Sometimes life produces interesting coincidences. Last month I was travelling on the London Underground – something I do only infrequently. I noticed a poster advert for UNIQLO Ultra Light Down Jackets. Not only did the words ultra, light and down catch my eye, but so did the price. £59.90 The outdoor clothing industry has…
Rosebay willowherb, Chamerion angustifolium (also known as Epilobium angustifolium) is a widespread plant of the Northern Hemisphere. Known as Fireweed to many, particularly in North America, this name reflects the plant’s appearance following forest fires and other events which leave the earth scorched. With greater light on the earth again, C. angustifolium seeds then…
In a previous article I outlined a realistic approach to survival foraging. In such a situation, you would have nothing stored or preserved from previous seasons, little or no gathering or processing equipment (such as baskets, bags or grinding vessels), limited experience and possibly little or no familiarity with the geographic area. In short,…
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…
Many people find foraging enjoyable, but the challenge of surviving on wild plants is a different story. In this article, I provide a practical guide to the realities of sustaining yourself from the land, starting from scratch, without any special tools, equipment or other food supplies. I share essential principles for isolating useful survival plants. These include how easy they are to recognise, their availability, energy return, and more. It’s a practical, no-nonsense look at foraging through the lens of real-world survival.
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% in the Netherlands and 86% in France *. In the USA the proportion is similar at 82% of the population being urbanised. In Canada it’s 81%….
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…