Nicholas Hall’s Julius Pettersson knife

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The following entry was kindly supplied by Woodlore customer Nicholas Hall:

Hi all at Woodlore,

All the Julius Pettersson blogs motivated me to get my Julius Pettersson knife project finished.

I wanted something simple and functional, so I opted for reindeer antler kept in its natural shape for the handle, with stainless plates at either end and for the lanyard hole to keep water out. The whole structure was held together with epoxy:

Nicholas' finished knife

Nicholas' finished knife

The sheath was stitched and wet-formed around the finished handle and blade with a dangler attached to the belt loop:

The finished knife, complete with leather sheath

The finished knife, complete with leather sheath

It was an interesting and rewarding project with a finished knife that I am proud of and that will last a lifetime.

Kind regards,

Nicholas Hall

Meet the Woodlore Office Team

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Over the past month we created a brand new area on our website, to introduce you to our full-time office team. If you’re a regular customer of Woodlore, you’ll hopefully be familiar with us enough to know that we’re a friendly bunch who are always happy to help our customers!

At the core of Woodlore is a loyal and diverse team, dedicated to providing the best possible service to our customers all over the world. Why not take a moment to get to know our team by clicking on the link below:

Meet the Woodlore Office Team

 

A Special Christmas Message from Ray Mears

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 Ray Mears, founder of Woodlore

Christmas is almost upon us, the maelstrom of human activity is reaching its pre-festivity crescendo. Now is the perfect moment to step aside from the hurl and burl of shopping to sit by a campfire and reflect upon the natural world. Today was the shortest day of the year, despite our calendars prediction of the years start, tomorrow the Northern Hemisphere will begin its inexorable tilt back towards the sun and our days will grow longer. Already underground plants are readying themselves to burst forth in the early spring, while inside the bellies of our deer new life has started to grow.

Together with the creatures of the wild we may still have to face the storms and cold of January and February, but there is potential in the air. Christmas falls perfectly in mid winter, a time for family, a time to celebrate and a time for community. Nothing nature can throw at us will withstand the cheer and spirit of Christmas.

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

 – Ray Mears, December 2011

Get Prepared For Another Frosty Winter

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2011 has provided us with some odd weather here in the UK, with dry, mild days continuing all the way into December. However, anyone getting up early for work this past week could tell you that the cold weather is definitely creeping in – icy windscreens, gritters on the roads, and the sight of a postman in trousers instead of shorts are all tell-tale signs!

Recommended kit and clothing for winter

Ray Mears and the Woodlore Team have hand-picked a list of Recommended Kit and Clothing for Winter, to help keep you safe and warm this festive season. With the last few years bringing a healthy dusting of snow across the land (often followed by abandoned cars, closed shops and twisted ankles galore), now is a better time than any to get yourself prepared.

So don’t let the weather get the better of you – get out there and make the most of it.

Forget Christmas – Now is the time for Chestnuts…

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(…if you can beat the squirrels of course!)

The following post was kindly provided by Woodlore Aspirant Instructor Sarah Day

During a walk around a local wood, I noticed the ground was littered with thousands of ripe chestnuts – while I picked some of those (extricating them from their spikey cases with the toe of my boot) more were falling out of the trees; luckily none hit me – I imagine it would have hurt! It makes me wonder how people would have extracted the nuts thousands of years ago when most folk would presumably have been barefoot or wearing soft moccasins – maybe they just squashed the cases with a log then picked out the nuts?

Ripe chestnuts peeking from their husks

Ripe chestnuts peeking from their husks

It was interesting trying to notice clues as to which husks held the best nuts. Obviously some of them were bigger, but I found the best way to tell was to look at the back. Where the nuts had grown to a fairly good size there was a cross of un-spikey husk showing – some of these held 2 or 3 good sized nuts. The other clue was to avoid husks that were browner in colour, as these had mostly fallen before the nuts were ripe or had already been raided (and rejected) by squirrels; I concentrated instead on husks that were still light green.

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Ray Mears Bushcraft – Shop by Activity

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Struggling to decide what clothing to take on a winter expedition? Can’t choose what to buy your brother who loves fishing? Here at Woodlore we’ve tried to make things a little easier this year, with our new Shop by Activity area:

Woodlore - Shop by Activity

Ray Mears and the Woodlore team have scoured our ever-growing online shop and hand-picked the very best items for a number of outdoor activities. Whether you’re looking for Arctic clothing or equipment, new gear for your next fishing trip, kit for a hunting or tracking excursion, or simply some vital products for this coming winter, click on the above photo for some helpful hints.

Win four places on our new Family Wildlife Walkabout course

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For your chance to win four places for you and your kids on our new Family Wildlife Walkabout course in 2012, plus £1,000 spending money, take a look at this very special competition being run by ITV Wild:

 

ITV Wild's Woodlore Competition

 

 

How to make your own Hammock – Part 4

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<< Read Part 3 <<

 

Part 4:

 

Tightening the hammock:

On the other side, do the same, but without the two outer tension ropes. After you take the two ropes through the first bar, weave them through the edge meshes of the hammock and insert them through the second bar. Hang your hammock between two fixed points now and go in it. Make sure you distribute your weight as evenly as possible when you first enter the hammock. Before entering, it is wise to check the hammock if the mesh and mazes are even, and adjust them when necessary. When I worked with paracord I found that the knots were able to slide and move because of the slipperiness of the cord.

The hammock will now stretch out. Depending on the material you have chosen you will probably have to repeat it a couple of times. I use a Timber Hitch on one end and a Waggoner’s Hitch on the other. This last knot is described in Ray’s Essential Bushcraft book on page 168, and is ideal to put some tension to your hammock. Tighten the hammock again and again and put your full weight on your project until you feel the hammock is not getting any longer.

At this time be careful not to fall out of your hammock because the outer tension ropes are not in use at this time. When they are in use these ropes will greatly improve your ability to stay in your hammock. When you think your hammock has been stretched enough it is time to put the outer tensioning ropes to work. Connect the loose ends of those outer tensioning ropes with each other with a simple Reef Knot.    

By tightening or loosening those outer ropes you are able to switch between different models of your hammock.  Tightening those ropes will result in a model consisting of a bathtub, while loosening those ropes will result in a hammock like an ironing board. Now, check the rest of your hammock and remove any pieces of rope which are too long.


The finished Hammock:

Figure 14 - The Finished Hammock

Figure 14 - The Finished Hammock

 

Woodlore would like to thank John van Zanen for all of his hard work in putting this extensive guide together. You can expect more from this contributor in the future…

To everyone out there who has used this guide to make your own hammock, please let us know how you got on, and send us a photo to show where your hammock ended up!

Nick Simmons re-scales his WK1 Woodlore Knife

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Back in August of this year, we posted some photos on our blog of a Julius Pettersson knife, which Woodlore customer Nick Simmons had made a handle for. Shortly after this, Nick got in touch with us again to share some photos of his original WK1 Woodlore Knife, which, after years of use, he decided to re-scale.

When asked if he’d mind us posting the pictures on our blog, he replied, “Yes, but I fear the puritans will hunt me down and lynch me for changing it!” Well, there’s only one way to find out! Let us know what you think of Nick’s handiwork:

Hi there,

I had some fun over the past few days re-scaling my Woodlore Knife. The original maple had stained over the years, so I decided to have a change:

Nick's re-scaled WK1 Woodlore Knife

Nick's re-scaled WK1 Woodlore Knife

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