Bushcrafting is a set of wilderness survival skills and techniques that focus on using natural resources and adapting to the environment to thrive in outdoor settings.
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It involves acquiring practical knowledge and abilities to sustain oneself in the wild by utilizing tools, shelter-building, fire-making, foraging, water sourcing, and crafting various necessities from available materials.
Bushcrafting emphasizes self-reliance, problem-solving, and resourcefulness in outdoor scenarios, promoting an understanding of nature and the ability to work with the elements. It often involves skills such as shelter construction using natural materials, identifying edible plants, trapping, woodcraft, and navigation.
While modern tools may be used in bushcrafting, the emphasis is on utilizing traditional skills and primitive methods, connecting individuals to ancestral knowledge and enhancing their connection with nature. The practice also emphasizes low-impact camping and ethical considerations when interacting with the environment.
Bushcrafting enthusiasts often seek to develop a deep connection with the natural world and gain a sense of accomplishment by mastering essential survival skills. It can be a hobby, a way to disconnect from the modern world, and a means of building resilience and adaptability.
Overall, bushcrafting is about acquiring the skills and knowledge to thrive in the wilderness by utilizing nature's resources and one's ingenuity, fostering self-sufficiency and a strong connection to the natural environment.
We are opening a school that will work on the principle of weekend seminars. Various topics will be covered such as different ways of starting a fire, making a habit, using and maintaining tools, making tools and primitive weapons in the field and lots of time for nature. All classes will be held at Tara, where @sumskajurta will be our base.
Registration for the courses is ongoing, select a date and send the application.
Basic bushcraft course
Course dates
15 - 17.03.2024.
19 - 21.04.2024.
17 - 19.05.2024.
13 - 15.09.2024.
more about course
Course description:
The basic course aims to introduce beginners to bushcraft and outdoor skills. Participants will have the opportunity to learn different methods of starting fire, how to use and maintain their tools, how to use natural resources to make the necessary objects and tools directly in the field.
During this course, participants will sleep in large yurts that can fit up to ten people, but they are required to bring their own sleeping bag and mat. During the duration of the course, everyone will stay together on the school grounds. The camp has field toilets, running water and showers. Attendees will have access to their vehicles, as well as phones, although the range is poor.
Topics to be covered:
• History of bushcraft
• Firebox construction
• Lighting a fire with flint
• Making a nest for the fire
• Lighting a fire with the help of stone and glass
• Proper use and maintenance of the axe
• Techniques of using a knife
• Knife and ax sharpening
• Making a bow saw in the field
• Making simple wooden tools
• Making a tripod
• Carving wooden wedges
• Shelters with a tent wing
• Preparing food in nature
• Knots and ties used in bushcraft
Additional notes:
The number of participants is limited to 20. The minimum age limit is 13 years. Children under 18 must be accompanied by a parent who is also a course participant. During the course, there can be different weather conditions - sun, rain, hot, cold... participants should be ready to work in all weather conditions.
Necessary equipment for the Basics of Bushcraft course:
• sleeping bag for the appropriate time of year
• headlamp
• leather work gloves
• water bottle
• notebook and pen for notes
• food and snacks to eat
• clothing for working outside in accordance with the weather conditions
• personal hygiene
Work equipment will be provided, if participants wish to use personal equipment to practice with their tools, they should bring:
• camping knife
• short axe
• saw blade 80 cm
• folding saw
• chalky
• sharpening stone
• tent wing
• rope 30m/3mm
Course price: 200 eur
Advanced bushcraft course
Course date
24-27.10.2024.
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Course description:
In the advanced course, the topic of bushcraft and the skills of staying in nature are further covered. This course is intended for those who have completed the basic course and want to expand their knowledge. Already learned fire lighting techniques are renewed and new ones are learned, different techniques of making shelter with the help of a tent wing are learned.
The participants will sleep in a yurt on the first night, while on the second night they will sleep in a shelter they make themselves. They should bring two woolen blankets for covering.
Topics to be covered:
• Ignition of fire by friction
• Advanced shelters with a tent wing
• Improvised shelter made of natural materials
• Carving a wooden spoon
• Making a saw frame
• Making a frame for an improvised backpack
• Knitting natural twine
• Knots and bindings
• Basic orientation
• Different uses of a woolen blanket
• Field cooking and food preparation
Additional notes:
The number of participants is limited to 20. The minimum age limit is 13 years. Children under 18 must be accompanied by a parent who is also a course participant. During the course, there can be different weather conditions - sun, rain, hot, cold... participants should be ready to work in all weather conditions. Prerequisite for the advanced course is completion of the basic course.
Necessary equipment for the course:
• sleeping bag for the appropriate time of year
• headlamp
• leather work gloves
• water bottle
• notebook and pen for notes
• food and snacks to eat
• clothing for working outside in accordance with the weather conditions
• personal hygiene
Work equipment will be provided, if participants wish to use personal equipment to practice with their tools, they should bring:
• camping knife
• short axe
• saw blade 80 cm
• folding saw
• chalky
• sharpening stone
• tent wing
• rope 30m/3mm
Price: 250 eur
Woodcraft course
Course date
14-17.11.2024.
Instructors
Jovan Bjelanovic, instructor
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Jovan Bjelanović was born on November 5, 1980. in Kać near Novi Sad. Physically extremely capable, and a brave explorer at heart, he has shown an interest in nature from an early age. His first adventures were trips to the moors on the Danube, and the old Alas taught him the first skills of staying in nature.
His interest was already formed then, and later on in his life he devoted himself intensively to the study of both old and forgotten skills, as well as some more modern skills that are used during a stay in nature.
Jovan Bjelanović is a veterinary technician by profession, but for the past 20 years he has been engaged in construction. He successfully transferred his skills from nature to this job, so in recent years he has specialized in wood and stone construction. With his own hands and using only primitive tools, he built the tourist educational camp Šumska yurt. (here should be a link that will lead to a page that describes the camp in detail)
In addition to the processing and use of wood and stone in construction, Jovan is engaged in making wooden canoes, bows and arrows, forging iron, sewing leather items, making dishes and other wooden items, etc.
For years, he studied primitive ways of hunting, and knows how to make and use primitive weapons and traps. The well-known Serbian TV show host Jovan Memedović recorded several shows about him "Quite Natural" and as he says: "If there is ever a struggle for survival, I would like to be close to Joco Bjelanović".
Quitel Natural, The Paleo Life (Part One)
Quite Natural, The Paleo Life (Part Two)
Magic sleeping yurt Podcast #61 Jovan Bjelanović naturalist and forest wanderer
Kosta Marinkovic, instructor
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Kosta was born in 1995 in Gornji Milanovac, he completed elementary school and high school in his hometown. He graduated from the Faculty of Sports and Physical Education in Belgrade in 2019, and in 2023 he defended his master's thesis "Specific survival procedures characteristic of mountain conditions" at the same faculty. during the practical training of the camp on Tara, he was a teacher in the field of "Basics of survival".
He loves nature and mountains, and works as an archery coach, mountain guide and a member of the Mountain Rescue Service. In recent years, he has been camping a lot and engaged in bushcraft - he cuts and carves wood, forges, sews leather and more.
Phone +38163521341
email: bushcra.org(et)gmail.com