Teenagers Fundamental Bushcraft Course

This fantastic teenager only bushcraft course in Appleton,Oxfordshire is a great way for teens to learn outdoors skills. Teens can spend two days and one night in woodland covering the fundamental skills of Bushcraft. Cooking on a campfire, building shelters and woodcraft skills will give them all the survival skills they need for a Bear Grylls style experience. 

This course is designed to promote self responsibility and a responsibility for the environment, within a woodland setting. Parents are welcome to join the course if they wish although we actively encourage teenagers to attend without parental supervision on this course!

Here you will spend two days and one night in our woodlands covering the Fundamental skills of Bushcraft, including Fire lighting and management, campfire cooking, game preparation, shelter building, sleeping in your shelter, tracking skills and woodcraft.

Overnight the males and females will sleep in separate group shelters and our male and female instructors will remain between the two camps for safety considerations.

Itinerary

Here you will spend two days and one night in our woodlands covering the Fundamental skills of Bushcraft, including Fire lighting and management, campfire cooking, game preparation, shelter building, sleeping in your shelter, tracking skills and woodcraft.

Following a safety brief and a short walk into the wood, under the expert guidance of both our male and female instructors the group are introduced to their first challenge of building a completely waterproof shelter out of natural materials.

Upon completion of the shelter we break for a simple lunch to introduce campfire cooking techniques.

The afternoon is spent looking at the different types of wood used for various carving applications, and how to complete projects using sharp edged tools. Our instructors will show you step by step how to select the correct type of wood for your intended project and how to carve spoons, ladles and bowls.

The group will then be provided with a piece of game to prepare which will form the basis of their lunch, this is usually pigeon, pheasant, or rabbit. It will be free range, locally resourced and still in the feather or skin. Under the guidance of the instructor they will learn how to prepare the game for cooking the evening meal. Our instructors will demonstrate how to prepare the ingredients and there will be the opportunity to have a go, working in small groups of 2 or 3 people. This will be cooked either as a stew or a stir fry accompanied by roast vegetables or rice.

This is one of the most popular sessions on the course which many people get a great deal of satisfaction from participating in but if any members wish to observe only this is not a problem. Vegetarian options are available if requested in advance.

Tracking: After dinner the evening will be spent learning the ancient art of tracking. We will develop your stalking skills to allow you to move silently through the woodland. We will walk out into the wood and conduct a “sit spot” to see what wildlife we encounter, we also introduce a night time stalking exercise.

Overnight the males and females sleep in their separate group shelters. Our instructors remain between the two camps for safety considerations, they will be out of site of the groups but within seconds reaching distance should there be concerns through the night, this is done to promote self responsibility.

In the morning we show you how to make and bake your own damper bread, this will be accompanied by eggs and tea or coffee.

We then move on to fire lighting, where you will be shown several different methods for lighting fire using modern materials, chemicals & sparks and flint and steel and we will experiment with the different types of natural tinder available, discovering the advantages and disadvantages to each. Once this has been mastered you will be taught the ancient art of lighting fire by friction – aka rubbing two sticks together! We will then create fire using a group fire bow set. This is a hands on session and everyone will have the opportunity to try out the different techniques and blow tinder bundles into life!

Once again following a light lunch we then begin to look at animal tracks and signs, further deepening your understanding of animal behaviour.

Included / Excluded

All meals included

Fresh Drinking water supplied

Essential Information

Below is a list of items that will be required to undertake the course.Please feel free to bring any other items for your comfort.

Clothing: Your clothing should be suitable for the season, during cold months multiple thin layers are better than one thick layer. You should also bring a spare set to get changed into. Please wear natural colours to improve your chances of spotting wildlife.

Waterproof jacket & trousers

Full finger gloves

Woolly hat : Please also bring a sun hat during spring, summer and autumn courses.

Sensible

Sleeping bag

Roll matt/insulation matt

Drinking water bottle

Knife, fork, spoon, bowl & mug

Cleaning equipment: A household sponge and biodegradable multi purpose soap are ideal.

Torch & spare batteries

Personal hygiene kit:This should include as minimum toothpaste, toothbrush, anti-bacterial wipes, and toilet paper.

Pocket notebook & pencil with eraser

Personal first aid kit:This should include plasters, anti bacterial wipes, insect repellent, UV protection.

Personal medication (e.g. insulin, ventolin etc).

Tea/coffee/dried milk/sugar

Snacks

Rucksack

Please bring all of your kit contained in one rucksack, for guidance a 45-55 litre rucksack should suffice.

Restrictions

No Pets

Suitable for young persons aged 12 - 17 years