Woodlore Blog

The following post was kindly supplied by Woodlore customer Steve Watts, who created his own handle for the Julius Pettersson Knife Blade:

Hello to all my fellow scar collectors,

Here’s my meagre attempt at doing this blade justice. I caught the knife handle-making bug from one of those birch and antler kits - wow was I chuffed with the result… at the time! Now I see the tiny misbalance and subtle vulgarity of my naivety. Damnit, and I was so happy too. Many knives later, I’m kidding myself I can do the truly beautiful Julius Pettersson blade. I nearly cried when I first saw it in my hand (great delivery service by the way)…

Steve Watts’ Julius Pettersson Knife

I am afraid that I did the deceptive Brass and Linseeded Hickory. I was tempted to crudely mark my name into the wood like on all of grandfather’s tools that I used to make it. I am sad I won’t see how it looks in 50 years, I think the ol’ fart woulda liked it.

Happy trails everyone,

Steve Watts

2012 has seen a whole host of new courses being added to the Woodlore roster, covering such skills as navigation, flint knapping and tracking. Arguably though, the most important skill to have in Bushcraft is the ability to create fire and, as we all know, there is more than one way to do it. Woodlore’s first ever Fire Lighting Techniques course took place last week to teach exactly that, with a cracking team of Dan, Keith and Steve at the helm.

Fire Lighting Techniques – 2012

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For those of you who are unaware, Woodlore has now been running a series of First Aid courses for over four years. Nowadays, a quick search online will reveal dozens, if not hundreds, of first aid training providers. But what makes a Woodlore First Aid course so special is that we gear them specifically for those of you who spend time in the outdoors. What’s more, each course revolves around highly realistic scenarios, aimed to really put your learning to the test.

Students rush to the aid of a gunshot wound victim on the WEM2

So if you work in the outdoors, go camping alone or with friends, or are planning a more serious expedition, then the Wilderness Emergency Medic (WEM) range of courses that Woodlore run will provide you with first aid training that could prove vital in the field.

This year’s Level 2 course took place at the end of June and, with the help of Woodlore’s ever-inventive team, is now firmly in the running as one of our most gruesome courses yet! The aim of this method of teaching is to prepare our students for the worst; understanding first aid is one thing, but being able to apply that knowledge at times of high pressure is essential. A word of warning though – stop here if you’re squeamish…

Aspirant Instructor Sarah Day plays her part in a burns scenario

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The wait is finally over - the brand new Swazi Tussock Range is now in stock at Woodlore and available to order for same-day dispatch*. Woodlore remains the exclusive UK stockist of Swazi Clothing, so you won’t find these items in any other British shops.

This exciting collection contains brand new Swazi designs such as their heavy-duty, windproof fleece The Nahanni Shirt, as well as longstanding Swazi favourites like the Bushman’s Tee, now all produced in their classic Tussock Green colour.

Take a look at the full Swazi range here.

* Orders placed before 2 pm GMT will be dispatched the same working day.

The Swazi Nahanni Shirt

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Welcome to our second ‘Ray Mears Sightings’ post, in which we bring together the best stories, news articles and interviews with Ray from the past month:

Ray visits Isle of Wight for new series:

As part of a brand new series for ITV, Ray recently visited the Isle of Wight in search of the island’s local badger population. To aid him in his quest, Ray enlisted the help of Badger Trust member Graham Lee, as well as his dog Breez. Yes, the German Shepherd, who has been specially trained to locate badger activity without disturbing the animals, helped to sniff out the creatures for Ray and his film crew. And, as if that wasn’t odd enough, Breez was also fitted with an HD camera to capture her findings. Find out more in this Isle of Wight County Press article, and keep your eyes peeled on the blog for future news on Ray’s upcoming series.

Ray on the set of his second Wild Britain series last year

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