NO LIGHTER. NO MATCHES. NO SHORTCUTS.
Everything in this photo was made by the people holding it.
Inside the No Lighter Club: a special bushcraft workshop on Pulau Ubin, Singapore.
17 October 2026 | Pulau Ubin | Beyond Expeditions Field Notes
A log became a stove. The stove cooked lunch. And the bow drills? They had a few lessons of their own to deliver.
That’s the short version of our Saturday at No Lighter Club, a special-edition bushcraft workshop on Pulau Ubin.
The longer version has a little more sawdust in it.
We put together this small-group afternoon for people who wanted to get properly stuck into fieldcraft. Not just watch someone else light a fire, and not race through a checklist of outdoor skills. We wanted time to saw, split, shape, practise, cook and occasionally look at a piece of wood with the suspicion that it was winning.
The programme brought together bow-drill friction fire, a Swedish log stove, handmade wooden mallets and a meal of vegetable curry and rice. It was a curated mix of skills from across our survival workshop programme, not a standard Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3 class.
And, as the footage shows, there was plenty happening between the first cut and the final mouthful.
A LOG DOESN’T COME WITH INSTRUCTIONS
Every stove starts with someone deciding where to swing.
Before we could cook anything, we had to make something useful out of the raw material in front of us.
That sounds obvious. It’s also the part that disappears in most outdoor videos.
A neat stove turns up on screen. A flame catches. Someone puts a pot on top. Ten seconds later, everyone’s an expert.
But back at the beginning there is an actual log, an actual saw and a person trying to work out the best place to start.
At No Lighter Club, our group worked through cutting and splitting timber, making adjustments as they went. You could see concentration turn into a little more confidence once the tool, the grain and the movement began to make sense together.
We also spent time shaping wooden mallets. It is wonderfully practical work, and an effective way to discover that making a simple tool by hand is rather different from picking one up off a hardware-store shelf.
There was no need to dress any of this up as an extreme survival challenge. Having a real task in your hands was enough.
ONE LOG. A WORKING STOVE.
One log, a few cuts and some wire doing quiet structural work.
The Swedish log stove was the afternoon’s most satisfying before-and-after.
Start with a section of timber. Cut and assemble it so that it can hold its shape and allow a fire to burn within it. Then you find out whether the thing you made can actually do a job.
We had a rough-looking collection of wood and wire on the ground. Later, we had flames rising through the stove and a cooking pot sitting above them.
Not glamorous. Very effective.
There is something particularly satisfying about a practical build when it starts doing what it is supposed to do. The saw marks do not matter much at that point. Neither does the fact that it won’t win a design award.
It works.
LUNCH HAD TO BE EARNED
Curry on, smoke rising, lunch already well earned.
Eventually, the stove stopped being the project and became the kitchen.
Rice went on. Vegetable curry followed. There was heat to manage, food to stir and the familiar outdoor-cooking problem of deciding whether the pot needed another minute or somebody was simply getting hungry.
The meal was simple. That was part of its charm.
When you have spent the afternoon working with wood and fire, hot food carries a little more meaning than it does when it arrives at a table ready-made.
Our footage captures the best part of this chapter: bubbling pots, hands busy with the cooking and people finally getting to enjoy the result.
There is nothing particularly complicated about curry and rice. That’s not the point. We made the equipment work, cooked outdoors and sat down to something real.
That is a pretty good return on an afternoon’s effort.
THE BOW DRILL HAD OTHER IDEAS
One foot on the board, one arm doing all the negotiating.
Now for the part that deserves its own story.
Making fire through friction sounds so beautifully simple that it is easy to underestimate the details. A bow moves. A spindle turns. Wood rubs against wood. Heat builds.
In theory, an ember follows.
In practice, there is pressure, balance, rhythm, the condition of the materials and a surprising amount of physical effort to think about.
Our group gave the bow drill a proper attempt. Some managed to create smoke. Others became quicker and more controlled with their drilling technique as they worked out the movement.
A glowing ember? Not this time.
We are quite happy to say that.
Smoke matters because it tells you the friction is producing heat, but smoke alone does not mean you have a viable ember. The next step still needs the right conditions and enough sustained, controlled work to produce one.
Getting closer, understanding what is happening and recognising what still needs improvement is real progress. Nobody has to pretend they lit a fire from scratch to have learnt something valuable.
And importantly, the flames from the Swedish stove should not be mistaken for the result of the bow-drill attempts. They were separate activities, with separate outcomes.
NOT A REGULAR SATURDAY CLASS
Press play for the mallet reveal, held up like trophies.
What made No Lighter Club different was the combination.
Our regular survival workshops on Pulau Ubin follow a progression from foundational fire and tool skills through functional builds and more demanding fieldcraft. This session borrowed a few favourite techniques from different stages and gave them room to breathe in one afternoon.
That meant somebody could arrive curious about making fire and leave with a better understanding of woodworking. Somebody who came for the tools could discover the quiet pleasure of watching food cook over a handmade stove.
And everyone got to see that there is a difference between knowing what a skill is and actually trying to do it.
No giant lecture. No pretending the difficult bits were easy. Just real materials, real practice, patient instruction and a good meal to finish.
WANT TO TRY SOMETHING LIKE THIS?
Plates up. This is what an afternoon of sawing tastes like.
If you have been looking for a bushcraft or survival workshop in Singapore, this is one way to discover what the outdoors can offer beyond a walk or a picnic.
You do not have to arrive knowing how to use a bow drill. You do not have to own specialist equipment. What helps is a willingness to try, listen, practise and get a little dusty.
Our regular Level 1, 2 and 3 survival workshops give people a structured way to build those skills. We also design private fieldcraft sessions for friends, families and small groups who want a more specific mix of activities.
Planning a company outing? We run separate outdoor team-building experiences and can discuss which kinds of hands-on challenges make sense for your group. The No Lighter Club itself was not a corporate programme, but the approach of learning through shared practical tasks is something we know well.
Explore our survival workshops, read how Levels 1, 2 and 3 fit together, or tell us about the session you have in mind.
For corporate groups, you can also explore our team-building programmes in Singapore.
Just tell us your group size, preferred dates and which skills you would love to try. We’ll help you work out a sensible starting point.
FANCY GETTING YOUR HANDS DIRTY?
Maybe it’s your turn to make something from scratch.
Bring your friends, your family or your colleagues. Whether it’s your first encounter with bushcraft or you’re ready to try something more challenging, we’ll help you find an adventure worth getting out of bed for.
Public survival workshops · Private bushcraft experiences · Corporate team-building programmes
A FEW THINGS WORTH KNOWING
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No. The 17 October edition was a specially curated, five-hour fieldcraft session combining bow-drill friction fire, a Swedish stove, wooden mallet work and outdoor cooking. Our regular Levels 1, 2 and 3 follow their own progressive curriculum.
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Yes. Beginners were welcome at this special session, alongside those who had previous experience. If you’re unsure which Beyond Expeditions workshop suits you, tell us what you’ve tried before and we’ll advise.
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You can enquire about a tailored private fieldcraft session or one of our corporate outdoor programmes. The final activities depend on your group’s profile, goals, availability and practical suitability.
THE ADVENTURE DOESN’T END HERE
Some skills take an afternoon to discover. Others take a lifetime to master.
The fun is finding out where you stand.
Explore our survival experiences in Singapore.
Beyond Expeditions | Pulau Ubin, Singapore | Field Notes from 17 October 2026
