Let me introduce you to a man who has taken it upon himself to turn what he enjoys into more. What do I mean by this, well it’s simple, have you ever sat there watching a TV show or reading a magazine and thought “I could do that”, I’m sure many have, but only a few have done. So this brings me to Shaun, as he is a “have done bloke”, but before I get into this let me enlighten you a little on where his name came upon my radar…

As we have all done, we started an interest in the world of Bushcraft through various different routes, but they normal follow the same path, as our interest grows, as does our basic skills and bits and bats of kit, one of these items was the Polish military lavvu tent. If you don’t know what one of these are, they are a small pyramid tent made from a heavy canvas which come as two halves of a poncho, one for each soldier for which they would button the two halves together and using an included sectional pole, make a shelter for them both, and yes you guest is, its Polish.

In use by the Polish military

These were made back in the 80’s and they have gained somewhat of a cult following, for which I can really see the attraction. Over the years I’ve owned two of them the first is no longer with us but that’s another story, the second, I picked up from an army surplus store for £15 about a year ago. As it happens this is rather a good price as they fetch anything up to £100, well they do if you can find one.

They come in three sizes 1, 2 and 3 identifiable by the number of eyelets they have at the bottom of the buttoned area. Size 3 being rather rare hence the higher price tag.

It hasn’t taken long for people to want to start making alterations to the lavvu to suit their needs, one of which is to add a zip to replace the buttons, or an extension to the base to make them similar to that of a micro bell tent. Most people don’t have either the skills or inclination to make the alterations themselves, so this was where Shaun Iveson comes in. He runs a “cottage industry” called Northern Outdoors UK.

I have been following Norther Outdoors UK on social media for some time and I can not express how impressed I am by the work he has been doing, however this has left me with a number of unanswered questions about him, so I thought I would make contact with him and see what he has to say.

Shaun strikes me as a reserved person who is happy with what he’s doing and doesn’t really want to shout from the roof tops about what he does, and to be fair, from what I have seen of his work along with the feedback he receives, he has every right to shout away.

A few messages back and forth and he was happy to answer my questions, so here you go…

So what got you into this work?

So it all began when I was at a car boot sale here in Hull must of been easily 13 years ago, I’m always on the look out for ex-mod or world war memorabilia. It was out the corner of I eye I saw the olive green canvas hanging out of a box not knowing what it was or even if it was clothing ect, but there was lots of it, so i asked a price and the lady said £5, I took it, (who wouldnt?) it wasnt till I got home I found out I had bought two ponchos, I loved them, perfect Condition too. It wasn’t till I had done some more researching on the slowest Internet connection ever I found out that they where in fact polish ponchos, which when connected with another poncho makes the ever so now popular lavvu which everybody in the bushcraft world knows about,

How long have you been doing this?

So I started the mods for myself 7 years ago, after nearly having a bad experience with a camp chilli and the lavvu buttons, (for the people who know this is a right pain the…….!!!)

Where do you work from?

Well alot of people think I have a great workshop, or I have my own business premises, but believe it or not I have a 10x8ft wood shed in the back garden and work from there in the summer, during the winter the lady of the house is kind and let’s me come indoors with the old singer sewing machine (as it’s quieter)

What sort of modifications do you do?

There’s a long list but I will list the main ones for you, so there is zips, skirt, tension straps, stove jack, suspension hanger, lantern hanger, and the groundsheet, I do offer lots more.

Just some of Shaun’s range

Do you ever sleep in a lavvu?

Do bears go to toilet in the woods?? , hahahaha of course they do, just like I love sleeping in the lavvu, it’s a fantatsic piece of kit for a solo bushcrafter who wants that long lasting kit what they can rely on especially next to an open fire.

What inspired you to begin messing with Lavvu’s?

I can’t really say it was an inspiration it was more of a nature calls moment which got me thinking what can I do to prevent a problem next time if it came up.

I see that you use a lot of red thread, how did this come about?

So the red thread came when I started doing the mods for people, I wanted something that would stand out more then the mods itself but also looks the part, it’s when I named myself Northern Outdoors Uk and chose the colours I thought well the ‘Outdoors’ wording is red so decided to stitch my patches onto my designs with red thread then decided to do a few bits and bobs in the red, and people gave me good feed back, one said it’s like a pin stripe on a suit it’s sets it apart from others, which I liked alot so it’s now included in all my mod stitching, unless they want different colours then i will use the ones they prefer.

