In this episode I answer questions about how to deal with biting insects in the woods, my favourite wild foods for foraging, how to use Alexanders as a food, how to go about learning more about trees and their identification as well as making sure you can find and purify enough water while on the move during a hike (rather than being static in a base camp)…
Giant Hogweed is an invasive species of plant originally from Central Asia. It’s a member of the carrot family, or Apiaceae. This species is in the news again as another child has been injured by coming into contact with the plant while playing outdoors. The following blog post contains a video I made on the plant and how to identify it…
In #AskPaulKirtley, I answer your questions on wilderness bushcraft, survival skills and outdoor life. In Episode 3 I answer questions about getting kids started with bushcraft, dealing with the increasing problem of ticks as well as people’s fears around ticks, alternative tinders when birch bark is not available, my favourite friction fire woods for bow drill and hand drill as well as giving some tips on tactics for seeing more wildlife while out and about…
In #AskPaulKirtley, I answer your questions on wilderness bushcraft, survival skills and outdoor life. In episode 2, I talk about bivvy bags, tarps vs Jerven bags, automatic wristwatches, and I also give some thoughts on titanium cooking pots. Plus, what should you be wearing for bushcraft? And what should we cook in the bush?…
In #AskPaulKirtley, I answer your questions on wilderness bushcraft, survival skills and outdoor life. In episode 1, I talk about bushcraft knives, books, hammock knots and the kitchen sink…
There was a backlog of flights. In the previous couple of days poor weather had disrupted float plane services. Now the pilots were playing catch-up, ferrying fishermen, canoeists and gold prospectors out to the bush. As soon as a plane came in, it was being turned around again, made ready with another load. Our…
Here’s my thoughts on the BCB Crusader II mug. I don’t post a lot of gear reviews but a metal mug is one of my core pieces of personal kit. So, I was interested to try the redesigned hard anodised aluminium mark II mug to see how it compared to the classic stainless steel Crusader mug I’ve used for years…
In this podcast episode, adventurers Tom Allen and Leon McCarron join me to talk about making independent, long distance, human powered journeys off the beaten track. Both are Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society. Both have made seriously long human powered journeys. Last year they teamed up to undertake a couple of adventurous journeys trips, one in Patagonia, Argentina and the other in Iran…
Other than knocking out the occasional small spoon for eating with, I’ve not had much time for carving recently. It’s not that I don’t like carving. Quite the contrary, I really enjoy carving. But, of late I’ve been occupied with leading general bushcraft courses, making wilderness journeys, writing articles, photography and, of course, running…
I’m asked a lot of questions about kit, which is a little bit ironic because bushcraft, fundamentally, is about knowledge of nature and what you can use from nature. Most of us go out with at least basic equipment, most of the time. We typically don’t go out in just our underpants, building a…