7 gallons of Ankle Breaker apple wine done bubbling just in time for new years. Taste-testing tonight. All good.  

Shopping for a new canoe paddle blank. Seeing a few beauties, a lot of chaff.  

Video 7 in the WCES (Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester) series. Join us as we paddle into Round Pond, and Tim does a walk-through of our campsite. At Round Pond

Video 6 in the WCES (Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester) series. Join us as we line canoes down Long Lake dam, an old logging dam. It’s unsafe to run because of metal spikes that move each year when the ice goes out, so we tie up lining bridles and line it, or lower canoes over the [...]

Video 5 in the WCES (Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester) series. Join us as we pole Chase Rapids, the most challenging water on the Allagash. Poling Chase Rapids

Video 4 in the WCES (Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester) series. Join the guys out on Eagle Lake looking for fish. Looking For Fish

Video 3 in the WCES (Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester) series, shot during the aftermath of the big storm. Also some introductions a few days later on a beautiful day with views of the mountains. After The Storm And Introductions

Shot on the first day of our 2014 Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester, on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway at Chamberlain Lake. We spent the afternoon paddling with a tailwind and were right on the tail end of a big storm system. Storm On Chamberlain Lake

Last summer, during the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester, we shot a lot of video. It’s taken some time, but now we’re ready to post that video. Instead of spending a lot of time editing it into a long video no one will watch, I’m going to post it as a series of short clips. I [...]

There is a surging trend for people to get their names on things. Lots of guys have their signature knife or other piece of gear. Others are trying to attach their name to certain techniques. I saw in a video a while back a guy had named a method for determining where the top of [...]

I have a question and need some education, so I’m looking for input. What are the ethics of posting digitized versions of old books online? Is there an ethical difference between a book that is still under copyright, but is impossible to find, as opposed to a book where the copyright has run out? I [...]

Stunning twilight on the pond. Still and beautiful. Ice still not in. Short but beautiful days.  

It's important to remember that the things done on Dude You're Screwed are done to win a game. In a real survival situation, don't take chances. For more info on actual survival situations, check out this podcast: Principles Of Wilderness Survival Podcast | JMB Podcast 03 Learn the principles of wilderness survival without the hype. [...]

The final episode of season 2 from Dude You're Screwed featuring yours truly. It was a lot of fun to make.

While he’ll never hear me say it, Paul Sveum is a wealth of knowledge and a great instructor. Our friend Derek Faria from The Woodsman School shot and edited this video of Paul teaching a bannock 101 class at the Snow Walker’s Rendezvous. Solid information from a man who has made a lot of bannock [...]

Babbling brook we encountered on our tracking hike. Beautiful clear water.

Lucky Dog and I had a great afternoon in the woods tracking yesterday. I shot a bunch of pictures, but only a few turned out well. We found tracks of deer, turkey (foot and wing), grey squirrel, snowshoe hare and fisher. The snow conditions were perfect for tracking; a layer of crusty snow covered with [...]

The second podcast from the 2014 Boreal Snowshoe Expedition, recorded on our last night of the trip. Listen as participants reflect on the two weeks and what they’ve learned, have a few laughs and discuss their favorite bannock of the trip. iTunes Link | Play, Download Or Subscribe In iTunes Stitcher Link | Play, Download [...]

Recorded in the warmth of a tent on a bitter cold night during the 2014 Boreal Snowshoe Expedition, join us as we discuss the trip and the biggest lessons learned while on it. We recorded part 1 (this) in the middle of our 14-day snowshoe expedition. We also recorded a part 2 on our final [...]

Brook trout over the fire, sourdough biscuits in the reflector oven.  

Getting excited for upcoming winter programs. Just have to make it through the holidays with sanity intact. Not a sure thing.  

Rainy morning, headwaters of the Aroostook River.  

Christmas play, both kids are in it. Forty minutes to showtime, kids are cool as ice, no jitters.  

Went for a walk in the hills with Tom Belluscio and our dogs earlier this week, just before the storm hit.  This photo shows Tom with Lake Winnipesaukee in the background.  We’re fortunate to live in a beautiful place.  There is also a huge variety of conservation land plots nearby.  We’re going to explore many [...]

