I recently vacated Texas and made the jump for home in Aroostook County, Maine. We have a 15 passenger van for getting people onto canoe trips, hauling trailers, etc. Last fall I took out a bunch of seats, put a cot in the back, and lived like a king while traveling. #vanlife I took it [...]

Last video from the the Texas/Mexico border, video 6 of 6. #FullTangLifestyle

More good times on the Texas/Mexico border, video 5 of 6. We are on the lower portion of the river now, and the canyons are not as tall. We haven’t seen any sign of people since the put in. #FullTangLifestyle

More good times on the Texas/Mexico border, video 4 of 6. #FullTangLifestyle

More good times on the Texas/Mexico border, video 3 of 6. #FullTangLifestyle

Sorry for the excessive wind noise as I know it is annoying. It can also be a bit annoying to paddle into that wind for 7 days. #FullTangLifestyle

Beginning of the journey. At the put-in of the Rio Grande lower canyons trip. The video is a little weird, as I was playing around with stabilizing the footage in the editing software. #FullTangLifestyle

An evening camp scene from our first night on the Rio Grande lower canyons trip. It was a big stone beach that backed up to a small field, and only a few miles from the put-in. We had great sunset light here, as well as room to spread out. Because the water contained a lot [...]

Recently I joined up with two almuni in west Texas to canoe the 83-mile lower canyons of the Rio Grande river. We put in at Heath Canyon Ranch near La Linda, and paddled/poled/dragged 83 miles downriver to Dryden Crossing. It was a hard trip, marked by low water levels and headwinds, but the scenery was [...]

I was off the grid for a while recently, came home to finish some documentation for an ongoing project, and had to do some research on outfitters in Maine. Several had listed themselves as the “premier” outfitter in Maine. What does this mean? I don’t begrudge anyone for a bit of self-promotion; it comes with [...]

I’m en route to west Texas to rendezvous with a few old friends. We’re going to meet at Monahans Sandhills State Park (where one of our party is the honcho), spend the night discussing tales of derring-do around a fire, then get up and head south to the border. The put-in for the trip through [...]

We’ve had a bunch of registrations recently and I wanted to let people know where we are with regard to available spots in our spring, summer and fall immersion programs for 2024. 2 Spots Remaining. Spring Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester (4-weeks) 2 Spots Remaining. Summer Wilderness Bushcraft Semester (9-weeks) 4 Spots Remaining. Fall Wilderness Bushcraft [...]

I have updated my contact info our our Contact page. As time has gone by, the phone has become less and less useful to me. Spam texts, spam calls, dealing with Google Voice, etc., have all made it a less-than-pleasant experience. More like an annoyance. So in a bid for simplification and to avoid the [...]

It can be expensive to buy all the gear you need to participate in outdoor activities, especially when you’re starting from scratch. If you’re coming to the field school, you can rent most of the camping gear needed to participate. This is a great option for those coming for a few days to a few [...]

I’m adding a stop on my trip north after the Rio Grande trip in March; A Buffalo river trip in Arkansas in April. In 2008 we had a student on a semester course who lived off the grid near the Buffalo river in Arkansas. When we were out on the Allagash he told me several [...]

I don’t like to comment on gear until I’ve had it for a few years and used it hard. And I am wary of gear reviews on the internet. Now, after several hard years of use, I’m ready to spill the beans on something I bring with me on all trips. (Note: I don’t get [...]

We are (slightly) changing the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester for 2024. First, we’re adding a new subtitle to reflect what the course is, the Maine Guide Traditional Canoe Expedition Leadership 4-Week Training Course. I considered changing the course name, but we’ve been running this program for a lot of years, and changing the title would [...]

Sometimes you get to a campsite on a remote river and the firewood has been picked over. Especially if it has been used for a while. But there is almost always firewood on the other side of the river. In this (grainy) photo, I’m transporting a canoe full of firewood for the night’s cook fire [...]

It’s been ten years since Brian Kevin’s article The Survivors, about military veterans attending the Wilderness Bushcraft Semester, was published in DownEast Magazine. Of all the media coverage we’ve had over the years, this article is my favorite. The author came and camped with us, got to know the people he was writing about, and [...]

Recently someone asked me if I had ever paddled the Big Black river. It is a major tributary to the St. John, flowing in across the border from Quebec. It joins the St. John just below the appropriately-named Big Black Rapids. I told them not only had I been down it, but it was written [...]

I learned a new term yesterday for something we have been doing for five years. The term is Daylight Drive, and it is used to describe an off-grid solar power system that doesn’t include batteries. When you are charging off of our solar panels at the field school, we recommend that you bring your own [...]

We’re currently in the planning stages of a canoe trip through the Lower Canyons of the Rio Grande river along the Texas/Mexico border. A few friends did this several years ago, and I’m really excited about it. We’ve got dates on the calendar for mid-March, and we’re currently looking at shuttles, prepping gear, etc. I [...]

You can follow us on the Fediverse at: @blog.jackmtn.com@blog.jackmtn.com I’m not usually one to prognosticate about the future of the web, but I am often thinking about how to make our stuff available to our audience, and to give good advice to our students and those just starting out running a business. For years I [...]

