Bushcraft Camp with My Dog - Slingshot, Axe, Knife, Bowdrill Fire, Hunting Tower

Description

I head to the Bushcraft Camp in the Forest alone with my Dog. I build a slingshot target area with my axe, make a primitive bowdrill fire and spend time with my dog in the woods. After practising with the slingshot at ground level, I climb the ladder to the bushcraft hunting tower and have a go at hitting targets from a height. I also try out a new bushcraft knife with a scandi grind to it. The bugs are pretty bad still, and I could not cook food on the fire as the ground at camp is still very dry. It was nice to get back out to the camp with my dog though. Thanks for joining us on the adventure.

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Tags: bushcraft,camp,dog,slingshot,axe,bowdrill,fire,hunting tower,bushcraft camp,forest,alone with my dog,primitive,ladder,cook,food,cooking,camping with my dog,survival,camping,super shelter,natural shelter,permanent camp,off grid,log cabin,woods,nature,wild,wilderness,alone

Video Transcription

[Applause]

[Laughter]

[Music]

boy so you join me here at the bushcraft camp want to find summers day I've just been playing around really with a slingshot that subscriber gave me we just did a bow drill as well and I just came to the camp really just to spend some time with my dog but just practice a few skills really hone a few skills this is a bow drill set that I brought from home

and it's hazel on hazel so a hazel spindle on a hazel hearth board with I think it's a bit of silver birch as the bow might even be hazel actually it's just the kit that I keep at home I keep a number of kits at home that I just tinker around with and practice around with obviously it's good to learn out in the field as well and make a kit out in the field but for this trip I just brought it along with me just to get some practicing I am actually teaching some kids soon just general bushcraft start say bow drew is always a good thing for kids to learn and and adults as well so this is the bow drill hearth board this is just one I've started there's loads of I've got loads at home different types of woods I like experimenting with different types of wood so that's the first hole I drilled I'd like to leave the bark on one side just gives me a good idea helps me to generally just identify the tree some people just put like H for hazel or they write hazel on it or some people just know but for me I like to just leave a bit of bark on one side just helps me to to you know see that pattern of that bark regularly so that I can then identify the tree easily although hazel is very easy to identify anyway nice to see that bark pattern every now and then just remind you of what the tree looks like I've widened the notch at the bottom it's just a common thing that's done with Beaudry is to allow the dust to gather up a bit more and keep that in by nice and warm I've experimented with thinner spindles thicker spindles all sorts but that's that's kind of the main diameter and length of spindle that I like if anything that's probably a little bit too fat but they do say good old Ray Mears says the width of your thumb at the knuckle is ideal for a spindle and to be honest that's pretty bang on the width of the nook of the width of my knuckle sorry

this is one I used previously some people like to strip the bark off I've done it a number time stripping the bark off and stripping and keeping it on personally I like to just keep the bark on it's a little bit less work to do but it you know it prolongs the life of the spindle if you're going to keep it by taking the bark off I take out any nicks in the bark like here just you know in any knots just to allow the spindle to spin smoothly and it doesn't rough up the paracord as much this is just paracord that I'm using here and just by having no Nick's in it it just doesn't rough it up as much as four lengths of spindle

