New Forum Set Up To Bring Groups Together…

Hi…

Hope your having fun exploring the forests now they are really comming alive with life…

The community around this blog seems to be building quicker than I thought it would…

I have had quite a few requests for help finding local groups who discuss and practice Bushcraft & Survival Skills…

So I wondered how I might get you all in contact with each other without giving out any personal emails, some sites have a list of links to other sites but iunless you have a web site that no use to you…

And I don’t like the idea of putting up personal emails on a web page either unless you set one up especially for the group…

Anyway, althoughI’m not super technical I do have enough knowledge to put up a simple Forum…

Please excuse any bugs or glitches you find with it as I said my Technical Knowledge is limited as far as the web is concerned…

So you can click the link below and a new window should open with the forum. (please tell me if I messed something up and it doesn’t work right.. )

There is a partial list of areas in the UK where people might live and want to meet. I will add the other areas as I get time…

If your areas not there just send me a personal message on the forum (username: juliandrummond) or click on Ask A Question and submit a request from there, or even leave a comment to this post, what ever works for you…

http://huntergathererschool.com/groups/

The forum has a few post about how to register, how to post a topic, and how to contact other members…

If you have a group running let the other members know…

If you want to join a group post a new topic asking for information about groups in that area…

Their is a single General Discussion so if you want to start a conversation start a new topic, and if its useful I’ll add new topic areas…

But for now I set this up to help you connect with other likeminded people in your local area…

Take Care & Walk in Awareness…

New Report: How to Teach Bushcraft & Set up Local Groups…

Hope your well today…

I have been getting a little feed back from listening to people talking about bushcraft, and I get the impression they want to be able to gather with like minded people interested in Bushcraft skills..

So I have decided to write a report about how I have been able to do just that since I became facinated with these skills…

I developed a local group who got together regularly though out the summer to practice skills and just chill out. I was able to find a land owner who was more than happy for us to use his land, and encouraged it. If your thinking about starting a group or already have then finding a place to gather in an amazing resource to have…

If you have a group or would like to join a group please let me know, by submitting a comment at the end of this post or going to the ,Ask A Question, page. I read all comments left and any question or comment submitted on the ‘Ask A Question’ Page…

I was thinking of adding a Forum to the website so you can add groups already running, add that you’d like to start a group someplace, or just come looking for a group to join…

What would you like to know, what would you want included in a report about starting a group…

Leave your comment below…

Starting or Joining a group is I think the quickest way to mastery of Bushcraft…

If you have no training a group can learn from books quicker than someone alone. Everyone bring s a useful perspective tot he gatherings and discussions and ideas about how to improve skills. Members are able to give you insights and ways to improve your techniques. And everyone brings new ideas, pieces of knowledge gained from books, courses or direct experience being out in the wilds…

When I wanted to teach for the first time it was easy to find a few people who wanted to come along…

I never even intended sarting a group but it happened very easily, and it would be simple to copy what I did…

There are so many people out there interested in these skills. Lots of people who do not and will never understand, think it wierd or unusual. But there will always be those. They make sure the woods are never too crowded…

There is never a crowd on the leading edge, I think the learning of Bushcraft and Nature awareness skills is the leading edge and more people having this knowledge may be the best way to bring our environment back into balance…

Please ask your questions. let me know what you want to know about teching these skills or setting up groups locally…

Submit your questions or comments below this post, or click on the ‘Ask A Question’ Link above to leave your questions or comment…

Regards

How Long Does it Take to Master the Art of Making a Fire?

A Second Question from Vicki Smith, Cumbria, UK…

The art of creating a tipi fire that can be started with a single match, every time without fail, can be mastered in 30 minutes to an hour, that how long it seems to take my students…

It’s not always easy to find the perfect materials to do this, but 30 min to and hour and you’ll know exactly what you want to accomplish your aim…

The one match fire is basically a pile of sticks of very defines diameter, stacked in a very precise way, a way that allows the flame of the match to climb up through ever increasing levels of flamable material, the flame starts small so you give it small stuff that will heat and burst into flames very easily…

As the flame strength builds the material can be larger, it will need more flame to get it alight but the flame is stronger so it can easily do it…

When you build a fire right you can have a raging fire in less than a minute…

I think your question could have been about making a fire with primitive methods like a bow drill so I will answer that question too…

But let me share a story with you about making a fire right…

I was helping out a fellow instructor once at a class he was running, the class was sat listening, it was getting dark and I know the class would enjoy a fire when the lecture was over, so they could sit and talk and just chill out…

So I built a fire in the very specific way I teach my students, I got it to be about 3 feet high with small logs the diameter of my leg on the outside, just as the lecture was ending, I lit the tine tinder bundle at the centre and the fire instantly began to roar, it took about a minute for that fire to get to such an intensity that the students had to sit away from it untill it died down…

Most assumed I had rekindled some embers or used a blow torch or something, because the heat got so intense so quickly…

The key is to give your flame the right fuel it needs to grow, and the sevceret is the tinder, get that right and the rest is easy…

Now onto the bow drill, a primitive fire making technique…

I run workshops where I get about half of my students getting a coal and then a flame from a bow drill set in about 4 hours. I’ve perfected a new teaching technique that should shorten that time a little more…

But really the main thing is technique, once you have the right technique it’s easy to keep inspired with it as you can always see how close you got to getting a coal even if it dies as they often do, the first few time…

Once you have a bow drill set that works well, you can have a coal within a minute of starting…

The thing that takes the longest time to prepare is the tinder bundle, because you need a new one every time, and it is so key to get it just right, it needs to be very dry and very fine materials…

As far as mastery of fire in concerned, there are many elements to get right…

There is first mastery of carving a set that can be worked easily, then there is mastery of the technique. Then mastery of making cordage from natural materials, then mastery of using less perfect woods if your choice is not avalible, then there is making your set with a stone blade, then getting it right in the wet…

There are levels of mastery as with many many things, but 4 hours will have your technique near perfect, and from then it is a mater of playing with less perfect resources…

Hope this helps…