The Bushcraft Mug Tree

In this next blog I will be showing you all how to make a bushcraft mug tree. I think you all should remember this old kitchen ornament or am I just showing my age?

Any how; when I did my 10-day Woodland Immersion Survival Course one golden August many, many moons ago I had some spare left-over Sycamore tops and I thought to myself ‘Ohh… that looks useful and decided that it would be great to create a useful hanging device that I could place near the fire. Firstly it meant I could have my cooking utensils close to hand and second, I could dry my utensils close to the open fire.

So, what do we need to create the bushcraft mug tree, I think just a saw, a knife, and a means to ‘THUMP’ it securely and firmly into the ground will do, but a decent well-made small sharp axe or a hedge bill hook will do the same work as well.

The species of trees I would recommend for this project would be the following species:

• Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus)
• Hazel (Corylus avellana)
• Ash (Fraxinus excelsior)

But any tree species would do for this type of Bushcraft project if the shape fits the purpose.

The actual species of tree I selected today for this blog project is a self-seeded Sycamore sapling that has been damaged by Grey Squirrels that have been stripping away the bark, so I am just removing a damaged tree instead of removing a healthy one. To harvest this sapling, I just use a simple step-cut and then clean up this step-cut with a sloping cut with a pruning saw.

Taking the sapling to the prep area I start by examining what the sapling has to offer for me, and for this Bushcraft project I shall refer to them, as hangers or in layman’s terms useful side shoots. After I examine this sapling, I remove the top and bottom of the sapling to begin the preparation of the mug tree. I do this by placing the sapling on a suitable log and with my dominant foot I hold the sapling down firmly and safely. I will use the pruning saw to cut this sapling to my desired length. Don’t worry about the excess material I have put to one side as though I am not using as this at the moment but in the future, it can be used for carving projects or for a ridge pole for a shelter projects. So, nothing is wasted.

To create the mug hangers the only three knife grips we really need is the punch grip, the reverse grip, and the reinforced reverse grip, but up first the only the grip we really need at this moment is the no knife thumb and fingers grip. Yep! We do not need a knife on the small young side shoots when just your fingers and thumb grip will easily and safely remove the side shoots without the use of a knife, by just simply tearing them off the sapling.

Now with the knife using the punch grip I will form the mug hangers, they should be cut to resemble a small conical conifer tree, but this can be left up to you and your imagination for needs and purposes for your mug tree. After cutting the mug hangers to length I will then use the reverse grip to shorten the punch grip cuts that I have achieved then by using the reinforced reversed grip I will then round off their ends. Then I will use the reinforced reversed grip again to round off the top of the mug tree to prevent the mug tree from splitting when I thump it into the ground.

After achieving all this, all that is left is creating a point at the base of the mug tree so I can firmly thump it securely into the ground. With an axe and the log, I gently chop in a singular straight motion at the base of the sapling whilst manoeuvring the mug tree to create the point. Then with the beetle (wooden mallet) thump it into the ground firmly and securely, and now we have our Bushcraft mug tree to hang our bits ‘n’ bobs on.