The Winter Survival Skills Weekend is designed for those who already hold a foundational understanding of bushcraft and survival skills and are ready to apply, refine, and deepen that knowledge in true winter conditions. This is not an introductory course, nor is it an endurance challenge. Instead, it is a carefully structured opportunity to practise more advanced techniques in a way that is safe, supportive, and highly rewarding.
Winter strips the woodland back to its essentials. Materials behave differently, daylight is shorter, and good decisions matter more. Under the guidance of highly experienced instructors, participants learn how to work with winter conditions rather than against them—developing calm competence, sound judgement, and confidence.
Throughout the weekend, instruction is detailed and deliberate. Participants are often surprised by the depth of knowledge shared in a short space of time, and by how small refinements in technique can make a significant difference to comfort, safety, and success.
This course runs in Derbyshire and Oxfordshire
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The Winter Survival Skills Weekend is designed for those who already hold a foundational understanding of bushcraft and survival skills and are ready to apply, refine, and deepen that knowledge in true winter conditions. This is not an introductory course, nor is it an endurance challenge. Instead, it is a carefully structured opportunity to practise more advanced techniques in a way that is safe, supportive, and highly rewarding.
Winter strips the woodland back to its essentials. Materials behave differently, daylight is shorter, and good decisions matter more. Under the guidance of highly experienced instructors, participants learn how to work with winter conditions rather than against them—developing calm competence, sound judgement, and confidence.
Throughout the weekend, instruction is detailed and deliberate. Participants are often surprised by the depth of knowledge shared in a short space of time, and by how small refinements in technique can make a significant difference to comfort, safety, and success.
Winter Survival Skills Weekend
Winter Survival Skills Weekend
Winter Survival Skills Weekend
Winter Survival Skills Weekend
Winter Survival Skills Weekend
Winter Survival Skills Weekend
Tools, Fire, and Food
Participants continue to develop confident, safe use of knives and saws, learning techniques that reduce fatigue, minimise risk, and improve efficiency. These skills are applied directly to shelter construction, fire preparation, and food processing, reinforcing their relevance through practical use.
Food plays an important role in the weekend. Participants prepare and cook substantial meals using wild ingredients, learning how to fuel the body effectively in cold conditions. Instruction includes cooking over an open fire using cast iron cookware, producing warming, nourishing meals that demonstrate how good food supports both morale and performance in winter environments.
Friday – Shelter First
The course begins at 13:00 on Friday afternoon, allowing sufficient daylight to focus immediately on what matters most in winter: shelter.
Following a briefing on winter shelter design and site selection, participants begin constructing what is often described as the warmest shelter they have ever slept in. Priority is placed on getting insulation above and around the body before attention turns to fire.
Once shelters are complete and fires established, participants settle in for the evening knowing they are protected from cold and wet by structures built from the materials available in the woodland. The experience of sleeping warmly outdoors in winter often reshapes participants’ understanding of what is genuinely possible with the right skills.
Dinner consists of roasted pheasant, prepared by participants and cooked slowly in a Dutch oven, accompanied by warming roasted vegetables (vegetarian alternatives are available). The evening is relaxed, social, and grounded, centred around the fire.
Saturday – Fire, Comfort, and Winter Living
Saturday morning begins with breakfast before returning to shelter work. Participants construct raised beds, improve insulation, and make the final refinements that turn a basic shelter into a genuinely comfortable winter living space.
With shelter complete, attention shifts to fire. Participants learn how to construct and manage a self-feeding fire, designed to provide long-lasting warmth with minimal intervention. This process requires planning and practice, and participants undertake dry runs during the afternoon while preparing food for the evening.
The afternoon also includes focused work on friction fire lighting. Participants first develop technique individually using fire bows before coming together to build and use a group set, highlighting how shared effort and good design can dramatically increase efficiency.
Winter evenings often bring clearer skies, and where conditions allow, participants spend time with instructors learning to identify additional constellations, expanding on navigation and awareness skills introduced on earlier courses.
Once again, hearty game-based meals are prepared and shared, reinforcing the importance of energy, warmth, and rhythm in winter living.
Sunday – Reading the Winter Woodland
Sunday morning is spent easing into the winter rhythm of the woodland. Participants are introduced to beginner-to-intermediate tracking skills, learning how cold ground, frost, and reduced vegetation alter the visibility and interpretation of sign.
This is followed by a wild food foray, expanding participants’ understanding of what resources remain available in winter, how to harvest them responsibly, and how they can be used. Emphasis is placed on sustainability—working with natural cycles rather than exhausting them.
The course concludes around midday, leaving participants with a strong sense of achievement, deeper confidence, and a clear understanding of how thoughtful skill and preparation make winter not something to endure, but something to enjoy.
In Summary
The Winter Survival Skills Weekend offers a grounded, practical exploration of bushcraft and survival in cold conditions. Participants leave with proven experience in winter shelter, fire management, food preparation, and woodland awareness—alongside the confidence that comes from sleeping warmly and living well outdoors when conditions are at their most demanding.
This is a course for those who wish to replace uncertainty with competence, and challenge assumptions about what winter in the woods can be.