I just read The Compost Toilet Handbook by Joseph Jenkins. If you are coming to the field school you shoulld read it because this is the dry toilet system we’ve been using since 1996. I still recommend that teacher read the humanure handbook as well, but this book separates out the how-to information from the [...]

Nesting bowl for the JMBS Pot System. More about it in this blog post. And here’s a link to the bowl, available in many stores. Update 3/15/24: I bought a second bowl and the two nest perfectly in the 2-quart pail. #FullTangLifestyle

The JMBS pot system is designed to be functional and economical. The biggest item lacking is a properly-sized bowl for eating out of that nests with the rest of the kit, because the 6-inch pie tins, while they work great as pot lids, are not sized well for use as an eating bowl for an [...]

When I first met Mors Kochanski in 1996 he showed those of us on the course his collection of books. He had a lot of them. At the time he had been teaching a course for the University of Alberta for 25 years or so, had written extensively, and was a lifelong student of everything [...]

The woods are white now, covered in snow. Watching the changing moods, the changing light of the natural world has been one of my lifelong passions. I work to become a better photographer in order to share what I see, but the images my eyes see are often not well-represented with what my camera sees. [...]

It has snowed off and on for the last five days, and as I’m writing this it is -6 degrees F and there is 8 inches of fresh snow on the ground. Winter has definitely arrived, and I’m getting excited for winter programs in February. This photo was taken a while back, showing a line [...]

Learning how to wash your clothing by hand with limited or no infrastructure, such as when on a long expedition or living off the grid for a length of time, is a useful skill to learn. It is one we are adding to our long-term programs because as the years go by, fewer and fewer [...]

Recorded on November 20, 2023. We just wrapped up the field school season, and in this episode I look back and reflect on the experiments we ran during 2023. I discuss the Expedition Instructor (XI) as a continuous 6-month, residential program, moving the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester back to May and the high waters of [...]

Maybe the rest of the world is catching on. Here’s a link to an article about the use of human urine as fertilizer to contribute to food security: phys.org. From the article, :”Urine contains nitrogen and phosphorus, two essential nutrients for plant growth. Urine can thus serve as an almost cost-free and locally available nutrient [...]

Many of our alunmi have become Registered Maine Guides. A guide license is necessary in Maine to receive any form of payment for your services in the field. It is a state license which is granted at the end of a testing process. In recent years students on long courses have tried to get all [...]

The USDA recently updated it’s hardiness zone map with data from the last few years, and northern Maine is getting warmer. On the older maps, Masardis was zone 3B. On the updated map, we’re zone 4A. It’s an indicator of changing times. It also opens us up to a wider variety of perennials we can [...]

From the spring. We went up to our local lake for some paddling and Maine IFW was stocking remote trout ponds by float plane. They would load the young trout from a stock truck into the floats of the plane, then it would fly off and dump them in the ponds. Since I was a [...]

Out on a grey November day foraging for sunchokes. #FullTangLifestyle

It has been cold and snowy in Aroostook County this week for the Autumn Woodsman course. We’re past the halfway mark on the course, and thus far we have covered a lot of ground, including axemanship, fire making and management, fire by friction, navigation, hot tents and stoves, woodstove lighting and management, and a bunch [...]

My wood canvas canoe, rigged up and ready for the carry around Allagash Falls. Notice this canoe has a center thwart, not a carved yoke. Notice how the paddles are tied to the thwarts so that when it is carried, the weight of the boat is distributed by the paddle blades onto the shoulders as [...]

A young moose by the pond at the field school. #FullTangLifestyle #Maine #AroostookCounty

A small shelter next to a long fire, spending the night with no sleeping bag in the cold. The details all matter: The size of the fire, the quality of the fuel, the width of the bed, the distance from the edge of the fire to the back of the shelter, the overhead volume of [...]

One of the shelters students spend the night in on the Wilderness Bushcraft Semester is one with no insulation, just a fire to keep warm. This image is from that night a few weeks ago. It is a great learning experience with regard to the use of fire to keep warm, the science involved with [...]

Canoes on the beach on the Allagash, high and dry and ready for night. #FullTangLifestyle

A misty morning on a northern Maine lake poling canoes. #FullTangLifestyle

I’m currently in Austin, Texas for a week visiting family. My son is a freshman in the film program at the University of Texas at Austin. Today a film of his is being shown at the Austin Film Festival as part of their Young Filmmakers Competition. So I’m spending the day as a proud father [...]

I was interviewed on CNN last night, on the show Laura Coates Live. They wanted a Registered Master Maine Guide and survival instructor perspective on the fugitive from the Lewiston shootings, potentially hiding out in the woods. It was an interesting experience. Here’s how things like this work, or at least how it worked for [...]

Using a compass to take a bearing in the field. #FullTangLifestyle

A brief respite from the rain and bugs in the form of a navigation exercise with map and compass in the Guide Shack on the summer, 2023 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. #FullTangLifestyle

The parking lot is empty. The people are on their way to Austria, England, Thailand, California, Colorado, Illinois, etc., A day to clean up camp a bit before I hit the road for Texas to see my family. We had a great finish to the fall, 2023 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester with three new Journeyman certificate [...]

