The Hand Forged Knife Blade – a guide to making your handle

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The following article was kindly written by Woodlore customer Martin Dryden. Not only is it a great review of the Hand Forged Knife Blade, it also serves well as a guide for those thinking of having a go at making their own knife handle:

Martin's finished knife

Martin's finished knife

I’ve looked at the Woodlore knife for many years and loved the craftsmanship that’s gone into it. I also saw the episode of Ray in Julius Pettersson‘s forge, while he was making a knife. When I saw the Hand Forged Knife Blade listed on Woodlore’s shop I wanted the chance to make my own knife to try out some skills and hopefully do justice to it. I’d had a go with a knife kit before and this was very rewarding but I knew I could do better.

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Flying birds of prey in Cornwall

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Zoe Ginster, a long-time customer of Woodlore’s and a familiar face on many of our courses and expeditions over the years, kindly sent in the following article with some great photos:

Hi Woodlore,

I recently spent a wonderful morning handling and flying birds of prey in North Cornwall with my mum Lyndon as her birthday treat!

Zoe with Twilight, the Kestrel

Zoe with Twilight, the Kestrel

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Animal print identification competition

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The below picture, taken by Woodlore office member Steve on a trip to East Africa earlier this year, shows an animal print found in the dirt. The first person to find and correctly identify it wins, as always, a £10.00 Woodlore Voucher:

The animal print found in Eastern Africa, correctly identified as that of a hyena

The animal print found in Eastern Africa, correctly identified as that of a hyena

Due to the angle at which the photograph was taken, this wasn’t the easiest print to identify. However, some of you got it right – it is in fact a hyena print; Steve and the group were even lucky enough to see one that day sprinting past them. Of all the comments, Zoe was the first to answer correctly, winning a £10.00 Woodlore Voucher.

If you’d like to brush up on your skills at tracking and identifying wildlife, we’d recommend taking a look at the Animal Tracks & Signs book or, even better, taking part in our Woodlore Tracking course.

Trips Money Can’t Buy for Children in Need

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Ray Mears tracking leopards in Namibia

Ray Mears tracking leopards in Namibia while filming for Survival

This past Sunday, Ray Mears offered up a once-in-a-lifetime trip tracking leopards in Namibia, which was auctioned off on BBC Radio 2 for Children in Need. The 5-day trip will be hosted by Ray next year, along with members of the Global Leopard Project, and will offer an amazing chance to see these big cats along with other game, such as lions, cheetahs and rhinos.

At the end of Sunday’s auction, the winning bid raised a fantastic £17,000 for the charity.

During an interview with Richard Madeley last week, Ray explained just what the expedition would involve:

Interview with Ray Mears on BBC Radio 2

Making your own shave horse

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Woodlore customer and Camp Craft course attendee Andy Vaughan kindly sent us the following article:

Hi Woodloreans,

Just thought I would send you a campcrafty picture – it’s been a rather long time in the making, but I finally finished my shave horse. It seems like forever since I did the Campcraft course back in April!

Andy and Susan's shave horse

Andy and Susan’s shave horse (click for full size)

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Wild Britain with Ray Mears – Episode 5 – Heathland

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Ray Mears

Ray Mears on the set of 'Wild Britain'

Broadcast date: Monday, 8 November 2010, 8:00PM – 8:30PM

Episode 5: Heathland – Ray Mears visits the Brecklands of East Anglia

In this, the fifth episode of Wild Britain with Ray Mears, Ray explores one of the country’s least-known habitats – the ‘Brecklands’. One of the driest places in England, the Breckland is an unusual natural habitat, comprising of gorse-covered sandy heath, yet it is an area of considerable interest for its unusual flora and fauna.

Despite often bearing the brunt of the hottest summers and coldest winters in the country, the area is home to an abundance of exciting wildlife; brown hares, the rare stone curlew and the noisy pool frog – that until recently was extinct in Britain – all call this habitat home.

Ray also ventures below ground to explore an ancient flint mine, where he discovers a red deer antler that has remained there since the stone age.

How to make your own tracking markers

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The following post was very kindly sent to us by Woodlore customer John van Zanen:

Hi Ray and Woodlore Team,

After doing the Woodlore Tracking course this year I am keen on getting better and better at tracking. I bought one of the books that Jeremy recommended and can’t stop reading about the subject. This Tuesday I had a ‘father and son day’ and when I asked my son what he would like to do he said, “Let’s do some pace tracking.”

So, with only Monday to prepare, I had to come up with some markers for our pace tracking exercise. I went with my son and daughter to the chemists and bought 46 wooden tongue spatulas (the thing a doctor puts into your mouth when you have to say “Aah”) for the price of 2 Euro’s.

Then it was time to visit another chemist shop to buy some paint to colour the spatulas. I bought two tins of Dylon paint which is normally used for dyeing clothes. I used scarlet red (nr. 32) for the red markers and fluorescent green (nr.64) for the green ones (5 Euro’s for both tins).

At home me and my kids soaked the spatulas in the paint for about 10 minutes and after soaking we rinsed the spatulas to get rid of the redundant paint. For drying the spatulas we used a hair dryer. The kids could do all this themselves and were enjoying making their own kit. The wooden spatulas absorbed the paint quite nicely and it beats having to paint them one by one.

After drying the spatulas we rolled a water based no-colour finish on them so we would not end up with green and red hands after an hour of pace tracking. This really made a nice finish to our home made markers. They look great we think.

I’ve included a picture so you can see the result of our work. It might just be a good tip for anyone who has done the Woodlore Tracking course and wants to make some markers of their own. My son and his friend had a great time pace tracking yesterday.

John van Zanen, The Netherlands

Tracking markers

John’s son and his friend with their home-made markers

Wild Britain with Ray Mears – Episode 4 – Wetlands

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Ray Mears

Ray Mears on the set of 'Wild Britain'

Broadcast date: Monday, 1 November 2010, 8:00PM – 8:30PM

Episode 3: Wetlands – Ray Mears explores the lowland wetlands of Somerset

In this week’s episode, Ray Mears takes to his canoe to explore the atmospheric lowland wetlands of Somerset. This beautiful habitat is one of the largest feeding grounds for wildlife in Europe.

Ray spots egrets hunting for food, before searching for food himself when he gathers reedmace pollen to make a tasty pancake. He also finds a colony of young herons nesting in nearby woodland and takes a close look at the striking but ferocious emperor dragonfly, a creature that has remained unchanged for 250 million years.

But the highlight of the trip for Ray has to be catching a glimpse of an otter gliding through the water at dusk.

Wild Britain with Ray Mears – Episode 3 – Hay Meadow

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Ray Mears

Ray Mears on the set of 'Wild Britain'

 

Broadcast date: Monday, 25 October 2010, 8:00PM – 8:30PM

Episode 3: Hay Meadow – Ray Mears explores the countryside of Somerset

In episode three, Ray Mears explores a quintessential British habitat – the hay meadow. He travels to the Mendip hills in Somerset, where nearly half of Britain’s hay meadows and unimproved grasslands can be found filled with a beautiful and diverse mix of wild-flowers and grasses. Continue reading →

Hilleberg tent spares and accessories now in stock

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Hilleberg V-Pegs

Hilleberg V-Pegs - now in stock

Continuing on from our range of Hilleberg Tents, Footprints and Mesh Inner Tents, Woodlore now stock a range of Hilleberg spares and accessories, including replacement tent poles, guy lines and V-Pegs.

To view the full range, please visit the Tents category of our Online Shop.