Barney's Bimbles and Adventures

Every now and again I firmly believe that it’s good to test yourself and take a step out of that comfort zone.  For a camping enthusiast like me, I think the daypack challenge is a really good way of doing exactly that. I’ve done this a few times now and it’s always proven to be a rewarding experience.  This time, I’m making the challenge a little more difficult by doing it in the cold winter months. What is the daypack challenge? Well I don’t know if it’s a thing, but it’s a very simple concept that my camping buddies and I thought up. You head out on an overnight camping trip in which you are restricted to using a daypack sized rucksack (up to 40ltrs) to carry your camping kit. This represents a bit of a departure from the more conventional 60-100ltr rucksacks that many people use, particularly through the colder months.  This is a challenge that makes you think a bit more carefully about what kit you need to take on your camping adventures.  A really imp...

I thought I'd share a short video that I made while out on a day camp in my local woodlands. In this video; Des and I set-up our tarps, drink lots of tea and cook up some fine food. I hadn't planned on doing any whittling, but ended up carving a spoon from a lovely piece of seasoned Ash. Unfortunately I didn't get around to finishing it off as I left my crook knife at home, but it will be finished off in my shed or when I next venture out to the woods. I'll keep this blog post nice and short because I do sometimes have a tendency to go off on one and waffle about every last detail. Let me know what you think of the video, it's not a skill set that comes easily to me, but I'm working to improve and may start to post a few more videos up here. Happy New Year to you all

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck If a woodchuck could chuck wood? As much wood as a woodchuck could chuck, If a woodchuck could chuck wood! Try saying that after a few beers! On my last foray into the woods, I thought I’d have a go at making a simple collapsible buck saw that I could use whenever I needed to cut large pieces of wood. I originally learnt this technique at the annual May Day meet that’s organised by the good folks at the Bushcraft magazine and I wanted to try making a saw while ‘out in the field’. This is quite a nice little project to undertake while you’re in the woods our out on a camp so why not give a go for yourself. Here's what I did: Tools for the job: Saw – Yes I know you need a saw to make a saw! This may seem counter-productive, but you can make a much more capable saw that can potentially process bigger bits of wood. Knife Cordage – I used 550lb paracord 21 inch bow saw blade. 2x split rings (these are optional) Stag...