Author Archives: Woodlore Team

Unknown's avatar

About Woodlore Team

Woodlore, The School of Wilderness Bushcraft, was founded in 1983 by the British Bushcraft expert Ray Mears.

Ask a Woodlore Instructor – Dan Hume

12 Replies

Back in July, we invited you all to take part in an interview with one of Woodlore’s Fundamental Instructors and newly-appointed Head of Operations, Dan Hume. Many of you got involved and kindly sent us your questions, which we then whittled down to the best 20 entries. During a break from leading our courses, Dan sat down with us for a chat and gave us his answers:

 

  1. In your current role at Woodlore, what is the most satisfying element to your job? (Question from Mark H.)

    Seeing clients leave with new found knowledge and the confidence to go off on their own.
  2. And what is the worst thing about bushcraft and being an instructor in it? (from Mark O.)

    I can’t think of anything, I just enjoy it so much.

    Dan Hume

    Woodlore Fundamental Instructor Dan Hume on our Arctic Experience course

  3. What has been your biggest challenge to overcome whilst at Woodlore, and what has this taught you? (from David J.)

    The biggest challenge I have found is teaching clients while I’m at such a young age, where most are older than me.  It has taught me to be more confident about my knowledge and to continue to learn as much as I can. Continue reading →

Frazer Downie’s Julius Pettersson Knife

3 Replies

The following post was kindly provided by Woodlore customer Frazer Downie:

Hello Woodlore,

I just wanted to show you my finished Julius Pettersson knife and I’m very happy with the results. I used antler for the main part of the handle and wood for the spacers:

Frazer Downie's finished knife

Frazer Downie's finished knife

The knife took me about two days to finish and I enjoyed every second of it. The longest part of making this knife was the filing and sanding to make the handle fit my hand. Even though it took numerous hours, it was well worth it in the end.

Thanks for the very good service at Woodlore and I’m sure this knife will serve me well in the future!

All the best,

Frazer Downie

Ray Mears Iroko Bushcraft Knife nearing end of production

4 Replies

Production of our Ray Mears Bushcraft Knife, as made by the esteemed British knife-maker Stephen Wade Cox, will soon be coming to an end in its current form. Our limited supply of Iroko – the African hardwood salvaged from a demolished church to create our handles – has slowly but surely diminished with each batch of knives.

The Iroko-handled Ray Mears Bushcraft Knife

The Iroko-handled Ray Mears Bushcraft Knife

At the time of writing, our penultimate batch of knives has just been made available on our website, and can be seen and ordered here: The Ray Mears Bushcraft Knife

Following on from this, the very last batch of Iroko-handled knives will be made available this September.

However, this departure does not mark the end of our collaborations with Stephen Wade Cox; a new version of the Ray Mears Bushcraft Knife is currently in the works, and further news of this model will be released later this year.

Bart Leender’s father and son Bushcraft weekend in Belgium

2 Replies

Bart Leenders, a fellow Woodlorean from the Netherlands who can frequently be found attending our Bushcraft courses, got in touch with us recently to let us know that his newfound knowledge has been put to good use for his friends in Belgium:

“Hello Woodlore,

Recently we organised a father and son weekend at a campsite in the Belguim Ardennes. The sons were between 5 and 9 years of age and the group counted 19 in total. The owner of the campsite took care of food and beverages, I acted as the instructor and the first aid post was at the reception.

On day one we started by handing out a red bandanna to the kids and inspected the gear the fathers had brought. Then we went for a walk over the campsite and taught them things to know about some trees and plants. Meanwhile, we collected pine needles for tea, birch bark and resin for tinder, faggots for kindling, hazel sticks for walking and preparing lunch. We tasted buttercup, stingy nettle sweets and birch leaves. We collected and filtered water using a gipsy well and the bandannas.

Bart Leender's Father and Son Bushcraft Weekend

One of the children has a go at fire-lighting with his fire stick

Continue reading →

Declan Haworth’s Julius Pettersson Knife

3 Replies

The following post was kindly sent in by Woodlore customer Declan Haworth, who purchased the Hand-Forged Knife Blade:

Hi Woodlore,

I just wanted to send you a picture of my knife, as it’s the first knife handle I’ve ever made. I’m really happy with the knife and how it turned out:

Declan's finished Julius Pettersson Knife

Declan's finished Julius Pettersson Knife

I used curly birch, reindeer antler, bull antler and leather spacers.

