Backcountry Survival Knife

Looking for the perfect Bushcraft/Survival Christmas present?  Designed by Neil Foote of BCS and crafted by John Scruby of JES Knives. The BCS Knife is designed as an all round survival knife to be utilised in a wide range of scenarios and environments; from sea level to mountain top, and everything in between! When you book on a BCS course in 2017 the BCS knife will be there for you to trial.

Vital Statistics;

•  Medium Profile. Full Tang Scandi Grind. 4″ 01 Tool Steel Blade (medium alloyed oil hardening steel). 4 mm Stock.
• Thumb Grips for wet weather grip. Ferrous Rod striker groove.
• 5.5 ” British Whale Brand Tuffnol handle. Stock handle is ergonomically designed for grip in wet weather.
• Bow drill dimples. Lanyard eyelet (to fit .22 bullet) Bone/Glass breaker.
• Kydex Sheath for easy care in the field/anti corrosion. 9mm ferrous sriker storage.

Does the perfect all round survival knife exist, or is it similar to the perfect pair of winter gloves?! Its all very much up to the individual as to what/where/when they will be using it at the end of the day.  The concept behind the BCS knife is that it has been designed with our courses in mind, and our clients complement us on our realistic training.

The blade has been designed to be heavy duty for all round woodland use, but well enough balanced and profiled for building traps and finer work. A full tang 4mm stock made of 01 Tool steel means the potential for distortion during heavy work is kept to a minimum, as does the potential for corrosion, yet the cutting edge can be kept razor sharp. The majority of Survival blades struggle with skinning small/big game, to us this is a big no no! The BCS is designed by John Scrubbie of JES knives. These guys have a long pedigree in providing quality knives to hunters and keepers who use their blades for this very reason!

bow drill dimples have been added to cut down on physical output when your friction wood isn’t perfectly dry and the lanyard eyelet will prize a .22 bullet from a round. The striker groove in the stock gives off a consistently bright shower of sparks. It is also possible to get sparks from the Bone/Glass breaker, using flint/quartz.

Backcountry Survival Knife

Why Kydex? Not as attractive as leather but the BCS knife is all about function over form. Having experience of running courses in the mountains, on the coast as well as in the woods we know that build up of grit over time can act as an abrasive on the cutting edge. Kydex is far easier to clean out, it also has the upside of drying out far quicker than leather, reducing the time that the steel is in contact with moisture.

The full package will weigh in at £180.00, which for an all rounder is exceptional. Still not sure? Why not book on one of our courses in 2017 where you will be able to test the BCS knife for free!

Keep up to date with our blog for more offers on our Bushcraft and Survival Courses in Scotland and North East England – We feature discounts and competitions regularly.

Robson Green Pre-Expedition Training

This week BCS have been working down south for JWC Media production team and Robson Green on a new Television series called “Robson Crusoe”. Robson who is no stranger to wild environments will spend 2 weeks living on a remote Island in the Phillipines with minimal gear. As you’d expect there will be plenty of laughs along the way, however on a more serious note Robson will be faced with some serious challenges similar to what Alexander Selkirk went through. If you’re not familiar with the story of Selkirk, the man Robinson Crusoe was based on, you can read about him here. A story of true survival, but also overcoming the odds and eventually thriving in an alien environment.

Stay tuned for more info.

Keep up to date with our blog for more offers on our Bushcraft and Survival Courses in Scotland and North East England – We feature discounts and competitions regularly.

Mountain Safety

This week has seen a large number of rescues in the British Mountain, in particular Scotland. If you’re going out please make sure you check the Mountain Weather Information Service and if you’re a hill walker, skiier, mountaineer or climber become familiar with the Scottish Avalanche Information Service. Survival isn’t about grizzing the bad weather out, it’s all about not getting into a survival situation in the first place. It’s also about having the right equipment with you and choosing a suitable route according to weather and topographical features. Attached to this post is our equipment list for our 3 day winter courses (this list doesn’t include crampons, ice axe, ski’s or other safety gear that we supply to our clients) it can be found here; snowholing

With a total of 3 deaths this week and 2 climbers having gone missing since Sunday (14th Feb 2016) The media are doing their usual, bringing up the questions “should the mountains be closed to people in the winter” and “should everyone venturing out into the wilderness have insurance”.Our personal opinion is absolutely not. The statistics for deaths in the mountains are relatively low VS the number of people participating in the activity.  This doesn’t comfort the loved ones of the mountaineering accidents, but the majority of serious outdoor hobbyists understand and accept the risks and try and manage them as best they can……sometimes accidents happen.

