Craig Caudill is Director and Lead Instructor of Nature Reliance School, based in Kentucky, USA. Craig has taught backcountry skills for many years. He's also a seasoned writer, to date being the author of eight books on backcountry skills and knowledge. It was great to finally record an episode of my podcast with Craig as guest, to learn more about his background and teachings. Craig and I actually share some similar philosophies and it was great to riff on these a bit in this episode too...

This podcast is long overdue. My guest is John Rhyder, naturalist, writer and highly experienced bushcraft educator. Indeed he was the instructor on the first formal bushcraft course I took many, many years ago. John is an innovator in the field of bushcraft and nature education, and continues to push his own knowledge too. In particular, John is passionate about wildlife tracking; he is currently the only person in northern Europe certified as Senior Tracker under the Cybertracker system. There is much to savour in this conversation....

Canadian outdoor educator and author Kevin Callan joins me to talk about nature connection, preserving wilderness, healing yourself with time outdoors as well as undertaking the Meanest Link…

Tristan Gooley, natural navigator and author, returns to the Paul Kirtley Podcast for a conversation centred on on becoming more attuned to the clues and signs surrounding you in nature, and finding the keys that help unlock these secrets...

John Hudson, Chief Instructor at the UK military’s Defence SERE Training Organisation, joins me in conversation on the Paul Kirtley Podcast. Originally an RAF helicopter pilot and now the survival instructor responsible for training all the survival instructors in the UK military, John is the real deal when it comes to survival training and advice. In the civilian world John’s expertise has been called on for Discovery Channel TV show Dude You’re Screwed as well as other projects. He has laid down some key principles we can all apply to our lives in his book How To Survive: Lessons For Everyday Life From The Extreme World. In this podcast we talk about all this and more, including which survival myths need killing once and for all...

David Wescott, Dave Holladay, André-François Bourbeau and Mors Kochanski come together in a panel discussion chaired by Les Stroud (a.k.a. Survivorman) at the 2019 Global Bushcraft Symposium, Alberta, Canada. Recorded June 11th 2019. Listen now...

Mors Kochanski joins me for a conversation about wilderness living skills, bushcraft and survival. Mors explains his background in these subjects, going right back to his school days, along with learning from his mentor Tom Roycraft, through Mors's own unique contributions and inventions , including the super-shelter. Along the way we cover a lot of fascinating ground....click to find out more and listen to this podcast...

Dave Canterbury of the Pathfinder School joins me to talk about his perspective on bushcraft, particularly the contrasts he sees between bushcraft in the UK and USA. We use his popular concept of the 5C’s of survivability as well as applying the Six Sigma concept to bushcraft/survival as jumping-off points for a wide-ranging conversation, including building a YouTube channel, writing books, putting your own spin on existing knowledge, re-invigorating old works, getting kids interested in the outdoors, prioritising what you learn, different ways of learning, immersion training, first aid kits and the differences between bushcraft and survival...

Miles Irving, is one of the foremost professional foragers in the UK, author of The Forager Handbook, founder and director of Forager Ltd and host of the WorldWild podcast. Miles’s interest in foraging goes back to his childhood but a chance conversation led to him turning this growing passion into a career. Miles was able to start supplying restaurants with foraged plants and this quickly expanded, ultimately leading to him to supplying well-known chefs and restaurants such as Jamie Oliver, Mark Hix, Heston Blumenthal and The Ivy. His company Forager Ltd has expanded to source nearly 500 wild ingredients and Miles has grown to be one of the most respected professional foragers. Miles continues to push the boundaries of wild food and advocates the reintroduction of foraged foods into regular diets. Miles joins me for a wide-ranging and in-depth conversation on wild foods, foraging, health and connecting with nature...

In this Paul Kirtley Podcast I return to Q&A, answering listener questions on a range of topics - Is there an issue with collecting water from streams or ponds containing poisonous plant species such as hemlock water dropwort, Oenanthe crocata? What are the benefits or disadvantages to a woodland if it is being used for bushcraft? How many knives is too many knives? Is a belt knife and a pocket knife enough for a wilderness trip? How to sharpen spoon knives? How to tell the difference between birch species? What are the alternatives to birch bark for lighting fires with sparks from a ferro rod?

