Bushman Survival

13/09/2026

Two shields. One week. Zero excuses. 🛡️⚔️

The workshop smells like sawdust and ambition this morning. I've got two shields on the bench and they're not going to carve themselves.

Up first: a 32" Bear & Mjolnir shield. Think ancient Norse meets "I will genuinely hang this on a wall and it will be the best thing in the room." The bear brings the ferocity, Thor's hammer brings the authority. It's a combination that means business.

Running alongside it: a 22" Valkyrie shield. Smaller, but don't let that fool you. Named after the Norse choosers of the slain, which I think is an appropriately dramatic name for a hand-carved piece of wood.

I'll be posting progress all week — from bare timber to finished piece. Follow along if you want to see how the magic (and the mess) happens.

12/09/2026

Something a little different this week — my Oliphant replica, and one of the best stories in medieval legend. 🎺

Oliphants — from the Old French for elephant — were great ivory hunting horns made in southern Italy and Sicily between the 10th and 12th centuries, often by Arab craftsmen working under Norman patronage. They were among the most prized objects in medieval Europe: passed between rulers as diplomatic gifts, preserved in cathedral treasuries for centuries.

The Oliphant in the British Museum is one of the finest surviving examples, its surface covered in carved hunting scenes and interlaced ornament of exceptional quality. That's the one I've based this replica on.

But the most famous Oliphant in legend is Roland's horn. Roland was the great paladin of Charlemagne. At the Battle of Roncevaux Pass, surrounded and outnumbered, he refused to blow it and call for help — because Roland was that kind of man. He waited until it was too late. When he finally sounded it, they say the blast carried thirty leagues. Charlemagne heard it and wept.

This replica is carved from a drinking horn, which means it works both ways — you can blow it, and you can drink from it. Roland would probably have appreciated the practicality. 🍺

This isn't live on the website until next week, but if you'd like one ahead of the general launch, you can order now using the link below. Also available as a pure drinking horn in the same design if you'd rather keep the blowing to a minimum.

👉 https://bushmansurvival.com/products/oliphant-drinking-horn-british-museum-replica-carving

Drop me a message if you have any questions.

11/09/2026

Three shields. Three designs for customers that’ve been living in my sketchbook for a while. 🛡️
Here’s what’s coming:
A bear and Mjolnir combination — because sometimes one symbol of raw power isn’t quite enough. A Valkyrie, drawn exactly as she deserves to be. And two Norse wolves in the middle of settling something they’re clearly not going to agree on.
All hand-drawn, all hand-carved, no lasers, no shortcuts. I’ll be posting progress through stories as each one takes shape, then a final reveal once they’re done. These are the kind of pieces that remind me why I picked up a chisel in the first place.
Watch this space. 🪓🐺
NorseCraft WoodCarving ShieldMaker BespokeCraft VikingCrafts CustomShield Mjolnir Valkyrie

05/09/2026

I've been working on something a bit special — a hand-carved Ash Mastermyr chest, copied from the original Gotland find, with custom Mammen style carvings added for a customer. 🪓

The front panel shows entwined dragons and a snake — Mammen style, all hand drawn directly onto the wood before a chisel goes near it. The lid features Hati and Skoll, the great wolves of Norse mythology, depicted in the same style, locked in their eternal chase across the sky. According to the old stories, Hati hunts the moon and Skoll hunts the sun — and at Ragnarök, they finally catch them. Heavy subject matter for a storage chest, but it does give it a certain atmosphere.

The Mastermyr Chest itself was found in 1936 by a farmer digging peat on the Swedish island of Gotland. Inside were over 200 Viking-age tools — a complete 10th-century craftsman's kit, perfectly preserved. Someone packed it, locked it, and never came back. The chest is now one of the most studied finds from the Viking Age.

This version is ash, fully hand carved, no templates, no CNC, no shortcuts. Just the original design, a pencil, and a lot of chisel work. ☕🪵

Drop me a message if you'd like one made for you — plain or fully carved, any design you can imagine.

👉 www.bushmansurvival.com

02/09/2026

A few shots taken at Celt Fest, Avon Mel. Such a great weekend with my reenactment group, Blaeddau Du 🍺🪓🐺🛡️

29/08/2026

26/08/2026

If you’re after something to do in west wales this weekend, hopefully see you there 🤗🍺

Finished Celtfest Itinerary. 😁😁

CeltFest Itinerary
Friday 28th August
5.00 pm – Gates Open
Festival Welcome & Site Exploration
6.30 pm – 7.30 pm Opening Ceremony Hawk Rising OBOD Druid Order
7.30pm - 8.15pm Jason Buck Storyteller Slaine Part 1
8.15pm- 9.00pm Food and drink break
9.00 pm – 9.30pm The Glastonbury Horde
9.30pm- 11pm Fireside stories and singing with Victoria Howlet