Should we be insured to enjoy the freedom of the mountains?  If I’m ever out in the Alps climbing, I make sure my insurance covers climbing accidents. The European system works differently from the British way of doing things though.  The rescue services in Britain are partially government funded with many of the Mountain rescue teams raising money for themselves through donations etc. All members of mountain rescue teams are volunteers, many of whom know what it’s like to be at the receiving end of a rescue. Lets put it this way, how many Saturday/Sunday football and rugby players each week are taken to hospital (via ambulance or helicopter)? How many accidents occur every month from Horse riding (one of the most dangerous past times you can participate in)?  The answer is many more than mountaineering accidents!! So why don’t we have the media demanding these sports are stopped, or to play them you need private insurance?

Regardless of the rights and wrongs, the most important thing to do is keep yourselves safe out there “work your weaknesses”, if you know your navigation is poor, book on a course….”the more you sweat, the less you bleed”.

Keep up to date with our blog for more offers on our Bushcraft and Survival Courses in Scotland and North East England – We feature discounts and competitions regularly.

Introducing the new Keb endurance 2 man tent

Backcountry Survival have been using Fjallraven tents for the past 3 years, both for personal instructor use and clients when running courses up in the mountains. We’ve seen the Keb tent range mature from being a reasonable tent that did the job, to the new upgraded edition, which to be honest is a different beast altogether.Lets start with the basics.

Running a company in the outdoors and especially in the Cairngorms, where the weather is at it’s harshest in the British isles leaves no space for second class gear. You have an equipment failure with something as fundamentally important as a tent on the wildness of the Cairngorm Plateau, and it can ruin a course, be incredibly uncomfortable and at the worst be potentially dangerous.

Backcountry Survival ran the Fjallraven 2016 tent launch in the U.K last October, with journalists from TGO and Trail magazine attending. From Backcountry’s staff point of view one of the highlights was the head designer Svante Bjorkroth had flown in from Sweden to do demonstrations and answer any technical questions that may float about.  Backcountry had in the past had minor issues with the older Keb 2 and 3  endurance, so we naturally had some feedback……..at the presentation on the hill it quickly turned out that all our questions had been answered in action rather than words by the design team, from new fabrics to new sourcing for the tent poles.

Fjallraven and primus press trip

The first thing to think about when buying a tent is ‘what are you actually going to be using it for?’ 

Are you going to be using a tent to throw in the back of a car and pitch up at a campsite? Walking or skiing long distance, so you need to keep the weight down to a minimum?  Camping in all seasons including winter?

I’m sure Fjallraven won’t make any bones about it, the clue is in the name Keb Endurance. The updated version of the Keb 2 is a 4 season workhorse that sacrifices lightweight for sturdiness and comfort.  The skirting around the bottom of the tent is reinforced for pitching on rough ground, the zips and zippers are heavy duty for use with gloves, the tunnel vents are reinforced with copper wire for sturdiness and as you’d expect with a winter tent the outer goes up first. The weight of the 2016 Keb 2 has been reduced compared to older models of the tent due largely to the upgraded fabric used (Polyester and polymide) which also almost completely eliminates build up of condensation. The “weight in bag” is 3350g which is acceptable for a 4 season tent. When issuing the Keb to clients we usually spread the weight evenly amongst the packs (one take poles and pegs, the other takes the outer and inner sheets)

Introducing The New Keb Endurance 2 Man Tent

Working in the outdoors means I’m constantly doing recce’s for new areas to run courses, new crags to climb at and new gorges and canyons to keep courses fresh. You can’t do this without a tonne of safety gear, most of which needs to be dried at some point.  The Porch section of the Keb 2 is perfect for this and has roughly the same foot print as the sleeping area itself, in built dry lines inside and out keep the floor space clear. So regardless of how much of a gear freak you are, the tent will store it, the only problem is can you carry it all in with you!

The inside of the tent is quality, the panelling and cut of the inner has been well thought out and executed leaving you feeling like you are safe and in a quality product. The price of the Keb 2 hovers around the £500 mark which isn’t cheap, but lets put it this way…….How many times have you been caught out walking in the driving rain in a Jacket that feels like Rab C Nesbitt’s string vest? Been skiing in gloves you bought from a service station and quickly regretted when the “hot aches” set in? Or been standing on a freezing belay wishing you’d spent that extra £100 on a down jacket?  The fact is when you’re out in the wild, you can’t head to the shop! Make the decision to get one before you head out……you won’t regret it.

