In this video I demonstrate how I sharpen a knife for Bushcraft when out in the field. I believe that being able to sharpen your knife in an environment where you're most likely to be using your knife is an important technique, more so even than being able to sharpen it at home.
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If you’re out for a hike at the weekend, whether it’s a woodland stroll or a highland trek, having a few key items in your rucksack can make a huge difference to your comfort should you need them. It’s relatively common during a walk in a new area, especially at this time of year, for journey plans to stretch and you find yourself walking into the growing dark down the wrong valley.
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During bushcraft courses here in the UK and when hosting private tuition sessions there’s one concept above all that I find has the most impact on my clients proficiency with their knife.
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I’ve written a few articles now on the knots I use when setting up a tarp for camping, but in the video below I combine the three knots I use most often to demonstrate from start to finish how I go about pitching my camp.
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In this video I demonstrate how I keep my axe sharp in the field and at home. I use a DC4 pocket stone by Fallkniven, and have used this method almost exclusively since getting my first Gransfors Axe 15 years ago.
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Pineapple Weed - Wild Chamomile - Disc-Mayweed.
Pineapple Weed a member of the ever chilled out Chamomile Tribe, under the bright and friendly Asteraceae (Sunflower) family. In the Genus Matricaria, its cousin Chamomile (M. chamomilla) is commonly the source of most commercially available Chamomile tea, Pineapple Weed is the punk-rock version of its sell-out mainstream cousin, but we’ll get onto that in soon.
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During our Primary and Itinerant Courses I advocate carrying the ‘crazy 8’ everyday carry items that make life very much easier when outdoors. With the progress being made in hyper-light tough fabrics though I may start considering adding a super-light tarp to my list.
It’s now possible to get a single person tarp that literally packs down to pocket size, though I currently use a slightly larger one.
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Having returned from our most recent canoeing trip with clients to Loch Awe I'm spending a little time reviewing my evening notes and looking at the equipment I took to see what worked well and what I may do differently next time. In this quick blog I'll highlight what I took for evening wear and how it performed.
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In the short slideshow below I demonstrate how I use birch bark, a pocket knife and a Fire Steel to light a fire.
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I originally wrote this short tutorial for an online bushcraft store, I've recreated in full for you here.
I thought I’d share with a simple recipe that forms the basis of a staple bread in the wilds, needing only three primary ingredients which can be long stored and transported in such quantities as to sustain you during extended periods away from resupply.
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I recently went for an impromptu camp out between two days of work in the Peak District, and with it being the type of adventure a lot of my clients do regularly I thought it might be fun to share some photos and compare notes.
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Following along from the last blog on looking after your boots, I wanted to highlight a couple of quick things I do to my axes to care for them after returning from time in the woods.
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This blast blog of photos hopes to give you an insight into how I look after my boots every once in while, when I'm home from the trail.
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During our recent Bushcraft and the Canoe Day we covered several knots and their applications. In general we keep things simple in bushcraft, knowing a few choice knots that can be widely applied is better than having a different knot for every conceivable situation.
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Continuing a look at my preparations for the upcoming canoeing events I'm co-running (see here if you'd like to get involved!) this article will centre around what goes into the larger 'portage pack'.
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In preparation for our upcoming canoe trips I'll be posting a couple of articles on what I'm packing and why. I wrote a previous article on how I kit out my PFD for canoe touring, which serves as my most essential life support system should I be separated from the rest of my luggage during a remote trip. Building on that then, my next layer of planning is what I'd like to have should I take a swim in deep water to recoup once on dry land.
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There are a few items that I consistently have with me no matter where I'm going, and a pocket first aid is one of them.
In terms of heading outdoors, it's a key piece of kit. Certainly if i'm taking a knife then my pocket cuts kit is the very next thing I pick up. The tiniest cuts can become a real issue if left open to the dirt and detritus of the outdoors...
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With our canoe expedition launching next year I thought this to be a good time to refresh a key bit of equipment in my outdoor outfit: my personal buoyancy device. Until now I've typically borrowed PFD's from centres or friends when I've been out on the water, but given that this aspect of my outdoor pursuits in increasing in frequency I'm using it as a good excuse to finally buy my own! In this article I'll outline how I ready a PFD for backwoods travel, in unison with what I carry on my person.
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The third and final knot in the series I use regularly to pitch my tarp when camping. In the last article we looked at anchoring one end of the ridgeline with the Evenk Hitch; this article with cover the knot at the other end- The Taut Tarp Hitch. These two hitches used alongside the slippery guyline hitch are all you need to secure a tight and evenly pitched tarp.
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Continuing our knots for tarps series here is the primary knot, tied first of all, against which we can pull our tarp out from: The Evenk Hitch, named for the indigenous siberian peoples who taught this knot to Ray Mears in the 1990's and who in turn applied it his book Bushcraft.
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