10 Top Tracking Tips 

Don't walk on the track.

Keep the track between you and the light source.

Trust your tracking stick.

Get on your belly.

Give it another 5 minutes.

Close the Time Distance Gap.

You need to put in the dirt time in.

Reduce your concentric circles and focus in on tracking.Use track traps.

Enjoy yourself!

The use of traps to catch crayfish in the North of England & Wales (unless for scientific research, conservation, or fishery management) will normally be refused for the following reasons:

There is an increased risk of spreading crayfish plague and other fish diseases

There is an increased risk of catching and / or harming native crayfish

Small scale trapping of Signal crayfish has been shown to increase rather than decrease their population size¹

¹Scientific evidence shows that large males are preferentially attracted to traps, while females and small males are trap-shy. As large male signal crayfish cannibalise juveniles they have the effect of keeping total population numbers down. In areas where trapping has occurred, the removing of these large males has resulted in a dramatic increase of overall signal numbers in the years after trapping."

"The use of traps in southern England to catch crayfish for personal consumption or as a business enterprise is likely to be approved.

However, we would usually not approve the trapping of non-native crayfish in areas where there is a high risk of the native white-clawed crayfish getting caught. This is currently the case in the south west of England, especially Devon, Cornwall and Somerset.

Please set customer's expectations accordingly if they wish to trap in this area.

Local fisheries teams can give advice regarding where people can trap crayfish in their area.

Whilst the trapping of crayfish in the South of England is likely to be approved, our preference is for members of the public to use a rod and line because:

Traps can impact on non-target species, such as water voles, otters, amphibians

Rod licence revenue is invested into improving angling and fisheries management

In 2010 Survival School will be going to Sweden for a week long Husky Safari.  The dates are 19th-26th March and the cost will be £1,395 including flights.

If you are interested, please contact us on the number at the top of the page.  More details will be released soon. 

 FULLY BOOKED - SORRY

Click here for details.

Rural Skills Centre and Survival School Press Release

Survival School is proud to announce the launch of its Bushcraft and Survival Skills Training Course at the Rural Skills Centre, Cirencester.

This is a three day course with the emphasis on participants learning and perfecting safe cutting techniques, shelter building, fire lighting by friction and water preparation.  When this course is complete participants would then be ready for the Institute for Outdoor Learning (IOL) Approved Bushcraft Practitioner’s Assessment.  This is certificated by the IOL and shows participants to be safe and competent in all the aspects covered.  The course costs £300 which includes membership of the IOL.  The course dates are 15-17 July 2009.

The Rural Skills Centre is part of the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester, one of most highly respected establishments in education.

Survival School is one of the premier Bushcraft and Survival Schools in the UK and has been running for 12 years.  Jonny Crockett is an IOL Approved Bushcraft Assessor (1 of 3 in the UK) and will be the instructor for the course.

For further inform please either contact

James Foster at Rural Skills Centre.

Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Tel 01285 - 889873

Or Jonny Crockett at Survival School

Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   Tel: 01453 752220

For years now, Survival School has taught the staff of outdoor activity centres how to teach Survival and Bushcraft skills to their own customers.  We have taught from Laganlia Outdoor Activity Centre in Scotland to Crealy Great Adventure Park in the South West of England and many in between including the Army, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy, Duke of Ediburgh Schemes, Schools, Scouts, Cadets, Forest Schools, Film Companies and Entertainment groups.

If your organisation would like to teach Survival and Bushcraft skills to adults, children, families or companies, please get in touch.  Our phone number is at the top of the page and our email address is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Each Train the Trainer Course is unique and is bespoke to your requirements.  We can come to you or you can train at our excellent facilities in Devon, Staffordshire, Wales or Scotland.

Prices will depend on the duration of the course that you require, but you will receive the best training available and the price includes unlimited after course advice.  You will get a phone number to call if you have any questions about the courses you are running.

No other organisation provides this service and our track record speaks for itself.

If you want to run Survival and Bushcraft courses for your organisation, call us on the number at the top of this page.

0871 222 7304 (National Rates)  |  01453 752220 (Jonny's Direct Line)

With only 6 days gone in the New Year:

The Daily Mail has worked at length with Survival School to bring people the best advice about how to cope with the Arctic Blast of cold weather.

Survival School was also featured in the Daily Telegraph's list of Top 50 Experiences.  Thank you to those who helped with that.

Radio City 96.7 interviewed Jonny about the cold weather conditions on its Breakfast Show with Phil and Kim.  Here are the top tips that Jonny gave them:

1.    Don’t touch metal objects without wearing gloves.

2.    Do not spill/work near any fuel without gloves (instant frostbite).

3.    When working hard, take layers off to prevent sweating as it’ll freeze later

4.    If you are sweating you are dehydrating as well.

5.    Also your clothing will loose its insulation properties and actually cool you down quicker.

6.    Make sure you eat and drink enough.

7.    Last thing at night go to the toilet and eat a hot meal before you go to sleep as the calories being burnt will keep you warm whilst you are not moving.

8.    Wear lots of layers rather than one thick layer.

9.    When cutting, remember that the hands go numb very quickly, making accidents more likely.

10.   A cut takes longer to heal due to the fact that the blood does not clot as quickly.

11.   A huge percentage of heat is lost through the head – wear a hat.

12.   Also excessive heat loss makes the brain work/think slower .

13.   Treat frostnip as a forecast for frostbite.

14.   Do not eat snow to re-hydrate as it will cool you down faster and can damage blood cells in your mouth.

15.   Melt ice instead of snow it has a greater yield of water.

16.   Wear sunglasses even in low sunlight as the symptoms for snowblindness take at least 8 hours to develop.