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Primitive Log Cabin in the Woods - Moss Roof | Overnight Camp

Description

I go wild camping in a woods I have never been to before and get to see an awesome off grid primitive log cabin build that was made by Ben & Lewis from BandL Bushcraft on Instagram. They started building the off grid rustic log cabin just over a year ago and it’s come along way. As their bushcraft and shelter building skills have developed, so has the cabin. They started with the A-frame structure and built up the walls of the cabin from there. By chinking the gaps between logs and filling with clay from a nearby river, they’ve been able to fully water proof and wind proof the cabin making it perfect for an overnight camp. The inspiration came from a medieval cruck frame design. Effort was made to make the roof fully watertight but also look authentic. To do this they have a thin sheet underneath a thick layer of leaf debris and now moss too!

Having the fireplace inside the shelter is their favourite feature. What you can see in this video is the third version of the fire design. Using reclaimed building materials they were able to make a wide opening allowing a serious amount of warmth into the cabin. Using the bricks also means the it's very durable and resilient to harsh weather. They secured it all in place with clay from the river and used a terracotta pipe to act as a flue to make the fire burn more efficiently.

I joined them to help scavenge for moss from around the woodland and make a moss roof to the shelter. We then set up our tent and tarp/hammock in the woods for an overnight camp. We cooked some food, had some beers and enjoyed time in the woods. What Ben and Lewis have built is incredible. The Log Cabin in the woods even has a window, and log store on the outside. The door has been built using wattle. Wattle is a lightweight construction material made by weaving thin branches or slats between upright stakes to form a woven lattice. To make the Cabin have more of a rustic feel to it, they have put candle holders inside and added a bench to sit on. They now have plans to build raised beds bushcraft style. Thanks for joining me on this epic adventure in the woods! Be sure to follow Ben and Lewis Below:

Ben and Lewis: https://www.instagram.com/bandlbushcraft/

Watch us build an Off Grid Cabin from Recycled Pallet Wood: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxnadpeGdTxDMYqxhMnVMPHzgIuUOKB54

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Tags: primitive,log,cabin,forest,log cabin,moss,roof,overnight,camp,off grid,log cabin build,off grid cabin,camping,bushcraft,survival,rustic,shelter,shelter building,a frame,structure,diy,logs,clay,overnight camp,no talking,bushcraft camp,camp update,medieval,cruck frame,debris,debris shelter,moss shelter,woods,nature,reclaimed,materials,scavenge,tarp,hammock,cooking,log cabin in the forest,wattle,wattle and daub,construction,wilderness

Video Transcription

guys welcome to another episode of ta of those and as you can see I'm definitely not at my bushcraft camp I'm here with Ben and Lewis from BNL bushcraft on Instagram link in the description they've got an incredible Instagram by the way and I thought I'd take myself away to somewhere completely different we actually met up well we spoke just before Christmas I think it was in just before Christmas we've been speaking for ages we failed to arrange this sort of collab but we're here and this thing here is incredible if I step back we've got the fire going we've just done some moss on the roof it is basically a primitive log cabin in the water in the woods and it's incredible guys so rather than me Jabar on I'm going to grab the camera and Bennett Louis gonna talk you through what they've done here so this is our cabin made of silver birch and it's about two meters by four so it just is big enough for us to to sleep in and sit in when the weather is not so good we've done this chinking on the outside which helps weather seal it it's just harvested from the river just up the path just stop the breezes from going through the wall so we added this window in it wasn't part of the original plan but so we just cut this in during the build as we fall it a bit quite good idea so today we've lost the roof oh this should give us a good protection from the elements it also just gives it a quite a nice feel so we have this removable gable end and what that allows is for good air circulation when the weather is warm and it also gives us quite a lot more light in the cabin when we need it so this is our log store it just helps us keep the wood dry and it also means that we don't have to go out foraging for word each time we need some so this is our fireplace we've built out of reclaimed bricks which we've brought over and they will join together with the clay as well which were used for walls that means that we can have nice warm fires on the inside and not have to worry so much about Sparks and things and keep it nice contained and this is a terracotta pipe which we've used just to give it some height past the roof so this was a shed door which we've used just the seal up this gable just worked a lot better this side to use this rather than using a removable method it also means that we get a good draft resistance for the colder weather this door is made from hazel and it's what old which means you we've every other course

