Reading Meet

My mate Paul and I headed south to meet up with the Reading Group on Friday afternoon. A little rain was forecast but the whole weekend turned out fine and dry.



After a hot and sticky walk-in We arrived to find the parachute already up and a brew on the go. Mark presented me with a fine looking kuksa as a gift for doing the Reading group forum. I was completely overwhelmed and promptly planned what liquid substance should go in it. Well - it's got to be sealed properly hasn't it?


We woke up to a beautiful day on Saturday and after breakfast, a couple of us went roving with the bows to do a bit of stump shooting. I'd brought along the Samick SKB, the length of which proved ideal in the particular closed-in area of woodland we chose to shoot in. We all did pretty well getting close to the challenging choices of target and in a couple of instances even killed a stump or two!

Mark had brought along a large awl which enabled the construction of some wooden chairs. John decided to assemble what can only be described as a throne, which was in keeping with his heavy-weight style of camping. Hence he was dubbed "His Majesty, King John" for the rest of the meet. The chairs will be kept on site ready for the next meet.



Some of us went for a wander after lunch and ended up tracking along the moderately fast flowing stream. There was a lot of damselfly activity and I spent some time trying to photograph the amazingly coloured and aptly named Beautiful demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo).



We followed some tracks along the stream bank and decided it belonged to a small fox. The tracks ended up at a kill site where the only evidence left of the prey was a claw of a crustacian. Looking again at the photo I'm not too sure if there might be other tracks in there and I wish I'd studied the area in more detail at the time. Other tracks seen were roe, fallow, muntjac, mouse and a number of birds that had hopped along the bank. There was still no sign of the elusive water vole tracks.


The evening meal was a barbeque of literally tons of meet mostly provided by King John.
Earlier, Steve (who was on my Shadowhawk tracking course with me) and I identified a good sit spot covering an area where there might be some evening mammal activity. Andy had already spotted a fox cub, and muntjac had been heard the previous evening. After the barbeque, along with Andy we sat for an hour being bitten to death by mosquitos! The sum total of our sightings? One rabbit - oh and some sheep! Well, you can't win them all.


One of the best things about meets is that you can share experiences and stories around the fire. With new faces comes new stories and experiences. Knowledge is shared, kit examined and compared, and tips are passed on. This meet was no exception. John was busy dying a leather water bottle while Mark had made a fantastic flute case. You can see these pics on the network.



Prior to packing up on Sunday, conversation meandered on to the dreaded tick subject mentioned in my last post. This prompted everyone to start examining themselves. Low and behold ticks were found on nearly everyone's legs. A tick removal session then took place. Anyone watching would be forgiven in thinking that a strange bunch of primates had invaded the woods and were busy de-fleaing themselves. Mark's pocket microscope (is there nothing that he dosesn't have handy?) showed in real terms what a monstrous looking creature the tick is.



A certain lesson learned and a good tip is to tuck the trousers in to socks or put elastics around the bottom of the trousers. Those with sleeping areas on the bracken slopes (myself included) should also have cleared a path through the bracken leading to the hammock. Whatever the precautions though, it's inevitable that you will get a couple if you go tracking or exploring through the undergrowth.

All too soon it was time to say our goodbyes and leave the site. We doused the fire and cached the pot hangers. Another excellent weekend and a big thanks to Mark for organising the meet and everyone else that came along.

Pablo.

Reading Meet

My mate Paul and I headed south to meet up with the Reading Group on Friday afternoon. A little rain was forecast but the whole weekend turned out fine and dry.



After a hot and sticky walk-in We arrived to find the parachute already up and a brew on the go. Mark presented me with a fine looking kuksa as a gift for doing the Reading group forum. I was completely overwhelmed and promptly planned what liquid substance should go in it. Well - it's got to be sealed properly hasn't it?


We woke up to a beautiful day on Saturday and after breakfast, a couple of us went roving with the bows to do a bit of stump shooting. I'd brought along the Samick SKB, the length of which proved ideal in the particular closed-in area of woodland we chose to shoot in. We all did pretty well getting close to the challenging choices of target and in a couple of instances even killed a stump or two!

Mark had brought along a large awl which enabled the construction of some wooden chairs. John decided to assemble what can only be described as a throne, which was in keeping with his heavy-weight style of camping. Hence he was dubbed "His Majesty, King John" for the rest of the meet. The chairs will be kept on site ready for the next meet.



Some of us went for a wander after lunch and ended up tracking along the moderately fast flowing stream. There was a lot of damselfly activity and I spent some time trying to photograph the amazingly coloured and aptly named Beautiful demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo).



