The Bushcraft Immersion

Equipment List

 

Personal Clothing

 

• Full waterproofs (tops and pants)
• Base Layers (tops and pants)
• Insulating layers
• Down jacket
• Underwear
• Socks, (wool only)
• Hardwearing pants (fast dry, tin cloth, waxed cotton, wool)
• Sturdy Waterproof Boots
• Sandals, water shoes, rubberboots
• Personal medications and wash kit
• Sunglasses, Sun hat, Suncream
• Wool hat, neck gaiter, gloves
• Work gloves
• Head torch (spare batteries or charger/battery pack)
• Swimming clothes

 

Course related Equipment

 

• Sleeping bag ( preferably synthetic rated to a COMFORT level of -6C/21F)
• Tent, tarp or other sleeping shelter for the first few days.
• Full tang sheath knife with sheath that can be worn (see article on knifes. No folding knifes)
• Axe (See article on axes)
• Multitool
• Foldable or sheathed pruning saw.
• A cooking pot (zebra pot or equivalent that can be hung over a fire)
• Plate, bowl, mug, spoon, knife, fork
• A daypack (30 to 40 Litres)
• A notebook (for course related notes)
• A journal
• A camera
• A reading book
• A lighter

Other essentials

• BC fishing license
• Signed waiver, medical form, registration form
• Medical insurance or Health coverage for BC

Optional additional equipment

• Whetstone (medium-fine)
• Metal file
• Drawknife
• Cabinet scrapers
• Carving knifes
• Spoon/curved knife
• Farriers rasp
• Ferrous rods
• Bow and arrows
• Fishing rods
• Canoe and Paddle

Practicalities

Accommodation

For the duration of the course you will be sleeping outside in tents, tarps or shelters of various types. You are welcome to lodge in towns or homes at friends for the weekends when class isn’t in session. You are expected to be in camp from Monday 9am to Friday at 5pm. This is an immersive experience focusing on experiential learning. This won’t happen if you aren’t there to experience it all. You have a home for 10 weeks and it’s on this experience! There is storage facilities in striking distance to store larger amounts of belongings.

 

Food

We will all be living most of the time in a base camp. The camp is equipped with compost toilets a central firepit area and a covered group area. There is food storage boxes where food can be secured from bears.

Food is not provided or cooked for you. We do provide some basic staples in bulk that you are free to use. Fruit, vegetables, meat, fish etc are your responsibility and to source them on the weekends. Time is limited during the camp class days to make a trip to supermarkets. Lunches should be simple packed lunch style prepared ahead of time. Cooking on fires takes time and it would cut into teaching time in the day if everyone cooked lunch.

Bulk foods

Oats

Rice

Lentils

Pasta

Flour

Salt

Sourdough starter, Kombucha Skobi

 

Group Dinner,

Once per week one of the group takes on the task of cooking for everyone else. Each person will have their turn. A healthy filling meal of 2 courses is to expected. This is to focus your attention and creativity on cooking and getting used to doing it for a larger group. The group chef schedule will be made in the first week. The chef for the evening takes on the planning, preparation and execution. Each person uses their own money to create the meal according to their budget. It will be paid back in turn by everyone else during the course. Help to chop veggies, gather firewood etc is expected from the rest of the group.

The same person doing the group dinner will also be responsible for feeding and maintaining the sourdough starter.

 

Alcohol, Cannabis and Tobacco

Alcohol is not permitted at camp whilst the course is in session. Basically meaning no drinking from Monday to Friday.

Tobacco, smoking is allowed at break times and evenings when class is not in session. Cigarette ends need to be fully extinguished and fully disposed of either in the garbage or burnt. Cigarette litter in the forest floor is not tolerated.

Smoking cannabis for medical reasons goes along the same principal as tobacco. With one caveat that you are fully able to participate and function with the activities. Recreational cannabis use is the same as alcohol and is not to be consumed during the week.

Dogs

We love dogs and they can be often a welcome member of the camp. However, picking up dog poo (or not) and incessant barking and chasing away wildlife are some of the barriers for us having dogs in camp.

 

Internet and phones

There is no internet or cellphone signal. We encourage you to take photographs but to leave your phone in airplane mode. This is time to connect to nature and yourself and not with the latest game download or social media. You can do that on the weekend.

 

House keeping

Compost toilet

There is a compost toilet that we all use. Each week someone will be assigned the duty of cleaning and disposing of full buckets. We all use it and therefore we must all take care of it. This is non negotiable. You will be instructed on how to do it all and assigned your week.

Firewood

This is not the responsibility of one person but rather as a collective. If we need firewood and you walk past some dead standing or down you are obliged to help provide it for the fire.

 

 

Curriculum

 

Hard skills

Sheltercraft

•             Large shelters
•             Emergency shelters
•             Tarp shelters
•             Knots

 

Firecraft

•             Lighting methods
•             Ignition fuels
•             Establishment
•             Cooking fires
•             Friction Fires

Hunting/fishing

•             Tracking wildlife and understanding
•             Bow and arrow making and archery
•             Spear fishing
•             Fish traps
•             Basic small game traps and snares

 

Food, cooking and preservation

• Sourdough breads
• Brewing and winemaking
• Making jerky
• Hardtack
• Cooking on fires
• Smoking
• Canning
• Fermenting
• Salting
• Foraging

Crafts

• Basket making – weaving.
• Tanning skins
• Blacksmithing making knifes
• Carving
• Advanced knife skills
• Axe types, usages and skills to fell, limb, split and chop

Wilderness travel

•             Roycroft pack frame
•             Pack baskets
•             Navigation (map and compass)
•             Coracles, Simple crafts

Soft Skills

 

• Group Dynamics
• Team work
• Personal challenges
• Understanding group and individual energy levels
• Proficiency at self care in the woods and on the trail.
• Self awareness and development
• Comfort and familiarization with being remote and in the woods and mountains.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enrollment

Process

To allow for the best fit for this course we ask that you contact us by phone or email to arrange a time for a conversation about yourself, your interests and expectations and it provides you an opportunity to ask your questions and tell your story.

At the same time paying the $1500 deposit allows us to secure your place, materials and necessities for the course.

Final payment is due a month prior to the course starting. This allows us to secure all the instructors, materials, insurance etc for the course to take place.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this course. Having said that, the course is undertaken outside and in the woods. Our bodies and minds are not used to the rigors and demands of living outdoors. A good base level of fitness will make the experience more enjoyable and accessible. Full medical disclosure of any physical and mental health issues are required as part of the application.

Payment

A deposit and the application forms are required to hold your place on the immersion. The final balance is due no later than a month prior to the start of the immersion. Equipment, insurance, booking instructors all need to be purchased so it is ready prior to the start of the immersion as there is limited to know communication during the program.

Bursary

We offer a bursary of 40% tuition to registered Indigenous peoples. This is a part of our way to give back to the peoples of this land. In recognition of the colonial cultural suppression that has been carried out and the systemic suppression that continues. To apply for the bursary please contact us directly.

 

Expectations

I expect everyone to have and treat everyone else with respect. I also expect to hear about it of there are any incidents. I consider name calling, swearing, negative criticism, putting someone down, being rude or generally sassy as unacceptable and abusive.

Any serious incidents will be dealt with in a restorative justice community manner.

We all at times overstep, misspeak or have a bad day. This is a part of being human. What matters is how and what we do about it afterwards.