Budget Bushcraft kit

Budget bushcraft kit

Budget kit to turn your 72hr BOB into a kit that should be able to last you much longer.

Axe – fairly mainstay in bushcraft outfits, though most seem to recommend expensive brands such as wetterlings and granfors bruks, you can more than get by with a generic brand, or even a home brand of the bigger DIY chains.  Aim for around a 2lb head unless you have reasons to not have a handle visible from your pack, in which case I’d recomend a tomahawk. Forge steel branded fiberglass or hickory handled axes available from Screwfix direct for around £12, B&Q branded fiberglass handled axes cost from around £20, funnily enough available from B&Q.

Saw – I prefer a Silky Fox zubat (Pruning)saw as I carry a 380mm non folding on my belt for work, but this isn’t always practical, and could quite possibly be viewed as illegal by some of the more robust members of the constabulary.  In which case a folding saw is ideal, and just as Ray Mears suggests, the Bahco Laplander takes some beating, but at £20+ is a bit pricey, Blackspur make one for a tad under £5

Misc items

You will need some form of means of getting food if you want to live off the land, slingshots or catapults are handy as are compact cross bows, but be warned, it is illegal to hunt with them.  Air Rifles are your only option if you want to catch game humanly, but snare kits are available from the internet, along with instructions of how to set them up, be warned, depending on the snare it may be illegal to use them, and depending on the ownership o f the land it may be classed as pouching, so care should be taken to ensure you are not breaking the law, or that you only practice it for your survival.

You can fish with a line and rod, but this requires a lot of patients, its more efficient to put a gill net or night line out while you sleep and collect your catch when you wake up, and your nearest angling set will be able to sell you all the kit for this.

Basic survival kits are available all over the place for about £10 to £20 but you can get one yourself by getting a contents list, tailoring what you feel comfortable using and dropping the rest.

Well, that’s it, added to the contents of a bug out bag or walking kit you should be able to live off the land indefinitely, though I’d add some herbs and essentials like flour and baking powder and you’ll be set.

Stay tuned for tips on how to make penny stoves, and wood gasifer stoves.