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Wednesday, 20 April 2016

#bushcraftbabies Uteliv med farfar

Our main books page includes our reviews and recommendations of key bushcraft texts but today I'll be sharing something about a book I pick up on a recent trip to Sweden.
The English title would be Outdoor Life with Granddad but it currently isn't available in English, it includes a great selection of activities that could be undertaken out of doors with young people. The fact that it's authored by Lars Fält was one of the main things that attracted me to it, Lars has such a great reputation and it was nice to be able to get something of his written in Swedish. As my Dad likes to spend time with his children and now grand-children out of doors and to be able to share a book with him specifically about outdoor activities with granddad was really nice. Although to my children my Dad is farfar (literally Dad's Dad) rather than morfar (mum's dad). If you are confident with your bushcraft skills you may not gain a great deal of new knowledge from this book but it is a really nice read and there is a section I particularly like in the first few pages about how outdoor life was once an every day thing for many people rather than something novel. The author shares a couple of examples of how the Sami and how farmers divide up their year based seasonal factors and on what outdoor tasks require their attention. 

Reading this book also made me think about some of the fun times my children have had with their granddad out of doors recently.   

Michael walking with Grandad in Thetford Forest

What have they found?

Is it the remnants of a squirrels breakfast?

Looking for flint in the root plate of a wind blown douglas fir. 

Monday, 18 April 2016

Call for Contributors



I am currently working on a second edition of my book Bow Drill Trouble Shooting, for a sample chapter from the book follow this link. My aim with the original book was to share ways to overcome common problems that can be encountered while learning to light fire by friction using the bow drill method. This was prompted by a project I did with a group of students a few years ago which involved them learning how to light a fire using a bow drill and keeping a log of the problems they encountered and how they, through experimentation and perseverance overcame those problems. 

Next month Bow Drill Trouble Shooting will have been out for two years and I thought it was about time to add some more case studies, examples and pictures. As the whole idea with the book in the first place was addressing how we overcome problems with bow drill fire lighting I am calling for contributions from people who have learned or are learning to light fire by friction and who would be willing to share their experiences. 

I am dedicating a whole chapter to peoples accounts of their experiences of  learning friction fire lighting using the bow drill method and every person who contributes will get an invite to attend a skills sharing weekend at Riddy Wood and all those who's contributions are included in the final book will also receive a free hard back version of the finished book.

If you have something you'd like to contribute I'd be really interested to include it in the new book. I'm looking for contributions of between 500 and 1500 words on something you have learned about the method of bow drill friction fire lighting or on a change you made in your technique as a result of your experiences of practising with the bow drill. 

For those of you who would like to submit something please send it as a word document attached to an email along with a few sentences about yourself and why you have an interest in bushcraft and friction fire lighting. I will not accept any more contributions after the 31st of May 2016 and after that time I will get in touch with everyone who has contributed with dates of the skills share and also with those who's contributions have been selected for inclusion in the book to get details of where your copy of the book needs to be sent and to get your approval for any edits I have carried out on what you submitted. 

Please send all contributions to geoff@bushcrafteducation.co.uk

thank you all for your help and I look forward to hearing from you

Geoff 

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