Want to grab a deal? Head over to our friends at Above and Beyond for the best deals

Keep up to date with our blog for more offers on our Bushcraft and Survival Courses in Scotland and North East England – We feature discounts and competitions regularly.

Over complication of anything in a wilderness setting never works. The more working parts you have in a system the higher the likelihood that the system will fail. The consequences of not having ready access to clean portable water are obvious, so finding a reliable way of making dirty water drinkable is a high priority for anyone spending anything more than a few hours in the outdoors. Water safety lessons at Backcountry Survival focus on the big three filtration methods. The first stage: get rid of the visible stuff or sedimentation. Next, filter out particulates. Finish with purification to neutralise harmful pathogens, bacteria, protozoa and viruses.

For reasons I have never been able to get my head around the traditional filtration systems from Katadyn, Lifesaver and Sawyer (we’ve tried others too) never work that well for us. They break too easily: valves fail, handles snap, and the expensive carbon filters never produce the volume of safe water promised. In the field, traditional water pumps are not designed for sustained, repetitive, heavy-duty use. Given how important a constant, reliable source of clean water is, that’s a problem looking for a solution.

At first glance, the Water-to-go system looks like nothing more than an ordinary water bottle. But under the lid there’s a lot of interesting stuff going on. Water-to-go filters do use activated carbon, but they are not strictly “carbon filters”.

The Water-to-go system features a Nano Alumina membrane, a technology developed for NASA. The idea – like all good ones – is really simple. Nano Alumina active particles have a positive charge, harmful pathogens all have a negative charge. Anything that makes water unsafe is first captured by the active particles and then rendered harmless/denatured.

We really like the fact that Its easy to understand what’s going on under the hood, and We really, really like the fact that there’s nothing to go wrong, fail or break. Setup is swift and idiot-proof, unscrew the top and the primary filter screws into the underside of the lid. And that’s it. No pumping, no priming, little or no potential for cross-contamination. Note; You need to prime the filter the first time you use it.

The Water-To-Go will filter water with the following in it:

• Bacteria, viruses and protozoa
• Fluoride and chlorine
• Heavy metals
• Discolouration and bad odours.

Over the course of the last couple of months, we’ve given half-a-dozen Water-to-go bottles a severe hammering. Our brief wasn’t really to test them but rather to try and break them. We didn’t manage to do that. But we did make the decision to integrate them into all our future courses.

Summary

Adopting the Water-to-go system takes a major headache out of our course set-up: Provision of “on-tap” safe water, without the usual hassle.

Pros: Easy, reliable, fast clean water supply. Inexpensive. Maintenance free. Nothing to go wrong.

Cons: None

Rating: Five stars

Keep up to date with our blog for more offers on our Bushcraft and Survival Courses in Scotland and North East England – We feature discounts and competitions regularly.

Its one of the mantras we live by on our courses….Survival can happen at any time in any place. Book on a Backcountry Survival multi – environmental course and you’ll be in the woods, on the hills and mountains and more than likely descending gorges! There’s certain clothing systems that work better than others in each respective terrain, and as we are mountain leaders with a personal as well as professional relationship with the hills, we were pretty psyced to get our hands on the new Keb Jacket from Fjallraven to test.

Fjallraven describe the Keb range as a technical mountain trekking line of clothing, which it is! The Keb jacket is panelled with the 4 way stretch for ease of movement around the chest, arms and back but also paired with the famous G-1000 fabric around the parts of the jacket that are liable to wear and tear notably the shoulders and waist where rucksacks tend to rub.  As the shoulders are G-1000 they can be treated with Greenland wax for water proofing. The hood is very well thought out, giving you a number of options depending what the Scottish weather throws at you, and also sits over a climbing helmet exceptionally well.

Bushcraft and Wilderness skills in the Britain’s most northerly Survival School

What you tend to find nowadays is that companies are doing away with side pockets and are favouring the chest pockets instead. The thinking behind this is that if you have a waist belt on with your rucksack it’s a faff to get into the pockets, not to mention uncomfortable as the items are pressed against you by the waist strap. The Keb jacket is blatantly designed by outdoors men and women as the chest pockets are designed to hold a map comfortably with inner pockets to hold a compass or GPS securely.

