Bushcraft, survival and wilderness skills courses

I get used to strange looks from passers by when I'm out on dog walks, I can see the puzzled faces struggling to make sense of what I must be  so intrigued by a bit of dirt, smelling a stick or eating strange weeds. Sometimes they ask but often they wander by with a wry giggle or smile.

This morning was just such one of those occasions as Hobbes and I did our morning tour of Kipling Tor. I was filling a bag with what must have at first looked like blackberries but as the walkers got a little closer they just gawked as I grabbed a handfull of fireweed seed pods causing an explosion of downy seeds to blow over them.

The fireweed is starting to seed and I am making the most of the opportunity to gather the downy seeds for use in fire making for the rest of the year.
But its not just the seeds that have a use.

Whenever I am out in the woods I am always looking forward to my next brew, no more so at the break of dawn when Im just rising and thinking about the day ahead. Something that I cannot do without a good fresh coffee in hand. Coffee being so important I will some time dedicate a blog to my quest for the perfect camp brew.

of course after a long night its always a little disheartening to come back to the camp fire only to find a flat bed of white ash and a few blackened dog ends. But fear not as there is a simple and effortless way to bring life back to this heart of your bushcraft camp.

Some bow drill friction fire pointers.

Well although I have p[romised a few of you who have been on my courses that I would Blog a tutorial on Friction fire. So far every attempt to write it turns into a full blown hundred page manual. The final decision being that until I arrange to film it I will let people find the myriad other videos on you tube that already exist.

However for those that are trying themselves, as I have seen with my students often times there are a few very simple pointers that can make your friction firemaking so much easier.

Tea and the art of survival.

It doesn't take long for anyone who spends time with me in the woods starts to notice I have a mild addiction to tea. In fact some might go so far as to say that my sole purpose in making any fire is in order to get the kettle on ASAP.

But tea to me is one of the most crucial elements in any survival situation.

After a late show of interest in introductory courses we have decided to run an additional course in September. The course will be run in the Arlington Court estate and is part of the Wild camping trial that we have initiated with the National Trust. Certifying attendees that complete the course to return to stay in the woods overnight for the next five years.

The course is a introduction to  all the fundamental skills to start you on your way to being a fully fledged bushcrafter and although no two courses are ever the same will cover friction fire lighting, shelter building, wild foods, tracking and some rudimentary woodland crafts.

Attendees will leave the weekend with a good grounding and experience that should let them venture into the woods alone and spend a few nights in comfort enjoying the wilderness and honing their skills.

Whatever your chosen method for fire lighting is the fundamentals of establishing, managing and maintaining a fire will always follow the same guidelines. First off what is the fire for? A few possible reasons are heat, light, signalling, cooking or most importantly boiling tea water.

Once you've decided on that then it makes it all a lot easier, but before I get carried away let us just go through some of the basics of fire. Most should know of the trinity of fire if not you will by the end of this paragraph. Fire needs three key components Oxygen, fuel and heat.