Tessa was meditating on the edge of the forest, holding her knife and spoon she was carving tight to her hands with her magical powers. Someone walked up and snapped a photo while she was deep in meditation. #FullTangLifestyle

It is Friday of week 8 (of 9) on the fall, 2023 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. Everyone has been hard at work and the finish line is coming into view. What remains to finish are some practical exams, the solo, and a night spent in front of a fire with no sleeping bag or blanket. The [...]

This photo is 10 years old and was taken on a -20 F day with a stiff breeze while we were out on the Boreal Snowshoe Expedition. It was a great group of people and a few of the guys got it in mind to take a “tasteful nude” photo with the toboggans. So they [...]

We’re at peak foliage in northern Maine right now. The nights are cooling off and it feels like fall. I have been seeing a lot of animals as they get ready for the cold season. Yesterday morning I jumped a deer while riding my bike, and in the evening I saw a lynx crossing the [...]

I picked up a new piece of software called Retrobatch that batch processes photos and went through all the old hard drives full of photos to make an archive. My rough count is around 37,000 images that I’ve shot over the years. Not all of them are mine; maybe 1000 were taken by others, but [...]

On a fall, 2023 trip, paddling a 20-footer while kneeling. #FullTangLifestyle

First canoe trip of the fall, 2023 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester with new canoe paddles. Lots of water this year.

Last week we were out on the St. Croix river, which forms the border between the USA and Canada. We had a great week of high water, peak foliage, and warm water. It isn’t often that you get to swim every day of an October canoe trip, but we did. As we begin week 8, [...]

Congratulations to the newest Registered Maine Guide, our own Tessa Storey. Wear that patch with pride because it was earned. We are all proud of you. #fulltanglifestyle

Today is halfway day for the fall, 2023 semester. To celebrate it we are heading out on the Aroostook river for a few days in canoes. We have had the wettest September I remember, and the rivers in northern Maine are near or at spring flood levels. This means that traveling downstream will be easy, [...]

Dutch ovens have been difficult to find since the pandemic took over American life. Because we design our gear list to provide you with useful items, not just things that will get put in an “outdoor gear” box and collect dust, we’re changing our recommendation for a dutch oven for students. In short, we’re removing [...]

We’re adding the Autumn Woodsman, session 2, to our schedule for this November. This course is a great introduction to living in the cold, but without the difficulties that deep snow and deep, midwinter cold can bring. The weather in northern Maine in November can be quite cold, but usually we do not have enough [...]

This morning the parking lot is empty for the first time in 14 weeks. We finished the summer Wilderness Bushcraft Semester with three people receiving their Journeyman Certification. It was a challenging course. June started cold and rainy, then got very hot, humid and buggy. But it was a solid group of people and they [...]

We bought an inexpensive drone this past winter and have been getting some aerial photographs. This image is shot directly above Moose Vegas, looking toward the pond, Guide Shack, big field and the river on the right. We are excited to get better at using it so as to get some great canoe expedition photos.

On expeditions and long courses there are many things we have no control over. These include, but are not limited to, water level, weather, wind, bugs, etc., and the list goes on and on. I frequently tell our students that we are not in control when we head out into the woods or on the [...]

We’ve reached halfway day on the summer Wilderness Bushcraft Semester course. We’ve been busy with camp projects and making things, and today everyone will be bringing their newly-made canoe paddles and poles out on a three-day trip. I love it when a group of individuals become a team, and that’s the point of the course [...]

Recorded on June 26th, 2023, this is a stab at a new format for the JMB Podcast; doing it solo. The topic for the day is differentiating between professional training and personal enrichment. We embrace both styles of program, but they are definitely not the same thing. The student has to decide what they want [...]

I’ve guided a lot of trips over the years, and some stand out in my mind, often because everything didn’t go as planned. Like the one in this picture. It was the second week of June, 2018, and a small group of friends and I were on the Gaspé peninsula in Quebec, coming down the [...]

This time of the year days are long here. First light this morning was at 4:01 am, and last light is at 9:10 pm. That is a great thing, because there is a lot of stuff to get done. We’re starting week 3 of the Wilderness Bushcraft Semester (session 1) today, and have a full [...]

Beginning canoe paddle carving on the Wilderness Bushcraft Semester.

Update on Thursday of week 2 of the summer, 2023 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. We’re on the river practicing poling.

In the photo is my kit for snowshoe expeditions and winter camping excursions in northern Maine and further north. Starting in the bottom right is my axe, a 3.25 lb. head on a 30″ handle. Moving clockwise to the left is my 3-strake toboggan for hauling everything. I made this one a while back out [...]

It has been a cold and wet start to June in northern Maine. To keep things in perspective I will occasionally look at this picture from a few winters ago when the thermometer in my truck registered negative forty degrees below zero. This is the spot where the F (freedom) and C (Canadian) scales cross.

“These legends and these men are true and alive, and are known throughout the big woods north of Katahdin. They are men of the forest, and they smell of woodsmoke, fly dope, hard work, tall mountains and pine spills. Given a junk of salt pork, some dry beans and flour, any of these men can [...]

Today we begin the Wilderness Bushcraft Semester, our 59th long-term immersion program. One of the things I did with the few days of rest between programs was to go through a bunch of old photos on a few hard drives, going back as far as the fall, 2004 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester course. That was the [...]

Huddling by the cook fire to keep warm on the Boreal Snowshoe Expedition.

