Fjelltur is a film I made about a winter trip to Norway with two friends and the subsequent adventure we had. “Fjelltur” translates literally to mountain trip or mountain tour. This was always the intention of our trip, for us to make a ski tour in the mountains. Being a northener I appreciate the…
In Episode 4 of my podcast, I speak with natural navigator and author, Tristan Gooley about the beauty of natural navigation, how it ties in with bushcraft and outdoor life and how to get started on your own voyage of discovery using nature’s signs…
Over the past few years I have created a number of tutorial articles and videos on fire techniques relevant to the north woods or northern forest in winter. Here I pull together all of these threads into one coherent resource along with some new material and answers to FAQs…
This is an anthropological documentary about a band of Cree hunters from Mistassini, Quebec who travel to live and hunt on their traditional hunting grounds. It’s a sympathetic film made during a time when these people’s traditional lands were under threat from hydro-electric development and the associated infrastructure. It puts across the Cree point of view about their traditional way of life and philosophy. For the student of northern forest bushcraft, this is a treasure-trove of techniques, skills and knowledge. In almost every scene there is…
Winter is a time when many people semi-hibernate, spending much less time outdoors than in the summer. I’m not sure why, as I love experiencing all the seasons. I know many readers of this blog feel the same way. There’s nothing quite like a walk in the woods or across the fields on a…
In this episode of my podcast I talk with Canadian outdoorsman, speaker and author of 15 books, Kevin Callan. He’s won awards for his writing as well as his film-making, including the the “Best of” category at the prestigious Waterwalker Film Festival. Kevin is a regular on Canadian TV and radio. He’s a great guy and fantastic advocate for the vast benefits of getting outdoors. The conversation we have on this podcast is wide-ranging and a lot of fun too…
Mastery is a strong concept. Yet, many times I’ve heard people use mastery in a sloppy fashion to mean something along the lines of “I’ve pretty much got the hang of the basics”. Getting something right once or twice doesn’t mean you’ve mastered it, particularly when it comes to bushcraft. Nature presents many different…
In this episode, I chat with my good friend and colleague British canoeing maestro, Ray Goodwin. We discuss wilderness expeditioning in canoe. Specifically we talk about the mindset and attitude you need in order to make the right decisions, particularly while you are in wild and remote settings. But we also talk about…
In this episode I talk with Dr Sarita Robison, Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology at The University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN). Dr Robinson studies human behaviour in response to life-threatening situations and has been involved with research into survival psychology since 1999. We discuss…
“You never stop learning”, is a phrase you may well have heard in relation to bushcraft. In fact, it’s become a little bit of a cliché. To me it’s unfortunate that this phrase runs off people’s tongues a little too easily; because wrapped up inside it, is a real nodule of truth that we…