I just put my thumb on my baby finger out like that everyone's it's generally a different length but they're fairly similar and that's the width I kind of go for the depth and thickness of the half board or hearth board I never know which to call it you know half full hearth people all say it differently I guess it's personal preference and slightly thicker at the back end there and that's because I left the bark on for a bearing block is again a subscriber gift I think it's Sycamore I think he's called Phil and he's put a bearing in there I said lovely he's turned this on his Pole laid there's a lovely smooth comfortable bearing block and yeah that just makes that bearing helps to spin the spindle a lot quicker it's a lot more efficient the Ember pan just a piece of silver birch bark really you can use anything flat but birch bark you have the addition of being able to peel this off and use this to light on the flame afterwards an alternative option - obviously this which is quite specific quite you know custom made you can't just use things like seashells like a limpet shell this is a snail here in the UK that lives on the rocks and small rock pools and things like that ensure and this you just put like that and with the limpet show you just put it in your hand like that like any bearing block and straight onto the spindle but I have to admit although these are thick very tough shells the heat still penetrates through that so really I double up and use another smaller shell inside and it just makes it a lot easier limpets shall I tend to keep just in my tinder back there and that's where I had my dried grass bearing block I just for some reason keep separately in this fire lighting pouch and cordage pouch just the way I do it I need to stock up on some dry grass now I've got video coming up soon on making tinder pouches and in my shed Sunday's it's also keeping an eye out for that so my buddy Sam from Bertha's nice sent me this aura it's one of his new models it's a stunning knife absolutely stunning can't remember the full details of the hand of material etc but it's what it's certainly I think Sam's favorite knife I'm just trying out today to give it a test it's a four-inch blade four and a half inch handle you know what it's probably out of all Sam's knives it's probably one of the best ones that fits in the hands most comfortably it's the smallest I believe in his range I'll put more details in the description below Sam is an incredible Canadian knife maker this is the second blade I have of his the other one is the Bertha's uterus but his attention to detail is just incredible I almost don't want to use this knife because it looks so nice now I believe it's not a full tang so you don't want to be battening on a knife that's not full tang it's also narrower across the spine a couple of millimeters less than the utility I'd say but I mean it's more of a kind of woodworking knife or it's more of a carving knife and just more intricate details that you need to do with wood work this is that sort of knife and that's why Sam's given me it because I don't really have a knife that's for a bit more intricate stuff I have quite beefy bushcraft knife so I know we'll try it with some feather sticks let's give it a go got a nice straight edge this is a bit of a rotten Pines that might not be as nice but it's nice to having that smaller blade smaller handle a lot more control what what are you doing just look at Jack's what are you doing up there

Jack's get off going down get off yeah yeah I'm talking to you well this blade is lovely

absolutely tiny curls I'll show you in a minute closer bender - this is super sharp has come straight pretty much straight out the box other than me doing the notches in the bow drill that it's beautiful I'll probably info for this knife in the description below and Sam's are the blades for those that are interested yes he did send me this for free be honest with you guys he did send it for free for me to test the news out in the videos but I'm sure a lot of you wouldn't decline a knife like this I'm here to just inform you about it I guess the downside for me is it's not full tang and to be honest I like full tang knives it's got a thin spine as well I prefer a bit of a thicker spine in my knife that's just personal preference so Jax is just terrorizing the cam right now just leave it alone what did that treat it to you very fine girls superfine hinders right curls as well very fine awesome blade thanks Sam right Jax that's enough enough enough nutter

this is my slingshot target area let me just show you the slingshot again which was sent to me by a subscriber and then I'll show you my setup this is the slingshot that a subscriber sent me I did it in the last unboxing video on the channel think don't quote me on this it's called the art M stumpy and it's by a fella called Raimundo well ray sent me this very kind thank you very and he's actually he's got his signature here on the slingshot the handle there's a lanyard because this is custom-made he's even inscribed ta outdoors on it which is awesome it's got abang gold I'm not a slingshot wizard so I don't really know the the full sort of in-depth details I do know that that's thera-band gold and with a nice little leather pouch there to store the ball bearings it's really I tell you what it's so nice to have a slingshot that's super compact I used to have the the black the Diablo Black Widows do you guys remember those the Black Widows they're kind of the classic value-for-money entry-level slingshots that had the kind of wrist support on them and I absolutely loved it when I was younger I used it a lot I've got what I've got it still actually I just don't use it as much this is nice to have a wood one laminated wood one and you know what it's the size for me it's so small and compact just once you fold the band's up it's literally that size it's super small so that's so that's not going to take up much room in the backpack at all you know and I certainly would if I can get good enough of this would go hunting with this but thera-band gold feels about right and you know that was the first time shooting this the very first ball bearing I got out absolutely nailed it which is awesome so I just brought a tin can with me this is my my slingshot set up I've got my shoe mag which is basically a scarf which I always have in my pack on me all the time is such a versatile piece of kit you can use them for first-aid you can make a sling out of them

