View Full Version : IBC 'Survival' Hike May 22nd/23rd
For us forest dwellers who like our tea and shiney equipment, the idea of 'slumming it' is not in the bushcraft vocabularly. However as I challenge, we set out the idea of a days hike into an area, a camp and a hike out. Meaning, that all the nice equipment you just needed to walk out to the car for had to go. Shelter, water, food all had to suffer in order to get the 6km into the Muster hills and back out.
Each person had a personal challenge. The lads can come on say what they did but for me I wanted to make it harsh. As a hiker, I decided only to carry hiking equipment. My luxury item was a trangia pot. The only shelter equipment I was bringing was a 2 man bothy. I also had to last the 2 days on 1 litre of water with day hiker food, without building a shelter. So my challenge was more from a hikers perspective as I wanted to see how I did without the ability to purify water or scounge food. I wanted to experience the affects of de-hydration and fatigue on my ability to perform over a short period.
The Day itself was Gorgeous, 26 degree heat, clear blue skies and 7 enthusiastic bushcrafters ready to go. We hiked for about 4 hours in total to our wood. Most of us carrying less than half the usual weight. Our aim was to head towards a water source.
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n424/Crapbag666/Hikingin.jpg
When we got there, our next step was to make a shelter. Indeed there were some impressive shelters made, with Kevins winning out and Andrews a close second for effectiveness. All made without axes or bow saws. Knives and leathermans were the only tool used.
Kevin in his shelter!
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n424/Crapbag666/Kevininhisshelter.jpg
Andrews shelter
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n424/Crapbag666/Andrewsshelter2.jpg
After that we had to make fire and for once this was the easiest task given how dry the materials around were. In fact it was quite the opposite. We had to be careful where we were lighting it as bush fires are not unheard of in Ireland. A fire steel straight onto dry grass got it going in 10 seconds. Brilliant!
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n424/Crapbag666/campfire2.jpg
Personally I was in "Bear Grylls" mode and wanted to see how unpleasent a night out with nothing was and indeed, take it from me, its ****. I froze my arse off in my bothy shelter and got about 45 minutes sleep in total and this is the summer weather! The clear night and northerly winds dropped the temperature down to below 5 degrees id say and we had cover from the forest. Still managed a smile though. Cant exactly say the same for Maire, who only had the bivi bag and her rain gear. Tough lady!
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n424/Crapbag666/MaireDonalsleepingarrangements.jpg
We were up at 5, mainly because none of us had a proper nights sleep and we were on the move by 7 and camp clean up. It was a fabulous weekend and definitely taught us all alot about roughing it.
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n424/Crapbag666/Headinghome.jpg
Ill post some more photos when I get them off Maires phone
Good on you buddy, most "Bushcrafters" haven't a clue what its like to get down and dirty and suffer even one night out, as you say even a early summers night can be cold and un-comfortable as there was 2 of you you are better sharing body heat and sleeping together, filling the bothy bag with dry grass to make a mattress to get you up off the heat sapping cold ground and both huddling into the Bivvi bag (or vice versa depending on size, it may be a little cramped but u will be warmer and get an all important nights sleep, sleep is vital when in a survival situation as with out it rash decisions, mistakes and accidents can happen quickly, this kind of excersise also brings home the importance of some basic kit even if only going on a day hike some where remote problems can quickly arrise when the weather goes "pete tong" on you and your not prepared, foil backed survival blankets are worth their weight in gold cut down on leangthy shelter building and reflect heat from a small fire, may be worth doing the exercise again with some different survival items and seeing how much more comfortable you are with them.... Great post mate and look forward to seeing more pick's ! ;)
very interesting post :-)
