Lights, Camera, Action ... Heat, Dehydration, Crash

It was never that bad :)

I found myself on a film set the other day. This might sound glamorous, but it's a lot of waiting around, being told what to do and then doing it over and over again. You can't go very far and you don't really know when it's going to end. When working on a film set, knowledge of the human body and application of survival skills can get you through the day. With lots of down time and unpredictable events in a hot and largely resource free environment, it's easy to to get overheated, fatigued and dehydrated. Using your head and being opportunistic is the only way to ensure you're on form and not exhausted at the end of it all. This article is not about film set survival, more an insight into managing yourself in an situation over which you have little control.

Wild Food & Natural Resources Course - October

As Autumn marches on the soft fruits come to an end and we gain the firmer ones, together with nuts. Most tree borne seeds have now fallen and nothing more to do this years, the leaves of deciduous trees are changing colour and will eventually fall and rot. Though late this year, the fungi season is now in full swing with many edible and poisonous species alike. There is still plenty for the forager to collect. A great deal of the hardier plants we've learnt this year are still out in force, though flowers have long since passed. In some cases, seeds are now available as well as roots and tubers. Here then are some choice treats for the month of October.

Water Water Everywhere

You may have seen the news about the flash flooding in Clovelly, North Devon. Much of the footage was taken by myself and other Clovelly residents. A few houses and businesses suffered badly, but nobody was hurt. So what happened? In this article I'll explain a little about how floods happen, how to get through them as well as some preparations and survival tips taught in Emergency Preparedness courses.

Deadfall Dead Weight

Don't Believe the Hype

If fire by friction and making spoons rank highly as bushcraft skills, then making traps, especially the figure four deadfall, is on the top of every survival whittler's list. The figure four deadfall trap has long since been near the bottom of my list of skills to teach as food from furry animals is very low priority, let alone the fact that this particular trap is hard to make, hard to set and for the effort, not sufficiently effective in a general survival context. In this article I'll justify my disenchantment with this ridiculous contraption. I am constantly amazed that it is described as "one of the most important skills", to make one. Personally, I think firecraft, construction of weatherproof shelter, signalling, water treatment and plant identification are somewhat higher.