The Start of a Canoeing Adventure
Always the student of Nature, I've decided this year to increase my experience in canoeing... from not much to some! I also thought it might to useful to log my progress this year to see what it is I learn. Here, then, is my first attempt at a day pack for a two day trip I have coming up. Based largely on what I'd pack for hiking bag, with the addition of a 'ditch kit' for when (not if) I fall in the Loch. So, what's in my pack:
The Adjustable (slippery) Guyline Hitch, stay flexible!
Knots can seem daunting, especially when you're new to them, and knowing which ones will be useful to you when faced with a bookful is enough to put anyone off; so in this and the next couple of articles I'll highlight the knots I use most often. Here we'll look at the Adjustable Guyline Hitch.
Home is where the tarp is...
Hot flask, binoculars, waterproof jacket, lunch...all essential for a walk in the backcountry true but many a lunchtime break has been damped by rain and soggy, soggy sandwiches.
Carrying a tarp in your rucksack when outdoors has become a habit for me, being from the island paradise that is Great Britain has meant I've had to grow up with a constant watch on the horizon for rain even in the summer, and a good lightweight tarp in my pack has saved many a lunchtime from an otherwise miserable fate
Round House Weekend Build
In collaboration with Tom Bardon at Greenman Learning we'd planned to build a small scale outdoor classroom of sorts, a kind of multi functional space of utility and humble beauty. As we planned the build we realised there would be a fair amount of practical joinery work and tool use which could be useful for other outdoor practitioners to learn. Thus we embarked on designing a weekend around delivering basic methods of round wood building and hand tool skills. Importantly we wanted to give participants the opportunity to spend some time in the woods without having to look after their usual groups, and work towards learning new skills on a substantial project. A fully catered night in our private woods it was then!