After coming across yet another article on making a survival kit out of an Altoids or tobacco tin I've finally had enough. It's not that the article is bad or even that the idea is bad, it's just that the thought process involved is too general.
Building some sort of survival kit is not a difficult task but it does involve a following a logical train of thought.

Step 1 - Don't do Dumb Things
I'm not saying that all dangerous situations are avoidable but you can put measures in place to reduce the risk. The first thing is to listen to the little voice inside your head that says "should you really be doing that?". This inner voice is one of the most important things the solo bushcrafter or walker can cultivate. You probably don't need to fell that tree, jump over that ditch or descend that slope if you think about it. If in doubt, sit down, have a drink, come up with a plan and take things slowly.
Aside from causing accidents then the other main way of causing problems is to get lost. Despite many people saying that a mobile phone is a great tool it is about as much use as a chocolate teapot if you don't know where you are. Every day people break down on major roads without having a clue which junctions they're between or even what road they're on - and it's a lot easier to find you on a motor way than in a national park!
To avoid getting lost you need a map and a compass. Using either alone takes more skill than using them both together so have both. Don't bother with a little button compass, get a real, full size one with a base plate. After that get hold of one of the many books on navigation you can get through your local library of pick up something such as a "Be Expert with Map and Compass" via amazon.
There are 2 ways of causing problems with using a compass. The first is to place it near something electrical or made of metal when taking a reading - don't do it on the car roof, next to a bag of pans or a rifle or under power cables. The second is to trust your own sense of direction over the compass.

Step 2 - Where and How Long?
Where are you going? You need to ask as you have no need for taking any devices or equipment for food gathering unless you are more than 10 days from help. In Europe you are never 10 days from help as long as you've told someone where you are going to be. The location also influences the signalling choices you make - signalling mirrors are great if people are searching by air but less so if there is a ground search. I recommend a mix of signalling methods as none of them is heavy or expensive. A mirror is fairly cheap, fits flat in a chest pocket and is great if you are going in an area where an air search is likely. A whistle is also good as it can, depending on local conditions, be audible several miles away. The third signalling item I recommend is an LED torch with a flashing option. It lets you see a bit in the dark and lets people see you. In wilderness areas, with low light pollution, this would be visible from a long way off.
So, now people can find you we need to stay alive till they get there.

Step 3 - What can go wrong?
It is always useful to run through a few scenarios of what could go wrong. In Britain I'd go for the following as being the 3 main ones that could cause problems.

1. Sudden change of weather
2. Accident
   
3. Getting lost

Now, by having a map and compass and knowing how to use them we should hopefully eliminate number 3 so we are left with the first and second problems. The first problem is probably the most likely in the UK and common in any area where mountains affect weather patterns. Aside from looking at the forecast and keeping an eye on the sky there are a couple of pieces of kit you could take with you.

Fighting the Cold and Wet
First is something you wouldn't think of as part of a "survival" kit but something you may well have on you for an enjoyable walk. I'm going to break with tradition and recommend a thermos flask of tea. The logic behind this is that hot drinks often comfort and calm people down and by sitting down and having a cuppa you'll be less likely to run around like a headless chicken and make the situation worse. The water in the drink is of benefit as is the fact the drink will be warm. Next up is something a little more usual for a survival kit. I recommend getting a big, strong plastic bag. You can pick up the bright orange survival bivvy bag or any other similarly sized bag. Don't worry about space blankets - they do work but flap around like crazy and tear easily. A bag is more use because you can either get inside it, split it and make a shelter from it or turn it into a raincoat. Bright colours are better as they can be seen easier and don't hesitate to use it over the top of a regular coat - the plastic is more waterproof than most breathable, seamed coats are. If you buy one, try to keep it in its original packaging as once opened you'll never manage to fold it up as small again.
The next item in our fight against the cold is something to sit on. Water and the ground both conduct heat away from you quickly so having some form of insulation between yourself and the ground is helpful. It's also nice to be able to sit down in comfort the rest of the time. You can get various types of sit-mats in camping shops.
The last item in this section is some extra item of clothing - a jumper, jacket or fleece. This bit should already be somewhere in your wardrobe so shouldn't cost you a penny.

Step 3 What can You do?
The final section on my version of the survival kit is the medical section. I am not medically trained so my first aid kit is very minimal. I have plasters, disinfectant wipes a couple of absorbent dressings and surgical tape. I know that most people would recommend a lot more but what I'm trying to say here is to take items commensurate with your skill level. If you know very little about first aid then you aren't going to be sewing yourself up or splinting a broken leg. Simply take what you can use and resolve to increase your first aid knowledge (I'm currently starting to work on mine). My first aid kit is designed to patch up small cuts and scrapes and little more, use your knowledge to assemble what you think is necessary in this area.

Off We Go
Hopefully we now have a survival kit that, rather than rusting in a tin, covers us in the event of some of the most likely scenarios. It isn't exhaustive and by trying to avoid the old SAS style kit complete with snare wire and flares I hope we've got something that is more useful on more occasions to more people

Over to You
What do you think of this type of survival kit? Would you recommend something entirely different? Please comment below.

Last Saturday we had a family walk towards Holywell and stopped along the way to pick up some berries. We got a good number of blackberries although there were others out and about looking for them, the berries went nicely after tea on Monday.
There were tons of elder berries in their huge umbrella like stalks about and easy to collect as well as a few sparse hops flowers. We saw lots of chub in the river and also picked up some crab apples closer to home. All in all it was an enjoyable walk. There was also a sloe tree which was fairly heavily laden, promise of sloe gin later on in the autumn.
Earlier on Monday I'd had a go at making bread using the recipe in the River cottage Bread handbook (pic courtesy of RiverCottage.net) which my wife gave me as an anniversary present. It wasn't too hard following the instructions as it goes into the technique fairly thoroughly. I've got some better, stronger, flour which should help the second batch. The bread was nice, moist but a little dense as it didn't "spring" much when it went into the oven. I also need to be more through when forming the bread shapes before baking. I do recommend the book if you want a beginners baking book.