In the Spring of 2017 Justin and his dog Saku set off on a a traverse of Newfoundland. Starting on snowshoes and hauling a sled, Justin switched to backpacking and pakrafting once the conditions allowed. 68 days and 700km later, Justin and Saku had crossed the island of Newfoundland from West to East, beginning on the Gulf of St Lawrence and ending up in Cape Broyle on the Atlantic Ocean. Justin joins me on Paul Kirtley Podcast episode 38 to talk about this and other adventures he's had in his native Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada...

Dan Hume, bushcraft instructor and author of The Art Of Fire: The Joy Of Tinder, Spark And Ember guests on The Paul Kirtley Podcast to discuss his travels to remote places in search of traditional fire techniques being applied and relied upon to this day...

Dave Holder is a wilderness living skills instructor and wilderness guide based in Canada. He is also a TV survival consultant, being the lead survival and safety consultant on the Alone show on The History Channel. In this podcast episode we get into a wide-ranging conversation which should provide you with insights into long-term survival situations, psychological factors for success, skillsets required, equipment, nutrition and more.

Mors Kochanski and Jon McArthur join The Paul Kirtley Podcast to discuss the motivations behind, and the aims of, the Global Bushcraft Symposium. Along the way, Mors shares a few anecdotes too...

Anna Lewington, ethnobotanist and author, joins me to talk about adventures in the Peruvian Amazon, writing the seminal book Plants For People, being an inspiration for the Eden Project, being part of the BBC’s Rough Science series, reviving traditional rush crafts, documenting food plant festivals and her latest work, Birch, a new book that is a celebration of the practical and cultural importance of the birches...

In this episode I am joined by Louis Rudd, MBE. This interview with Lou was recorded in late October 2018, shortly before he departed for Chile and then onto Antarctica to attempt a solo, unsupported and unaided crossing of the Antarctic Continent via the South Pole. This means simply manhauling everything he needs for the trip, accepting no assistance and not using any aids such as kites to pull him along. It’ll be entirely under his own steam. This is a challenge no-one has previously successfully completed...

Kevin Brownlee, Curator of Archaeology at the renowned Manitoba Museum, joins me to discuss indigenous archaeology and working with indigenous communities to raise awareness of ancient heritage and archaeology of the boreal forest and sub-arctic...

Back in Sweden again. This podcast brings you interviews from the wonderful Bushcraftfestivalen, with Lars Fält, Julia Kalthoff, Juha Rankinen and Jonas Als. I also briefly catch up with Rupert Brown of Brown's Bushcraft to get his impressions of his first time at the event...

Will Lord grew up on the land that holds Grimes Graves, a prehistoric flint mine in Norfolk. Will's parents were custodians of the land, which is an English Heritage site. During his formative years, Will was surrounded by flint-knapping and experimental archaeology. Flint-knapping, bow-making, hide-tanning and other stone age skills have continued to fascinate Will to this day. In this podcast interview, Will shares some of his passion for the skills and the era...

Dr Cassandra Quave joins me to discuss her work as a medical ethnobotanist, teaching about medicinal plant use and researching botanical remedies used in the traditional treatment of infectious disease....

Leon McCarron FRGS is an adventurer and storyteller, who has used both the mediums of video and text to vividly convey aspects of his journeys and a tangible sense of the places and people he has encountered along the way. In this podcast interview Leon joins me to discuss the people, places and practicalities of walking 1,000 miles through the varied landscapes and cultures of the Middle East, from Jerusalem to Mount Sinai...

Joe Robinet is known for making videos documenting his bushcraft and camping adventures, as well as having appeared on the first season of History Channel series Alone. I’ve been intrigued by the proliferation of outdoor video blogs and specifically bushcraft & camping videos on YouTube. Given Joe’s success on the platform, I figured he would be a good person to help discuss this area in more detail...

