Woodlore Blog

Here’s another fantastic knife from one of our customers; we particularly like the compass detail on the butt of the handle:

Dear Woodlore,

Around a year ago I purchased a Julius Pettersson Knife from you. What a fantastic blade. As a chef I use quality carbon steel knives every day, and this is certainly a great blade. I waited so long to find the right materials in which to make the handle. I was able to obtain from a friend a nice burl piece of Tasmanian myrtle beech wood for the handle, along with pieces of fake ivory for the ends and spacers.

Chris’ finished knife

(more…)

The following article was written by Aspirant Instructor and regular blogger Sarah Day:

Sarah Day

This season I’ve been working quite a variety of courses and I’ve been struck by how different they are in terms of overall feel. The Fundamental Bushcraft courses are very fast-paced, with lots of skills and lectures being crammed into the week. The Campcraft course meanwhile is slightly slower-paced, to allow for adjustments to using a heavier more powerful tool like the axe. The Tracking Course is much slower, but no less intense; I would say that it has a more academic feel – not that you spend the week studying books, but because you are encouraged to study the minutiae of the woods, to really slow down and try and take it all in.

But whatever the prevailing atmosphere on even the most intense of courses, the aim is rarely to cause stress or fear; to test you certainly, and make you push yourself, but not to actually be stressful. The WEM courses are slightly different.

We put a hell of a lot of time (usually in the evenings, that’s when you might catch us whispering and cackling in a conspiratorial way), effort and material resources (the makeup box is awesome) into turning first aid from an academic exercise to a practical one; because that’s where a lot of first aid training fails – it doesn’t prepare you for actually doing it for real.

A typically realistic first-aid scenario from the WEM3 Course

(more…)

The following post was written by Woodlore’s Head of Operations, Dan Hume:

I recently travelled to the beautiful Ardeche gorge in Southern France and spent three days paddling on the crystal clear water with the aim of improving my open canoeing skills. I hadn’t received much canoe training prior to this trip, so I was very keen to get out on the water and learn.

The Ardeche gorge is absolutely stunning and as you paddle along it’s as though you could be on the other side of the world. The sheer limestone walls tower a thousand feet above your head on both sides of the river as it twists and meanders for thirty kilometres.

Dozens of small cave entrances are visible high up in the rock, many of them never visited and some of them containing ancient evidence of hunter-gatherers. There is one particular cave in the gorge, the cave of Chauvet-pont-d’arc, which contains 31,000 year-old rock art.

Students tackling the rapids on Woodlore’s Canoeing in the Ardeche course

(more…)

It’s always a pleasure to hear from our customers around the world, especially when they’re in the thick of it and putting their kit and clothing to the test. So it was great to receive the following message this week, courtesy of Kristian from Denmark:

Dear Woodlore,

It is now 4 years that I have been using my Swazi/Ray Mears Tahr Anorak. I’m here in Alaska, and recently I’ve been on an expedition on Kodiak Island, crossing the island on foot. And I pretty much live in the jacket every day. I’m writing this just for you, because I am a happy customer

Here is a picture of me and the Swazi in the Kodiak wilderness:

 

Kristian in his Swazi Tahr Anorak, on Kodiak Island

 

Next stop – to cross New Zealand on foot in October, with only flour, rice, water, a rifle, knife and, of course, my Swazi Tahr Anorak.

Thanks again, sincerely and big smile,

Kristian Jersing

Over the past year and a half, Woodlore’s Aspirant Instructor and Quartermaster Keith Whitehead has been happily snapping away on his many adventures around Britain and further afield. Whether he’s canoeing in France, paddling rafts in Scotland or snowmobiling in Sweden, it seems as though Keith has had his camera with him at all times.

So when a battered looking memory card turned up on my desk this week, it was with great intrigue – and a little trepidation – that I delved in to see what Keith had been up to.

Over the coming months I’ll be sharing some of the highlights from Keith’s many adventures, beginning with this selection:

A serene early morning view in Sweden, on Woodlore’s Arctic Experience expedition

(more…)