Cold Bushcrafter

I spent the last couple of nights out in the woods of the Forest Knights Bushcraft School in Sussex.  The plan was to spend a couple of days with my good friend Richard chilling out and going through a few recipes for our outdoor cookery courses.  It’s always polite to try a recipe before subjecting it to paying customers.

The Sussex countryside is one of my favourite places in the UK with relativity large tracks of ancient woodland.  Ancient woodland is an area of woodland dating back to at least 1600.  The woodland looks down to the sea a couple of miles away.  This helps to keep the temperatures up.  Woodland also provides a barrier from the worst of the weather even in winter.  It was interesting to see the heavy frost in the fields bordering the wood.

We pitched my tent in the bright winter sunshine and began collecting firewood.  It was already cold and I knew it wouldn’t get any warmer as the sun dropped to the horizon. I choose an area away from the tent clear of tree roots for the fire.  It is important when siting a fire to consider its environmental impact.  Do not site a fire in thick pine needles or on peaty soil.
I do not usually dig a trench for a fire.  Some people believe this helps prevent the fire from growing out of control.  I feel that a half buried fire spends more time heating the soil than keeping me warm.  I like my comforts even when camping in the middle of winter.
When collecting firewood try and gather far and wide.  Lots of rare species live in standing dead wood and if you strip an area to dead wood you are helping to destroy the wildlife value of the area.

After 30 minutes steady sawing dead oak with our folding saws, we needed a brew.  Once we had a good collection of different diameter dead dry wood we were in a position to light a fire.  The first stage is to lay a platform of green sticks for the fire, this helps to keep your young fragile tender little fire alive, you want your first embers heating the kindling not trying to dry out the damp cold sod.  Lighting a fire in the cold using knife and fire steel sparking onto green heat is more difficult than in summer.  Your fingers grow sore and clumsy very quickly.

Sitting back looking at the changing light whilst sharing a brew with a mate is what life is about.  Slowing down you can hear the bird life and get a true feel for the environment we humans are normally separated from.