Woodland Survival Crafts

For more info about Woodland survival crafts

and their fascinating courses go to

www.woodlandsurvivalcrafts.com

Woodland Survival Crafts

www.woodlandsurvivalcrafts.com 1995-2016 Bushcraft and Survival Skills Specialists

Bushcraft and survival based activities provide an excellent basis for helping people to understand social

skills; team and personal development; as well as environmental issues. Woodland Survival Crafts offers a comprehensive range of bushcraft survival courses designed to educate,

challenge and inspire both young and old. Dave Watson - Dave's passion for bushcraft Dave's passion for ancient survival skills, or ‘bushcraft’ as it has become known, stems from his teenage years when he spent much of his time wandering around Britain in semi-wild places trying to live off the land. This was a powerful and important time for Dave as he searched for some meaning to his life and personal self-worth. What he discovered during this period dramatically affected his whole outlook on life. Dave has devoted his life to using his bushcraft skills to help develop, train or mentor people from all walks of life. He spent ten years working for outdoor activity centres, before deciding to set up in business in 1995. In 2007 Dave instigated the development with the IOL of the Bushcraft and Survival Special Interest Group. This has resulted in the development of training and assessment for outdoor practitioners in the key skills to promote safe practice and understanding. Master of ancient methods of making fire Dave's ability to light fire with both bow drill and hand drill has become his trademark, perhaps more importantly is how he trains others to confidently do the same.

21 years Celebration Weekend

A very wet weekend chatting, exploring and discovering with Dave Watson

as he celebrates 21 years working in the bush craft industry.

My two sons and I left Sheffield in wonderful sunshine and headed south. The boys were extremely

excited about the prospect of sleeping out in hammocks and were chatting about the adventure ahead.

Soon we were driving through beautiful countryside merrily heading towards Spring Wood, our base for

the night.

As we got nearer the sun disappeared behind a cloud.

Then as my satnav said 10mins to destination, the skies

darkened further and it began to rain. Well rain is an

understatement, soon the roads were flooding and

vehicles were lifting spray up.

Eventually peering through screaming windscreen

wipers I found the turning and followed the winding

track. With the car wheels splashing through puddles,

we headed deep into the woods. We eventually

parked up and got fully kitted up in waterproofs and

wellies before taking a single step outside.

We headed towards a big round hut which had the tell-tale signs of smoke escaping through a rather

interesting chimney. After a few hellos around the campfire and a several questions about the chimney,

the boys were gigging with excitement and desperate to put the hammocks up. I had hoped the rain

would let up and was trying to delay heading out to put our shelter and hammocks up. My resistance to

the boys appeals abated, although the rain had not, and we headed out of the cosy shelter. With one

last glance back at the wisps of campfire smoke, we squelched off into the woods and with the sound of

rain pattering on our hoods as we searched to find our camp spot.

After a busy week and not having been in a hammocks for a long time, I have to admit, at this point, to a

lack of forethought in my preparation. The weather had been fine for so long I had thought hammocks

and bivi bags were the order of the evening. I didn’t even think we were going to need tarpaulins to

keep us dry. Torrential rain hadn’t been on my radar.

Luckily I had brought a 6m round shelter with me that was plenty big enough to fit 4 hammocks under -

surely!

Above: is a nice Example of DD hammocks being put up with individual tarps strung

between closely spaced trees. With the correct spaced trees construction is very

straight forward and you can put up as many individual tarps and hammocks as you like

Below: Conversely to put a large 6m tarp up you need a good clearing with a widely

spaced preferably a couple of mature trees with sturdy limbs.

I hadn’t thought this through very well!

On this wet, wet day I have hammocks that need closely spaced trees and a shelter that

needs widely spread trees. DOH!!

So with a bit of jiggery pokery and lots of water running down my sleeves I managed to

find a solution that worked (just) and the hammock dormitory was constructed with 4

dry hammocks underneath.

Supported Bowdrill

After putting up the shelter and hammocks we headed back to the hut for a demo of Dave's adapted

Bowdrill.

Dave demonstrated his specifically

designed bowdrill. It was conceived

from working with people with

different movement abilities.

The main aspect Dave wanted to

achieve was to create a portable design

that could be used in a raised position.

This design could be worked by a

person in a wheel chair.

The base plate is secured and the

bearing block is hinged at one end

allowing the user to apply pressure

with one hand and use the bow with

the other.

This design has the added element that

the process can be seen very clearly

without a hefty boot clamping the base

plate down.

Designed by Dave Watson

Dave’s passion to enable people with differing abilities and

backgrounds to become involved with Bushcraft is inspiring. After

seeing the bow drill I couldn’t wait to share my new Fire Steel

design with him. Having listened to his description of how his

bow drill came about, I was sure he would be interested in the fire

steel and striker design.

I left one with him and a few weeks later he sent me his review of

our new design.

"I was given one of the Muddy Faces Firesteels and instantly could see they were going to be a success. The long handles give so much more control and therefore power to a young person which, in turn, gives them more confidence. I gave it to a 6 year old and an 8 year in the first week I had it. Both had struggled with the usual thumb grips but both quickly got a fire going with these. I highly recommend them and will purchase some for when I work with young groups."

