Bare Hands Bushcraft (phase 1)

Duration: 2 full days: starts 19.00 on Friday night and ends 16:00 Sunday afternoon.
Main lessons will be from 09:00 - 17:00 on Saturday and 09:00-16:00 on Sunday

Course content: making simple tools, natural methods of navigation, foraging and cooking, water collection/preparation, shelter building, fire with natural materials only

How would you manage in a survival situation without your firesteel, compass, sleeping bag, shelter, metal knife, survival kit, paracord, pots and pans? This course will show you the techniques, skills and knowledge to survive with nothing but the clothes you are standing up in.

The course is planned as three phases. This first phase is not a "living off the land" - you may bring food, tent etc and we will be using some modern materials, however we will be teaching the techniques for survival with next to nothing. The plan is to produce two more phases - a second phase to look at trapping, hunting, game preparation and cooking and a third phase applying what has been learnt surviving with our bare hands!

Learning outcomes: At the end of the course you should know how to:

• make a simple blade from flint
• cut and carve wood without a metal knife or saw
• make cord and withies from natural materials
• make fire with two rocks (flint and iron pyrites) and natural tinder (no modern/artificial materials)
• make a shelter with your bare hands that will keep you warm and dry through a winters night without a sleeping bag
• find the best available water and make it safe
• forage for plant foods in the forest and cook them without a pot
• dig latrines and maintain hygiene in survival situations
• navigate without a compass