On our weekend bushcraft course you will fully immerse yourself into wilderness living. Learning a wide range of bushcraft and wilderness skills. No prior experience is needed, but if you have plenty this is by no means just an introductory course, you’ll be amazed at how much you learn on our course.
All of our courses are available as 24 month gift vouchers which can be purchased here.
Timing: 9.30am Saturday to 4.30pm Sunday
Aged: 18 and above.
Food: From dinner Saturday included
Location: South London Woods – CR3.
Course Size: 8 maximum
Over the weekend you will learn:
- A range of fire lighting techniques and lays for different weather conditions and situations.
- Shelter building, using tarps and natural materials.
- Safe water collection and filtration techniques.
- Trees and plants ID, and some of their uses.
- A range of methods for cooking with a fire, we provide food from Saturday dinner. – We will cater for dietary requirements we are informed of.
- How to prepare a pigeon for your dinner (as with all our sessions this is optional).
- Try your hand at fire by friction.
- Safe knife use, including various techniques for splitting, and cutting larger sticks.
- Wild tea brewing and foraging in season plants.
- On Sunday afternoon you will get a chance to test out all your new skills, as you forage for your own tea, collect and purify water and brew it over a fire you’ve made.
Whats included on our weekend bushcraft course:
- Expert Tuition – by our qualified team.
- The use of high quality tools.
- Food for group communal cooking from Saturday evening – dietary requirements can be catered for – please let us know at time of booking.
- The choice of a tarp or natural shelter to sleep in.
- Camping fees for the woodland site.
- A supply of potable water.
- Knowledge and understanding that will last you a lifetime.
More details on the woodlands we’ve specially selected to run our bushcraft courses from can be found here.
The kit list for our weekend course can be found here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely not. Many of our course participants come with very little of any knowledge of bushcraft. All we ask is you come with a thirst for knowledge.
A full kit list for the weekend can be found here. In short this is just kit to be comfortable in what ever the British weather throws at you and a sleeping bag and roll mat. If you want to check kit with us before hand we are always at the end of the phone.
Yes, we don’t run a boot camp on our courses. We are predominately based in the woods and around camp, with a few short 500m forays into the wider area.
At the start and end of the course we walk into the woods about a 2km walk. If this might be a barrier for you do please pickup the phone – there are adaptions we can make.
Do look at the forecast and pack a range of layers. We are less active than you would be if you were on a walk, so pack more layers than you would wear for this.
We advise you to bring a three season sleeping bag to cover chilly nights.
If you are feeling the chill, the best thing you can do is move around more (collecting fire wood is a great way to do this) or stand closer to the fire.
Of course, we have £5 million public liability insurance through AIM, Activities Insurance Mutual. And permission to work on all the land that we utilise.
We feel a lot more remote than we actually are. There is a quiet road bordering the woodland on one side providing emergency access. We are easily accessed by a number of zone six train stations and are just 15 minutes inside the M25.
You’ll be making natural shelters from natural materials to sleep out in. These are watertight if made well. We do also pitch a tarpaulin shelter per person, to give you peace of mind if you find your construction wasn’t quite up to scratch or you aren’t quite feeling the natural shelter.
If the weather conditions are unsafe, this is very unusual you will be issued a 24 month voucher to rebook with us.
If you think you might be water soluble we do have a flexi booking option for just £15 per person. This allows you to change your course date up to 24 hours before that start. For more info see here
In the woods we have a cassette toilet, with a separate urinal (for those that use them) and a sanitary box for any other products.
Not unless they are over 18. Take a look at our Family Bushcraft Overnight Adventure if you want to bring younger people.
We would still welcome you to the woods with open arms. We do ask that you contract us before hand to discus what your restrictions may be. We do have uneven ground within the woods, however we have also had a number of mobility scooters and walkers in there too.
Claire I. –
Just had a fantastic Weekend with Lizzy. I want to go right back into the woods. Thank you couldn’t of asked for more xx
Issey A –
Would highly recommend the Weekend Bushcraft Course. I learnt so much and enjoyed every minute of it! Thank you Lizzy!