We followed some tracks along the stream bank and decided it belonged to a small fox. The tracks ended up at a kill site where the only evidence left of the prey was a claw of a crustacian. Looking again at the photo I'm not too sure if there might be other tracks in there and I wish I'd studied the area in more detail at the time. Other tracks seen were roe, fallow, muntjac, mouse and a number of birds that had hopped along the bank. There was still no sign of the elusive water vole tracks.


The evening meal was a barbeque of literally tons of meet mostly provided by King John.
Earlier, Steve (who was on my Shadowhawk tracking course with me) and I identified a good sit spot covering an area where there might be some evening mammal activity. Andy had already spotted a fox cub, and muntjac had been heard the previous evening. After the barbeque, along with Andy we sat for an hour being bitten to death by mosquitos! The sum total of our sightings? One rabbit - oh and some sheep! Well, you can't win them all.


One of the best things about meets is that you can share experiences and stories around the fire. With new faces comes new stories and experiences. Knowledge is shared, kit examined and compared, and tips are passed on. This meet was no exception. John was busy dying a leather water bottle while Mark had made a fantastic flute case. You can see these pics on the network.



Prior to packing up on Sunday, conversation meandered on to the dreaded tick subject mentioned in my last post. This prompted everyone to start examining themselves. Low and behold ticks were found on nearly everyone's legs. A tick removal session then took place. Anyone watching would be forgiven in thinking that a strange bunch of primates had invaded the woods and were busy de-fleaing themselves. Mark's pocket microscope (is there nothing that he dosesn't have handy?) showed in real terms what a monstrous looking creature the tick is.



A certain lesson learned and a good tip is to tuck the trousers in to socks or put elastics around the bottom of the trousers. Those with sleeping areas on the bracken slopes (myself included) should also have cleared a path through the bracken leading to the hammock. Whatever the precautions though, it's inevitable that you will get a couple if you go tracking or exploring through the undergrowth.

All too soon it was time to say our goodbyes and leave the site. We doused the fire and cached the pot hangers. Another excellent weekend and a big thanks to Mark for organising the meet and everyone else that came along.

Pablo.

East Sussex Meet

Friday saw me battling with the afternoon M25 traffic to get to the "Tribe" meet in East Sussex. It was worth the long wait at the QE2 bridge as the Surrey hills opened up in front of me and shortly after, the smell of the Sussex woods started to permeate the interior of the Land Rover Discovery.

A couple of us met up at the local pub and shared a beer and a ham sandwich. The chill out had well and truly commenced.

I was quite pleased with how light I'd managed to get the pack on this occasion. I still took the Sabre 75 but it was only just three quarters full. It was only the 2 litres of water, probaby more than that amount in beer and a bottle of brandy that weighed me down. Even so it was a pleasant walk in.

I pitched up with one side to the rhodedendrons and as the forecast looked good I opened up the front of the tarp to the elements.

It wasn't too long before more people had arrived and the social got underway. The great thing about these meets is that you can share ideas and experiences. Unfortunately, by the morning, helped by the fog of 'shrafting juice you've forgotten most of what you talked about!

After breakfast I decided to take myself off and do some tracking. I ended up at the pond and watched the dragonflies. Broad bodied chasers were about, and 2 smaller damselflies. The weather was so pleasant, I just laid back and enjoyed the sun feeling just a bit guilty that I should be doing something with a more craft aspect to it.

I eventually got my idle self up and followed a thin trail through the thick rhodedendrons. On the damp trail I noticed the usual muntjac and fallow tracks, but I also saw a single fox track. I stood out like a sore thumb and could only have been pretty recent. I followed the winding trail trying not to make too much noise when I caught sight of a white tail tip which disappered around a bend. I tried to speed up and on the next straight I saw a fox (a vixen I think) sauntering along the trail.

The soft ground gave me the advantage of getting closer without alerting her. When she stopped, so did I. Once she turned around but I had pre-empted this and turned side on (well, almost) to try and disguise my shape. This worked but unfortunately her next steps were at a trot and she drew away from me.

She halted again. Do I stop as well or take this opportunity to catch up? I carried on at a slow stalk prepared to stop if she turned again. I had to take a picture. I'd forgotten to do this. She had started to trot on again as I took the picture. She was gaining on me. Time for drastic measures. The old sucking on the back of the hand trick. Well that was the theory. In practice it alerted a grey squirrel who started up a furious chattering. The fox looked around caught me in mid stride and promptly disappeared to the right into the thick rhoddy's. End of tracking session.

When I returned to the camp, there was more activity going on. Log splitting followed by the starting of a kuksa and other woodcraft work. Evening meal preparations were also in progress where a leg of lamb was slowly being roasted on a spit over the fire. You might notice from the pics the way the spit is resting on the three supports. This technique is well worth remembering if you're going to do this yourself. The lamb had to be turned every few seconds for 3 hours. A strangely relaxing chore when I took my turn.

