Category Archives: Bushcraft Clothing & Equipment

Bushcraft Clothing & Equipment

How to Sharpen an Axe at Camp

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Keeping your knives and axes sharp is important for several reasons. Not only does a sharp tool make carving one of the greatest joys of bushcraft, it is also safer. When working with a blunt knife or axe you have to exert more pressure; this increases the chance of a slip and means that any ensuing cut will be more severe. As such, the ability to sharpen your tools to a razor’s edge is an essential skill. This classic clip from the Bushcraft Survival days shows Ray’s preferred method for sharpening his axe whilst at camp:

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How to Sharpen a Knife at Camp

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Keeping your tools sharp is important for several reasons. Not only does a sharp tool make carving one of the greatest joys of bushcraft, it is also safer. When working with a blunt tool you have to exert more pressure; this increases the chance of a slip and means that any ensuing cut will be more severe. As such, the ability to sharpen your tools to a razor’s edge is an essential skill. This classic clip from the Bushcraft Survival days shows Ray’s preferred method for sharpening his knives whilst at camp:

In addition to the above video guide, we’ve also included Ray’s written guide below, taken from Essential Bushcraft:

How to Sharpen a Knife - Essential Bushcraft Continue reading →

Winter Camping

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It’s all too easy to slip into hibernation mode at this time of year, especially if you’re fortunate enough to have a decent log fire roaring away at home. But we shouldn’t forget the unique experiences that winter camping has to offer us all, as fellow Woodlorean Garry Dutfield shows us here. Grisedale-Tarn-Akto-Camping-Winter-1

Garry recently spent three days hiking and lightweight camping in the snow-covered hills of the Lake District, pitching his Hilleberg Akto Tent in a superbly picturesque spot beside Grisedale Tarn. Continue reading →

Bergans Lavvo 4-6 Person Tent Review

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The following review is easily the toughest test we’ve seen of one of our favourite group shelters, the Bergans Lavvo Tent. Pitched in the vast wilderness of the Cairngorm mountain range in the midst of Hurricane Bertha, the Lavvo became a welcome shelter for Julian and his team at Cairngorm Wilderness Contracts, a company dedicated to maintaining safe access routes throughout the mountains and wilderness areas of the UK.

The team's Lavvo Tent, pitched on Cairn Gorm Mountain

The team’s Lavvo Tent, pitched on Cairn Gorm Mountain

Hi there Woodlore team,

Firstly, a huge thanks to you all for a top notch service once again. We order quite a lot of gear online for our company and for our own personal use, and yours is by far the best service we have ever had; consistently good and very fast, thank you.

Our latest purchase was of a Bergans Lavvo 4/6 Person Tent – fantastic price and a great bit of kit. As a company that specialises in hand-building mountain paths, mainly in the Cairngorm Mountains Range, we are out there in all of the worst weather that comes with working on the highest area of land in the UK!

The Bergans Lavvo could not have arrived at a more opportune moment; the day after receiving it, the tail end of Hurricane Bertha hit, and boy did it hit! Torrential rain and very high winds with gusts of around 80+ mph and a pretty cold wind chill, gave us and the tent a stern test… Continue reading →

Richard Spencer Shares his Finished Knife Handles

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It’s been a while since we shared any of your creations, so we thought we’d come back with a bang. Australian customer Richard Spencer displays not one, but two of his knife handles, made using the classic Hand Forged Knife Blade:

Dear Team,

What’s better than one of Julius Pettersson‘s blades? More than one! I am very lucky to have two of them:

A fine-looking pair of hand-finished knives

A fine-looking pair of hand-finished knives

The lower blade is set in the traditional way, with antler segments separated by some oiled birch in the middle and the tang hammered at the end. This was great fun, but it is possible to avoid all the filing and drilling – start haunting second-hand market stalls…

I found the top handle in a car boot sale. The blade to which it belonged had rusted very badly and it took almost no effort to remove the old corroded loose tang and so rescue the horn, alloy and some of the leather segments.

