Category: Bushcraft

High quality Bushcraft articles written by professional wilderness bushcraft instructor, Paul Kirtley.

Old, neglected, dangerous axe
How To Spot A Dangerous Axe

How To Spot A Dangerous Axe

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If you travel in wild and remote places, you will likely end up using axes that are not your own. In my experience this most often occurs if you are staying in wilderness camps, remote cabins or huts with axes already in the woodshed, or if you have been provided with an axe as part of a larger outfitting of equipment, on a canoe trip for example. Before you start swinging an unfamiliar axe with any sort of gusto, you’ll want to make sure the axe is sound. There are some tell-tale signs to look for, indicating an axe is neglected, abused and potentially unsafe to use….

Paul Kirtley's Canoe Camping Cookset
A Canoe Camping Cookset

A Canoe Camping Cookset

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I love travelling by canoe. And I love campfire cooking. I definitely prefer cooking over a campfire to cooking indoors at home and, moreover, I think some of the dishes I cook are actually better over the fire than in the more controlled domestic setting. Cooking is an important part of most canoe camping trips. Even if you feel like you can take plenty of gear in a canoe, you should still select it carefully. In this article I share the canoe-camping cookware I really rate and have put together into my outfit….

Woodlore Instructor's Knife being used for campcraft
Campcraft And Cookery Overnighter With Mike Pullen From TA Outdoors

Campcraft And Cookery Overnighter With Mike Pullen From TA Outdoors

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Mike Pullen of TA Outdoors joins me again for a couple of days in the woods, where we employ a range of campcraft skills, including some that really help with campfire cookery set-ups. In particular we look at a range of ways of suspending pots from small billy cans on solo overnighters to elaborate cooking crane set ups for kitchens in semi-permanent camps catering for a larger number of people. This culminates in us cooking a roast dinner on our overnighter. Along the way, of course, various knife, saw and fire skills are covered as a natural part of what we were doing during the time we were out in the woods…

Bushcraft Skills - There are lots of ways of improving them
Ten Ways To Boost Your Bushcraft Skills Through The New Year

Ten Ways To Boost Your Bushcraft Skills Through The New Year

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Moving from one year to the next is often a time of reflection. What did we do in the last year? How did we do? Did we reach our goals? What do we want do achieve in the coming year? Where do we want to go? In terms of bushcraft skills, some of us can have focused or even lofty goals, while others don’t really think of wilderness skills and structured self-improvement in the same mental space at all. But if you want to improve your bushcraft skills through the coming year, here’s ten suggested areas to work on, as well as several over-arching principles to keep you on the right path…

Paul Kirtley demonstrating axe skills to a gathering at the Bushcaft Show
Bushcraft Show Axe Skills Demo

Bushcraft Show Axe Skills Demo

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At the 2018 Bushcraft Show, like many Bushcraft Shows in previous years, I made a presentation of axes and axe skills. The aim was to introduce axe techniques suitable for various different sizes and styles of axes, to look at the benefits and limitations of different axes, to share some tips on how to optimise their use as well as underpin everything with solid safety considerations. The demo was filmed and you can watch the video here…

Paul Kirtley's 2018 Bushcraft Show presentation card
Real-World Expeditioning With Bushcraft Skills

Real-World Expeditioning With Bushcraft Skills

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Much of what we consider bushcraft today was tied to journeying in the past, whether it was seasonal migrations of native peoples, frontiersmen pushing into new territories or colonial powers employing expeditionary forces. Despite all the technology and materials available today, bushcraft still has a solid place in modern expeditioning in wild places. From lightweight backpacking to canoe tripping to winter camping by snowshoe and toboggan, bushcraft forms a solid backbone of practical skills for pretty much any environment you can think of. Further, there are psychological benefits of entering wild places with a strong base of bushcraft skills honed close to home. In this presentation I explore and expand upon these concepts, highlighting the bushcraft skills which I have found valuable in a career of wilderness expeditions and which you can benefit from learning then applying wherever you choose to have your adventures….

Spring Into Your Bushcraft Year

Spring Into Your Bushcraft Year

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By getting out and about from the early spring onwards, you not only learn a lot more about nature and how it can be useful to you through the medium of bushcraft, you also start taking your personal skills and knowledge to the next level relatively early in the year. The spring represents months of opportunity of pushing various techniques up a notch or two and, ultimately, ending the year at a higher level of proficiency than if you didn’t really get going will your skills until the summer, when half the year has already gone by. In this article I suggest some ways to dust of your bushcraft knowledge, sharpen your skills and sample the best that springtime has to offer…

Swedish long log fire known as Nuorssjo closeup of steady flame
Nuorssjo: The Best Log Fire?

Nuorssjo: The Best Log Fire?

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While in Sweden, I locate the right materials in the correct environment to build nuorssjo, a two-log fire, referred to by some as “den bästa stockelden”, literally the best log fire. Watch the process in the video embedded in this post…

Applying Axe Skills In Winter

Applying Axe Skills In Winter

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In previous articles, I have covered some core axe skills, along with safety considerations, which will serve you well year-round. When we look at winter specifically, however, there are some added considerations…