New Series: Wilderness Walks with Ray Mears on ITV

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Wilderness Walks with Ray Mears on ITV

“I have explored some of the wildest places on earth – but my favourite is still Britain.”

Ray returns to our screens this September with a brand new series on ITV. Starting on Tuesday 9th September, Wilderness Walks with Ray Mears aims to take viewers on a trail of discovery through some of Britain’s most spectacular and diverse landscapes.

The series begins with Ray returning to one of his favourite places in Britain – Dartmoor. Ray travels across granite peaks and through mysterious oak forests, searching for the country’s largest ground beetle and the elusive wood warbler. He also visits High Willhays, the highest point in the area’s National Park.

Each episode cuts a path through a different landscape, with Ray travelling from dawn till dusk to explore each unique habitat and the incredible wildlife that exists there. Along the way we encounter rivers, dense forests and mountains peaks, as Ray goes in search of some of the UK’s greatest natural treasures.

Episode one will be shown at 7:30 PM on Tuesday 9th September 2014 on ITV.

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 →

Can You Match the Deer Species?

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The following post was written by Woodlore Senior Assistant Ross Burt:

During the year and especially the winter months I produce my artwork to sell; I call this my ‘Bush Art’. During a Fundamental Bushcraft course on which Tom and I were working, a large beech tree fell and landed on a yew tree. One of the limbs that was smashed off was used by us to produce some coasters.

Some time later, I was sitting in a wood and it suddenly occurred to me that coasters usually come in a pack of six, now we have six species of deer in the UK! I popped out and used some beautiful oak for the ones shown below.

Ross Burt - Deer Coaster 4

Coaster #1

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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

The Joy of Carving

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The following post was written by Senior Assistant Mark Booton:

I am, if I’m being entirely honest, not a natural when it comes to carving. It is one of those Bushcraft skills which I need to work on. The fact that I find it challenging strengthens rather than diminishes my will to improve, and also heightens the enjoyment and satisfaction I feel when I carve something that I can be proud of.

I put down my knife and finish sanding my second Kuksa, a traditional wooden cup crafted by the Sami people of northern Scandinavia (my first attempt didn’t quite turn out as planned – my wife now very kindly refers to it as the ‘olive dish’!). I can remember the pride with which I took home my first carved spoon after attending the Fundamental Bushcraft course back in 2010. The fact that the spoon was not very good (misshapen and not symmetrical!) didn’t matter. I had toiled over it, sweated and bled (a little!), and eventually after several hours of sawing, carving and last-minute sanding produced something that, for all intents and purposes, resembled an eating implement… okay then, a spoon!

A traditional Swedish Kuksa cup

A Kuksa cup carved by Woodlore Senior Assistant Mark Booton

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How the Wild West was Won, with Ray Mears – Episode 3 – ‘Deserts’

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You can now watch the third and final episode of How the Wild West was Won, with Ray Mears online. Just click on the image below to be taken to the official BBC iPlayer site:

How the Wild West was Won, with Ray Mears - Episode 3, Deserts

For previous episodes and behind-the-scenes photos from this series, please visit the BBC Four How the Wild West was Won homepage.

How the Wild West was Won, with Ray Mears – Episode 2 – ‘Great Plains’

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You can now watch the second episode of How the Wild West was Won, with Ray Mears online. Just click on the image below to be taken to the official BBC iPlayer site:

How the Wild West was Won, with Ray Mears - Episode 2, Great Plains

The third and final episode will be broadcast on Thursday 5th June at 9:00 PM on BBC4.

How the Wild West was Won, with Ray Mears – Episode 1 – ‘Mountains’

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You can now watch the first episode of How the Wild West was Won, with Ray Mears online. Just click on the image below to be taken to the official BBC iPlayer site:

How the Wild West was Won, with Ray Mears - Episode 1 - 'Mountains'

Episode 2 will be broadcast on Thursday 29th May at 9:00 PM on BBC4.

How the Wild West was Won, with Ray Mears

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Ray Mears returns to our screens this May with a brand new series for BBC4. Starting on Thursday 22nd May, How the Wild West was Won, with Ray Mears sees Ray fulfil a childhood dream of exploring this fascinating region of America.

For a glimpse of what’s in store, take a look at the official series teaser below:

For more exclusive clips and behind the scenes photos, visit the BBC4 Wild West homepage.

Broadcast schedule:

  • Episode 1 – Thursday 22nd May, 9:00 PM (BBC4)
  • Episode 2 – Thursday 29th May, 9:00 PM (BBC4)
  • Episode 3 – Thursday 5th June, 9:00 PM (BBC4)

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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 →