So, it seems it’s been a year since I last posted here.
Well, I fully intend to revive this blog and start posting again.
Over the year I have been refining my kit and learning a bit more. Between pitifully few trips out in the last year, I have had the pleasure of working with two Scout troops. I hope to continue this in the coming year. Possibly expanding to other troops.
Hopefully this year will have more trips, more skills and more ideas to write about.
A couple of months ago, having done some internet research, I decided to have a go at using cord to make make some useful and interesting items. I found a video showing how to make bracelets using what’s called a cobra stitch. After a few shakey starts I got the hang of it.
One of the first successful projects was a hat band. I had been wanting to make one for a while but hadn’t figured out how. The hat has a chin strap that loops through two eyelets and around the front. I decided to integrate it into the hat band so that it wouldn’t fall off. The strap material can be seen through the stitch and adds a nice effect.
The next idea was to make a rifle strap for my airsoft AK47. It took over 60ft of cord and 4 hours to make. I used a double cobra stitch to make the sling wider and plastic spring clips at either end.
With this success I thought I should start using better cord as I had been using regular utility cord up until this point. It was back to the internet to order various colours of 550 paracord, a far stronger cord with many more potential uses.
The paracord arrived and I set to work making the standard paracord bracelets using the double stitch.
With these accomplished and Christmas on the way, I decided to try making some more colourful, two tone, bracelets as presents for friends and family. Again it was back to the internet to learn how to join the two colours. I used double stitch for the boys,
and the less bulky single stitch for the girls.
During this I got pretty addicted to it and started looking for other things to make. I soon came up with the idea of making key rings to go with the bracelets. Seldom have I seen key rings that do anything more than hold keys together and be otherwise boring. These paracord key rings not only look great but can be dismantled and used for many things such as emergency shoes laces (I used to break shoe laces all the time and to have a spare with you is always a good idea).
These gifts went down very well, especially the key rings.
The next project was to make a new strap for my binoculars. I wanted something different from the dull and uncomfortable webbing strap that came with them. The result turned out to be a vast improvement. I find the cord far more comfortable around the neck and the binoculars also hang better.
After all these little projects I found I was left with a few small lengths of cord that seemed still too big to throw away. I had to find some way to use them. The solution? Zip tabs. Using only 2ft of cord each they were the perfect way to use up those annoying little bits lying around. They turned out very nice, looking good whilst also doing away with the noisy jingle of standard metal zip tabs. I quickly replaced all the tabs on my rucksacks with these silent little gems, thus greatly reducing the noise I make in the woods and improving the likelyhood of spotting more wildlife and generally having a quieter, more relaxing time.
I am now fairly well stuck with the desire to make more things with paracord. The search for new ideas will continue.
2011 was a busy year for me. I managed to get out on more trips and discover more than any year previously.
In March I got out for my first trip of the year. Jon and I went to my favourite beach for my birthday.
We used a small dome tent each and used a small pop-up tent as a store instead of leaving food in the car as the weather during the day was surprisingly warm.
One of the meals we had was some bannock along with bacon and fried, sliced turkey with HP sauce. It was amazingly filling and kept us fuelled through the afternoon and well into the evening.
In April there was the trip to Comrie Croft which I have covered in an earlier post.
In June I visited Comrie Croft again, this time by myself. It was very quiet with only myself in the lower field. I used a new 5 man tent as I wanted to be as comfortable as possible.
Because of the quiet I was fortunate enough to have some close encounters with some of the local wildlife, including a pair of blackbirds, one of which even landed on my table as I was sat by it, and a vole which ran past my foot.
My next camping trip was up to Aviemore with my dad. We stayed at the Rothiemurchus camp site which, while busy was quiet and pleasant. It had been almost twenty years since we had been camping with just the two of us and it was great to spend time together in one of my favourite areas.
We used the 5 man tent again since we were sharing and wanted plenty of space without going overboard.
I took the opportunity to take my dad on one of my favourite short walks between Loch Garten and Loch Mallachie.
We stopped for lunch at my usual stopping place by Loch Mallachie. Later that day I had a go at making chilli with bannock. It was good and more than filled us. Though it was a little hotter than I prefer. Getting the measurements of spices right is something I will have to work on for later camps.
Between these trips I was involved in a couple of Scout camps and had the chance to teach the boys a few things. I am hoping this with continue and I will be able to teach the boys and leaders more in the years to come.
There have been discoveries and new lessons a plenty during the last year. Some of these will be included in future posts.
Sabot's Bushcraft 