The cut of the jacket is excellent, the waist line fits snugly with enough cover over your backside to stop it riding up under the rucksack or exposing flesh when you’re making an awkward reach whilst out climbing or scrambling. The front zipper comes right up to protect the lower part of your face, whilst the inner of the jacket is G-1000 to aid windproofing.

So where does the Keb jacket sit with regards to already existing mountain trekking systems and technologies?  Having used mine out and about for work and leisure I would say its closely akin to a soft shell set up.  The Keb jacket (like a soft shell) is never going to keep you completely dry in a deluge, but it is going to give you warmth, water repellence and flexability. Another point worth making is the modular thinking behind the Keb system and how it fits into the the Fjallraven Eco Shell which is their waterproof jacket, we’ll give the Eco Shell a write up next month.  All great ranges of Fjallraven clothing can be found at our friends at Above and Beyond. Remember when you book on one of our courses you are eligible to 15% off Fjallraven and other great ranges.

Keep up to date with our blog for more offers on our Bushcraft and Survival Courses in Scotland and North East England – We feature discounts and competitions regularly.

Backcountry Survival Exclusive!

Thanks to our bezzy buddies Above and Beyond we got the first copy of the OL57 Cairngorm and Aviemore explorer map, making Backcountry the first company in the ‪#‎cairngorms‬ to be using the OL range which covers the Cairngorms National Park.

Keep up to date with our blog for more offers on our Bushcraft and Survival Courses in Scotland and North East England – We feature discounts and competitions regularly.

We all know it, when it comes to producing outdoor clothing the Scandinavians have got it nailed. From the all round functionality of the clothes to the simple details that make all the difference when you’re using it in anger. The Fjallraven Vidda Pro trouser is a perfect example of a garment that strikes this balance.

Neil, owner of Britain’s most northerly Survival School, Backcountry Survival

Think about it for a minute, how many of us have spent hundreds of pounds on jackets, fleeces and tops but placed far less importance on trousers?  If we look at the percentage breakdown of how the human body loses heat, it may make you think again;

• 18% Upper front torso
• 18% Upper back torso
• 18% Per leg
• 9% Per arm
• 5% – 7% Head
• 3% – 5% Extremities

It’s incredible, but almost 40% of heat loss is through the legs. This coupled with the fact that many of us practicing Bushcraft and Survival end up scrambling about the ground on our hands and knees or sitting for large periods of time, and all this in the changeable British weather, means that a well designed and hard wearing trouser is essential.

The G1000 material that the Vidda’s are made of is 65% Cotton and 35% Polyester. So what does this mean?  Well basically it makes the fabric excellent for all round use as it is versatile, hard wearing and quick drying. I have personally used them above 1000 metres in the Scottish Winter, standing ball deep in water making river crossings, running woodland survival courses, and even simply walking down the street. The way these trousers react in these testing environments (perhaps not the streets) is interesting.

Some of you may be thinking “Wait a minute, wearing cotton when it’s likely to get wet?” It’s all down to the Polyester/Cotton ratio mix, and the ‘old school’ Greenland Wax that you are encouraged to treat them with. Once they’ve been saturated the drying out time is impressively quick, far quicker than you’d think. The clever thing about the Greenland wax is that it allows you to customise the water repellent capabilities of the garment. Say you were going into the woods for 3 days, scrambling around on the ground as mentioned previously – simply layer up the knee sections with wax, leaving the rest of the Vidda’s breathable. The Greenland wax can be applied at home and melted in with an iron or alternatively out in the field using a gas stove or open fire. Don’t get me wrong, they’re not waterproof, merely water resistant when treated, and shouldn’t be substituted for waterproof over trousers.

Using the Vidda’s in the mountains of Britain in the Winter isn’t a problem, you just need to understand how fabric behaves in cold environments. Scotland’s mountains during the winter are notoriously hard to cope in, the main reason being the temperate environment of the British Isles. Although it’s cold up high it can also be wet and, unlike Scandinavia and other Arctic regions, the ambient temperature on top of a Scottish mountain very rarely drops below -10°C. In extreme cold the G1000 fabric (cotton constituent especially) freezes almost like a shell, adding to the wind proofing. Yet in the wet and cold weather that prevails in the Scottish mountains the Vidda trousers will saturate unless heavily treated with Greenland wax, or covered by a water resistant layer.