Recorded on June 3rd, 2023 at the headquarters of Full Tang Outfitters in Tracy, New Brunswick, Canada. Tim and returning guest Blake Towsley discuss scheming for winter trips, dishonesty in marketing knives from people who have been on the tv show “Solo, By Myself, Without Clothes”, and the currently trending topic of Wild Pooping, or [...]

Looking down from the bluff at a beautiful Maine river.

Big thanks to JC, camera-person extrordinaire! Join us as we paddle and pole down Chase Rapids on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway in Maine. This video shows the first 2 miles, which is the challenging section and toughest on the 99-mile waterway. Some good footage of poling and paddling in fast water. This is from the [...]

This might have been the one moment, early in the morning, where the wind wasn’t howling for the entire month of May 2023.

Maine lake reflecting the sky.

The sun sinking into the horizon.

On Friday we finished the 2023 Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester with practical testing of fast-water canoe poling maneuvers at a local rip. The water was deep and fast and the black flies had just emerged, adding to the difficulty. But we had a few people pass the tests by demonstrating their mastery of the material [...]

Your old foraging and edible wild plant field guides are now outclassed and irrelevant. I was fortunate to receive an advanced copy of Samuel Thayer’s new book, Samuel Thayer’s Field Guide To Edible Wild Plants of Eastern & Central North America, while on a 2-day break from guiding river trips this spring. We have a [...]

Recorded on May 25th, 2023 in the Guide Shack, with an outside temperature of 43 degrees F, Tessa and Tim talk about the spring, 2023 Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester and making hard decisions. It has been a long month and we were both tired while recording this, and we’re still looking forward to the weather [...]

We’re back at the field school after our latest trip. All that remains of the 2023 Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester is testing, our field-based practical exams for those seeking the Engagé certification.

Our big canoe trailer broke on a woods road on the Allagash trip. Like the phoenix, it will rise again. Woods roads are tough on gear, especially trailers.

Canoeing down St. Croix Stream back to Masardis, and a rumor about q local guy. #FullTangLifestyle

We are back at the field school after our first expedition of the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester. It was challenging. We encountered cold air and water temperatures, strong and unyielding head winds, and a few long days of paddling. But everyone got better and everyone got stronger. On our final day we paddled 28 miles. [...]

Our first day on the water in 2023. Paddling from the Masardis boat launch back to the field school into a big headwind. At least I was paddling solo in a 20-footer with no weight in it. #fulltanglifestyle

This photo was shot on a cold morning in May of 2023, so I was wearing the wool toque under my big hat. Beautiful spot, beautiful lake, beautiful Maine. #FullTangLifestyle

We’re back on the grid for two days in the middle of the spring, 2023 Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester. In this episode we discuss our recent canoe expedition and the challenges we have been facing on the course. We also discuss not believing the hype about rankings and which school or outfit belongs on the [...]

In 2022 I picked up a fat tire ebike to get around the field school. Here’s a short video showing my daily commute from our HQ to the Guide Shack. The bike is an Aventon Aventure and I’ve been really happy with it.

On or long programs students make their own ropes for using in the field.

The pond at the field school, photo taken from above.

Spring finally showed up at the field school at the end of week 1 of the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester. We had a day of sun and made it our first day on the water. On this episode of the podcast, we discuss the arrival of spring and the skills necessary to get our people [...]

Beautiful lichen with red top.

We’re at the tail end of the first week of our spring canoe semester. I had been worried that the road wouldn’t be passable for week one, and although we were able to drive into camp it was a close call. This time of year in Aroostook county can bring a variety of weather, from [...]

Selfie first, safety last.

Tree felling on the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester. The importance of working with gravity and why we should be thankful to Isaac Newton and his great invention from 1514.

On the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester we cooked a campfire dinner using the outdoor kitchen at the Guide Shack. Dutch oven chicken, Dutch oven pork, grilled pork chops, lentils in the thermal cooker and rice on a rocket stove. It turned out great.

Note: This post was originally published on this site in December, 2010. I was rereading it this morning and thought the modern world could use a good role model for self reliance, one that wasn’t interested in selling them guns, survival gear and an end of the world mentality. —- I’ve been writing a lot [...]

The iconic Moose Vegas sign, deep in the woods of Aroostook County, Maine.

It’s been a long break, but we’re back. Introducing instructor Tessa Storey and recorded in the Guide Shack, we discuss current events, our upcoming programs and the best beer of 2022. Here are two photos of that beer on the East Branch of the Penobscot that we talked about on the podcast. PHOTOS:Tessa and Tim [...]

Today we begin the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester, our 4-week canoe guide training course. It is our 58th long-term program, and our 24th year. Spring has been slow to arrive to Aroostook county, but the snow has retreated and we can finally drive into the field school (it is deep snow that stops us, not [...]

Tussilago farfara, coltsfoot. The first flower we get in the spring. This plant flowers before the leaves come out. This ground was covered in snow six days ago.

First mushroom of the year, Gyromitra esculenta or false morel. Don’t eat this one. Growing on ground that was covered with snow six days ago.

Our new ride, the Tater Raisin’ Van. Just a few days out from the start of the spring season, have spent a lot of hours on the road lately getting this thing back to the county. Named after the one and only Dick Curless of Fort Fairfield, Maine. Read about Dick Curless Listen to Tater [...]

