Hints from The Hut

In ‘Hints from The Hut’, Terry draws on his connection with R.M.Williams, the man, and the brand, as well as his experience of living on the land, to deliver a how-to series that covers his passion for skills such as making a damper on a campfire, cleaning your Akubra hat, or caring for your RM boots.

Since 1932, R.M.Williams has always valued family, community and mateship, and it’s these strongly held principles that will also see Terry visit inspiring craftspeople across Australia in ‘Meet the Makers’. Discovering their stories and shining a light on the traditions that have been passed down through generations, Terry’s quest will inspire the sense of community that’s shared coast-to-coast. Through these conversations and discoveries while working alongside Australia’s passionate craftsmanship community, new ideas will be built out and added to extend the Maker Kits range in the future.

A saddle for a throne 

This Warren Newcombe saddle belonged to our legendary founder, Reginald Murray 'RM' Williams and was lovingly entrust to the business by his youngest daughter, Mary Williams.

Never one to colour within the lines, RM made several personal updates to this saddle, including laced stirrup leathers, a handstitched serge and a laced mohair girth.

Watch the video below for a full tour of the saddle with Mary.

Introducing the first ‘Hints from The Hut’ – boot polishing and care

RM believed there is only one thing more comfortable than a new R.M.Williams boot, and that’s an old R.M.Williams boot. Such a boot, your boot is to be treasured. Terry takes us through the key steps in polishing and caring for your boots, to help maintain them for comfortable wear.

Splicing rope

Splicing of rope is a simple yet effective technique to ensure that the ends of your rope are neatened and strong. Tez talks us through how to splice broken or frayed rope ends and how to create loops to re-use or join to other rope. Splicing rope together is a handy hint, because like welding metal, the area of the rope you have spliced won’t break. Once you have perfected the knot tying technique, you can even use it to create dog or horse leads. Keep your ropes nice and tidy, but more than anything neat and safe.

Find out what our hut master love to do when he's not on duty.

Follow Terry as he shares his favourite camp oven recipes to cook when out and about in the bush, while camping over the holiday season or when a hungry crowd comes over for dinner. Camp oven cooking is a lot like barbequing, great for creating a variety of dishes – from Terry's favourite ginger garlic chicken and rice, to soups, stews, and desserts. Get your coals ready and enjoy delicious meals anywhere. And if you are taking your pets with you, as Terry always says, ‘the animals eat before we do’, so make sure to mix up some feed for your best mates whilst your favourite food cooks slowly over the coals.

Tez takes us through an important Hint from The Hut, saddle stitching.

With a few upcoming Maker Kits this technique will be used quite often and is a skill needed to put your kits together. This is a very simple technique and, in this video, Tez talks us through it step-by-step on how to perfect saddle stitching. Specifically done for demonstration purposes, Tez uses upscales the materials typically used and talks us through the stitching technique with corflute and hay band to show you this technique on a larger scale. As Tez says, consistency is key, so as you stitch through down the line, make sure to keep it taught and neat.

Every story has a beginning.

Take a step back in time with Terry, Waltz and Rainman as he shares with us a bit of history on where RM got his start making pack saddles. Terry runs through the preparation for travelling overnight with a pack saddle, then shows us the Australian stock saddle and how the drovers would pack with them for the long ride ahead.

Baking camp oven bread

Join us around the campfire as Terry shares his recipe for a delicious loaf of bread. With just a few simple ingredients and a camp oven over the coals, Terry demonstrates easy steps to making a great home-made loaf outdoors.

With nearly 20 years of passionate service under his R.M.Williams belt, Terry is the perfect guide to take The Hut on its next exciting journey through ‘A Bushman’s Craft’, and his undeniable passion and expertise will inform and captivate in equal measure.

Join us in a celebration of Australian craftsmanship as we continue to shine a light on the hard-working folk and time-honoured traditions that continue to this day. So, for now… Hooroo from The Hut!