High quality Bushcraft articles written by professional wilderness bushcraft instructor, Paul Kirtley.
Proficient felling of a well chosen tree, using good technique, can seem effortlessly straightforward. On the other hand, ill thought-out felling can become complicated and dangerous. Either way it is one of the more hazardous endeavours in the woods. In this article I highlight the main pointers I teach to people when learning to fell trees…
Summer or winter, being able to split small diameter wood is a useful axe skill in a fixed camp or on the trail. Split wood has many uses. From dry kindling and feathersticks to improvised grills, small-diameter rounds of dead, dry wood split down into smaller sizes are an important resource for fire lighting and fire management in particular. In this article I cover a safe, reliable and adaptable technique for year-round use…
Traditionally igloos were tundra shelters, with other snow shelters and snowhouses involving mounding up snow being favoured in the forest. But modern Ice Box devices blur this boundary. So, I thought I would investigate building an igloo-type shelter in the boreal forest…
Ray Goodwin and I take Kevin Callan and Justine Curgenven down the River Spey on a magical mystery tour of water, whisky and wild haggis…
I have a passion for wilderness skills and encouraging others to go into the woods, to experience nature through the lens of bushcraft. I sometimes fear, though, people may be discouraged from experiencing nature in this way by much of what surrounds bushcraft, rather than what’s at its core. If this is the case, then I see it as a great shame as bushcraft is so beneficial and enriching. In this article I look at some basic items of “bushcraft kit” for the beginner, which will help them get the most from their time in the woods…
An axe has more weight, more leverage and more momentum than a knife. Moreover, when out camping or making a journey, we tend not to be wearing any sort of protective clothing or footwear. Our protection from injury with an axe has to come from care, attention and good habits. Adhering to best practice is particularly important in more remote settings…
In previous articles and videos I’ve discussed equipment choice and ways of lightening the load of your pack. In this article, with video, I look at one particular tarp and bivvy bag set-up which is light, compact and protective…
When it comes to visiting wilderness, is bushcraft at odds with leave-no-trace principles? Or is this even the right question? Are they really mutually exclusive or are there bigger issues to consider?…
Many people spend more on a good quality bushcraft or survival knife than they do on an axe. In an environment where an axe is important, it is often as valuable if not more valuable than a knife. A good axe of a traditional design has several components made of materials which require some maintenance. If you look after your axe, it will give you many years of service…
Reindeer, Rangifer tarandus, known as Caribou in North America, are a widespread northern hemisphere species of deer, which are found in the boreal forest, mountains and tundra. The sub-species most familiar in Scandinavia and Northern Europe (and which have been reintroduced into Scotland) are specifically Eurasian Tundra Reindeer, Rangifer tarandus tarandus. Most modern Western societies associate reindeer with Christmas and the most famous of them is, of course Rudolph, with its fabled red nose…