We’ve got the overview for the spring, 2015 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester, our 30th long-term course, published.  We’re making some changes, mostly in the form of going back to the roots of the program and doing more traveling.  Some of the changes are included below, but you can read them all on the Wilderness Bushcraft Semester [...]

Slick website? Check. Impressive-sounding resume? Check. Made up success and fraud? Check. Reputation checks should go beyond Google if you're looking to hire a guide. Former associates question claims of man behind adventure company at centre of B.C. rights complaint | National Post ‘He thinks he’s a cross between James Bond and a soldier of [...]

Ice in on the pond this morning. We'll see if it makes it through the storm tomorrow.  

I spend 6-7 months per year off the grid.  The rest of the time I’m at home in a modern house. Most modern houses become unlivable when external inputs such as electricity and running water stop being piped in.  I’ve scratched my head for decades as to why they were designed like this, and I [...]

Ice storms, power outages, not concerned. My sawdust toilet doesn't need water or electricity. #selfrelianthome  

Unsupported remote winter trips result in feeling a freedom that's hard to define, but strongly felt.  

Open spots on upcoming winter and spring courses are dwindling. We’ve been adding people here and there and the result is that all upcoming programs are 60% or more full. Here are the current available spaces per upcoming program as of December 4th. Winter Woodsman:  3 Wilderness Survival Weekend Course:  4 Boreal Snowshoe Expedition:  3 [...]

Even though it doesn't benefit me and I have to shovel the stairs, I still love a snow day. No school!  

Pond of clear ice makes me think pond hockey. Wish I had my skates, stick and a team right now.  

Surviving Cold Water Immersion. Great resource by the Northern Forest Canoe Trail on the facts around what cold water immersion does to the body. www.northernforestcanoetrail.org/media/Preparing%20for%20and%20Survivng%20Cold%20Water.pdf

Out sledding with the kids at the Xmas parade and a beautiful sunset over the lake.  

Putting together the media kit for this winter's snowshoe trips. One box that fits on a toboggan.  

If you’re interested in learning how to live, work and play in the boreal forest in the bitter cold of winter, we created the Winter Woodsman course just for you. Part survival course, part bushcraft, part winter guide training, the goal is make you feel comfortable and at home in the winter wilderness with a [...]

We’re adding two new bits of information to our program descriptions: physical challenge and technical challenge. Each of these operate on a 1-5 numerical scale with 1 being the easiest/lowest and 5 being the most challenging. Physical challenge refers to how physically challenging a particular program is, as well as whether or not a person [...]

Dirty bird in the 14 deep, pumpkin pie in the 12. It's a dutch oven Thanksgiving !  

What does your road look like this morning?  

Beauty after the storm. Happy Thanksgiving!  

Originally shared by +MRC Custom Leather Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Stay home, spend time with family. Skip black friday and wait for small business Saturday! Support small business :)

Out in the new snow. Never too early to get ready for a winter expedition.  

Snow is starting. Looking across the pond through a sea of snowflakes  

Although we’ve managed to keep our tuition frozen for a number of years, we’re increasing the tuition on our immersion programs for 2015.  Tuition for the Wilderness Bushcraft Semester and the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester will increase by $250.  Tuition for the Boreal Snowshoe Expedition will increase by $100. But it isn’t all bad news.  [...]

We’ve got a new forum up and running, and we’ll be using it for the next few weeks to see if it works for us. I found some great looking software called muut that, without going into a lot of detail, looks like it will be a good fit. Most, if not all, of the [...]

Our forum recently took it’s last breath and is no longer with us. It wasn’t a sad parting. 100+ new spam users per day, old and clunky interface requiring lots of time and input, not viewable from a mobile device; let’s just say no tears were shed on our end. We did lose some content, [...]

Family walks are the best walks.  

Home with my kids today and my five-year-old said she wanted something sweet.  I haven’t baked a sourdough cake in the dutch oven for a while, so I decided to mix it up, figuratively and literally.  Behold the Sourdough Oatmeal Quick Cake; quick to mix (3-5 minutes), an hour to bake. I started with some [...]

Pics from our recent campfire cooking class. Cooking in the dark never tasted so good! Campfire Cooking: NH Monthly Self Reliance Workshops Series View the album on Flickr.

Latest design from Pole And Paddle Canoe: Battery powered broad hatchet.  

Unstructured play in the woods is a tonic for all ages. Out with the boys and the dog.  

