The Nomadic 72 Hour Challenge

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Fear of the unknown

Fear of the unknown will give you a hard time in a survival situation. Thoughts of death will mess with your mind. Strange sounds and anxiety will keep you awake at night. Sleep will be a luxury you enjoy the next morning when the sun reappears. Fear of the unknown was probably also the hardest part of this year’s 72 hour challenge if you ask the participants. The thought of venturing into the wild for three days with minimum gear is enough to cause anxiety to most people.

On September 14th this autumn we were on our way to Sweden by car for the Undepend 72 Hour Challenge. This year’s participants were skilled outdoorsmen. Yet stripping them of most of their gear made a huge difference to their self confidence. We talked about how the trip would play out and I sensed a slight uncertainty among the participants. That was right until we parked the car. We went to meet Jon from Immeln Canoe Center. He had agreed to lend us some canoes for this year’s challenge. It changed the perspective of the challenge quite a lot. 

Departure
As we launched our canoes and started paddling into the Swedish wilderness at Lake Immeln, uncertainty was already replaced with excitement. The weather was almost too nice to call it a challenge. Swedish nature is really beautiful especially when you experience it from the lakeside. We knew that from now on we would need to conserve our energy but we were also keen on leaving behind all signs of civilization. We paddled for a couple of hours looking for a spot to camp for the night. Immeln is filled with small idyllic islands but we needed more than idyll. We stopped on several occasions to check out the islands only to realize that there wasn’t enough resources available for us to be able to establish a camp. When you don’t bring everything with you, you rely on nature to provide things for you. This was a new perspective on the traditional challenges where we usually head off into unknown territory by foot. 

Our plan was to find a place for the night and move on the next day. The challenge started on September 14th at 1600 so we had to stay focused on our priorities. It wasn’t long until sunset and we needed to find a campsite, build a shelter and preferably make fire before it became dark. As time progressed we were forced to make a quick decision. We found an island where we decided to stay for the night. It didn’t have a lot of resources but we were able to prepare a fire and a makeshift shelter. It wasn’t really suitable for a rainy night but the weather seemed nice so we took a chance and slept on the ground. Normally participants are obliged to take care of themselves but this was another deviation from the norm. There simply wasn’t enough resources for all of us on the small island, so we had to build a shared shelter and campfire. Even if there had been enough ressources it would have felt weird lighting three camp fires within such a small area that the island offered.

I found some reed that I carefully picked. Just enough to make a small bedding for the night. However careful I was when picking it I still cut my hands. I even used birch bark as protection, but reed has super sharp edges and without tools it’s hard to avoid cuts.

Each participant is allowed to bring: 1 t-shirt, 1 woolen shirt, 1 pair of underpants, 1 pair of long pants, 1 pair of socks, 1 pair of shoes, 1 belt + 4 items of their own choice.

I only brought one extra item this year namely a fire steel. I’ve done these challenges many times now and I could complete it with nothing at all. Making fire on the go with natural materials only however takes me about 24 to 48 hours however since most materials need both locating, preparing and possibly seasoning. You can’t make fire with fresh green materials. I prioritized the luxury of being abe to make fire immediately. On the other hand I opted out of having a pot and cutting tool which would be my second priority, It meant I relied on being able to build a shelter and a natural bedding with my bare hands and drink unpurified water from the lake. I’m certain that most people could easily get by for 72 hours with just a firesteel if only they knew how to. It’s not hard. That’s what I aim to teach people on these trips. Because once you realise it’s possible you become much more confident in nature. You begin to see it as your tool rather than something you need protection against. Everything you need can be found in nature.

Rasmus, one of this year’s participants, told a great story about a fishing trip he went on after hearing my talk at The Danish Outdoor Festival. He had lost his last fishing float after a long and troublesome day by the lake. He was about to give up and go home when he remembered something I said: “You can find an alternative to all your gear in nature”. Instead of giving up and head home he decided to turn his unfortune into a challenge. Soon after he had mounted a small wooden stick to his fishing line as a makeshift float and he ended up catching two fish.

That night I walked down to the shore in the quiet of the night to take a sip from the lake. It was an amazing feeling of connecting with nature. I just stood there with no gear, no jacket and no light. I was completely at the mercy of the elements and then nature just provided me with life. Water never tasted better.

The next morning we cleared our camp and headed out to find a suitable place to spend the rest of the challenge. We went ashore on different islands along the way to forage and scout for a suitable place to camp. We spent quite a lot of energy on paddling. Although the canoes would seem like an extra advantage, they also ment we had to spend more energy getting around. Mostly because we traveled greater distances. A couple of hours later we found a place to camp along the shore of Immeln. The islands on Immeln were unable to provide all of us with enough materials for building a natural shelter. You can tell they have a lot of visitors during summer.

After deciding on a place I immediately began building my shelter and a couple of hours later I felt pretty much on top of things. I had a waterproof shelter and firewood ready. I went out to collect som reed to use as bedding. I took one of the canoes and went around the headland where I had seen som reed growing in the water. This was a much more relaxed day than the one before. Everyone was busy building their shelters. This is usually a very rewarding part of the challenge for everyone. I will give directions to people if they ask for it, otherwise they are on their own.

When building a shelter you should consider its location: Choose a spot somewhere in between the top and the bottom. If you build it on the top of a hill or a mountain it will be windy. It means you will cool down faster, your firewood will burn faster and you will burn more calories carrying materials to and from your camp. If you build it in a valley or lower lying area it will be cold. Cold air and moist settles at the bottom. If it rains you’re also at risk of being flooded.

Don’t build it too close to water either. It doesn’t matter if it’s a river or a lake. Tide can come quickly and a river, even a dry river bed, can become flooded without a warning. Look for flat, elevated and well drained ground and make sure it’s not at the foot of a ravine or on a slope. Make sure it’s close to ressources such as drinking water, building materials, fire wood etc. It will save you energy.