Thanks,
Declan Haworth

Earn your British Canoe Union Star Awards with Woodlore

Leave a reply

We are pleased to announce that, as of this September, attendees of our Canoeing in the Ardeche expeditions will be given the chance to earn their BCU Star Awards during their course. These Paddlesport Performance Awards will help you gain the control and experience necessary for you to embark on your own wilderness canoeing expeditions, making them an excellent addition to our current course syllabus.

Paddling down the Ardeche Gorges, France

Paddling down the Ardeche Gorges, France

If you’d like to gain these qualifications, surrounded by the stunning scenery of the Ardeche Gorge this September, please book one of the few remaining places available here. Continue reading →

Your chance to interview a Woodlore Instructor – Dan Hume

Leave a reply
Dan Hume

Woodlore instructor Dan Hume on our Arctic Experience expedition

For the dedicated Woodloreans out there who have been following our blog since its inception last year, you may remember that last summer we asked all of you for your thoughts on how we could improve our blog.

One of the ideas put forward was for an ‘Ask a Woodlore Instructor’ post, whereby we would take questions submitted by you and put them to one of our instructors. Well, it may have taken us a year to get round to it, but here we are!

Dan Hume, one of Woodlore’s Fundamental Instructors, has very kindly offered himself up as our first interviewee, and will be answering a selection of your questions on topics chosen by you.

During his career at Woodlore, Dan has led our Fundamental Bushcraft, Woodsense and Traditional Living Skills courses, as well as assisting on our Arctic Experience expeditions. Later this year, he will be leading our Wilderness Navigation and Journeyman courses for the very first time.

If you’d like to get involved, all you need to do is post your question as a comment below (we’ll keep all of the comments hidden before picking the best ones to put forward to Dan).

The person who submits the best question, as chosen by Dan himself, will win a £10.00 Woodlore Voucher.

This has the makings of a really interesting article, so we’re excited (and maybe a little worried) to see what sort of questions we get!

ENTRIES ARE NOW CLOSED

Reviews of Woodlore’s Introduction to Bushcraft course 2011

1 Reply

The end of June saw the final Introduction to Bushcraft course take place for 2011; we can’t believe just how quickly the year is disappearing!

The morning view on the Introduction to Bushcraft course

A morning view on the Introduction to Bushcraft course, by Bryce Groves

We’ve had a fantastic run of Introduction to Bushcraft courses this year, commencing over the warm and sunny Easter weekend in April.  This season our courses were led by Keith Whitehead, Nick Thompson and Dan Hume, and we have received some very enthusiastic feedback from the clients who attended:

“Thank you all for a fantastic experience over the all-too-short 3 days. Dan and Kevin were brilliant, patient, meticulous, inspirational instructors and they were great fun too. It was reassurring to have the staff team including Mark and Ross ever present; their discrete support and hearty encouragement made me feel much more brave and open to possibilities than I naturally might have been. I was so impressed with how effortlessly (seemingly) I was taught so much at pace in such a short time; while still feeling like the whole event was my own experience. I was concerned about how I would cope on the introductory course but now focused on getting myself on the Fundamental Bushcraft asap! Thanks once again for a truly inspiring and empowering experience.” – Shelley Mathias

Continue reading →

David Fotheringham’s Julius Pettersson Knife

3 Replies

Woodlore customer David kindly sent in the following photo of his hand-finished Julius Pettersson Knife:

Dear Woodlore Team,

I would like to show you my Julius Pettersson knife project, bought just over a year ago, and started two weeks ago. It has a privet wood and yew handle, with black leather spacers and solid copper pommel; all the materials were sourced locally:

David's hand-finished Julius Pettersson knife

David's hand-finished Julius Pettersson knife

I really enjoyed handling the blade; it has given me a real sense of achievement. I’m now the proud owner of a truly custom hand-made knife. Thanks to all at Woodlore.

Regards,

David Fotheringham.