Hi Ian, my interest in bushcraft is that of a teacher developing the "Outdoor Classroom". It is a movement that originated in Ruskin Mill, England under the guiding hand of Aonghus Gorden and Bernard Graves. I attended a workshopgiven by Bernard a few years ago and I could immediately sense its need for modern youth. It is a combination of traditional craft , gardening and, later this year,bush camps. I have spent 2 1/2 years developing the program in our school. (7yr olds to 18yr olds). All aspects involve an experientual, progressive development. eg , with 13 yr olds, they are making their own bows and arrows. The arrows have flights and a lead tip, to weight them properly. The students sand cast the lead tips.To melt the lead they need to light a charcoal fire (the class above have charcoal making as one of their skills) and to do this that need to be anble to use a flint and steel and work with tinder etc. Great fun for one and all.

At the end of th year one of the younger classes (11 yr olds) are "going bush" , for two nights, to build their own shelters, light fires as per above , catch and gather their own food. It will be interesting to see how these city kids will take to it. Their preparation project is to weave a flax fishing net which we hope to catch fish , from the mangrove "river" near the site.

With the older, 18 yr olds I have had some experience in knife making, as extension work on their blacksmithing course. The majority of them are craft knives, but there is the occasional bush knive that makes its way into the program. 

Warm regards john