasification process that got me interested.
These stoves employ clever design which works technically like a low grade rocket stove and cooks off the excess exhaust gasses, which therefore increases temperatures as well as keeps down pollution AND aparrently therefore saves on fuel! < This I’ll have to confirm with side-by-side tests in the future…
Quality Low Budget Wood Gas Stove for camping and bushcraft
My new stove is also made by Lixada, which I’m quite happy with, so far all of their products are very good value for money – the best part, it was even CHEAPER than the hinged folder! – price was around £12 with delivery! There are reviews online where people said they had issues with the product, aparrently either the issues have been fixed and all new stoves are fine or those people have unfortunately gotten faulty products, most of the reviews are praising the product.
I have now used the stove twice and find it fine, I just now need to adapt to starting these as they have a deeper ash-tray / wood hold area than the bushbox / firebox / stick stove designs which I am used to. I can proudly say that to date, I still have not ever had to start a fire without my Ferrocerium rodand even without the use of non natural / chemical firelighter/s.
These are a little harder to get started but once I’m used to it then it should be straight sailing – so to speak.
Being a semi-urban Wild Camper, I prefer to be ”Stealth” when I’m camping as not to draw any uneccesary attention, so the gasification process is also supposed to eliminate smoke once the fire is buring at it’s prime temperature – hence another reason why I got mine!
In this short video, I give it a burn to break it in and then go on to cooking the best Chicken Kebab I have ever had on an open fire! No Jokes …
Recipe:
You will need:
Chicken Breast (cut into cubes)
Onion (cut thickly)
Capsicum / Bell Pepper (red or orange) – thick square cuts
Olive Oil
Peri-Peri Salt / mix (not a problem if you don’t have)
Salt and Cracked Black Pepper
Paprika
Terragon
Garlic Salt
Plastic Bag or Container
Recipe / Method:
Place your chicken cubes into the container or bag (5 cubes per stick / skewer – one serving) along with all the oil (oil should be enough to cover and mix all the spices) and spices / salts (Put quite a bit of the garlic salt and paprika – perhaps a tablespoon or 3/4 tbsp per serving), put about a half teaspoon of the peri-peri rub if you don’t like things too hot – put more to your heart’s desire if you want to *Note:Caribbean spices could be a good alternative to the Peri-Peri if you can’t get any
Add in the Terragon (if they are dry then try grind them down into bits) – about one big pinch per serving / skewer
Place in fridge for half hour minimum up to 24 hours or you can freeze it in preperation for an overnighter somewhere
Arrange one cube of chicken then sandwich in between each cube alternatively some nice thickly cut onion and red or orange capsicum / bell peppers onto the stick / skewer
Cook and Enjoy!!
Thanks for your time checking out my blog!
Please do go out and enjoy the wilderness from time-to-time, it does wonders for your health and mind …
Hello again, sorry for not being a regular poster on wordpress … that’s just how I roll! To stay up to date on what I am most recently getting up to, it’s probably best to visit the Youtube Channelwhere I post usually at least once per week and sometimes bi-weekly …
I had a great time on Tuesday the 12th, I got permission from my lovely wife to head out on a long daytrip on my bike to scope out a ”new?” woodland which I have been viewing on maps and attempted to locate a couple months ago (back then, I had gotten disoriented on the ground and ended up in another woodland not far away).
So my objectives that day were to go on the scout, have a look around and note tree species, resources, entrance / exit points and possible wildcamping spots – then head off to my semi-hidden Ancient Woodland to cook up a Steak for Brunch.
The woodland turned out to be mostly Common Oak‘Quercus robur’, Common Hawthorn‘Crataegus monogyna’Â and some other random species in-between but mostly on the edges, such as Elder ‘Sambucus nigra’. It felt as though there is hardly any human activity there but as I entered I did see someones dog for a split second, so ther are dog walkers about … although, I suspect not that many.
Exterior View – Bushcraft Adventures – BushmanAOD
There’s The Woodland! Bushcraft Adventures with BushmanAOD
Moss Covered Oak Stump – Bushcraft Adventures with BushmanAOD
In hindsight, the above photo of the Woodland from across the field, makes me feel that I only got about 1/3rd the way through so there may be lots more to explore!
