Jay Noone
Blacksmith. Mentor. Organizer.
Meet Jay
Jay Noone is a blacksmith and the founder of Mancamp — a hands-on program that puts real tools in the hands of kids. The idea took shape back in 2014, and he's been running Mancamp wherever there's room for an anvil ever since: festivals, friends' properties, his own backyard in New Hampshire.
Jay speaks on the work at events, hosts small and large Mancamp gatherings when he can, and keeps showing up at the forge because the kids keep showing up too.
Thirty feet from where I'm typing this, a third generation home schooler is teaching dozens of children how to blacksmith.
My young kids regularly shoot guns, climb tall objects, and live with a degree of sovereignty that feels increasingly extinct.
(I still make them do math)
— Jeremy Kauffman
Who Jay Is, What He's About
Jay's work starts where a lot of modern parenting stops — with the conviction that kids thrive when adults they trust are genuinely present. Mancamp is one expression of that. So are the talks, the events, and the quiet hours at the forge.
It starts with choosing to ENJOY your children. Then building a lifestyle where you CAN invest time and be the most important voice in their life. They WILL be influenced... who are you giving that role to in their most impressionable years!
Make them your mission. Your hobby. Your vision.
And they will make you proud and bless your socks off someday!!
— Brenda Martin
A quote Jay shares often — it captures the why behind the work.