Good on you buddy, most "Bushcrafters" haven't a clue what its like to get down and dirty and suffer even one night out, as you say even a early summers night can be cold and un-comfortable as there was 2 of you you are better sharing body heat and sleeping together, filling the bothy bag with dry grass to make a mattress to get you up off the heat sapping cold ground and both huddling into the Bivvi bag (or vice versa depending on size, it may be a little cramped but u will be warmer and get an all important nights sleep, sleep is vital when in a survival situation as with out it rash decisions, mistakes and accidents can happen quickly, this kind of excersise also brings home the importance of some basic kit even if only going on a day hike some where remote problems can quickly arrise when the weather goes "pete tong" on you and your not prepared, foil backed survival blankets are worth their weight in gold cut down on leangthy shelter building and reflect heat from a small fire, may be worth doing the exercise again with some different survival items and seeing how much more comfortable you are with them.... Great post mate and look forward to seeing more pick's ! ;)
Cheers JP,
To be honest alot of this was self induced discomfort. I wanted to see what effect a bit of de-hydration and sleep deprivation had on me. I was a bit dizzy from lack of water and had a bit of a headache but I knew what to expect. I have experienced it before. Also I made a navigation error when I left the forest the next day because I forgot the last leg of our journey the previous day. However I copped it quick enough. I wanted to be in the situation a normal hiker would be in. No fire, little food and f**k all water. Over 2 days it had an effect but I can imagine what I would be like if I had been out more than 2 days.
My opinion is, that if you wish to speak from experience, you must have it. I could have easily made things easier for myself in lots of different ways but I felt, I needed to do it. I would like to try it for a bit longer in fact. 2 days is just too short to see any mental effects. A week or 2 would be a real challenge
Cheers JP,
My opinion is, that if you wish to speak from experience, you must have it. I could have easily made things easier for myself in lots of different ways but I felt, I needed to do it. I would like to try it for a bit longer in fact. 2 days is just too short to see any mental effects. A week or 2 would be a real challenge
Bloody true mate nice one, even after a few days of zero carbs your body drags its self about and you become the most grumpyest food orientated loonie imaginable and if working in a team tempers can flair, i get the arseole if ive not eaten by twelve :rolleyes: . A week in the bush is a good test, theres an old saying that we are only 3 days away from being a caveman, it doesnt take long with knowledge to get all of your priorities in order and to settle into a routeen, in this situation you quickly realise "your knife is your life" And every little bit of kit you have is precious, in an envoronment like you have there a knife, billy, tarp and blanket could make for a realy interesting few days in the woods :)
Bloody true mate nice one, even after a few days of zero carbs your body drags its self about and you become the most grumpyest food orientated loonie imaginable and if working in a team tempers can flair, i get the arseole if ive not eaten by twelve :rolleyes: . A week in the bush is a good test, theres an old saying that we are only 3 days away from being a caveman, it doesnt take long with knowledge to get all of your priorities in order and to settle into a routeen, in this situation you quickly realise "your knife is your life" And every little bit of kit you have is precious, in an envoronment like you have there a knife, billy, tarp and blanket could make for a realy interesting few days in the woods :)
Very true JP. My Achilles heel is sleep, not food, as I have a short temper anyway :-) so I find that more difficult to compensate for. Especially in a team environment. In my experience I substitute sleep with regular warm food and liquids but slightly colder than average clothing to keep me alert. If I dont have access to either, it becomes very difficult indeed. I compensate that by taking lots of water and prioritising actions. It takes a great deal of concentration after about 36 hours without sleep when you have tasks like navigating and team management.
preacherman
25-05-2010, 12:15
Nice one Donal,
I will put up more pics when I get home but my perspective on the weekend was slightly different to Donal but with similar results. The main thing to know about this weekend was that nobody had a sleeping bag, some had bivy bags and some had a tarp. This weekend was all about seeing what worked and didnt work and learning from it.
I carried 1 litre of water in a stainless bottle nested in a mug, a PET .5 litre juice bottle filled with water in my pocket for hydration on the move and a filter for when we found water.
In my pack I had the usual first aid kit, and a firesteel with a small amount of tinder, a bread roll and some cooked meat to make a sandwich and emergency snickers bars in the bottom of the pack.
