5 skills
Camp setup and cooking
- Campsite selection
- Camp kitchen layout
- One-pot cooking
- Food storage
- Washing and sanitation
The Blackwater Bushcraft Guide, as an offline app
The bushcraft field guide that works with no signal.
All 118 pages of The Blackwater Bushcraft Guide turned into 33 skills you can practice: shelter, knots, fire, water, canoe camping, navigation, weather and first response, with the steps, the standard and the safety note for each.
Freeto download. One-time unlock $6.99, or free with the printed Blackwater Bushcraft Guide.
For iPhone, iPad and Android. Coming soon to the App Store and Google Play.
Fully offlineNo accountNo adsNo tracking
What it is
A real field guide, rebuilt to be used outside.
CWS Bushcraft is the Blackwater Bushcraft Guide as an offline app. It keeps the book's own text and safety statements, and adds what a paper page cannot: one step at a time, practice tracking, checklists you can reset for every trip, guided decision flows, urgent field cards and search that works with no signal. It is free to download, with one lifetime unlock for the rest.
The guide was written by Rodney Thompson of Blackwater Outdoor Journeys, who paddles and camps the blackwater rivers of South Georgia and North Florida, so it is built for wet ground, tea-colored water and long days on the river.
Inside the app
33 skills, grouped by the job you are doing.
Every skill comes straight from the book. Search by what you need to do, like "hang a tarp" or "wet fire", and open the exact skill.
2 skills
Leave No Trace
- Legal and safe camping locations
- Leave No Trace at camp
4 skills
Tarps and shelters
- Tarp shelters
- Tarp A-frame free
- Hammock hang
- Ridgelines and guylines
2 skills
Knots and cordage
- Knots and hitches free
- Cordage selection and care
6 skills
Firecraft
- Fire site
- Tinder and kindling
- Wet-weather fire free
- Fire lays
- Fire starting
- Stoves and stove safety
1 skill
Knife, saw and axe safety
- Knife, saw and axe safety and wood processing
8 skills
Canoe campcraft
- Canoe loading and trim
- Waterproofing and dry bags
- Launching and landing
- Paddle strokes
- River current and strainers
- Choosing a river campsite and camping above the waterline
- If the canoe flips
- Trip planning, the day's window and the float plan
1 skill
Water
- Water source choice, filtering, boiling and chemical treatment free
2 skills
Navigation
- Compass basics and compass step by step free
- Navigation in poor visibility and finding your way back
1 skill
Weather and hazards
- Heat, lightning and tick checks
1 skill
First response
- Cuts, burns, blisters and evacuation decisions
Plus 7 reusable checklists, 10 decision flows and 10 urgent field cards, always free.
Free to download
Try five complete skills before you pay.
- Tarp A-frame
- Wet-weather fire
- Knots and hitches
- Water source choice, filtering, boiling and chemical treatment
- Compass basics and compass step by step
Plus two practice drills (pitch a tarp, tie six knots). Checklists, decision flows, field cards, search and the whole library are free too.
One lifetime unlock
$6.99 opens the other 28 skills.
Pay once through the App Store or Google Play and every remaining skill and practice drill opens for good. No subscription, no account. Restore it on a new phone with the same store account.
Free with the printed book: buy The Blackwater Bushcraft Guide, then email your receipt to [email protected] and we will send you a code that unlocks the app at no cost. Works whether you bought the book from us or anywhere else.
How it works
Learn it. Practice it. Check it. Find it fast.
One skill, one step at a time.
Large type, the book's own steps, the measurements that matter and the safety note on every skill.
Skills you work, not just read.
Drills with the book's standards, five progress levels from Read to Field-tested, and private notes that stay on your phone.
Fast answers when it matters.
Decision flows, field cards and checklists for fire rules, water, rising water, lightning, a canoe flip and more, with big controls and a red-light night mode.
A skill from the app
Tarp A-frame, step by step.
This is one of the five free skills, in the book's own words.
- Pick Two Live Trees. Look up first. Choose healthy trees a few feet farther apart than your tarp is long, and check for dead limbs overhead.
- Tie The Ridgeline. Run cord between them at about chest height. That is 4 to 5 feet for a tarp 10 feet wide or more. On a smaller tarp go lower, about 3 to 3 and a half feet for an 8 foot tarp, or the sides will not reach the ground. Lower still in wind. Use a trucker's hitch or taut-line hitch so you can pull it tight.
