FIRE ESSENTIALS: MINI-MASTERCLASS
Master The Two Most Important Ways Of Establishing A Fire
Training people to have consistent, resilient and reliable outdoor skills is what I do. There is no more important area than fire-making techniques. Let me help you ensure your fire skills are as solid as they can be...
£79 £27 FOR A LIMITED TIME
What's the core fire-building skillset you actually need?
The ability to establish and control fire is what sets us humans apart from all other animals.
I have travelled in many parts of the world, using fires for cooking, sterilizing water, providing warmth and light to a camp on a daily basis, as well as using fires from-time-to-time for drying clothes, shaping materials, keeping insects at bay, signalling and more.
In helping my students, my thinking is always to distil the important aspects of a subject down to what's most clear and most essential.
What do you actually need to be able to do?
Currently, we live in a world where much of what becomes popular (especially on the internet) benefits from novelty.
What you need to rely on in reality, out there in nature, though, is not novel but tried and tested.
Perhaps this is too boring for the online algorithms to show you very often.
You don't need 1001 tricks for fire-lighting.
You need some solid foundational techniques that, in the hands of the prepared, will always work.
Moreover, you need to know how to apply your techniques consistently, in a variety of habitats, under varied weather conditions.
Your fire skills need to be resilient.
In learning, you need some structure around a subject, not a bunch of novelty party tricks, beamed at you. This structure is something the randomising ad-revenue-maximising algorithms don't provide to you.
Yes, you could do a field course or even a structured online course, but these can be time consuming.
Fire is arguably the most important of our outdoor skills.
So, here in Fire Essentials, the set of core fire skills is the sole focus.
Cornerstones of Fire Essentials
Fire Essentials contains the set of fire techniques and knowledge you should have as your core competency in this area of outdoor skills, from the key principles, through to material selection, as well as the best use of the relevant tools.
A SOLID FOUNDATION
Underpinning all your fire-lighting efforts should be a set of key principles, a respect for irrefutable laws of nature and time-honoured best-practices.
MATERIAL SELECTION
Successful fire-making using natural materials is highly dependent on careful material selection. This means identifying the relevant trees and plants, plus recognising them in a suitable condition.
BUILDING BLOCKS
There are two critical stages to any fire. Each stage contains multiple different pathways to success. We need to know how to fit them together like Lego blocks.
WEATHER-PROOFING
The worse the weather, the more you are likely to need a fire. But also the harder a fire will be to achieve. Your fire-lighting skills need to be resilient in the face of poor weather.
Ready to reinforce your fire skills?
Meet Paul Kirtley
Paul Kirtley is considered one of the leading wilderness skills educators globally. He has been involved in teaching bushcraft since 2003.
Over the years, Paul has worked with Ray Mears, Lars Falt, Juha Rankinen, David Scott-Donelan and many more.
Through his company Frontier Bushcraft Ltd., which he founded in 2010, Paul offers high quality field courses, wilderness expeditions and online training resources.
Paul was one of the main organisers of the 2022 Global Bushcraft Symposium, held in the UK, which brought together bushcraft, survival and wilderness skills educators from around the globe to share best practice and increase collaboration in these fields of outdoor education.
How This Training Came About (It's Important To Know, Actually)
In March 2020, my in-person training business was shut down because Covid lockdowns arrived.
In the UK, we were told it would be for three weeks.
Clearly, it went on for a lot longer.
During the Covid years, I did a lot of interviews and Zooms, livestreams and the like, for various YouTube channels, podcasts, Facebook pages, Instagram feeds, etc., some of which saw the light of day, some of which still haven't.
In amongst all of this online activity, something I was approached to do stood out from the rest. This was a virtual conference, the Outdoor Adventure Summit.
It was a great idea and I was keen to be involved.
What I came up with for the summit was more than a typical conference presentation (such as I gave at the 2019 Global Bushcraft Symposium).
