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Good and cheap Kit

When it comes to getting kit to practice wilderness living it's ofcourse wise to just stick with the stuff you already own, and find stuff on rummage sales, on the streets...

Try a day outdoors first, then spend a night. Then a weekend, then a week. You will learn a lot this way and when you need clothes and kit for a serious trip you will probably have that much knowledge to get the right kit. Instead of starting to buy things start seeing, hearing and feeling, because that's were it all starts. And let's also not forget: "The more you carry in your head, the less you have to on your back".

Knife
You could use any knife which does the job for you, but here are some good buys:
-Opinel knifes are cheap and good quality folding knifes. You can lock the blade which is handy.
-Mora knifes (frost mora) are good and cheap as well. It's a non folding knife, which makes it more secure and stronger then a folding one.
-Swiss Army Knifes are good folding knifes. I like a Victorinox Huntsman with a big and small blade, saw, scissors and punch. There's lifetime warranty on all SAK's.
-Leatherman also make good tools if you need the pliers, like the Leatherman Wave. They cost a lot though.. but should last long with 25 year warranty. An alternative is the Swiss Tool from Victorinox (lifetime warranty). They're popular but I don't use any of these because I find the knife and saw are not very comfortable to use. So I rather have a normal SAK, and if I need pliers I'll take real ones.
-Crooked knife to make things with. The Mora hoof knife can be adjusted to work like this. mocotagan crooked knifes
-A long knife like a machete or golok is nice to use to clear bush.

Saw
-A manual chain saw like the Saber Cut Saw or Pocket Chainsaw takes little space but can do lots!
-Folding saws like the Bahco Laplander, Silky saws or Opinel saws are very handy. The saw in your swiss army knife is also a nice addition.

Axe
-Small forged tomahawk and a 6" fine-cut file to keep it sharp. Be sure to get a small, light one with a decently long handle. A tomahawk works on "head speed" just like a golf club, it doesn't need to be as heavy as a belt axe.
-Use a batton to bat on a knife.
-Wetterlings axes are cheaper then Gransfors Bucks but of comparative quality.

Sleeping
Woolen blankets or a sleeping bag to cover you if it's too cold to just use your clothes.
-on the ground in a bivy with a foam mat, under a tarp and a mosquito net.
-on a bed of spruce boughs in a locally self made shelter
-of the ground in a hammock with a tarp, mosquito net and an underblanket in winter (see BushcraftUK groupbuy forums, or mosquitohammock.com).
...
Shelter
German military poncho, is decent rainwear but can also be used as a tarp.
Or use a tarp (plastic sheet, ..) you find.

Clothing
In winter I wear woolen sweaters, woolen trousers (with many pockets), woolen socks, gloves, a scarf and hat, leather shoes (no goretex crap). Woolen or thermal underwear when it gets real cold. I avoid cotton (except if dry climate) and most synthethics. I don't like jackets. Poncho as rainwear.

In summer I wear short pants with sidepockets, leather sandals (or barefoot), T-shirt, woolen sweater for colder evening/morning, poncho as rainwear...
A moneybelt must be nice to hide away your paper money when traveling. I prefer leather belts because I can use them to sharpen my knife.

Luggage
Use any rucksack you already have. I like the ones with frames (I used an old one from my dad..).

You can get 35 litre frame packs cheap or why not an old 70 litre used for about the same price.

I also like to carry a shoulder bag.(also like this one from scoutsshop.be)

Besides that I've got a pouch on my belt to put things in, I've also got a lot in my trouser's pockets.

Cooking
I prefer to cook on a small amount of burning wood as I can just use sticks lying around. It's also more ecological then using gas,etc.

-To make a billy can (cooking pot) clean up a couple of "tin" cans (not the ones with plastic lining) and use coathanger wire to make a bail for them, you can punch the two holes for the bail with a common nail. Choose sizes carefully and you can make a nesting set.
You can make a Billy can out of any suitable can.
-Metal cup if you're alone.
-Kelly Kettle, not cheap but fun to use and the fuel is free (wood lying around). Very effective.
-Hobo stove

Fire
A cheap firesteel. Besides that I usually find enough lighters to complement a firesteel for free on the street.
Keep a bag full of good dry small tinder in your pack (birch bark).

Water
Free plastic bottles (try to get dark coloured ones which stop UV light). A thermos can also be nice.
British style water bottle with a mug fitting on the underside of it (where you can cook in) looks handy.

Eating utensils
Carve a spoon! Will cost you a small tin of elbow grease. It's what you bought your knife for, anyway!
A small bowl to eat from.

Food
Take whatever food you want with you.. I prefer organic butter, cheese made of raw milk, dark bread, dried organic meat, wine, potatoes and lots of fruit and veggies...
And some fishing hooks, line and snare.

Lighting
-I use the Safe-Light superbright, I got it at a good price. I think the belt clip is very low quality though the flashlights main case is very good.
-Candles or a fire :)

More stuff
-First aid kit.
-Needle and thread.
-Monocular is cool to watch things (gelert scenic 8x21 10 year warranty, only 9 euro).
-Small music instruments.
Other cheap kit lists:
SHOPS:
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