- Drape The Tarp. Center it over the line so both sides hang evenly.
- Tie Out Each Corner. Run a guyline from each corner down to a stake, at about 45 degrees. Use taut-line hitches so you can adjust in the dark.
- Pull It Taut. A sag holds water. Tighten each line until the fabric is flat and has no sag. Snug is enough. Do not crank it bar tight.
- Lower It For Weather. In wind, drop the edges to a few inches off the ground, with the back to the wind. In heat, raise one side for air.
- Check After The First Rain. Wet nylon cord and tarp fabric stretch, and the lines go slack. (Cotton and manila rope shrink when wet and pull tighter.) Walk around and re-tighten every line before you sleep.
Safety. Keep any fire at least 15 feet from the tarp. Nylon melts and burns in a second.
Who it is for
People who want real woodcraft, not gadgets.
- Campers and paddlers heading into wet, remote country.
- Anyone who wants the guide on a phone with no signal.
- Scout leaders, parents and teachers planning hands-on practice.
What it is not
Not a rescue manual or a substitute for training.
It is an educational reference, not emergency service, professional instruction or medical advice. Take a first-aid course, learn to swim and to rescue, check local rules, closures and fire bans, and practice tool skills with someone who knows them.
Built in South Georgia
From a working paddler.
Blackwater Outdoor Journeys films real camping, paddling and fishing trips in the Okefenokee, the Satilla, the Suwannee and the St. Marys. Camping Wilderness Skills is its training community. Some illustrations in the guide are AI-generated where marked; real photographs are credited inside the app.
Meet Rodney → The Camping Wilderness Skills trip-planner app → The printed Blackwater Bushcraft Guide →
Questions
CWS Bushcraft, answered.
What is CWS Bushcraft?
CWS Bushcraft is an offline bushcraft field-guide app for iPhone, iPad and Android. It turns the 118-page interior of The Blackwater Bushcraft Guide, First Edition 2026, into 33 skills with step-by-step instructions, practice drills, checklists, decision flows, urgent field cards and full offline search. It is built by Rodney Thompson and Blackwater Outdoor Journeys in South Georgia.
How much does CWS Bushcraft cost?
The download is free and includes five complete skills and two practice drills. One lifetime unlock opens everything else for $6.99, paid once through the App Store or Google Play. There is no subscription and no account. If you buy the printed Blackwater Bushcraft Guide, the unlock is free.
How do I get the app free with the book?
Buy the printed Blackwater Bushcraft Guide, then email your receipt to [email protected] and we will send you a free-unlock code to redeem in the App Store or Google Play once the app is available.
Does the bushcraft app work offline?
Yes. The whole guide and all its pictures are inside the app, so there is no download after you install it and no signal needed. Search, checklists, practice tracking, notes and saved pages all work in airplane mode. Only the first purchase or a restore needs the store.
What does the free version include?
Five complete skills (Tarp A-frame, Wet-weather fire, Knots and hitches, Water source choice and treatment, and Compass basics and step by step) and two practice drills. Checklists, decision flows, field cards, search and the full library are always free. Safety and emergency material is never locked.
What skills does the app teach?
Knots and cordage, tarps and shelters, firecraft, knife, saw and axe safety, water, camp setup and cooking, navigation, weather and hazards, first response, Leave No Trace and canoe campcraft, with a focus on wet Southeast blackwater country.
Is it the same as the printed book?
It is the same guide, rebuilt to be used outdoors: one skill at a time, with practice tracking, checklists you can reset, decision flows and search. The text and the safety statements come straight from the book.
Do I need an account, and what data does it collect?
No account. No ads, analytics or tracking. Your notes, favorites, practice history and progress stay in the app's private storage on your own device.
Which phones and tablets does it run on?
iPhone and iPad through the App Store, and Android phones and tablets through Google Play.
Is it safe to learn bushcraft from an app?
Use it as a field reference and practice with care. Every skill carries the book's safety note, and the app says plainly where an app is not enough. It is not emergency service, professional instruction or medical advice. Take a first-aid course, check local rules and closures, and practice tool skills with someone who knows them.
How is it different from the CWS trip-planner app?
The Camping Wilderness Skills app is the trip planner with offline maps and the AI Coach. CWS Bushcraft is a separate, standalone guide with no account: free to download, with one lifetime unlock.
Where do I get help?
Email [email protected] or open the support page. Include your device, the app version and the skill where the problem happened.
More help: support · privacy policy · terms of service.