you can use them just as a general towel you can fold it up and use it as a pillow I've always got this with me that's super versatile and it's just handy to have so what I've done is I just driven two stakes in the ground here I checked the width of this remark first drove the two stakes in and then I used the pine cone if you saw Raptor Pike it's just an old bushcraft trick that that's in all the books just wrapped a pinecone around the corners of the shemagh just to allow a tie-up point and that way I could tie it to these sticks at first I didn't film a bit at first thought it was fairly tight and I was a bit worried that the and I was a bit worried that the bearings would kind of ping off and just spring back a bit too much

ideally I wanted the ball bearings to hit and just collect down at the bottom so I lowered it all a bit left it a bit more slack and it's perfect I've used a seat

just a log which I used as a seat at the bushcraft camp inside the camp brought the tin can along with me and that way all the ball bearings whenever they hit and you'll see it in the videos whenever they hit they just go and then they roll down it bombs into it and then it rolls down and they just collect to the bottom and that's super easy to find because it's really shiny it's super easy it's fine because it's a really shiny ball bearing against a nice dark background backdrop so it's for me it's just really easy when it hits and I just come over and I collect all the ball bearings again I don't lose any I don't leave any in the woods and I just put them back in the in the pouch here onto the pouch there's ants everywhere God bring on the autumn and winter man this is a foragers dump pouch bar made for me by my friend Brian journeyman handcraft he does really nice leather work and kind of wax canvas gear as well and today I was using I think these are ten or twelve mill stainless steel ball bearings I'll just show you this is that these are the ball bearings that I've been using I believe I think that twelve Miller controller which ones I ordered know I've got nine mill at home which is tiny and actually I don't they're almost too small I quite like using the big ones to begin with just so I could find them and collect them but I believe that's ten or twelve mill I think that's I think it won't be twelve mill anyway I store them in this pouch and this is handy if you saw when I put it on my my belt I learned about it just folds up into into that size literally into that size then I usually use it for foraging collecting tinder collecting wild edibles and things like that but for now I've just popped the stainless steel ball bearings in there and it's really handy it just sits on my belt it's on my right hand side so that when I go to load the slingshot let's put it in so it's on my right hand side the pouch which is where I wanted to be because I shoot I'm right-handed so I shoot with my left hand on this thing shot here and then I can easily access the ball bearings in my right pocket pop one in the pouch and then I'm ready to go there's different methods of shooting slingshots I'm not overly familiar with them at the moment but I will learn you've got the kind of threw the forks TTFN I think it's called the way I shoot it personally is I tilt it over to its side 90 degrees I use this as the aiming point this fork here the top fork the band's I do not shoot that way because that's putting stress on the support bands there so I fold it over this is done this is explained in a raised manual that comes with the slingshot fold it over like that and that way when you release that way up these go clear and they don't slap your wrist and bang on your wrist if you put them this way they it's going to smash into the forks and hit your wrist this way as you release it all goes around and over and everything goes nice and straight so let's have a go I got to say guys I've definitely got the slingshot bug big time peak time Jax doesn't really like the sound of the band's whipping he gets some hit it scared so yeah you know I've missed the fair few but that I've not missed the actual kromagg itself hello yes hello I know you're there right there wait they're trying to keep Jax out the way because I obviously don't want em going anywhere near the target so I got my head come on hopefully it's recording the recording yeah it's recording and I use the audio from the main camera but the reason I put the target low down is because I guess most small game and animals that I'd be hunting here in the UK a low down you know squirrels yes they do run up the trees but a lot of time when you're when you're shooting squirrels I've shot squealers in the past a lot of the time when you're shooting them you know you get them as they're as they're eating the nuts as they're opening the kernel of the nut they tend to pause and that's when you go for the head shot so squirrels lowdown rabbits lowdown they're always on the ground you know in fields on hedgerows and things like that and then pigeons as well you can't shoot them up in the trees but again if you can get them when they're on the ground they're a lot more vulnerable and easier to shoot so this is why I've put my target you know only a foot off the ground I mean really I should just have the tin on the ground because that's that's the height that most small game would be as I shoot it so many five meters away but this is the first time I've picked up a slingshot in probably fifteen years so you know I'd rather be safe to be honest than actually hit the target then start losing stainless steel ball bearings all over the woods so you know I will move it back and go back maybe eight meters 10 meters I wouldn't want to shoot much further than 10 meters at once if I'm shooting small game to be honest but anyway let's give it a go you guys can critique my technique and tell me if I'm doing it wrong that was just high I think I needed to pause a bit more I seem to be a bit more accurate when I pause before just before shooting like that that sort of one to two second pause three seconds maybe I did think that was I just wow look at damage it does to this look at it but it just punches it if we can go through a tin can like that that's not even me doing full whack but that does a lot of damage there so here's the ball bearings that's two shots there's one ball and as the other ball nice and easy to find then I push this forward a bit around the log itself like that so that it can just be nice and loose and collectable bearings I should have brought more cans really to lie low them up line them up sorry this is fun I'm not gonna lie this is fun with Jack's tuna stick oh that was awesome you know it's it is satisfying hearing it from a further distance

