Hi all
I went on my very first bushcraft-course last week with Frontier Bushcraft. Paul Kirtley was the course-leader.
I've made a quick write up of my findings of the course. It was a great week!
http://belgianbirkebeiner.wordpress...craft-elementary-wilderness-bushcraft-course/
---
After having spent loads of time reading books and watching video’s on the net I decided it was time for me to get some more proper instruction in regards to basic bushcraft-skills, which would enable me to move on and take my skills up to a broader level. I did learn a lot in Sweden at Fjällspirit, but those woodlands are a big difference to the wet and somewhat boggy woodlands we have here in Belgium. Learning different skills in different areas will give me a better understanding and experience to do a good job camping/hiking where-ever I’ll go in the future.
—
Having read Paul Kirtley’s blog, I learned that he runs a company that runs bushcraft-courses in the UK and in other places of the world, FRONTIER BUSHCRAFT. Since I wanted to rekindle basic skills, the Elementary Wilderness Bushcraft Course’s program seemed perfect. Me, my girlfriend and J. booked right away.
Click here to learn more about this particular course.
We took the course from 10th of August till the 16th of August, 2014. Booking was really easy and whenever there where questions they where answered within 12 hours (by email). They offer a broad range of ways to make a payment in all safety.
There are kit lists available for every single course or expedition they do. You know exactly what you’ll need and which items you can leave at home.
—
Stuart, man with the white cap, great instructor, amazing skill-set!
I will not go into detail of how the program is delivered to the students but most days we were busy from 07:30 hours till 23:00 hours. Classes started at 08:30 hours but a fire ain’t going to light itself and taking 8 liters of water to a rolling boil takes some time. A cup of coffee during a lecture is always nice. The instructors gave the students the responsibility of the fire in the main camp. It was our task to keep it going for the entire week and having hot water ready at all times.
These long days make the experience very rewarding in the end.
Every day new topics were explained and demonstrated. Immediately after the lectures we then had to put it all into practice. We were a group of 8 and there were 3 instructors ready for us to come and help us out or give small pointers. They felt like masterclasses, because the content was always delivered with humor, expertise and the will to make us all learn new things. Paul and his instructors give these courses multiple times a year, but they still give every single lecture with a lot of enthusiasm. At times, we had to bring all the skills we learned previously together to be able to achieve certain goals.
The range of topics delivered to us was very broad, from recognizing wild edibles to trapping, making fire in different ways to setting tarps up to perfection. There are other demonstrations that I will not share on the net, but each one of them was amazing to see to say the least.
Firelighting in all conditions, possibly on of the most important skills
The instructors (Paul, Stuart and Raymond) guided a varied group (16-year old bushcraft-enthousiast till 48-year old man with a plan) from individuals into a well oiled outdoor machine. A great example of this is that the first few days the fire in the main camp was a bit smokey (read: it was almost some kind of signal fire!). At the end of the course, the fire was hot, less smoke, and ready to cook a meal on at all times.
—
At the start of the course every student could mention what their interests were and what they wanted to learn. I wanted to learn more about the identification of wild edibles, a big hassle for me in the past. After this week I have added about 10 plants/trees to my repertoire which I can easily identify and process into an edible to add to stews or eat on its own. Learning these kind of skills on your own is very difficult and potentially dangerous. I am now more confident in harvesting the species I can identify without a doubt and the classes about plants/trees kindled a new broader interest into recognizing them. The learning never ends.
A great thing is that the instructors really remembered what it was that all the students wanted to learn from this course and they took every opportunity to teach a thing or two about the subject. (example: while we were on the move we stopped frequently to take notes of other edibles that weren’t mentioned during the actual session)
Chorizo, breakfast, lunch and dinner
I’ve seen other students blowing their first bow drill-embers in to flame, catch their very first fish ever and make several meters of natural cordage. My girlfriend has somewhat overcome her fear of spiders after spending a lot of nights out in a row and is on a spoon-carving frenzy right now. J. got the hang of making feathersticks and is determined to get another bow drill-ember to blow into flame.
I highly recommend Frontier Bushcraft to get tutoring from. I’m sure all their other courses and expeditions are of the same expertise-standard.
Feel free to ask me questions about the course by commenting below, I’ll reply by e-mail as soon as I can.
