The Howl Team

Jamie Dakota

Founder and Chief Instructor

I grew up around three miles from the nearest woodland. Every chance I got I'd walk the three miles across the council estate to the wood to explore and camp out; with a typically over-sized rucksack and an excess of kit I quickly found myself looking for ways to lighten the load and improvise what I needed from nature. I read the books, and went cover to cover experimenting to find what worked for me and what didn't. It's that first hand experience I use to teach skills at Howl; I never teach anything I haven't vigorously used for myself. I worked since 2013 in supporting the YHA in their bushcraft provision, I provided their staff with specialist training to deliver simple but engaging bushcraft sessions for young people. In line with that I myself sought training and learned a great deal from Dave Watson, a Legend in the field, and passed my FBCC with the IOL. I founded Howl Bushcraft in 2014 with a suite of courses I’d built from desire to guide clients towards a closer connection with nature while making their travels outdoors.

My approach to bushcraft is an honest and simple one, I go out into the Nature to make journeys, and connect with the landscape I find myself in; in this way my bushcraft has been informed by expedience and practicality. In essence I look to knowledge, and then skills, which can be used to augment the connection with Nature and not impeach upon it. True bushcraft should always be subtle, in the background, and supportive. It is the foundation on which great adventure can be built.

Qualifications

Foundational Bushcraft Competency Certificate - October 2013 Institute of Outdoor Learning

Remote First Aid (16 hours) - March 2022 REALfirstaid

Foundational Safety and Rescue Training with British Canoeing 2019

Open Water Canoe Leader - British Canoeing 2022

Bushcraft Safety Award Assessor and lead training director

Max Barnes 

Lead Instructor

Growing up next to Saddleworth Moor, I quickly became absorbed by the great outdoors.Swimming in the brown peaty rivers, trudging across the sodden moorland plateau, or scaling gullies that my now I’ve slightly more sense to shy away from.

All this positive influence led me to become an instructor at various outdoor centres, in the UK and abroad.
After returning from America, I knew that I still wanted to learn more skills in the outdoors. Skills that would bring me closer to nature, rather than battling it. That was when I fully immersed myself in the world of Bushcraft, and everything that encompasses.

After learning the fundamentals through my own CPD, I had a very chance meeting with someone in a little shop, nestled away in a quaint derbyshire village. That person was Jamie Dakota.

After meeting JD and attending one of his courses, I put myself forward to volunteer with Howl. Little did I know that the type of Journeying skills that JD teaches, was in fact the exact thing that I had been craving this whole time.

A few years have passed now, since the day I met JD, which has led me to become a lead Instructor with Howl, and go on to lead canoe expeditions in Scotland. All of this couldn't have been achieved without having friends around me, willing to pass on their valuable knowledge, and well refined skills. This is the reason I now wish to pass on what I have learnt to other people. Being able to share my knowledge with others is what makes me love my job.

So if you can't find me paddling in a remote Scottish loch, then I'll be nestled away somewhere o’er tha’ Moor.

Qualifications

Summer mountain leader  27/11/2020

Outdoor First Aid Level 6 24/04/2019

Foundational Safety and Rescue Training with British Canoeing 2019

Remote First Aid (16 hours) - March 2022 REALfirstaid

Bushcraft Safety Award Trainer and Assessor

Robin Heath

Lead Instructor

I was thrust into the outdoors at an early age by my mountaineer father. Some of my earliest memories are being dangled off cliffs and being carried up Scottish mountains by my dad. A few decades later and I'm still doing it. Growing up, rock climbing and mountaineering were all I wanted to do and by 18 I already had extensive experience of climbing around the uk and was starting to branch out around the world, travelling around Canada, USA, Europe and New Zealand to pursue mountains and the great outdoors.

After graduating with a Bsc honours degree in Geology from the University of Liverpool I decided I wanted to spend even more time in the outdoors and began to work as a season outdoor activity instructor. In the summers I worked in the Peak District teaching people to canoe, cave, rock climb, kayak etc. while teaching geology in the evening at the University of Sheffield. In the winters I would travel around the world, spending months in places like north, south and Central America, Skiing in Europe, volunteering in Africa.

