Bison
&Expeditions 2007/2008
Please read before Booking
We require a £50 deposit to secure your place on one of our courses. You will be invoiced for the balance one month prior to the course start date. On receipt of your deposit we will send you booking forms for you to complete and return.
CLICK HERE FOR AN INDEPENDANT REVIEW OF A BISON BUSHCRAFT COURSE
We can offer intensive skills training for individuals on a personal basis. Normally for a one-day period with the date arranged mutually between you and the appropriate instructor. These training periods allow us to take you through various skills at your own pace without the restraints of group training. The training will normally take place at our locations but we are willing to travel if necessary but this may have some bearing on the cost. If you cannot see the skill you would like to spend a day learning, please contact us as we can arrange other skills or refer you to another suitable school.
Skills Available
| 1d01 | Knife care and skills £180 (Roger Harrington) |
Deposit (see above) |
£50.00 |  |
| 1d02 | Wild and edible plants * £180 (Neil Andrews) |
Deposit (see above) |
£50.00 | |
| 1d03 | Medicinal plants * £180 (Jackie Saul-Hunt) |
Deposit (see above) |
£50.00 | |
| 1d03 | Axe workshop & gate hurdle making £180 - (Roger Harrington) |
Deposit (see above) |
£50.00 | |
| 1d05 | Introduction to the Canadian /Open canoe including equipment £160 (Steve Yates) |
Deposit (see above) |
£50.00 | |
| 1d06 | Basic leatherwork including making your own leather knife sheath £110 (Roger Harrington) |
Deposit (see above) |
£50.00 | |
| 1d07 | Navigation using O/S maps, compass and natural features £160 (Roger Harrington or Neil andrews) |
Deposit (see above) |
£50.00 | |
Weekend Bushcraft Courses 
(East Sussex):
Bison Bushcraft's most popular courses. Spend a weekend in secluded woodland learning wilderness living skills. These are practical, hands-on courses where you'll sleep out two nights in shelters you build, light your own fires, prepare and gather your own food. You'll learn knots and rope-work, care and safe use of cutting tools, gathering safe drinking water and a host of other Bushcraft skills.
Course cost : £190
| BBCW4 | 13th to 15th June 2008 |
Deposit (see above) | £50.00 | |
| BBCW5 | 8th to 10th August 2008 | Deposit (see above) | £50.00 | |
Camp out with us in a beautiful Sussex woodland environment over the weekend and learn to use your knife and axe. We'll teach you how to care for and sharpen your tools. We'll fashion all kinds of craft projects with opportunities to make stools, spoons, cups and bowls, pack-saws and a host of other crafted aids to wilderness living.
This course is self-catering and the course price includes a Gransfors Bruks Small forest axe that you may keep.
Course Cost: £205
| BBCES | 30th May to 1st June 2008 | Deposit (see above) | £50.00 | |
MASTER CRAFTSMAN
A new but much requested course. As usual set in beautiful Sussex woodlands, living under basha, canvas or whatever you decide. On this course you will learn to construct your own knife (Blades pre made), leather scabbard, possibles pouch and your very own English longbow. We'll supply all of the materials, most of the tools and as usual all of the
meals (Organic where possible). You'll need your knife, axe, a willingness to learn and a few tales for around the campfire in the evening.
Course Cost: £550
| MCWE | 22nd to 28th September 2008 | Deposit (see above) | £50.00 | |
BACKWOODS COOKERY WEEKEND
“Any fool can be uncomfortable” – If your trips away are fuelled by tinned, dehydrated or “boil-in-the-bag” rations then this could be a worthwhile weekend away.
Cooking in the great outdoors utilizes a whole host of bushcraft skills – firecraft, campcraft, plant lore – are all used when creating meals in an outdoor environment, so this is the ideal next step for anyone with a basic knowledge of bushcraft.
Over the weekend we will cover selection of ingredients and utensils, methods of cookery, menu planning and field hygiene.