Fermented foods yes, giardia no. Kraut and kimchee put up this morning.

Favorite traveling sourdough container once its empty. Gallon plastic mayo jar.

Best part about traveling is coming home. Look who was waiting for me when I came in the door.  

On the morning show in Denver this AM: Discovery Channel’s “Dude, You’re Screwed” Jake, Terry, John and Tim tell us all about the second season of the Discovery Channel’s “Dude, You’re Screwed.”

Number 3, the photo by Nick Gallop, was shot near the field school in one of our canoes. 39 Reasons Living In Maine Ruins You For Life Ayuh.

Two days in Denver. The mountains are stunning, just like I remember them.  

First time in many years I'm reading a print newspaper with morning coffee. Feels like I went back in time.  

Kids around campfire. Shelters done. What its all about. School Of The Forest.  

What woodpecker made this hole? Tom teaching at the School Of The Forest.  

School Of The Forest, stopping for lunch on a ridge near the folk school.  

I've said this before, it's cool to be written up in the media, but when your friends and colleagues say it, it means that much more. The incomparable fellow Maine Guide Tom Jamrog wrote a flattering bit about me and Lou Falank at Snow Walkers on his blog. Tom is a big reason why you [...]

Neat article on how constellations change over time. We're not seeing the same constellations as our ancestors. The Constellations Won’t Always Look That Way Over time, stars change their position in the sky. A new app shows you how the patterns we recognize today have shifted.

I’ve been playing around with a new kind of blog post for a few months now. I’m calling them updates, and they are short bits and photos that aren’t complete ideas. They’re the type of thing that end up on social media sites, but as I’ve always had a healthy distrust of social media I [...]

Our next School of the Forest is scheduled for November 15th. We’ll get started at 10am as usual but we won’t be wrapping up at 2 o’clock this time around; we’ll be sleeping in the shelters we build! Staying the night isn’t mandatory, but it will be fun! Cost will be the standard thirty dollars [...]

I cook with cast iron daily, and have a bunch of it at our field school for students to use. There are many good reasons why I think cast iron is superior cookware, both at home and on the campfire. And with all those benefits comes one major drawback; disposable cleaning and upkeep products. When [...]

Another reason to wear and use natural fibers: keep micro-plastics out of the ocean. Your clothes are polluting the ocean every time you do laundry An estimated 1,900 microfibers can get rinsed out of a single piece of synthetic clothing each time it’s washed, and these microplastic fibers might be the biggest contributors to ocean [...]

Are you looking for a cheap, fun night out this Wednesday? For the November installment of our Self Reliance Workshop Series with GALA, we’re having an instructional campfire cooking dinner. Learn to cook over a campfire, build a sturdy pot suspension system, and use a dutch oven and a reflector oven like a seasoned professional. [...]

Had a blast at the Snow Walkers' Rendezvous. Now thinking about all kinds of remote winter expeditions. Winter isn't long enough. For planning purposes anyway.

Daughter, dog and ducks on a walk around the pond on a beautiful fall afternoon.  

Variety of tent styles at the Snow Walkers' Rendezvous.  

Snow Walkers' Rendezvous, in the tent with Derek and Paul. Living the good life under canvas.  

Making a grip of sourdough pancakes this morning. Indoor kitchens are great!  

Chest-deep in the lake for 20 minutes taking the dock out today. Cold water is serious business, really tired afterward.  

The Snow Walker’s Rendezvous is this weekend in Fairlee, Vermont. If you’re interested in traditional winter gear and techniques in the north, it’s one that you shouldn’t miss. I’ve been going for 15 years, and it keeps getting better. This year I’m traveling with Paul Sveum, who will be presenting on the 21-day Boundary Waters [...]

Winter survival and preparedness article by Jonathan Olivier, in which we're quoted heavily. Prepare for Winter Emergencies with These Simple Survival Practices Fire was my saving grace as a kid, camping in the dead of winter with a few friends on our breaks from school. We would often only sleep a few hour…

Every time I vote I think about the American revolution. I wish current generations valued democracy like they did in 1776.  

After seven busy years, we will no longer be offering programs at our 41 acre field school. Today we’re closing on an adjacent piece of property, and now we’ll be offering programs at our 61 acre field school. If you know the lay of the land around here, the purchase includes the land from the [...]