Regards
Ruud
I went on my very first bushcraft-course last week with Frontier Bushcraft. Paul Kirtley was the course-leader.
I've made a quick write up of my findings of the course. It was a great week!
http://belgianbirkebeiner.wordpress...craft-elementary-wilderness-bushcraft-course/
---
After having spent loads of time reading books and watching video’s on the net I decided it was time for me to get some more proper instruction in regards to basic bushcraft-skills, which would enable me to move on and take my skills up to a broader level. I did learn a lot in Sweden at Fjällspirit, but those woodlands are a big difference to the wet and somewhat boggy woodlands we have here in Belgium. Learning different skills in different areas will give me a better understanding and experience to do a good job camping/hiking where-ever I’ll go in the future.
—
Having read Paul Kirtley’s blog, I learned that he runs a company that runs bushcraft-courses in the UK and in other places of the world, FRONTIER BUSHCRAFT. Since I wanted to rekindle basic skills, the Elementary Wilderness Bushcraft Course’s program seemed perfect. Me, my girlfriend and J. booked right away.
Click here to learn more about this particular course.
We took the course from 10th of August till the 16th of August, 2014. Booking was really easy and whenever there where questions they where answered within 12 hours (by email). They offer a broad range of ways to make a payment in all safety.
There are kit lists available for every single course or expedition they do. You know exactly what you’ll need and which items you can leave at home.
—
Stuart, man with the white cap, great instructor, amazing skill-set!
I will not go into detail of how the program is delivered to the students but most days we were busy from 07:30 hours till 23:00 hours. Classes started at 08:30 hours but a fire ain’t going to light itself and taking 8 liters of water to a rolling boil takes some time. A cup of coffee during a lecture is always nice. The instructors gave the students the responsibility of the fire in the main camp. It was our task to keep it going for the entire week and having hot water ready at all times.
These long days make the experience very rewarding in the end.
Every day new topics were explained and demonstrated. Immediately after the lectures we then had to put it all into practice. We were a group of 8 and there were 3 instructors ready for us to come and help us out or give small pointers. They felt like masterclasses, because the content was always delivered with humor, expertise and the will to make us all learn new things. Paul and his instructors give these courses multiple times a year, but they still give every single lecture with a lot of enthusiasm. At times, we had to bring all the skills we learned previously together to be able to achieve certain goals.
The range of topics delivered to us was very broad, from recognizing wild edibles to trapping, making fire in different ways to setting tarps up to perfection. There are other demonstrations that I will not share on the net, but each one of them was amazing to see to say the least.
Firelighting in all conditions, possibly on of the most important skills
The instructors (Paul, Stuart and Raymond) guided a varied group (16-year old bushcraft-enthousiast till 48-year old man with a plan) from individuals into a well oiled outdoor machine. A great example of this is that the first few days the fire in the main camp was a bit smokey (read: it was almost some kind of signal fire!). At the end of the course, the fire was hot, less smoke, and ready to cook a meal on at all times.
—
At the start of the course every student could mention what their interests were and what they wanted to learn. I wanted to learn more about the identification of wild edibles, a big hassle for me in the past. After this week I have added about 10 plants/trees to my repertoire which I can easily identify and process into an edible to add to stews or eat on its own. Learning these kind of skills on your own is very difficult and potentially dangerous. I am now more confident in harvesting the species I can identify without a doubt and the classes about plants/trees kindled a new broader interest into recognizing them. The learning never ends.
A great thing is that the instructors really remembered what it was that all the students wanted to learn from this course and they took every opportunity to teach a thing or two about the subject. (example: while we were on the move we stopped frequently to take notes of other edibles that weren’t mentioned during the actual session)
Chorizo, breakfast, lunch and dinner
I’ve seen other students blowing their first bow drill-embers in to flame, catch their very first fish ever and make several meters of natural cordage. My girlfriend has somewhat overcome her fear of spiders after spending a lot of nights out in a row and is on a spoon-carving frenzy right now. J. got the hang of making feathersticks and is determined to get another bow drill-ember to blow into flame.
I highly recommend Frontier Bushcraft to get tutoring from. I’m sure all their other courses and expeditions are of the same expertise-standard.
Feel free to ask me questions about the course by commenting below, I’ll reply by e-mail as soon as I can.
Regards
Ruud
Last edited:
