Organic Fur or Buckskin Tanning

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Organic Fur or Buckskin Tanning

Learn how to produce a finished deer skin or fur, using a local deer and using entirely organic, primitive methods.

By Axe & Paddle Bushcraft

Location

Axe & Paddle Bushcraft

Heol Y Llidiart-Coch Capel Gwynfe Llangadog SA19 9RF United Kingdom

Refund Policy

Contact the organiser to request a refund.

About this event

Fun and educational - it's hard going and messy work, but it produces the softest furs or skins and uses no chemicals whatsoever.

 

Over the three days (3rd day optional), you’ll learn how to produce a finished deer skin.  We use a local deer and use entirely organic, primitive methods, as our ancestors would have done.  Did you know that almost every mammal on the planet has the exact size brain to organically tan its own skin?  Using this age old method is messy and it can be hard work - but it produces the softest furs and we love that it promotes ‘zero waste’.  Something we’re very passionate about.

 

Your finished fur can be used to make clothes, shoes, bags or a blanket.  The possibilities are endless! 

 

The course is hosted within the Brecon Beacons.  We lay on all the campfire tea and coffee you can drink and provide snacks.  Please bring your own lunch (which you are welcome to cook over the fire) and your own tent and sleeping gear.  Or you can rent our Baker Tent or Whelen Shelter and sleeping bag for £50, if you prefer.

“I felt part of the family from the moment I got there.  They were very welcoming and Steve had just the right amount of teaching.  Helping when you needed it but letting you get on with it the rest of the time.  This made it feel like the skin I processed was mine and I had achieved something.  I am hoping to go back for The Whole Deer course.”

 Experience includes:

  • Take home your hand made fur to appreciate all your hard work - use it for crafts, give it as an extra special gift or just wear it as is!

  • All the tools and materials you'll need

  • Tea and coffee all day - bring your own food to cook over the fire

  • Leave with the knowledge to be able to practice tanning on your own 

  • Camping

  • An optional 2nd night stay and time to smoke your skin over the fire on the 3rd day at no additional cost

Like to upgrade your stay? Treat yourself to a stay in our Shepherds Hut

Minimum age 16

Group size 1-4 people

£295 per person

 

Organised by

Axe & Paddle Bushcraft began back in 2012, when husband and wife team Steven and Kirsty Le Say hosted a Spoon Carving Workshop in a friend’s garden.

  

We’ve just relocated and opened up our own studio, on an 8 acre smallholding in the Brecon Beacons National Park - where we now host a number of courses, teaching traditional skills and crafts. We also have Shepherds Hut accommodation and camping available.