A foraging trip
With our shelters in place we decided to go foraging. This challenge took place mid september, a little later in the year than normal so most berries were gone by now. There was nothing we could eat in the vicinity of our camp so we had to head out on a foraging trip. We had passed the first 24 hours of the challenge now and our energy levels were dropping after a long day of paddling and building shelters. We launched our canoes and went across the lake to a sunny side with lush greens. We went from island to island but we only found very little food. The few berries we found were often unripe so I began to eat birch leaves, plantain and whatever else I could find. It wasn’t much. You don’t really need food short term but it helps you get that extra bit of energy for other tasks. At this point however we were spending way more energy paddling than the energy we gained from foraging. We found a couple of rough-stemmed boletes (Leccinum scabrum) but mushrooms don’t give you energy. On the contrary actually. Mushrooms are thermogenic, which means they affect your metabolism negatively. After that we went back to our camps and began to prepare for the night.

I always try to stay ahead of things in the wild. I prepare everything before need it so I don’t end up in a situation where I’m unable to make fire, build a shelter, find water etc. Of course you do a lot of improvising when it comes to wilderness survival but staying ahead of things minimizes risks. One of the participants struggled to make fire so I suggested some materials he could use with his firesteel. The deal is you can give advice to others but you can’t help them physically and you can’t lend your tools to others. His firesteel wasn’t the best quality so it worked against him too.

I made a mistake
After collecting some new tinder materials and sweating for some minutes he was able get a fire going. Meanwhile I walked back to my own camp. I had collected some tinder in advance so I was ready to light my fire too. It was about time because now it was getting dark. To my surprise I also struggled with my tinder. This was a problem since I couldn’t see much in the dark forest. I had waited too long before starting my fire and now I was stuck in the darkness. I guess my tinder had become moist from the evening dew. I went down by the shore of the lake to see if I could locate some new tinder knowing it would probably also be moist by now. There was a bit more light here and I found some withered grass that might work. I only picked the top of the leaves. They stay dry for longer because of their exposure to the wind. They are also further away from the moist coming from the ground. In a situation like this little details matter. I thought to myself how embarrasing it would be if I was the only one unable to make fire. :)

It took me about 15 minutes of striking my firesteel. I was really frustrated before I got a flame. I had my kindling lined up, so it didn’t take med long to build up a strong hot campfire from there. This is another tip for building a fire. Make it bigger than you need in the begining. Collect about three times the amount of kindling you think you need for starting it. You are looking to build a bed of strong embers that will keep you fire going strong even if you add some wet firewood by mistake. If you do, don’t hesitate to remove it from you fire again by the way. You’re better off replacing it with a dry piece and let the wet piece dry up next to your fire before you burn it. Bark holds on to the moist inside the wood so remove it before you add it to your fire to get more heat out of it.

After a challenging evening I could finally relax. There’s nothing more rewarding than lying in a natural shelter next to a crackling fire in the middle of the woods at night. I fell asleep soon after. When you rely on your fire to keep you warm throughout the night you better not sleep too tight. I have this inner alarm clock that wakes me up every now and then when it is time to add another log to my longfire. I guess you learn from your mistakes because not listening to it will punish you with a long and cold night. Or you need to wake up and build your fire from scratch.

The next morning was wonderful. I woke up early and added some more firewood to my campfire before heading down to the lake to get a drink. I sat by my campfire and enjoyed the dancing reflections of the Sun as they hit the lake and shined back through the leaves of the trees. The others went down to take a morning swim so I decided to do the same. It was a feeling of pure wellness. The refreshing cold water increases your blood circulation and boosts your energy level. But the real reward comes afterwards when you dry up by your campfire. I had built a reflector out of rocks. As the name says it reflects excessive heat back towards you giving you an extra boost of heat radiation. It was like sitting in an open sauna in the middle of the forest.

I was full of energy and ready to seize the day, but one of the participants felt a little off however. He had a headache and was low on energy. It’s easy to feel that way when your environment changes drastically and you stop eating at the same time. In a survival situation it can seriously decrease your morale, but Jacob was super constructive about it and worked with himself. It was easy to tell he’s a professional coach, workout specialist and a former sergeant at the Danish Royal Guards. An hour later we headed out to explore the surrounding area. At this point we hadn’t eaten for 41 hours.

We headed further North up the lake. At one point we came to a small cove and decied to go ashore. It led us to a big nothing. Just a barren piece of land full of felled spruce trees. But just as we were about set out again we saw something that hyped us all up. Right there in the water was a bunch of crayfish. We didn’t have anything to catch them with so we tried using our bare hands. They’re not exactly defenceless so you want to grab them from behind which can be extremely difficult when you are aiming through the distortion of the water surface. I have no experience with getting pinched by a crayfish so I tried grabbing them with caution, but they kept hiding between the rocks. Then suddenly Jacob saw a big one and in a flash he caught it with his bare hands and threw it into the canoe. We were all hyped up about it. We tried catching some more without any luck. Looking back we should probably have kept trying for another hour or so. It would have been time and energy well spent. But just catching one boosted our morale.

We were super excited as we continued our trip. Our next destination was a fairly big island further up north. It was more lush than what we had experienced before. This time we were lucky to find both Swedish blueberry and lingon. We also found some bay boletes. Just what we needed after a long trip with only little food.

We laid down and enjoyed the sunlight for a while before preparing a small fire by the lake. It was a blissful moment. We cooked the crayfish over open fire and split the meat. It’s incredible how big an impact such a small portion of meat has on your morale. It was a bite sent from heaven. We had a piece of bolete to go along with it. It was an amazing meal. For dessert we had blueberries and lingonberries. Two majestic buzzards took care of the entertainment as they elegantly hovered above us in circles. We had long forgotten about survival.

The rest of the evening we spent relaxing in our camps. A thing about survival that few people consider is the waiting time. Often you will have nothing to do except to wait. Of course you have things you need to do but you will also have a lot of spare time once you’ve established yourself. The danger of it is you risk becoming apathetic. Overthinking is also a known risk in wilderness survival. It may lead to analysis paralysis. A condition that can keep you from taking action on vital tasks. It’s important that you stay active and ahead of things but ofcourse your should allow yourself to relax and be in balance with yourself. Survival is a 99% mental challenge.

We had travelled far on this trip so the next morning we decided to clear our camps early and begin our journey back. We wanted to be able to take it easy and enjoy our last day of paddling.

