Major Les Hiddins became well known through his ABC TV series "The Bush Tucker Man". In 1980 Les had received a Defence Fellowship to research survival in northern Australia and looked heavily into traditional bush foods, with the help and cooperation of Indigenous communities. His work was compiled and used by the Australian military in various forms, including the clever idea of "snack maps". Les later included bush tucker information in his Bush Tucker Field guide, as well as Explore Wild Australia, and now on his Bush Tucker Man website. Major Hiddins was the principal author of the Australian Army's military survival manual, published in 1987. Les retired from the Australian Regular Army in 1989 with the rank of Major. In addition to his TV work and writing, he continued to work with the Australian Army Reserve until 2001, working with Indigenous Australian communities in northern Australia. He is still actively researching and sharing his information and we get into this and a whole lot more in this podcast episode….

Gordon Dedman is a former member of the Australian Army 1st Commando Regiment and is currently a survival instructor in NORFORCE, an Australian Army Regional Surveillance Unit, which conducts patrols in remote wilderness areas of northern Australia, working closely with Aboriginal communities. Gordon provides civilian training in Australia through his school Bushcraft Survival Australia. In addition, Gordon works seasonally as a tour guide in Kakadu National Park. In this podcast we discuss Gordon's experiences and work, and get into detail on bushcraft and survival in Australia.

Bruce Zawalsky is a professional wilderness survival instructor and author, with over 25 years of experience as an outdoor educator. He teaches survival courses, wildlife and bear awareness courses as well as wilderness navigation. Here in PK Podcast 48, Bruce talks with me about all these subjects and more, which have much wider application than just in his native Canada...

In 1995 Lars Fält organised a seminal survival instructors conference in northern Sweden. Tom Lutyens and Mors Kochanski were among the instructors. Johan Skullman was one of the students. Here they discuss the importance of that event....

Canadian outdoor educator and author Kevin Callan joins me to talk about nature connection, preserving wilderness, healing yourself with time outdoors as well as undertaking the Meanest Link…