Chicken... 3 years past use by date... tasted great

[WongFeiFox]

Ok, have just returned from another weekend expedition, this time was closer to home and did have a tent and Sleeping bag as I was only a few miles from home and not roaming with excess weight, it was cold and wet, but being near to home meant I could take more stuff to have more luxury.

As BigPaul has said Dartmoor is not a place to take lightly, the fog and rain come in extremely fast, when it does you might as well sit tight unless you know exactly where you are as you could well be walking into your death - not an exageration as he will support me on this.
He mentions some young girl died in the river, well I can testify that I once tried to cross it at a point when it was only about 5-6" deep, the force of it knocked me over twice and Jesus H Christ fast running fresh water is cold, that was in the middle of August on a hot summers day, don't ever, ever, EVER underestimate running water, no matter how shallow it looks.

Have been camping on the moor for years, first with DOE then later with friends as we grew up, even then I was into snares and not using a slepping bag, however most of my mates will only come up in the height of summer so that was not too bad, but it does still get cold at night unless you use the right type of fire. Fires on the moor are not allowed, even more so in full summer with dry bracken,ferns and grassland around so you have to get right off the path, the rangers don't really like you camping up there either, mainly because people camp in the picnic areas and know nothing about disposing of their faeces. They are more likely to turn a blind eye if you are off the beaten track and they realise you have "moor" sense.
Although in the previous post I had not tent, nor bag I did have my BOB, which contains my 2 rubble sacks duct taped together which does provide a waterproof bed, plus my tarp, poncho and other bits and pieces like the all important mobile, when it gets signal, I didn't mean to sound like I was running naked with the ponies, although.......
I have walked part of the south west coastal path with no bag or tent because the previous year I did it the pack was getting really heavy, when I set up that evening my bag was soaked through ended up binning it and buying a cheap £20 supermarket one, might as well have thrown £20 away, so now when I can I go without.

Yes it was part of an experiment, I have a friend who is a bushcraft/NT instructor and we have been going up for the last few years with a few other like minded souls and bugging out. However we have always had stoves, food and can rely on one another, the Dartmoor mission was a way to test myself when I'm cold, lonely, hungry. Yes I did have my slingslot, snares, fishing line/hooks and 25' long net, but as any other regular hunter/fisherman can testify, you dont always get lucky.
We all like to think we can head to the hills, but at the beginning of May there is not much in the way of hedgerow to forrage, its cold - not the best of time to be out in the wild. When you're by yourself at night noises can do funny things to the mind (think big cat although probably big pony, or hedghog most likely) Being tired itself means the difference between keeping a positive attitude when trying to light a fire in the damp, a fire that is only for you and not the pressure of getting it lit for loved ones as well, whilst they moan that it is cold, they are hungry etc.etc. This was the point of my test to see how well I could manage 48hrs without the luxery of my store. It did not go as well as I had forseen and that was the lesson I learnt, which we all could learn.

In a few weeks I have a week off work and am planning to go 2 days without sleep and trying basic stuff like making shelter and fire (will leave off the axe sharpening) will go to Aiki Jutsu as well and see if some of the complex motor skills still function, as recommended by the legendary Lofty Wiseman. Will keep you all posted as to how it goes.

My old Sifu used to say "you can buy all the weapons, read all the books, watch all the videos, but unless you practise, you are nothing to the art"