High quality Bushcraft articles written by professional wilderness bushcraft instructor, Paul Kirtley.
The forest axes we favour in bushcraft are light and versatile, but sometimes they get stuck in stubborn rounds of wood. The inverted axe technique turns this problem into an advantage, using the weight of the log and gravity to do the work. In this article I walk you through the method step by step, with photos, safety tips, and a full video run-through.
Traditional cultures across the world, and through time, have held remarkable ethnobotanical knowledge. If you aim to excel in bushcraft, long-term survival, or traditional living skills, having a high degree of plant knowledge is essential. In this article, I explore how various traditional cultures, past and present, lived from the land – examining the number of plants they relied on for food, medicine, and materials to sustain their lives and culture.
When it comes to bushcraft and wilderness trips, having the right gear in your pockets can make all the difference. In this article, I share the essential pocket gear that I carry with me on every outdoor adventure – whether I’m teaching bushcraft, leading a canoe trip, or exploring remote trails. It’s not about carrying a survival kit crammed into every pocket, but rather a thoughtful selection of items that it’s about strike a balance between practicality, preparedness, and convenience. Discover what I carry and why, and get some ideas for your own outdoor pocket setup….
Carrying a ferro rod securely while keeping it easily accessible is crucial in the field. In this article, I share my optimized ferro rod pocket-carry setup using paracord, a mini carabiner, with the option of adding other essentials like a whistle and a light. This streamlined system ensures quick deployment of the ferro rod and minimizes the risk of losing vital gear during wilderness trips. Whether you’re on a bushcraft course or a solo expedition, this setup will keep your pocket kit safe and ready when you need it most.
In this post I highlight essential bushcraft axe skills for safe and efficient backcountry firewood splitting when you have no chopping block. In the embedded video I demonstrate three essential backcountry axe techniques using popular Gransfors Bruk and Hultafors (Hults Bruk) axes in the very common lengths of “half-axe” and “three-quarter axe”. Despite the similarities between the various aspects of these axes, there are variations in technique required to get the most out of them. I also discuss material selection, material processing and species of wood. All of these have a bearing on how these techniques work. There are also limitations and parameters to consider with each technique, both in terms of what is possible but also what is safe. I cover these aspects in detail…
Gordon Dedman, lead instructor at Bushcraft Survival Australia returns. He was keen to discuss a number of questions with me, particularly in light of some of his observed developments in the instruction of bushcraft and survival in Australia, along with potential parallels with what we have already experienced in this field in the United Kingdom. Moreover, there were a number of inter-related topics that were top of mind following the 2022 Global Bushcraft Symposium, which had happened a few weeks before we had this conversation. In particular the keynote presentations from David Wescott and Cody Lundin, respectively, provided some valuable points of reference for this conversation. His questions also referred back to my keynote at the 2019 Global Bushcraft Symposium, and specifically my referencing of the Dunning-Kruger effect therein. In terms of how we approach our learning and development, there is something for everyone here….
Autumn brings golden leaf hues, low sun angles, casting long shadows in the afternoon, cold, crisp air as night falls, and Orion coming into view above the horizon, as the skies darken. In my book, these are all aspects of the season to be savoured, positive reasons to be outside, not inside and, yes, even camping. More specifically, if you want to continue to extend your bushcraft knowledge and skills, even as summer is left behind and autumn progresses into winter, there is much to be done. Furthermore, keeping your existing skills honed over the darker and colder months of the year will mean by the time spring comes you won’t be rusty. This article contains of ideas for extending your bushcraft year, getting the most out of your time outdoors in autumn and, through this continued focus, expanding your bushcraft skills and knowledge….
How to sharpen an axe? Having a good answer to this question is something that should concern anyone who carries or uses an axe. In principle sharpening an axe is not particularly difficult, although there is an additional consideration over the technique that works for sharpening many knives. In the video here I look at using bench stones, modified bench stones, specialist axe stones, small pocket stones, as well as stropping. I finish with a few words on protecting your axe after you have finished sharpening it….
Kevin Callan, The Happy Camper, asked me to join him on one of his Whisky Fireside Chat series of video interviews. As usual it was fun chatting with Kevin and along the way, we covered a lot. The jumping-off point for the conversation is the publication of my book Wilderness Axe Skills and Campcraft…
It’s always great when a combination of equipment equals more than the sum of its parts. In this post I run through an axe and saw combo I really like for wilderness trips from spring to autumn. It’s not just the solid tools that make this a great combo, though, it’s also the additional small details that add up to make a big difference. I start by explaining how to make sure you have everything you need to make the most of your saw. Then I run through a number of modifications and improvements I have made to a fairly standard axe to bring it up to its full potential…