Bushcraft Gear ON A BUDGET | Everyday objects up cycled | Make your own kit! 

I am 52 years old and a disabled Marine and I've had good times and hard times nonetheless a true mark of a mans abilities is using what you have and improving on it. God bless you Sir and I definitely will look forward to future posts like this..

My tip is to put matches head down, that way damp fingers wont make them wet, learned that the hard way after dunking through the ice, being that cold fine motor skills are gone so picking just one match is nearly superhuman feat, managed to get half of the matches damp before one worked. also I dunk stack of cotton makeup pads in molten candlewax, let them soak and squee them out forming waterproof firestarters that can be started with a ferrocerium rod if you "fluff it up" first.

The silica gel in that tube would be best left in there as it absorbs moisture and would help keep everything dry.

The shopping basket can also be put in a stream with some rocks in it to keep things like milk , beer ,bottled water amongst other things nice and cool in the summer months

Thrift stores can produce amazing finds, even better than the dollar store because most of that stuff is cheap. The thrift stores often have items discarded by family members when someone passes away, old school stuff, made like it isn't made anymore. I've acquired incredible wool clothing, old pots and pans, all kinds of stuff. I have to say that basket fire grill is GENIUS!

Me and my son we have started bushcrafting onna budget and I cannot tell you how much we have bonded by doing this and learning together, thank you so much for the help you have given us. It means the world to us!!!

Get a piece of string or paracord, tie a couple of knots on top of one another. When you gather the matches together have the knot on the bottom with the lose string coming up through the matches. Little pull on the string would free the tightly packed matches. Stretch a length of racing bike inner tube over the length of the tube; say 700x23. Would give you far more inner tube.

Fantastic video Nick. I more or less started the same way. Perhaps instead of electrical tape, try duct tape as it is flammable, thus another form of tinder, plus most dollar stores have it bright colors. I drilled a series of small holes on one side of the pot lids for venting pressure and straining tea leaves when pouring. Cheers.

ANYTHING that can make fire is NEVER outdated.

Its great to have shiny new gear but the ability to diy your own gear is a good skill to practice and keep.

I did something similar years ago, to keep from getting a pressure cooker issue, I drilled 5 drain holes in the lid. It helped a lot.

This reminds me of my childhood right here. Improvising with things we found to have camp fires and prepare for "adventures". These videos are also very calming I love the chilled vibe of the channel. Thanks for all the free lessons that you give us. I plan on making a little fixed camp in my garden this year and will try this

I really especially enjoyed this video, since I am a huge fan of upcycling and DIY stuff, plus know how it is having to deal with low budget (what leads just to more ideas and creativity). As much as I enjoy to get my hands on tools, I am more old school and prefer exactly those kind of things. And your ideas are a great inspiration because I am just breeding over some projects I may start over the next years with kids of low income families. A vague thought right now, but like those seeds you start to plant. They grow and develop. It is just so obvious how nature is balm for the soul and I think, creating such things will be a lot of fun for the kids. So, thank you very much!

Excellent ideas 👍 My old 35mm film canisters are also great for storing matches and tinder,I use non safety matches as they can be struck on many surfaces - heads dipped in candle wax for waterproofing,and packed out with cotton wool lightly impregnated with Vaseline for tinder.Bicycle inner tube stretched over the film canister can be cut for tinder or rubber bands.you could also put a mini ferro rod in with the matches.Cost = pennies 👍

I wax the matchsticks with old melted candle stubs and halfords will give you old inner tubing for nothing

Genius as always. Please keep em coming. RIP my Tea, Coffee & sugar kitchen set.

Brilliant stuff Nick, so important to get the RECYCLE message through and protect the environment. So refreshing to see an instructor of your caliber and pedigree using everyday items and converting them to your needs rather than running out and buying expensive "trendy" equipment, this is real !!!

I use lots of old plastic medicine containers for all sorts. Salt n pepper shakers, fishing kit, fire lighting, coffee and creamer mixed etc.