After a few years I realised it wasn't just the outdoors, nature and the world I loved, but mainly the adventures to be had in those places.

I now feel more at home canoeing down a remote, wild, Scottish loch than sat in my own house. I believe most people would love to spend time doing the same and so I decided, with the help of Jamie, to begin Howl Expeditions.

Qualifications

Bsc (hons) geology,

5* canoe leader, 4* kayak

Level 2 canoe and kayak coach +moderate water endorsement for canoe,

White water safety and rescue,

Summer Mountain leader,

Single pitch award (rock climbing),

Level 2 cave leader,

Wilderness first aid

Craig young

Apprentice Instructor

As a wee boy, my outdoor appetite was wetted with adventures to Loch Lomond and caravan holidays up the east coast of Scotland to the stunning beaches of Embo and Dornoch.

Those family holidays, swimming in lochs looking for monsters, building dens, lighting fires or combing the beaches, laid the foundations to be outside and a love for all things in nature.

As my own children grew up I passed on that love, but lost my way because I couldn't fully explore it the way I really wanted too. So I started reading books, watching Ray mears and devouring everything bushcraft. It sparked that passion once again, that need to be out under the woodland canopy and watching the flames of the campfire tell stories. But something was missing. I didn't quite feel my knowledge or skills where at a level to be comfortable and soak up my surroundings.

I did some research and found HOWL BUSHCRAFT through social media. I quickly realised everything about Jamie and the Howl teams philosophy was what I'd been looking for. I booked up straight away for the Loch Awe Canoe Expedition and it didn't disappoint. Camping under the stars, cooking amazing food on the islands and Loch side, I was that wee boy again, I was in heaven! From that moment I was hooked more than ever and realised that I wanted to be part of it and share my experience also.

I started volunteering and spending every bit of spare time I had with the Howl team and soon got took on as an apprentice. My journey as a student of nature continues and always will, but I love sharing it and passing on what I learn, so you can love your journey into the outdoors as much as I do.

Qualifications

Remote First Aid (16 hours) - March 2022 REALfirstaid

Friends, guest instructors, and Associates

Neil Mcdonald

Originally from Rotherham I have been coming out into the Peak District NP for more years than I care to remember. From those early years, exploring with my parents, to completing the Gold Duke of Edinburgh Expedition in Snowdonia, I realised that pursuing a career in the outdoors was something I wanted to explore further.

After completing a diploma in Outdoor Activities and a degree in Outdoor Education I was fortunate to find work delivering a range of outdoor activities at a Peak based centre.

For the last 25 years I have developed myself both personally and professionally.

I have walked and climbed extensively throughout the UK. I have also been fortunate enough to experience walking and climbing in Sardinia, Slovenia and New Zealand, skiing in the Alps, the US and Canada and sea kayaking again in New Zealand and Croatia.

I love journeying in wild places and some of the most rewarding experiences I have had have come when skill acquisition and self reliance have enabled me to overcome challenging situations.

I get great pleasure from passing on these skills to others, so they can too go off and find their own adventures.

Qualifications

Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor (2010)

Winter Mountain Leader (2007)

ITC Outdoor 1st Aid (2022)

Billy Souter

I spent my early years in the local fields and streams catching frogs and fishing for minnows. Growing up in the Peak District gave me a love for the more wild areas of the British countryside; exploring valleys, caves, rivers, woodlands and hills.

My passion for Bushcraft came to life in my mid teens and quickly led me venturing down the path of primitive living skills.

I started this journey into these skills learning from and volunteering with Dave Watson. It was from this experience I found my passion and decided I wanted to expand my knowledge and pass these skills on to others. Since this time I have trained with various incredible teachers within this field and have used these skills in different environments including Scandinavia, Europe and North America.

In recent years I have developed and provided engaging Bushcraft sessions at an Outdoor Centre and Public workshop events for Children, SEN groups, Adults and training to forest school providers. I now also work as a guest Instructor for established schools and individuals teaching Primitive Living Skills.