On 30th April 2017 Colin Skeath and his nephew Davis Gould-Duff set off from Loch Sunart on the West Coast of Scotland in an open canoe, aiming to circumnavigate Britain. 86 days later they completed this epic undertaking. Colin joins me to discuss the adventure, where the idea came from, the mindset required of them and what they learned from the experience…

Theresa Emmerich Kamper, PhD, Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter and author of Determining Prehistoric Skin Processing Technologies, has over 25 years of experience in prehistoric skin tanning and clothing construction. She joins me on this podcast to talk in detail about traditional tanning, prehistoric skin processing, making clothing from skins and furs, and much more. I could probably have called this episode "Everything you wanted to know about tanning but were afraid to ask"....

Kevin Callan is well known as a paddler and author of many canoe-route guidebooks for his native province of Ontario, Canada. He's also known as the Happy Camper, and he certainly has always been happy when I've camped or chatted with him. Kevin has been a guest on my podcast before and today I'm delighted to welcome him back again to talk about another shared passion of ours - winter camping....

Professional deer stalker and firearms instructor Andy Chadderton returns to The Paul Kirtley Podcast. The conversation Andy and I have in this podcast is based on questions submitted by listeners. In the wide-ranging discussion, we talk deer stalking, land management, rewilding, hunting ethics, firearms law, riflescopes, advice to beginners and more...

Why does it matter how long it takes you to light fire by friction when practising? From the perspective of sports psychology there are solid reasons why measuring performance in bushcraft activities can be beneficial. My colleague Iain Gair, who has a Master's degree in Sports Psychology, joins me to discuss this in more depth...

Rupert Brown joins me to talk about water purification and the nifty solution he provided to the bushcraft world and wider community of outdoors people in manufacturing the Brown Filter Bag. In the course of the conversation Rupert also talks about his change of career from being a forester and teaching arboriculture to teaching bushcraft as well as moving to France, where he now resides.

Episode 22 is made up from some of my conversations at the 2017 Bushcraftfestivalen in Sweden. Guests include Lisa Fenton, Harry Sepp, Jonas Landolsi, Tobias Karlsson, Kevin Warrington, Jonas Als and Mikael Akerman...

Sarita Robinson, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at UCLAN joins me to talk about her recent work, researching and quantifying various benefits to our wellbeing of spending time outdoors, undertaking bushcraft and other activities. Along the way, our discussion takes in areas such as stress, anxiety, sleep deprivation, sleep hygiene, blue light from screens, melatonin, digital detoxes, camping, green spaces, outdoor activities and of course, wellbeing...

James Raffan, scholar, outdoorsman and celebrated Canadian author joins me to discuss adventure, risk, failure, teaching, wilderness journeying, lifelong learning, personal development, human potential and journal keeping, along with characters such as Kirk Whipper, Bill Mason and Sir George Simpson of the Hudson’s Bay Company...

Sitting down around a table in a wooden chalet in Scotland, Kevin Callan, Ray Goodwin, Justine Curgenven and I talk about the canoe trip down the river Spey we'd just finished the very same day. This is an enjoyable yet insightful reflection by four outdoors people on a fun week on the river...

Mark Hines, professional adventurer, endurance athlete, exercise physiologist and biomechanics researcher, author and lecturer joins me for a wide-ranging and fascinating discussion on adventure, endurance, diet and health...

Al Humphries is best known for the concept of microadventures and his book of the same name, following his Year of Microadventure. He's no stranger to big adventures either, though. Al joins me on this podcast to talk about adventures great and small, what motivates him, how he chooses his adventures, the challenges of making a living as an adventurer and what he does when things go wrong...

John Boe is a British military veteran with PTSD. In this podcast episode we have a candid discussion about John’s condition, how it manifested itself and how he came to realise he found solace in time spent in nature, especially in the woods. This ultimately led to a second career as a bushcraft instructor, delivering courses through Wildway Bushcraft, based in the South West of the UK. Having John join me on this podcast was also a good opportunity to discuss aspects of John’s experience in establishing himself as a bushcraft instructor and starting his own bushcraft school, and to draw out some broader lessons for those looking for a pathway in bushcraft instruction.