I brought a poncho as raingear and potential shelter but I wanted to build a shelter on site using nothing more than a mora. I also packed a german army folded kipmat that I always have in my pack as a sit mat and a snugpak sleeka for the cool evening and of course the obligatory wooly hat.
During the night it got nippy enough so I pulled the poncho over me to try and warm up, big mistake, the poncho being completely waterproof was trapping moisture and soaking the inside of the poncho and making me even colder.
The point of this excercise was to see what we could learn from a night out with no gear and how we would pack in future. We already know that you should pack just in case items but you have to hike and weight is an issue for an unfit fecker like me so what would I bring on a minimum kit basis the next time.
1. A saw.... The mora did the job but I would have had a shelter up in no time if I had a saw. This will go back in the bag.
2. Gloves... During the night my hands were the coldest as they were exposed and gathering spruce boughs for the shelter would have been a hell of a lot more comfortable with gloves on. They go back in the bag.
3. Snugpack paratex bivi bag and thermalon liner... packs up small and doesnt weigh much. Worth the weight for a nights sleep. Back in the bag it goes.
Adding these three items to my bag will not weigh much but will make any night out a much more pleaseurable experience. Obviously in winter time extra clothing would be carried as well as waterproofs.
Obviously we could go the whole hog and pack the sleeping bag, tarp, axe etc., and we usually do but this weekend was about learning and I think we all learnt something. A good weekend all round I would say.
Pics to go up later....
Andrew
Donal,
Very well done mate. A very interesting experiement. Myself and 2 friends had to be rescued by mountain rescue in Decmeber while climbing. One of our took a fall and went into shock. We tried every thing before we called the rescue squad on a half dead mobile phone but to no avail. Rescue techniques are fine down the climbing wall. but when your hands are numb dead things they are impossible without lods of practice
Then the snow started on and off and the wind picked up. We had 40-50mph gusts which made for a serious wind chill. It was weird because one minute it was a whiteout and the next it was clear and you could see the stars.
I was wearing a lifa top and a wind proof, standard action layer, our bags were at the bottom of the cliff, 150m down. We waited 7 hours on top of the mountain so we could show the MRT where our mate was holed up down the cliff face.
I stuffed heather into my jacket and made a nest of sorts under a rock overhang. Myself and my mate squeezed in and managed to keep sort of warm for short periods. Eventually we became hypothermic and stated to hallucinate among other things. I thought the moon was a torch at one point.
i had a head torch and a whistle which proved invaluable cause the MRT guys aadi they could hear it and see the light from the torch from a good distance away.
The rescue squad turned up and all worked out ok but I learned some very valuable lessons that night.
The worst part of the ordeal was not knowing how our mate was down on the ledge. We shouted down to him every 15minutes or so but the wind was so strong he couldnt hear us and we couldnt hear him. We honestly thought he was dead at times and the releif we felt when the Mrt guys shouted he is safe cannot be described.
lessons learned. Allways carry a bivvy bag with you when climbing, not in your bag at the bottom, in your pocket. That would have made things much more pleasant. bring a whistle and a torch and some choclate. Make sure your mobile is fully charged.
I have been climbing for 12 years and would consider myself experienced. However you cannot appreciate the speed that things go wrong and spiral out of your control.
I forgot to mention that my wife was 8 and a half months pregnant when this happened which added to my nerves slightly lol.
Cheers
Treeboy
Donal,
I stuffed heather into my jacket and made a nest of sorts under a rock overhang. Myself and my mate squeezed in and managed to keep sort of warm for short periods. Eventually we became hypothermic and stated to hallucinate among other things. I thought the moon was a torch at one point.
Treeboy
This is where fire becomes your best friend, along with something small and simple like a foil blanket to make a heat reflective back stop can save your life with a small fire, heather burns like buggery..
