Primitive Camping & Bushcraft

Mosquitoes have ruined more camping trips than bad weather, broken gear, and cold coffee combined.

In this episode, Chris Speir discusses one of the most common problems faced by campers, hunters, fishermen, and bushcrafters: mosquito control. Drawing from years of experience in South Mississippi, Alaska, deer camps, and conversations from the Primitive Camping & Bushcraft Facebook group, Chris breaks down several methods peopl...

What piece of gear did you think was a gimmick until you actually tried it?

That simple question generated a flood of responses inside the Primitive Camping & Bushcraft Facebook group. In this episode, Chris dives into the conversation and explores the common theme behind the answers.

Topics discussed include:

• Hammocks and better sleep

• Camp pillows and comfort in camp

• Trekking poles and reducing strain

• Fire starters and...

The Primitive Camping & Bushcraft Facebook group has been growing fast, and with that growth comes some great discussions. In this episode, I take a look at a recent post that sparked a lively debate about lightweight hiking chairs.

Are they worth the weight?
Are they an unnecessary luxury?
Or are they one of those items that become more valuable the older we get?

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In this episode of the Primitive Camping and Bushcraft Podcast, Chris Speir breaks down why kayaks are one of the most overlooked tools in primitive camping.

This is not about extreme whitewater or stunt paddling. It is about using waterways the way people always have to move gear, reach remote camps, and think differently about access. Rivers and lakes become highways, and a kayak becomes a working tool rather than a toy.

Chris shar...

In this Fundamental Friday lesson we break down shelter from the inside out. Chris starts with clothing as your first layer of protection and how fabrics behave in heat, cold, and wet conditions. From there we move into shelter site selection using U.S. Army standards: finding level ground, spotting widow makers, judging water levels, avoiding rockslide or avalanche zones, and positioning yourself near resources without exposing yo...

This episode digs into a cold night that didn’t go the way it should have gone. A simple overnight trip with Dave turned into a long reminder that winter camping will expose every weak spot in your gear and your planning. I took my military issue extreme cold weather sleeping bag, my Helinox ultralight cot, my wool blanket, and my down puffy blanket from East Hills Outdoors. On paper, everything looked solid. In reality, the ...

SHOW NOTES
• This Fundamental Friday expands on Monday’s podcast and breaks down each lantern demonstrated on-camera.
• Gear covered: Luci / BioLite solar lantern, LuminAID Titan, the unnamed crank lantern, and the Blavor power station lantern.
• I show how each device works, how bright it is, what it weighs, how long it runs, and where it belongs in a primitive camping setup.
• These are the exact lanterns I use ...

Today’s conversation is all about practical lighting in camp. I walk through the lanterns I actually use, why each one has a job, and how they’ve held up in real weather, river nights, and deep woods trips. From ultralight inflatable solar lanterns to heavy basecamp chargers, I break down what each one is for and why I keep them in my kit.

Gear Mentioned (Remember to add affiliate links):
• LuminAID Lantern – yo...

In this Fundamental Friday, Chris takes a baseplate compass and a USGS topo map into the Mississippi woods and walks a full mile to test how accurate a simple bearing can be in real terrain. You’ll hear how the compass works, how contour lines tell the truth about the land, how to judge distance, and why old tools still matter when batteries fail.
Referenced links
USGS Topo Maps
https://www.usgs.gov/products/maps/top...

In this episode of the Primitive Camping and Bushcraft Podcast, Chris shares a real story of getting turned around in the woods after losing his map five miles from the truck, and how nothing but a single compass bearing brought him home. After the story he walks through practical, beginner friendly navigation skills anyone can use with a simple baseplate compass and a topographic map.

Resources Mentioned:

• USGS Topographic Map Down...

check out the new Primitive Camping & Bushcraft App on mobile www.primitive-camping.com here is the link to the app: https://www.mobileapp.app/to/lHKdPm1?ref=mam

In this episode of the Primitive Camping and Bushcraft Podcast, Chris takes you from the smell of fair food and shaking hands with listeners to the quiet focus of bow-drill firecraft.

He opens the Primitive Camping and Bushcraft book to page 150 and walks through...

Welcome back to Fundamental Fridays here on the Primitive Camping and Bushcraft Podcast!
Today, we’re breaking down the Primitive Camping Fire Starter Kit — everything that’s packed inside, how it works, and why it belongs in every outdoor pack. From fatwood and ferro rods to char cloth and fire plugs, this kit is built to help you start a fire anywhere, anytime.

Chris walks through each piece of gear, demonstra...

In this episode we are sitting under the tarp at Camp What The Heck with the fire working in the background and talking about something small that becomes a big deal fast in the woods your light
Chris tells the story of a bow hunt in the Mississippi Delta where it got dark fast the mosquitoes were thick the woods went dead quiet and something in the water let out a roar so deep it made every hair stand up
For a minute it felt...

Show notes

Today’s focus: Backcountry calories, simple meal planning, and faith for “daily bread.”

From the book: Primitive Camping & Bushcraft, p.182 (dehydrated/freeze-dried options, flavor add-ons).

Why calories matter: Field burn ≈ 3,500–5,000/day vs ~2,000 at home; shivering, climbs, paddling all spike needs.

Pack by calories, not meals: Target ~120 cal/oz (peanut butter, nuts, olive oil, grano...

The items in this episode are no longer available. only the book is available at your online retailers.

 

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All my links, gear, community, and content in one spot:
www.speiroutdoors.com

Stay Connected:

Join Primitive Camping & Bushcraft Facebook group:  www.facebook.com
 

📖 Book: Primitive Camping & Bushcraft

☕ Coffee: Primitive Camping ...

Welcome back to the Primitive Camping & Bushcraft Podcast and another Fundamental Friday around the fire. Today Chris shares how he’s been creating his own freeze-dried meals at home for camping — specifically a homemade beef stroganoff that rivals anything you can buy in a pouch. He walks through every step of the recipe using Thrive Life freeze-dried beef, mushrooms, sour cream powder, and brown gravy mix, all pac...

When most folks picture campfire cooking, they think of flames licking the pan and sparks flying into the night sky. Looks good, doesn’t it? Problem is, flames lie to you. They burn hot, fast, and uneven. You end up with food that’s black on the outside and raw in the middle. I’ve been there—trust me, I’ve ruined enough meals to learn the hard way.

In this episode, I talk about learning to cook over coa...

Clean water is one of the most important needs in the outdoors — but not every source is safe to drink straight from. In this episode of the Primitive Camping and Bushcraft Podcast, Chris takes you step by step through pre-filtering methods that remove grit, grime, and debris before you boil or use a commercial filter.

You’ll see how a Campcraft Outdoors filter bag works, why a handkerchief or even a cheap coffee filter ...

On this episode of the Primitive Camping and Bushcraft Podcast, Chris shares a story about camping with his sons when a brand-new stove broke on day one. What started as frustration turned into a lesson in improvisation, open-fire cooking, and teaching his boys to adapt.

Chris also reads from his book Primitive Camping and Bushcraft about “Thinking Outside the Box” and dives into Philippians 4:11–13 to remind us th...