November bushcraft meeting

Hi,

I got together with a few blokes, some kids and a couple of dogs for a bit of bushcrafting in County Down this weekend.
There was a mixture of new and old faces there and plenty of laughs around the fire.

From left to right. Evan, mattew and Davy, Sandy, Phil, Nathan, Mark and Stephen.

The lads discuss Cheryl Coles latest Album

Lots of good food being cooked

Someone tells a funny story, well he thinks it funny anyway.

A tarp emergency stretcher with two excited boys in it!

Myself and a few others had a go at burning out a cup or kuksa from seasoned Birch.

The Birch came from a standing dead tree which we felled and sectioned into rings of about 8 inches in length. The sections were then split with either an axe or a Lueku and baton in my case.

A nice coal was selected from the fire and placed on the wood to burn the bowl. You need a constant flow of air to keep it hot and burning. We used old pen tubes which one of the guys had brought along. Of course you could use an elder wand with the pith removed too.

We stopped burning every now and again to scrape the burnt material out and check for cracks and other problems.

Over all this is a job you could do over a few different sessions as it can make you quite dizzy contantly blowing down a tube for a few hours. I intend to try and finish mine this week and I look forward to seeing the other lads efforts next time too.

This dead Birch was hung up in a Beech tree about 10m above us. We cut trhough then walked the stem back and out of the hangup.

Using my new Bow saw, which was excellent and the perfect size for a pack.

Batoning with my Leuku. This give an accurate and controlled split.

The two halves. The wood has some spalting which gives a lovley grain.

People saw i am full of hot air and it came in handy here.

A close up of the bowl being burnt out.

A seat made from an A-frame and a hammock. Great for old boys like mouldsy.

Our best tracker practising. Or maybe someone dropped a sausage.

One of the lads sons learning safe fire practise. And doing what all boys young and old like to do....poke a fire with a stick.

Other projects where also on the go. Spoon carving, camp cookery and camp funriture making all got a run and everyone had a good time.

Looking forward to the next meet.

Abo