Great video. Punch a hole in lid of your Billy can and pressure problem solved. Love the shopping basket pot stand. I like to scrounge for old BBQ grills and oven racks as they are ready-made for high heat and food contact - just cleaning them up first. Too big to pack about but great to leave at a base camp, worry-free. Looking forward to more DIY suggestions.

Instead of buying tissues or cotton wool you can collect the fluff out of your dryer filter... It's free and it works just as good

I love this type of DIY gear video and it just shows you don't have to be a gear snob to have fun in the woods. I use a home made cat-tin stove and it is brilliant and cost me nothing.

Bicycle tube rubber is also good for making your own washer for Sawyer type water filters. con: being thin, it does not work with all squeese bottles like the Sawyer2 silicone ones. pro: done right with a small hole, this thin washer does not fall out like common hose washers or the kind that Sawyer uses.

Great video but, you forgot to mention the most important thing about making your own kit and, that is the immense sense of satisfaction and achievement that comes when you have crafted something that works as youu want it to.

I always carry matches (in a waterproof container) when I'm out, in addition to a lighter and a ferro rod. For something as important as fire, I go with the rule of three, especially since none of this takes up much room in my pack. Great video, thanks for sharing!

These are most definitely the best instructional videos I've ever come across. Simple and precise. Nick you're a great teacher and your enthusiasm is what makes them watchable. Definitely the go to for advice. Keep up the great work, you guys deserve many more subs.🤙🤙🤙

🤣...to the sound of my hysterical laughter, you've turned Julie into a bin surfer!. "I threw one of those tubes away yesterday" she declared, diving head first into the recycling, returning clutching this afternoon's project in her hand... Nice upload. Thumbs up! ...a minor PS, she was so keen, I did wonder whether to ask her if she'd ever woken up in a skip. On balance, I decided discretion was the better option...

Stumbled on your videos yesterday. Can't get enough. Seriously the best bushcraft channel on youtube, and the nicest most humble guy to top it all off.

Read a lot of the comments and agree 100%. Great ideas and great saving to boot. Also agree that it's your enthusiasm that draws people in to watch. Never miss your channel and watch each one several time. Keep up the great work and stay safe .

And it's _such fun_ to make your own stuff and scratch around in thrift and charity stores!

Now, that was awesome. I love the basket 🧺 idea 💡 WHAT WE LEARN IS WHAT WE KNOW ? THANKS..NOW , ALL I NEED IS A CUP OF TEA 🍵

Nice video Nick, it's good to see someone pushing people towards using and repurposing what they find, as opposed to buying some over priced item that does the job no better. Resourcefulness is without a doubt the most overlooked survival skill.atb mate.

You just made my Sunday better. Great Ideas. Once had a 'go to' camp where I took an old grill oven shelf and hid it away in bushes when not there. Laid it on top of a few stones around the fire when I needed it. Working my way through your back catalogue of vids. Loving watching. Thank You.

Bloody love this. Good old squaddie engineering. If its stupid and it works then it's not stupid, it's genius.

Reminds me a lot of the kit I put together as a thirteen year old to start doing overnight camps. Back then, even army surplus gear seemed expensive! It also reminds me how much I miss 35mm film canisters for waterproof match containers. Cheers Nick.

I love the homemade bushcraft gear videos. Everyone seems to be doing 'gear reviews' these days and forgetting what bushcraft is about: Working with what you have to hand. I'm often asked what the difference between survival and bushcraft is: Survival is living with what you have to hand, bushcraft is thriving with what you have to hand ;- )

Wonderful.This should be part of the school curriculum.I use to sneak a bit into PSE lessons.My boss turned a blind eye bless her.

Use a small extendable tube for blowing on the fire. It can be made from an extendable back scratcher with the scratcher removed and the other end of the the tube removed. Keeps face out of the fire and the smoke.

I'm a 15 cm ferro rod man myself, in a duct tape/cable tie holster I made, and half a hacksaw blade attached with paracord (And 2 lighters, 1 with food, 1 somewhere else) Also in this day and age, hand sanitiser is ubiquitous and also the best tinder when paired with the above IMO

A small hole or two in the billy can lid can help reduce the pressure. In Australia we have similar vitamin C tubes made in aluminium. Another great video Nick!