I always practice the art of LNT (Leave No Trace) when I spend time in nature. Not just because it’s the right thing to do. Covering up your tracks is also quite fun. From a survival point of view covering up your tracks can be a very useful skill to learn if you are on the run or are being hunted by someone. Evasion and counter tracking techniques are very hard to do properly however, especially if you’re facing professional trackers or a hunter force. But if you know what they look for, you can at least be aware of it and possibly make life a little harder for them. Just in case you need to.

Even if you don’t care about counter tracking, leaving nature in the same state as when you came is the decent thing to do. After all we love nature, not other people’s decaying shelters right. Think about it, how often do you bump into someone else’s shelter and think “hey, this is cool, I’ll fix it and sleep here tonight”? I’m sure you never did unless you had to. Nobody admires your shelter quite like yourself. So clean up please. It’s quite fun too.

The last hours before the challenge was over were a little boring to be honest. To kill some time one went swimming and two of us took a nap. I was going to drive back to Denmark after we finished the challenge so I was happy to get a good rest. That was it. We returned to civilization exactly 72 hours or three days after we took off. Great weather made the challenge a great experience and a walk in the park from a survival point of view. The canoes added a new dimension to the concept. We had become nomads.

Defying a heatwave in the South of France.

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I tested my resilience to heat in an extreme hike up a dry river canyon near Côte d’Azur.

You have three basic needs to fulfill in a survival situation: Shelter, water, food. In that order. But when we talk about shelter, we often worry about hypothermia and less about hyperthermia (overheating). Two years ago I was in Cannes on business during one of the most extreme heatwaves lately. France had a heat wave sweeping the country at the time so people were advised not to seek outside. I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to learn more about my own performance under extreme conditions. It turned out I did learn something.

My day started early in the morning with a cup of coffee and a croissant at Boulevard Jean Hibert in Cannes. I was a complete misfit as I sat there in my hiking clothes among the chique people of Cannes. Other than that I kept my manners and soon after I was on a bus out of town. I had somewhere to be at six o’clock that evening, other than that I had the day off. Cannes and the rest of Côtes d’Azur is located at the foot of the westernmost part of the Alps. It’s a scenic place. I got off the bus in a small town a bit outside of Cannes and immediately started moving up into the mountains. The vegetation was typical for this climate. Lush but super dry.

My goal for the day was to reach a point in the Tanneron area as if it was a pickup point I had to reach. I was very focused on staying safe despite venturing out into an unknown area by myself. I always aim to locate shelter, water, food as well.

It didn’t take long before I did my first discovery, an Opuntia cactus. This cactus looks hostile but it’s your best friend in a survival situation. The fruit of Opuntia or “prickly pear” makes for a great survival food. It’s moist, sweet tasting and it contains lots of vitamins, fibers and antioxidants. You need to beware of the hairlike spikes on the fruit however. They can cause a long lasting pain and skin irritation. The easiest way to get rid of them is to burn them off over open fire before you peal off the skin. If you don’t have a fire going you can carefully scrape them off using a rock or the like. That’s what I did here. I found a couple of flat rocks to grab the fruits with. And after scraping off the spikes I simply opened up the fruit and ate the flesh inside of it. The peel is quite tough and inedible.

Opuntia cacti carry a lot of fruits and they come in a variety of colors from yellow, orange, red and purple. The darker the color the sweeter they are generally speaking. They’re not quite ripe when green but they still taste sweet. Don’t eat too many a day however. As with many things they can upset your stomach when eaten in bigger quantities. You can also eat the pads. They don’t come off as easily as the fruit but they are much richer in vitamin A and they contain 85% water. No wonder this plant is so well protected by thorns.

I don’t enjoy hiking on trails much and I soon found a suitable alternative which would also keep me out of direct sunlight for a while. A semi dry river canyon with a bit of clear water still running at the bottom of it. So despite temperatures near 40 °C (104 °F) I had already managed to locate both shelter, food and drinking water.

As I began my hike up the canyon I had to climb some big boulders and steep slopes. You quickly forget just how hard it is to hike through a rough terrain if you don’t practice it regularly. If the elements go against you or if you’re not carrying the right gear it will become even harder. In mountainous terrain it’s not so much how far you travel but how many height-meters you climb that will wear you out. And vegetation of course. It didn’t take long before I came to a place filled with thorny bushes. It was impossible for me to squeeze my way through them in just a t-shirt, so I had to use a big stick to push away the branches with as I made my way through.

My t-shirt kept getting caught up in thorns and I thought to myself how obvious it is that people who make it out of a survival situation alive always look battered and bruised. You literally have to manhandle nature when you’re out here in the rough. I made it through with my t-shirt in more or less one piece however. But that was just the beginning.

After some time I came to a small pond in the middle of the ravine. The water was muddy and full of vegetation so you couldn’t see what was in it. I’m always a bit wary when I step into unfamiliar water with my bare feet, but I had to take off my boots to keep them dry for the rest of the climb. If you have ever tried hiking with wet boots you know it’s not desirable. It will give you blisters in a heartbeat. Over the last 15 years I’ve studied survival cases from all over the world. One of the things that strike you is how many people end up losing or breaking their gear, clothes and even shoes. Then hiking through the rough is suddenly a whole other deal. 

It was great cooling my feet in the pond but I was happy to be able to put my boots back on after the muddy experience. It didn’t take long until I encountered my next challenge however. This one turned out to be a bit more demanding. I found out that the canyon was completely blocked by debris and an even thicker brush further up. I didn’t bring a machete and I was wearing only shorts and a t-shirt, so there was only one thing to do. This was the end of my canyon hike. I had to climb up the side of it and continue my hike on the edge along the canyon. It was a steep and quite dangerous climb with loose ground and a 30-40 meter vertical drop towards the bottom in some places. Not my most comfortable moment. Luckily there was a lot of trees I could hold on to but I had to stay very focused. I checked every step I made and tested every tree I held on to before putting my trust in it. According to the metadata on my photos it was a total climb of 62 heightmeters.