Bushcraft and Wilderness skills in the Britain’s most northerly Survival School

One of the biggest problems I find with outdoor trousers is that the seams, usually around the crotch (insert joke here), tend to tear, which is never ideal. The G1000 material is bombproof, and the seams are all double sewn. The knees are articulated so that when you bend or stretch it doesn’t stress the fabric, and you can also purchase knee guards that slide between the inner and outer fabric. Both the knees and seat of the Vidda’s are reinforced and will take a real hammering.

The Vidda’s have a total of 6 outer pockets, one of which doubles up as an axe holder.  My personal favourite touch is the way the leg pockets are offset. The two left pockets sit at the front of the leg, so when you’re kneeling down you can get into them easily – a great place to stow your fire lighting equipment, tinder and generally handy things. I now double-check these pockets before putting them in the wash after a rogue limpet shell broke my washing machine.

Backcountry Survival | Survival School Scotland

The leg cuffs are superbly designed with an in-built gaiter feature at the front of the leg. There is also a popper ‘cinch’ feature that allows a tight fitting around the top of the boot. Ideal for those venturing into the high treeline where snow may be abundant, or those of you that are paranoid about ticks and other biting insects.

At Backcountry Survival we are big fans of KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) and the Fjallraven Vidda Pro trousers are a great example of this. Highly functional but with a simple design, we can’t recommend them highly enough. The Vidda Pros are part of a huge range of Fjallraven trousers available from specialist outdoor retailers such as Above and Beyond.

Keep up to date with our blog for more offers on our Bushcraft and Survival Courses in Scotland and North East England – We feature discounts and competitions regularly.

Over the top? Unrealistic?  The survival tin is an essential expedition component regardless of whether you’re an explorer, traveller, outoorsman/woman or serving in the military. It shows a preparedness and an acknowledgment that things may go wrong at some point in your trip. Remember the 7 P’s ;

• Prior
• Preparation
• Planning
• Prevents
• Piss
• Poor
• Performance

The Survival Tin should be small enough to keep on your person at all points and should cover the Survival Prioritise/ Hierarchy.

P – Protection from (further) harm and the elements. (you’ll last 3 hours max, worse case scenario, without it)

L – Location should be transmitted to potential rescuers at the earliest Opportunity. Location methods should remain in force throughout scenario.

A- Acquisition of water is your first priority (you’ll last 3 days max without it) Food is your second (you’ll last 3 weeks max without it)

N- Navigate yourself out of the situation if help doesn’t appear. Bear in mind that rescuers may be looking for you in your last known location. If Rescue tells you to stay where you are, you do just that!

M – Medical – Medical knowledge and first aid underpins everything.

From Top L to Bottom R

Survival Tin (Metal) – robust, able to boil water/cook food/signal location (mirror),  Sealed with water proof tape (Navigation and water crossings)

Foil Blanket – Improvised tarp, hypothermia treatment, water collection, signal/location (tinsel tree)

Fishing Kit – Acquisition of food (fishing/tangle), medical (sewing kit)

Cotton wool – Fire when used in conjunction with ferrous rod and

vaseline./ Medical.

Pencil and paper – Navigation/sketch map. Medical observations. Tinder from wood/rubber/paper.

Condom – Water collection (2 litres), tinder, Medical wound dressing

Small Knife and sharpening stone – The best knife to use in a survival situation?……..the knife you’ve got. Should be small and robust.

Candle – Fire lighting, light, signal, tinder, food (if made from animal fat) repairing torn clothing.

Fire Block – Fire lighting/signal

Chlorine tablets – water purification/sterilisation

Pottasium Permanginate – water purification/fire lighting/signal

Whistle – Location, in an emergency blow 6 LONG blasts over 1 minute

Storm matches – Fire

Razor blade (sterile) – Medical/game prep/protection

Button Compass – Navigation/Location

Rubber/Rubber band – Long burning tinder – Fire/ Medical

Small First Aid Kit – Medical/protection, Fire. Should include; Para/Brofen, plasters, small bandage.

Heliograph – Location, signalling Ground to Air

IR Beacon – Location, Signalling ground to Air

Ferrous striker – Essential for fire lighting

Wire Saw – Prep of fire wood, can be made into hand held saw by building jig. Acquisition/Medical

Parachord – Protection/Location/Acquisition/Medical

Wire – Carry enough for 8-10 snares. Protection/Medical

Tea/Coffee – Superb for morale!

