Pignut hunter

Its a beautiful day.

Buried beneath the ground is a delicious treat known as the pignut. A small edible golden brown tuber.

The tuber supplies the energy and resource required to produce the new plant and flower in the spring.

I recently uploaded a short video on finding and harvesting this wonderful springtime wild food.

Enjoy and please subscribe to my channel

Thanks,

Andy

Pignut Hunter

Enzo Trapper Review After 5 Years Use

Hello All,

Its been a while since I bought my Enzo Trapper in 01 Steel, green Micarta handle, with leather sheath. About 5 years in fact. I seem to remember it cost around £60.00 as a self assembly kit.It has been used for huge amount of bushcraft activities all the way from simple spoon carving to butchering Deer carcass.

I decided to review the knife after this time due to the number of questions I get from fellow bushcrafters about the knife.

Durability, edge retention and ergonomics are all exceptional. The bevel on this knife is scandi grind which I find excellent for wood working tasks, feather stick making and general carving.

The spine of the knife is well angled and gives a fantastic shower of sparks.

I have included a few pictures which in the most part accidently show the knife. The patina shown is all natural through use and not forced.

For the price I find this to be an exceptional bushcraft tool which would serve anyone well.

Children and Bushcraft

From an early age I have been talking about and showing my girls wild and garden plants and trees.  Now they enjoy looking for new ones and identifying them from books.  My eldest daughter is 6 and on a recent school trip the teacher asked if anyone knew what sort of tree it was they had stopped at. (It was a Sycamore ) she shouted out the correct name.

By the end of the day the teacher was having regular  consultations with my daughter on plant Id. She is now the class nature expert.

The key is to make it fun and talk about bushcraft and plant lore in a matter of fact way and use the correct names in normal conversation.  They are like sponges and will take in any info you give them, even advanced botany and Latin names, only to regurgitate it at a later date word for word.

Take them with you.

Thanks

Big blade Bushcraft Challenge

Hi all.

Here are a few pics from a recent adventure/challenge.

The idea was to provide water, shelter,fire and food with just the aid of a large knife.

I choose the Kabar Cutlass and Big Ken choose the Martindale Paratrooper.

Interestingly we obtained fire from Sitka Spruce roots including cordage using friction fire. Water was collected and boiled in a Spruce Bark container. And we ate Spruce inner bark amongst other foraged foods. Lastly we built our shelter from spruce boughs. Did you know Spruce could be so helpful?

Best Bushcraft Books

Hi all,

I have been absent from the blog for a while but have been busy in the woods. Over the last few years myself and my good friend Paul have built up a bushcraft school which is going from strength to strength.

One of the most frequent questions asked on Bushcraft courses is "What Books on Bushcraft should I buy"?

For the past 30+ years I have been collecting and more importantly reading books on Bushcraft so I have decided to compile a list of my favorite books here. I have included a link to amazon for each recomendation. So here goes...



Bushcraft by Mors Kochanski. This is one of my all time favorites due to the unique content written by the very experienced author. If you don't have his book get it as it will someday be a classic(if not already) 5/5




Botany in a day By Thomas Elpel. Of all the books I own on Plants this is my favorite. The perfect mix of personal information and science makes for an entertaining and educational read. 5/5

Primitive Living, Self-Sufficiency, and Survival Skills: A Field Guide to Primitive Living Skills by Thomas Elpel. Another superb book told in the form of a story or journey. I have read this book many times and always find something new to enjoy.

Essential Bushcraft By Ray Mears. Beautiful illustrations by Ben McNutt too.  A great look at lots of different aspects of bushcraft.

Outdoor Survival Handbook by Ray Mears. Another great book divided by the seasons and more aimed at the temperate climate. I always refer to this one from time to time.

By John Boe (No relation) A great little book about enjoying bushcraft with Kids. I have two young daughters and we all enjoy reading this.

Handmade Baskets: From Nature's Colourful Materials (Search Press Classics) by Susie Vaughan. Great book on a very important and under rated skill. Making containers. I have used the advice contained in this book time and time again. Superb.

The last English Poachers. by Bob and Brian Tovey.

I am all for learning through story and this delivers in bucket loads. A great read and very entertaining indeed.



Norwegian Wood By Lars Mitting . This book is very entertaining in a strange way and educational. If your into bushcraft woodlore is a very important topic and this book has lots of good info on firewood. Highly recommended. I have read it twice.




One of the best herb medical guides I have ever read. Why? Because it is modern and written in a strong structured way. I have bought all of the books in this series and they are as relevent in the uk and Europe as they are in the USA. Afterall dandelions grow everywhere and so do the majority of other plants contained in this book.



Most Books on Friction fire are brief. Not this one Loads of clear photos and good instructions and as an added bonus I wrote it!! Available for Kindle.



How could i forget this classic! I got this book when i was about 8 and have re-read it many times. I was so excited when i saw it in an airport in London I wanted to explode. I have the Bushcraft Bug. I recommend the original manual .

A few bushcraft user knives

Purification of water by boiling in a beer bottle.

Hi,

I was out for a wander today and was quite thirsty so decided to get a drink from a stream in the forest. I wasnt going to drink the water straight from the stream and risk an upset stomach so had to boil it.

I had a scout about and soon found an old beer bottle.

I washed it out in the stream because a small ecosystem had developed inside. I used a stick to loosen the dirt then shook it.
Then i filled it with water.

So i got a small fire going quickly behind a fallen tree root plate.

Tinder of grass and bracken.

I let the water heat a bit and then put a larger log on the fire and put the bottle into the fire. To sudden and it might crack. It took about 10 minutes or less to boil up to a good rolling boil which i maintained for several minutes.

A little video of the water boiling is above. Make sure that the bubbles are coming from all of the water and not just the top. The heat will kill everything. If there is organic matter in it, this can kind of sheild the bugs so boil it longer to compensate for this.

I then let it cool for a while and at the same time some of the organic matter sank to the bottom. I could have filtered it through my t-shirt but i am not to fussy.

Then down the hatch.

Some Sorrel growing by the stream.

I made a bottle holder from a mature bracken frond.

Simply bend it and bend it again and then trap the bottle neck in the bend. easy.

Lit my fire next to a woodmouse cone processing factory.

I also found this which is never good. Ergot, a very dangerous fungi which grows on cereal. Pic is poor sorry.

A woodland wander

Myself and Paul of the Niba went for a wander round a new wood area we got permission to use of 60+acres. A good day was had with plenty of craic.

2 incisor marks from a squirrel eating Maple inner bark

Badger set

A hair from the set

A hair at the entrance

Paul tracks the badgers

Paul practies a new fire blowing technique he learned. It is excellent

Jews ear, an edible fungus

A nice Birch with a huge Burl

Watching squirrels

The wood