A quick warning: Going into a canyon can be extremely dangerous even if the weather is fair. A flood can come quickly from rain further up the mountain or from the day before. The danger is not just the water itself, it’s the strength of it and the debris that it carries with it. I had checked out the weather forecast ahead of my trip and this place had experienced extreme heat for weeks. I continuously scouted for emergency exits out of the canyon as I moved my way up the mountain. The advantage of hiking a canyon however is that you’re more likely to find drinking water. It’s also cooler at the bottom of it and you are less exposed to the sun, but now it was over.

As I made it out of the canyon I immediately felt the heat of the sun. Although it was more windy up here it was also extremely warm. But that’s what I bargained for when I decided to venture out on this hike. My t-shirt was soaked in sweat from the physical activity the climb had offered me. It really helped me cool down but I also knew that it could become dangerous after sunset. “Cotton kills”, they say but right now it was “cotton cools”. Water cools you down 25 times faster than air, which is great when you need it. But cotton also stays wet, so if the weather changes or the night falls with cooler temperatures, you are at risk of hypothermia – even in hot climates. I had brought some warm clothes and plenty of water however – just in case. As I progressed towards the top of the mountain trees became scarce and the sun became hotter. I made sure to sit down in whatever shade I could find and drink lots of water. The mountain was taking a toll on me. It was super steep and in many places you had to go around dense vegetation or small canyons. I kept drinking but I still hadn’t peed.

After 2 hours I could finally see the spot I had pointed out on Google Maps at home. The problem is that once you see your end goal you tend to mentally give up fighting beforehand. So the last few hundred meters were a struggle to me. The view from where I finished my hike wasn’t particularly great but I didn’t come for that either. So what did I learn about myself?

Never during the hike did I feel out of control or in danger except for the climb up the side of the canyon but as I turned around and began to head down the mountain I had to pee for the first time and I had to pee like crazy. That’s when I realized how exhausted I really was. It looked like I was peeing coffee. A sign that you may be suffering from a heatstroke. I sat down in the shade and waited for a while as I drank some more water a little at a time. The feelings that went through my mind were a mix of relief and worry. I was fine but I realized that I might have failed to recognize the signs of a heatstroke. I learned that feeling fine doesn’t necessarily mean you are fine. You need to actively pay attention to your own well being. I was happy to head back down the mountain with success.

The descent was really beautiful with a complete view over Côte d’Azur between Cannes and St-Tropez. I found a couple of really beautiful pieces of rock with shiny quartz-like parts in them. I brought a couple for my kids and one for a friend who is into stones.

Source: dr.dk

Undepend 48 Hour Challenge 2016

48 hours in the wilderness with no shell layer and maximum 4 items

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No jacket, no backpack, no sleeping bag. Unless you wanted to bring them as part of your 4 items you would have to do without them. Personally I didn’t need any of them. To me having a pot, a hatchet and a fire steel was sufficient. I also brought my knife although I didn’t really need it. I just enjoy having it with me.

THURSDAY

Leaving for Sweden
Thursday evening on August 25th I was picked up by one of my friends in his dads car right after work. We were 7 people, driving in two cars from Copenhagen heading for the Swedish wilderness in the Northern part of Jönköping near Vättern.

The destination, a small hut in Aneby, was about 400km north of Copenhagen. A little more than a 4 hour drive. My longtime friend Petrus from Stockholm who had helped me arrange the trip was meeting us there. His family owns the hut which was to serve as our pre-challenge base.

We were full of anticipation as we crossed the Öresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden. The sun was shining and the weather forecast looked extremely good for this time of year. We were talking about everything from music and work to challenge related stuff like the terrain and our strategies. As the organizer of the challenge I was also a little bit keen on getting to our base in time to plan for the next morning.

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But after about an hour of driving our car started acting weird. We pulled in at a nearby gas station just in time before it came to a full stop. This was definitely not what we had hoped for. There was a roadside service insurance signed for the car but even so we had to wait for more than an hour to get help. We ended up being towed back to Helsingborg which is about half way back from where we came. Everything was closed there including all the car rental companies. It took my friend Thomas many discussions with the insurance company as well as a lot of work and stress before we finally managed to get a rental car. I don’t know how he managed to stay calm but apparently he is a highly trained diplomat. By the time we reached the hut it was 1 o’clock at night and the other guys had gone to bed. They didn’t quite sleep yet so we all had a quick chit chat before hitting the sack. We agreed to postpone next days challenge start two hours because of our late arrival. Unfortunately I never got to meet my friend Petrus who was supposed to meet us there.

FRIDAY

Breakfast and preparation
We woke up to a warm and sunny morning. We all helped each other prepare breakfast before challenge start. We had oatmeal with milk, scrambled eggs, sausages and bread with cheese. A last proper meal before take off. Everyone was excited. We exchanged thoughts about the 4 items we had decided to bring as we prepared both mentally and practically for the challenge. It was the right decision to postpone challenge start two hours. It meant we had a calm morning with enough time to clean the hut and get ready without any stress.

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Gear check
Besides your regular clothes, in this case underwear, socks, pants, a shirt, footwear, a belt and 2 liters of water in a plastic container, you could bring 4 items of your own choice. With these items you had to spend 48 hours in the wilderness. These were the rules of the Undepend 48 Hour Challenge. To some it may sound like too little, to more experienced bushcrafters and survivalists it may sound like plenty. Either way the rules gave all participants the flexibility to adapt their gear to their level of experience. And the more experienced still had the possibility to challenge themselves and go more primitive.

Adam, the more experienced participant of them all decided to bring only two items. Well he insisted on keeping his hat on so he ended up bringing three items actually. Apart from his hat he brought a small hatchet and a fire steel.

One participant with long hair was very challenged by the fact that I deemed his hairband as an extra item. It was almost equal to a Buff which would have given him extra protection against the elements. So he had to replace it with a simple hair elastic band.

After gear check we packed up and took off. We drove our cars down some small roads left and right before finally turning up a small dirt road leading us into the wilderness area where we were to spend the next couple of days. We parked our cars between the brush next to the road, grabbed our things and got out. It was time for challenge start.