Shot on April 26, 2023, opening up the road into camp and the first drive in of the year. The snow is still deep in spots, and I had to move a few trees, but I was able to drive into the field school. And just in time, as people will be arriving in a [...]

Ice going out on the Aroostook river in Masardis on April 14, 2023.

We filled our spring and summer courses exceptionally early this year, and now we’re into the season of the churn. The churn is what I refer to as the season where people realize they will be unable to attend due to injury, change in life situation, etc. To date this year we have lost 2 [...]

If you want to learn to fish, there are four steps. Learn about water, specifically freshwater ecology. Learn the natural history of fish in general, as well as the individual species you are targeting. Learn about what fish eat and how to mimic these foods. Learn about tackle and techniques. In our modern world, people [...]

We are excited to announce the route for the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester coming in May. For the past decade we have been running this program during the summer, which has limited where we could go to those waterways that had water during the frequent summer droughts. By moving it back to May, it has [...]

For 25 yeas I have been guaranteed by cigarette smokers that they never leave their butts laying around. And for 25 years, I have been picking up cigarette butts off the ground, likely from the people who have previously guaranteed me that they never drop their butts on the ground. In 2023 I am saying [...]

Spring is right around the corner, and we’re looking forward to an exciting month on the remote rivers of northern Maine in May on the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester. We get a lot of questions about recommended fishing gear for our spring programs, so today I want to address this. While we do have fly [...]

If you are coming to the field school from late May through mid-July, you’re going to want to have a smudge pot. These are metal cans in which you keep a smokey fire going to deter the bugs. Now is the time to start preparing for this need by getting a metal coffee can, which [...]

I just finished a 7-day fast where the only things I took in were water and strong black coffee (because weak coffee is the devil). I have done a bunch of these, stretching back to the mid-1990’s, and while there is a renewed interest in fasting as a result of the intermittent fasting diets, it [...]

We’re welcoming a new instructor to our team for the Boreal Snowshoe Expedition. Blake Towsley has a lot experience with living out in winter. Among other things, he has worked with us in the past on summer and winter programs, completed numerous extended snowshoe treks, spent several weeks with David Bosum in Quebec, taught with [...]

The Guide Shack, my off-grid cabin home for 12 years, with the solar-powered lights shining into the darkness. A warm and dry retreat in the cold Aroostook winter. So many great memories, and so many more to come. Shot on January 25, 2023.

If you’re coming to the field school in winter, park at 1041 Garfield road. Don’t try to drive down Smith Farm Road to the field school because you will get stuck in the snow. We haul your gear in via snowmobile, you walk in (just less than a mile) on snowshoes on the snowmobile trail. [...]

Programs are filling earlier than usual for 2023. While we still have some short programs to schedule, the following programs are currently full with a waiting list: Winter Woodsman Boreal Snowshoe Expedition XI 6 Month immersion WCES – 4 week canoe expedition Wilderness Bushcraft Semester – Session 1 We still have four spots in session [...]

I had a great trip to Alberta for the Frostbite Symposium. For my keynote I talked about using instructional design principles in designing outdoor education programming. There was a lively Q and A session at the end of the talk, which always feels good if you are speaking. At least some of the audience managed [...]

I finished my Wilderness First Responder course today and have a current certification more advanced than first aid in a long time. Part of my motivation for taking the course was to learn how the protocols had changed in the 27 years since getting my WEMT. It turns out that while a few of the [...]

I am taking a wilderness first responder (WFR) class this week. I have wanted to take one for a while now, but finding the time to get away is always a challenge. As we’re still in the shadow of the holidays, this seemed like a perfect opportunity. My first medical course was a wilderness emergency [...]

This time of year we’re bombarded with ads about getting someone the perfect gift. A smaller subset of those ads suggest that we give an experience rather than a tangible item. If you are looking for that gift for the outdoors-person, consider joining us in February for an immersion experience in Cree culture with our [...]

Are you thinking about joining us for a course in 2023? After reading through our site, many people have questions. And we have answers! Want to talk with us? Jump on one of our Office Hours Question & Answer sessions on our community platform at BushcraftSchool.com. Next session takes place on Tuesday, December 20th at [...]

Our new online course, Foundations Of Outdoor Cooking (Cooking 401), is live on our community platform at BushcraftSchool.com. Currently there are three lessons available, with a few more ready to go. The plan is to release five lessons per week, with a total of around 30 lessons. The goal of the course is to provide [...]

I have been fielding a lot of questions about snowshoe sizing recently, and wanted to put something down regarding getting the optimum size for your body weight. I am on the record as saying I don’t like modern snowshoes because they are usually too small, especially for bigger people. They come from the mountaineering tradition, [...]

I’ve been working on a new online course, Foundations Of Outdoor Cooking, for a few weeks now. It is designed to prepare people to be able to feed themselves well on one of our long-term programs, as well as in any remote environment with no kitchen infrastructure. The premise behind the course is to use [...]

This January (2023) I’m headed to Alberta to speak at the Frostbite Winter Camping Symposium. The event is a celebration of living and traveling outdoors in the north during the winter, with lots of instructional programs and experienced people. As hot tent camping and traditional winter travel skills have exploded in popularity in recent years, [...]

