How one Brazilian bushcrafter discovered Ray Mears and found a lifelong path into bushcraft
Every now and then, a message arrives that reminds us just how far the bushcraft community reaches.
Recently, we heard from Dambros, a bushcraft enthusiast from Brazil, who got in touch to share photographs of something rather special: a beautifully cared-for Woodlore 30 Years of Bushcraft commemorative Morakniv, released in 2013 to celebrate Woodlore's 30th anniversary.
More than a decade later, the knife remains a treasured part of his collection. But as we began corresponding, we discovered that there was a much bigger story behind it.
Discovering Bushcraft
Dambros' love of spending time outdoors began in childhood, but it was through watching Ray Mears' television series Tracks (1994–1997) that he first encountered the word 'bushcraft' and began to recognise a wider philosophy around the outdoor skills he enjoyed.
As Dambros explains:
"I met Ray Mears through the TV show Tracks (1994–1997), where I first heard the word 'bushcraft' and discovered that something I had practiced since childhood had a word to describe it, which today I call a 'lifestyle.'"
From there, his interest developed into a lifelong study of bushcraft. Ray became one of the important influences on that journey, helping Dambros refine his techniques and deepen his understanding of the skills he had begun developing through his own love of the outdoors.
One particular passion is the axe. Dambros is an enthusiastic collector of axes and hatchets, with a collection approaching 200 different models, and credits Ray's teaching with helping him perfect his technique and understanding of their use.
Sharing a Life Outdoors
Over time, learning naturally grew into sharing.
Inspired by figures including Ray Mears, George Washington Sears, better known as Nessmuk, Horace Kephart and even the remarkably preserved prehistoric traveller Ötzi, Dambros decided to create his own YouTube channel.
His aim was a simple one:
"I wanted to somehow share the simple and enjoyable life that living in nature can provide."
Today, Bushcraft Dambros remains, in his own words, "small, simple" and dedicated to sharing what he experiences on his adventures.
His content includes equipment testing, fire lighting, shelter building and practical outdoor skills, alongside the quieter pleasures of bushcraft. Working with raw wood is a particular favourite, whether carving kuksas and spoons or making axe handles.
The photographs Dambros kindly shared with us tell much the same story. There are carefully worked feathersticks and handmade wooden utensils, well-used tools, shelters and campfires, food cooking over the embers and, quite often, a welcome cup of coffee.
They are simple pleasures, but ones instantly recognisable to anyone who enjoys spending time in the woods.
Bushcraft in Brazil
Perhaps the most fascinating part of our conversation was learning more about the ways in which Brazil's extraordinary landscapes have shaped its own bushcraft traditions.
Brazil is vast, encompassing several very different biomes, each presenting its own opportunities and challenges.
In the Atlantic Forest and Amazon, dense vegetation and high humidity can make something as fundamental as lighting a fire considerably more challenging, with dry firewood often difficult to find.
The Cerrado, Brazil's vast tropical savanna, presents a very different landscape. Its hard, twisted woods can provide excellent material for tools, while finding water becomes an important consideration during the dry season.
Then there is the Caatinga, the semi-arid landscape found in north-eastern Brazil. Here, knowledge of the local vegetation and plants capable of storing water becomes particularly valuable.
Brazil's immense biodiversity brings other considerations too. Insects, venomous wildlife, heavy rainfall and humidity all influence the way a comfortable camp is established.
One particularly distinctive feature is the importance of the hammock.
Rather than relying primarily upon ground-based sleeping systems, Brazilian bushcrafters frequently use hammocks combined with mosquito nets and tarps, keeping themselves away from the damp forest floor while providing protection from insects and sudden tropical rain.
For those of us more accustomed to British woodland camps, it is a fascinating example of one of bushcraft's most important principles: adapting your skills and equipment to the environment around you.
Knowledge Shaped by the Land
Brazilian bushcraft also carries knowledge with much deeper roots.
Dambros describes the influence of the old mateiros, cowboys and sertanejos who travelled through the Brazilian landscape, alongside knowledge originating with Brazil's Indigenous peoples.
Skills such as using vines for bindings, recognising useful and medicinal plants, and traditional approaches to hunting and fishing all form part of that wider heritage.
The landscapes and techniques may be very different from those familiar to a British bushcrafter, but the underlying principles have much in common: observation, practical knowledge, adaptability and an understanding of the natural environment.
It is a reminder that bushcraft is always shaped by place.
A Knife with a Story
And then, of course, there is the knife that started our conversation.
In 2013, Dambros received his Woodlore 30 Years of Bushcraft commemorative Morakniv as a gift from a friend living in New Zealand.
That personal connection makes the knife particularly important to him.
"That's why I have a greater appreciation for it, in addition to the whole context of it being from the great Woodlore school of Ray Mears."
More than a decade later, it remains in remarkable condition, with its commemorative engraving and Woodlore emblem still beautifully clear.
A knife made to commemorate thirty years of Woodlore in Britain, given by a friend in New Zealand and treasured by a bushcrafter in Brazil seems rather fitting.
Across Continents, Around the Campfire
What began with an unexpected email and some photographs of an anniversary knife has given us a fascinating glimpse into a bushcraft life thousands of miles away.
The landscapes are different. The plants and wildlife are different. The challenges posed by the environment can be dramatically different.
But look through Dambros' photographs and much is immediately familiar: working carefully with wood, practising skills, understanding tools, preparing food over a fire and finding pleasure in simply spending time outdoors.
Bushcraft may look different beneath the forests of Brazil than it does in the woodlands of Britain, but respect for nature, curiosity, craftsmanship and the desire to keep learning travel remarkably well.
Our thanks to Dambros for getting in touch, for sharing his photographs and experiences so generously, and for giving us the opportunity to learn a little more about bushcraft in Brazil.
We wish him many more adventures around the campfire.
Follow Dambros
You can follow Dambros on Instagram at @dambrosbushcraft and find @bushcraftdambros on YouTube, where he shares equipment tests, practical bushcraft techniques, outdoor skills and his adventures in Brazil.