Challenge start
I briefly outlined some safety principles as well as a few instructions on what to do if lost. Basic stuff like S.T.O.P. (Stop, Think, Observe, Plan), a little bit about distress signaling, principles about eating wild plants, the Rule of 3 and the like. I also repeated the challenge rules as well as a few rules of conduct. And THEN we took off into the wild.

It was an extreme feeling of freedom and anticipation as we walked deeper and deeper into the forest. The terrain was rocky with a mix of birch and spruce trees growing dense.

We occasionally stopped to collect tinder from thistles, tinder fungi and birch bark. Since it was a hot sunny day it was a perfect opportunity to get some dry tinder for later. It could become a valuable resource in case it started raining later.

As we walked on we saw tracks from both moose and wild boar meaning we were not going to camp in those particular places. You don’t want to camp on an animal path. Both for the sake of your own safety as well as the risk of disturbing local wildlife.

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Setting up camp
As much as we had hoped for it, we never crossed any streams or creeks on our way. The weather had been warm and dry for a while so they had probably dried out we figured. It would have been a perfect situation to find running water before setting up camp. But it was getting late considering that we needed time to establish our camps before sunset. So we decided for a suitable spot and started building our shelters.

The first ones to start building had found a nice, well drained spot on flat ground between some spruce trees next to a glade. I was a little jealous of their spot but I didn’t want to camp right next to them. Instead I found a spot halfway up on a small rocky hill. When finding a place to camp in the mountains the general rule is that you want look for flat ground in between the top of a mountain and the valley. Although we weren’t on a mountain, the principle turned out to be quite favorable even on a small scale.

Some of the other participants had built their shelter on top of the rock which gave them a great view. It also meant however that they were exposed to the wind. Luckily for them the weather was fair so it wasn’t a real problem. Another participant had build a cave like shelter all the way at the bottom of the terrain. He didn’t have to worry about the wind. But when he woke up the next day surrounded by morning mist he was freezing.

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I was a bit challenged by the fact that I couldn’t find any flat ground to build my shelter on. So I came up with an idea to kill two birds with one stone. I created a raised bed that would keep me off the damp ground at the same time as leveling the ground for me. I used two spruce trees as the foundation for my construction. I put a couple of long logs uphill of the trees so that they would naturally be pressed downhill towards them. I then cut up a lot of smaller logs to use for slats. It was a lot of work but the comfort it gave me was worth every drop of sweat.

I then proceeded to create the roof. In order to fasten the crossbar I went out to dig up some spruce roots. They work excellently as rope for shelter making. They are very flexible and you can easily dig them out from right under the surface of the ground.

To prepare my camp for the night I collected some firewood as well as some big rocks that I found near what appeared to be a dry creek. I used the stones as a reflector for my fire to keep me warm through the night. I was quite tired when I pulled out the thistle seeds that I had collected earlier on and prepared to light my fire.

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In need of water
We had brought 2 liters of water each. (Normal Recommended Daily Intake is 2-4 liters for a male adult at normal activity) But the hot sunny day as well as our increased activity meant that almost everyone was already low on water before the first day was over. A few people complained about a beginning headache and so far we had only spent about 8 of the total 48 hours.

We knew there was supposed to be a lake somewhere, but it was a big area and there was no guarantee that it was near by. I talked to a few of the other guys about making a last attempt at locating water. It was about to get dark now, so heading out would be risky. Darkness comes quickly in the forest. And finding your way back in an unknown wilderness in the dark can be both difficult and dangerous.

We still decided to give it a try. Wary of the danger we decided to go to the edge of our camp where we were certain we could find our way back – even in darkness. There we left one person. The rest of us moved on as far as we could without loosing visual and auditory contact with him. Then we left the next person there and so on until we reached a nearby peak. We had seen it earlier on and we were hoping to be able to see something from the top of it. It was really disappointing when we realized that there was no view at all from up there. There were trees all over and we couldn’t see anything. It was getting dark quickly now so we went back down and returned to our camp.

I felt so privileged as I lay down in my shelter with my fireplace in front of me. As I looked up to the sky right before falling asleep, the last thing I saw was a beautiful red sky.

A red sky at night is a sign of fair weather the next day. I have come to learn that the old saying “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight, red sky in the morning, sailor’s warning” is correct most of the time. At least here in the Nordic region. And there is actually a scientific explanation to it as well.

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SATURDAY

Breakfast
The next morning I woke up with the sun at about 5 o’clock. I fed my fire a few small logs and had myself some breakfast: Juicy sweet blueberries mixed with a few sour lingonberries that I had picked the day before and saved for this moment.

It’s a funny thing about living outside actually, you quickly begin to follow the rhythm of the day. At least when you’re not tugged away inside a sleeping bag. Only one of the other guys was awake. Adam who is also a very experienced outdoorsman. It was a great inspiration to have him as a participant in this year’s Undepend 48 Hour Challenge.

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Continued search for water
Knowing that water would soon become an issue for everyone, I suggested to Adam that we should head out to look for a resource before the others woke up. We knew there was supposed to be a lake somewhere but we had no idea about the direction or how far away it was. We also didn’t know if the water would be clean enough to drink if we found it.

As we left camp we had an idea that we would need to go east in order find it. The problem was that it was a very hard and potentially dangerous direction to follow. We would need to climb down a steep cliff and walk through really dense forest. I suggested to Adam that we headed north instead hoping that we would cross a creek leading to the lake.

As we walked on we occasionally turned around to take note of landmarks and change in vegetation, in order to remember what the landscape looked like from the other side. This is a really good idea if you are walking in a place that you need to find your way back from. Even on a trail there may be a fork in the road that you can’t see on your way out. Mind you that we weren’t allowed to bring any compass, GPS or the like.

We continued like this for about 20 minutes when Adam suddenly cried out: “The lake! I see it! It’s right there”. Contrary to what we had thought we had been walking straight in the direction of the lake. And furthermore it was only about 20 minutes away from our camp. When we reached the shore the water looked as clear as it gets. There didn’t seem to be any algae in it. This was almost too good to be true.

