Fad items of Bushcraft

[TeeDee]

Friday night musings...

Just thinking about the various Fad , 5 minute wonder items of Bushcraft that have come and gone like avant garde fashion items over the years and how we have all succumbed to their charms. We've all done it - no shame in admitting our commercial mob flaws..

Aluminium Volcano stoves
Polish mini Tents
Wool blanket coats produced by a certain Devon Army surplus shop.

What else has there been?

 

[Laurentius]

I dunno but I have gone the whole length with the Polish tent thing but I would not call that a fad and feel insulted here. The Ikea hobo stove though and Czech bedroll maybe. Volcano stove? Who me?

 

[Pattree]

I’ve got two Czech bed rolls tucked under my bed. They get used for summer festivals.

I’m not sure that I’d call it a fad. I think that they came on the open market, sold out and settled into our kit collections.
The M40 / 44 “Swedish Army Trangia” is another one. Thousands available for under a tenner twenty years ago. With no more being manufactured they’ve sold out. When a good one comes up it can go for £150. No idea whether they’ve been scrapped or hoarded but I very rarely see them now. I’ve only got four of them

 

[Harold Godwinson]

Geez that's a whole can of worms there, IMHO most so called bushcraft gear is fad. That's not to say some of it doesn't work, it's just the wheel reinvented and then sold to someone who already has a wheel as a better one.

Personally I'm a minimalist at heart these days and I only buy something if I can't make it myself.

The whole bushcraft fad thing is fuelled by most people's lack of knowledge or willingness to be sold something they not need... i. e a new wheel...

It's a funny ol world... Especially if you can remember the world pre-bushcraft industrial revolution lol

 

[Toddy]

Glow in the dark Dyneema....turned every campsite into a spider's web of weirdness.

Krill lights....which I still like, and use. amazing how little light we actually need to see.

Upcycling wool jumpers, especially those shrunk in the wash ones.

Wooden kuksas.....I have the little folding green ones too, bought the bigger bowl sized one, it doesn't quite work, just a tad too floppy.

 

[Broch]

Oh, I think I would insult too many people if I listed the stuff that I consider to be a fad (or unnecessary complexity/cost/devotion).

Top of my list is super-super lightweight gear (saving 100g here and 50g there) being carried around by folks that could do with shedding 10Kg of body weight (there, I said I'd be insulting ). Truth, I could do with losing some weight, but I don't try and compensate by buying extreme lightweight kit.

Having never had any money to spend on 'gear' until later in life I do wonder how we stayed alive.

 

[Keith_Beef]

Wooden kuksas...

I wooden call that a "fad" or a "five minute wonder".

I've been wanting one for years; planning on making one when the right piece of birch comes my way. In the meantime, practicing with a gouge, scorp and spoon knife now and again, though I was told by a Finnish friend that a kuksa can be made using an axe and a pair of pliers.

 

[oldtimer]

Very expensive knives. Mora and opinel good enough.

 

[Toddy]

Very expensive knives. Mora and opinel good enough.

But there is a reall joy in having and using a tool that you know the Maker. A real pleasure in knowing that this tool was made for you, is 'right' for you, fits you well, that you honestly enjoy having.

Admittedly one can go overboard with the collection , but still

 

[Tengu]

Laplander saws instead of Silkys.

(To be fair, some never get used to a `pull` saw, and so a Silky is no use to them).

 

[Chris]

Laplander saws instead of Silkys.

(To be fair, some never get used to a `pull` saw, and so a Silky is no use to them).

Silkys are better at getting through wood rapidly, but I think Laplanders have a place. For me that place is on remote or solo excursions where a snapped saw could cause a serious injury - Laplanders are much, much more forgiving in that they are incredibly difficult to snap.

 

[Chris]

Canvas tarps and canvas bags.

Impractical, poorly suited to wet environments and heavy compared with modern, superior alternatives. I think people mostly get them (for insane money) for the rustic aesthetic.

Edited to add: I have to say I find buying and trying things part of the fun, even if they do turn out to be faddy. It’s all lessons learned.

 

[Toddy]

Laplander saws instead of Silkys.

(To be fair, some never get used to a `pull` saw, and so a Silky is no use to them).

I use a laplander. A silky is too fragile in some of the situations I worked, and not a tool to hand over to inexperienced hands.

I'm still using laplanders I bought twenty years ago, and they still work. Surprisingly easy to straighten out and resharpen too.

 

[Harold Godwinson]

Not sure I agree there, I can see how new tech is lighter, and gear/brands robbery aside, I prefer a more robust approach for example my haversack is an old 37 pattern small pack. I've used it the past 30 years plus and it predates that by a good 20 odd years. No synchetic pack alive would still be going after 50 years hard use.

Same goes with a lot of surplus gear... But it's courses for horses, personally if it ain't broke I ain't gonna fix it, and my wallet thanks me for it too.

 

[Toddy]

I admit though; the older I get the less I like to carry. Weight really does become an issue.

There's no 'soul' to newer synthetic materials kit though. There's something 'right' about the smell and feel of canvas, of brass hardware, of natural fibres in clothing, ropes, etc.,

 

[Glow_worm]

LED torches. Hideous things, with their blue or white light.

Maglites were fine, a pleasant light the colour of a candle flame. How often do you really need 3 billion lumens?

 

[Aristotle]

LED torches. Hideous things, with their blue or white light.

Maglites were fine, a pleasant light the colour of a candle flame. How often do you really need 3 billion lumens?

You don't often. LEDs consume very little power at a useful light output. Maglites with bulbs ate batteries. Petzl headtorches with filament bulbs were rubbish compared with a modern LED One.

 

[Aristotle]

Wool blanket bush shirts are great. I made one myself and use it.

 

[HillBill]

Friday night musings...

Just thinking about the various Fad , 5 minute wonder items of Bushcraft that have come and gone like avant garde fashion items over the years and how we have all succumbed to their charms. We've all done it - no shame in admitting our commercial mob flaws..

Aluminium Volcano stoves
Polish mini Tents
Wool blanket coats produced by a certain Devon Army surplus shop.

What else has there been?

Ikea drainer hobo stoves... Svord peasants, Bannock in a bag, Ray Mears, Bear Grylls, Bushcraft being on the TV, Company's everywhere teaching bushcraft, Spoon carving, WIld foods, People actually going out and practicing bushcraft... Wild camps... questions about bushcraft, Interest in actual bushcraft, Stories of peoples travels and adventures.... I could go on....and on...

Agreed, not all commercial per se... but all seemingly fads when looking back.

 

[nigelp]

Have we had hand chain saws yet?