Sewing kit – Medical, repairing clothes, trapping

Suspender Buttons –  Suspending water filters, replacement “larks feet” for improvised shelter.

Safety Pins – Repairing clothes, Medical, Acquisition – Fish hooks

Keep up to date with our blog for more offers on our Bushcraft and Survival Courses in Scotland and North East England – We feature discounts and competitions regularly.

The Changeability of Scotland’s Weather

Scotland has recently had a bit of a heat wave (heat wave for us!) and we’ve been running woodland courses in 22 degrees. But it’s never that straight forward – snow moved into the highlands over the weekends returning the Cairngorms to full on Arctic conditions.

It’s always worth doing your homework before venturing forth, we personally check the MWIS – mountain weather information service, and if venturing into the hills the SAIS – Scottish avalanche information service. It’s incredible seeing ill prepared folk out on the hills, more often than not in trainers and jeans without axe or crampons in the winter. 9 times out of 10 you’ll get away with it, but that 1 time…….

….people out without adequate equipment don’t only endanger their own life’s but everyone that’s on the mountain with them, or others that are close by. Not to mention the good men and women of the mountain rescue that risk their lives and sacrifice their time to help the unfortunate souls.

Don’t get me wrong, accidents will always happen in the wilderness….that’s why it’s called wilderness! The meaning of adventure is the undertaking of an activity where the outcome is uncertain. It adds to the excitement and allows us to draw on our own abilitys and nounce to complete an objective. But an adventure doesn’t start as you step out of the car into the woods, or into an open boat, it begins a week or more before with planning.

Remember; PRIOR PLANNING AND PREPERATION PREVENTS PISS POOR PERFORMANCE

Keep up to date with our blog for more offers on our Bushcraft and Survival Courses in Scotland and North East England – We feature discounts and competitions regularly.

Get 15% Off Gear from Above and Beyond

Book on a BCS course this year and you’ll receive 15% off their selected range of clothing and equipment.  These guys are definitely worth checking out at  aboveandbeyond.  From our personal favourites Fjallraven to DD Hammocks, primus, OS maps and a whole lot more.

Keep up to date with our blog for more offers on our Bushcraft and Survival Courses in Scotland and North East England – We feature discounts and competitions regularly.

Insects, leaves, roots, plants, berries and fungi. A lot of its edible, you just need to be 100% sure your eating the right thing, so you don’t risk an allergic reaction, anaphylaxis or worse, Death. Once you’ve learnt the basics the worlds your oyster……..or as these guys found out last week, Grub!

http://youtu.be/z7hrjAMovpA

Keep up to date with our blog for more offers on our Bushcraft and Survival Courses in Scotland and North East England – We feature discounts and competitions regularly.

January has seen some exceptional winter conditions in the Cairngorms. Last weekend saw us working in the mountains in testing conditions, 80 mph winds and “white out” conditions on day 1, yet 15mph winds and blue bird sky’s on day 2! What this confirmed to everyone taking part was the extreme changeability of winter weather in the mountains.

Any route plans and organisation should start a couple of days before you set out, checking the Scottish avalanche information service at www.sais.gov.uk is a must as is keeping an eye on the weather at the mountain weather information service www.mwis.org.uk. Taking the right kit with you and knowing how to use it is essential.

If you want to learn the skills that make the mountains more accessible then drop us a line.

Keep up to date with our blog for more offers on our Bushcraft and Survival Courses in Scotland and North East England – We feature discounts and competitions regularly.

Backcountry Survival Knife

Introducing the new Backcountry Survival Knife. Designed by Neil Foote of BCS and crafted by John Scruby of JES Knives. The BCS Knife is designed as an all round survival knife to be utilised in a wide range of scenarios and environments; from sea level to mountain top, and everything in between! When you book on a BCS course in 2015 the BCS knife will be the knife you will be using.

Vital Statistics;

•  Medium Profile. Full Tang Scandi Grind. 4″ 01 Tool Steel Blade (medium alloyed oil hardening steel). 4 mm Stock.
• Thumb Grips for wet weather grip. Ferrous Rod striker groove.
• 5.5 ” British Whale Brand Tuffnol handle. Stock handle is ergonomically designed for grip in wet weather.
• Bow drill dimples. Lanyard eyelet (to fit .22 bullet) Bone/Glass breaker.
• Kydex Sheath for easy care in the field/anti corrosion. 9mm ferrous sriker storage.

