This weekend my son wanted to camp at my mates land in Yalding Kent as it's his birthday on Wednesday. This would be a poshcrafting affair and he had a few mates with him and Mrs Ehecatl and me had a load of ours - totalling about 30. It was also an opportunity test the new parachute rig.
On arrival it was very windy (up to 25mph) so we knew we'd have to nail the chute down very well. Mark (genius) had previously suggested welding two of the scaffold poles together to get the right height. Terry (genius) who is the land owner managed to secure a scaffold joiner! I'd knocked up the following from bits in my garage...
The device above slides into the top of the scaffold pole and then the carabina that secures the chute string clips into the buckle part. If was very funny watching the lads trying to hang onto this while Plus 1 and me nailed the cord down. The finished result was very stable in the high wind.
Anyway, after about two hours of barbecuing I finally sat down at the fire and had my first beer much to the delight of Plus 1 and Terry. I got half way through it and it was knocked over! Well! Not going to invite "her" again.
My nephews (aged 2) and niece (6) loved it and were exceptionally well behaved especially around the fire. My niece asked how fire was made so I gave her the necessary safety brief and then ignited a slither of wood using some fluff I'd brought from the tumble drier and my fire steel. Here Mum thought I'd used matches! (tut!)
I also managed to test my new bushcraft chair - much time will be saved at the Essex meet.
It was hard work but a lot of fun. The rewarding part was all of our son's friends thanking Mrs Ehecatl and me before departing - a lovely bunch.
Finally, here's a snap of Plus 1 doing what he loves....