John H. –
Had an awesome weekend in the woods. Learning how to use a knife to make kindling for the fire and also all the tripods and pot hangers to suspend your pots over the fire. Sleeping under the cathedral like vaulted ceiling of the shelter I made during the day was amazing and being woken by the dawn chorus was an experience l’ll never forget. Spending time learning about all the edible (and the inedible) plants in the woods before being taught how to make fire by friction meant that by the end of the weekend I had all the skills to start a fire, forage plants and purify water to make my own tea in the woods. Absolutely superb and Lizzy was a fantastic knowledgable teacher who explains and demonstrates everything really well. She also made fantastic cake over the campfire which really topped off all the awesome food we had over the weekend.
Cannot recommend highly enough.
Jonathan Tuckey –
Thoroughly enjoyable experience! Lizzy and her team were very knowledgeable and welcoming, and kept our group of 20 busy with activities for two days. From fire lighting to cord making to shelter building, there is lots to learn!
– Corporate Booking
Era P. –
Amazing experience! Well-trained and careful instructors! Would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to upgrade their survival skills while enjoying nature!
Mariza D. –
Had an amazing time at the 2 day course! Absolutely recommended.
Will N –
I did a weekend bushcraft course with Pippin & Gile. Lizzy is a great instructor and I came away with tonnes of new knowledge and skills about a huge range of topics (shelter building and fire lighting were my favourites, alongside tips on tracking and foraging). Some were covered in more depth than others, but I feel like I have a good grounding in all of them. The location is lovely and the set up of the campsite strikes a good balance between comfort and the feeling of being ‘in the wild’. I’ll be doing more courses with them in the future no doubt about it!
Pete M –
I recently attended a weekend bushcraft course with Pippin & Gile and I had a most fantastic experience. Even before the event the communication for what would be involved and what was required of me to bring as part of my kit list was spot on and very helpful.
On arrival of the first day there was warm greetings and information chat, this continued throughout the weekend with the lessons being delivered in a very approachable and enjoyable fashion by our guide Lizzy. Her passion shines through in all she does on this subject matter and it helps to draw you in and engage you.
The site and walk too it are both lovely, with the former having all facilities that you could need for a short stay during the courses.
I am very much looking forward to my return to try some of the other courses run by Pippin and Gile and to revisit the bushcraft course again to refill any gaps in my knowledge formed over time and to see what improvements I’ve made in the plethora of interesting and useful skills I picked up over weekend.
I highly recommend giving them a try and have begun telling my friends all about how wonderful an experience it was.
Daniel M. –
Was amazing experience made me feel like a kid running around building shelters and the food was soo good will definitely come back again!
Dan W. –
Excellent introduction to all things bushcraft related!
Anna –
Many thanks for such an incredibly packed, adventurous and instructive weekend. I feel like I have learnt so much: from lighting a fire, to the navigation, tracking and foraging skills all the way to your techniques of keeping warm, these are surely lessons that I will take on to my nature and hiking trips. One of my reasons to sign up for your course was to gain confidence in being and staying outside for long-distance hiking trips, and you have certainly delivered. I came back home full of inspiration and I can’t wait to put my new skills to practice.
Will B. –
Spent a couple of fantastic days with Lizzy, what a brilliant experience. Her knowledge of nature and bushcraft is absolutely exceptional. I would highly recommend the bushcraft and foraging course. Truly wonderful. Thanks Lizzy
James C. –
Attended a 2 day bushcraft course, didn’t disappoint, the course was interesting, informative and engaging covering a wide range of subjects, if you want to learn about bushcraft you won’t be disappointed.
Sam R. –
Excellent experience for anyone interested in bushcraft. Knowledgeable and friendly instructors, courses to cater for all levels. 10/10 will be back!
John L –
The weekend was all that I hoped that it was, and more. Lizzy led a relaxed, professional, informative and enjoyable time. I thoroughly recommend Pippin and Gile. Well worth it, from my experience!