When the weather doesn’t play ball

We’ve been very lucky over the years in our Bushcraft Club. Its rare that on any weekend, it has managed to rain for more than 24 hours solid. Well this weekend was an exception. It makes me think, what our ancestors would have done. Huddled around the winter fire, in a hut with their families. Making cordage, weaving baskets, fishing hooks and spears for the forthcoming spring. Telling stories and playing simple games to pass the time.

Well this weekend did involve a lot of sitting around drinking tea as we waited for the weather to pass. Thankfully, we did get to do a little bit. On the Saturday before the rain hit, some of us got up and went identifying some useful plants.

We did test some Greater Reedmace as a tinder. It definitely needs to be mixed with something else to be effective. It creates an initial flame but quickly dies out. So Honeysuckle bark and Bracken was used to get an actual fire going

Another favorite is Bannock. Here I made some Bannock tea light cakes in a kettle. Dead simple, super effective

Looking forward to April and some decent weather 🙂