in an hour it makes quite strong door so it can be fully removed this is a fireplace this is version number three of our fire so likely we said on the outside you can see we've got reclaimed bricks on the inside the rear of the fire is slightly angled towards us to try and reflect more heat back into the shelter our previous builds have had much much smaller openings but really really opened it up it is really really hot just feeling it from here the mantelpiece up here slightly angled down might look a little bit funny but it adds the airflow out of the chimney there's then a a diffuser in the like a spark diffuser within the chimney and to try and avoid any unwanted fires or anything like that the fire at the moment is sitting on a stainless steel or steel grate which was handmade by Louie's dad it just lifts off the ground a little bit to again improve airflow underneath and that really really helps heat up the fire though I've got these candle holders on the wall make a huge huge difference to the amount of light that they're kicking out this is just something that was made out of old pallet wood in the garage at home but the because it's so white the really really kicks out the light and having one in each corner that we can make the whole place really bright at nighttime so we've got a a frame structure here really really rigid most things are nailed to the frame like the walls are all nailed into these main supports and there's absolutely no movement at all in any of the shelter we've got a fully waterproof roof so we don't need to worry about any leakages even if the rain has been terrible like today we've had thunderstorms not a drop inside at all not this little paracord while it runs the full length of the roof the intention of that was to hang wet clothing over obviously we've got the fire in the corner heat rises so we're hoping that things will be able to dry out up there it also means if we've got any lanterns or anything like that we can hang these for me isn't there a relatively strong we don't need to worry about how much weight were putting on those so on the walls we've just popped two nails in nothing fancy at all but it means that we're able to have tall storage and like hammers just hang on all in they dangle nicely got a nice safe foldable saw a proper saw and everything's just easy to reach right by the door just roll through the window even just reach in and pull it out obviously cuz we've got this massive hole on the outside it does tend to let out quite a lot of heat even now I can feel the heat coming from this obviously to maintain the view we've just got a little bit of passivity folds out the way and then that comes down nicely we were able to then reflect the heat back in with this and it also allows us to stop the draft but we yeah so we've had a look at the awesome cabin hopefully you guys enjoy that I mean it really is incredible we've still got some jobs to do there's a big pile of moss down here which we've been gathering which you saw us - earlier and we've got to get the moss up on this roof but before we do that we're not actually gonna stay in the cabin tonight because there's only room for two and it wouldn't be fair if one of us stayed in there so what we're gonna do is we're gonna get our I've got a small tent you guys have tarps tops and hammocks or you 110:1 hammock and we're going to set them up in this area out here and then we're just probably gonna get some food on and just chill gone for my really small tent today which I used I think if it's in the lakes last year very small there's literally only enough space in this for myself and my backpack but you can see how small it kind of compresses down tea nice and easy to pack and actually very quick to set up it's got a sort of brown sheet that's included and a small inner tent doesn't either even though even the tent poles are really small which slightly worries me sometimes because the Warriors they'll break because they're thinner then your spanner to kind of your standard tent pole but all it is is two kind of a-frame shaped poles you can see the cabin just behind me just in that corner there and the boys are just sent out their tent and tarp in the background but there's like a head end in the tail end and that's what so here is the finished tenth one man tenth the jeweler solo I don't think they produce these anymore awesome little tiny tent not very room comfortable enough for a night or two day so I am set up don't know that's the set I've still got the mattress to today Ben over here has got what is it a ticket to the moon ticket to the moon hammock with a DD 3x3 tap I recognise the top I've got one of these but I haven't seen the old ticket to me so Sam not on parachute silk tarp this is the double version so slightly wider you're never gonna fit two people in comfortably but one of the best things about it is how easy is to to put up so obviously I lost it attached all of you sling here which is attached by a carabiner to the tree straps but then once you've undone the zip you've got your event hook you just walk backwards and now the top is is up and ready to go just by the whip these things tighten up which is why we use these carabiners some people just put them straight onto those tree straps but by using the carabiner is able to move through as you tighten in it so in the corners with them we've put some precip knots here I mean people often put them on the ridge lines of their tarp as I do but I've also put them on the guide lines here so if you wanted to take wherever you wanted and it's a little bit loose you just pull it through and you can pull it see all the tensions really really tight and that'll hold because of the friction and yeah you can just makes it much more easy to adjust if I wanted to move this back I just loosen the prusik knot and move the pick back want to tighten up move it a bit closer you can do that as well just pull it through

