I get a lot of people asking me how I pack all of the kit I need to take to the woods. Particularly, a while ago I wrote an article with some photographs about what I actually take with me. But I’ve had a lot of questions about it – how do I get…
I was among the expert speakers on the main stage at the Bushcraft Show 2013. Since then, I’ve had a lot of people asking me about the content of the talk and I’m delighted to be able to share it here on my blog. The video combines a recording of my talk with the slides I used for the presentation…
There are many edible wild plants. Leaves, shoots, flowers, berries, nuts, seeds, roots, and bark of different plants and trees can provide us with some form of sustenance at different times of the year. What’s more, foraging is fashionable, having featured on several TV programmes in recent years. Wild foods are even showing up…
Urban Bushcraft is a phrase which appears to be gaining popularity. Certainly, I see and hear it more frequently now than a couple of years ago. In the UK 80% of the population live in urban areas *. It’s a similar story in other European countries – 77% in Spain, 74% in Germany, 83%…
There is an old adage that you are only as sharp as your knife. Consistent sharpening doesn’t require expensive or complicated equipment. All you need is a combination oil-stone and an old leather belt. And the right technique…
In the Northern Forest, an axe is your most important cutting tool. There is a general trend amongst outdoors people to carry quite small axes. These small axes are very wieldy, yet you can apply to them to large jobs such as felling trees as well as quite fine jobs such as carving useful implements and splitting quite fine firewood. However, in the Northern Forest, it’s my view, that a larger axe than this has specific advantages…
Cliff Jacobson is one of the wise men of the outdoors. He is one of North America’s best respected and most published outdoors writers. He is the author of over a dozen top-selling books on canoeing, expeditioning, camping and outdoors skills. His excellent book Expedition Canoeing is a vital addition to any wilderness paddler’s…
In this video I look at felling dead, standing timber for firewood in winter. The felling technique involves the use of both the axe and the saw to create a very controlled cut and fall. Further, axe and saw techniques for sectioning the trunk are demonstrated and discussed. Whether you are hot-tenting or bivouacking…
Each winter I like to get away to the snow. I enjoy winter mountain walking in Scotland. Ski touring in Norway is also a favourite. But the northern forest in winter has a special allure which is hard to escape. I’ve experienced this environment many times and I’ve certainly written about my love of…
A lean-to is a classic shelter of the northern forests. It is an open-fronted shelter that depends upon fire to keep the occupant warm. This type of shelter has the advantage of a relatively simple construction method requiring few tools. As long as you have access to plenty of firewood, a lean-to will keep…