The day finished with more 'shrafting juice, great conversation, a splendid warming fire and ... more 'shrafting juice. I was amazed at the craftsmanship of the knives, carving and leatherwork on show. Quite oustanding and inspirational. On the next meet someone's going to set up a primitive forge. Something that I'm particularly looking forward to.

I have to recommend Nige's website. We talked at length about wildlife and tracking and this site shows his dedication to wildlife in his back garden. Great stuff.

After a great night's sleep (and luckily with few effects from the night before) and a bit of breakfast I slowly packed up and bade farewell to those still left. Another great weekend meeting of like-minded and very skilled people.

Pablo.

East Sussex Meet

Friday saw me battling with the afternoon M25 traffic to get to the "Tribe" meet in East Sussex. It was worth the long wait at the QE2 bridge as the Surrey hills opened up in front of me and shortly after, the smell of the Sussex woods started to permeate the interior of the Land Rover Discovery.

A couple of us met up at the local pub and shared a beer and a ham sandwich. The chill out had well and truly commenced.

I was quite pleased with how light I'd managed to get the pack on this occasion. I still took the Sabre 75 but it was only just three quarters full. It was only the 2 litres of water, probaby more than that amount in beer and a bottle of brandy that weighed me down. Even so it was a pleasant walk in.

I pitched up with one side to the rhodedendrons and as the forecast looked good I opened up the front of the tarp to the elements.

It wasn't too long before more people had arrived and the social got underway. The great thing about these meets is that you can share ideas and experiences. Unfortunately, by the morning, helped by the fog of 'shrafting juice you've forgotten most of what you talked about!

After breakfast I decided to take myself off and do some tracking. I ended up at the pond and watched the dragonflies. Broad bodied chasers were about, and 2 smaller damselflies. The weather was so pleasant, I just laid back and enjoyed the sun feeling just a bit guilty that I should be doing something with a more craft aspect to it.

I eventually got my idle self up and followed a thin trail through the thick rhodedendrons. On the damp trail I noticed the usual muntjac and fallow tracks, but I also saw a single fox track. I stood out like a sore thumb and could only have been pretty recent. I followed the winding trail trying not to make too much noise when I caught sight of a white tail tip which disappered around a bend. I tried to speed up and on the next straight I saw a fox (a vixen I think) sauntering along the trail.

The soft ground gave me the advantage of getting closer without alerting her. When she stopped, so did I. Once she turned around but I had pre-empted this and turned side on (well, almost) to try and disguise my shape. This worked but unfortunately her next steps were at a trot and she drew away from me.

She halted again. Do I stop as well or take this opportunity to catch up? I carried on at a slow stalk prepared to stop if she turned again. I had to take a picture. I'd forgotten to do this. She had started to trot on again as I took the picture. She was gaining on me. Time for drastic measures. The old sucking on the back of the hand trick. Well that was the theory. In practice it alerted a grey squirrel who started up a furious chattering. The fox looked around caught me in mid stride and promptly disappeared to the right into the thick rhoddy's. End of tracking session.

When I returned to the camp, there was more activity going on. Log splitting followed by the starting of a kuksa and other woodcraft work. Evening meal preparations were also in progress where a leg of lamb was slowly being roasted on a spit over the fire. You might notice from the pics the way the spit is resting on the three supports. This technique is well worth remembering if you're going to do this yourself. The lamb had to be turned every few seconds for 3 hours. A strangely relaxing chore when I took my turn.

The day finished with more 'shrafting juice, great conversation, a splendid warming fire and ... more 'shrafting juice. I was amazed at the craftsmanship of the knives, carving and leatherwork on show. Quite oustanding and inspirational. On the next meet someone's going to set up a primitive forge. Something that I'm particularly looking forward to.

I have to recommend Nige's website. We talked at length about wildlife and tracking and this site shows his dedication to wildlife in his back garden. Great stuff.

After a great night's sleep (and luckily with few effects from the night before) and a bit of breakfast I slowly packed up and bade farewell to those still left. Another great weekend meeting of like-minded and very skilled people.

Pablo.

All about Seax

The weather turned nasty on Bank Holiday Monday, making the woods a "no-go" on account of the very strong winds, so Mrs P and I decided to take a short trip to West Stow. This is a reconstructed Anglo Saxon village c450 with a small visitor centre.

Braving the elements, we walked around the visitor centre and we were pleased to see that reenactors had taken over the village for the weekend. We were able to take shelter in some of the buildings where a good fire was on the go (and some delicious smelling stew - unfortunately not available to the likes of us).