The ground was well boggy as we have had some rain and the snow the week prior, my bike’s mechanics took the brunt of the abuse! This was just before cleaning it the first time, the second time took at least 10 min’s to clear it all out …
It was such a peaceful day out, despite a very heavy rucksack on my back, boggy / muddy paths and ground which was sapping my energy minute by minute. It was much farther away from the highway and so the noise was less, local birdlife was out in abundance and my day started out with many Robins singing and some Woodpeckers doing their thing in the Oak wood!
The Local River Along The Ancient Woodland
Wild Oyster Mushrooms on Dead Wood? Food Foraging UK 2019
Heading back I came across some possibly Oyster mushrooms groing on an old fallen tree, I’m pretty sure they are but when not 100% you need to bite the bullet and leave them to be … only harvest fungi when you have identified them from multiple sources or from spening time around an experienced forager.
I set up day camp and get the wood split and fired up, moments before entering the center of my hidden Ancient Wood, I luckily heard the scream of a Bird of Prey (not sure the species but I don’t think it was Sparrow Hawk as it was quite large), I managed to get it on film and this will appear in a video soon so keep an eye out!
South African Style Steak (Show Me Your Steak Challenge) Ancient Woodland 2019
My spices are as follows:
Crushed Coriander Seed
Garlic Salt
Cracked Black Pepper
Olive Oil
Soy Sauce
General Steak Spice Mix
Himalayan or Sea Salt
Crush about half to one tablespoon of the Coriander Seed inbetween some kitchen tissue or cloth, add this plus a good dosage of all the above mentioned spices to your meat and rub in generously (a good pinch of each on both sides) … now place into a plastic bag or container and drop in enough Soy Sauce and Olive Oil top cover the meat … throw in the fridge for at least 8 hours but 24 is ideal! …. cook only on an Open Fire or ”Braai’ as we call it in South Africa.
I cooked up some onion, Shiitake mushrooms and Aricularia fungi (Wood Ear aka Jew’s Ear Mushroom) inside the billy can with oil and salt so that I could halve the steak and eat the other half on some fresh Naan bread with the mushroom / onion stirfry. The meal was complimented with an IPA collaboration between Northern Brewing and Hopstuff called Juicy Fruit Pale Ale which went down rather nicely, as someone who hardly really drinks, this was a nice treat and I do recommend it!
I hope you enjoyed this little post, please do get out into the wild! Buy maps of the areas within reach of your locality, check online maps as you may discover nice hidden places to releive the everyday stress in!
In this new series, I will write an article on particular gear which stands out for me and is quite essential in my kit! Most people would start off firstly with their knife / knives, but I’m going to be a little different …
I first became privvy to these EDC / Utility pouches when I was watching a young fellow from Australia (Scotty from ”Scotty’s Gone Walkabouts)and he was using one in one of his trips – I immediately knew I needed something like that as I had nowhere to keep my spare batteries for the camera, or other essentials like the backup lighter, eating utencils, candles for the UCO Lantern etc! these items were just placed in various pockets in the Rucksack at random!
Utility / EDC / Possibles Pouch for Bushcraft and Survival
I have had only one excursion after getting my pouch delivered and already some everyday stress has been eliminated by using one of these.
The one I bought is a no-name Chinese make and it was so cheap but worth the price! If you search for similar items online, just beware that you should go through the photo’s very well as you may be after the same as mine (which opens like a book and has many pockets internally as well as elasticated straps of various windths) – quite a few are similar but are merely empty, one compartment pouches – so be sure what you are ordering!
I’m so impressed with the design and quality that I will definitely be ordering more in the future, in fact, I just ordered another by a different manufacturer for the purpose of First Aid kit (A bit smaller).
My Own Personal Setup / Photo’s:
EDC Utility Pouch multi – function with Molle
My only complaint about this pouch / bag is that it could use at least one small mesh compartment / pocket somewhere inside for those smaller bits that can easily fall out when using it or opening.
EDC Utility Pouch (Rear) with Molle Straps (The Carabiner is not incl)
EDC Possibles Utility Pouch (Front) Showing open pouch with zipper pocket and velcro
In conclusion, I do recommend at least one of these to take care of all the smaller or more delicate / valuable items – another option is to have another smaller one for medical / first aid.
These bags / pouches are designed with Molle straps which means you will nevr run out of ideas or even things / places that you can somehow strap it or attach it to!
Thanks again for visiting,
Keep an eye out or hit that follow button to keep up to date with the series …
Cheers for now
Bushman AllOutDoors 