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We filled our bottles and headed back to camp. This was indeed a motivation boost. Some of the other participants were down to less than a mouthful of water. So it really made a difference. Most of you are probably familiar with The Rule Of 3. It’s a rule of thumb helping you prioritize in a survival situation. It says that you could die in as little as 3 hours without shelter, 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food. This doesn’t mean that you can go without water for three days however. You quickly begin to feel the effects of dehydration if you don’t drink regularly. Fatigue, mudded thinking, headache are all symptoms of beginning dehydration. The problem with this is that you may end up making wrong decisions or mistakes. This can be critical in a survival situation.

We no longer had that kind of problems though. Our trip had suddenly turned into a luxury trip. This is where my pot really came in handy. For purifying water. Most of the other participants didn’t bring a pot so they had to take the chance of drinking the water as it was. Some of them had expected to be able get by on 2 liters of water for the whole challenge. I believe they learned something here. Luckily no one experienced any problems after drinking the water.

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Pure vacation and some foraging
The sun was shining and people either just hung out or they were out foraging for food. We had no permission for hunting or trapping but there was plenty of opportunities for foraging. I collected tons of berries, mushrooms as well as some birch bark and some ants. I was never really starving at any point. I just had fun testing different kinds of wild food.

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As we reached evening there was a slight change in the weather. It was getting a bit colder. I started collecting firewood for the night. I had a feeling it was not going to be as comfortable as the first night. I had been running around barefoot with just my pants and a t-shirt on. As I lay by the fire like this I quickly realized however that I needed to put on my socks. A few minutes later I also put on my shoes and my wool shirt. It was definitely getting colder.

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A change of weather
The next morning I woke up at about 5.30. It had been a cold night and I had been awakened by the cold numerous times. Each time I had fed my fire, gone back to sleep just to wake up about an hour later and start over again. The first thing I saw this morning was a beautiful red sky glowing through the silhouettes of the surrounding spruce trees. Sailor’s warning.

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Almost 43 hours had passed with great weather, what more can you ask for? I knew this morning would be spent taking down our shelters and erasing all tracks before heading back to civilization. So there was no need to feed my fire. It takes a really long time for embers to burn out and we certainly did not want to risk setting the forest on fire.

About 3 hours later we were all about ready to leave. It had started raining now which was actually perfect. Because although we had made an effort to put out our fires you can never be too certain. I have to admit that I also enjoyed the fact that the participants didn’t completely avoid a bit of rain. With only a hike through the forest and two hours left of the challenge this was still a luxury trip.

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Challenge end
It was obvious that some of the less experienced participants were feeling the wear of the trip as we began finding our way back out of the wilderness. They felt that they had already made it and all they wanted now was for the challenge to end. Personally I enjoy being outside in the rain and I wasn’t looking particularly forward to going back to civilization either. The trip back was a great one and we even managed to find some big and beautiful penny buns on the way. A couple of hours later we were back in familiar territory. And just as the 48th. hour ran out we finally reached our cars. Everyone had made it with bravour.

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Mushroom hunting with my son and a nice little surprise

September is perfect for mushroom hunting so last weekend I went camping bushcraft style with my 8 year old son in order to hunt for some delicacies. But I also had a little surprise.

I didn’t check the weather forecast before leaving. When you live in Denmark you’re used to a little bit of everything weatherwise. Most times the weather is so changeable that you can’t count on the forecast from one day to another anyway.

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The perfect day
This Saturday morning the weather was perfect. The sun was shining and it was quite hot for a late September day. My son and I were both wearing just a shirt. Our destination was a few hours away by train and we hit the forest at about noon. It was a beautiful hike through the autumn beech forest and along some open plains. I really enjoy being alone with my sons. You get to talk together in a different way than you normally do. We passed a lot of blackberries on our way so we made a few short stops too. About an hour later we reached our destination, a public tent site in the forest right next to Lake Esrum, and I immediately started building our shelter. It takes a little longer than putting up a tent but I prefer sleeping in a shelter because you’re much closer to nature. Also it is more convenient since you can sit under it and still be outside if it rains.

I asked my son to go and find some firewood in the meantime. He was playing around more than he was collecting firewood though. When it was time to build the fire I asked him if he wanted to have a go with the fire steel. I had brought some dry cattail to use as tinder as well as some dry grass. If you have ever used cattail as tinder you know that it catches a spark really easy but only holds a flame shortly. And then it happened: After only two attempts my son had a fire going. I was amazed and proud of course. But also surprised that he did it that easily. I guess we’re moving on to fire by friction next time.

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After that we headed out to do what we came for. Hunting mushrooms. For this purpose I use a mosquito head net instead of a basket. It’s much more convenient when you’re camping out. It takes up no space in your backpack when you fold it in. You can wear it over your shoulder as a bag which is really easy to access and it keeps the mushrooms protected and ventilated.

At first we couldn’t find any edible mushrooms. But then it was like they popped out everywhere. Mainly penny buns (Boletus Edulis) but also a few puffballs (Lycoperdon perlatum) and one dotted stem bolete (Boletus luridiformis).

After an hour or so both our nets were full and we had more penny buns than we had expected. In the end we stopped collecting them all together. You shouldn’t take more from nature than you need.

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We had brought some pasta for dinner that we cooked over the campfire along with some sausages. It was really cosy sitting there enjoying dinner with my son who had not only started his first fire using a fire steel this day but he had also found most of the mushrooms we collected. We had a great time fooling around, singing and laughing.

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After dinner we took an evening stroll in the forest along the shore of the lake. It didn’t take long before darkness took over and it was getting difficult to see what we were doing. We headed back to our camp to hit our sacks and end a beautiful day. As we lay there looking out from our shelter we could see a lot of bats flying around. They had come out to feast on all the insects.

The less perfect day
The next morning we woke up to rain. I had already heard the drumming on our tarp during the night. So the first thing I did when I woke up was to go and check on our fire. I had put a big log over the embers the night before. There was still a dry spot under it and I could even feel a tiny bit of heat from the bottom of the ashes, but I couldn’t find any embers. So when the weather cleared up a bit I went to find some dry firewood to build the fire again.

