Bushcraft fundamentalism; Are you a bushcraft purist or a techno camper?

[speckledjim]

The term bushcraft to some might mean the ideal of self sufficiency, making full use of what the land has to offer, but to others a mounting kit list of everything but the kitchen sink, and probably more, is an absolute necessity when venturing out into the woods.
I have read some claims of people surviving for days with little more than a metal mug and a knife to keep them company, whereas some people on bushcraft UK claim to have 'too much kit to carry'.
In terms of food what do you do? Do you go with nothing and forage everything from nature? (the ultimate man of survival) Or do you go out completely supplied with ration packs and everything you could possibly wish for? Or even perhaps a trade off between the two, with rations taken but also supplementing your diet with foraging and/or hunting.
In terms of shelter what do you do? Bring everything with you, make a natural shelter from scratch, or a combination of the two.
It seems that bushcraft has an entire range of people doing things in different ways, some utilise as much modern technology as possible, while others use the most minimal equipment.

Are you a techno bushcraft camper, with GPS units, fancy water purification systems, and high performance sleep systems?
Or do you prefer the more traditional approach, leaving home with only the plethora of knowledge needed to keep you comfortable outdoors, and taking with you only a metal mug and a knife.

Do you believe that denying the benefits of modern technology is counterproductive, or do you believe that allowing modern technology into your bushcraft detracts from your experience of the outdoors? Or perhaps a trade off between the two polar extremes is the way to go?!

Over to your thoughts ladies and gentlemen…

 

[copper_head]

A good question, I guess Im a balance between the two. I am no where near skilled enough to go out for a week with nothing but a billy and a knife but I do try and limit the stuff I take. For example I dont use gas stove when I go out wildcamping (altho I do when going camping in the mountains), I tend to opt for something simpler like a trangia or hexi cooker. Also I dont like GPS or battery operated gear in general (other than a torch, phone etc) much better to take a map and compass IMO. Also when BC'ing I avoid 'technical clothing' and stick to natural fibres where possible. However Im not adverse to using modern equipment like my DDhammock or a WVP bivvy bag, therm-a-rests and the like.
With regard to food, i have used ration packs in the past and while they are extremely easy to prepare I think something is lost from the experience (akin to the differance between microwave meals and fresh home cooking). For my next outing I have been preparing traditional trail foods(courtesy of www.historicaltrekking.com and BCUK) like jerky, parched corn, hard tac and honey cakes. I intend to take ingredients and cook this time! But I will stick a couple of boil in the bags from a ratpak for an emergency ration (or when I cant be bothered to cook).
So I guess its defenately a mix of traditional and modern for me, I think the modern stuff makes life easier and the traditional enhances the experience (for me anyways) so striking a balance of the two is how I like to do things.

God dont I go on
Kit

 

[John Fenna]

Abit of both realy...depends on the old "what are you doing, where are you doing it, why are you doing it?" thing.
The main thing is being out there and enjoying it!

 

[Fin]

Nice thread - and a thought provoking one.

I'm in the "bit of both" camp - as, I suspect are a lot of people.

I used to be averse to any discomfort and would take along the kitchen sink if I could - well, at least the full array of modern kit.

Lately I'm finding that a) I don't need half of it, and b) There is more pleasure to be had in using simple, handcrafted equipment and more comfort in natural fibres. There is definitely truth in the old adage - more knowledge, less kit - and I'm currently in the process of a clear out of stuff I no longer need - or replacing synthetic technology with natural fibres.

I'll keep my modern hammock though. I would love to go with natural shelters but I usually don't have the time and it goes against my no impact philosophy. The hammock takes care of both.

As for hunter/ gathering. I do hunt rabbits and combine the two activities (I camp out in woodland on my shoot and make a weekend of it) and will occasionally roast a bunny over the fire, but my staples are usually bought rations (rice, cous cous, noodles, salamis, chorizos etc, coffee and not forgetting the hipflask! Oh yes I make my own biltong as well). I'm just getting into this wild food idea - but need to learn more.

 

[Nat]

Bit of both here. DD Hammock, basha tarp and tatonka cook stuff. I'm nowhere near experienced enough to forage sufficiently by myself (i really do ned to find the time to go out) so rat pats for the first trip or 3.
However i refuse to own a gps and prefer a compass and map (if i have one of the area). Kit wise i do have a fair bit, but until i've been out i'm not sure exactly what is useless and what will be needed.

 

[Wayland]

I have feet placed firmly in both camps. Nine times out of ten if I'm out it's because I'm taking photos and these days that means digital / electronic.

I also use modern materials and equipment where they will lighten the load a bit but this is where I'll put my contrary hat on.

I do like my gear to look and feel good, it's part of the experience for me and I'll martyr myself with some extra weight to achieve it at times.

For example I prefer leather and canvas to nylon and plastic any day

I carry decent food with me rather than ration packs but if an opportunity comes my way I'll happily forage.

Here for example here I was enjoying a glut of ripe cloudberries all around my camp.

I think it's very easy to get hung up on the idea that something is or isn't "bushcrafty" but i think the whole thing is more about an approach or a state of mind that anything else.

 

[mazeman]

mix'n match me:
titanium spork but wool clothes,
frost's mora and a bahco laplander but leather sheaths...
I tend to prefer trailing-edge technologies but if some new stuff means I have a better time, I'm up for that.

Got to add too, Wayland, that I like your style!