Its bloody interesting to see different peoples take on the same excersise, and the psycology of survival will never fail to interest me. This is why a shake my head at some contents of possible pouches (they can hold very usefull survival items, not just 'arf ounce of old holbourn and a packet of rizlas ;) ), a load of needless tat mostly,but a good means of making fire (ferro rod and some wetfire tinder/hexi block), a survival blanket a thick plastic bag with water purifying tabs can keep you alive for days if caught out, life sustaining items that you know cant fail to let you down, but most importantly the knowledge to use them and improvise and overcome the problems you are faced with in a survival situation.
Bloody top post, nice one you guys.... :thumbsup:
Nice one Donal,
1. A saw.... The mora did the job but I would have had a shelter up in no time if I had a saw. This will go back in the bag.
Andrew
A saw is a very underestimated tool in a survival situation, a blind or an injured person can use a saw there for giving them worth in a survival situation, which psycologically can keep them afloat keeping the valued in their team. In a survival situation give me a camp / leuku sized knife and a saw any day than a Mora but you play the hand you are dealt, the swedish army at one time taught their soldiers to fell a forearm thickness (mans, average) sized tree with a mora, which in a survival / bushcraft situation is all thats needed really, any bigger you use the power of fire to burn down or burn in to lengths rather than the valuable calouries you posess in your body eh....
Multi-pitch still freaks me out mate. I havent lead one yet but hope to soon (I think). Sorry to hear to happened but glad everything turns out ok. I think alot of bushcrafters get stuck in this equipment safety bubble. My perspective on allot of these skills is that when you need the gear, you wont have it. The attitude of 'But id have my knife' gives people this false sense of security when it comes to outdoor activities. Ive gotten into bother sailing and kayaking. It was never bushcraft skill that got me out, rather the approach to the situation that got me out and sometimes I wasnt impressed with how I reacted in hindsight. So mentally experiencing it is a huge thing to me. Im no kit monster and would rather learn to do 100 things with one knife than have 100 knives for 100 different things
Donal,
Very well done mate. A very interesting experiement. Myself and 2 friends had to be rescued by mountain rescue in Decmeber while climbing. One of our took a fall and went into shock. We tried every thing before we called the rescue squad on a half dead mobile phone but to no avail. Rescue techniques are fine down the climbing wall. but when your hands are numb dead things they are impossible without lods of practice
Then the snow started on and off and the wind picked up. We had 40-50mph gusts which made for a serious wind chill. It was weird because one minute it was a whiteout and the next it was clear and you could see the stars.
I was wearing a lifa top and a wind proof, standard action layer, our bags were at the bottom of the cliff, 150m down. We waited 7 hours on top of the mountain so we could show the MRT where our mate was holed up down the cliff face.
I stuffed heather into my jacket and made a nest of sorts under a rock overhang. Myself and my mate squeezed in and managed to keep sort of warm for short periods. Eventually we became hypothermic and stated to hallucinate among other things. I thought the moon was a torch at one point.
i had a head torch and a whistle which proved invaluable cause the MRT guys aadi they could hear it and see the light from the torch from a good distance away.
The rescue squad turned up and all worked out ok but I learned some very valuable lessons that night.
The worst part of the ordeal was not knowing how our mate was down on the ledge. We shouted down to him every 15minutes or so but the wind was so strong he couldnt hear us and we couldnt hear him. We honestly thought he was dead at times and the releif we felt when the Mrt guys shouted he is safe cannot be described.
lessons learned. Allways carry a bivvy bag with you when climbing, not in your bag at the bottom, in your pocket. That would have made things much more pleasant. bring a whistle and a torch and some choclate. Make sure your mobile is fully charged.
I have been climbing for 12 years and would consider myself experienced. However you cannot appreciate the speed that things go wrong and spiral out of your control.