After a 2 year hiatus due to covid, we’re back to running winter programs in 2023 and couldn’t be more excited about it. Since there was no way to social distance inside of a hot tent, the Boreal Snowshoe Expedition (BSE), a program we started running way back in 2003, took a two-year break. I [...]

Photo: 24″ Packsaw from Pole & Paddle Canoe Note: This article was first posted at BushcraftSchool.com, our private online network. We are transitioning to posting all of our media for our community there, with a few things posted here. If you like this sort of thing, consider joining us there. It’s free to join. We’re [...]

For about 20 years I have recommended the Mora Classic #2 for courses. After using a different knife for the past four years I think it’s time to update my recommendation to be inline with what I use on a daily basis; The Morakniv Wood Carving Knife 106. The Mora 106 is a smaller carving [...]

I’m in Austin, Texas, until the New Year. I’m here a month or two each year, as my kids are in school here. Last winter I met Chris Hyde, the founder the Natureversity Outdoor School here in Austin. This morning we sat down and recorded an episode (21) for the Natureversity Podcast. Here’s a link [...]

I have heard from a few people coming on winter programs that it has been hard to find snowshoes this year. We’ve all been dealing with supply chain woes for a few years now, so it isn’t a surprise that these, too, are hard to source. I have a bunch of military surplus magnesium-framed snowshoes [...]

Yesterday we finished up the fall Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. It was our 56th long-term immersion program. We are running one more program, the Autumn Woodsman, in a week, to finish our 23rd year. Time flies. The picture was taken as the sun peeked over the horizon at Sunrise Cove, a campsite on a remote lake [...]

This weekend we begin our 56th long-term immersion program, the fall Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. It has been a busy spring and summer, and I’m looking forward to the cooler weather that fall brings. I’ve had a little time since we took off the water at the end of the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester, which has [...]

File this under alumni doing awesome things. Pat Wilson was a student on the spring semester and stayed on to work with me this summer. He started talking about doing a big canoe trip before winter, and got it in his head to canoe the length of the Mississippi river. After lots of planning and [...]

I just put up our winter schedule for 2023 and it will include a lot of weeks spent in hot tents off the grid. For a number of years I’ve had the idea of getting a thermoelectric generator to charge batteries while out on the land in the winter. In winter we spend a few [...]

In our 23 year history, we have had only a handful of instructors teach with us on our semester programs. These individuals represent the top of the outdoor industry. We’d like to introduce our newest instructor and the first woman to join the team, Tessa Storey. Tessa has recently completed both her Journeyman and Engagé [...]

After spending the past 4-weeks on the water running the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester, I’m back at the field school and have tales to tell. We spent the first week training everyone and doing expedition planning. It was a deep dive into everything canoeing, including paddling and poling, as well as cooking on the fire, [...]

Although it has been full with a waiting list for a few months, the past few days have seen 2 spots open up on this fall’s Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. This is a usual, but not predictable, occurrence. So if you’re interested in joining us for the 9-week fall course and working toward your Journeyman certification, [...]

This year’s project is nearing completion. In an outbuilding at our headquarters we’re building a library/classroom and calling it the Athenaeum. Check it out in this video.

I just posted our schedule for 2023. There are a few changes compared to recent years. First, we won’t be offering a Wilderness Guide Training Semester. Instead, we’ll be offering the Wilderness Bushcraft Semester (WBS) twice. They have been the same course all along, but we’re going to eliminate any confusion by changing the name [...]

Today we begin our summer term at the field school with the Summer Woodsman course, followed next week with the Canoe Expedition Skills course. After a short break for the 4th of July, we move into the 4-week Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester. It’s a busy summer schedule. But it doesn’t feel much like summer in [...]

I just added a page to our site including updated local driving directions and arrival time info. If you’re coming to the field school, these directions should get you here.

On May 11, 2022, our fly fishing director Paul Sveum published an article in the Orvis News titled “5 Bushcraft Tips For Anglers.” I really enjoyed reading it, as will you if you click through (link). I always enjoy Paul’s writing style, and it’s great to see him getting recognition for both his fishing and [...]

The field school is quiet, the parking lot is empty, the course is completed. Our 54th long-term, professional training program wrapped up on Friday. As has always been the case, I spend the first day or two at the end of a course wondering what to do with myself. I’m writing this on a Sunday [...]

Video shot on the final trip of the spring, 2022 Wilderness Guide Training Semester. A tiny bit of paddling and a lot of poling a tiny stream.

Today is halfway day on the spring, 2022 Wilderness Guide Training Semester. The significance of the day is that we’re exactly halfway to the finish line on our 9-week semester. I haven’t been posting much media this course, but to get you up to speed we started in deep snow and a deep freeze, had [...]

Duties: Gardening, Chicken Wrangling, Homesteading, Informal Teaching, Media Dates: May 22 – August 27, 2022 (14 Weeks). Longer duration possible Hours Per Week: 10 Compensation: $15 per hour = $150/week, We are wanting to create an incentivised economic model, something like a farm stand where staff and students pay cash for the items grown. This [...]

Its close to the end of February and our 2022 programs are just about full. I just updated our master calendar with the current number of open spots in each of our scheduled programs through the fall. So if you want one of these spots, don’t delay! Below is a list of courses and how [...]

