Woodlore Blog

For anyone interested in buying a set of Ice Bear Japanese Waterstones, the following video guides from Ray Mears may prove to be very useful. They’re especially helpful if you are not already familiar with the different techniques involved in using these larger benchstones.

The Ice Bear Japanese Waterstone Sharpening Set

Each video shows Ray using the comprehensive Ice Bear Sharpening Set (which includes both 800 and 2,000 grit stones, a clamp and nagura stone), as well as an additional 1,200 Grit Waterstone.

First up is the Ray Mears guide on how to sharpen your bushcraft knife:

Second is a guide for owners of Gransfors Axes:

Click here to view the full range of Sharpening Tools at Woodlore

The following post was written by Woodlore’s Aspirant Instructor and Quartermaster, Keith Whitehead:

Woodlore Team Member Keith Whitehead

During our many months spent in the field, we have the chance to see much wonderful wildlife and most of it is a joy to behold. There are some exceptions to this rule however, and racing its way to the top of most people’s lists of unwelcome visitors is the humble slug.

At this point you may be expecting me to extol the edible virtues of this creature in order to curry favour for the unpopular pest, but in truth they are best avoided; if you want a meal, put them on a hook and use them as bait. There is more to the average slug than meets the eye though and a recent encounter prompted me to investigate a little further.

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Regular followers of the Woodlore blog may well be familiar with the name John van Zanen thanks to his fantastic hammock-making guide, which we posted on these pages last year. Well, John has been busy once again, this time sharing his enthusiasm and bushcraft skills with a group of scout leaders in his homeland of the Netherlands. Here he shares with us photos and videos of the group working together to create a hangi – a traditional Maori method of cooking food outdoors in a heated pit oven:

Hello Ray and Woodlore Team,

I attended the Woodlore Camp Craft course in 2011 and was challenged by your team to spread the knowledge of bushcraft. Not long after, I spent a few days with a group of scout leaders to teach them some of the skills I have learnt in the past years attending courses with Woodlore.

Each year, scout leaders come together to open the new season and to get new energy and inspiration for the year to come. This year I was invited to join them and teach some bushcraft skills. We talked about quite a few topics, but the highlight of the weekend was surely eating the food from a hangi. Instead of rocks, we used bricks and covered the pit with wet towels, branches and soil. The result was really great and the food tasted fantastic. During the four hours that the food was cooking underground, we all carved a spoon to eat our dinner with.

Digging the hangi pit

 

The prepared food in steel baskets, ready for cooking

 

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Tick-borne disease charity BADA-UK and its Patron, Ray Mears, are warning both outdoor workers and outdoor-pursuits enthusiasts to be vigilant about a potential increased risk of tick bites this spring. The charity is using its annual awareness campaign Tick Bite Prevention Week (26 March – 1 April) to highlight the health risks that ticks pose, especially following the recent EU ban of the herbicide Asulam.

BADA-UK's Patron Ray Mears

Asulam was used by hill farmers to control the invasive spread of bracken which provides the perfect habitat for ticks. Ray Mears warns:

The control of bracken is vital to the survival of numerous species of flora and fauna as well as reducing tick populations. The spread of bracken as a result of this ban will lead to increased tick numbers, making it all the more important that the public takes precautions against tick bites when out and about in rural areas.

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The following post was written by Woodlore Aspirant Instructor Sarah Day:

Rose hips are one of my favourite wild foods, and the sight of a few of them clinging to an otherwise bare hedge is always welcome in late winter. They are delicious and full of vitamin C, but tricky to eat.

Rose hips (or haws) – the fruit of the rose plant

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