As promised, here is the third and final article on ways of measuring in woodcraft that are a not based on lasers, tapes or any gadgets. In this article we'll be using the maths teacher's best friend - the triangle - and looking at how its special properties can be useful in the woods.

An Old "Indian" Trick
The first use of the triangle is an old, possibly native American, trick for measuring the height of trees and other objects. I still remember being taught this on a trip to a nature reserve when I was ten. The idea is simple. You start with your back to the tree and walk away from it. Occasionally you bend over and look back at the tree through your legs. Once you have got so you can just see the top of the tree then you turn around and count your paces back to the tree. The number of paces away you are is equal to the height of the tree. Of course, this is prone to errors depending on how flexible you are and any lean of the tree but can be surprisingly consistent between people. It works as your field of vision when bending over forms a special 45-90-45 triangle and means that the distance from the tree is mathematically equal to its height.

The Magic Stick
A similar principle can be used for lengths as well as heights. The first step is to get a stick. The next part is the clever bit - the stick needs to be cut or broken to the same length as your arm, from knuckle to shoulder. When you hold your arm parallel to the ground you once again form this magic 45-90-45 triangle when you hold the stick straight up. This is true because you are holding the stick up at 90 degrees and the stick and your arm are the same length. Measurements can be made in the same way as the Indian trick but can be made in different planes too.

Measuring a River
There is a method that can be used to measure river widths that uses the magic little triangle too. It is well diagrammed here and essentially makes you create a large triangle and then a scale model of it. By measuring the scale version on dry land you are then able to multiply up to the real size of the river.

Shadows in Scale
What is a shadow? Simply one side of a triangle formed by the sun with the suns rays and the object making the other two sides. This enables us to use shadows as a measure for tall objects (largely trees). First off you need to find a stick and then using the techniques discussed in part one work out its length. This stick is then placed into the ground. A second stick is then cut to the same length as the shadow of the original stick. The number of times this second stick will fit into the length of the trees shadow can be used to tell us the height. For example, if it fits in 26 times and our first stick was 1m tall then we know our tree is 26 times taller and hence 26m tall.

Professional Measures
The laws of trigonometry are used by professional foresters as they use a special tool called a clinometer which measures angles enabling heights to be deduced. Indeed, the clinometer is not particularly different from the sextant and I hope to have a play with one of those in a future post.

Part 1
Part 2

If you have followed either Ray Mears' or Bruce Parry's programmes on TV over the last decade or so you'll see a strong link between trying to understand the lifestyle of a people in a different part of the world and the hobby of bushcraft.

Beyond Bushcraft Books
Although there is a wealth of bushcraft and survival literature out there after you've read a few books you find a great deal of similarity and repetition in books and very little in the way of new ideas or inspirations. In search of more information I have turned to other disciplines as a way of gaining more knowledge.

Anthropological Answers
The science which provides useful and inspiring information about modern people living in the wilderness using their traditional skills is named Anthropology, a science studying people, societies and their way of life. With yesterday, August 9th, being the international day of the World's Indigenous People I finally felt compelled to tell you all about it.

The Other Side of Eden
The first book of this type I read was one I found on the Jack Mountain reading list in their student handbook. The book looks at the marginalisation of hunter gatherers and as such is named The Other Side of Eden. The book concentrates on the inuit people but also takes in other native American groups and their lifestyles. The discussions on the languages spoken, their vocabulary for describing fauna, flora and weather and the nature of speech in an oral, not written, culture are all fascinating for the linguist in me. The book also looks at their hunting strategies and how the idea of wilderness living skills and adventure are very far apart. For the people who live the skills, adventure is what happens when things are out of control. This is a book I recommend if you are interested in hunter gatherer lifestyles and especially those of North America.

"Savages" of South America
The next book I picked up was a battered second hand copy of a book discussing the lives of South American native people and their war with the oil industry, modernisation and Christianisation. The book was titled "Savages" and despite having a few interesting insights into food storage and jaguar shamans it was mostly anti-globalisation literature dressed up as anthropology. The writer was not a speaker of the Huaorani language and has received a fair bit of criticism for this, the style is also a little new-age

Reindeer People
The final book, and perhaps the most noteworthy is the most recent I have read. Called Reindeer People it is a mix if a study and story that combines the human elements of the latter with excellent referencing of the former. The book looks at the lifestyles of the Eveny (also here) reindeer herders (a people related to the Evenk group seen in a Ray Mears episode) and how their lifestyles were changing during the collapse of communism in the USSR. The book is well written and easy to read with the only quirk being a few extracts being translated into English and their written equivalents then being noted in brackets in Russian. Not too bad if you have a basic grasp of spoken Russian and not a major deal but I could see this being an irritant if you don't.

Polar Research
The writer, Piers Vitebsky, is a professor at the Scott Polar research institute in Cambridge. The research institute is the centre of British polar studies and has a very famous museum. Sadly, the museum is due to be closed for the best part of a year - until spring 2010 - for rennovation. As a result I've not yet been there.

Rigour over Rhetoric
In my opinion anthropological literature can provide a new avenue of information and ideas for bushcraft. From my, albeit limited, reading I would say that choosing those books with more academic rigour than political agenda will be rewarding. The 2 books on northern peoples were really fascinating and eye-opening and I'd definitely recommend them. One advantage of this type of research is that you can pick an area whose skills are relevant or interesting to you. For me that will always be the northern forests.

If you want to see some beautiful pictures check articphoto.co.uk