Ten Commandments of Camping

C.B Colby

Penned by the marvelous author and illustrator C. B. Colby these commandments were most likely compiled while he was the Camping Editor of "Outdoor Life Magazine". Simple, sensible, practical and as relevant now as ever.

“1. Thou shalt not arrive or depart a campground with great chaos
2. Thou shalt not despoil any living thing about thee
3. Thou shalt not be slovenly about they tent site
4. Thou shalt not make loud noises after 10 p.m.
5. Thou shalt not let thy pets and children run wild
6. Thou shalt not give advice unless it is sought after
7. Thou shalt not hesitate to give aid if it’s needed
8. Thou shalt not crowd thy neighbor unduly
9. Thou shalt not borrow unless desperate
10. Though shalt not know more about camping than all others”

— C.B Colby

Just in time for some spring camping, are there any others people would like to see on there?

London

London

Yes London. Although I'm a country boy at heart, at times I find myself in the big smoke and to me, there is no other city I would rather be in. A long time ago, when I was fresh faced and bright eyed about the world I spent a few years working hard in London, and it still has a very special place in my heart. I thought I'd try and highlight a few of my absolute favorite destinations in London and prove that there is a ton of VHD fodder to be found in the city.

Rule's Restaurant

Rule's Restaurant Picture By Herry Lawford

If I'm ever asked about places to eat in London my first suggestion is always Rules, London's oldest restaurant. Opened by Thomas Rule in 1798 it has served the finest British cuisine to a captive audience in London's Covent Garden ever since. Imagine, if you will, a wood paneled living room festooned with hunting trophies, oil painting and imperial memorabilia. An ever changing menu of seasonal game, sourced from its own country estate, is prepared by 35 chefs fronted by David Stafford. Dining here you join such prestigious alumni as Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, John Galsworthy and H.G Wells. Nowhere else will you get such a distinct display of fine British cuisine. I highly recommend the venison cottage pie.

Parks and Trees

A great London Plane in Berkeley Square Gardens

London is truly a city of parks; it has over 25,000 acres of green, all designed to be strolled through and enjoyed. This trip however I came armed, on mission if you will. I had picked up a copy of "Great Trees of London" (yes, there is such a book)  and this great book (published by "The Lonely Planet" in conjunction with "Trees for Cities") took me into new parts of London; to secret squares, nooks and crannies in the hunt for trees of note. There were some amazing specimens but also, unfortunately, one that is no longer there. The St James's Church Catalpa tree on Piccadilly was cut down in 2012 - I just missed it. After it was felled the pieces were carved by artist Clinton Chaloner into the church's nativity. So it still lives on in one form or another, although I would prefer if it still were alive.

Pubs

The Grapes

There are over 7,000 pubs in London, of varying qualities I must admit, but the good ones are real gems. On this trip I naturally visited quite a few but my favorite was The Grapes in Limehouse. This wonderful pub was my lunch spot while I was walking the Thames Path between Greenwich and London Bridge and was well worth the stop. The Grapes opened its doors in 1583 and has played an important part in the history of Limehouse, an area frequented by the likes of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Sir Walter Raleigh, Francis Bacon, Edward Wolfe and Charles Dickens. It is believed that Dickens even made mention of the pub in “Our Mutual Friend”

“A tavern of dropsical appearance … long settled down into a state of hale infirmity. It had outlasted many a sprucer public house, indeed the whole house impended over the water but seemed to have got into the condition of a faint-hearted diver, who has paused so long on the brink that he will never go in at all.”

— Charles Dickens - Our Mutual Friends, 1864–65

The pub has a friendly, local atmosphere, it smells of old wood and history and I'm glad to say it was bustling when I went in. The bangers and mash were delicious as well as the ales that washed them down, the co-lease holder, Sir Ian McKellen was not around but there was a rather cool Gandalph model in the back parlour overlooking the Thames, along with a complete set of Dickens' work. 

Bookshops

I'm pretty much in my element when surrounded by stacks of old, dusty books. One of my favorite London activities is to simply stroll down Charing Cross Road and duck into all of the amazing book shops. Some are real collector, antique type stores, some are bargain basement places but they all have a nostalgic atmosphere. They also pay heavy dividends if you are willing to put in a little work. Checkout "Quinto & Francis Edwards Bookshop", "Henry Pordes Books"," Any Amount of Books" and, of course, "Foyle's". Foyle's has been selling books for a long time. They stock mainly new books but also have a few second hand, either way they must have exceptional buyers as it's always stocked with a great selection. Their travel section is particularly spectacular.

