We’re finishing up week six of the Wilderness Bushcraft Semester, and tomorrow morning we’re headed to the Allagash for our second trip of the course. We’ll be putting in at Indian Stream and paddling to Allagash Village. We’re in a midsummer weather pattern with a lot of thunderstorms in the afternoon, so that might be […]
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On episode 128 of the JMB Podcast, Jesse and Tim discuss some big-picture ideas about why you might be interested in learning bushcraft, and what you do with it when you learn it. Ultimately it’s about being resilient and connecting with the land and our ancestors. It is a lifestyle that resonates with a deep […]
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Working on friction fire techniques at the field school. We had 100% success rate with everyone getting their first hand drill coals. We also had success with the fire plough, as documented in this video. A lot of learning is taking place. #FullTangLifestyle […]
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– Ago Puteus Foris –
We’re a bushcraft, guide training and wilderness expedition school and traditional Maine Guide service founded in 1999. We help people become more skilled, more knowledgeable, more experienced and more confident by using traditional wilderness skills, a few simple tools and field-based experience. This is our media hub. For information on our programs, go to JackMtn.com, and check out our Calendar to see all upcoming programs.
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 […] Continue Reading...
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 […] Continue Reading...
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 […] Continue Reading...
We’re finishing up week six of the Wilderness Bushcraft Semester, and tomorrow morning we’re headed to the Allagash for our second trip of the course. We’ll be putting in at Indian Stream and paddling to Allagash Village. We’re in a midsummer weather pattern with a lot of thunderstorms in the afternoon, so that might be […] Continue Reading...
I get asked regularly (it happened twice over this past weekend) where my interest in bushcraft began. I feel like I have told the story hundreds of times, but in case you’re new here, here it is. I grew up on a small lake in rural New Hampshire. That’s a photo taken on the lake […] Continue Reading...
Maybe you’ve read Dick Proenneke’s books, or maybe you’ve seen his video “Alone In The Wilderness”. He built a cabin in Twin Lakes, Alaska, when he was in his early 50’s, and lived there until his 90’s. Wrote a book, published a video after he passed, and was generally an inspiration to a bunch of […] Continue Reading...
We’re into week 3 of the summer 2024 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester and things are humming along. Last week we started canoe paddles and everyone has been diligently working away on them with hand tools. Water levels in the river are dropping to summer lows, limiting the moving water canoeing options nearby, but we’ve been out […] Continue Reading...
We’re in the middle of week one on the summer, 2024 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester and we’ve got a heat wave sitting over us. We’ve begun our coursework on understanding the weather and are currently looking at the impacts of weather on human behavior and energy levels. Yesterday the temperature was around 95 degrees F. Today […] Continue Reading...
We had a fantastic week canoeing the Bonaventure river in Quebec. The upper river was very low, but thanks to an overnight rain the water level came up and was pretty close to perfect. Although we came close a few times, our crew didn’t dump any boats. I’ve got a bunch of videos to edit, […] Continue Reading...
After wrapping up the 2024 Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester (WCES) a few days ago and a few days of rest and office work, I’m getting gear and a menu ready for next week’s trip to Quebec to run the Bonaventure River. I’ve been up there a few times, and it’s a real stunner of a […] Continue Reading...
I heard from an old friend and fellow Maine guide last night. He is reading The Last Guide by Ron Corbett, a book about the last of the old-time fishing guides in Algonquin Park in Ontario. He was taken with the author’s ideas on the motivation to be a guide. Seen from a different perspective, […] Continue Reading...
On episode 128 of the JMB Podcast, Jesse and Tim discuss some big-picture ideas about why you might be interested in learning bushcraft, and what you do with it when you learn it. Ultimately it’s about being resilient and connecting with the land and our ancestors. It is a lifestyle that resonates with a deep […] Continue Reading...
On episode 127 of the JMB Podcast, Tim, Oz and Jesse discuss self-care and the implications of an injury while on an expedition. They also discuss planning programs for 2025. #FullTangLifestyle Photo: One of my favorite spots in the North Maine Woods. Show Notes: JMB Podcast Episode 127 Kid-Friendly? There is no profanity in this […] Continue Reading...
On episode 126 of the JMB Podcast, Oz and Tim discuss the mental game of long-term wilderness living skills. To be successful on long-term programs, self-discipline is a prerequisite. Putting the daily work first buys you a moment here and there where you can appreciate where you are and what you’re doing. But the romantic […] Continue Reading...
For episode 125 of the JMB Podcast I was joined by Jesse Grindler. Jesse is a JMBS alum, owner of Wise Oak Wilderness in Montreal, and recently joined us on our Bonaventure River canoe expedition. We discuss the Bonaventure trip, then we learn about the business Jesse recently started called Wise Oak Wilderness, offering a […] Continue Reading...
Episode 124 of the JMB Podcast is about training people for solo wilderness canoe expeditions. We discuss the skills needed to do it safely, and talk about a September 2024 course designed to give people the skills and confidence to pull it off. Read more about the course discussed on the Solo Expedition Canoe Course […] Continue Reading...
Working on friction fire techniques at the field school. We had 100% success rate with everyone getting their first hand drill coals. We also had success with the fire plough, as documented in this video. A lot of learning is taking place. #FullTangLifestyle... Continue Reading...
We’re making canoe poles this week to replace the old and broken ones. As it is with many projects that start with raw materials from the forest, identifying, harvesting and processing the blank is hugely important. You have to find the right species of tree (spruce) growing in the right way in order to make […] Continue Reading...
We’re into the middle of the summer 2024 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester and people are getting deep into the projects on the course. The morning we filmed this everyone was working independently, so I figured I’d walk around and document the different things that were going on. #FullTangLifestyle... Continue Reading...
We took advantage of the recent rains to get out onto a small stream we can usually only canoe during the high waters of early spring. It is the same stream we ran for JMB Vlog 182, Poling A Low Water Stream, and is a great local run. This time we had lots of water […] Continue Reading...
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