The Paul Kirtley Podcast

On this episode I'm joined by Joe Flowers, a knife designer, outdoor guide, zoologist and entomologist. We discuss knife design, natural history, Amazon expeditions, traditional tools, and the role of curiosity and continual learning in developing wilderness skills.

I'm joined by Jon McArthur, a Canadian bushcraft instructor with a background in search & rescue. We discuss northern forest skills, influences from Mors Kochanski and Tom Roycraft, First Nations heritage, and how bushcraft knowledge is developed and transmitted.

I speak with James Steyn, one of only a handful of guides to hold the elite FGASA Scout qualification. We discuss the art of walking safaris, the rigour of CyberTracker, the evolution of guiding standards, and the skills needed in dangerous game country.

Bushcraft instructors Jamie Dakota and Adam Logan join me to discuss career paths in outdoor education, building a sustainable bushcraft practice, and the value of collaboration in the modern bushcraft community.

Stephan Kesting, author of Perseverence: Life and Death in the Subarctic, joins me to discuss his gruelling 1,000 mile solo canoe expedition in remote northern Canada, including reflections on the risks, rewards, and personal insights gained along the way.

Les Stroud, known to millions as Survivorman, joins me to talk about an area of backwoods lore and legend that has fascinated him for more than a decade: Bigfoot or Sasquatch.

Mattias Norberg, author of Konsten att Elda, "The Art Of Fire", a highly respected Swedish expert in fire-making and wilderness survival joins this episode of the Paul Kirtley Podcast.

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.

John Rhyder is a naturalist, writer and highly experienced bushcraft educator. He was the instructor on the first bushcraft course I took. John is passionate about wildlife tracking and is certified as Senior Tracker under the Cybertracker system.

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.

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.

A candid discussion with British military veteran John Boe, about his experiences suffering with PTSD, finding solace in the woods and transitioning to a successful second career as a bushcraft instructor.

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 i...

Major Les Hiddins became well known through his ABC TV series "The Bush Tucker Man".  In 1980 Les had received a Defence Fellowship to research survival in northern Australia and looked heavily into traditional bush foods, with the help and cooperation of Indigenous communities. His work was compiled and used by the Australian military in various forms, including the clever idea of "snack maps". L...

Gordon Dedman is a former member of the Australian Army 1st Commando Regiment and is currently a survival instructor in NORFORCE, an Australian Army Regional Surveillance Unit, which conducts patrols in remote wilderness areas of northern Australia, working closely with Aboriginal communities. Gordon provides civilian training in Australia through his school Bushcraft Survival Australia.  In addit...

Bruce Zawalsky is a professional wilderness survival instructor and author, with over 25 years of experience as an outdoor educator. He teaches survival courses, wildlife and bear awareness courses as well as wilderness navigation.  Here in PK Podcast 48, Bruce talks with me about all these subjects and more, which have much wider application than just in his native Canada...

In 1995 Lars Fält organised a seminal survival instructors conference in northern Sweden. Tom Lutyens and Mors Kochanski were among the instructors. Johan Skullman was one of the students. Here they discuss the importance of that event....

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 c...

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.

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...

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, puttin...

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 expande...

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 kn...