Courses in Scotland - Advise please

[Willcurrie]

I came to this forum through my interest in wildlife photography and it's associated skills. Obviously as most members will know the bushcraft bug is quite addictive and I've spent more time recently in the woods making day camps and fire than taking photographs. Now I've developed some basic knowledge I'd like to extend my skills a little quicker and I'm considering signing up for a course. At the moment I'm fancying a 4-5 day course ideally covering coastal and woodlands skills. As I'm based on the West Coast of Scotland I'd prefer the course to be in Scotland because of it's particular challenges although I'm not fixed on this. My time scale is sometime in the next month.

Googling brings up some Scottish courses which I'm looking at but I'm interested in any experiences, advice or recommendations at this stage.

 

[Goatboy]

Have a wee word with GTTBOD, though he may be along shortly. He did a costal course last year up here and had a great time. Pictures were great too.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

 

[redneck]

I've done a few courses with Backwoods survival school and I rate them better than others I've done with bigger name schools.

 

[GGTBod]

+1 regarding Backwoods Survival School, Patrick and his crew are great folks, the courses are brilliant, i've done several of them and they were empowering to the soul and enabled me to remove my obstacles between myself and the life i would prefer to live through plugging the gaps i had in my outdoor skillset and built up my confidence when in nature which was lacking through living in cities my whole life, now i think nothing of wandering off into the wilderness in foreign countries with a minimal bag of kit and a kayak and a smile on my face

 

[Toddy]

Another vote for Backwoodssurvival and Mr McGlinchey and crew
http://www.backwoodsurvival.co.uk

He's not just a really good teacher, but he's a very skilled craftsman too
I know a lot of folks who have done his courses, and they've all had a really excellent experience. Most go back and do more courses with Backwoods too.
I believe that Backwoods is the only full time Survival School in Scotland, most others the folks work part time at other jobs.

Stuart Fish and his colleague Craig run Four Crows down in the Borders too though, and again, good people, very skilled, and with a good rep.
http://thefourcrows.wix.com/bushcraft
Stuart's organising a Meet up at Wooplaw later this month, and I know he'd make you welcome if you wanted to come along.
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=134891

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Tiley]

It might be worth having a look at what Wildwood Bushcraft has to offer. I know that Leon now lives on the west coast of Scotland and runs a really good coastal survival course along with the usual stuff.

 

[Monikieman]

Worth a look here as well

http://www.stonewoodsurvival.co.uk/

\Seems plenty to choose from.

 

[Willcurrie]

Thanks for all the responses. I'll be checking them out over the next couple of days.

 

[Willcurrie]

Just an update, I've booked on a Backwoods Survival School course for next month. I've also been in touch with Leon at Wildwood Bushcraft but they have no survival courses scheduled for the current period but I'm sure I'll do something with them next year.

I'll let you know how I get on.

 

[GGTBod]

You certainly won't regret going on that course Patrick is a great teacher as well as a master craftsman, I wanted to go on the Veidemann course that is held in Telemark region of Norway this year but i was paddling a kayak solo through the Adirondack mountains in USA, i'd have never had the self confidence to do that kayak adventure if i had not learnt what i learnt at Backwoods Survival School, more than anything it gave me the humble understanding that i can learn just about anything i want regarding living outdoors and the faith that even if i lost all my kit in some mad capsize incident i'd be alright

 

[redneck]

Let us know how you get on

 

[NothingRhymesWithRachel]

Hey these are actually pretty neat, I had no idea people ran courses for this kind of thing! Does anyone know if there are any in the Midlands? (I know it's hardly 'wild', but I guess the skills at a base level can be learned). Sorry for threadjacking, didn't want to start a new almost identical thread.

 

[Jackdaw]

Rachel, I'd travel if I were you. I went up to attend one of Patrick's courses with Backwoods Survival and had a great time.

 

[Chiseller]

Rachel, I'd travel if I were you. I went up to attend one of Patrick's courses with Backwoods Survival and had a great time.

My and the missus did two with Patrick and would certainly recommend Backwoods .


Sent from my SM-T705 using Tapatalk

 

[Willcurrie]

Rachel, the course I'm on is south of Glasgow so maybe closet to you than you thought.

 

[Willcurrie]

I'd love to report on the details of the course but there was so much covered. Had a very busy weekend that was challenging and jam packed with learning. Had to take the Monday off work to recover as I was shattered, (my wife described me as shell shocked!). Patrick is some guy and I'll be doing another with him early next year if not two. All my expectations were met but somewhere I think my expectation of my expectations were some distance apart. I can't explain what that means but maybe it makes sense to anyone who's been on one of the backwoods survival courses.

Well worth doing and beyond value for money.

 

[GGTBod]

I think i understand what you are saying, maybe when it sinks in you could give us some sort of report