In the absence of being able to provide any in-person training in the field at the time, I wanted to provide as close as I could in this format. Maybe it could be even better?
Of course, I was already experienced in creating online courses, as well as teaching field courses for many years.
Furthermore, I had more time on my hands than usual.
So, I spent a lot of time putting the training together - not just accumulating material to put into it but also distilling it down so as to deliver the most value I could in 90 minutes.
At any time other than during a Covid lockdown, I would not have had the time to put together such a concise, yet detailed and impactful training, especially for someone else's event.
But as it was, I had the time and I put a lot of effort into this. I'm very glad to be able to share this training with you here.
It's not free. But it also provides amazing value. Like those who attended the OAS online conference, you too can now also benefit from this training, wherever you are.
Moreover, feedback from people who have seen the training has all been super positive. Some even said I should call it a masterclass. While I keep that sort of name for my really big courses such as the Tree & Plant Identification Masterclass 12-month course I run every year, I took on board the positive feedback and decided to call this a "mini-masterclass".
“One of the best masterclasses on firemaking that I've seen.”
BRADY PATTERSON | ORGANISER OF THE OUTDOOR ADVENTURE SUMMIT
For All Skill Levels
I've said it elsewhere but I will say it again - this training contains the set of fire techniques and knowledge you should have as your core fire competency. It doesn't matter whether you are a beginner or someone who has been into bushcraft and survival for a while. The foundation is the foundation. Make sure yours is as solid as possible.
It's Based On What Works
In this training I describe the core fire-making techniques, including many details and nuances of getting the most from the techniques, pitfalls to avoid, how to integrate them with the rest of your outdoor skills and where to find the most relevant materials. More details below...
Scope of the Fire Essentials Mini-Masterclass
- Context is king - highlighting the ways Paul regularly uses fire and finds fire valuable;
- The importance of fire more generally - why this is an absolutely essential skill-set;
- The two critical stages of fire-lighting you have to get right;
- Fire triangle revisited - this is simple, right? Yet many people fail. Here we cover why;
- Striking a match - the detail, the nuance, the mistakes to avoid (especially if it's your last match);
- Species you should target for wonderful fire-lighting materials (yes they occur near to you);
- Small stick fire from start to finish;
- Small stick fire - important points codified, so you can consistently and reliably apply this;
- Three P's - again this can be considered "stupidly simple", yet it's the reason most people fail;
- Applying principles in order to find alternatives in whatever situation you find yourself;
- Ferro rod use and detail of good technique - the ferro rod is a common tool but most people are sloppy with it;
- What if it is really, really raining? Pouring rain is when doubt is in your mind and weak technique is exposed;
- Feathersticks - details that others neglect;
- Optimising your choice of knife;
- Pointers to ensure you achieve good material selection;
- How to get organised! And how this makes a difference to success or failure in fire-making;
- Finessing your featherstick fire-lay;
- The reliable rules of feathersticks (a.k.a James's five rules of feathersticks);
- Feathersticks are easy, right? Hmmm... yes, when you know how;
- Why it's critical to control the curl;
- How to take your skills beyond the basics (the basics are the most important thing though).
A Word From Your Instructor
If you take the principles and the specific practical tips in this training, then absorb them into your outdoor practice, make them your own, and apply them properly, you will never have a problem with lighting a fire in the outdoors.
PAUL KIRTLEY | WILDERNESS SKILLS INSTRUCTOR
Why wait? Fire-making is an essential outdoor skill-set. Make sure it's your skill-set too...
This mini-masterclass contains the set of fire techniques and knowledge you should have as core competencies.
You will learn key principles, details of material selection, as well as the use of the relevant tools.
There is no time limit on how long you have access to this training. It's yours until the end of the internet. This is because, like all of my paid online trainings, the Fire Essentials Mini-Masterclass is hosted on our custom online learning platform at onlinebushcraftcourses.com
Get access and start to get this critical skill-set under your belt today...
£79 £27
AVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED TIME—BUY NOW!
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