When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time playing street hockey during the warm seasons and pond hockey during the frozen one. As we were in New Hampshire, we all wanted to be players from the Boston Bruins. My brother would usually pretend he was Bobby Orr. I always liked the scrappy [...]

I heard a while back that there are no other places named Masardis in the USA or Canada. A quick internet search led me to a page that said there are no other places named Masardis in the world. As such, I’ve decided to refer to it as simply Masardis, and no longer Masardis, Maine. [...]

At the town docks for the Halloween parade and the lake looks beautiful.  

This past week saw several interesting developments for me as my sphere of influence has seemingly broadened. Yes, the tv show for which I’m part of the cast debuted it’s second season. It’s called Dude You’re Screwed and I’ll be in an episode on Christmas eve. More on that later. This isn’t about that. For [...]

Guide Shack At Sunset

Empty parking lot: our 28th long-term immersion program is officially completed.

Pounding A Huge Piece Of Ash  

Morning on the Aroostook River. Prettiest river in Maine.  

Basketry final project, various styles.  

First snow flurries of the year this morning. Beautiful cool afternoon.  

Flint and steel fire lighting today. Last week of the semester.  

Smoking hides to finish the braintanning process.  

Calling in the mother ship? Too much time in the woods? Both?  

Roast hog, dutch oven cakes, sourdough bread: living like kings!  

Roasting a pig in camp today. Going to be an epic supper.  

Morning project: finishing a pack basket mold.  

Finished hand axe from a leaf spring. No forge used, heated in rocket stove.  

On the Moose Throne, wielding the Sceptre Of Power, meteing out wisdom.  

Putting a rim on a newly made pack basket.  

Lucky the wonder dog taking a break from her busy camp schedule to nap in the sun.  

Making a simple axe head with the big rocket stove as a heat source. Forge is still drying out.  

Lynx near camp just now. Grainy photo because its cropped and zoomed in.  

Hard frost overnight. Everything is coated in ice this AM; my daughter would say it looks like fairyland.  

Sanding a new canoe paddle made with simple hand tools.  

Pulling hides this Saturday morning. Making braintan for mukluks.  

Still eating greens but getting the rest of the garden ready for winter.  

Pounding brown ash for baskets this morning. Not an intellectual exercise.  

Pack baskets progressing nicely. Hides in the background also coming along.  

New handmade axe sheath with adjustable cord lock tensioner. Innovation in the field.  

Scraping deer hides to start the braintanning process.  

Chicken breast grilled directly on the coals. A great way to cook meat using no implements. Great campfire lunch.  

Grilled chicken in a raquette on the fire.  

Pin cherry homemade wine. Sampling a bit of the recent vintage. Fantastic.  

Rebuilding the field school forge: packing clay mix around tuyere.  

Weaving half-round baskets out of willow, red osier dogwood and spruce roots.  

Harvesting wild apples today. A fruit picker is an amazing piece of kit for getting the high ones.  

Check out our group winter shelter complete with vestibule, raised bed and wood stove, and learn the four things that every shelter needs to accomplish. Group Dome Shelter Fall 2014

People are coming back from solos. Just heard from one guy who had a hugely positive experience.  

Looking east toward New Brunswick from the field school on a beautiful fall afternoon.  

Wall tents in late afternoon sunlight.  

Carving A Pack Basket Mold  

Instructors hanging out. Everyone out on solos, quiet camp, beautiful fall day.  

Artisan sourdough bread, reflector oven style.  

Smoke house security guard, keeping the meat safe.  

The Fat Of The Land. Ruffed grouse and wild apples.  

Snow Walkers' Rendezvous – new web site and registration form. Registration is open. Snow Walkers’ Rendezvous 2014 | Wilderness Canoe Symposium 2014 Snow Walkers’ Rendezvous November 7-9, 2014, Hulbert Outdoor Center, Fairlee, Vermont, USA. 1995 found a group of Traditional Northern Winter Travelers gathering at the Hulbert Outdoor Center in Fairlee, Vermont. Their idea was [...]

Opening day of ruffed grouse season. First bird of the year.  

Lost a bet with another participant and had to fell a tree while wearing a dress.  

Stove in the foreground, raised bed for 8, dogs under bed. Shelter done, warm and cozy.  

