LATEST OUTDOOR GUIDES
Keep up to date with the latest guides, activities and resources from Pure Bushcraft. Explore new articles covering outdoor skills, survival, Scout activities, camping, navigation, knots, fire safety and practical skills.
Our latest posts are designed to help Scouts, youth groups, leaders and anyone interested in outdoor learning develop practical knowledge and confidence. From new activity ideas and survival skills to useful how-to guides, check back regularly for the latest resources.
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Pure Bushcraft Outdoor Skills Challenge 34: How to Take a Pulse
Knowing how to take a pulse is a useful skill to have outdoors. If someone feels unwell during a walk, struggles during a strenuous climb or needs a moment to recover after exertion, being able to measure a heart rate gives you another piece of information about how they’re doing. It’s also a straightforward way…
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Pure Bushcraft Outdoor Skills Challenge 33: Learn the Float to Live Technique
Falling into water unexpectedly can be frightening, even if you’re a strong swimmer. You might slip from a riverbank, fall off a paddleboard, get caught by a wave or enter the water while walking beside a reservoir. Your first instinct may be to thrash about or swim immediately towards the nearest bank, but cold water…
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Pure Bushcraft Outdoor Skills Challenge 32: Make a Wild Soup from Nettle, Wild Garlic or Sorrel
A handful of fresh greens can turn a basic pot of soup into something worth making again. Nettles have a mild, earthy flavour once cooked, wild garlic brings a gentle savoury sharpness, and sorrel adds a fresh, lemony taste. Each works well in a simple soup, whether you’re cooking at home or preparing a meal…
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Pure Bushcraft Outdoor Skills Challenge 31: Run a “What If” Scenario for a Hike
A successful hike depends on more than choosing a route and putting one foot in front of the other. Conditions can change, paths can become difficult to follow, equipment can fail and people can become tired or injured. The decisions you make when something unexpected happens can have a considerable effect on how safely you…
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Pure Bushcraft Outdoor Skills Challenge 30: Make a Rain Gauge
Rainfall affects everything from ground conditions on a walk to how quickly streams and rivers can rise. Making a simple rain gauge gives you a way to measure what’s falling where you live, rather than relying on how wet the ground looks. For this challenge, you’ll make a rain gauge of your own, place it…
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Pure Bushcraft Outdoor Skills Challenge 29: Build a Shelter Using Only One Tarp and One Rope
A tarp and a length of rope can provide a surprisingly useful shelter without the weight or complexity of a tent. The trick is knowing where to position the tarp, how to tension the rope and how to make the most of the materials that you have available. For this challenge, you are going to…
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Pure Bushcraft Outdoor Skills Challenge 28: Find Five Signs of Wind Direction
There are many ways in which nature gives us signs of wind direction. Wind leaves clues behind, even when the air has become still. Trees may grow in unusual shapes, grasses can become combed in one direction, and loose sand or fallen leaves may collect where the wind has carried them. Once you start noticing…
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Pure Bushcraft Outdoor Skills Challenge 27: Identify a Tree Without Looking at Its Leaves
You don’t need leaves to recognise a tree. Its bark, buds, twigs, shape and even the seeds scattered beneath it can provide clues to its identity. Learning to identify a tree without leaves is especially useful in autumn and winter, when many familiar trees have lost their leaves. For this challenge, you’ll investigate a tree…
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Pure Bushcraft Outdoor Skills Challenge 26: Find a Safe Water Crossing
A stream can look harmless from the bank, but moving water is not always as shallow or predictable as it appears. Rainfall upstream can raise water levels quickly, and slippery stones or hidden holes can turn a simple crossing into a serious hazard. This is why it is important that you learn and understand how…
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Pure Bushcraft Outdoor Skills Challenge 25: Find Signs of Animal Feeding
You don’t always need to see an animal to know it’s been nearby. A nibbled leaf, a chewed hazelnut or a strip of missing bark can tell you that something has stopped for a little meal. Learning to spot these clues makes an ordinary walk through woodland, a park or a hedgerow much more interesting.…
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Whether you’re looking for Scout activities, survival skills, camping ideas, navigation resources or practical outdoor learning, explore the rest of Pure Bushcraft to find your next challenge.