Dofe Bushcraft Residential, July 2022
Aspen Outdoors | Bushcraft
by alastairewen
1y ago
During July's heatwave, me and Jen were running our first Aspen Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award Bushcraft residential at Wiston Lodge in South Lanarkshire. Eight Gold participants, from across the UK, took part, all eager to meet new people and learn new skills. The programme for the five-day residential included learning a wide range of ..read more
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Scottish Wildfires – the culprit!
Aspen Outdoors | Bushcraft
by alastairewen
2y ago
Driving north along Loch Lomondside on Friday 25 March 2022, large portions of the hillside on Ben Lomond were blackened. Extensive areas of burning could clearly be seen on the Ptarmigan ridge, across the route of the hill path to the summit, from a wildfire earlier in the week. News reports this week also told ..read more
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An Afternoon of Crafting
Aspen Outdoors | Bushcraft
by alastairewen
2y ago
Last week, on a bright November day, I headed off to Mugdock Country Park, north of Glasgow, to practice making things with natural materials. On almost every visit to the outdoors, I'll end up making something. I'm always on the look out for different materials that I can bend and twist and weave and shape ..read more
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Charring Punk Wood
Aspen Outdoors | Bushcraft
by alastairewen
2y ago
The usefulness of punk wood for making fires, can't be understated. It is my go to material for sustaining an ember created from friction fire and it's a fantastic material to char and take a weak spark from a fire striker. Punk wood is rotten wood, wood that has become punky (soft and spongy) through ..read more
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Bushcraft Day at St Lucy’s Primary School
Aspen Outdoors | Bushcraft
by alastairewen
3y ago
Friday was 'Bushcraft Day' at St Lucy's Primary School in Abronhill in Cumbernauld. We spent the day with around 45 P7 children for a special end of term, fun-packed day of outdoor learning. Arriving at the school first thing in the morning, the sun was shining. Our first activity of the day was learning how ..read more
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No Tools Friction Fire
Aspen Outdoors | Bushcraft
by alastairewen
4y ago
How and when was fire made for the first time? As to how fire was made, there’s two likely methods: the percussive or ‘strike-a-light’ method where a hard rock like flint is struck against iron pyrite to create tiny sparks; and, friction-fire. Iron pyrite and flint strikers have been found in the archaeological record but ..read more
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Fire with Thistle and Heather
Aspen Outdoors | Bushcraft
by alastairewen
4y ago
August is the season for collecting thistles seed heads to use as an excellent tinder for firemaking. The flowers die back and the seed heads burst out in warm weather then disburse in the wind. There are lots of types of thistle in Britain; like Marsh Thistle and Creeping Thistle but one of the best ..read more
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