An excerpt from our latest video on using an army surplus, Vietnam-era medium Alice pack with a tumpline as an alternative to a traditional canvas canoe pack. I love traditional gear, but some of it is very expensive. If you’re wanting a traditional canoe pack, either to hold all of your gear for an expedition [...]

An excerpt from our latest video on the cook kit I carry with me canoeing, snowshoeing and car camping. The entire thing fits in a 30 litre blue barrel and allows me to cook for small groups of up to 4. When guiding a larger group, I switch it out for a larger wooden wannigan. [...]

An excerpt from our latest video on the pump-up solar shower I’ve been using for ten years. A simple and great piece of kit to make a warm daily shower simple and easy. For the whole video and links to the pieces needed to assemble it, go to our private online community at BushcraftSchool.com.

Part 2 of my discussion with Paul Sveum about simplifying fly fishing. We discuss #6-10 of the top ten things Paul wishes someone would have told him when he was getting started in fly fishing. PHOTO: A Y-stern canoe on the Bonaventure River in Quebec, headed upriver to fish for Atlantic Salmon. Show Notes: JMB [...]

This episode featuring Paul Sveum began as a blog post, but we decided to have a conversation about the top ten things to keep in mind when getting into fly fishing. This is part 1, where we discuss points 1-5. PHOTO: Paul fishing an Aroostook County stream. Show Notes: JMB Podcast Episode 111 | Simplifying [...]

Most modern people don’t use their hands for much. At the field school we use them hard, every day. From tying knots, holding knives and tools, swinging axes, paddling and poling canoes, the body is the engine that gets work done in the woods, and it usually falls on the hands to do the brunt [...]

After considering a variety of options, the route and plan is set for the 4-week Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester for summer, 2022. The course will start with a week at the field school where we’ll learn all about canoes, paddling, poling, making fire, cooking over a fire, thermal cookers, axe safety, making rope, knots, trip [...]

The Winter Woodsman and the Boreal Snowshoe Expedition, as well as the northern Quebec snowshoe trip with the Cree have been cancelled for 2022 due to Covid. Part of our job is to always keep an eye on the safety of the group and the individuals in it. It is impossible to socially distance in [...]

This year marks 20 years that I have held a license as a Registered Master Maine Guide. I am licensed in the hunting, fishing, recreation and sea kayaking specialized categories. A few years ago I had plans to get a tidewater fishing guide license in order to get them all, but it’s on the back [...]

After finishing year 22, long-term program number 53 and 20 years as a full time Registered Master Maine Guide, I’ve learned a few things. I know what works and just how hard I can push people before their brains or bodies quit. I’ve seen the flaws in our systems and corrected most of them. They’re [...]

In 2020 we bought a house adjacent to the field school. It allowed us to have an office and some inside storage in the included outbuildings. The office was a fantastic upgrade. I love the off-grid lifestyle, but running a business off-grid was always a challenge. In 2022 we are planning to update the loft [...]

A number of years ago I crossed paths with Ezra Smith on a canoe course. He went on to build a wood canvas canoe, then traveled in that canoe the length of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. I was guiding a trip on the Allagash when, on the last leg of his journey, he walked [...]

I love to see sign of the animals on the land, like this beaver-chewed ash tree along the river. Such signs tell me the ecosystem is healthy. But is health an objective thing, or culturally defined? In our modern, western world, health is often associated with the body. It is the worship of the appearance [...]

Out for a walk on the land today, enjoying some solo time and the luxury of wandering with a camera. We’re supposed to get a storm over the next few days, and something tells me the snow will stick until April or May, so this was my last fall day to enjoy the weather and [...]

I originally posted this in 2016. A lot of people have lost loved ones recently. I don’t have any sage words to say about how to deal with the loss. Do the best you can, and if it isn’t enough talk to someone. ————————————– During our courses I talk a lot about the time I [...]

“No matter what anyone says, men in the cities spend their lives and win their bread fighting other men. In primitive places they fight nature and are drawn to other men by the common battle. The difference in character and viewpoints between a hunter and a salesman is as fundamental and irreconcilable as though they [...]

If you eat a great meal at a restaurant, is the type of spatula the cook used responsible for the taste of the food? If you see a beautiful house, how important is the type of hammer the builder used to the final structure? If someone has a beautiful website, do you ask them what [...]

One of the more philosophical individuals who’s taken our semester program over the years posed a very good question to me a few years ago, and since then I tend to pose it to others who engage in long-term bushcraft and survival practice. It was a year after he had taken the course, during which [...]

I was recently a guest on the Nature Reliance Media Podcast with Craig Caudill. We had a great conversation about a wide variety of outdoor-related topics including my time in Alaska, the North Maine Woods, how expeditions are where stupid ideas go to die, and more. Here’s the link to the podcast: Nature Reliance Media [...]

Coaching from shore while students navigate the rips.

Gear sales drive the outdoor industry, not small guide services or outdoor schools. Years ago outdoor gear manufacturers and retailers learned that they needed to create a desire to buy among people in order to make money. They advertised aggressively and convinced people that the outdoors could be a fun and rewarding place to recreate, [...]