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Meanwhile my son was walking around in the shallows of the lake. That’s when I heard a distant thunder. I went to tell him to leave the water if it was to come closer. And then I saw the horizon. It was very dark and you could see a weather front on the opposite side of the lake moving towards us. I went back out to look for some firewood and found a deadfall where the rain hadn’t reached the wood underneath. I chopped off some big pieces that I later carved into smaller twig size pieces. I then collected some birch bark and after a bit of work I had a fire going. And then it started raining heavily again! The thunderstorm had reached us sooner than expected and all we could do was to wait it out under our shelter.

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After about half an hour or so the sky had cleared up and I started over again. This time I still had an ember going so it wasn’t that big a deal although a lot of the firewood was wet, so I wasn’t getting a lot of heat out of it. And then it started raining again! I was getting really frustrated because we still hadn’t had any breakfast. And I had even prepared to fry some eggs on a stone for us. My youngest son had given me an egg holder for my birthday that I had brought thinking it would be a great chance to use it.

The sky cleared up for the third time. I had managed to cover up the fire with some rocks and a big log this time so even though it had been pouring down I still had some sort of fire going now. Or at least some more powerful embers. I rebuild the fire – again – to a point where I was able to get a lot of embers. I used them to cover a flat rock that I had found, before cleaning them off again and use the stone as a frying pan. My son had been eating all sorts of nuts and biscuits while we were waiting for the rain to stop. So he wasn’t hungry anymore. But at least my little project finally succeeded before we packed up and headed home. The weather had cleared up for good now of course.

Back home we made a delicious stew out of the mushrooms we had collected and served them on a toast.

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24 Hours in the forest with no food.

The biggest challenge came as a surprise though.

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How little gear do you need to live in the wild?
I set out to challenge a few of my fellow survivalists / bushcrafters encouraging them to bring less gear than they normally would. 4 things only to be specific.

The challenge started on Saturday 22. of August at 13.00 and ended 24 hours later. 
You could choose to sleep in a tent, you could bring a rain coat or you could challenge yourself and go more primitive like I did. The choice was yours. The only rule was: EVERY item counted as one of your 4 items. Even your backpack if you chose to bring one. This was the Undepend 24 Hour Challenge:

The idea was not to test whether you could survive or not. Everyone can survive 24 hours in the wild during summer in Denmark. Even without food and water. The idea was to encourage the participants to challenge themselves. To get them used to get by with less gear than normal and learn from it.

It’s all about priorities.
24 hours isn’t a long time. It is long enough for you to start feeling the effects of no or only a little food however. And it’s long enough to feel miserable during the night without a fire. Or to catch a cold without a shelter. Every participant was allowed to bring 2 liters water.

At 13.00 we all met up in Gribskov in Denmark on the specified location which was right next to Lake Esrum. After a short chit chat and exchange of thoughts and strategies we went straight to work. My approach was to follow the priorities of the rule of 3: Shelter first. Water was already taken care of so after I had built my shelter I went out to forage the area.

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Building my shelter and a fire.
It took me about three hours to finish my shelter. And I didn’t even bother to make it completely waterproof all over. The weather forecast had said it was going to be a clear sky all weekend and there wasn’t any signs that it was going to change. My main concern was insulating myself from the ground as well as getting out of the wind really. It always takes a while to find the right materials and I think it’s a valuable routine to know by heart. You don’t want to get caught by darkness before you’re done with your shelter. I built a classic lean-to using a young tree as one of the poles. For cover I used fern leaves. They’re easy to harvest and they effectively cover large areas. The advantage of this kind of shelter as opposed to an A-frame is that you can use it both as place to sit as well as a bed for the night.

Before heading out to forage I went to collect some birch bark to use as tinder. I would rather get a fire going first and risk not having any dinner than to have to sit in darkness all night. It turned out I had plenty of time for both however. When building my shelter I cleaned the branches in the vicinity of my camp. So I had plenty of small twigs at hand for building my fire. Mind you I didn’t cut down fresh branches. It is also easy to find small twigs with no bark on in the forest. You just want to make sure they’re completely dry when using them to start your fire. If conditions are wet you may want to look at the bottom of spruce trees instead of picking twigs straight off the ground. These were dry conditions though and I had brought my fire steel as one of my items. So getting a fire going wasn’t a big deal. I built it to a level where I was sure to have at least a coal burning when I returned from foraging.

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Foraging for food.
It’s funny how you’re able to set aside your body’s needs when your mind is focused on other things. I wasn’t particularly hungry after building my shelter even though I spent a lot of energy doing so. I had also just been without food for about 3 hours so far. But I figured it wouldn’t be long before my inner clock would strike dinner. So I went to look for whatever edible plants I could find. In a real survival situation I would probably have dug out som spruce roots to use as snares as well. That would be both illegal and unnecessary in my present situation of course.

I managed to find quite a few blackberries, wild raspberries as well as some other edible plants such as wood sorrel and some nettles. I had expected to find a lot more mushrooms than I did though. I know that mushrooms are not recommended as survival food in general. However if you can positively ID them they are a very nutritious and can provide you with both moist and vitamins.

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I had planned on giving ants a chance on this trip but I just didn’t get around to it really. It is still something I’m keen to try however. I’m not picky when it comes to food in general and I’m not appalled by the though of eating insects.

I can’t exactly say I was satisfied when I lay myself to sleep later that night. But I wasn’t starving either. I had managed to collect quite a few berries. And even though they didn’t fill my stomach they kept my spirit up.

The night.
Everything was good when I decided to go to sleep. I still had a fair amount of wood left from when I built my shelter that I could use as firewood. On top of that I had collected enough big logs to keep my fire going through out the night.

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At about one o’clock I woke up however. My fire had died out and the night was much colder than I had expected. Being restricted to only four items I hadn’t brought an extra jacket or a blanket. So I had to build my fire again. This time I moved it closer to my shelter to make sure I would get more heat from it. I hadn’t built a reflector so I wasn’t getting the maximum heat return from the fire. It was sufficient to feel comfortable though. The rest of the night went on like that. Me waking up every hour freezing because the fire had died out. Rebuilding the fire then going back to sleep. Until about 5 o’clock where I decided to get up. I wanted to go out and get myself some breakfast as well as some more firewood.