Whats your most popular modification, and what sort of cost would be incurred?

So there are two I would have to list the first is for functionality and that’s the zips well worth the investment on the lavvu, so the price for the zips are £65, but that’s for both sides of the lavvu and are made by myself as I buy the zips on rolls, I can also do just a front zip and the back fully sewn up, I can even also do zips so the lavvus still come apart if you still wanting to use the lavvus is halfs. The 2nd is the stove jack, made by myself too, using a Teflon coated fibreglass material making it withstand heat upto 550°c makes it safe to use with a wood stove, alot of people use the arm holes for the wood stoves, and some use sticks to hold it apart for the wood stove flue, but a gust of wind can dislodge them making the flue touch the canvas and charring it, (I have seen this 100s of times including myself before i made the stove jack)

What do you least enjoy doing?

Zips on the arms, I can’t stand them so fidley and small, but if the person wants them I will do them not a problem, it just incurs lots of swearing comming over the music from the shed.

I see that you have been working on a Bivvi bag, have you branched out from lavvus?

So alot of my mods and projects come from things what I need to help me outdoors and I make it, then people want them making for there kit too, so every bivvy bag owner knows the pain of getting in and out of them so I got my friend from in2thewilderness to hook me up a Bivvy bag to try something, and it’s turned out fanstic since showing mine Ive been inundated with requested to do theres, I have done tarps, carry bags satchels, woodstove bags, repairs on tents and clothing, bbq covers, boat covers, and also my own folding firepit too which came out last year, I now have the mini fire pit which folds up and fits perfectly in a 40ltr back pack.

Bivvy bag Shaun has been working.

Who/what inspires you?

As with alot of poeple will say mine is Ray Mears, it started at secondary school in 1997 I went to the library and saw a book called ‘The Compete Outdoor Handbook’ by Raymond Mears, and I instantly fell in love with it, I came from a poor area in Hull and money was sparse, unfortunately I did take the book, it was a bad thing at the time, I was young but I needed it, and wanted it to refer to outdoors, but 25 years later and I still have the same book in my collection, I even managed to buy another in a new Condition. But now I have a new person that inspires me and its a good friend Joe Gilbert from Seventeobushcraft and he also works at wild human, he’s took the time to help me out and given me the chance to work alongside him in teaching outdoors skills, so thank you Joe.

Our members are into Bushcraft and it would be interesting to know how you would describe ‘Bushcraft”?

To me bushcraft is using the knowledge of one’s mind to utilise the use of nature’s materials around us, not only to feed us but to shelter us and to help us in the event of an injury or illness.

What’s the most important piece of advice you have for people generally?

Take your time, theres no rush it will come naturally.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given in your life?

If something bad has happned in your life before use the energy from that time to help you get through this time.

What “Golden Rule” do you live by?

If it’s broke make something better hahahaha

What’s your favourite (clean) joke?

Did you hear about the first restaurant to open on the moon? It had great food, but no atmosphere

Where do you see Northern Outdoors UK heading?

At the moment I’m happy where it is, still helping people with there lavvus, but I would love to make and design my own tent, but with what’s been going on with covid it’s hard to find the right material at the right price, so it’s on hold until its benificial for everybody.

What’s next for Shaun??

So as mentioned I’ve been alsed to partner up with my good friend Joe Gilbert from Seven Two Bushcraft and Survival, so basically learning and teaching along the way, it’s something I’ve looked at doing for a while but around where I live theres nothing that will cater for it unless I travel, and having a young family and also a full time job, Joe lives nearby but he works for Ben mcnutt and Wild Human so when he has time we get together and learn things, but we also run a 72hr survival challenge all for charity, we choose 8-10 people and give them a limited amount of kit, and show them what it’s like to be in that situation, while showing them foraging and game skills to help along the way, I love doing it and it’s my comfy place teaching outdoor skills and want to pursue it further.

Final thoughts

I must admit I’m rather tempted to send off my Lavvu and have Shaun work his magic, a zip here and there however I think I’d be the awkward customer who wants the arm hole zips.

It’s been really good to delve a little more into Northern Outdoors UK, and thank you Shaun, however if you would like more info, or have a Lavvu at home just desperate for a new lease of like, you would do well getting in contact with Shaun.

https://m.facebook.com/NorthernOutdoorsUk

All photos curtesy of Northern Outdoors UK.