Bough bed on the raised platfom, group shelter.  

Covering the dome with a parachute. Notice the guy standing on the roof.  

Building a group shelter today for the coming cold weather.  

Fly casting practice, unseasonably warm day. We’ll be swimming later.  

Dutch oven sourdough doughnuts cooked on a rocket stove. It rarely gets better than this.  

Found a baby turtle. Thought it was a kid’s toy at first. Here he’s sitting on my hand.  

What: New and coming to the folk school November 10-14, we’re taking a bunch of make your own gear projects specific to winter and combining them into a weeklong class called The Winter Craftsman. The focus for 2014 will be making your own plastic trail toboggan and sewing your own braintan mukluks. Other options will [...]

Stunning sunset over the pond. Never gets old.  

How Maine Axes Were Made In 1965. Documentary shot at Emerson & Stevens in Oakland.

In 1996 I was living in a 12-foot trailer in Sterling, Alaska, behind a friend of mine’s house. He told me about a guy who was a friend of his friend that lived in a small cabin he built across Cook Inlet in Lake Clark National Park. He also said that some of his journals [...]

The Frozen 48 is a winter survival challenge where participants head into the boreal forest of northern Maine for 48 hours with minimal gear. It’s not easy. Many people have done a night in the winter woods without a tent or sleeping bag. It’s the second night that gets you. That’s where training, skill and [...]

Arctic Manual by Vilhjalmur Stefansson as free download. This is a must have book for those interested in native life in the polar north. Thanks to Alan Halcon and his fantastic blog (if you're not reading it you're missing out) for the links. Arctic Manual…. Free E-Book – outdoor self reliance Non-professionals go to school [...]

Join the Wilderness Bushcraft Semester on a flatwater canoe trip in Aroostook County, Maine. See us canoeing, cooking and baking on the fire, demonstrating the secret ninja technique of using a wooden sword to knock arrows out of the air, and the most epic rope swing north of Knowles Corner. Up In The County

Winter is just around the corner. Looking forward to hitting the trail.  

Demonstrating wet weather fire by sectioning, splitting and contact splitting with an axe, then using a knife to carve feathers. Finally lighting with one match. First video shot during the fall, 2014 semester, and the first by our video guy, Heath Spielberg. Wet Weather Fire

First video shot this semester by our video guy, Heath Spielberg.

Leaving on a 3-day walkabout with homemade gear. Outfitter shop not needed.  

Merganser in the dutch oven. Harvested today. We heard it wasn’t good, but it turned out great!  

Feather stick fire-for-coffee exercise in camp this morning.  

Fish in a freshly-carved deadfall trap.  

Poling practice, lunch break. Beautiful day on the Aroostook River! 

Congrats to Maine’s newest registered guide, Tom Belluscio!

Log drive remnants. Rings for attaching boom chains on the Aroostook. 

Removing stubborn wood from the eye of an old Snow & Neally 2.5 lb axe head. Slow going. 

Amazing northern lights show in camp tonight. Always neat to be with people seeing them for the first time.

Grass for a blanket, first frost tonight. Farewell bugs, see you in the spring! 

My view this morning: camped on Squapan lake with the Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. 

Paddles today. Had a dutch oven dinner. Now to the river for a swim. Great time of year. 

Cooking his first dutch oven dinner. Pork shoulder. Like a boss! 

Jack Mountain on weather.com.  I'm not sure how meteorology can be a lifesaving skill, but it's still pretty cool.? 10 Lifesaving Skills You Could Learn at Survival Camp – weather.com Emergencies come in all shapes and sizes, and preparing for different disaster scenarios is no different. Here’s what you can learn from the experts. View [...]

Making paddles at the field school: 28th JMBS semester course is underway. 

Although the nights are just starting to get cool we’ve been thinking about snow and ice and planning our winter schedule. Below is a preview of the programs we’re offering.Winter Bushcraft, Survival And Expedition Program 2015 PreviewOur winter bushcraft, survival, guide training and expedition programs scheduled for 2015 in Maine, Quebec and New Hampshire.

Although the nights are just starting to get cool we’ve been thinking about snow and ice and planning our winter schedule. Below is a preview of the programs we’re offering. Additionally, we’ll be offering the Winter Craftsman course in November where you can make your own mukluks and toboggan, bend and lace snowshoes, and more. [...]