Another great video. So inspiring to get people outside and enjoy the fresh air. Also teaching people self reliance and you don't need deep pockets to enjoy this.

Nice. Just a suggestion. When you put the matches in the tube, you put them in with the heads up towards the opening. If you put them in heads down, when you remove them you won't get the striking head damp (from rain, sweat, etc.) You can also put the striking strip in the tube with the strike surface against the side of the tube without worrying about the matches self striking and it takes up almost no space at all.

So I FINALLY got around to building a super-budget friendly match-safe, as inspired by this very video. I had all the stuff laying around in the house, so it cost me exactly nothing on the day. I added some upgrades, which is why I'm commenting. I used extra long, cut down cooks matches, as per this vid, and a fizzy vitamin pill case, also as per. Then I covered the outside in safety orange, hi-viz duct tape. Now something I've noticed about duct tape out in the wild, the edges being super sticky, gather dirt from the environment/pocket and gold onto it. The more turns of tape used, the worse this is. So I did what I usually do to fix this, where possible, by covering the sideways seams in ranger bands (thin sections of bicycle inner tube.) Of course, both gaffer (duct/duck) tape and inner tube (ranger bands) make excellent emergency tinders bc they burn easily and merrily. Ranger bands are a good way of strapping little bits of kit together as well... So since they were already on the match-safe, I used them to attach a Bic lighter (with cable tie button lock) a small, but good, cheap, Chinese ferro rod with a mini striker for the rod and finally, a little sliding top tin packed with Vaseline soaked cotton wool to take sparks. So now my basic match safe has three ways to make fire and three types of emergency tinder included. Brilliant. I love it. Thanks for the inspiration and know how much I appreciate all your hard work on this channel!

Love it all, ex Aus mil surv instructor. out bush/jungle we used an old cotton sleeve for a makeshift milbank bag. You can go one better then by alternate filling it with charcoal/river sand to treat/filter. In our basecamp we used the charcoal built filter. just leave hanging and refill after patrol.

Nick (just subscribed, by the way!), this video, and in particular, your comment at the end ' - a bit of fun to make.', really resonated with me. I am a 67 year old South African on a State Pension of R2090 per month and I simply don't have the money to rush off and buy things or order things on Amazon. I live in a caravan and over the last 20 years I've had a BALL turning one thing into something else, repurposing things and making one tool do two jobs. (I think it's why I love Jamed Bender and Way Point Survival so much!). A lot of people give me weird stuff that they don't want any more and one of them was a soft shell, red fabric pencil case with see-through plastic panels, two zip up compartments and an individually sectioned part for pens/pencils. I repurposed it into an EDC and it holds over EIGHTY items. I just drop it in my handbag or backpack and I'm good to go. It weighs less than 400gms.

BZ! Another gem of wisdom to be placed in the jewellery box of knowledge.

One of the best tips I ever encountered was squeezing dobs of toothpaste onto baking paper, covering them with baking soda (not baking POWDER!) and letting them dry. They become much smaller and you can pop them into a tiny pill container. They work like a dream!

Love it all Nick lod tricks and hacks that would have saved me tons of money. Please keep the home born products coming. It opens up bushcraft to all. Many thanks.

I dip the phosphorous end & a large amount of stick in melted wax, not as many matches in the tube, but a lot easier in the rain. For the tube wrap, use Gaffer/Gorilla tape (it is a good fire starter fuel) chapstick is a good fire starter when combined with cotton wool/tissue

Great idea for matches I also use the same boxes for salt, sugar and coffee Greetings from Northern Italy

I use dryer fluff, terribly flammable, free and fluffs nicely after being crammed into a container. I like a refillable lighter, a fire piston & charcloth and usually have a few storm matches. As far as kit, I inherited a lot of stuff. Mainly the stuff I've bought is water purifying systems. Great vid dude!

