How To Get Into Bushcraft

I was surprised with the level of interest my recent post about an upcoming intermediate/advanced bushcraft course received.

With quite a few people asking, how to get started with bushcraft skills, survival skills, wilderness sufficiently skills...

The answer is pretty straightforward 🙂

Come do a two-day Bushcraft Skills 1 or a five-day Bushcraft Skills Week. Dates happening in April; then throughout this year.

Both courses are totally beginner friendly, mix of female and male, and not much gear needed.

The other option (if you're lucky enough to have a back garden) is make a small firepit and begin experimenting with bushcraft skills and fire cooking.

There are plenty of resources on YouTube, some bad; some good! And get a book like Collins Gem 'Food For Free'.

However ideally, if you have the time and money, start off with a proper bushcraft training course, so get the basics right.

For Details: info@outdoorsireland.com

Bioluminescence Night Kayaking In Glengarriff Bay, West Cork - National Geographic

Bioluminescence Night Kayaking In Glengarriff Bay, West Cork - National Geographic

Delighted with this mention in National Geographic, about our Bioluminescence Night Kayaking in Glengarriff Bay, West Cork: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/night-kayaking-ireland

This is such a beautiful, and awe-inspiring, trip to run - I never get tired of it :)

Thanks @yvonne.gordon and @natgeotravel

Here are those trip details: https://www.outdoorsireland.com/activities/glengarriff-bay-kayak/

Our regular sea kayaking trips in Glengarriff Bay will be running from mid March onward - and these include sunrise trips, daytime trips and sunset trips.

Our bioluminescence night kayaking trips, in Glengarriff Bay, will be running from 1st May (possibly slightly earlier); as soon as the glittering, glowing, shimmering marine plankton bloom :)

Advanced Bushcraft Training Course On The Radar; For Glengarriff, Cork

Advanced Bushcraft Training Course On The Radar; For Glengarriff, Cork

I have been asked to run a 3day or 4day advanced bushcraft course in Glengarriff; over a Wed/Thurs/Fri, most likely.

 

Either Apr/May time, or Sep/Oct time.

 

Challenging days; and assumed you have a decent level of competence from previous experience.

 

The price for this would be €495 per person, inc food.

 

Course content along the lines of:

1. Within our bushcraft area moving, breaking camp, setting camp each day?

2. Mix of hammock/tarp sleeping and shelter sleeping.

3. Different fire lays; including making and using a dakota fire x 2.

4. Different fire making from spark (bark, sap, lichen, grass, punk, dog end, char cloth)

5. Different shelter lays?

6. Different tarp lays?

7. With different food sources provided to you each day; foraging what we can find, to enhance and bulk out those food sources - such as making 1 potato + half-tin of baked beans per person into a decent and nutritious dinner.

8. Dressing and cooking something like a rabbit. Ideally cooking two rabbits; one on a spit and one as a stew - along with foraged items.

9. Recap of different natural cordages.

10. Recap of knife sharpening.

11. Kayaking into the bay to gather three types of worldwide common shellfish (mussel/limpet/whelk) plus some seaweeds, plus possibly edible jellyfish-if we find them. Cooking this up back at camp; plus cooking with seawater.

 

(While the kayaking will eat into the learning time of one of our days; this is the only way we have to access the shellfish and seaweeds - and these are valuable things to know and have done.

 

Anyone interested, please get in touch, info@outdoorsireland.com, and we can figure consensus dates.

Bushcraft Skills + Survival Skills; Coming Up This Spring, In Glengarriff/Cork

Some Bushcraft Skills dates, and Survival Skills dates, coming up this spring, in Glengarriff/Cork.

Places are available to book.

Depending on the course; we'll be covering things like building shelters, hanging hammocks + tarps, foraging, skinning + cooking rabbits, knife sharpening, making emergency snares + fishing lines, making fire from spark, making proper bread/scones/coffee, sterilising water, dakota fire...

Beginner friendly. All food provided. Sleeping outdoors in the woods at night.

15th-19th Apr : Bushcraft Skills Week : 5 Days

25th-26th Apr : Bushcraft Skills 1 : 2 Days

20th-22nd May : Survival Skills 1 : 3 Days

For Details: info@outdoorsireland.com

Gully Climbing

Gully Climbing, looking down from a little safe haven, partway up a Scottish gully.

Seven S & Seven Snippets

Seven S & Seven Snippets:
These are a couple of things we look at on Lowland Leader Training, and other guide training.
The concepts are the same; whether you are guiding in hiking boots, or from a kayak...


Seven S:
Safety
Session
Surround
Skill
Story
Sally
Space

1. Safety (Covered For Safety)

2. Session (Thorough Session Plan, Inc Allowing For Weather)

3. Surround (Every Aspect Of Client Journey Should Be Awesome, Inc Changing/Briefing/Picnic Spot)

4. Skill (Really Well Taught Key Skill, Plus Extra Skill)

5. Story (Really Well Told Story, Plus Extra Story)

6. Sally (Awesome Journey Off Beaten Track/Into Wilderness/Away From Others)

7. Space (Give Client Space/Peace To Discover/Learn/Lead/Teach)

 

Seven Snippets:

Geography / History / Legend / Plant / Animal / Forage/Medicine / Environment/LNT
(Be Tactile /Don't Talk, Do)

 

Click Here For Upcoming Lowland Leader Training & Assessment Courses

The Avalanches Stop For A Day...

Next Available Training Courses - Mountain Skills + Lowland Leader

Looking ahead; here are our next available training courses, running in Glengarriff...

14th - 15th Mar : Mountain Skills 1
18th - 19th Mar : Mountain Skills 1

21st - 22nd Mar : Lowland Leader Training

25th - 26th Mar : Mountain Skills 2
28th - 29th Mar : Mountain Skills 2

Contact Us
 

Thanks, Nathan - Outdoors Ireland 

Kayak Sailing & Camping

Bar doing a sailing exam; plus figuring food and rabbit logistics for multi-day bushcraft courses; the most intense and stressful job I had in 2025 was setting up this sail for my sea kayak.

 

I'm definitely not an engineer!

 

But so worth it, the extra speed and distance you can get is amazing.

 

Brilliant 3 day camping trip to test it out over the holidays...

 

Thank you to Darrens Kayaks who introduced me to kayak sailing, many years ago now!

 

P&H Sea Kayaks

CH Marine

Lowland Leader Training Course Coming Up

One last Lowland Leader Training Course coming up, in Glengarriff/Cork, on 27th & 28th Dec.
 

Three spots are still available.
 

For Details: info@outdoorsireland.com