Crew at Grand Pitch, East Branch of the Penobscot, Maine. 

It's more work getting to camp after dark, but the tradeoff is being out during beautiful sunsets such as this one. The lake was like glass as we paddled several miles across Telos to Telos Landing.? View this post on Google+

Notice the inverted canoe used as a lunch table and the green food pack sitting in shallow water to keep the contents cool.? View this post on Google+

A tragedy was narrowly avoided on our recent paddling trip down Webster Stream during the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester. Near the end of the stream there is a half-mile carry around an unrunnable falls known as Grand Pitch. The take out is about 25 yards upstream of the horizon line for the falls, which means [...]

The beautiful weather of mid-August has arrived! My two week summer break between the end of the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester and the beginning of the Wilderness Bushcraft Semester beginning August 24th has been filled with family time, but also a few folk school programs. Last Thursday, as part of the self reliance workshop series [...]

Cooking dinner on the East Branch of the Penobscot.  Tripod with a galley pole.  How we cooked all our meals during our month on the river.  No stoves.? View this post on Google+

The 2014 Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester was an amazing month on the river. Everyone spent the month in a solo boat, but they were our 18 and 16 foot Prospecters, not small boats designed for solo use. Everyone also used a paddle that they had carved and a pole that they had made. These were [...]

The half-mile carry around the Hulling Machine rapid on the East Branch of the Penobscot.  We did all of our carries in three trips.? View this post on Google+

Tim Cole and Tim Smith at Allagash falls on the recent Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester, just before jumping in and swimming the rapid just below the falls.? View this post on Google+

2 quart stainless pail for $9 plus a $0.50 pot lid from the thrift store is my new favorite personal pot, and part of my group cook kit.? Amazon.com : ProSelect Stainless Steel Heavy Duty Pail, 6-Inch, 2-Quart : Pet Bowls : Pet Supplies Amazon.com : ProSelect Stainless Steel Heavy Duty Pail, 6-Inch, 2-Quart : [...]

Lining canoes over the remains of Long Lake dam on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester 2014. Notice how the rope is pulling from under the boat – that's the secret to lining.? View this post on Google+

Baxter State Park, Maine. Part of our 4-week canoe expedition. Missing the team already – it's amazing how tight you become after 4 weeks in the bush.  That's yours truly.? View this post on Google+

Man Fire Food visits the Jack Mountain field school to cook bushcraft style.  Check it out on the cooking channel on August 5th at 8pm EST.? Man Fire Food : Cooking Channel Man Fire Food features the inventive ways Americans cook with fire. From small campfires to creative… View this post on Google+

Boreal Snowshoe Expedition seen through the lens of one of the participants.? View this post on Google+

A series of videos shot on the 2014 Boreal Snowshoe Expedition. It was a stellar team out for two beautiful weeks. We had an amazing time. Boreal Snowshoe Expedition Intro Making Bannock Winter Cooking Rig Splitting Wood On Snowshoes On The Trail With Jerell Yukon’s Campsite Tour

Shot during the 2013 Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester, one of the participants was adept at walking on a slackline and wanted to cross Munsungun stream where the old Oxbow Road bridge is washed out. It wasn’t a warm day. He wasn’t excited about the silly commentary. If you watch until the end, he made it [...]

Sourdough biscuits in the reflector oven filmed during the 2013 Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester on a remote river in northern Maine. Topher and Dave were guide team partners for this dinner and literally steal the show. And no, we weren’t having any fun on that trip.

Photo: Deer in camp. Highlights: June began with the final few weeks of the spring Wilderness Bushcraft Semester and finished with the Woodsman course. During June we also had our new student cabin and library delivered, making the field school master plan nearly complete. As spring rolled into summer the gardens started producing fresh greens. [...]

Solar power does a lot of work for us at the field school. In this video Paul Sveum shows three of the main ways we use the sun: to cook food, heat water and generate electricity.

Shot a while back during the fall 2012 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester, join the guys as they’re cutting up moose, talking about forcing a patina on a new blade and the delicate process of making homemade wine.

More than half the people claiming to have PhD's have fake ones.  Classic.? The Economics of Fake Degrees This article originally appeared in Inside Higher Ed. It’s surprising how many house pets hold advanced degrees. Last year a dog received his MBA from the American University of London, a non-accredited distance-learning institution. It feels as if [...]

