Dandelions are a great plant to forage in the spring. Watch this short video to find out a bit more about them, why they’re important and why you should eat them! You might also want to take a read of this detailed post on dandelions written by Nicola. We’re regularly out foraging for dandelions in […]
A tripod is a really useful device when we’re out and about practicing bushcraft. They have many uses, not least of which is to suspend a pot over a fire to cook or boil water. In this video I demonstate a lashing to make a tripod that’s easy to tie and, equally importantly, easy to […]
A little while back I wrote a post on sqaure lashings, this time around it’s about tying a diagonal lashing. Examples of where we might use diagonal lashings are to provide support to a square or rectangular frame, or maybe for making a saw horse. We look at diagonal lashings on our Institute for Outdoor […]
A quick video on igniting char cloth, including with traditional flint & steel, fire steel, parabolic mirror, fire piston and a lens. Of course, it doesn’t have to be char cloth, it could quite as easily be other charred material such as birch polypore or punkwood. You might also want to take a look at […]
I’m not a big fan of using leaves as tinder, they’re often damp, take a bit of work to ignite and often don’t produce much heat. But as we’re based in an ancient broadleaf woodland, and they’re everywhere, I thought I’d do a short video igniting leaves with a match and then using them as […]
Fire lighting is a learnt skill, but once learnt you need to keep practicing. I frequently tell our students to get out and light a fire as often as possible, in as many different weather conditions as possible, different environments, different times of year, different times of day. This will all lead to increased competency. […]