Saturday 29th August
10.00 am – Traders Open
10.00am Community Workshop Tablet Weaving starts Ravneskog Crafts Stall ( break for lunch 12-2pm)
10.00am Drum Workshop Communal Firepit
10.00am Kids activities Workshop Tent 2
11.00am Kiddievike Main Battle Arena
11.00am Sian Sibly talk on Ecological Paganism Workshop Tent 3
11.00am The Wild Within Workshop Tent 2 Delphi Nile
12.00pm Val Talk on Arwen And Nyfre Workshop Tent 3
12.00pm - 1.00pm Talk and Demo on History of glass Making Main Workshop tent 2
1.00pm History of Anglo-Saxon Paganism- Victoria Howlet Workshop Tent 2
1.00pm Weapons Show and Tell Main Battle Arena Bladdeu Du
2.00pm - 2.45pm Claire Pingle Talk Ceridwen Workshop tent 3
3.00pm Main Battle Bladdeu Du Main Arena
3.00pm - 5.00pm Leather Workshop - Workshop tent 2
5.00pm - 6.00pm Live Music Isobel
5.00pm End Tablet Weaving Community Belt workshop
6.00pm - 7.00pm Dinner Break/Feast
7.00 pm – 8.00 pm – Spriggan Mist (Live Performance)
8.00pm – 9.00pm Changeover bar Break 9.00 pm – 11.00 pm – PerKelt (Live Performance)
10.00 pm – 11.00 pm – Fireside Stories & Singing Victoria Howlet

Sunday 30th August
10.00 am – Traders Open
10.00am Community Workshop Tablet Weaving starts Ravneskog Crafts Stall with
break for lunch 12-2pm
10.00am kids activities workshop tent 2
10.00am Singing Chanting workshop Robyn & Hayley Communal Firepit
11.00am Kiddievike Main Battle Arena Bladdeu Du
11.00am Sian Sibly Mugwort workshop tent 2
11.00am Celtic Borders with Sue Workshop Tent 3.
12.00pm Sacred Space Jacky Heraty Workshop tent 2
1.00pm Weapons Show and Tell Main Battle Arena Bladdeu Du
1.00pm Hagstone pendulum workshop
Carly Batten Workshop Tent 3
2.00-4.00pm Leather Workshop tent 3
3.00pm Main Battle Bladdeu Du Main Arena
3.30pm Math Jones poetry Performance Main Stage
4.00pm - 5.00pm Jason Buck Storyteller Slaine Part 2 Tent 2
4.00-5.30pm Open Mic Main Stage
4.00pm -4.45pm Delphi Nile Sacred Ochre Workshop - Women Workshop Tent 3
4.45pm -5.30pm Delphi Nile Sacred Ochre Workshop - Men Workshop Tent 3
5.00-6.00pm Open Mic Main Stage
5.00pm Community Tablet Weaving workshop finishes
5.30 - 6.30pm Feast/ dinner Break
6.30pm The Glastonbury Hoard
7.00 pm – 8.00 pm – Clan An Drumma (Live Performance) Main Stage
8.00 - 9.00pm Changeover Bar Break
9.00 pm – 10.00 pm – Taranau ( Live Performance) Main Stage

Monday 31st August
Breakfast food traders open
Attendees leave 10.00am including campers

Spirit Doll workshops
Peg Loom workshops
Jewellery workshops
These will all go on all weekend and are bookable on the day.

17/08/2026

Some commissions stop you in your tracks.

This is one of them. 🗡️

A client came to me wanting something genuinely special for their wedding day — not a ring, not a card, but a Celtic sword. Specifically, a replica of a La Tène period weapon, hand-carved wooden sheath included, with both their names and wedding date inscribed in Ogham text.

Ogham is one of the oldest written scripts in the British Isles — carved in vertical lines along the edge of stone or wood. To have it carry the names of two people beginning their lives together felt like exactly the right call. Some things deserve to be written in the old way.

I've made a lot of pieces over the years, but there's something different about a wedding commission. It's not just an object — it's a witness. This sword will be in that household long after I'm gone, long after most things are forgotten. That thought doesn't leave you when you're carving it.

Everything here is hand-carved, hand-finished, made by one person in a workshop in Wales. No shortcuts. No machines. Just time, tools, and a lot of respect for what this piece represents.

To the couple — congratulations. I hope it serves you well for the next thousand years. ⚔️🍻

If you've got a commission in mind — a wedding, an anniversary, something to mark a moment worth marking — drop me a message. If I can draw it, I can carve it.

🌐 www.bushmansurvival.com

15/08/2026

Even Loki would've left a five-star review. 🛡️

This beauty was one of the first shields I ever made and it popped up in my memories today, the reaction I was sent almost 4 years ago still made me smile this morning.

"I actually gasped. My husband cried a little. He says it was the wood smoke."

Hand carved, no shortcuts, no CNC. Just a bloke in a garage making things people apparently cry over.

If you've got one of my original pieces of mine, drop a photo in the comments. I'd love to see where they've ended up. ⚔️