Wilderness Gathering 10

My weekend at the Wilderness Gathering 'X' started with thick cloud and rain.

I spent my time at the Wilderness Gathering with Kevin Endicott.

Kev needed help with his stock and putting the big old canvas 12x12 together.

We were there for four days overall. Kevin's stall was quickly filled with folk buying equipment which might keep the liquid sunshine at bay.

The weather soon took a turn for the better and we started dealing with a rush for sun hats and shorts.

Stuart and Emma were already well prepared.

Kev had a bumper year sales wise and I managed to sit, carve and chat with some friends old and new.

Here's Paul from Bushcraft magazine, a very keen carver.

Jon Mac, Terry Longhurst ( Ilford East Activity Team ) and Ray Hutchinson ( Urban Bushcraft ) .

Terry and Ray tracked me down during the weekend, they are both involved with the Scout movement here in the UK and are pro active in teaching the Scouts some advanced carving techniques.
Terry and some other chaps will be visiting us here in Devon soon for a carving brush up course, some good food and possibly a tipple or two.
Looking forward to it.
I also managed to have a good chin wag with Nic Westermann about some designs we are planning to produce.
More on that at a later date.

Kevin had a fine selection of equipment at the show.

Even something that will  keep a fox dry and warm....

I have a feeling that next time Sean the Silver Fox pays us a visit, he will spend his time sneaking up on me wearing his new jacket.
I also spent some quality time with Patrick McGlinchey who runs Backwood survival.

Patrick is a very knowledgeable man who has spent many many years learning craft skills from indigenous folk around the world. He passes on his knowledge with passion and integrity.

I sat with him for a couple of hours shooting the breeze. I wanted to know if he had an idea of what local materials I could use in the manufacture of an African mouth bow.
He gave me some information that I will experiment with as soon as I have some spare time.
Nice one Patrick, thank you and your great crew.

Now here's a guy I can't thank enough.
For years now I have been meaning to replace my modern nylon over the shoulder knife belt. There is probably a name for this type of belt but I can't for the life of me think what it is.

I asked Tibor, who owns Tibor leather crafts, if he could make up a leather sash that would match my knife sheath, after some time he had made just the thing I was looking for.

I have used it for a couple of weeks now, very comfortable and much better than my old belt.

Now, for those of you interested in old school equipment I would like to mention that Endicotts has managed to stock up on a good amount of first class Polish poncho/Lavvu.
These ponchos are made of good quality O/G canvas material.
Here is our friend Michaela sporting one of the ponchos....

They have button closure arm holes.

And are just the job for keeping the draught at bay on a chilly night round the camp fire.

 Here's the best bit though....

Button two together and you have a spacious two person Lavvu.

I stand at 6 foot 4 inches and I can easily lay down inside and get comfy.
I'll definitely be using mine in the cooling coming months.
The best bit about the whole event, in my opinion, was catching up with JJJ, a superb carver, tool maker and friend...

He had a busy time of it carving and making new edge tools.

Well, my thanks go to all who made this event such an interesting time for me, and to Roger Harrington who organised the Wilderness Gathering.
I'll be back...
J.

Can you help find Dave Budd's stolen knife ?

I spent some time with some great friends at the Wilderness Gathering last weekend.

When I have some time I will post some photos and information.

In the mean time I wonder if you can help out a bladesmith friend of mine who had a knife stolen from his stall.

Here is Dave Budd's description of the stolen knife.....

''Sad to report the theft of one of my handmade knives whilst at the Wilderness Gathering last weekend. If you should come across it, please call the police and or try and get it back to me! Really this posting is just a warning to any thieve

s that the bushcraft community is that and we look out for each other!

The knife has no sheath (I've got that bit), 6" long forged finished blade with filework down the back, Oak handle with copper and leather furniture.''

I thank you in advance for your help in this matter....

Jon Mac

Spoon carving Firststeps@thewood...

I managed to organise some time out in the wonderful Devon countryside this last fortnight.

I spent some time with two of my good friends Kevin Endicott, Endicotts Army Surplus and Mark Lane, in some beautiful mixed broadleaved woods not 30 minutes walk from my front door.

The plan was to make camp and cook a Tandoori style chicken curry in a Dutch oven over a fire.
We arrived at the camp spot and set about making our home for the duration.

Here is Kevin testing his hammock, looks comfy enough.

Kev bought a huge Swedish shelter sheet that we could use to protect the fire, and us, whilst Mark cooked.

