Bushcraft, survival and wilderness skills courses

I had leant a camera trap to a landowner I know who had told me of some amazing encounters with otters early in the year. He had set the trap up and was going to leave it for a few days which turned into a week or so. I decided to wander down to check the trap and had another amazing mornings tracking.

A friend was visiting and having sworn him to secrecy and explained the plan we set out at 04:30 in the morning to be sure we had the best chance of spotting otter.

I had forgotten how satisfying taking a cast of a print can be, but once I had set out to create this tutorial many a childhood memory came flooding back and it has given me new vigour to start a new collection of casts. From the unusual to the specific there is something in making a cast that like tracking gives you a kind of direct contact with the subject.

The process is simple and relatively quick, ok its not a digital pic. but it gives so much more definition, detail and realism that its worth the extra 20 minutes or so. I was aware that a new blog hasn't been added for a week or so and have foregone the painting but Im sure that will come soon.

For now here is my not so rough guide to taking a cast of a print.

Well I have been slow with the updates but after nearly a month in the woods, I think in the last four weeks I have only been in my own bed for 6 nights the rest were under a tarp. So expect a flurry of updates as I get chance to write them.

I did come home from last weeks National Trust Working holiday, where WildPath provided two days of Bushcraft tuition to National Trust volunteers as a break from there work putting up fences, clearing brash and laying hedges. To find an email from one of my first clients who has become something of a friend. Neil has been on a few bushcraft courses and has put his practised skills to use to get some impressive pics.

Last time I saw him I did suggest he might like to write something of his experiences and what follows is his report from the field.

Had a fairly uneventful dog walk apart from a few swallows flying low along our path and the usual panoramas of Bideford bay.

But as always every walk I find something to study, ponder and identify.

Not my ancient bash proof phone but the hairy little fella' on the path next to it.

On this mornings dog walk I was pondering the various reports coming in and taking in all the local news.

More reliable than print, less hyperbole than the radio, no conjecture like TV and more honest reports than the web.

Wondering where my news was coming from?

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It seems that there is more to schools in the forest than just forest schools.

Having been working recently with small groups of students from Bideford College I am starting to find all sorts of new potential for the wilderness as a true outdoor classroom. I have always felt that forest schools was just a scratch on the surface of all the potential that the wilderness has to offer in learning but kept schtum as with no true experience I had no right to comment.

However with the acceptance that it is only as good as the leader I have found that for certain students there is so much to learn in the woods and wilds. skills and subjects that are not often thought of and sometimes purposefully avoided by many schools.

Having worked closely with the SEN department at the college I am finding a great many ways that WildPath can help staff and pupils alike.

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.

Well just back from another fun weekend at the head of Canonteign falls, with max and the Shadowhawk trackers.

As always it was an awesome weekend with equal parts instructing , tom foolery and learning. The group was, for a change, mainly made up of bushcrafters so it was nice to see such an advance in skills from clients who on occasion arrive in the woods for the first time wide eyed and looking for guidance. I was a little surprised at the speed in which bushcraft has become so mainstream, only last year I would say that 50% of max's clients where new to the concept of wild camping. Although Novembers course may have a few less bushcraft savvy folk on it.

Well after a mornings tracking thought Id come back for a brew and a biscuit, and ponder over the importance of a zone in. Max of Shadowhawk fame often refers to it as the anvil of tracking and I often feel like a Buddhist monk when I try to master the technique as it is something of a Zen koan.

students on courses often look bewildered when they are first introduced to the technique as we leave them to find out  a lot for themselves, sending them off into the wilderness for 20 minutes with not more instruction that go away and sit down. I suspect they often think we are sending them off so we can have an easy life in the camp. However this is one of the most important elements to tracking.