Friday, May 17. 2019
On this episode I show you how to build a cold smoker from an old pedal bin before running it through a couple of beta tests. This video was inspired by YouTube channel 'English Country Life' and their excellent series on how to home cure bacon.
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Sunday, April 28. 2019
A trip to Loch Tummel to spend the Easter weekend with friends.
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Sunday, March 17. 2019
Perhaps a slightly overdramatic title, but sometimes things just don't quite pan out the way you intended.
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Tuesday, March 12. 2019
On this episode I run through my kit list for a forthcoming 4 to 5 day trip, go on a little woodland recce to try scope out a suitable location for building a bushcraft shelter, and showcase my wood roaster & kettle smoker.
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Monday, February 25. 2019
On this episode of 'The Bushcraft Bothier' I go on a little recce to scope out an alleged bushcraft camp and shelter that is rumoured to exist in some local woodlands, in an effort to get a few ideas of what might be involved in a potential future project of my own.
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Wednesday, February 6. 2019
The Cateran Trail is a 103 kilometre (64 mile) circular walking route in central Scotland. The trail has no official beginning or end and can be joined at any stage. The route was established, way-marked and is now maintained by, the Perth & Kinross Countryside Trust. A variety of terrain is covered by the trail including farmland, mountains and forest. The path itself follows old drovers' roads, minor paved roads and farm tracks and can be walked in four or five days. It is now designated as one of Scotland's Great Trails by Scottish Natural Heritage. As of 2018 it was estimated that around 8,000 people were using the trail each year.
The trail is named after the Caterans: groups of highlanders who from the 1300s until the 1600s supplemented their subsistence income by rustling cattle from the relatively prosperous glens before driving them back to the upland areas. It goes without saying that those living in the glens did not appreciate the activities of the Caterans and raids were often followed by running battles with many killed as cattle owners tried to recover their livestock.
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Friday, January 4. 2019
There are many ways to spend the transition from one year to the next. Some people go to the pub, others spend it with close family and friends. For me, I opted for a two night winter camp at Loch Tummel where I pitched my teepee tent and centrally heated it with an Aladdin Blue Flame Paraffin Heater.
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Monday, December 31. 2018
It's that time of year again when I feel the urge to get out of Dodge and escape the excessive consumerism that has sadly become Christmas. On this episode I catch a cold, eat lots of steak, slow cook a leg of lamb on top of the bothy stove, talk about my wood processing tools, and listen to an audiobook about 'The Skinwalker'. This video is concluded with a nice little time-lapse of my walk out on Boxing Day using my new GoPro Hero 7 Black. So join me, ladies and gentlemen, for my 2018 Xmas Avoidance Strategy (or 'Brexmas' as I have come to refer to it) and maybe next year you too will make the decision to escape what has ultimately become nothing other than a huge commercial anti-climax.
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Thursday, November 8. 2018
After saving a pile of cash from undergoing the Sober October ordeal, I recently decided to invest in a new action camera: the GoPro Hero 7 Black. So, in order to test it out I decided to take it on a solo overnighter to a remote Scottish bothy. All the footage was shot at 2.7k as I wasn't sure how long the memory card would last, however, in retrospect I probably should've shot everything in 4k to get a better idea of the quality. You may however notice that I made a bit of a schoolboy error near the end of the video by forgetting that I'd been playing around with the zoom function, however, all in all, I'm pretty happy with the footage captured, especially the quality of the audio which has been a bone of contention for me in all my previous videos.
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Sunday, October 28. 2018
A little intro/preview video I put together to help promote my YouTube channel. Note: Music is written and performed by Lung (a band I played bass for during the late 1990s).
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Monday, October 8. 2018
On this episode of 'The Bushcraft Bothier' I deviate somewhat from my usual format of wild camping and visiting remote mountain bothies, to bring you a 101 on baking sourdough bread.
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Tuesday, October 2. 2018
A two-nighter at one of my favourite mountain bothies - where spoons were carved, cheeseburgers were munched and social anxiety was discussed.