Lisa Fenton joins me to talk about her academic research in the realms of anthropology and ethnobotany, in particular her research into the relationship between bushcraft and indigenous knowledge, which formed the basis of her doctoral thesis...

I'm joined by John Rensten of Forage London to talk about urban foraging in the city and the advantages of learning about tree and plant identification in urban spaces. We meet in a London park and take a look at plants we find in just one small corner...

Mark Kalch has made it his mission to paddle the longest river on each of the seven continents - seven rivers on seven continents. He has already completed descents of the Amazon, Volga and the Missouri-Mississippi River. These journeys have taken Mark through a wide variety of environments, some of them very wild and remote...

Ray Goodwin returns for round two on my podcast to discuss his continuing journey in coaching and adventuring by canoe and how this feeds into his new book as well as his teaching, leadership and guiding...

Lou Rudd joins me to discuss making unsupported journeys to the South Pole including retracing Amundsen's route. Along the way he provides insights on physical training, food, nutrition, personal admin and winter camping routines...

Professional deer stalker and firearms instructor Andy Chadderton joins me to talk about his work in deer stalking, deer management and education about deer…

Alyssa Crittenden, Lincy assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Nevada joins me to talk about her work amongst the Hadza hunter-gatherers of Tanzania, evolution of the human diet and the importance of honey...

In this podcast episode, adventurers Tom Allen and Leon McCarron join me to talk about making independent, long distance, human powered journeys off the beaten track. Both are Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society. Both have made seriously long human powered journeys. Last year they teamed up to undertake a couple of adventurous journeys trips, one in Patagonia, Argentina and the other in Iran...

Chris Townsend is something of a hero to me. When I was first looking to undertake multi-day backpacking trips more than 20 years ago, it was Chris's book, The Backpacker's Handbook that I referred to for information and advice. I've followed his work and his exploits ever since. Chris has a huge depth and breadth of long distance walking experience - both on trail and off trail - and his advice...

Jules Pretty OBE, Professor of Environment and Society at the University of Essex joins me to discuss his book The Edge Of Extinction: Travels With Enduring People In Vanishing Lands, the powerful messages it contains and his work in general...

Cliff Jacobson is one of North America’s most respected outdoors writers and wilderness canoe guides. He is an outdoor skills instructor and a professional outfitter and guide, a canoeing and camping consultant, and the author of more than a dozen top-selling books on canoeing and camping. In 2003 the American Canoe Association presented Cliff with the Legends of Paddling Award and inducted him into the ACA Hall of Fame. In 2009 Cliff was awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award by the Boy Scouts of America. Canoeing, camping and sharing his experience has been a lifelong passion for Cliff. He seems to have paddled every river in North America, certainly in Canada. His wilderness experience is massive and the relevance of the conversation this podcast goes far beyond the context of canoe tripping....

In episode 6 of my podcast I travel to northern Sweden for a winter camping trip and along the way pass on some advice for winter outdoor life, build a special survival fire and meet a Sami man who provides insight into his traditional way of life...

Award-winning adventure film-maker Justine Curgenven joins me to talk about the incredible, unprecedented sea kayak journey she and Sarah Outen made along the Aleutian Island chain and Alaskan peninsular, which resulted in a rich wilderness experience of wild, remote islands, unpredictable seas, isolated native communities and abundant wildlife...

In Episode 4 of my podcast, I speak with natural navigator and author, Tristan Gooley about the beauty of natural navigation, how it ties in with bushcraft and outdoor life and how to get started on your own voyage of discovery using nature's signs...

In this episode of my podcast I talk with Canadian outdoorsman, speaker and author of 15 books, Kevin Callan. He's won awards for his writing as well as his film-making, including the the "Best of" category at the prestigious Waterwalker Film Festival. Kevin is a regular on Canadian TV and radio. He's a great guy and fantastic advocate for the vast benefits of getting outdoors. The conversation we have on this podcast is wide-ranging and a lot of fun too...