Cheers
Treeboy
Jp,
A fire would have been very very nice. However, even if I had bone dry tinder and a lighter it would have been impossible to light. The gusts were strong enough to blow me over, there were periodic blizzards and the ground and heather was soaking wet. When i say rock over hang I mean a shallow scrape under a big flat rock which was about 2 foot deep and 3 wide. Lighting a fire in there, if possible, would have ment going into the wind ourselves. Not even mears himself could have got a blaze going! The mountain rescue team told us we had to stay up there to show them where the rope to our mate or we would have been back at our bags getting proper gear on, which was a two hour walk away!
Cheers,
Treeboy
preacherman
25-05-2010, 14:01
A saw is a very underestimated tool in a survival situation, a blind or an injured person can use a saw there for giving them worth in a survival situation, which psycologically can keep them afloat keeping the valued in their team. In a survival situation give me a camp / leuku sized knife and a saw any day than a Mora but you play the hand you are dealt, the swedish army at one time taught their soldiers to fell a forearm thickness (mans, average) sized tree with a mora, which in a survival / bushcraft situation is all thats needed really, any bigger you use the power of fire to burn down or burn in to lengths rather than the valuable calouries you posess in your body eh....
JP you are bang on there. I must note for the record that while we had ideal conditions for our experiment we had planned this trip a month ago and could not have known that the sun would shine, rain would be the norm here in our green isle. Building my shelter was done at a leisurely pace and with a mora I had no choice. If it was tipping it down a saw would have been the difference between a reasonably comfortable night and something like Donal had. If I had been soaked and everything around me soaked aswell then the saw would have made both shelter building ( to be honest the poncho would have gone up) and firewood gathering a much faster job. Dead branches still attached to trees could have been cut down and split with the mora etc. I do own a camp knife but didnt bring it as we were trying to simulate an average day hiker getting stuck out for a night and I cant imagine many average joes on the hills have a LeukoO:)
Andrew
Multi-pitch still freaks me out mate. I havent lead one yet but hope to soon (I think). Sorry to hear to happened but glad everything turns out ok. I think alot of bushcrafters get stuck in this equipment safety bubble. My perspective on allot of these skills is that when you need the gear, you wont have it. The attitude of 'But id have my knife' gives people this false sense of security when it comes to outdoor activities. Ive gotten into bother sailing and kayaking. It was never bushcraft skill that got me out, rather the approach to the situation that got me out and sometimes I wasnt impressed with how I reacted in hindsight. So mentally experiencing it is a huge thing to me. Im no kit monster and would rather learn to do 100 things with one knife than have 100 knives for 100 different things
Knowledge ,a positive mental attitude ,common sence (not so common) (fore-thought and planning can stop it happening) are what will get you out of the doo every time, there are accounts of people being found curled up dead next to a rucksack full of spanky kit, one guy in yellowstone national park literally sat down next to his pack, wrote a letter folded his glasses neatly and placed them on the letter and sat there and died!
And the quote in bold is very very true mate, i like your style :thumbsup:
Jp,
A fire would have been very very nice. However, even if I had bone dry tinder and a lighter it would have been impossible to light. The gusts were strong enough to blow me over, there were periodic blizzards and the ground and heather was soaking wet. When i say rock over hang I mean a shallow scrape under a big flat rock which was about 2 foot deep and 3 wide. Lighting a fire in there, if possible, would have ment going into the wind ourselves. Not even mears himself could have got a blaze going! The mountain rescue team told us we had to stay up there to show them where the rope to our mate or we would have been back at our bags getting proper gear on, which was a two hour walk away!
Cheers,
Treeboy
Not much fun mate, just goes to show how quick a nice days climbing can spiral out of control eh :shake:
I do own a camp knife but didnt bring it as we were trying to simulate an average day hiker getting stuck out for a night and I cant imagine many average joes on the hills have a LeukoO:)
Andrew
Point taken lol :wink:
We joke about it now of course.
in fact i told my mate who was on the ledge that the Mountain rescue team had asked us to take part in a reinactment for training purposes. They didnt need him however because they had a female mannequin (http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=xKG&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&channel=s&ei=ZN37S6awMsmS4gah1qnyAg&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&ved=0CB4QBSgA&q=mannequin&spell=1) who could play his part. (when he went into shock he refused to even speak when i abseiled down to him and wouldnt move.)
