I have taken multiple classes from Bushcraft Northwest, and they have all been great. Learning from someone who has mastered their craft saves a lot of trial and error. The information on knife sharpening alone is worth the price of admission. Mike is a great instructor who takes the time to ensure his students understand each technique before moving to the next. I have been extremely happy with my experiences at BCNW classes and also with the knives sold on the website.
Such a magical, grounding, memorable experience! We can't wait to go back and spend more time learning from Mike! We're absolutely going to sign up for more courses soon and will hopefully bring some friends and family. For Christmas, I got my fiance a private weekend course with Mike. We camp and backpack a bit, but are definitely novices so we asked Mike for an "intro course" to cover the basics. We were excited heading into the weekend, yet it totally surpassed our already-high expectations. Mike taught us how to start a fire without a lighter or matches, how to navigate with a compass, how to use knives (safely) to carve tools and useful useful items, how to build shelters, how to tie essential knots, and a few other basic/essential bushcraft skills. We not only loved learning it all, but loved spending time with Mike. We were novices, but he made us feel very proud of what we learned. I left feeling much more confident about my skills and am eager to learn more. Also, his property is spectacular and has a stunning view of mount hood. What a sight at sunset! We camped overnight on his property and his wife made us delicious chili - a great treat in the January cold. Then my fiance and I hung out by the fire looking at the stars. When we woke up, Mike had warm coffee and homemade quiche ready for us. We felt very welcomed. We absolutely recommend getting a copy of his book. We left with 5 copies to give out to friends and family (and we'll probably end up getting more). Thanks for the INCREDIBLE experience, Mike! We'll be back!
Quite the condensed comprehensive bushcraft course (that I've been looking for for awhile). Though there are many books written on this topic, navigating them, and cutting into the meat and potatoes of what skills you actually need to focus on and master first to get you out and confident in the woods isn't always that obvious when reading off a page. Mike's teaching style was quite the compliment to my style of hands on learning, and while having learned somethings already through books and previous adventures, Mike showed me little things I could change about my current practices that would speed things up and create an ease of use to common practices, that you just wouldnt pick up on your own without a lot of time and experience and innovation. Not to mention, you aren't learning these things in your living room then trying to remember them out in the field; learning these skills while out in the environment you'll be using them in takes you out of the world of distractions and helped me really drive these lessons home! Also, I've been looking for a great all around knife I can take into the woods, craft with, gut with, and skin with, and just seeing the "Shrike" on his website I was impressed! Put one in your hand and it really feels like an extension of your arm! Many Thanks Mike!
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