There’s a section of epoxy putty behind the guard to get the spacing right and there was a very large hole in the horn handle, so the Pettersson tang had to be set in epoxy, but it is rock solid. The nicest thing being that the old handle has been given new purpose.

Very best wishes to all of you!

Richard Spencer,

Northam, Western Australia

Steve with his 5.11 Rucksack in colder times

Woodlore Review – 5.11 Rush 12 Backpack

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Here at Woodlore HQ, we’ve asked the members of our full-time team to pick their favourite courses and kit from our range, to find out just what it is that makes them so good. Company director Steve Gurney picked his 5.11 Rush 12 Backpack:

Steve with his 5.11 Rucksack in colder times

Steve with his 5.11 Rucksack in colder times

I have owned my 5.11 Tactical Rush 12 Backpack for over two years now.  I purchased mine before Woodlore stocked them, but I liked and trusted 5.11 gear so it seemed a sensible choice to go for a 5.11 rucksack.  The Tactical Rush 12 seemed to be just what I was looking for – a discreet, smart, functional and good-sized day sack. Continue reading →

Three of the Best: Thermal Mid Layers

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When it comes to cold weather clothing, we’ve always been firm believers in the layering system; opting for a separate base layer, mid layer and outer jacket offers far more flexibility than your all-in-one padded coat and, of course, means that you can use the garments individually at different times of the year. There are plenty of options when it comes to mid layers, but these are the three you’ll find on the Woodlore Team the most:

1. Swanndri Ranger Bushshirt

The Swanndri Ranger Shirt belongs to a very special group of garments which Ray Mears and the Woodlore Team rarely leave home without. Despite retaining the same, simple design as the 1913 original, the Ranger Shirt is as relevant to today’s outdoorsmen as it was a century ago. Made from 100% New Zealand wool, it provides excellent warmth as well as protection from wind and rain. And, while perfect as a mid layer, its rugged build means that you will use it just as much as your top layer when the winter chill begins to relent. Look no further than the front cover of the Ray Mears Outdoor Survival Handbook to see that Ray has been putting Swanndri shirts to the test for over 20 years.

The Swanndri Ranger Shirt

The Swanndri Ranger Shirt

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Woodlore Review – Swazi Nahanni Shirt

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Here at Woodlore HQ, we’ve asked the members of our full-time team to pick their favourite courses and kit from our range, to find out just what it is that makes them so good. Team member Keith Whitehead picked his Swazi Nahanni Shirt:

Swazi Nahanni Shirt - Tussock Green

Keith modelling the Swazi Nahanni Shirt

I’m going to admit that I was a bit sceptical about the Nahanni Shirt when I first saw it. For a long time, I have been a huge fan of wool, especially for working in the conditions that we do for a large part of the year. My concern was that fleece would not be able to match my traditional choice in terms of hard wear or general practicality. I’m glad to say that I was wrong. Continue reading →

Woodlore Review – Buffalo Systems Womens Active Lite Shirt

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Here at Woodlore HQ, we asked the members of our full-time team to pick their favourite courses and kit from our range, to find out just what it is that makes them so good. Head of Merchandise Jane Mitchell chose her Buffalo Systems Womens Active Lite Shirt:

Jane with her Buffalo Active Lite Shirt on Vancouver Island

Jane with her Buffalo Active Lite Shirt on Vancouver Island

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Ray Mears – My Outdoor Life

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Ray Mears is a man who can shape a canoe out of natural materials, make fire without matches, track man or wolf, make shelter of snow or sticks, and knows which plant is good to eat and which is not. But where his drive to be outside came from, what prompted his interest in nature, and why he took the route he has in life is now clear, through this, his autobiography:

 

Ray Mears - My Outdoor Life

 

Published today, My Outdoor Life tells the story of how a young boy growing up on the North Downs of England eventually became one of the world’s most highly regarded figures in the field of Bushcraft and survival.

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