Hi all,
I recently returned from a two and a half week trip to Canada. I had arranged to meet up with a friend who teaches bushcraft and survival courses through his school, Canadian Bushcraft.
The first 3 days were spent at Camp Mud, a basecamp where he teaches his students. This allowed me to get used to the cold. When I left Sydney, it was 40 degrees C, when I arrived in Canada, it was -3 C. That's right. 43 degrees C colder!
I dropped 2 belt notches in 3 days, which I can only put down to my body adjusting to the cold and burning calories like crazy, as we were eating reasonably (at this point).
We spent the nights at basecamp sleeping in Kochanski Supershelters: Hooped frame shelters with a raised bed. The front door is a clear plastic which apparently allows radiant heat throuugh, but this heat has a hard time exiting the polytarps that cover the rest of the shelter. Or so the theory goes. We slept very warm.
It was such a joy to experience the soft Canadian woods like birch, cedar and ash! Australian woods are like iron and learning to carve on them meant that when I got my hands on cedar, I was blow away with how easy feathersticks could be made.
We dug for cattails, which we roasted on the fire, had hemlock tea (I was puzzled to learn of the plant and the tree hemlock, one poisonous one not), tried wintergreen and even ate wasp larvae.
That night I carved my spoon and enjoyed our moose pizza (Caleb and his father had been hunting a few weeks earlier).
We then headed up an hour north to Norland, where we practiced making a bucksaw, making traps, gathering wild edibles and shelter building.
I slept in my open front shelter, a wikiup I believe, lying on my woven cattail mat, with the other mat tied to the front of the shelter, rolled down as a door.
Though not exactly toasty, I was warm at the freezing temperature with only one blanket.
I was adamant not to use any sheeting in the shelter. I feel that if I'm going to introduce any manmade materials, I may as well just set it up as an A frame tarp and make do.
So birchbark did a great job at shedding the all-night rain.
Hope you all enjoy the pics
http://s958.photobucket.com/albums/ae62/apfel1984/
I recently returned from a two and a half week trip to Canada. I had arranged to meet up with a friend who teaches bushcraft and survival courses through his school, Canadian Bushcraft.
The first 3 days were spent at Camp Mud, a basecamp where he teaches his students. This allowed me to get used to the cold. When I left Sydney, it was 40 degrees C, when I arrived in Canada, it was -3 C. That's right. 43 degrees C colder!
I dropped 2 belt notches in 3 days, which I can only put down to my body adjusting to the cold and burning calories like crazy, as we were eating reasonably (at this point).
We spent the nights at basecamp sleeping in Kochanski Supershelters: Hooped frame shelters with a raised bed. The front door is a clear plastic which apparently allows radiant heat throuugh, but this heat has a hard time exiting the polytarps that cover the rest of the shelter. Or so the theory goes. We slept very warm.
It was such a joy to experience the soft Canadian woods like birch, cedar and ash! Australian woods are like iron and learning to carve on them meant that when I got my hands on cedar, I was blow away with how easy feathersticks could be made.
We dug for cattails, which we roasted on the fire, had hemlock tea (I was puzzled to learn of the plant and the tree hemlock, one poisonous one not), tried wintergreen and even ate wasp larvae.
That night I carved my spoon and enjoyed our moose pizza (Caleb and his father had been hunting a few weeks earlier).
We then headed up an hour north to Norland, where we practiced making a bucksaw, making traps, gathering wild edibles and shelter building.
I slept in my open front shelter, a wikiup I believe, lying on my woven cattail mat, with the other mat tied to the front of the shelter, rolled down as a door.
Though not exactly toasty, I was warm at the freezing temperature with only one blanket.
I was adamant not to use any sheeting in the shelter. I feel that if I'm going to introduce any manmade materials, I may as well just set it up as an A frame tarp and make do.
So birchbark did a great job at shedding the all-night rain.
Hope you all enjoy the pics
http://s958.photobucket.com/albums/ae62/apfel1984/