Held on our beautiful woodland estate in east Sussex, you will be shown a whole range of culinary skills, suitable for the lone back packer and the family camper alike.
| BWCWE | 27th to 29th June 2008 | Deposit (see above) | £50.00 | |
Using scenario based training really brings home what works and what doesn’t. Our first aid courses use this method of teaching to allow us to work towards reacting effectively to incidents that may occur in the pursuit of Bushcraft. This is a much more hands on approach to first aid training. You will leave this course with a refreshed and completely new outlook to first aid and medical kits as well as a basic first aid qualification.
Course cost : £190
| FATB1 | 13th to 15th June 2008 |
Deposit (see above) | £50.00 | |
CANADIAN CANOE WEEKEND
With the resurgence of interest in the Canadian canoe in the bushcraft scene we are offering introductory canoe training and canoe expeditions.
This course will be held near Poole in Dorset this summer and will be an introductory 2 day course.
The plan is to spend as much time as we can on the water with sessions ashore for breaks and short technical lectures including how to apply your Bushcraft skills whilst living in or travelling by open canoe. Although not a BCU format course we will cover a lot of the BCU 2 and 3 star syllabuses.
The emphasis will be on getting a basic feel for the open canoe, however we are basing the course around the idea of canoe camping and using the canoe for wilderness travel. We intend to have an overnight bivvy and complete a journey.
Clearly what we do will be weather dependant.
We have an excellent and varied fleet of boats from mad river, Wenonah and nova craft, we will even have a cedar-canvas boat on the water. We will be supplying boats, paddles and safety kit.
You will need normal outdoor clothes and soft footwear, it is best to have a complete change of clothes and kit that you can swim in—canoe rescue is an essential skill and we will be demonstrating rescue skills.
For the bivvy and journey element you will need to be able to waterproof your kit, I have a supply of dry-bags.
We will have a strong bushcraft element and will as usual be cooking over fire.
We look forward to hearing from you; please do not hesitate to contact us for any more information.
Course cost:: £230 per person
| CCW1 | 4th to 6th July 2008 |
Deposit (see above) | £50.00 | |
Fishing and Bushcraft on the Isle of Islay
Cuiart Breac * - A Wild Trout Odyssey
19th - 24th May 2008
In May 2008, anglers who want to take their sight/fly-fishing to a different level – or people who enjoy being in the wild and like the idea of catching and eating their own food - can follow in the footsteps of those who have journeyed across the Hebrides for thousands of years. Like those who have gone before, from the Mesolithic peoples to 20th Century shepherds, these modern travellers will have to find themselves food and shelter en route.
This unique combination of Sight/Fly-Fishing and Bushcraft is the idea of Jeremy Hastings (whose company Islay Birding & Bushcraft was awarded VisitScotland's first and only 5 Star Wildlife Experience in March 2007) and Roger Harrington of Bison Bushcraft.
As Hastings explains, “Being in the Wilderness gives a whole new dimension to the fishing experience. What could be more satisfying than catching brown trout in a remote burn or hill loch, sea fishing from a deserted shore or foraging for shellfish - and then cooking the catch immediately on an open fire? Beat that for food miles!”
The five day and night experience will cost £575 per person and places are strictly limited.
Booking through the Islay Bushcraft website www.islaybushcraft.co.uk
* Gaelic, pronounced 'COO-arch BRAY-urk' meaning “a wee walk round a speckled (trout)”!
Our ancestors had a deep understanding of how to use trees, plants and grasses throughout the seasons, and used these plant fibres for their clothing and everyday items. This skill and knowledge is still important in our bushcraft experience of today. In this course you’ll learn how to make a variety of types of cordage, from simple split roots to more complex bast fibre cordage, and we’ll be using these along with other materials like grass and bark to make mats, pots and baskets. The materials we’ll use are from our woodland here in Sussex, but after the course you’ll have the skills and confidence to transfer what you’ve learnt to any environment you enter into.
| CPB1 | 27th to 29th June 2008 |
Deposit (see above) | £50.00 | |