Operation: Stagger – Camping Loadout

One of the primary objectives of this operation was to construct our own shelters for a nights sleep in some privately owned woodland. Many of us had never done anything like this before and it was interesting to see the different logic and experiences that informed our building decisions.

I was pretty confident that we wouldn’t experience any rain, but in England, you can never be sure. There was also a heavy fog in the late evening, so there was a chance of heavy dew. With that in mind I used as many wide leaved branches as I could find to provide a good spread of cover. In the morning I was only mildly impressed with my efforts and was glad it stayed dry all night. I was even less impressed with the cushion provided by the layer upon layer of bracken, but I wasn’t expecting much.

We camped right next to a rather large badger sett (or burrow). Other local wildlife included rabbits, foxes, deer and water snakes (possibly adders too) so nothing dangerous. I did still decide to make a barrier using the two packs I had with me, mainly to help close off the open end of my shelter.

It was my first outing with my new Mora Knife. I wanted something inexpensive that could hold up a bit better than my SAK for general fire-prep and shelter construction, so I got in touch with Ru of ru-titley-knives. He recommended the Mora knife to me, which I remembered seeing on ITS Tactical (here) where Bryan gave his Mora Fire Knife (ITS version) some seriously high praise. So with the backing of ITS and Ru I decided to pick one up. I can truly say it was one of the heroes of the trip, it barely saw it’s sheath. With us we had a few very old and well used billhooks, two Bacho Laplanders, a few pocket knives/multitools and a felling axe, so this filled in the middle ground of the ‘sharps’ selection.

There was a moment, in the middle of shaping an arrow for our night-time flaming archery, that I underestimated the keenness of the blade and it nicked my thumb quite deeply. It was a lapse in wisdom that I won’t be repeating. It gave me a chance to test out the quick deployment pull handle and accessibility of my ITS ETA Trauma Kit Pouch.

Another hero of the evening was the fire starting kit that my wife put together for me made using an old altoids tin. This usually contains a few storm matches (with the striking disc stuck inside the lid) a firsteel, some Light My Fire Tinder Dust and some vaseline soaked cotton wool buds both in their own small resealable bags. I say usually because it is well used and often needs restocking. Its handwritten message and the time and care that my wife put into making this kit is the reason that it stays in my pack everyday and probably always will. The fire was going in minutes and kept us warm well into the next morning. It cooked our food and boosted our morale. Never underestimate a fires power to provide and lift your spirits.

A final item worth mentioning is the LensLight Mini Titanium High Polish (TAD Edition). With over 300 lumen on the high setting, this torch (flashlight) is an absolute beast. Apart from providing some entertainment as a lightsaber in the fog we had, this beautiful piece of engineering demanded awe from anyone who laid eyes on it. This version is discontinued and is probably quite costly on the second hand market, but you can pick up a current version here or here. Trust me, you won’t regret it.