I just spent last Sunday with Dale Collett of the British Bushcraft School (www.learnbushcraft.co.uk) for a day's tuition on the hand drill. Although I've done the Woodlore Fundamental Bushcraft course, I had no previous experience of the hand drill, and Dale took me from nowhere to drilling out my first ember in the course of the day. I am not a particularly talented or natural firebug with friction methods, so it was pretty special to get there in under ten attempts.
For those of you who haven't seen Dale's videos on YouTube, I heartily recommend: he's the best I've ever seen, and his mastery of floating is depressing it's so good. He went from pouring water all over his drill set to getting a fire from it in well under ten minutes: probably five.
It's a very full course, covering materials, technique, drying out wet kit etc etc. Dale also takes the opportunity to fit in plenty of other bushcraft goodness on wild plants etc. He is an excellent, inspirational teacher who also has a great deal of humility and eagerness to learn. I can heartily recommend this targetted course for those wishing to focus on this particular skill. He also offers a free aftercare service!
The only downside: be prepared for blisters! Dale structures the timing to give your hands as much chance as possible to recover, but inevitably this course will be a bit painful!
Thanks to Dale, who deserves a higher profile, and who really is a star of the UK bushcraft community in my book.
For those of you who haven't seen Dale's videos on YouTube, I heartily recommend: he's the best I've ever seen, and his mastery of floating is depressing it's so good. He went from pouring water all over his drill set to getting a fire from it in well under ten minutes: probably five.
It's a very full course, covering materials, technique, drying out wet kit etc etc. Dale also takes the opportunity to fit in plenty of other bushcraft goodness on wild plants etc. He is an excellent, inspirational teacher who also has a great deal of humility and eagerness to learn. I can heartily recommend this targetted course for those wishing to focus on this particular skill. He also offers a free aftercare service!
The only downside: be prepared for blisters! Dale structures the timing to give your hands as much chance as possible to recover, but inevitably this course will be a bit painful!
Thanks to Dale, who deserves a higher profile, and who really is a star of the UK bushcraft community in my book.