I love that you're being candid about having to be really thrifty when you started. It makes perfect sense that thrift and Bushcraft can go hand in hand. Solving problems in the woods is really very like solving them living on a shoe string in the middle of no where. You demonstrate it well and take away the stigma by being so articulate and well put together! One constructive criticism idea: I think I'd leave the silica in my match tube to absorb moisture in the air that might weaken the matches over long storage. In my area it's humid 9 months of the year. I understand this is the case in much of the UK too. If you were concerned with it getting loose in the wild and causing harm to the environment. I've seen similar results by putting a few grains of dry white rice in with your gear. Thanks for another great video!

Great tips, this will be perfect for the family to be involved in making their own kit and spending time outside!

Great content as usual. I particularly like DIY videos, and this one was really good. Making use of some things from home for bushcraft is the way they used to do it, back in my grandparents' time, without internet, amazon, ebay or specialty stores. From the haversack to the pan, from the knife to the mug... Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Greetings from 🇧🇷

Nick, I love all three of your ideas in this video! I've used 100% cotton bath towels since my USN days 50 years ago. And for years I've saved the cotton lint from the dryer filter after drying the towels(I dry my towels separate from other fabrics). Cotton lint, just like cotton wool, makes excellent tinder( I use lint and/or birch bark with my ferro rod). So instead of tissue wads to separate the matches from the striker strip, use several "wads" of cotton lint. I believe the lint will help get the rubber burning much easier and faster. Worth a try?

I love budget friendly/self made gear videos.

Your mind is always going to be your best survival tool. Thinking in advance and giving you self any advantage you can will help . Slot of things can have multiple uses imagation is your only boundary. This video proves that.

Absolutely awesome video! I'm definitely going to be using these ideas for my garden setup, especially the basket. Genius. Love your channel and love your videos! Always excited when I'm notified you do a new video, keep up the awesome work mate 👍

Practicality and common sense. I agree, that's the best base for any endeavor

Making do, before I could afford tins of Maya dust, I used pencil shavings. I prefer a pencil to a pen for notes and such like and use a tub type sharpener which collects the shavings. It dawned on me one day it might be good tinder so tried it, it works really well even taking a spark. 30 years later my little kit still has a couple of tiny zip lock bags stuffed with pencil shavings. For an advanced version put a smear of vaseline in the bag and stuff it with the shavings, when needed slit the bag in a cross shape fluff the shaving a bit and apply a spark, match or lighter. If you want to get really fancy use Staedler Traditions pencils, they are made from Cedar wood. P.S. lighting a piece of inner tube is easier if you cut half of one side like a feather stick, it takes a little less heat to get it going. Big advantage if your lighter has failed and your matches are a bit old. Keep up the good work - clear concise and no BS - typical Marine! 😁

Awesome video againg Nick, I found my self really inspired by your mind set and philosophy. Its be real pleasure to watch your videos, keep up the great work.

An absolute peach of a vid this is the stuff we all need to draw inspiration from up cycling the mundane into functional items to add to the outdoorsman’s tool box great stuff !!

I’ve only just discovered this channel and it’s amazing. The way you teach is spot on and it’s easy to understand.

I like your practical, down2earth approach. Preparing for a cold night out with budget gear gives me hope. It does require us to use an inventive mindset. And it can be done. Thanks for these ideas and tips.

Love this video, i enjoy ppl sharing cheap diy things you can do as many of us are usually broke lol so thank you sir!❤😊

Absolutely love these cheap, budget ideas! I am certainly going to attempt these, keep up the good work!! Very educational

Absolutely great program Nick ! The ability to survive in the field is largely dependent on having a Fire, and Potable water - you can never have too many ways to make a fire, and safe water. My fire kit (contained in two empty med bottles) consists of Bottle 1) Lifeboat matches, Cigarette lighters- one wrapped in Gorilla tape -, Ferro rod, Magnifying glass, Regular matches. Bottle 2) Fire balls "cotton balls covered in Vaseline" . For Water I have 1) stainless US canteen cup, and stainless 17oz canteen bottle, 2) Sawyer filter, 3) Purification tablets. My first piece of kit for water was a large stainless pet feeding bowl for $1 U.S. at the Dollar Tree. Which now (at least mine) sells 110 lb Paracord in several colors on 25ft spools. Your shopping basket cooking / pot stand is great. You can get them in the states at office supply stores for $5 or less. Or if you see a discarded stove, one of the inside racks.

