I recce’d this woodland a good few months prior to this trip, about three spots were Identified as good for camping (this woodland has public access and many dog walkers including dog walking professionals come here).
I just needed a camp, things at work got busy and stressful so I needed some time away from society, even if only for 18 or so hours!
My first option was a fallen Beech Tree which was still living, it created a nice shelter like structure which is suitable for a small tarp to be supported as a roof / shelter. There was a second option only if things were a little too busy in the woods – woodlands change a LOT especially ones which have many paths through them, luckily this time, spot #1 was good to go!
Above (L to R):
(L): We have the Bivvy bag over the sleeping bag, some gear on the sides and the Basha tarp overhead.
(R): The view of the BASHA from a few meters back, it blends in relatively well and from a distance it was admittedly hard to spot.
Below: The full shelter setup was finished around 9:30 / 10pm after only being able to leave for the trip after 7pm and arriving on site just before 9pm – important items left at home? Yup, the Head Torch!!! Arghhh
Dinner was supposed to be a nice lamb and veg stew but the time was just so late and honestly after cracking into the awesome Berliner Weiss by Stone Brewery I was reasonably content, I definitely just didn’t have the energy and will to slow cook a stew until 12 midnight! So I hit the sack early and decided to film everything the next day…
Above: The next day I pretty much wanted to get the stew going early, here’s the two beers (Northern Monk – Hazy Pale Ale vs Stone Brewery – Berliner Weiss) I drank the Stone that evening and had the N.Monk the following morning – Stone won this contest with a very lemony / tangy beer which was very delicious and welcoming – BUT, The Haze Pale Ale was great and I thoroughly enjoyed it even though I ususally hate beer in the morning.
I had a rogue visitor as well, the stew smelled THAT good!
Below: Just look at the juices! It takes good practice to make and enjoy stews in Billy Cans, it is so easy to burn the bottom if the levels of water are not maintained – cabbage was a welcome new addition and will likely be present on many future wild camp stews …
I brought a few nostalgic items along to show the youtube channel followers but remembered to take a flick too, I recently found my original first Ferrocerium (Fire Steel) which is more of an EDC (Every-Day Carry) tool used by prepper types, it is attached to a lanyard (Paracord of course) and is cylindrical in form, breaks into 3 pieces which build into the rod and handle with seperate striker.
On the left is my Philippine Tirador (or Catty, Slingshot / Catapault) – I upgraded it with Theraband Rubber and it works very well despite the look.
Attached to the lanyard are the following; an emergency whislte bought earlier this year for a ”Virus” interrupted family hiking trip to Wales then finally a Swedish Army surplus can opener (All Below):
The camp overall went well, I slept very well indeed and enjoyed the trip, amazingly I still managed to get my head down depite being awoken in the morning after 4am by the birds, I probably finally got up after 7:30 onwards – some filming was undertaken randomly between 4am when the rain first started and perhaps around 6 / 6:30am till I got down for another hours snoozing.
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Wild Camping and Bushcraft Videos / Channel:
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Cheers
BushmanAOD
Bushman AllOutDoors 