oh yes yes three in a row and I blasted it look at us at 10 meters great fun with a dinky little slingshot like that I have to admit I've got the slingshot bug I've got the slingshot bug I wonder if I know oh I really want to shoot from the hunting Tower that's gotta be done it's gotta be done back this up hunting tower shot the jacks has been leashed up because he ran away also something here we go hunting tower slingshots I think this could be done you know I know it's 10 meters already I'm just gonna take two slots out of this from the hunting tower maybe three actually just so I can get a bit of a we're recording on the head cam and on the main camera here we go hunting tower slingshots here we go Oh hmm inches literally a matter of inches I'm hitting a bit high I'd say no that's still high it's completely different shooting at an angle whereas like any shooting but certainly with a slingshot

okay I actually have to aim at the bottom of the tin because that's three times I've aimed directly at the tin and it's not hit got a good bottom yeah hunting tower shot come on that's worth knowing I don't have to practice a lot more are they hunting tower slingshots boom Oh take this really tight well it's good to know that my target works and I can just make it out in the woods rather than have to bring anything with me was it just a pinecone when I tie my string up I just wrap it around flem and baby finger like that until I get about a foot and a half left and then pinch them tight pinch at the top start rolling from the top and work your way down it just keeps it all nice and neat and put your finger in the gap to create a hitch like so and you can slide this to wherever you want and there you go keeps it organized indeed there's a fun class today kiddos no damage to the shemagh whatsoever Leave No Trace so it's been a good day at the push-off can't really enjoyed it we've only spent a few hours here but the ants are getting too bad at the moment and it's not fair on Jax which is why I put them on the the rucksack at the moment I hope you enjoyed this episode I know it's slightly different I quite enjoyed in the slingshot to be honest I could definitely see myself doing it more in the future perhaps you guys have some tips on the slingshot sheeting and slingshot hunting maybe what size ball bearing to use I quite I feel quite confident and comfortable with this sort of 10 to 12 mil but I know there's people out there that do use 9 millimeter just for that a bit more kind of penetration powder whereas the 10 to 12 mil tends to be a bit more blunt force trauma so I don't know you know it's all a learning experience I'm certainly enjoying it Jack's had a great time out here he's been digging away half the camp and it's just been fun hopefully it's inspired some of you to get outdoors especially some of you younger kids if you're watching getting the outside enjoy it even when the weather's bad get outside just try and spend as much time in nature as you can so I'm sure I'm off to the Lake District National Park for a couple of days doing a mixture of camping in the woods rooftop tent camping on the truck we're gonna be back at the camp probably autumn time in the fall when the bugs are gone and that way I can work on camp update 15 which will be the big wood roof that I'm gonna build so I just I don't really want to push myself through it while there's bugs everywhere at the moment and there's other things that you know I can go enjoy down by the coast up in the mountains and the lakes and things like that appreciate your watching appreciate your views please do leave some comments and some feedbacks on what you thought of the episode and also subscribe if you enjoyed it and do tick that little bell notifications so that you get notified whenever I upload a video from me and Jack's here at the bush golf camp we're gonna say goodbye and we'll see you soon in another video ready buddy okay you