A proper video. It seems the majority of people on RU-vid have forgotten or never understood what "Bushcraft" is really about. Any fool with a pocket full of money can buy the latest, expensive gear. There is much more satisfaction & sense of accomplishment when a person utilizes what is at hand & makes something themselves while keeping the few $ he may have in his pocket.

Loved the video, especially the shopping basket. My home pot I made from an old tea caddy pot is still one of my favourites and has lasted over 10 years now.

Great video showing how real bushcraft is done using everyday items to survive.

Another fine video. And it's great to read the comments for development of your ideas from people who clearly have a bit of experience under their belt. (I absolutely love the shopping basket grill, btw.)

Love the shopping basket pot stand, like all the best ideas, it's just so simple.

Seriously great job on this video. So good to see upcycling in bushcraft

Great video. Love the idea of DIY bushcraft gear and reusing/up cycling items. I've tried it myself a few times. Keep up the great videos.

I am a fan. I really like and appreciate all you are willing to share with us. You do a great job, THANK YOU!!!!

Love the channel and currently working back through all your vids. Keep up the good work.

Like the waterproof match idea Nick. Will be getting my scouts to make some ready for their winter camp in January. Keep up the good work, loving all your videos.

Just stumbled across your channel and can't tell you how nice it was to find someone creating this stuff on a budget. I was losing heart with the whole outdoors thing watching other channels because of the cost. I saw a water purification jug on a channel and thought it was brilliant but when I looked it up I found it to be well over a £100 and I just don't have that money. Many thanks for sharing your knowledge

Uno de los mejores videos que vi sobre el tema. Simple y directo.

I bought a pack of pipe smoking splints (like you used in chemistry at school, at least, in the 70s you did, health and safety ridden 2020s, maybe not!☹️) for a pound. A pack of sulphur for a couple of quid. Divided the splints into two lengths with a diagonal cut, so you have one end on each half as a spike. Melt the sulphur in an old drink can cut down. Dip the sharpened end in the molten sulphur, turning it as you do to evenly coat it, ending with a very thin layer of sulphur on the end. These are known as spunks, medieval technology used to light fires and candles. You use a flint and steel to get your tinder glowing in your tinder tin, then blow it to a brightness and hold your spunk in it for a second or two, the sulphur lights very easily and you have a flame.😁. I keep mine in a cigar tube, I’ve sanded mine down to bare metal for a more “medieval” look!😁. So easy to make, so expensive to buy.

G,day, make all my Billy's out of powdered milk cans and a bit of wire, just made a new bush stove from a large pineapple juice can , cost nothing, been using this type of gear for 60 years. Like your fire starter kit, will make one ,thanks All the best from Western Queensland, Bluey.

Great video Nick. Solid advice as usual and I always scout out the area I Camp to find items to recycle/upcycle and make the most out of what others have discarded. Keep up the great work 👍

Great video! I got some scrap leather the other day from a guy who makes motorbike saddles that I'm using for making pouches etc, just use an awl to punch holes in it and then use paracord to sow it together. It helps to melt the end of the cord and cut it so it has a sharp pointy end. Innertube also works great for securing Mora knives to the sheeth btw! God bless.

Thanks for a trip down memory lane. Doing stuff like that is how I grew up in the country. Frequently is we couldn't make it we didn't have it.

Genius leaves clues. Great work Nick!

from Canada . I have a permanent camp so we bought some cheap Dollar store plant stands and use them for pot stands and a quick table for hot pots next to the fire. Cheap and quick.

Another quality video and reusing items to enjoy the environment that we are surrounded by but slowly losing!!! ✌🏻

Great video. I will do this with my little 5 year old granddaughter. She would live this.

Great upcycling advice, Nick. Love the video.

