Bushcraft: Health & Safety

As the great ‘Nessmuk’ said: “We do not go to the green woods and crystal waters to rough it, we go to smooth it”. But how smooth is this recreation going to be if you end up sick or injured by overlooking basic ‘health and safety’ precautions while escaping from the stresses and strains of daily life? Here, I am not going to go into the safer use of edged tools – that has been dealt with elsewhere – but rather look at the hazards that just ‘living’ out in the woods can present.

One of the main issues in the woods is personal hygiene and this can be maintained in various ways from finding ‘hard core’ bushcraft methods, to importing 21st Century solutions.

Bog standard!

As one of the main sources of ‘D&V’ (Diarrhea & Vomiting) in the woods (and everyday life), toilets are a good place to start. You could carry in to your camp a portable loo of some sort – some modern models are light weight and compact – or make your own on-site. My own preference is to bury human waste. For solo trips of short duration, a small person ‘poo pit’ is dug in an out-of-the-way place; while for group use, a trench loo about 9-inches deep and 9-inches wide by as long as will be of sufficient capacity for the group, or length of stay, is dug. After use (and if any fire risk is acceptably low) used paper is burnt and all evidence is buried using spoil from digging the trench. Once the trench is no longer needed it should be marked with crossed sticks (so no-one else digs there) and left to compost.

Toilets should be sited both downstream and downwind of your camp, screened from sight and be stocked with ‘comfy bum’ (natural or 21st Century) and hand cleansing of some sort.

Hand and body cleansing should not be overlooked, especially on longer trips, but please use natural, biodegradable soaps etc. Washing and rinsing should be done well away from water courses. A 21st Century shower hung in a tree or a canvas bucket can be ideal, or a sweat lodge sauna built, all with a final plunge into a convenient stream. A sweat lodge can be built of tarps hung over a greenstick bender frame and heated with rocks brought to temperature in a nearby fire.

For shorter trips, baby wipes and anti-bacterial hand wipes can prove adequate to keep your body clean and fragrant. For longer trips, you could even use hazel twigs with one end chewed to fibres, and wood ash, as toothbrush and toothpaste.

Food, glorious food

When it comes to cooking, it is essential that both your hands and the food are kept as clean as possible – contaminated meat is a major source of food poisoning. The fact you are out in the woods greatly adds to the risk of food getting bacterially contaminated: Animals run free and ‘pee and poo’ everywhere and can raid your food, contaminating what they do not eat. Store food in a way that is mouse, rat, squirrel and badger etc. proof as possible, which generally means off the ground in a secure container. Prepare food where it will not come into contact with potentially contaminated surfaces. I often take a small, easily cleaned, cutting board with me. If you are cutting sticks for kebabs or to toast marshmallows, peel the sticks – bark is the trees’protection from bacteria etc.

Thoroughly wash all kitchen equipment and store it where it will not get contaminated before its next use. Kitchen waste can be burnt off and any ‘grey water’ disposed of where it can filter before returning to water courses. Do not leave food waste around camp, as it will attract flies, insects and animals and all of these can spread contamination. Rodents etc. can also do expensive damage to your equipment. A wood mouse decided to live in our camp and chewed our stored parachute shelter to ruins! All food should be stored and cooked properly to guard against food poisoning and while you can tote in a 21st Century fridge in to camp, this is often not practical. A camp fridge can be made by draping a damp cotton cloth over stored food – evaporation will keep it cooler than ambient temperature. Food should reach a temperature of roughly 75-degrees centigrade at its centre to kill any bacteria, so I would consider ‘rare’ meat a no-no on camp; ensure it is well cooked through, to be on the safe side!

Water, water, everywhere

Water, an essential for life, should not be the cause of any illness, but unfortunately ‘wild’ water cannot be counted on as being fit to drink. Streams and rivers are nearly always contaminated with animal, human or industrial waste and below the farming level in the hills I would consider all water to be highly suspect.

Pesticides, heavy metals and other industrial pollutants may not be removed by the traditional ‘filter and boil’ purifying method, but are more a long-term issue than a short term and easily noticed cause of illness. Below the farming level, I would not trust any but the deepest (and officially tested) springs, and even water from these I would want to filter through a Milbank Bag or similar and bring to a good rolling boil before I drank it.

Luckily, there are some excellent 21st Century purifiers on the market, to deal with 21st Century pollution problems and they come in all types and sizes to cope with the needs of the solo backpacking bushcrafter, as well as those of a large static bushcraft camp.

In many situations, it may be simplest to carry in water, despite its weight. For all uses, from cooking and drinking, to dowsing the fire at the end of camp, I figure on using around one gallon per day per person.

Down in the woods

Of course, it is not only personal and food hygiene that can cause you problems in the woods. The woods themselves can be full of hazards.

If you are building any structures you can end up working at height if, for example you are thatching a lean-to. It is easy to get blasé about safety, but a fall from any height can lead to injury, that while perhaps trivial in civilisation, with easy access to ambulances and A&E Departments, can rapidly become life-threatening out in the woods.

The woodland environment itself is full of threats to safety, so being aware of dangers can prevent an awful lot of grief.

Dead trees and tree branches, so essential to the bushcrafter for fuel and project materials, are a major hazard if they are too close to camp. Dead wood of any size, falling into camp, or through your tarp, can cause damage, injury or even death; so, when choosing a spot to pitch up, always look up and check for any potential ‘widowmakers’ ready to fall. Also, check around camp for any trees ready to drop. A tall tree could crush your camp, even if it is rooted a good way from where you are pitched. In any kind of wind the risk from falling timber of all sizes is magnified and even setting up massively oversized ridgelines may not protect you enough from wood falling from above.

Tree roots, brambles, guylines and old fallen branches, can all cause trips. Mud, snow and ice all cause slips and falls, while living and dead trees, especially conifers, seem intent on growing side branches just ideal for stabbing you in the eye. Walking into any of these potential injury-causers is so much easier in the dark, so try to identify and remove or mark these dangers in daylight and carry a torch at night.

A woodland in a storm can be a dangerous and frightening place and there is no dishonour in an orderly retreat, or even cancelling a trip if the weather promises a severe storm.

Wind power

Extremes of weather in heat or cold can present the issues of hyper- and hypothermia, so choosing suitable clothing and maintaining good levels of hydration, insulation, food, warmth and rain protection will go a long way to keeping you safe, as will an ability to recognise the signs of incipient heat or cold injury. Insect and animal bites, plant stings, cuts and scratches can all lead to more advanced problems too.

One of the simplest ways of learning how to minimise the effects of any injury of any sort is to get good First Aid training. There are many good providers out there who can tailor a First Aid course to be more relevant to your chosen activity. Some bushcraft schools run their own, officially recognised, First Aid courses that are aimed at bushcrafters and run in woodland settings.

Being aware of potential ‘health and safety’ issues in the woods and having the resources and training to avoid threat and minimise their impact on you can make bushcrafting even more enjoyable.
Be safe out there!