Friday, January 4. 2019
The Bushcraft Bothier - Hogmanay Hot Tent Hack
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.
Monday, December 31. 2018
The Bushcraft Bothier - Xmas Avoidance Strategy 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.
Thursday, November 8. 2018
The Bushcraft Bothier - Remote Overnighter Testing The GoPro Hero 7 Black
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.
Sunday, October 28. 2018
The Bushcraft Bothier - Channel Preview
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).
Monday, October 8. 2018
The Bushcraft Bothier - Baking Sourdough 101
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.
Tuesday, October 2. 2018
The Bushcraft Bothier - Spoon Carving, Cheeseburgers & Social Anxiety
A two-nighter at one of my favourite mountain bothies - where spoons were carved, cheeseburgers were munched and social anxiety was discussed.
Monday, August 20. 2018
The Bushcraft Bothier - Wild Woodland Hammock Camp
A two-nighter involving a wild woodland hammock camp followed by a bothy and a spot of unsuccessful fishing.
Wednesday, July 11. 2018
The Bushcraft Bothier - Wild Camp & 100th Bothy
A three day solo adventure involving me burning my fingers, wild camping and bagging my 100th bothy.
Monday, July 9. 2018
Jonestown @ The Bongo Club 2003
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.
Thursday, June 7. 2018
The Bushcraft Bothier - Bothy Bagging & Hammock Camping
A three day solo adventure into the Scottish wilderness to scope out a couple of bothies and spend an evening wild hammock camping.
Sunday, May 13. 2018
The Bushcraft Bothier - I'm Scared Of It All
'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.
Monday, April 30. 2018
The Bushcraft Bothier - Mountain Bothies Of The Cairngorms
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.
Wednesday, April 18. 2018
The Bushcraft Bothier - Cape Wrath Trail
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.
Friday, August 25. 2017
The Bushcraft Bothier - Cabin Fever
A midweek trip to one of my favourite off-grid locations, where I attempt friction fire by bow drill for the very first time...
Tuesday, June 27. 2017
The Bushcraft Bothier - Four Day Solo Mountain Bike Adventure
A four day solo mountain bike adventure into wild and rural parts of Scotland, exploring bothies and places I'd never been to before...
Saturday, June 3. 2017
The Bushcraft Bothier - The Best Laid Plans
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...
Thursday, May 11. 2017
The Bushcraft Bothier - Shelter Building
The first stages of me building a little lean-to shelter at my bug out location...
Wednesday, April 5. 2017
The Bushcraft Bothier - Wild Hammock Camp
An overnight wild hammock camp in the woods, followed by an afternoon in search of a future bug out location...
Sunday, March 19. 2017
The Bushcraft Bothier - Unfamiliar Territory
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.
Tuesday, February 28. 2017
Introducing The Bushcraft Bothier
I've decided to start video documenting my off-grid trips. Still much to learn with the filming and editing process - plus there's a few schoolboy errors in this episode - but the quality should improve with time and experience.
Here's a recent trip I took into the Scottish wilderness to spend a night at one of my favourite bothies...
Monday, January 9. 2017
Xmas Avoidance Strategy 2016
As someone who utterly despises everything and anything to do with the dreaded Retailmas, I once again took to the wilderness for the safe and sane option of blissful isolation...
Tuesday, March 1. 2016
Coming Soon: 'Magick Without Fear - The Gerald Suster Letters'
A sneak peak at a cover concept I have for Magick Without Fear - The Gerald Suster Letters which I hope to release before the summer 2016:
Sunday, February 28. 2016
Decentralisation: An Evolutionary Biologist's Standpoint
One thing that rarely gets expressed by the Corporate Controlled Media is that Scottish Nationalism is in essence Civic Nationalism, meaning that it is inclusive of different cultural backgrounds and that the only nationalistic element of it is the acceptance that Scotland is made up of people from all corners of the globe but needs its independence in order to survive and flourish. In order for a country to function as a successful decentralised organism it is imperative that it is able to generate its own wealth, use its own resources, and trade the excesses of these resources successfully with other decentralised organisms for the resources in which it lacks but requires for a healthy and fruitful society. It’s how biology has evolved over the millennia and decentralisation will happen to humans if we are to evolve. I found this video interview a year or so ago with an evolutionary biologist whilst researching something that was completely unrelated to politics. I was stunned by the common sense expressed regarding the importance of decentralisation within evolutionary biology, and the parallels between how the human body operates and the clear way in which the world as a global society needs to operate if we are to survive as a species...
Saturday, October 24. 2015
'Geriatric X' - A Work In Progress
Here's a sneak preview of a cover concept that I have for my current work in progress:
Friday, October 23. 2015
'Bothy Culture' Now Available On Kindle
My book, Bothy Culture, is now available to buy on Amazon Kindle. (Amazon book listing).
Sunday, May 11. 2014
Rooftop Revolutionaries
I've always been a sucker for a good doomy Black Sabbath-esque riff, especially when it's accompanied with powerful female vocals (the greatly underrated Sumo album by The Superjesus springs instantly to mind), but what makes Rooftop Revolutionaries unique is the air of political activism that is present at the forefront of all of the band's lyrics.
Amongst all the tasteless, wishy-washy, celebrity obsessed posturing of much of today's musicians, it is so refreshing to stumble upon a young rock band with a purpose other than to become famous and make a shitload of cash.
The following track 'Folk Devils' sealed the deal for me and I instantly bought their album Resolute from huge corrupt corporate retailer Amazon after hearing it (I haven't 'bought' an album in ages - unfortunately sometimes you gotta use The Man to get the message out I guess)...