Yours just became my new favorite RU-vid bushcraft channel! Thanks for posting this video, & I especially appreciate the warning about using galvanized steel!

They used to have waterproof matches and the old P38 opener for your tins in your ration pack. Not sure if they still do them or even if you can get them from army surplus stores. Excellent videos you put up, thank you.

Nick as always clear concise information. Keep doing what You are doing. G

I used to work at a grocery store, a box of matches fell off the shelf once and ignited. They can still ignite without the striker. Great ideas using food canisters for a pot and a shopping basket for a pot stand!

One of the channels I look forward to every Sunday. Definitely more of a "light hearted" bushcraft channel. Not one of the look how awsome/good/tough I am channels. Still very informative and humble

I like your approach to upgrade cheap common items and craft it to meet your needs. In my early days I was on a budget as well, so I got used to looking around and imagine, how to utilize it - it got my second nature and up to now, I can't buy anything and leave it untouched, I always find something to make it better suiting my needs. Dollar Tree, T€DI and similar bargain sales are great places to find cheap items you can utilize with quick and easy mods. #1 - matches are wider at their tip, so if you store half of them tip-up and the other half tip-down you can fit in more in your container. Folding the striker surface into a 'harmonica' makes some of the chemical-agent-dots pop off, compromising the striker - better roll it and finish it off with a strip of paper and a small piece of tape. These containers come in several sizes - I found a small one, that perfectly fits (with lid on) into a large one and made a hobo fishing kit out of them. The small one is the actual fishing kit with quite some line wrapped around the outside and the inside filled with hooks, swivels, sinkers, lures. Including a lanyard at the bottom it fits snuggly inside the big tube, preventing the line from coming undone - ready to 'rock-and-roll'. #2 - bail handle can be bend half-way around the pot and at a 90° upwards to the holes - so the handle doesn't get in the way during tranportation, no need for extra space . #3 - pot-stand can be made slim and foldable by cutting it, leaving the mesh bottom and two rows of wire, then altering the handles to attach to the first wire of the mesh and fold into the basket, making it some 4cm thick and portable - when folded out, it stops at the sidewalls and makes a sturdy pot-stand. To make the handles smaller, just bend the straight handle around a round object, keeping the hangers parallel.

really glad i just found a decent British bush craft channel, instant sub from Scotland mate.

Hi Nick! Greetings from Tennessee, USA. This was the first of your videos I have seen. I admire the resourcefulness and that your tips take the limited budget bushcrafter into consideration. I have subscribed and look forward to seeing more.

Great idea, I use a similar kit when I camp, but can I add one thing. After wrapping the electrical tape to the end, you could continue to wrap the rest of the tape to an amount you are happy with. Essentially you are putting a roll of electrical tape on the end of your match kit. The tape is designed to stick to itself for a longtime without any ill effects. So when you need some, which you will, it’s there for you to use. Ask any electrician, the best waterproof bandaid is paper towel wrapped with electrical tape. I fixes any holes in a tent, or coat. You could wrap a bit of the electrical tape to a twig and when lit, the twig will stay lit for a long time. Like duct tape, it’s great for almost anything, except ducts. Also, I would use Hurricane Matches. They won’t blow out easily. One of those trick birthday candles are a good idea. The ones that won’t blow out. I bring those every time I go camping. When camping in the wilderness, I always wrap Duct tape on to itself over and over itself anywhere I can so I always have a roll of Duct tape whenever in need. I remember one trip, while portaging in Algonquin Park, where my dad and I put a good size hole on the side of our cedar-strip canoe. It was all the way through and we were three days in. Thankfully Both of us had rolled duct tape on the middle of our paddles, that were were able to fix the hole. So well that we continued on with our trip as if nothing happened.

Very well done. Love the way you put things. Keep up the good work!

I do have gear that I bought but making my own is fun and expands my way of thinking. Also im always looking at others for ideas .good job !

Billy from an old tin, matches kept in an old tobacco tin, empty can for a cup inside the billy along with a small can of tea leaves. Loved picnics as a kid. Another great video mate. Now..where are those old Berrocca tins I kept.