Markets

A little something picked up from Arcadia

Whatever you're looking for London most likely has a market for it and this trip my destination this time was Spitalfields on a Thursday. In the main, old hall they have an excellent antiques and knick-knacks market. It might not be the biggest market but the quality and selection is exceptional. Be sure to swing by Andrews of Arcadia for all your fishing needs.

And there we have it, this is very much my own, very concise list and may not be for everyone. I have hardly scratched the surface of London itself, I'd love to talk about museums, galleries, monuments and go deeper into pubs, restaurants and history but this is already a monster post, so that might just have to wait for my next visit.

Tips from the Archive #008

Harry Roberts - Movin' Out By, 1975

A tip from Harry Roberts' "Movin' Out" first published in 1975. This is only a thin book but it goes into more detail than most, with exhaustive information about what to look for when choosing each piece of kit, delving into the pros and cons of different stitching and seam constructs and the architecture of pack-frames. Roberts was a freelance photographer and writer spending some time in the 70s as the editor of "Wilderness Camping Magazine", he was also a certified cross country ski instructor and examiner.

Tip 008 – A Novel Insect Repellent

“For those of you who dislike chemicals with strange names, I offer a novel insect repellent technique I learnt from one of my Habitant kin years ago. Take a garlic bud and slice it up into little pieces. Swallow them whole and wait a while–say a couple of hours. Pop a fresh bud about every twelve hours, and the bugs shun you. Perhaps it alters the scent of your perspiration, but if it does, its not noticeable. That’s all right the USDA doesn’t really know why deet works, either.”

— Harry Roberts - Movin' Out, 1975

Interesting stuff, the way I understood it was that bugs were attracted to exhaled breath, which means eating garlic makes some sense. One last bit of foolproof advice, however, is to simply hike with me, I attract mosquitos like no other human, making life very pleasant for everyone else.

Chris Yates – The Lost Diary

Chris Yates talking about his lost diary

UPDATE: The book has been successfully funded so keep an eye out in the coming months!

I have spoken about Mr Yates in past posts - he is one of my favorite fishermen; he is beloved by nearly every British angler as an author, photographer and staunch advocate for vintage fishing gear and methods. Over the last few months, in anticipation for Maine's fishing season, I read a few of his books - each one is a masterpiece. I knew through Yates' reputation and his previous works that I would love these books, but as each one unfolded I became further charmed and impressed by Yates; his philosophies, his love for the outdoors, nature and, of course, tea. All of which resonate with me and my beliefs.

When I came to the end of "Nightwalk", Yates' magical and lyrical book about walking through nighttime British countryside, I was keen to find out what he was up to next. It was in this search that I came across his intended crowd funded next publication. Entitled "The Lost Diaries" the book is exactly that, a  book of his recently rediscovered fishing diaries dating from the 1980s, including "the last days Chris spent fishing at Redmire after his record catch and the early days of the Golden Scale Club." 

How to Fish and On Fishing at Sea

So for my sake, and for the sake of all those that love and cherish nature,  the outdoors and Yates' writing, take a look at this video and perhaps consider donating to this book. Funding is being sourced through unbound.co.uk which is very much like kick-starter. For a minimum donation of GBP10 you will receive a copy of the book and also have your name published in the back.

So far I have read "How to Fish", "Nightwalk" and "On Fishing at Sea " these are still readily available and I cannot speak highly enough of them.

The Secret Worlds of Colin Fletcher

Secret Worlds of Colin Fletcher

I just finished "The Secret Worlds of Colin Fletcher" a truly engrossing collection of Fletchers stories, each one painting an increasingly vivid picture of Fletcher through his musings. He strives endlessly and at times aggressively for solitude as he passes through different, changing landscapes hunting an epiphany, an answer to a question which haunted him; just how is it possible (if at all) for man to live in harmony with nature in the modern age.

This is not an instructional book like "The Complete Walker" and is less of a travelogue than "The Man Who Walked Through Time" but I feel it's essential reading for anyone true lover of the great outdoors.

Okanui Shorts My Sad Farewell

My Okanui Classics in the outback somewhere

Elastic? Gone. Waistband? Gone. Drawcord? Long gone. Colour? Faded. Loved? Most definitely. Missed? Most certainly. Farewell to my Okis.

It was nearly eight years ago that I bought a pair of Okinui shorts from their store in Noosa, Australia. Since then they have been around the world with me many times and have rarely been out of arms reach. Their cotton has been worn to blissful softness and their shape is perfectly tuned to me. I love these shorts but I feel they have run their course and it is time to let go.

Okanui Classics

Okanui board shorts were fathered by Sydney surfer Dick Ash. He was brought up in Avalon on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia in the 1950s and made his first pair of board shorts when he was about fifteen. Using mail bags scrounged from the local post office he sewed them together using his mums sewing machine and, as the legend goes, he cut out the letters S.A. Aust. from the mail bags and told his friends it stood for 'Surfing Association of Australia'. Ash began making board shorts for his surfing friends and the Okanui legend began.

