BUSHCRAFT AND SURVIVAL COURSE

Fire skills, bushcraft and hut and shelter overnights đŸŒČđŸ”„

Imagine you’ve just found the perfect spot to gather chanterelles, but as you look around you realise you’re lost. With only 5% battery life left and no signal, you are suddenly at the mercy of nature. How will you keep warm at night? Will anyone find you?

Our 3-day bushcraft and survival course in Kolarbyn will give you the tools to read nature and deal with an unexpected survival situation. With the help of our experienced instructor, Jonas Vildmark, you will learn to survive in nature, on nature’s terms.

Price: Adults: 4350 SEK

Children: 3550 SEK

Individuals: 4850 SEK (single room supplement) per person

Day 1 Arrival & introduction:

Check into your charcoal hut with sleeping bags and bedding. After a guided tour you settle in. Now begins your journey towards an independent wilderness experience. You will cook your own dinner over an open fire – the perfect start to an adventure where you get to practice cooking in nature’s kitchen.

Day 2 Practical survival skills:

After breakfast, which you will cook over an open fire, the course begins at 10am with an introduction to the basics of survival and bushcraft. You will learn how to build a fire, use tools, navigate with the aid of nature and build emergency shelters. After lunch we move further into the forest to practise our new skills in a temporary emergency camp. We will spend the night in self-built shelters under the stars. If this is too much of a challenge this time, the charcoal hut is always available within a 20 minute walk of the camp.

Day 3 Summary & conclusion:

After a night under the stars (or in the hut) we gather for a final breakfast and reflection on the course. We discuss the lessons learned and the skills you now need to take home. The charcoal hut should be checked out by 11 o’clock. However, this year we are offering you the opportunity to stay in peace and quiet to round off your experience in nature with a nice sauna and lunch cooked over the fire. Then it’s off home, clean, full and satisfied.

Check-out from the sauna and kitchen must be by 1 pm. and the dishes must be washed.

Extra nights:

Several previous participants have recommended staying an extra night to practise your skills. Add an extra night in Kolarbyn and we will offer free ingredients for all meals until you go home!

Course Programme:

During the course we cover important survival topics: fire skills, safe use of tools (knife, saw, axe), navigation, building emergency shelters, water management, wilderness safety, use of edible plants, fieldcraft, and the psychology and physics of survival. You will have the opportunity to spend one night in your self-built shelter and one night in the charcoal hut. Or if you prefer, 2 nights in the charcoal hut.

This experience is organised on specific dates. Dates for 2025 will be updated here:

  • Prel. June
  • prel. early July
  • prel. August
  • prel. September

Time & place:

Check in at the Kolarbyn reception from 2pm – 3 pm. Kolarbyn does not have a manned reception, but a host will meet you at check-in. At check-in you will be given a guided tour to show you how everything works and where everything is located. The course starts at 10 am on day 2 and ends with breakfast on day 3. This year, however, we are offering you the chance to relax and round off your experience in the wilderness with a nice sauna and lunch cooked over an open fire. Then it’s off home, clean, full and satisfied.

The sauna and kitchen must be cleared and washed up by 1 pm.

Check-out from the hut is at 11.00.

Included in the Bushcraft & Survival Course:

  • 3 days with instructor and guide
  • Borrow course materials and tools
  • 1 night in a charcoal hut & 1 night in your own shelter or 2 nights in a charcoal hut
  • All meals during the course
  • Access to the floating sauna (2 hours)
  • Firewood, lighting materials and kitchen equipment for cooking over the fire.

Further information about the course:

You will also receive a welcome note from Jonas Vildmark about 1 week before your arrival. The letter will contain more information about the packing list and other tips. Bring a sleeping bag, sleeping pad, torch with extra batteries, water bottle, mosquito hat, warm clothes and a notebook. Please note that Kolarbyn does not provide any materials for the overnight stay in the bivouac. (It is not allowed to use anything from inside Kolarbyn in the field). Please contact us or Jonas Vildmark if you have any questions.

Other:

We recommend to bring weatherproof clothes and shoes, warm clothes for cold nights, torch, battery bank, swimsuit, towel, water bottle, snacks.

Optional Extras:

You can add extra amenities and experiences to make your stay complete (please note that some optional extras may already be included in your package – see your booking confirmation for details).

Others that can be booked are a canoe and a rowing boat, perhaps a fishing trip and with it a fishing licence? You can also book a private sauna, a wood-fired forest hot tub and lunch and dinner from our forest pantry.

For larger groups of more than 14 people, we can also provide catering.

Go to the booking page and discover all your options.

BOOK ACTIVITY

Guest Reviews

“Magical enchantead fairyland. The hostess leaves you from about 5 and you get a lot of confidence in managing yourself. Everything is very well organised and nothing is missing. They also have the nices compost outhouse you ever have been on. – and YES they have of course a sauna, the coolest sauna ever”
Dorien, Belgium

“Thank you for the incredible place Kolarbyn is. It was amazing to be able to experience the Swedish landscape and to just get away from the craziness of life for a bit. It is one of my favourite places in Europe and I hope that many others get to experience its wonder”
Gabi, United States

Truely beautiful surroundings, really helpful staff and a great break from the norm”
George, UK

“Great place! The lodges are beautiful and the place is super charming. We really enjoyed our stay. Breakfast was fantastic and everything is well organized in a way that it makes it easy to be outside even if you’re not too used to it”
Anonymous, USA

“I just wanted to say that it was a really wonderful and unique experience, one which I will remember and treasure for a long time
It was truly back to basics but truly wonderful stay just to relax and enjoy wild Sweden!
Especially the floating sauna was all kinds of wonderful (definitely last night when the lake was frozen and full moon was shining).
If the snow had come in yesterday it would have been even more magical but that would have been the cherry on top. I got a good look this morning with the snow already.
I wish you all the best and thank you again for an awesome stay, I truly enjoyed it!”
Marnick, Luxemburg

“Last week me and my girlfriend spent one night at Kolarbyn. Kolarbyn it’s a magical, stunning, unreal place. To those who ask me how Kolarbyn is I reply that “I’m agnostic, but if‹there is a paradise, a Valhalla or something else I hope it looks like Kolarbyn”. I guess that many people will tell you how amazing Kolarbyn is and how fascinating your personality is in that forest. But I really left something of my heart in that wood”
Paolo, Italy

“A sauna dream‹The Kolarbyn adventure is fantastic. Top of the list for me was the floating sauna on the lake, followed by swims in the lake – oh it was so good! but I also enjoyed cutting wood, tracking the progress of the charcoal burners’ pit in August – they were up all night watching.
I shall never look at an English wrap in the same light again – they do their picnic food properly in Kolarbyn!  We bonded well too with the other Kolarbyn adventurers and shared many a laugh at our attempts to live ‘wild’. Kolarbyn gave us lots of support in this gentle introduction to living in nature at the eco lodge -I particularly liked being greeted by two lit candles when we arrived at our hut, and the ‘hoover’ marzipan sweets Malin brought us on the second day for our dessert – unexpected little touches that made the moment special. The people, including Malin who greeted us and came every day to sort out food etc, were absolutely lovely – kind, friendly, polite, cheerful and almost courtly at times. A very special holiday indeed.”
Janet, UK

“It has been a week since we returned from Sweden – we had such a great time, meeting the nicest of people and seeing beautiful places. Our stay at Kolarbyn was definitely one of the absolute highlights, from the lovely hut to the beautiful surrounding and don’t forget the Sauna/bastu 😉
Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for having us and for keeping this wonderful place alive
all the best”
Antoine, New Zeeland