About
Discover the story behind the Academy
Thank you for visiting the Bushcraft and Survival Academy website.
Hello, let me introduce myself, my name is Brian and I am the founder of the Academy. On this page you will find the story of how I came to start this business, what the business is all about and what my plans for the future are.
Let me start with I don’t consider myself an expert, I am you 10 years from now.
Ok, maybe you will have more hair and less grey!
But seriously, I am certain I have some knowledge and expertise that I hope to be able to share with you, but I very much consider myself a lifelong student. Like many of you I had a childhood where playing outside in the local wild places with my friends was considered normal. This included my fair share of bike rides, den building and camping.
I have my father to thank that books have been a great influence in my love of the outdoors. At a relatively early age I was introduced to the Tarzan stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs and Willard Price’s Adventure series for young people. With an active imagination I didn’t just read these stories but lived them! This ignited a passion to study and learn what is now know as bushcraft. Classic books like Anthony Greenbacks ‘Survival for young people’ and Lofty Wiseman’s ‘The SAS Survival Handbook’ were read cover to cover many times.
I was at Secondary School in the early 1980’s where I was inspired by my form teacher Mrs Kilgar, who was building a nuclear fallout shelter in the basement of her house. This gave me an intense interest in survival and led me down a whole investigative route into some of the less pleasant aspects of the world we live in.
Study of survival led me to learn and practice many interrelated topics including Martial Arts, shooting and hunting, archery and knife making to name but a few. I made my first sheath for a knife my dad had made at age 13, and went on to make my first knife at age 16. This interest in knives and guns led to a desire to become a gunsmith and ultimately into a successful career as a Chartered mechanical engineer in the UK defence industry.
I have been very fortunate to be able to travel to and explore many different parts of the Globe including Scotland, Scandinavia, Europe, North and South Africa, the Middle East and Australia.
This has afforded me opportunities to learn from the people I have met and has most definitely enriched my life.
The inevitable middle aged spread bought on by long hours sat at a desk resulted in a resolution to reconnect with nature in a practical and meaningful way, whilst rekindling a passion for the knowledge and experience that I have always loved. In 2010 I started a serious study of bushcraft and survival skills studying under some world class instructors including Jason Ingamells, Paul Kirtley, Creek Stewart, Chris Boyton, John and Will Lord and Karl Lee.
In my professional Engineering role I discovered a real love of mentoring and guiding people on their developmental journey. A desire to combine this passion and my engineering knowledge with my passion for bushcraft and survival resulted in the idea for the Academy. Planning started in late 2019 with the business being registered late in 2020, delayed due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
It is my aim to help others learn the skills and knowledge I have gained by leveraging the thousands of hours and many thousands of pounds that I have spent and am still spending gaining these skills.
The Academy is continuously being developed with new information added, new courses made available and new free resources to help you. In addition, I am working with trusted partners to bring you a range of selected products to meet your bushcraft and survival needs.
It is my hope to build a valuable online resource for learning and an amazing community of like minded individuals, where we can share knowledge and ultimately all learn from each other.
The Academy welcomes international students and operates on a strict no discrimination principle, I believe that diversity enriches all.