Har har.
preacherman
25-05-2010, 14:26
Im no kit monster and would rather learn to do 100 things with one knife than have 100 knives for 100 different things
Yeah but I did detect a little knife envy when you saw Jims new shiney from Brisa so maybe soon you will be the proud owner of two knives and from there its a slippery slope my friend:lmao::lmao::lmao:
Andrew
Its true. It is a very slippery slope. But I agree with Donal and Jp. A hundred skills are bettter than a hundred knives.
Yeah but I did detect a little knife envy when you saw Jims new shiney from Brisa so maybe soon you will be the proud owner of two knives and from there its a slippery slope my friend:lmao::lmao::lmao:
Andrew
It happens to us all buddy :lmao: :lmao::rolleyes: :wink:
preacherman
25-05-2010, 14:40
A hundred skills are bettter than a hundred knives.
No arguement here ....
I'm only winding Donal up about the knives...for the last two IBC meets Donal has handled a few new shineys that a couple of us bought and you could see him starting to waver... his mora does the job but it aint pretty:)
Andrew
Yeah but I did detect a little knife envy when you saw Jims new shiney from Brisa so maybe soon you will be the proud owner of two knives and from there its a slippery slope my friend:lmao::lmao::lmao:
Andrew
Thats the difference Andrew, discipline ;-)
I own about €2000 worth of technical gear for different sports. I cant afford to invest in things that work just as well just handle differently. Admittidly they were lovely knives :-) but I dont crack, even under pressure :-p I would rather spend the money on another course. I would rather a sharper mental knife than more for the mantel piece
preacherman
25-05-2010, 14:52
Thats the difference Andrew, discipline
We're talking about shiney new knives here and you mention Discipline...:o wait till Tony gets on here later young man...:lmao::lmao::lmao:
Andrew
A few pics from my epic.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z265/proclad/21560_229151854479_541709479_313632.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z265/proclad/21560_229151819479_541709479_313632.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z265/proclad/newestupdatefromsonycamera132.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z265/proclad/newestupdatefromsonycamera121.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z265/proclad/newestupdatefromsonycamera104.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z265/proclad/newestupdatefromsonycamera096.jpg
This were the photos end until..........
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z265/proclad/newestupdatefromsonycamera139.jpg
In the mountain resuce command van at 4am or so. The thousand yard stare.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z265/proclad/newestupdatefromsonycamera138.jpg
The other bloke is gone to get checked out by this stage.
Cheers
We're talking about shiney new knives here and you mention Discipline...:o wait till Tony gets on here later young man...:lmao::lmao::lmao:
Andrew
lol, he will break sooner or later, keep up the pressure :thumbsup:
You lads and your heavy bags full of light weight equipment. If I see one more titanium cup on the fire, ill kick it over :-)
preacherman
25-05-2010, 15:03
Treeboy...Looks like a beautiful day on the hills ... How could anything go wrong ?:rolleyes:
Just goes to show that anything can go wrong any time. At least you are here to tell the tale.:thumbsup:
Andrew
preacherman
25-05-2010, 15:07
You lads and your heavy bags full of light weight equipment. If I see one more titanium cup on the fire, ill kick it over :-)
You know what they say... "carry less by knowing more" well I know that titanium is lighter than steel so I am carrying less so I must know more... logic innit:lmao::lmao::lmao:
Andrew
Bloody ell that mush in the red looks vacant!! "Wilderness Coma" Some people will do anything to get a cozy ride home eh ;) lol
Lol, you knew that was me ya git.
Lol, you knew that was me ya git.
