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Allan "Bow" Beauchamp

 



Allan "Bow" Beauchamp (center) with "Survivorman" Les Stroud (left) and friend Doug
Bow says,
"I had a great time with Les and Doug. I found them both to be very knowledgeable and very generous.
I will be spending more time with the two of these fine individuals, we will be working skills and sharing bush time together.
This weekend was a lot of fun, we shared many experiences, had many laughs and with the collection of us three bush individuals, many insights and skills surfaced."

--Bow, Dec 7/05



Who is Allan Beauchamp?
A brief biography
 
 

Allan was born in South Porcupine, near Timmins, in northern Ontario. He grew up there and in Manitowadge. His family originated from descendants of the Cree of northern Quebec. They have always been in the bush, as guides, woodcutters, hunters fisherman, ventures. Bow remembers taking his grandfather's canoe as a small boy and traveling down the Porcupine River alone, learning to be independent even at that age, something Bow says his family has always done, just loved and ventured the bush.

Bow served in the Canadian military for a time, his unit was a light infantry unit, and he also spent time in the search and rescue unit --  his passion was tracking people. Bow has spent most of his life in and out of the bush, in one form or another, has learned a lot of skills from the native communities, bush-wise people, and his native teacher and friend who is a very highly respected spiritual teacher and bush-wise individual.

Bow works for Domtar (a pulp and paper mill) near his home. He is married and has two children, a boy and girl (twins).

Bow practices native spirituality, and has come to understand the many insights learnt from listening and just being in the bush. His preference is to venture deep into the skills and knowledge learned, in the extremes of the cold weather that is often encountered in his area. His personal goal is to learn to understand what has to work in those environments whether in a traveling survival scenario or a stationary survival scenario.

Today Bow still teaches survival courses for different agencies, as he has for the last 18 years. Bow prefers to help people see where nature has provided the answers to these learnt skills, how to flow with mother earths changes and, learn to "listen" to what she has to offer for your "options". He also works as a guide for individuals who seek moose and bear, as well as nature awareness.

Bow's love of the bush has gained him many insights into the tricks and knowledge that Mother Earth has provided. For example, from the plant kingdom, with his –40 below fire boards. And from the mineral kingdom with the skills learnt for the ‘two stone fire starting". Some of Bow's works include many unique things such as two-spindle fire boards, Bows two-stick fire boards, Bows-bore fire starter, fire from ice, Bows fungus fire board, Bow's take-down handdrills, and more. He ceaselessly experiments with variations of existing techniques.

Bow attributes these insights and new unique skills to actually being out in the bush and learning, listening, trying, and making better "options". As he says "not one way is always the best". One environment he particularly enjoys experimenting in is the extreme cold, when most don't care to venture out. He like to push his limits. Bow feels the only way to learn is to be out there, make mistakes and learn from them. He says there is no other way.

Bow always maintains he is no different than anyone else and not better than the next. He feels he is just a simple guy, who loves the bush, and when the temperature drops well below zero, something in his blood tells him it's time to go back into the bush! "Nothing special" he says, "just a guy who loves the bush!"

--Compiled with material provided by Allan Beauchamp