Does the perfect all round survival knife exist, or is it similar to the perfect pair of winter gloves?! Its all very much up to the individual as to what/where/when they will be using it at the end of the day.  The concept behind the BCS knife is that it has been designed with our courses in mind, and our clients complement us on our realistic training.

The blade has been designed to be heavy duty for all round woodland use, but well enough balanced and profiled for building traps and finer work. A full tang 4mm stock made of 01 Tool steel means the potential for distortion during heavy work is kept to a minimum, as does the potential for corrosion, yet the cutting edge can be kept razor sharp. The majority of Survival blades struggle with skinning small/big game, to us this is a big no no! The BCS is designed by John Scrubbie of JES knives. These guys have a long pedigree in providing quality knives to hunters and keepers who use their blades for this very reason!

bow drill dimples have been added to cut down on physical output when your friction wood isn’t perfectly dry and the lanyard eyelet will prize a .22 bullet from a round. The striker groove in the stock gives off a consistently bright shower of sparks. It is also possible to get sparks from the Bone/Glass breaker, using flint/quartz.

Backcountry Survival Knife

Why Kydex? Not as attractive as leather but the BCS knife is all about function over form. Having experience of running courses in the mountains, on the coast as well as in the woods we know that build up of grit over time can act as an abrasive on the cutting edge. Kydex is far easier to clean out, it also has the upside of drying out far quicker than leather, reducing the time that the steel is in contact with moisture.

The full package will weigh in at £180.00, which for an all rounder is exceptional. Still not sure? Why not book on one of our courses in 2015, where you will be able to test the BCS knife for free! Neil Foote.

Keep up to date with our blog for more offers on our Bushcraft and Survival Courses in Scotland and North East England – We feature discounts and competitions regularly.

Fjallraven

Backcountry are now proud do be supported by Fjallraven!  If your interested in Wilderness living, Survival and Bushcraft then the chances are you own a piece of Fjallraven clothing. Fjallraven take a fresh look at outdoor clothing but in a very traditional way.

The G1000 material is a Cotton mix…….cotton you say?!  well a 65% cotton to 35% poly mix to be precise. The addition of Fjallraven “Greenland wax” allows the wearer to increase the waterproofing of a particular garment. But here’s the clever part……you can increase or decrease the water repellent capabilities as you wish depending on conditions, by adding additional layers of wax as you see fit. Say for instance you knew you were walking early in the morning through long grass, you would wax upto the knees, almost turning the lower part of your Fjallraven trousers into Gaiters. Or what about working in the forest in the wet?  Simply wax the parts that you knew were going to get wet; the backside and knees, leaving the rest of the trousers waterproof.

Fjallraven is of course a Swedish brand, and as you can imagine works immensely well in a cold dry environment.  I’ve tested Cotton jackets in extreme cold before (-40 C), the bonuses being that when the cotton freezes it becomes both wind proof but also remains breathable, a far better material to be working hard in than the popular Goretex.

But what about using Cotton in a temperate environment, where the threats of heavy rain are present? Fjallraven doesn’t make any excuses here, as with any such material they advise that in torrential rain you cover over with a waterproof layer, such as their Hydratic range (for the spotters amongst you a water column of 1000 mills is regarded as being waterproof, the Hydratic range works within the parameters of 10 – 20,000 Mills). Lets face it, we’ve all been caught out in rain where only oil skins are going to keep us dry right?

Cotton as you know when saturated is a bastard to dry out. If you add a wind chill of 10-15 mph into the fact that you have wet clothing on you, will lose body heat at an average of 20 times quicker than if you were dry. Its not hard to imagine Hypothermia setting in extremely quickly, and if you are in a remote area this spells big problems.

Last month Backcountry had 40 clients for two days, the groups were alternated between different work stations and old muggins here drew the short straw, having to do river crossings and improvised floatation…….up to my bollocks in mountain river water all day! I was wearing a pair of Vidda pro trousers, and I could not believe the rapidity that they dried out, almost as quick as a pair of “light weights”. Speaking to Fjallraven a few weeks later, they explained the cotton to Poly mix was extremely quick drying. Its clear that when it comes to Fjallraven, perceptions of cotton materials need to be changed.

Pick up a piece of Fjallraven clothing and instantly you can feel the durability in your hands, this is hard wearing gear. For me personally working everyday in the outdoors and going through garment after garment, there is one clear choice.

Neil

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