I lit the fire under the tarp using my flint and steel with some char cloth, Daldinia_concentrica and a large amount of good old Birch bark.

The Larch twigs we collected lit beautifully, and I was able to grow the fire with reasonable speed.

The Dutch oven is a wonderful piece of equipment and it never ceases to amaze me how versatile it is.

Here you can see the oven with a covering of hot ash.

I recently completed a little bit of work on behalf of the Ilford east scouts.
I'll tell you all about it in the near future...

They sent me a badge by way of a thank you.
Love it.

Well, the sun went down and supper was served...

We ate and chatted, laughing all the while.
Good company.

 After supper we made the fire good and hot with the addition of some seasoned Mountain Ash we found near-by.

And so to bed...
The next morning we coaxed the fire back into life and fried some eggs and bread all washed down with some strong MaCoffee.

I brewed up in a Highlander stainless steel (single wall ) bottle I bought a while ago from The Kit Shop.

Versatile bit of kit.
This trip was also the first proper outing for the new finalised design of  the MaChris Bushcrafter.
Chris and I have settled on this design and steel specification.
We have chosen to manufacture the MaChris using 52100 bearing steel due to it's incredible toughness and superior edge retention.
I have been carving with it for a couple of weeks now, and it is a real joy to use, slim, lightweight, sharp and tough.
In a word...
MacFab !

After a walk through the local woodland it came to the time where I had to leave.
My friend Martijn Top was due to arrive from Holland and I wanted to get back to greet him.
Martijn is a carver and bushcrafter who spends as much time as possible out in the wilds.
He is often found in some of the most remote parts of Finland,  fishing, canoeing and hiking.
Martijn has a great blog here at Travels in Solitude.
At the same time I managed to lure Sean the silver Fox to my home with a promise of fried breakfasts, Sarahs home made Irish fruit cake and my home cooking. The ruse seemed to work as he arrived just after Martijn.

I must say, it is great having like minded souls visiting us here at home, always something to enthuse about. We planned a trip up onto the moor, the weather has been quite dreadful here for some time now, not ideal weather for sight seeing.
Still... Martijn and Sean said the moor FELT really nice.

After a couple of days Sean had to get back to the world beyond the hills, Martijn and I decided to use a break in the weather for an overnighter.

We headed out for a nice little place near Burrator.

My hopes that the older I got, the lighter my pack would feel, were un fortunately dashed on the rocks of experience...
Ho hum.....

Onward and upward...
Well, after some time we arrived at the place where I remember spending some great, comfortable nights on trips in the past.
We're here !

But where is the tiny Isle-let couched between two small babbling brooks ?

Gone !
Washed away in some storm that I have been blissfully unaware of these last years.
That's what happens when you spend time abroad I guess, things change...
The weather was closing in so we got into the fir forest for some much needed protection from the Dartmoor weather and set up our tarps and hammocks.

Home from home.
Martijn had bought a Bushbuddy stove which seemed to work well with even the damp Dartmoor sticks we cut to fuel it.
He cooked some dried pasta with sauce.
Now.... In the past I have eaten some right old nasties whilst out in the wilds, from corned dog and onions too dried space food that tastes like ground up crow.
This time however, with thanks to Mark Lane, I took some proper food.

You can find the details at Look What We Found
A packet of this, boiled in its' bag, added to a packet of partially cooked rice, simmered in a small amount of water, and I was totally blissed out....
I had set up my hammock with a poncho liner underneath to add some warmth, added to that, my old Snug Pack sleep bag and a duvet jacket, I was ready for a good night sleep....
Unfortunately for Martijn this wasn't the case for him.
It would appear dear reader, that I snore...
Oh Well...

The morning bought some dreadful weather.
I wanted to take Martijn over to some near by ancient monuments, but with viability right down we decided to head out for home.
So, with a good pace, a quick check of the map, and a couple of bearings, we found the car and headed home.
We spent the next couple of days carving and discussing our past adventures and future dreams.
With a few trips out of course.

As I mentioned earlier, Martijn is a super wood carver, he uses similar simple carving techniques.
One of his beautiful Kuksa...

I will post some more of his work in the next blog I write.
Martijn taught me a thing or two about fettling a very sharp edge onto a work knife.
I'll post some more info later.

Well, I guess that's me up to date.
One last thing...
Martijn carved this for Sarah and I.
Being able to craft a gift for a friend is priceless....

Thank you...
Enjoy.
J;-)