Kit versus Skills?

[Pandabean]

For myself I try to do at least one course a year to learn the new skills, this year I have done my advanced bushcraft course at woodsmoke and a more crafty one making Mukluks with them as well. Maybe 2 or 3 years ago I would have got out for one weekend in the year to practice the skills, this year I have managed to bump that right up into about 25 days and most of them would have had some sort of bushcrafty skill involved with it.

I admit I do buy kit (who doesn't? ) that I like and haven't used much but some of these are just down to circumstances such as using the snow shoes or not as the case may be until the snow comes.

I like the look of the courses but to be honest they may be cheap but for folks like me who live at the other end of the country, it can add up when you have to travel all the way to the South of England. This is one reason I like Woodsmoke, they are in a nice central location in the Lakes. The annual bushmoot is something I have taken to as well and that is the main travel event of the year for me and the driving is usually split between me and my mate.
I wonder if this may be one of the reasons for the lack of people signing up?

A big trip like to the arctic or some other place on the planet would be a great experience and it is something I am wanting to do once I start getting the pennies saved up in the bank (if they don't collapse anytime soon ) For a trip like this there is a lot of long term planning involved, such as booking time of work, gathering the right kit, affordability, reading up on it etc...

 

[rik_uk3]

removed, thanks Rik


Reported as spam

 

[Hoodoo]

For everyone in the UK, this is a hobby. Its fun - its not real life. No-one "needs" bushcraft - it really isn't more vital than stamp collecting or building model aircraft or fly fishing or whatever. I don't really mind how other peoples choose to enjoy their hobbies - whether its collecting kit, or "getting out there" or dressing up in silly ways or fantasising about this and that lifestyle. Its all for fun, and its all, to most people, faintly silly.

Should we really, at this time of year, get bent out of shape over how people choose to pursue their hobbies?

Red

I guess I see what folks are saying but I totally agree with Red. How people choose to spend their time and money and pursue their hobbies is their business, not mine. What people "should" or "shouldn't" be doing with their time or money is not for me to decide or cajole others over, imo. As for skills, well, there's a lot of ways to develop outdoor skills without going on a course. Maybe in GB that is the best solution to finding a place to practice but here in the US, you usually don't have to travel far to be in wild country. Learning by doing doesn't always mean learning by taking a course. Just pack a bag and get outdoors eh.

 

[Everything Mac]

Should we really, at this time of year, get bent out of shape over how people choose to pursue their hobbies?

Bang on in my opinion.

Andy

 

[Retired Member southey]

Very much agree with Hoodoo and BR, what ever, how ever you enjoy the world your in, have fun doing it, if it doesn't make you smile then what is the point, also to add that new kit can sometimes lead to a want to use it proficiently in the environment your in

 

[demographic]

Part of the problem with once in a lifetime holidays in a niche market is that there isn't many people who can do them every year.

Personally I would love to be able to afford a couple of grand on a holiday, and lose out on maybe a grands worth of wages (depends on it being a busy time of year or not) while I'm doing it as well but I have a van that needs work, a wife that might get a bit cheesed off if I did it whilst leaving her at home and I still have a couple of motorbikes that I can't afford to play with.

Is that kit versus skills? Or practicality getting in the way of fantasy?

Good luck to those who are going and I honestly hope they have a good time but for me, I'm covering the essentials (van kept on the road and roof over my head) before I spunk loads of cash on something that isn't.

 

[Karl82]

To be honest I don't need to go on a course to learn new skills you can teach yourself by getting the right books and videos and practising. I find I learn more and retain the skill I learn by trying and failing and keep trying till I get it right. Most of what you get shown on a week long course is forgotten by the next month as its easy to mimic someone but dose not mean you will remember the skill. The money that would be spent on a course for me I would rather do more trips with my mates such as my 10 days in Scotland and my 10 days Dartmoor trips I have done this year. Just because people are not jumping at the chance to do a Course dose not mean they not getting out their and learning new skills.

 

[Tiley]

For everyone in the UK, this is a hobby. Its fun - its not real life. No-one "needs" bushcraft - it really isn't more vital than stamp collecting or building model aircraft or fly fishing or whatever. I don't really mind how other peoples choose to enjoy their hobbies - whether its collecting kit, or "getting out there" or dressing up in silly ways or fantasising about this and that lifestyle. Its all for fun, and its all, to most people, faintly silly.