it's come to that time of the evening we're on the DeBeers all the ciders so I'm on the recorder League Ben you were on is it admins the old IPA I haven't had that one yeah actually I've had a few of Adam's but I'm not had the easier is it yeah it is isn't it so forth no this is on the old mouse I like the old mount as well actually that's a cider yeah that is good we've gone for sort of mixture of ciders and beers their fires going in the background we just put some more wood on it go for a walk around the forest in a minute when it's darker see what we can find

got some wood which we processed up earlier and to be honest we don't really need heat for fire but it's just very it's very cozy in here it's nice and was burning the last candle left [Music]

well guys we are we're gonna take a walk into the woods we don't really know where yet well what we cannot find but we're just gonna go strolling in the woods and maybe see if we can find some animals but we're getting eaten alive by mosquitoes say probably past our hit very long but come along and join us guys on the adventure where oh yeah looking gay first find I'm at you getting eaten alive yeah I'm not see when it's so long I swear there's been a decline do you ever remember his kids like everywhere yeah massive decline I think in toads probably our urbanization is doing it are these mosquitoes I do like this no bridge yes

oh yeah you're taking this oh it's guy my voice is now but yeah 7:20 in the morning I said so well last night normally and we had a bit of range other night not too much so tense any slightly damp but um Ben is up from his hammock he's not getting near the fire game this is still asleep but um yeah we're gonna get some food on this morning and then probably try and finish the rest that Moss roof which looks awesome now so uh yeah let's get some poori on the door I think I'm pretty hungry but this 10 although it's like you know super small it does have its downside so you can't really sit up in it at all and if you do buy you're at an angle your head touches the top no that is only just about long enough for the whole of my body so it's really not it's really not that long talks I'm really small but for like while camping and sort of short overnighters is so good it's so small I've just let the mattress deflate gonna roll that up so I've got myself a pot of porridge a bit bulky but I didn't matter tonight this trip because I'm C on with the guys to be an L bush off guys and I've got myself and Nature Valley crunch bar which tends to the youth but it's tends to go everywhere they just crumble up into a mess it's not too bad gotta get a penis in the body colonel Gaston this morning because I didn't know if we could have fires here and also grants complete so it just makes life a lot easier it leaves no trace and much easier to clean up Ben and Lewis showed me this yesterday this root system on this coniferous tree you can see it's full of number I don't think of anything I don't think I've ever seen anything as big as this the size of the root system remonster we're gonna corrupt it look how big this is 511

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we found our own wooden trampoline that is amazing that's how these brute systems snap back isn't it they can when they the guys chainsaw them they just flop like a dead deadfall trap there's the old puddle that is incredible that's amazing

shows you how shallow the roots are isn't that of the this sort of tree so thin not even a foot is it really it's like four inches there that's such a shallow root system but wide shallow but amazing

now you said there's a bigger one you guys get a lot of wind don't you yeah get on Norfolk the Norfolk wind there's some massive trees down this is a double tree system two trees down there obviously joined up near the roots all the mozzies are out in force [Music]

huh

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well guys have had a great time here thanks so much for having me I really enjoyed it

hopefully you guys have enjoyed it's an incredible build that these that been elusive Thumb be sure to check them out on Instagram BNL bushcraft and if you've got any questions pop them in the comments below and we'll try and get back to you all head on over to their Instagram and pester them with loads of questions because I'm sure you guys have you know loads of things like how long did it take to build materials use and things like that but it's been awesome and we finished the moss roof of you as you can see so I don't think you guys have much more planned do you well there's always plans there's always I said I say that about my camp there's always something to do is there's always something you can improve yes keep going brilliant thanks so much guys really appreciate it and we'll see you soon in the next episode on ta outdoors [Music]

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About the Author

TA Outdoors

TA Outdoors

Bushcraft, Wild Camping, Wilderness Hiking Trips, Solo Overnight Camps, Shooting, Hunting and Backpacking. My dog joins me on some of the trips. His name is Jaxx.

My name is Mike. And I'm addicted to adventure...

Check out our other YouTube Channel TAFishing: https://www.youtube.com/user/TAFishing

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