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Monday, August 20. 2018
A two-nighter involving a wild woodland hammock camp followed by a bothy and a spot of unsuccessful fishing.
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Wednesday, July 11. 2018
A three day solo adventure involving me burning my fingers, wild camping and bagging my 100th bothy.
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Monday, July 9. 2018
Many moons ago I played bass guitar in a band called Jonestown. Recently I acquired a rare recording of our first ever gig at The Bongo Club in Edinburgh (circa 2003), where we supported The Starry Wisdom Cult.
All music and lyrics written and performed by Jonestown.
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Thursday, June 7. 2018
A three day solo adventure into the Scottish wilderness to scope out a couple of bothies and spend an evening wild hammock camping.
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Sunday, May 20. 2018
Creating an ember from friction using an elderberry bow drill.
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Sunday, May 13. 2018
'I'm Scared of It All' is a poem written by Robert William Service.
This poem is spoken through someone that feels trapped in "the haste and the waste of it all", meaning civilisation. The first stanza voices the speaker's distaste of the "terrible town" and all of the big flashy aspects of society. Then, in the second stanza, he talks of the solitude and rawness of different aspects of the wild and states, "I know that I'm safer up there". Throughout the third stanza, the reader gets a description of the unfriendly faces of society and how lonely the speaker feels despite the crowds surrounding him. This is followed by another stanza illustrating the highlights of nature and then two criticising society's materialism. In the final stanzas, the speaker concludes that, "nature is best after all" and decides to abandon civilisation for the wild.
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Monday, April 30. 2018
A circular five day hiking trip through Scotland's Cairngorms exploring the mountain bothies in the region.
Cairngorms National Park is located in northeast Scotland. Officially established as a park in 2003, it is Britain’s largest National Park and located within the heart of the Scottish Highlands. The park has a large upland plateau, and is categorised as a “protected landscape” which allows for limited development within its borders.
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Wednesday, April 18. 2018
Video documenting my April 2018 attempt of the Cape Wrath Trail.
The trail chewed me up and spat me out of course, but my unfinished business with this hike may be tackled again sooner than expected.
The Cape Wrath Trail (CWT) is a hiking route that runs through the Scottish Highlands and along the west coast of Scotland.
Depending on the route taken it can be well over 200 miles in length and is considered to be one of the most challenging long distance walks in the UK. Despite not being an officially recognised National Trail it has grown to be one of the most highly regarded backpacking routes, attracting hikers from around the world.
Officially the trail is not endorsed by the Scottish Natural Heritage and it is not waymarked or signposted. Facilities along the trail are also minimal and it covers some of the remotest parts of mainland Britain.
The CWT is also part of the International Appalachian Trail (IAT) and with many remote mountain bothies en route, it is a bothy bagging extravaganza.
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Thursday, January 4. 2018
Tuesday, November 7. 2017
Friday, August 25. 2017
A midweek trip to one of my favourite off-grid locations, where I attempt friction fire by bow drill for the very first time...
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Tuesday, July 4. 2017
Traditional fire-lighting skills at a remote Scottish bothy...
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Tuesday, June 27. 2017
A four day solo mountain bike adventure into wild and rural parts of Scotland, exploring bothies and places I'd never been to before...
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Saturday, June 3. 2017
With all intentions to spend a solo overnighter at a little lean-to shelter I recently built in the woods, disappointment quickly set in upon discovering that someone had torn it down...
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Thursday, May 11. 2017
The first stages of me building a little lean-to shelter at my bug out location...
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Wednesday, April 5. 2017
An overnight wild hammock camp in the woods, followed by an afternoon in search of a future bug out location...
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Sunday, March 19. 2017
Here's my latest video upload: an overnight recce at a new location. Topics up for discussion include Death, Scottish Independence, Misanthropy, the 'Alone' series, and the imagined joy of seeing Piers Morgan and Katie Hopkins being hit by a double-decker bus.
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