Should we really, at this time of year, get bent out of shape over how people choose to pursue their hobbies?

Like many others I agree wholeheartedly with this.

But, when push comes to shove, it is the skills that count; the gear may make practising those skills a bit easier or more satisfying. However, without the knowledge base and, even more importantly, a truck load of practice, 'gear' is just some things that are nice to own and look at rather than being tools that add to the inherent value of our pastime.

Personally, I'd love to go to Norway to learn more but, sadly, most courses clash with term times. I know that I wouldn't be given time off from school for something quite so esoteric neither would my colleagues who covered my lessons be particularly chuffed to know that I was away doing what I love doing best.

 

[John Fenna]

For everyone in the UK, this is a hobby. Its fun - its not real life. No-one "needs" bushcraft - it really isn't more vital than stamp collecting or building model aircraft or fly fishing or whatever. I don't really mind how other peoples choose to enjoy their hobbies - whether its collecting kit, or "getting out there" or dressing up in silly ways or fantasising about this and that lifestyle. Its all for fun, and its all, to most people, faintly silly.

Should we really, at this time of year, get bent out of shape over how people choose to pursue their hobbies?

Red

Not quite 100% true
Bushcraft ( making pouches, knives, Diy books, flint and steel kits for sale and staffing bushcraft courses) is part of my income stream as well as what I enjoy, so for me it is not just a hobby but part of my everyday life (and this is true for a lot more folk than just yours truely).
This is one reson that I am always interested in skills, primerally, and kit (the reviewing of which is also a major part of my income stream) only secondly.
As I learn more skills, the more I have to pass on to earn my crust the more things I can make to avoid having to buy kit and the more comfortable in a wider range of conditions
PS - I also used to make money making plastic models - not aircraft, but collectors toy soldiers. I sold through shops in Brussels (mainly French Napoleonics) and St Albans (all periods) in a shop called "Cavaliers" if anyone recalls it

 

[salad]

Not quite 100% true
Bushcraft ( making pouches, knives, Diy books, flint and steel kits for sale and staffing bushcraft courses) is part of my income stream as well as what I enjoy, so for me it is not just a hobby but part of my everyday life (and this is true for a lot more folk than just yours truely).
This is one reson that I am always interested in skills, primerally, and kit (the reviewing of which is also a major part of my income stream) only secondly.
As I learn more skills, the more I have to pass on to earn my crust the more things I can make to avoid having to buy kit and the more comfortable in a wider range of conditions
PS - I also used to make money making plastic models - not aircraft, but collectors toy soldiers. I sold through shops in Brussels (mainly French Napoleonics) and St Albans (all periods) in a shop called "Cavaliers" if anyone recalls it

I have a similarish story except that I don't earn an income from bushy stuff (yet) , me and the family (wife an daughter) uped sticks from the UK this year to move to the mountains . I gave up a 16 year long management career to live a more simple and basic life and am currently trying to find work outdoors as this was a big reason for the move .
I guess what you might be aluding to John is that at some point this outdoor/bushy stuff can for some people stop being a hobby and instead become more of a life style choice .
Nothing wrong with either way as long as we all enjoy what we are up to I recon

 

[British Red]

Ahhh did the simple life move myself. Not sure I did that because of Bushcraft - more like I did Bushcraft because I enjoy / wanted a different life. Interestingly I often wonder if disatisfaction with modern urban high tech life isn't a reason for most people trying Bushcraft.

I will grant John that you make some money writing about it - but then some people make money writing about doll collecting

 

[The Ratcatcher]

In my case, bushcraft isn't a hobby as such, it's just the way to get where I need to be to do the real hobbies. It's like the original bushcrafters, who needed to be able to live comfortably in the wild so that they could do something else, e.g. prospecting, trapping etc. The living in wild places is just incidental to the other activity, whether that is a hobby or a job.

