By Sean Fagan .

This old, busted barrel provided the perfect, instant fire reflector (Photo: Sean Fagan).

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A Bit of Improvisation can go a Long Way...

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This busted oil barrel part I found in the woods was a first rate fire-reflector.

Within 5-10 minutes of placing the barrel close behind the fire, it was quite hot and radiated a lot of heat.

What this meant was that a small fire was all that was required to keep me warm - as the reflector significantly magnified the heat of the fire.

A small fire means less fuel, less work, and a more sustainable use of local fuel resources.

Less work for more efficiency is a good thing in the outdoors.

I believe that bushcraft can be about using man-made materials found in nature as it is about using natural materials in nature – especially since man-made materials are a sadly increasing feature of wild, remote places.

That old barrel part proved very useful in 4 other ways.

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