top of page
Bushcraft expertise. 
Bushcraft is practiced moderately throughout all seasons. 
Introduction. 
Bushcraft is important to know during long duration spent in the forest. This practice is only done in the treeline, limiting the alpine regions with tundra & no wooded vegetation such as trees or shrubs. Bushcraft is essential to aiding the basecamp or establishing a basecamp & provides many methods of shelter & protection from the precipitation & the wind. 

Essential inventory
- Hatchet or chopping axe. 
- Sawblade. 
- Army shovel. 
- Multi-tool pliers. 

Fortitude classification.
A list showcase of the different methods of shelter.

Wood-crafted shelters.
These designed shelters are solely done with wood from trees & shrubs, making them a very important method throughout all seasons. The denser the forest the more potential  in wood crafting a new or established basceamp. Designs are done with angled tent structures, tipis, elevated beds throughout winter & serve as a ceiling for dugout. A hatchet or sawblade are recomeneded for this practice of bushcraft. 

Underground dugout shelters.
These designed shelters are solely done by digging into the ground & creating a protective shelter from the precipitation & wind, making the army shovel important to completely this method of shelter. Whilst being very effective in the summer, the winter presents a challenge due to frozen ground. These are often topped with wood crafted ceilings to provide extra protection from weather. 

Snow & ice shelters.
Often called igloos or snow forts, are made by forming large mounds of snow & chunks of ice into a shelter to provide protection against severe weather conditions & serve a important purpose in areas that are scarce for wood. Snow forts are very short & efficient ways to create shelters within the alpine making snow forts the only form of shelter in theses regions. Snow shelters are only available during the winter season or rarely in the alpine regions during spring & fall.  

Forest wood biography.
Different species of tree wood & specific larger shrubs provide different strength density and burn either longer or hotter in a fire. 
- Spruce wood - provides great durability to wood crafting, burns very hot in a fire. 
- Pine wood - provides great durability to wood crafting, burns hot in a fire. 
- Aspen wood. - provides moderate durability to wood crafting, burns slower in a fire.
- Poplar wood - provides moderate durability to wood crafting, burns slower in a fire. 
- Birch wood - provides moderate durability to wood crafting, burns very hot in a fire.
- Larch wood - provides mild durability to wood crafting, burns very slow in a fire. 

Fire foundation.
An essential key to creating a basecamp is establishing a fire pit & starting a fire. Not just suited to bushcraft & rather an important skill for every backpacker, still serves as a common practice when wood crafting. Lots of wood during construction of shelter is discarded towards a fire in order to provide a means of cooking & providing additional light or heat within the camp. Fire foundation is important to know & practice during different seasons & forms of weather. 

Kindles.
- Birch bark provides a very flammable source of kindle to starting a fire with either a flint & steel or waterproof matches.The bark is simply peeled off the tree and used within shavings or crushed into a nest to then be sparked. 
- Old man's beard  or bearded lichen is very flammable in large amounts mashed into a nest, making it very versatile with a flint & steel. This form of kindle is found on dead understores of spruce trees. 

Wood fire foundation.
- A tipi or tent set up of small sticks, long dry strips of wood serve best stacked against each other around a burning nest of kindle, allowing the flame to easily spread  and forming a setting pile of coals. 
- A nest like structure placed over a kindle works very well in spreading the flame a provided hot coals for modertaley sized wood. 

Essential firestarters. 
- Flint & steel. 
- Waterproof matches. 
- Firestarter multi-tool. 
- Firestarter flint. 

Bushcraft requires skill & knowledge of how to use tools properly, without proper attention a serious injury is always probable. 
bottom of page