After all this excitement it was food time. We cooked a BBQ under the shelters and the boys were fascinated to watch a deer being prepared to be cooked. My younger son was desperate to try the cooked meat, whilst the older one wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole! We had brought apple cakes to share made with the lovely autumn Apples from our garden.

Muntjac deer was on the bushcraft menu

The deer was skinned and prepared for the spit. A

key part of this, was to make sure that it didn't slip

around when being revolved to allow for an even

cook.

A baste was prepared

using butter and spices.

The deer was

covered in baste

Apple cake From tree to plate

The boys had collected lots

of apples from our trees. We

processed them and made a

huge array of apple cakes

the night before to share at

the celebration.

Katie Rees - Kindlewoods Katie cosied down in one of the natural shelter shelters. These shelters really showed how effective they

were as the deluge of rain continued for several hours. Many of the shelters remained completely dry inside.

Katie runs KindleWoods which aims to create positive change for people and the environment. Delivering transformative programmes in woodlands working with a wide range of individuals, from corporate clients to primary schools, believing in the unique ability of all and having belief it exists is the key to unlock it. They do this whilst being nature smart; finding ways to tackle climate change and contribute to a low carbon economy, primarily through the sustainable management of woodland. Wellbeing forms a core ethos, both in terms of what they deliver, but also in terms of how they operate the business."

www.kindlewoods.com

Drying out time

Luckily Sunday afternoon was dry so we had an opportunity to dry out all our gear.

Conclusions of the weekend .

Think through your hammock tarp arrangements before you leave home.

Togz and Ocean waterproof clothing really keep the rain out very well indeed.

Sleeping out in hammocks is a great adventure

There are so many very interesting people in the world who are passionate

about the outdoors and the natural environment

Home made APPLE CAKE is YUMMMYYYY

Woodland Survival Craft courses

Dave runs lots of interesting courses suitable from the complete beginner to the more experienced. Below are a few of the courses available from www.woodlandsurvivalcrafts.com go on line to get full details and prices Introductory Bushcraft Days An introduction to bushcraft survival skills and techniques This course will leave its participants with a foundational understanding in many core bushcraft survival skills.

Family Bushcraft Days A great day family day out where skills, fun, adventure all combine. Shelter building, create fire from friction, string making, campfire gadgets, wild good tasting

Family Bushcraft Weekend A truly magnificent weekend of “WOWS!” for the whole family. Build your own weatherproof shelter out of woodland materials. WOW! Create fire from friction. WOW! Use your own ingenuity to create pot holders, tables, benches and cook your own food over the campfire. WOW!

Bushcraft Adventure Weekend This all action course for adults and their children is designed to provide an exciting and creative adventure in a wild woodland environment. Training will be given in how to use knives, saws and other edged tools safely and correctly.

Wild Food and Wilderness Cookery Confidently identify, prepare and consume a wide variety of wild foods ‘Food tastes better outdoors’ is a common phrase but it tastes even better when you have gathered and prepared it yourself. This one day course looks at some of the best and tastiest ways to enjoy wild foods.

Approved/Training Courses Bushcraft for Practitioners Providing training to outdoor centres throughout the UK. IF WE CAN INSPIRE THE ADULTS WE CAN IMPACT OUR YOUNG PEOPLE Dave Watson – Owner, Woodland Survival Crafts. Woodland Survival Crafts offer a package of quality training to enable Outdoor Practitioners to feel confident in their foundational Bushcraft skills.

Sharp Tools Day This one day event is ideal for anyone wanting to gain competence or additional understanding about using knives and saws with reference to passing it on to others.

Small Roundwood Construction This two day course aims to give you the confidence and understanding of using of using Axes, Froes and Billhooks in order to build simple structures. The course will cover the following subjects: Understanding of different tools/styles, safe handling of each and experience in a range of ways these tools can be used. Maintenance + more.

Instructor Mentoring Scheme This program is designed to take someone with good basic knowledge of Bushcraft and take them to a more thorough grounding in the key subjects. You will have the opportunity to assist and eventually lead sessions at a basic level with different clients.

One to One Tuition Focussed learning with the complete attention of your instructors. Whether it is just a couple of hours brushing up on a particular skill or spending a day looking a various topics our personal tuition days offers you the chance to learn exactly what you want at your pace. Specialist courses - Bow Drill Master Learn how to light fire with primitive technology. Mastering any skill is both demanding and deeply satisfying. This specialist course is designed for those who are confident in their ability to use the bow drill to create fire but who want to really take it to a much higher level.

Bow Making Weekend Dave has been increasingly asked to teach people basic Bow Making and so they are putting on this weekend for those who are interested in good, easy to understand and easy to use methods.

Friction Fire Lighting days Learn how to light fire with primitive technology. These one day events are a great opportunity to gain some real insight and confidence in this fascinating subject. Spend the day looking at both the Bow Drill and hand drill techniques.

Lime bark weekend Fine rope and string from lime bark On this special course you will be looking at the fascinating process of turning coppiced bark into the finest of ropes/strings. You will be also looking at simple bark baskets and containers.

Winter Bushcraft Course An introduction to bushcraft survival skills and techniques For those who have experienced some basic skills in Bushcraft this course offers a good level of advanced/refined techniques in the basics.