Oh err, well, errr :scratch: of course i did silly :smug:
(boy was i right with the vacant statement :rolleyes: :finga: lol)
Nice photos mate. Shame it went wrong. Serious look of worry alright. Ive worn that look myself although never unfortunate enough to have to call the MRT.
Edit: Who was leading? Jaysus, **** all placements for gear it looks like, maybe its just the photo though.
How do you rate the paramo smock? That gear is getting a big following over the past 2 years
It was a tight enough wee climb. I alternated lead with my mate Nige who is my regular climbing partner.The guy on the rope was last, it was his first real climb, which probably added to his shock when he took a fall lol. he did insist on coming and his dad is a gold mountain leader so I wrongly assumed he knew more than he did. It was mostly slab climbing, vs with the last pitch being HVS i think. There were loads of rock placments and a few cams. 5 pitches in all. A long day.
The guy on the ledge is fine now, we ran the Belfast marathon together at the start of May so fully recovered.
I was only leading HS when I got injured. Was aiming for VS during the summer but my back wasnt right. Probably back down to VD's and S's now :-)
So it wasnt a lead fall? Thats odd. Nothing injured, just shock? That must have been frustrating for you lads. I feel for the lad though, you never know how the body is going to react
Celt_Ginger
25-05-2010, 16:02
Great post Donal.
preacherman
25-05-2010, 20:12
A few more pictures from the weekend.
http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad222/andrew200mullen/Andrewsshelter3.jpg
My shelter... a sort of lean to over a natural hollow
http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad222/andrew200mullen/Kevinsshelter2.jpg
Kevins shelter.... before he buried himself in dry grass for insulation
http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad222/andrew200mullen/Purifyingriverwater.jpg
Boiling river water to purify it.... First try out of the guyot designs stainless bottle on the fire....
http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad222/andrew200mullen/LeavenotraceAndrewsshelterspot.jpg
Leave no trace...my shelter spot before we left
http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad222/andrew200mullen/Leavenotracefire.jpg
Leave no trace... the fire spot before we left
Andrew
I leave you guys alone for a couple of days and there is a spike in internet useage this afternoon. The photos are brilliant or should I say fantastic (or does that belong to another thread).
Seriously though ( I have to say that as this the serious bit).
I think the idea to do the hike was a great one (Donal), the location of it was well chosen (Andrew), none of us except Andrew had been to the location before , the spot we hiked to was very isolated and perfect for our needs. I weighed my pack when I came home and it came in at about 15kgs. I now know that this is ideal for me. I had brought a bivy bag and a poncho liner, I was dry and reasonably allright till the early hours and then I could feel the cold. I had brought 1 Litre of water and filtered and boiled the water that I needed to finish the trip. ( not as hard core as the others). My sleeping arrangement appears in one of the photos I wonder has it been spotted yet.
As to the question of tools, to quote Donal "100 things with one knife than have 100 knives for 100 different things". I agree. I'll start the list 1. Cut.
Tony :steve::watson:
I dont recall asking you!
Mister, "I dont need anymore knives" and then throws €90 at a spiderco. "I like this knife because it matches my eyes, this one because it matches my purse".....
preacherman
25-05-2010, 22:03
My sleeping arrangement appears in one of the photos I wonder has it been spotted yet.
Tony :steve::watson:
Now that you mention it.....
http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad222/andrew200mullen/Tonyhammock.jpg
And a few more....
http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad222/andrew200mullen/carpark1.jpg
Jim our legal eagle checking Tonys pack for contraband...
http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad222/andrew200mullen/TonyRidge.jpg
The "original" Hairy Bikers....
http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad222/andrew200mullen/tonyfire.jpg
And of course the obligitory picture of Tony trying to set fire to his beard...
Andrew
Donal,
Paramo is the best. I dont use gor-tex anymore. I have 3 paramo jackets and salopettes.
Brillaint stuff, get some an you will be converted.
