Paracord was and continues to be the go-to cord in bushcraft and survival circles, but I never use it on our courses or expeditions. Instead I use string from the commercial fishing industry; a braided nylon. You can’t take it apart and use the small, inside strings for different things, but it holds up better […]
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Donovan Burgess is the founder of Liquid Sessions Surf, a surfing school and full-service travel company in Pavones, Costa Rica, as well as a Jack Mountain Yearlong Immersion Program alumnus. Through Liquid Sessions Surf, Donovan offers a variety of learn to surf programs, including a month-long immersion into the skills and lifestyle of surfing that includes […]
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Spent the day in the woods with the dog, marking trails and visiting some of my favorite spots including Sandy Beach and the Fairy Bridge over Perry Brook. For the trail map I’ve been working on for over a year, click this link […]
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Two landlocked salmon in a 16″ dutch oven over a fire. On canoe trips where we do a lot of fishing I often bring my 16″ dutch oven because the fish just taste better when cooked in it. Continue Reading...
We were coming down a fast, narrow stream in early spring. On a bend in the stream was a full-width strainer; an obstruction spanning from shore to shore. After a short debate, we opted to cut it rather than unload and carry around it. So we poled a boat out into the current and held […] Continue Reading...
Forest Trees Of Maine is a fantastic guide to the trees of Maine and surrounding areas. If you’re at all interested you should get a copy. Get a free pdf copy through the Maine Forest Service. Order a print copy through the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. Order a print copy through Amazon. […] Continue Reading...
Hot coffee and doughnuts are a great combination, even better when made outside over an open fire. When I was a teenager, two of my friends made up a little song about this amazing combination after getting some of both early one morning at a diner on the way to go ice fishing. All I […] Continue Reading...
Paracord was and continues to be the go-to cord in bushcraft and survival circles, but I never use it on our courses or expeditions. Instead I use string from the commercial fishing industry; a braided nylon. You can’t take it apart and use the small, inside strings for different things, but it holds up better […] Continue Reading...
Hanging a pot over an open fire is a great way to cook outdoors. Over the years we’ve experimented with a wide variety of pot suspension systems and have arrived at four criteria by which to judge them. As we’re often cooking for and with groups of ten or more people, it’s important to note […] Continue Reading...
We’ve got 3 new courses running at the JMBS Folk School in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire in January: The JMBS Axemanship Course, Winter Survival in the North Woods, and The Art & Science of Fire. Each of them is a single day. They run on Saturdays in January (see the Master Calendar). I’ll be posting more […] Continue Reading...
I’ve been rereading some of Bill Riviere’s books lately and am reminded of why I hold his work in such high esteem. A registered Maine guide who worked on the Maine border patrol during World War 2, he was also a prolific writer. Here’s his take on throwing knives from Backcountry Camping: On TV and […] Continue Reading...
I took my daughter to a homeschool workshop at the Remick Museum in Tamworth, NH last Monday. The theme of the class was cooking on the hearth, or cooking on an open fire inside like they would have done in New Hampshire in the mid-1800s. It was a good experience with lots of dutch ovens […] Continue Reading...
I recently had dinner with a few friends, one of whom is an accomplished touring cyclist, and builds his own bikes. As the conversation turned to this particular passion of his, he mentioned that even with all his experience and working knowledge of the sport, he struggles to explain or teach it to others. This […] Continue Reading...
The Brushfire Rendezvous is on the calendar for Friday, October 11 to Sunday, October 13. I don’t have any details yet, but will be working them out. After talking to a few friends, we figured that 100,000 people was too many, so we’ll probably limit it to 40 or so. We’ll be running an introduction […] Continue Reading...
We’ve been discussing the possibility of having a small 3-day rendezvous based around bushcraft and traditional wilderness skills at the field school since 2010. But despite a lot of talk, we’ve never hosted the event. A few weeks ago I was talking with some friends about it again, and after an hour discussing the possibilities, […] Continue Reading...
Donovan Burgess is the founder of Liquid Sessions Surf, a surfing school and full-service travel company in Pavones, Costa Rica, as well as a Jack Mountain Yearlong Immersion Program alumnus. Through Liquid Sessions Surf, Donovan offers a variety of learn to surf programs, including a month-long immersion into the skills and lifestyle of surfing that includes […] Continue Reading...
It’s been almost two months since we released a podcast. In this episode I discuss what we’ve been up to, tell some stories about the history of the folk school, and finish with talking about digital sharecropping, why we’re migrating all of our media to our own sites and why we recommend you do the […] Continue Reading...
In episode 51 of the podcast Christopher and I recap the 2018 season with our youth program, the School Of The Forest, and talk about the Teen Wilderness Living Semester coming in 2019. As part of the discussion, we discuss the difference between wilderness living skills and actually living in the wilderness. It is something […] Continue Reading...
In episode 50 of the Jack Mountain Bushcraft Podcast we discuss listener comments, the role of alcohol on the trail, and how important food and eating well is on expeditions. PHOTO: Newly-carved paddles being used for the first time. Links: The Woods Cook: Outdoor Cooking With A Professional Guide by Tim Smith iTunes Link | […] Continue Reading...
Episode 49 of the Jack Mountain Bushcraft Podcast is all about expedition behavior and leadership. Expedition behavior is outdoor education-speak for working as a team. On a chilly Saturday morning in the Guide Shack Tim, Christopher and Colin were joined by Blake Towsley for a discussion on good and bad leadership and how leadership skills […] Continue Reading...
Spent the day in the woods with the dog, marking trails and visiting some of my favorite spots including Sandy Beach and the Fairy Bridge over Perry Brook. For the trail map I’ve been working on for over a year, click this link. Continue Reading...
We’ve had a lot of interest in our March, 2019 trip to northern Quebec where we’ll live with our Cree friends David and Anna Bosum. We’ll be immersed in Cree culture for a week, learning about how they live. This video is an update on the trip, as well as a recommended reading list. For […] Continue Reading...
Choosing tools for winter programs with the Jack Mountain Bushcraft School in Maine and points north. In the video we look at criteria for choosing a useful axe, knife and saw for the winter trail based on year of experience guiding snowshoe trips. Specific gear looked at includes: Axes from Pole & Paddle Canoe Axe […] Continue Reading...
Members of the fall Wilderness Bushcraft Semester cooling off in the lake on a recent trip. Underwater basket weaving is something that people who know nothing about basketry or working with your hands often joke about, mistakenly thinking they’re being clever. The reality is that basket making is hard work, and a worthwhile craft to […] Continue Reading...
Check out our new 18-foot yurt-dome; the Jack Vegas Casino & Ballroom located at fabulous Moose Vegas. We’ll be outfitting it with a woodstove and lots of casino-style games in the near future. Continue Reading...
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We’re a bushcraft, guide training and wilderness expedition school founded in 1999. We help people become more self-reliant and connected to the natural world using traditional skills and a few simple tools. This is our media hub, consisting of our blog, podcasts and videos.
