Why Woodsmoke?
Woodsmoke’s image arises directly from the values, pursuits and passions of its founders and instructors. It is a reflection of who we are and what we believe. Our core ethos is to keep it real and we firmly believe that wilderness skills and their methodology should be taught without compromise, with a view to the recipient possibly having to rely on those techniques in real wilderness.The skills we teach have been forged and tempered in the wild, and when taught correctly, they become memorised by muscle and last a lifetime. As professionals we have personally, and often repeatedly, tried and tested all the techniques that we teach in a variety of wilderness environments and are confident that they work.
The Woodsmoke team has such a broad base of expertise, we offer the most complete and comprehensive range of courses in the UK, spanning all the disciplines of wilderness living skills from brain tanning skins to preparing for overseas vehicle-based expeditions. Each course on our menu has been designed with a distinct well-defined purpose, with minimal overlap of tuition from one course to the other.
We are often viewed as industry opinion formers and leaders, presenting the subject in refreshing new ways, and subtly changing the face of UK bushcraft, both in the woods and across the market, constantly innovating and offering new courses, pushing the boundaries of equipment and experimenting with new concepts and ideas. One of the things that makes Woodsmoke different is our full time commitment to professional teaching and expedition leading. We don’t sell equipment, and we don’t run bushcraft courses as a part-time occupation - we eat, sleep and breath bushcraft - teaching and leading in the outdoors throughout the year, enabling us to continually research and refining new techniques and equipment, in order to help you make informed choices and to be fully prepared for adventure travel in wilderness areas.
Woodsmoke doesn’t sell equipment and focuses purely on teaching skills, so you can rest assured that the skills you are being taught don’t facilitate the sales of ‘must have’ merchandise, as we only use simple kit that is easy to maintain in the bush, and recommend the best independent stockists.
Our approach is purist, yet flexible and we have periodic reality checks (often provided by mother nature) - when we scrutinise what we are teaching and if works, we refine it and if it’s been superseded by a new or better technique then we discard it. Our commitment to quality tuition means that sometimes it can take us years to design a new course or expedition.' - Ben McNutt, 2010