Jack Raven Bushcraft Blog
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Find bushcraft teachings, wilderness and survival skills from our ancient woodland camp on the North Downs in Kent. This blog is regularly updated with informative posts, articles on key skills & news about our courses and team building events in the south east on the Kent Downs.
Jack Raven Bushcraft Blog
1w ago
This is a new one we’ve added to our foraging days, but it’s already one of my favourites!
Ingredients
500g of new potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
1 onion, finely diced
2 tbsp of tomato puree
1 tsp of cumin
½ tsp of chilli powder
1 tbsp of wild garlic paste
1 bunch of cow parsley or yarrow leaves, finely chopped
1 tbsp of nettle seeds
60 mls of olive oil
How to make wild patatas bravas
Fry the potatoes and set to one side
Add some oil to a pan and fry the onions until softened
Add the tomato puree, cumin, chilli powder and wild garlic and fry for a further 5 minutes
Combine with the fr ..read more
Jack Raven Bushcraft Blog
2w ago
In this video I take a look at skinning a rabbit. Whilst I understand that the killing of wild animals is an emotive topic, I believe that it’s an important part of bushcraft.
We teach skinning a rabbit, as well as pigeons and deer, on our Deer Preparation & Butchery course. We also look at game preparation on our 5 Day IOL Bushcraft Competency Diploma course.
You can see loads of photos from that courses, as well as all the rest of the fantastic courses that we run, on our Facebook page.
The post Skinning a rabbit appeared first on Jack Raven Bushcraft ..read more
Jack Raven Bushcraft Blog
3w ago
A couple of years ago I put together a video talking about the usefulness of bracken as a tinder in the winter.
In this video I show you how to light a fire with a bracken tinder bundle, with a little help from a King Alfred’s Cake.
Brackens behaves differently to hay in a tinder bundle in that it’s a little coarser and tends to need more breathing into, so whilst it’s a great material to use as a tinder bundle, it needs a little practice.
We teach lighting a fire with a bracken tinder bundle on our 2 Day & 5 Day Bushcraft Courses, as well as on the IOL Bushcraft Competency Cour ..read more
Jack Raven Bushcraft Blog
1M ago
Tracking isn’t just about finding the tracks that an animal leaves behind, it’s also about the other clues that they leave that can inform us of their presence. These clues are often refereed to as ‘sign’. Here I’ll briefly describe some of those different types of animal sign.
Scat
Scat is the term used in tracking for faeces. Recognising the scat of different animal species will tell you which species of animal are around. You can sometimes tell what the animal has been eating by looking closely at the scat and you can also ‘age’ scat to understand how long it’s ..read more
Jack Raven Bushcraft Blog
1M ago
I’ve previously made videos showing you how to tie an Evenk knot and a taut line hitch as well as the midshipman’s hitch. This time it’s the timber hitch. This is a really useful hitch, one that I use all the time. It provides a fixed point for your cord and so is ideal for putting up a tarp or hammock.
So watch this video to see how to tie a timber hitch.
Learning how to tie a timber hitch to put up tarps and hammocks is something we do on both our 2 Day Bushcraft Course and 5 Day Bushcraft Course. We also practice them on our IOL Bushcraft Competency ..read more
Jack Raven Bushcraft Blog
1M ago
I prefer sleeping under a tarp when I’m in the woods, so here I look at one popular option – a ‘lean to’ tarp set up. I also explain why I’m not a big fan of it!
A ‘Lean to’ tarp set up is one of a few different configurations we look at on our on our 2 Day Bushcraft Course and 5 Day Bushcraft Course as well as on the IOL Bushcraft Competency Award and Diploma.
You can see photos from those courses, as well as all of our other courses on our Facebook page.
The post A ‘Lean to’ tarp set up appeared first on Jack Raven Bushcraft ..read more
Jack Raven Bushcraft Blog
2M ago
A short video going over the main design principles for a lean to debris shelter.
I’ve seen lots of photos and posts online where people tie the ridge pole to trees or even put the ridge pole on the wrong side of the trees, so I thought I’d do a brief video showing how I set up a lean to debris shelter.
We spend time looking at the design principles for a lean to debris shelter on our 2 Day Bushcraft Course, 5 Day Bushcraft Course, as well as the IOL Bushcraft Competency Certificate course.
You can see photos from all these, and all of our other courses, on our Facebook page.
The po ..read more
Jack Raven Bushcraft Blog
2M ago
Recently I made a video showing you how to interlock the supports on an ‘A’ frame debris shelter. This time around I’ve given a few hints and tips for positioning the ribs on a debris shelter. Take a look.
We look at positioning the ribs on a debris shelter on our 2 Day Bushcraft Course, 5 Day Bushcraft Course, as well as the IOL Bushcraft Competency Certificate course.
You can see photos from all these, and all of our other courses, on our Facebook page.
The post Positioning the ribs on a debris shelter appeared first on Jack Raven Bushcraft ..read more
Jack Raven Bushcraft Blog
3M ago
I try to avoid using cordage when constructing a debris shelter due to the value of that cordage. A few simple design/construction principles can completely remove the need to use cordage.
In this short video I demonstrate using a couple of ‘Y’ shaped sticks and how to interlock them to provide structural integrity.
We spend time looking at interlocking supports on a debris shelter on our 2 Day Bushcraft Course, 5 Day Bushcraft Course, as well as the IOL Bushcraft Competency Certificate course.
You can see photos from all these, and all of our other courses, on our Facebook&n ..read more
Jack Raven Bushcraft Blog
3M ago
Warning – graphic images shown
This post is focused on the anatomy of a hare, but it’s largely the same for a rabbit.
When you first open a hare or rabbit you are looking at the intestines. They are monogastric, hindgut fermenting herbivores. This means that they have one simple stomach, consisting of small intestines (duodenum, jejunum and ileum) and large intestines (caecum and colon), containing bacteria that help to digest food.
Small intestines
The small intestines are made up of 3 parts:
Duodenum – The first part of the small intestines, connected to the stomach. The functio ..read more