There were demonstrations of cooking, weaving and weaponry. I took particular interest in the Seaxes (the knives), axes and clothing.

Each person would have a two or three knives on their person. This made me feel better as I normally have the same. They carried a small utility knife called a hadseax (2 -4 inches), a couple of longer knives (also used for fighting) of between 4 and 14 inches. One of these were worn dangling horizontally on a belt in front of the person. The blade would have been uppermost presumably to save the edge.

A spear was used for hunting and was also the primary fighting weapon. In rare cases a long sword was also carried into battle. Bows were used for hunting but rarely used in battle. The "honour" of being face to face with the enemy made the bow virtually redundant apart from larger battles where it was used almost as a "sniper" weapon to pick off vulnerable enemy.

Each tool had a dual purpose, and the axe was no different. Each cutting tool was used for domestic purposes as well as for use for fighting (apart from the sword which was used only in battle by those who could afford one).

The reenactors showed some fighting techniques including the shield wall.

The battle masks were also interesting and copies of some of the helmets showed remarkable workmanship. Mrs Pablo insisted on trying one on in the visitor centre. "Very fetching, dear."

Each person carried a large leather pouch and sometimes a couple of smaller pouches to carry personal effects and of course flint and steel in the traditional "C" shape for firelighting.

I came away with a small hand forged small seax that I intend to sharpen up, modify slightly and use as a neck knife. The shape is interesting and is described as "broken back" and is based on one or two found on site in the burial areas. This showed how personal they considered the Seax to be. The shape is believed to be more effective for the fighting element as opposed to the utility purpose. Interestingly, Saxon may be derived from Seax making the Saxons "The Knife People".

The visit has jolted me in to realising that I'm still using a lot of technical kit and clothing and perhaps I should to try out more natural materials (without going around and looking like an Anglo-Saxon reenactor that is). It has also inspired me to have a go at making some more stuff myself. I think I'll give the mask as miss though! "Darling, you can take that mask off now. Oh sorry, you have".

Monday should see a write up the weekend spent with "The Tribe". Until then.

Pablo.

All about Seax

The weather turned nasty on Bank Holiday Monday, making the woods a "no-go" on account of the very strong winds, so Mrs P and I decided to take a short trip to West Stow. This is a reconstructed Anglo Saxon village c450 with a small visitor centre.

Braving the elements, we walked around the visitor centre and we were pleased to see that reenactors had taken over the village for the weekend. We were able to take shelter in some of the buildings where a good fire was on the go (and some delicious smelling stew - unfortunately not available to the likes of us).

There were demonstrations of cooking, weaving and weaponry. I took particular interest in the Seaxes (the knives), axes and clothing.

Each person would have a two or three knives on their person. This made me feel better as I normally have the same. They carried a small utility knife called a hadseax (2 -4 inches), a couple of longer knives (also used for fighting) of between 4 and 14 inches. One of these were worn dangling horizontally on a belt in front of the person. The blade would have been uppermost presumably to save the edge.

A spear was used for hunting and was also the primary fighting weapon. In rare cases a long sword was also carried into battle. Bows were used for hunting but rarely used in battle. The "honour" of being face to face with the enemy made the bow virtually redundant apart from larger battles where it was used almost as a "sniper" weapon to pick off vulnerable enemy.

Each tool had a dual purpose, and the axe was no different. Each cutting tool was used for domestic purposes as well as for use for fighting (apart from the sword which was used only in battle by those who could afford one).

The reenactors showed some fighting techniques including the shield wall.

The battle masks were also interesting and copies of some of the helmets showed remarkable workmanship. Mrs Pablo insisted on trying one on in the visitor centre. "Very fetching, dear."

Each person carried a large leather pouch and sometimes a couple of smaller pouches to carry personal effects and of course flint and steel in the traditional "C" shape for firelighting.

I came away with a small hand forged small seax that I intend to sharpen up, modify slightly and use as a neck knife. The shape is interesting and is described as "broken back" and is based on one or two found on site in the burial areas. This showed how personal they considered the Seax to be. The shape is believed to be more effective for the fighting element as opposed to the utility purpose. Interestingly, Saxon may be derived from Seax making the Saxons "The Knife People".

The visit has jolted me in to realising that I'm still using a lot of technical kit and clothing and perhaps I should to try out more natural materials (without going around and looking like an Anglo-Saxon reenactor that is). It has also inspired me to have a go at making some more stuff myself. I think I'll give the mask as miss though! "Darling, you can take that mask off now. Oh sorry, you have".

Monday should see a write up the weekend spent with "The Tribe". Until then.

Pablo.