Bushcraft weekend

Bush craft-  ‘Skill at living in the bush'.  As a self confessed city girl, i often wondered how i would cope alone, in the middle of nowhere, without all my daily necessities; make up, phone, laptop etc, how would i feel without my creature comforts and no friends or family to rely on.  So i decided to take the plunge and book myself onto a bushcraft course that was ran in the North West, not too far from home but far enough away so i couldnt escape.

My first point of call was an email to the gentleman who ran the course, within two weeks i was all set and ready to go for a full weekend of bushcraft survival, back pack in hand, walking boots on.   Id arranged to meet the course leader at the edge of the forrest we would be camping in, as we walked to the base camp we had a chat about my expectations and what we would be doing over the weekend.  This particular weekend was warm and sunny,    the courses will run hail, rain or shine so it seemed i had luck on my side for today at least.

The course included: Making and managing fire, fire by friction, axe and knive use, tool maintenance, natural cordage , natural and modern shelters , knots and rope making, water safety and purification, plant and tree identification, sustainable harvesting, wild foods, traps and snares, navigation, ground oven and back woods cooking and water sources to name but a few, it seemed quite daunting at the time the amount of course content we would be covering but i was determined to see the weekend out. 

I was put through my paces throughout the weekend but everything was kept lighthearted, i was tired and pretty grubby by the time i was going home, but felt a great sense of achievement that id succeeded and made it through the whole course.  I was left with a deep understanding and respect of everything bushcraft and survival related, the course was to learn how to live with nature and the elements and while its by no means an easy task and not something id choose to do permanently, i did love the experience and would definitely recommend it to everyone, its a fun weekend and you can learn new skills in the process and if your anything like me, you will surprise yourself at what you can achieve in such a short space of time.