Look what I found

In some posts I refer to my previous Bushcrafting days (well, survival as it was then). This was before I was rudely interrupted by my career and academically making up for lack of concentration and effort at school. Well, most of my old kit has well and truly been disposed of but I keep coming across a few remnants.

Recently, like an archaeologist discovering some long lost buried village, I excavated a familiar looking box from the depths of the attic and excitedly looked inside in the hopes of finding some ancient Bushcrafting artefact.

Half expecting the usual piece of mouldy webbing, I sat back in amazement as I discovered an old notebook, remnants of what looks like a survival kit, my old knife and a pouch. What delight! Should I contact the British Museum?

I examined the pages from the notebook and remembered that I had laboriously copied out most of the pages from Lofty Wiseman’s SAS survival guide into a portable notebook format. (I should have waited – there’s now a pocket version). But there are also a few pages detailing what I carried for those first tentative excursions, which made interesting reading.

I still make lists like this to this day and I was quite surprised at the similarities. I noticed that even then I carried a shoulder bag, which I called a wildlife bag. I remember this being an old maroon coloured camera bag.

It looked like I carried a belt rig with knife, water bottle, large utility pouch and survival pouch. I wouldn’t wear that cumbersome set up today, but of course I still carry a knife and possibles pouch.

I remember that my main pack was an old ‘A’ frame Bergen (an old remnant from my time in the services) and now sadly ‘extinct’. I noted that this would have contained (and I quote from the notes…)

“…a poncho (for lean-to), green string, foam lay, machete, sleeping bag, spare clothes/waterproofs, thick jumper, socks, provisions (hydrolised meals), burner (hexamine), extra water-bottle, plastic bag, bungees/rope).”

Mmmmm... No sign of a comfy Thermarest or hammock there! Nor a luxurious Trangia!

I also found the front page of my Adventure training log book (what happened to the rest o
f it?) which detailed a Mountain Expedition Leadership qualification in (cough) 1983. (God I feel old!) I remember doing this in the Lake District. Ah… the memories come flooding back. We were called “woolly-hatters” by the rest of the Army Physical Training fraternity.

The knife was similar to the one recommended in Lofty’s book and is 5 inches long and almost a Bowie type shape. I can just make out “Solingen” on the blade, which is an area in Germany as famous for its steel as Sheffield is in UK. I can’t make out any other details. The handle is antler. Quite a nice grip actually.

I would probably say that it’s not really a suitable size for my use now, being too short for a decent chopping tool and too long for use as a general Bushcraft knife. I don’t actually remember using it that much at the time perhaps because I had - and still have - a Martindale No2 Golok (another recent find).

The leather pouch? The less said about the better! A terrible effort at making a compass pouch.

So what more will I uncover? What else lies within the depths of the boxes? What other ancient Pableolithic material will be revealed? How many more questions can I fit in this post?

Pablo.