Jack Mountain Bushcraft School: Summer Woodsman 2023 – ME

The Summer Woodsman course is a comprehensive introduction to all that we do at the Jack Mountain Bushcraft School and is a good first course for someone new to bushcraft and survival. It’s designed to teach you the most important and practical skills of bushcraft and survival in the northern forest. While the flora and fauna covered are specific to these regions, the skills and techniques are transferable to other regions and habitats.

Maximum group size is 12.

The information covered in the Woodsman course is important for anyone who hikes, camps, paddles, or spends any time in the backcountry of the northern hardwood or boreal forests. Topics covered include:

Wilderness Survival 101
Introduction To Bushcraft
Fire Making: The Five Stages With An Emphasis On 1-Match Fires
Primitive Fire: Fire By Friction And Percussion
Bushcraft Tools: Axe, Knife, Saw And How To Care For And Maintain Them
Basic Axemanship: The 4 Major Processes (Felling, Limbing, Sectioning And Splitting)
Safe Knife Use And Carving
Sawing Technique And Building Bucksaws
Shelter Theory, Design, And Construction
Navigation With Map And Compass
Open Fire Cooking: Hanging A Pot, Baking In A Reflector, Using A Dutch Oven
Cordage, Rope Making And Essential Knots
Group Sanitation And Composting Toilets
Purifying Water
Principles Of A Simple Solar Power System
Introduction To Field Ecology: Edible And Medicinal Plants, Mammal Tracking, The Night Sky, Weather Forecasting, etc.
Optional final exercise of spending the night in a shelter you construct.

As this is a hands-on course, there are various crafts that participants have the option of making. These are useful kit items such as a bucksaw, NOT arts and crafts items like a beaded necklace.;-)