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Woodland Wildcamp

Philmandoo

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Hi Folks
Thought I'd share some pics from last weekends overnighter near Poole Harbour. The weather forecast was awful and no sooner had I put up the ridge line for the tarp than the rain started up again. Thankfully I had camped near this site before and had secreted some poles that I had previously prepared from downed wood. I have been experimenting with a pole bed, beloved of army jungle stories, and had sewn up a piece of canvas to make a stretcher type bed. This as assembled under the tarp then I trudged off to get some firewood before it got dark, a dead standing chunk of Birch fitting the bill. After sawing, splitting and making a few feather sticks to get things going the fire reached critical mass and I could relax for the evening. It's always a bit stressful getting the fire going when everything is so sodden!
Another thing I have been playing with is a bushcraft chair, a sort of hammock chair. Another tripod was made to hold this and it worked out ok although not as comfortable as my usual lightweight folding chair I usually bring. You have to try things out though, and its a long dark evening :)
Food.....normally I'm a boil in the bag or ration pack kinda guy. But I fancied going crazy so brought along a few ingredients and before you know it, voila, Salmon Tagliatelle!
The rain....it just kept coming. I noticed I was getting a little blowing in the end of my tarp and remembered I had a poncho in the bottom of my pack. So I strung this up at one end which made things a bit cosier. I also had my lantern with me which made for a lovely little place to spend the evening.
I slept like a baby (not even needing to get up for a pee!!) which is a good sign of a comfortable bed. After a little breakfast and a couple of brews I packed up, leaving the site as it was and trudged off back to the car.
The pole bed is a bit of work to put together but well worth it. I pegged the tarp down on the back and had two poles on the front to raise or lower it depending on the weather.
Any comments or questions do ask away,
Cheers
Phil
 

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Thanks, Bam! Yes, when you're sat there for hours in the dark it makes sense to do a proper cook. Plenty of rain water to clean the pots, too :)
 
“Pole beds” are easier if you can set up between two trees as they provid the support for the a-frame. Only used one in the jungle which was a lot comfier than the ground or a hammock but you use a lot of wood, which needs to be green so ends up being replaced.

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There's a lot of chestnut in this woodland - I used all downed wood which normally I would be very wary of but the Chestnut is so tough, even when the outer surfaces are punky there's a tough centre to it. I considered just putting the bed on two logs and lifting myself a few inches off the floor but having up on tripods means you can sit on quite comfortably.
 
There's a lot of chestnut in this woodland - I used all downed wood which normally I would be very wary of but the Chestnut is so tough, even when the outer surfaces are punky there's a tough centre to it. I considered just putting the bed on two logs and lifting myself a few inches off the floor but having up on tripods means you can sit on quite comfortably.
Nice write up and photos Phil, nice work on the pole bed
 
Thanks, Bam! Yes, when you're sat there for hours in the dark it makes sense to do a proper cook. Plenty of rain water to clean the pots, too :)

Don't know if you had any about but sphagnum moss is brilliant for scrubbing pots.
 
Cracking Phil :thumbsup: watched a few vids on your bed, not tried it out myself but will remedy that at some point:D am not big on eating salmon but it did look appetising in the picture still beef would have been better:p...thanks for sharing
 
Cracking Phil :thumbsup: watched a few vids on your bed, not tried it out myself but will remedy that at some point:D am not big on eating salmon but it did look appetising in the picture still beef would have been better:p...thanks for sharing
There's a Youtube channel called Corporals corner, he makes a few variations of this bed (including a double bunk bed style!) which inspired me.
 
There's a Youtube channel called Corporals corner, he makes a few variations of this bed (including a double bunk bed style!) which inspired me.



Al check it out cheers :thumbsup: first time I seen it was David Canterbury.....a think he sells the tarp conversion on his web-shop. But making it yourself is a much nicer touch.
 
Good looking camp , like the pasta dish , will be giving that a go 👍
Cheers! I put some pasta in a pan in the embers to cook while in a frying pan I fried some onion, garlic and mushrooms (which I pre-chopped and had in clingfilm) Then in went a carton of double cream, adding in some smoked salmon at the end. Boom! Proper cooking and didn't take long :)
 
Al check it out cheers :thumbsup: first time I seen it was David Canterbury.....a think he sells the tarp conversion on his web-shop. But making it yourself is a much nicer touch.
Yes, saw Daves' videos. It was easy to make up a bed roll - I had some ripstop nylon left over from a hammock build so my first attempt was with that, simply sewing a big tube (see attached photo) After the success of that I ordered some ripstop canvas off ebay for a tenner and sewed up the MKII version. In tasty woodland camo, too :)
 

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Right you’ve peeked my interest :rofl: Yet another “must do” on the list:D
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Bam
Right you’ve peeked my interest :rofl: Yet another “must do” on the list:D
It was really easy to make - to be honest I was worried about it tearing out but after testing (and trying to make it break on purpose!) I realise that really isn't an issue. If you want some rough dimensions I'll get the measuring tape out?
 
It was really easy to make - to be honest I was worried about it tearing out but after testing (and trying to make it break on purpose!) I realise that really isn't an issue. If you want some rough dimensions I'll get the measuring tape out?




that would be great aye:thumbsup: cheers
 
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