Bushcraft....what's in a name ?

[Chiseller]

A search using tapatalk, didn't throw the answer
Why call it bushcraft? And not wilderness living or woodlanding, rural recognition, countrycrafting etc or ??? Or is it another term used to desensitve us from our own ancestral recognition created by some who use it for commercial gain and status ?
The soap box or in this case, tree stump is yours ..........

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

 

[Hugo]

Here you go Chiseller mate, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushcraft

 

[vizsla]

I think its derived from native aboriginal tribes that still use these methods in the bush. But i must admit its a term that bugs me especialy when people ask me if i do that "bushcraft stuff". Or are you a bushcrafter. No im bloody not same as my grandad wasnt 50 years ago when he did the same things on the same land i use. Rant over

 

[crosslandkelly]

From my tree stump I call it feeling really alive.

 

[Bowlander]

I always thought it was the diminutive form of Woodcraft - first coined by Baden Powell in SFB.

 

[HillBill]

Its called bushcraft cos Ray and mors said so Thats about all there is to it.

 

[Robbi]

Its called bushcraft cos Ray and mors said so Thats about all there is to it.

spot on

 

[Wayland]

Actually Richard Graves wrote a book called Bushcraft (Although the word was around earlier than that) and then Mors wrote a book like it, that he called "Northern" Bushcraft.

Everyone seems to have been walking in their tracks ever since.

 

[Barn Owl]

It's probably been used as a term for a few hundred years.
we used to have the same discussions re the term 'birding',it's actually mentioned by Shakespeare.

 

[SimonM]

These days" Outdoorsmanship" is the term I use to describe what i practice.

Discuss...

Simon

 

[vizsla]

The only title id be prepared to fall under would be woodsman but id prefair no title at all

 

[santaman2000]

When I was growing upit was generally called woodcraft because we went into the "woods." The "bush" was something the people on foreign epeditions went into. I suppose the most universal and all encompassing term back then was "outdoorsman."

 

[Marmite]

I don't want to butt in being a newb' but I have to admit to the occasional cringe when I here the term. The skills I'm trying to practise are the same ones passed on by my father who in turn when growing up was taught by his father and great uncle (trying to learn new skills as well ). Back as a kid they were called backwoods skills or simply traditional country skills and fieldcraft/woodcraft. I have no idea why the term bushcraft either makes me cringe or grin. I guess as a name its just something that will either last or will fall out of fashion ( probably not much I can do about it except try to grin more and grimace less when I hear it).

 

[Wayland]

I think it is about as good as any catch-all term for the wide variety of skills we discuss here.

I don't always camp in the woods and I make some of my stuff indoors so "woodcraft" and "outdoorsmanship" would be equally unfitting.

I don't tend to call myself a "Bushcrafter" but the term is useful when talking to the general population as it has gained some recognition in recent years because of TV programs by RM and the like.

Truth is it doesn't matter a whit to me what you call it. I've done it for years and hopefully I'll do it for a few years more yet.

 

[Samon]

because calling it 'survival' is soo 1980!

and camping isn't traditional enough.. so we're left with the popular terms floated by the big names. I personally don't like the name 'bushcraft' either, it doesn't reflect the enviroment we play in, at all.

I'd pallet 'woods-craft' a lot easier, but the more I say it..the more strange it sounds.

This is my 'woods-mans knife', I use it..for wood? yeah..

 

[HillBill]

term back then was "outdoorsman."

Aye thats the term i generally use to describe myself.

 

[SiWhite]

I'd pallet 'woods-craft' a lot easier, but the more I say it..the more strange it sounds.

This is my 'woods-mans knife', I use it..for wood? yeah..

Im with you old chap - Woodscraft or Woodsmanship...

 

[mountainm]

bushvivalcraftism

 

[Ogri the trog]

From my historical point of view, the old fashioned "Backwoodsmanship" is what I learned in Scouts - but that's quite a mouthful.

It seems that the only people who need to allocate a title are those who have no understanding of what "we" do - and for those who do understand, no title is necessary!

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[Dannytsg]

From my historical point of view, the old fashioned "Backwoodsmanship" is what I learned in Scouts - but that's quite a mouthful.

It seems that the only people who need to allocate a title are those who have no understanding of what "we" do - and for those who do understand, no title is necessary!

ATB

Ogri the trog

Bang on the money. I couldn't care less what Joe public wants to use to describe what I do as a hobby to allow them to put it in perspective. At the end of the day regardless of the title and it's origins, amongst others who practice these crafts alike we don't really need any given name to summarise it.