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Foraging some more and watching the sunrise.
I was away for an hour or so. It was a really beautiful morning. The sun was coming up in the horizon as the mist was still hanging over the lake. At this point I was getting hungry. It had been 18 hours since I had my last proper meal. I found a fair amount of berries as well as a couple of small penny buns (Boletus edulis). The berries kept me going but I was missing some protein. I went back to my camp and fried the penny buns. Or rather cooked them. I had no fat or butter to roast them in so I added a tiny bit of water to avoid them sticking to the pot which decreased their culinary qualities. Since food was scarce I found myself drinking more water than I normally would. I wasn’t running out of water but I had to ration it a bit. In spite of the other participants bringing food, I was still the one with the least amount of water left. I think I consume a bit more water than the average person actually.

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Hungry and facing a surprising challenge.
As we entered the 22nd hour everyone was running out of pastime activities and I was really feeling hungry now. I guess it’s a psychological thing. You’re hungry and you know feeding time is getting closer so you start focusing on getting a proper meal. There was nothing else to do. I had nothing to pack basically, my camp didn’t need any attention, I had no food to prepare and I didn’t bother collecting more berries. Everyone was just waiting it out really. But two hours is still a long time so we decided to take another walk. We basically just walked around. It’s really interesting how boredom gets to you. We even talked about breaking up earlier because we had already “made it”. This would have meant failure in fact, but I guess it’s the same thing that happens when lost people die after they have been rescued or found. It is common knowledge among SAR Officers that many people give up mentally when they think they have been rescued. They simply stop fighting too early.

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We walked back to our camp and had a little talk about what we learned from this trip and what we would have done differently. It was an interesting talk that made us forget about time for a while. But the last hour of this challenge was a long one. Everyone just hung out. We were ready to leave. As the clock hit 13.00 we were on our way and I was looking forward to get some proper food.

Undepend 24 Hour Challenge
My four items were a hatchet, a knife, a fire striker and  a pot. The other participants didn’t go quite as primitive. One brought: A tarp, a lighter, a blanket and some meat. Another one brought: A poncho, a sleeping bag, a knife, a lighter and a can of food.

 

 

Upgrading my kids’ wilderness survival skills

posted in: Bushcraft, Knowledge, skills, Survival | 1

3 days of practicing knots, shelter building, axe handling and more.

May is supposed to be fairly warm in Denmark. But the last few years the climate has been really messed up. This year May felt more like autumn than late spring. But that doesn’t mean you can’t go camping bushcraft style of course.

The trip wasn’t well planned. I had thought about going with my two sons aged 6 and 8 but it wasn’t until the day before I decided to actually do it. So I went to a local Silvan (a Danish DIY store) to buy two tarps measuring 2×3 meters. They sell them for only DKK 13,95 (about $2). A few days earlier I had taken both of my kids to a surplus store where we bought a pack of paracord for each of them. I let them choose their own colour which resulted in us walking out of the store with one neon green and one triple coloured blue paracord. Not exactly my favourites but whatever motivates them I guess.

You see I had a little plan in store for the two who are more than used to primitive camping. This time I wanted them to build their own shelter. The younger one just learned how to tie his shoe laces recently, so I wasn’t expecting him to be able to make everything himself. I felt quite confident that the older one could do it though. I wanted to give them an understanding of how simple it is to make a shelter and at the same time boost their self confidence. I wanted them to be able to build a simple structure that would get them out of the wind and the rain.

At about 12 o’clock we got off the bus and after a short hike we arrived at the camp site which was right next to a lake. My kids were more concerned about playing around. I normally let them run free in the forest. They know the rules: Their knife must be in its sheath and they must wear their whistle around their neck. It’s amazing how fast kids become responsible when you show them that you trust them.

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I went straight to work though. I unpacked my knife and my hatchet, put both in my belt and headed out to find some suited material for building my own shelter. After a short while I asked my kids to come and help me. I told them that we needed to collect some branches for our shelters and that they would need to carry their own. They had no objections about that although they did argue a bit about who was to carry the heavier branch of two. I told the older one to take it. After a while we had plenty of material and I was well underway with my shelter which I also wanted to work as a place where we could all sit if it was to rain. My kids were still playing around.

Had it been a little warmer I would have left it to their own sense to get going with their shelters or I would have let them sleep on the ground. But with only 7° C at night, windy conditions and possible rain I wanted to make sure they were safe during the night. So I asked them to get going with their shelters as I started to clear an area for our campfire. I showed them the principles of a standard A frame lean-to and how to lash the branches together. Amazingly what they did afterwards was to work together and help each other build their shelters. The younger one lashed his tarp to the frame using the same knots he just learned to tie his shoelaces with. To me however the most important thing is that now they have an understanding of how to make a basic shelter for themselves should they ever need to. Even if we didn’t make the shelters with all natural materials, we talked about how to do it during the process.

While they were finishing their shelters, I had build a small fire. So now our camp was ready.

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The next day we took a stroll in the forest and on the shore of the lake a few hundred meters away from our camp we found a natural shelter that someone else had built. So again we had a talk about how it was made with no cord, no tarp or anything. All adding to their understanding of how to make it themselves. The big difference is that even though they have seen me build a shelter a thousand times, it is not until you try doing it yourself that you start to learn properly. And with kids the key thing about learning is that it has to be fun at the same time.

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All in all it was a great trip where we also got the chance to do both some foraging, some fishing as well as some hatchet practice. The weather forecast said the last day would be rainy. And although the kids loved sleeping in there own shelters they missed the cosiness of us sleeping together. So I rearranged my shelter to fit all three of us. I then used one of the kids’ shelter for storing some dry firewood.

The next day when I woke up the weather was still dry so I made myself a cup of coffee and enjoyed the silent morning. While I was still finishing my coffee the rain started dripping though. I then moved the shelter I had used to keep the firewood dry with over the campfire to protect it a little from the rain. Often when it rains in Denmark it is just sporadic showers of rain. It was the same this day. After a while the rain paused, and when the kids woke up we roasted a final sausage over the fire before packing up. The only real downside of the rain of course was that we had to pack all our gear in wet conditions. But everything went well and we finally hiked back out as the rain quietly fell.

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