My new Okis

The Okanui 'Classic' board short as we know it has been around for over 30 years, it has become a part Australian surf lore and the company is still owned and run by Dick Ash from Byron Bay, NSW. The 'Classic' is still available in a range of bright, hibiscus patterns from 100% cotton, is manufactured in Fiji and made to last. These fantastic shorts can be bought online at Okanui.com

Before Christmas last year I finally came to terms with the fact my shorts weren't going to last forever; I think eight years is a good run for any piece of clothing nowadays and I hope my new pair is up for the challenge.

Ötzi's 3,300BCE Gear List

Ötzi's Gear Image Copyright of South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology - www.iceman.it

Something a little different for this gear list, but absolutely fascinating nonetheless.

Ötzi the Iceman was discovered in 1991 by hikers in the Ötztal Alps, on the border between Austria and Italy. He is the oldest naturally mummified human ever discovered. Believed to be 5300 years old, Ötzi and his equipment are incredibly well preserved perhaps due to, among other things, his body being almost immediately covered by snow which protected him from scavengers and the geography of the area he died in. His skin, teeth, personal items and contents of his internal organs were all found intact, and were able to provide a remarkably detailed background for the ancient mountain man.

Ötzi - Image Copyright of South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology – www.iceman.it

His equipment list also paints a fascinating and vivid picture about how he lived. It is believed that Ötzi was a herdsman, due to the large amount of animal fibers on his clothing. Items like his copper axe, bow and reed mat suggested that he was able to hunt and be self sufficient allowing him to stay in the mountains for extended periods of time with his herd. The list of items found with Ötzi is detailed below...

Ötzi's Axe Image Copyright of South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology - www.iceman.it

Clothing
Coat made from goat hide Goat leather loincloth, 33cm x 100cm fastened with a belt Bearskin cap with leather chin strap Calf to thigh leggings made from goat skin, loops at the top can be threaded through a belt, laces at the bottom are for threading onto shoes Double layer shoes, inners made of grass outers made of deerskin with bearskin soles Belt with pouch 4-5cm wide made from calfs leather

Equipment
Grass Cape used as a mat or possibly a backpack Backpack made form a large piece of bent hazel wood with larch wood slats and a hide sack attached Quiver made from chamois hide with yew support rod Copper bladed axe Flint bladed dagger with sheath 1.8m Yew bow 14 arrows Small tree-bast net Birch-bark containers stuffed with maple leaves with lit embers for starting fires

Tools and sundries
Antler multi-tool 2m Tree-bast string 2x Animal sinews Retoucheurs tool or pressure flaker (for refining flint items) 4 Arrow tips Flint scraping tool Flint drill Small fine flint flake Stag antler tips Bone awl Tinder fungus (Fomes fomentarius) Stone disc

First-aid
2 Strips of hide threaded with fruiting body of the birch polypore fungus.

There is still uncertainty about how Ötzi died but the prevailing theory is that he was in fact murdered. He had an arrowhead embedded in his shoulder, the wound from which had not healed and there was a significant head wound. It is not clear if the head wound was caused in a fall, occurred postmortem or was inflicted by the his attacker as the final act of murder. However he died, it is remarkable to think that he has been up in the mountains, preserved in the ice, and has silently sat through the entire development of the modern world.

All the images are used with permission from South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology they own the copyright for all of these images please be considerate and seek permission if you wish to use any of them. Visit www.iceman.it for more details about this amazing story.

Tea Chronicles Pt.11 – Alan Hall

Alan Hall - Wild Food Trailguide, 1973

This may sound stupid to some more experienced foragers, but I've been hunting wintergreen for some time now - I'm not sure how it eluded me so readily but I never seemed to track any down. I have found a lot of reference to wintergreen in many books but I think "The Wild Food Trailguide" by Alan Hall was one of the best. The book was written in 1973 and is one of the classic guides for the North American forager. I particularly, and understandably, like the expansive wild teas section.

“WINTERGREEN Gaultheria procumbens

IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: This tiny plant is actually a shrub with stems that creep along the surface of the ground or just below it. At interval along the stem, leaf-bearing branches that look like individual plants thrust upward. They are 3 - 6 in. high and have a distinct woody character. The shiny evergreen leaves are clustered at the top of the branches. The leaves are fleshy and tender, pale yellow-green with tinges of red or sometimes almost all red, and smell strongly of wintergreen when crushed; the older leaves are shiny, dark green with lighter undersides, have a tough leathery texture, and are less frangrent.”