New JMBS office manager will provide better communication, even when our instructors are off the grid.? New Jack Mountain Bushcraft School Office Manager Our registration process and pre-course communications are about to get a whole lot smoother. Our instructors are often away from phone and internet contac View this post on Google+

Our registration process and pre-course communications are about to get a whole lot smoother. Our instructors are often away from phone and internet contact for long periods while on expeditions, so to make things work better we’re hiring a dedicated office support person. No longer will anyone have to wait for weeks before getting a [...]

"What The Mountains Tell Me." Poem written by an impressive ten year old boy who attends the School Of The Forest kids program.? What The Mountains Tell Me Kids need outlets in nature and time spent unplugged. When they do, great things happen. Things like this. What The Mountains Tell Me Every day I go [...]

Kids need outlets in nature and time spent unplugged. When they do, great things happen. Things like this. What The Mountains Tell Me Every day I go on a hill To watch the mountains calm and still They tell me stories of climbers climbing them with pride Or little kids like you and me Dreaming [...]

Jerell Friesen's article on living in the winter bush for 38 days eating nothing but pemmican on the JMB blog.? 38 Days Of Pemmican – Ketosis In The Winter Bush This guest post is by Jerell Friesen, pictured in the photo above adjusting an improvised snowshoe during the 38 days described in the post. You [...]

This guest post is by Jerell Friesen, pictured in the photo above adjusting an improvised snowshoe during the 38 days described in the post. You can download a pdf with graphics by clicking here. What I Did: During the 38 day period between February 2nd and March 8th 2013 I dedicated myself to a two [...]

by Fred GeorgekishI've been looking for this book for ten years after seeing it once. No luck. If you've got it, and would let me photocopy it, I'd gladly pay postage and treat it with the utmost care:? Iiyiyuu Miichiwaahp-h =: Traditional architecture of the Wemindji Cree: Fred Georgekish: 9780969986201: Amazon.com: Books Iiyiyuu Miichiwaahp-h =: [...]

Ordered a second copy of 'Making The Attikamek Snowshoe' for the field school library.  If you're interested in snowshoes and native culture, it's a must read.? Making The  Attikamek Snowshoe ;176 pages, 255 photos The art  of making the elegant ”square-toe” snowshoe of the Attikamek  Indians ; the complete process including frame construction, plain and [...]

Note: This is the first in a series of guest posts by our senior instructor Paul Sveum. There was a TV commercial I saw last winter while I was out in Montana that I thought of today as we are set to begin our 2014 Spring Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. The scene opened with a happy [...]

Our new 10'x20' cabin, to be a library and student study area, is complete.  Insulated and finished inside.  Will be delivered in a few days. ? View this post on Google+

Wall tents are great portable homes. In this video Paul Sveum shows how he builds a platform and knee wall to make living in one that much more comfortable.

Photo: Rocket stoves at dusk. Highlights: These are the long, busy days of June. We had a great month and now the wild edibles are really beginning to pop and the fishing is getting good. We’ve got a bunch of garden beds in this year, as well as a variety of fruit trees. The field [...]

Recorded in the Guide Shack at the field school, join Tim Smith, Paul Sveum and Shawn Sprague as they talk about the Jack Mountain Bushcraft School certifications. Learn what they are, why they exist, where they came from and what they can do for you. iTunes Link | Play, Download Or Subscribe In iTunes Stitcher [...]

The Survival Show I Want To See: I keep waiting for a high-stakes, high-drama tv survival show starring puppets that's also a musical. Now THAT would be something.? View this post on Google+

Teaching assistant positions: new format and requirements.  Adding a research component. ? Teaching Assistant Internships – Jack Mountain Bushcraft School Teaching assistant positions are open to graduates of our Earth skills programs and are a good option for those looking to learn advanced bushcraft and teaching skills. View this post on Google+

Time is flying by! TV crew here today and tomorrow filming a cooking show.  It's going to be a lot of fun!? View this post on Google+

Photo: Snow at the field school in late April. Highlights: Since April 20 and until June 21 we’re busy with the spring Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. It’s been a great course so far, but not without it’s weather-imposed challenges. When we started the snowpack on our road was waist deep! But things have warmed up and [...]