About Hitra

Since no significant progress has been made on any projects I have decieded to write a little on the place I am going to live primitively for 14 days this summer.

Where and why

Hitra is a large island just off the coast of Sør-Trøndelag county in Norway. It has the highest concentration of red deer in Northern Europe and a substantial roe deer population too. There are many lakes with trout and arctic char and the coast is renouned for it's excellent fishing. My motivation for choosing this area is that it combines the type of landscape I am familiar to (pineforest and moors) with a very marine environment, which will definately offer learning experiences to me. Opposed to much of the coast with similar characteristics further south, it still has quite long stretches without habitation. Further north there is more of this type of country, and it's even less populated, but it's expensive to reach.

What can I do there?

The reason why I choose a marine enviroment for this expedition is because I clearly see the need to be able to exploit this rich environment. I look forward to forage in the shoreline, catching crabs and fish. I will also, given the amount of time I have on my hands, experiment further with fishing the lakes by hook and line.

The things I want to do:
Fishing in the sea.
Foraging in the shoreline, including seaweeds.
Making a tidal trap.
Fish for lake fish.
Put my gear and skills properly to the test.

The red and roe deer are unfortunately off-limits, but I also look forward to scouting for them.

The practical considerations on this trip is that I need to stay at least reasonably warm and preferably have a full stommach at least some of the time. To stay warm I need to make me some clothes. I am thinking of making a juniper bark blanket to sleep in, a grass cloak and birch bark hat to shed the rain away from my body. Also, I need to hone my fire by friction skills, as that will be my only means of firelighting.

Foodwise I hope to stay reasonably well fed as the shoreline should provide me with quite a lot of shellfish and seaweed. But hopefully I will also land fish and find some big, starchy plant roots as well. But all experience tells me that I will be starving throughout the expedition...

I don't have the room to tan where I live now, so skin clothes will unfortunately be unavailable.

Equipment list for planned primitive "expedition" to Hitra.

I have now compiled a list of the equipment I will bring on my expedition to Hitra next summer. Objects may be added or removed as my planning develops.

Ready:

• Flint knife.

• A core for flakes.

• Knapping equipment.

• Antler axe.

• Throwing sticks (not that I will be using them).

• Fishing line.

• Fishing hooks.

• Some string.

• Beaver tooth knives.

• Some sinew.

• Buckskin scraps.

• Hide scraper.

• Needles.

• Pike skin tinder pouch.
  

Need to be made:

• Barbs for a fishing spear.

• Bow and arrows (not that I will use those either).

• A loincloth of grass or fibres as I don't have any hides (to not scare the German tourists).

• More fishing lines and hooks.

• Bone knife.

• Pouch of elk (moose) ear for storing fibres and string.

• Packframe.

• Big container of either grass or bark.

• Maybe a few smaller containers.

• Maybe a birch bark kettle.

• Maybe a small net.

Non primitive stuff:

• To make the learning experience better I will bring relevant identification books.

• Mobile phone. To call my girlfriend every once in a while.

• Camera and batteries. I need to take some pictures for the blog.