Friction fire lighting, bone working, fibre and tanning are some of my favourite skills to learn. Using raw materials and turning them into something functional and beautiful is one of the magical experiences these skills offer. Whether it creating an ember from friction or hand stitching reindeer hides into a sleeping bag. These are the skills that take us back mentally and spiritually allowing us to gain a small incite into how our ancestors may have thought, experiencing their journey and problems they had to overcome.

ITC Certificate in Outdoor First Aid SCQF Level 6 -  09/02/22

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“I use Lifesaver filters during our trips and to provide drinking water on our courses in the forest. Fundamentally, their products are great. They are simple, and they work. But beyond that I truly believe in Lifesaver’s mission statement, and that innovative practical technology can work with a humanitarian goal to help some of those in most need. It is because of Lifesaver’s mission that I approached them to get involved, and in that way I am delighted to offer my followers and clients a 15% off code to use on their website. Simply type Howls15 at checkout with Lifesaver.

At Green Man Learning we see the natural world as a place of infinite potential; the potential to have adventures, to learn, to have fun, to be inspired, to create and the potential to change lives. Many children, families and adults no longer have the opportunity to spend time in nature and to experience the many benefits it can bring. It is our mission to provide the opportunity and the reason to spend time in the natural world helping everyone to learn to enjoy and respect nature.

Tom Bardon

Greenmanlearning.co.uk

The first commercially available Outdoor Learning Skills Progression framework. Established in 2018, there are hundreds of practitioners following the WILD Passport programme all over the world; evidencing the impact of their work, offering pathways of progression to their learners and ensuring their efforts are sustainable by providing cost effective evidence of their outcomes to leadership teams.

wildpassport.co.uk

Thirty years ago I decided never to do a days work I did not enjoy, I wanted to use mind, body and soul in my work and be close to nature. Whilst working for the National Trust in conservation forestry I was introduced to various traditional woodland crafts as we used the trees we felled to make styles, fences and bridges. In the evenings I worked with the wood and soon making wooden bowls and spoons became a passion bordering on obsession.

Robin Wood MBE

http://www.robin-wood.co.uk/ http://wood-tools.co.uk/

"I highly recommend Robin's range of wood carving tools. I exclusively use Robin's carving axe on all our craft courses as they are ideal for both beginners and experienced users. Robin is a wealth of knowledge on many areas of woods, crafts and their related history and has been a fantastic source of advice and inspiration." Jamie Dakota

KindleWoods CIC is a woodland social enterprise based in North Yorkshire. We are made up of an extraordinary team of ordinary folk, working together to find creative, practical ways to tackle the root causes of our major social and environmental challenges.

We like to think big and get to the heart of an issue. 

Katie Rees

Kindlewoods

The Bushcraft Journal is an online magazine working closely with many of the world’s leading outdoor guides and survival experts bringing you avariety of first-hand knowledge based skills, step by step guides, how-to's, hints and tips, and wonderful stories of travel and adventure from many different continents.

Our writers and contributors have spent many years honing these skills to a very high level in the countries they live, but have spent many weeks at a time living, learning and working closely withcultures around the world who still use these ‘Bushcraft’ skills that have been used for thousands of years.

The goal of The Bushcraft Journal is to cover all you need to enhance your journey in the natural world so you will be able to immerse yourself safely and comfortably in it for longer periods of time, regardless of your age or skill level or global location.

With the right skills and a better understanding you need less equipment making being outdoors a far better experience as you won’t be carrying a big heavy bag full of kit you never use, but it enables you to enjoy living and working in harmony will the natural world!

Will4Adventure is a provider of Immediate Temporary Care (ITC) outdoor first aid courses offering a selection of excellent hands-on first aid training that will take you from the office to the wilderness. Our 2 day Outdoor First Aid courses:

• will revalidate NGB awards (eg MIC, MIA, Mountain Leader, RCI, WGL, BCU, BASI ski instructor, Mountain Bike Leader, Local Cave and Mine Leader etc)

• are suitable for school teachers/DofE leaders, Forest Schools, HF holidays’ & Ramblers’ leaders

• are Ofqual / SQA accredited & meet HSE standards for due diligence for first aid providers (see below)

• have discounts available for early bookings