Ive used it alright. Brilliant stuff, dont own one yet though. Hard to justify another 270 after buying a Berghaus XCR for the same price. Saw it too late. Its funny because all the Mountaineers from up North love the gear but its not sold down here yet. I dont shop for outdoor gear in Dublin anymore. The shops up there are great and lads and lassies in the shops are generally quite good. Thumbs up to Belfast and lads who know their ****. Thumbs down to the clowns in Dublin who once saw a postcard with hills in it
Tell me about it. I once went to buy some yeti gaiters and the guy told me they were not for use in the snow and were specially made for walking through heather or the sea???
I stared at him in astonishment and then left.
I would love to see the test they give these people before they get released on the public. Probably something along the lines of "Have you watched bear grylls"? "Yes"? "your in!"
I would recommend the aspira jacket or smock. The jacket can be hard to button if you have cold hands. They are expensive but are silent and hard wearing and can be sown up if you rip them.
Brilliant.
Treeboy
Ha ha ha ha classic. Ive had a couple of comments like that when I was in the great outdoors. I always try my boots on there and get some mad conversations especially about boots and bags.
Female sales Rep: 'This bag its great, it has lots of pockets'
Me: 'Ha ha ha ha, for what, make up and cigarettes?'
Females sales Rep: 'What do you mean?'
Me: 'Forget it'
Sales Rep: 'These boots have a good sole on them'
Me: 'What make?'
Sales Rep: 'Rubber'
Me: '..................... right'
In fairness they have one or two lads who are well switched on so I ask for them directly
More photos,
Andrew plus shelter
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n424/Crapbag666/ABCD0016.jpg
The lads collecting water. A Katadyn is actually something I need for Canada
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n424/Crapbag666/ABCD0013.jpg
Tony and Hammock. F**k this Bivi crap
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n424/Crapbag666/ABCD0020.jpg
This was my Bear Grylls moment. "When your in the forest and need to cross a river. Its important that you jump into the deepest part. You shouldnt use the wooden foot bridge 20 metres away because it might be unsafe"
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n424/Crapbag666/ABCD0111.jpg
"its great to be here, honestly"
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n424/Crapbag666/ABCD0009.jpg
looks great mate, i bet the dip in the river was well needed lol ;)
Yeah was a nice dip alright. Should have gone with Kevs idea and at least taken my boots and T-shirt off but I had to ask myself the bushcrafters first question "What would Bear Grylls do?"
lol, he would do what any other survival "ex-spert" would do with a camera crew, full safety crew and kit and his resurchers telling him what to do and when, jump in and hope the vest inflates and the safety ropes got rid of in the editing room lol ;)
Female sales Rep: 'This bag its great, it has lots of pockets'
Me: 'Ha ha ha ha, for what, make up and cigarettes?'
Females sales Rep: 'What do you mean?'
Me: 'Forget it'
Sales Rep: 'These boots have a good sole on them'
Me: 'What make?'
Sales Rep: 'Rubber'
Me: '..................... right'
:lmao: classic...
More photos,
Andrew plus shelter
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n424/Crapbag666/ABCD0016.jpg
The lads collecting water. A Katadyn is actually something I need for Canada
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n424/Crapbag666/ABCD0013.jpg
Tony and Hammock. F**k this Bivi crap
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n424/Crapbag666/ABCD0020.jpg
This was my Bear Grylls moment. "When your in the forest and need to cross a river. Its important that you jump into the deepest part. You shouldnt use the wooden foot bridge 20 metres away because it might be unsafe"
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n424/Crapbag666/ABCD0111.jpg
"its great to be here, honestly"
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n424/Crapbag666/ABCD0009.jpg
I find that the best place to have my survival equiptment is in my folded up hammock, forget tabacco tins, that way I have my hammock and my survival equiptment, enought said. As we all know sleep is very important to the Human condition ( althought I have to say that I didn't get much sleep listening to all the teeth chattering). That said I'm looking forward to the next one. :steve::thumbsup:
Tony.
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