Looking through some photos from the spring semester and am reminded of the day we went up to a nearby lake to work on paddling canoes and there was a game warden and a truck full of brook trout. They were filling up external tanks on several float planes with trout, then flying low over [...]

Coaching canoe poling from shore at the starch factory rips. It was a super fun day, as you can tell by my smile.

Just a few scenes from a trip during the spring semester. We camped by a beautiful rapid and made the kitchen right next to the water. No story, just another beautiful place near the field school in northern Maine.

We finished up the fall, 2021 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester yesterday. Now Moose Vegas is empty and the moose have the run of the place again – there was a big cow on the road this morning. It was our 53rd long term program, and we had a student on the course who wasn’t alive when [...]

Matthew Rhode just successfully completed the Journeyman Certification on the fall Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. We welcomed him into the studio to discuss the course, his approach to time management, the usefulness of a table, and how to be successful on our program. PHOTO: Early morning during solos, looking east. Show Notes: JMB Podcast Episode 110 [...]

We’re nearing the end of the fall, 2021 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. We just finished a 48 hour primitive living experience and are headed out on solos tomorrow. In this episode of the JMB Podcast we discuss these experiences, as for listener input on the next step for our online network at BushcraftSchool.com and ask for [...]

It’s been a few years since we’ve built one of these on a course. A coracle is a simple boat that can be built with brush and a tarp. Back in the day they were known as bull boats, because instead of a tarp they were made with the skin of a bull. They go [...]

Coal burning bowls and spoons in preparation for a primitive living experience at the end of the semester.

Keeping the trails clear at the field school is an ongoing process. In this video we were out on a crisp October morning and it felt great to swing an axe.

This year has been the most prolific for mushrooms that I recall in northern Maine. The local woods have been full of mushrooms since June, including these Amanitas I took a picture of the other day. I have eaten more boletes than any other year, as well as Suillis and other related genera. We also [...]

Had another great day out on the water recently with a few of the guys on the fall semester. It is such a pretty time of year in northern Maine.

We’re back after a long hiatus to talk about resiliency, the need to balance stress with recovery, sleeping out in the cold with no sleeping bag in front of a fire, and the need to prepare your hands for a robust outdoor life. We just finished week 6 (of 9) on the fall Wilderness Bushcraft [...]

We’re a week past halfway day on the fall ’21 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. We just spent a few days on the river with beautiful weather and the leaves just starting to turn colors. Hope you enjoy coming along.

The calm water of the river is reflecting the clouds and colors in the sky.

Out gathering some highbush cranberries (Viburnum trilobum) for supper. They are just starting to be ripe.

From a recent canoe outing on a perfect fall day. These are the types of photos you look at over winter to get excited about open water.

There is a huge bounty of wild food on the land right now. In this video are featured some of the mushrooms and apples I gathered on a short walk the other day at dusk, and what I do to preserve the calories so I can consume them later.

It took a year and a half, but the Moose Vegas field is now thick with clover. Life is getting pretty cushy at the field school compared to the early years.

Since the beginning we’ve enjoyed spending time on the trail with friends. We call these Full Tang Expeditions, and as a few of them have made their way on to our calendar I think it’s time they got a formal definition and description. A Full Tang Expedition is a minimally-guided trip for friends, colleagues and [...]

Saw this little guy hiding under a bunch of coltsfoot leaves. They sit so still and won’t move so they are easy to not see.

This morning we begin week four (of nine) on the Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. Thanks to a bunch of recent rain, the rivers are near spring high water levels and we’ve taking advantage of it. Last week we covered basic poling in moving water, and this afternoon we’ll be pushing the envelope with some class 1 [...]

After all the rain, we were able to get out on some local waterways that are usually too low to canoe in September. We shot this video on one of those waterways.

First vlog in a few months. We’re into the third week of the fall Wilderness Bushcraft Semester, and have been out on the river teaching the finer points of life in a canoe. And when we’re on the water, the safety shorts are hard at work keeping everyone safe.

Fall in northern Maine is the best time of year for camping, getting away from the crowds of summer and for catching big brook trout and landlocked salmon. Join Jack Mountain head fishing guide Paul Sveum for 3 days of advanced fly fishing classes on the banks of the West Branch of the Penobscot at [...]

This morning we begin the fall 2021 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester; our 53rd long-term wilderness immersion program. Yesterday people arrived from Florida, California, Montana, Maryland, and other places around the country to our little town in northern Maine. They got a quick tour of the field school and we cooked a group dinner over the fire. [...]

It’s been a busy summer in northern Maine. We’ve run a bunch of courses, as well as gotten out into the North Maine Woods on several occasions to explore. One of my favorite things is to take out young men and introduce them to bushcraft and life in wild places. The photo above was taken [...]

We just added an Advanced Fly Fishing Course to the calendar, running September 24-26 near Big Eddy on the West Branch of the Penobscot River. Taught and guided by Paul Sveum, (Registered Master Maine Guide), the course is designed for those who have taken our Introduction To Fly Fishing Course, and picks up where that [...]

We’re into the thick of our summer programming, having finished up the spring semester and the Summer Woodsman course. Currently we’ve got four spots remaining for the fall 2021 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. It’s going to be a great course this year, and I’m already looking forward to to the warm days and crisp nights of [...]