Simple Wilderness/Bushcraft Fire Setup

Setting A Campfire?

Here's A Nice Way To Go About It:

1. Big wet log or stump at back of fire (downwind side of fire). This contains the fire, prevents spread, reflects back a little heat and may well give you some red embers in morning. Depending on the shape of your back log - you may be able to sit a pot to simmer, as in first photo.

2. Smaller log at front of fire, again to contain fire, and cut down on fuel wastage.

3. Pyramid lay or teepee lay to your sticks to get fire going and initially roaring up.

4. Two to four long logs in fire, placed in from sides. This is called a star lay. As the fire fully catches and your star logs burn nicely, you can simply push them in to keep fire going, or increase heat. Or pull the star logs apart to slow down fire. See second photo especially for this.

Bushcraft & Wilderness Training For New TV Production

Just finished two great days work with Troy Studios; bushcraft and wilderness training for a new tv production.

Last Training Courses Of 2019

As the oak trees turn brown, the beech trees turn yellow, and the swallows slip away; we're on the final countdown! Here are our four training courses left in 2019:

Mountain Skills 1 : Killarney/Kerry : 2nd & 3rd Nov

Bushcraft Skills 1 : Glengarriff/Cork : 16th & 17th Nov

Mountain Skills 1 : Kinvara/Galway : 7th & 8th Dec

Mountain Skills 2 : Glengarriff/Cork : 14th & 15th Dec

Contact Nathan For More Details

Broken Finger & Useful Mittens

Had a student with a broken finger on a recent bushcraft course. Cleaned it with plenty of clean water, then couple of plasters over the wound, and some surgical tape to splint broken finger to a good finger. Thankfully he wasn't in much pain - fair play to you Gavin!

Obviously spare/emergency gloves and spare/emergency hat in your backpack should be pretty standard - hopefully! But you can see here the bonus of using mittens instead of gloves. Imagine trying to fit a broken/splinted finger into a pair of regular gloves. These were €10 lidl mittens. Mittens are a super way to keep an injured hand warm and protected once first aid has been done.

People often say to me that mittens are clumsy, but I've found with practice most things still possible, including tying laces, tying knots and sending a text message!

Forest & Jungle Navigation Skills Weekend - Bushcraft Navigation

Places available for a Forest Skills 1 this weekend in Glengarriff/West Cork. This two-day, complete beginner friendly, course covers navigation skills using bushcraft methods and natural methods.

Learn to navigate in forest, jungle and moorland using things like the sun, wind, clouds, animals, cobwebs... Also some nice compass skills while crawling through undergrowth, using your nose, making progress blindfolded, and more.

For details contact Nathan on 086 860 45 63 or info@outdoorsireland.com.

Bushcraft Skills 1 This Weekend - One Place Available

One spot is still available for a Bushcraft Skills 1 this coming weekend in Killarney (19th & 20th). Weekend is beginner friendly and will give you the skills to build a shelter, sleep outdoors, make fire from spark, cook on a fire and an intro to foraging for food. Plus how to make water safe for drinking.

More Details Here: http://www.outdoorsireland.com/bushcraftsurvival.php
Click Here To Get In Touch: http://www.outdoorsireland.com/contact.php

Summer Mountaineering Or Scrambling - How To Get There

I meet a lot of experienced and accomplished hill walkers, wanting to get more adventurous in terms of ridges and scrambles; be able to pack a rope into the mountains and use it; but unsure how to get there. Basically moving into what we call 'Summer Mountaineering' or 'Scrambling'.

These are usually the three points they need to sort out:

A. Their backpack is usually too small and their gear is usually too minimal. A lot more backup gear/emergency gear needs to be carried (http://outdoorsireland.blogspot.com/2016/06/what-kit-to-carry-in-mountains.html). Yes your backpack gets heavier - but you get self sufficient!

B. They do not see enough of the risks and dangers around them; like rope damage, loose rock, less than ideal anchors, the need for (safe) speed, a climber above you dislodging rocks, slippy grass ramps, traverses above big exposure.

C. 13 Clear Cut Skills:

1. Anchor Choice

2. Anchor Placement

3. Rope Flake/Coil/Knots

4. Body Belay Climb

5. Body Belay Lower

6. Ascending A Pitch

7. Descending A Pitch

8. Placing Runners

9. Communication

10. Equipment

11. Retrievable Classic Abseil

12. Retrievable Full Abseil

13. Moving Together

Get these three big things sorted - and you become a mountaineer or scrambler!

Mountain Skills 2, Killarney Lakes Kayaking, Glengarriff Bay Sea Kayaking - All Upcoming

Upcoming Places:

Killarney Lakes Kayaking : Sat 5th @ 2pm

Killarney Lakes Kayaking : Wed 9th @ 930am

Glengarriff Bay Sea Kayaking : Fri 11th @ 10am

Mountain Skills 2 (Killarney) : Sat 12th-Sun 13th @ 930am

Killarney Lakes Kayaking : Sun 13th @ 230pm

Please Contact Nathan For More Details

Learn To Rock Climb Training Course Coming Up - In Gap Of Duloe, Kerry

If you have always wanted to try rock climbing; or learn how to rock climbing properly, safely and well; we have a two-day Learn To Rock Climb Course happening in the spectacular Gap of Dunloe on Fri 27th & Sat 28th Sep.

Places available, beginner friendly and all gear provided: http://www.outdoorsireland.com/rockclimbing.php

Killarney Lakes Kayaking - Special Offer

Great weather forecast next few days!

To celebrate the autumn arrival (and get some last minute bookings!) our Killarney Lakes Kayaking is half price from this Fri 13th to Wed 18th. So €30pp instead of €60pp for a half-day kayak trip.

To avail of this you need to mention this offer when you book with Nathan please.

Click Here To Book