— Alan Hall - Wild Food Trailguide, 1973

Wintergreen Tea

The really great thing is that wintergreen grows all year round, due to this I figured now would be as good a time as any to look for it as, there is little else in leaf in its size range right now. Doing a little hiking last weekend I made a point of hunting wintergreen and almost immediately I came across a little patch by the trail head. After that it seemed to be everywhere, maybe I got dialed in. The main thing I checked for was that the leaves actually smelt of wintergreen - the easiest way to make a clear identification.

Wintergreen Tea

So with the Trangia cranked and the water boiled I threw in a small handful of wintergreen leaves and steeped them for about ten minutes. The resulting brew was great; it had a pleasant but mild minty flavor with a foresty, leafy tang. Very refreshing. Next time I think I'll add a BIG handful and try and eek out some more flavor, but it was an impressive start.

The leaves can be dried but some of the flavor is lost so it's best to use them freshly picked. Hall also goes onto to describe a root beer like concoction which can be made similarly to tea. If I get a big harvest next time, I might give it a try.

"The Wild Food Trailguide" is an excellent book worth hunting out. Hall mentions 16 wild teas in its pages, so you may hear more from this very interesting read.

Clyde Ormond – Survival Fishing Kit

Clyde Ormond's Otudoorsman's Handbook

It's interesting when looking at VHD site stats, just how and where people come from to get here. For some reason the VHD picks up a lot of traffic from people searching for "Survival Fishing Kits," a subject that I've never gone into, until now. Now that winter has set in, and course fishing is largely out of season, it's time to make one, and where better to start than Clyde Ormond's survival fishing kit? It's no secret he is one of myoutdoors heroes and luckily his writings contain a lot about fishing.  His survival fishing kit from "The Outdoorsman's Handbook" is as follows.

“Dozen fly hooks 10-yard roll of mono filament fishing line Small bobbin of silk thread 6 Paper clips

The 12 hooks should be of assorted sizes, ranging from #12–#4. They should be of the wet-fly types, and of good quality. The majority of hooks should be of average size #6, #8, #10 ...

Half a dozen wooden matches, paraffin dipped to be waterproof, should be included to start a fire for cooking the fish. The entire kit will fit into a plastic envelope, which should be sealed tightly with plastic tape. If it is sewed into the pocket of your fishing jacket, you’ll be sure not to leave it behind when you venture into remote areas.”

— Clyde Ormond - The Outdoorsman's Handbook, 1975

Clyde Ormond's Survival Fishing Kit

At the time of writing, Ormond speaks confidently about using this minimal kit in the lesser travelled wilderness areas to easily catch fish. The included paper clips are for constructing make-shift rod guides, which can be lashed to a branch or pole, and the silk thread can be used to make flies–on the fly, so to speak. As well as Ormond's previously featured emergency clothes-pin lure, he also has instructions for tying emergency flies by hand, using equipment in this kit along with everyday scavenged items, everything from scraps of shirttail and aluminium foil, to his own chest hair and found eagle feathers. I'm hoping to try these out in the future.

Clyde Ormond's Survival Fishing Kit

So here we have it, I don't have a fishing jacket, as-such, but this can now live in my hiking and fishing ditty bag, just incase.

Paul Petzoldt

National Outdoot Leadership School History

Having read Paul Petzoldt's wonderful "Wilderness Handbook" I was familiar with his work with the National Outdoors Leadership School (NOLS), however I feel like I got a real insight into the great man from a set of videos filmed in the 1960s about NOLS. They give such a fascinating look into the roots of the school and into Petzholdt; his experience, passion and philosophy of the outdoors.

NOLS - Thirty Days to Survival

Petzoldt is a real hero, with a truly incredible resumé. In his youth he climbed extensively in the Grand Teton range and eventually founded the Petzoldt-Exum School of American Mountaineering in the 1930s. He spent time living in England which gave him the opportunity to climb in Europe, particularly in the Swiss Alps during the late 30s where he honed his skills and made a double traverse of the Matterhorn in one day with his climbing buddy Dan Bryant of New Zealand.

Petzoldt was selected to go on the first American expedition to K2, and during the Second World War he became a representative of the Department of Agriculture in Lend-Lease and then became a tutor to the troops of the U.S Army's 10th Mountain Division. After the war, he went on to teach thousands of youthful American's to love and thrive in the outdoors through the 'Outward Bound' program in Colorado in 1963, and then through the founding of NOLS in 1965. He was a true outdoors philosopher and pioneer, believing that youngsters should not be taught at, rather they should be involved in their own progression and learnings.

Sadly Petzoldt died in 1999, however his legacy lives in the people he inspired and through NOLS which still runs to this day. Thank you to NOLS for sharing these videos and for keeping his legacy alive.