Alan

 

[udamiano]

Not quite 100% true
Bushcraft ( making pouches, knives, Diy books, flint and steel kits for sale and staffing bushcraft courses) is part of my income stream as well as what I enjoy, so for me it is not just a hobby but part of my everyday life (and this is true for a lot more folk than just yours truely).
This is one reson that I am always interested in skills, primerally, and kit (the reviewing of which is also a major part of my income stream) only secondly.
As I learn more skills, the more I have to pass on to earn my crust the more things I can make to avoid having to buy kit and the more comfortable in a wider range of conditions
PS - I also used to make money making plastic models - not aircraft, but collectors toy soldiers. I sold through shops in Brussels (mainly French Napoleonics) and St Albans (all periods) in a shop called "Cavaliers" if anyone recalls it

Similar here. Its not a hobby, its how I make my living, and enjoy every last minute of it. I spend almost all my time in the woods, and wouldn't change a thing not for all the gold in the world

 

[drewdunnrespect]

now guys i am not going to say wheather one is right or wrong cos i have a question first and that is who the hell is bothered because if u want to be skills guru go a head but if you want be a kit guru thats also fine and if you want to be both well guess what thats also fine

now me i am trying but failing to be both and well kit is wining but inregards what others do talk to the hand the face isnt listening and doesnt care for one sole reason

EACH TO THERE OWN

 

[Man of Tanith]

I would like to do more intense courses than those i have done.
for me finances and a 7month old take priority. kit is something we all love otherwise we would be out wth only a cheap knife bean can and wooly blankey(nowt wrong with that i hasten to add)
as for the arctic as i sit here with the third case of bells palsy in two years i don't think i could risk a droopy face again much as i would like to do it

 

[cbrdave]

I would love to do a course in bushcraft but sadly can no afford it, any kit i have i have managed to make, get second hand or have swapped stuff, in the new year i plan to stop self employment and go fully employed and maybe be able to afford a short course

 

[Mesquite]

PS - I also used to make money making plastic models - not aircraft, but collectors toy soldiers. I sold through shops in Brussels (mainly French Napoleonics) and St Albans (all periods) in a shop called "Cavaliers" if anyone recalls it

Yup... I remember Cavaliers... little corner shop run by a father and his son

 

[woodspirits]

i wholeheartedly agree with British Red. for me its a means of escaping all the carp of the real world for a brief weekend of attempting to blend with, and use what nature provides. it can be as simple or as fussy as you like, yes its nice to be able to identify fauna and flora, and yes it satisfies some primeval instinct to be able to spark up a fire, but uppermost is the thought that its just escapism for a few short hours before returning to reality. its just a game.

 

[John Fenna]

I would like to do more intense courses than those i have done.
for me finances and a 7month old take priority. kit is something we all love otherwise we would be out wth only a cheap knife bean can and wooly blankey(nowt wrong with that i hasten to add)
as for the arctic as i sit here with the third case of bells palsy in two years i don't think i could risk a droopy face again much as i would like to do it

Ach - the droopy face is nothing to fear!
I have had mine for years now (only one go of BP but with permanent results!) - you, your loved ones and most everyone gets used to the new look
Get well soon!

 

[hedgerowpete]

theres some fantastic posts here and some great points of discussion, so i will try to split my answers.

courses and re artic course, would love to go to norway , cant afford it so i wont go, shame but thats the way it is, courses in the uk, been on four in ten years all were enjoyable but not worth what was paid, so no more courses for me.

the great gathering thingy is one i would like to go to, but do you describe that as a course/weekend/holiday/lash up? and again it depends on costs, the reason why i have never been before is that i only heard about it last october


two, the ideas or knowledge or shiney things.?
for me you can buy my WHOLE kit for the price of one knife the whole lot has cost me £200, tent, knife(mora), pots and pans, dirty clothes and boots.

I normaly hire books from the library and then sit at the allotment practicing a certain process, last year and this year i will spend one hour per weekend trying to do fire from firction some thing that has total illuded me and i will also try smoking cold and hot foods, the prototype barrel will be made at the allotment fired several times and then brought home, with fanfares and parades, lol

I do bush craft as a hobby, i do not with to make money from it and dont see the point in spending vast amounts of money on items i dont realy need

knowledge to shiney kit ratio is for me at best a 80%brain to 20%shiney ratio.if anyone starts to go near the 50/50 mark i would be worried that it is to off balenced and they would struggle if forced to use and relie on there kit, if it goes towards the 30/70 mark then they are called americian army

i only ever do weekends away and there fore can either make do or struggle with out a piece of kit i have left at home. and for most places i go in the great wilds, i only have to go 40 yards and ask the next bloke if i can borrow a match!