 

[shep]

I'm with the mix 'n' match, especially because I'm in transit from technical trekker to bushcrafter. I enjoy little touches like always making my own pegs for my tarp and I've just made a hobo stove a la Wayland to replace the MSR.

I carry a GPS since a 24hr nightmare lost in some mountains 4 years ago, but I use map and compass most of the time.

I don't think being one way or the other makes you better or worse, as long as you forget about the kit side of things once you're out there.

 

[Diamond Dave]

Know more carry less....well thats my aim, however, at the present I am failing miserably.........

 

[Exploriment]

I strongly think that no matter what the time (and I mean this in a not only time of day or time of year, but also time in history), or the person, or the location, anyone in a "bushcrafty" situation would like the best gear they could possibly get. Tell me that any bushman wouldn't have had as high tech a bit of kit as possible, If I went back in time and gave Otzi the option of tools from our time and the tools from his time, I'm reasonably certain that he would use the best of them, no matter the era. But I also suspect that most of them would come from our time.

I think that that is what mankind has strived for since the first twinklings of consciousness in wet, shivering apes around a fire as they spread out across the planet. Ways to be more efficient, warmer, dryer, more sated, etc. And that drive is what has propeled us to the point where we can communicate with one another in this fashion. We've strived for better ways to make fire, better ways to procure that wood and food, more comfortable ways to sleep, etc., etc.

That's why, I don't mind what it is, I just want to try and get the best item for my particular needs and budget. And if that happens to be as sci fi as possible or as abo-tech as possible, fine. I'm not about to get worked into knots about pedantic labelling. I don't think it's incongruous to mix the two.

I feel that Merino wool is better than any high tech fleece. But I think my LM Wave is vastly superior to your grand dads Case slip lock. I feel hemp is superior to cotton. But I thnk that my home prepared, dehydrated freezer bag meals are superior to hard tack and parched corn. I feel that a flint and char cloth is better than matches and barbeque fuel. But I think all my Cordura load bearing gear is light years better than any canvas haversack and animal bladder canteen.

I guess part of it is courses for horses. Whatever is best for the situation.

I do quite contentedly wander in both worlds. Partly because I design and make prototypes of stuff and write about the stuff and just plain love the new, I have my feet more in the high tech side. But I'm always looking for ways to simplify and lighten, at which point I realize that some older technologies have a lot to offer.

To me it's all good. It's stuff to play with and it's about just plain old getting out there and doing something, anything. We live in amazing times –*no matter what the activity, get out there and enjoy them

 

[shep]

Exploriment,
it sounds like in practice we're in the same camp, but I don't fully agree with the first part of your post about man through history. Any of today's social anthropologists will point you in the direction of one group or other still using ancient techniques/equipment, not out of posterity, but practicality. RM writes about a Sami man in Sweden who uses a Goretex jacket, but still fills his reindeer skin boots with grass as it works better than socks.

I think sometimes we forget the 'Emperors new clothes' effect with new gear and just how at the mercy of marketing men even the most free-spirited of us really are.
People in R+D departments get paid to have new ideas that can be marketed by people skilled in convincing us that we NEED that extra toggle adjustment or wonder fabric. I am one of those people frequently sucked in by such persuasion.

We live in a society that gives us a disposable income and we like to spend it in a way that confirms our opinion of ourselves. Possibly not always for wholly practical reasons. (I speak from personal experience )

I don't know what the answer would be, but it would be VERY interesting to see what any of the great 19th century explorers would choose if presented with a choice of all of the gear variations and novelties that have come and gone over the last 100 years - without any marketing hype to go with it.

 

[Nat]

I think at the end of the day it's a case of "If it works, use it" regardless of whether it's classed as techno related or au natural.

 

[xylaria]

Know more carry less....well thats my aim, however, at the present I am failing miserably.........

Well thats me too. Well said

At the last NW meet, baby spamel and mini xylaria managed to soak their footware through by falling in the same bog. So Spamel made his baby spamel a natty pair of bag shoes which were stuffed grass. When mini xylaria did the same I gave him a pair of his sisters bedsocks stuffed with grass (steeling spamel idea). They both had warm toasty dry feet, the only adjustment they insisted on was that the pink jingley bedsocks should be worn by baby spamel and the camo bags should be worn by mini xylaria. So they swaped.

The bags/bedsocks stuffed with grass aren't a substitue for good boots but they were a really good bushcraft solution to a pair of uncomforable children. They were supriseing warm and comfortable because trust me seven year olds are quite good at saying that things arent comfey. What I am getting at kit is really useful, and so is the knowlegde that can substitue it, but looking like a victorian street urchin with bags on your feet may not be that fashionable.

 

[Wayland]

I usually stuff my Viking shoes with grass as it's easier than making naalbinded socks and works better.

Haven't tried it in my combat boots though...

 

[Dunelm]

I think it's very easy to get hung up on the idea that something is or isn't "bushcrafty" but i think the whole thing is more about an approach or a state of mind that anything else.

Well said. Just get out and do what you like doing.

 

[Exploriment]

Hey Shep,

I have to wonder if some of those "primitive" tribes use the stuff they do today, not only because of practicality, but also because of the lack of availability of other technologies. I reckon many of those people are not as advanced as us, primarily due to their isolation.

I suspect that a Celt of several millenia ago would have sold his mother for a modern knife and axe rather than his bronze exemplars. Or a titanium cook set rather than a heavy iron pot. Or things that never existed – binoculars, aerial photos, etc. Look at how quickly Native Americans adopted firearms. They realized that they held many advantages over their own weapons. They are not infallible of course, but the smart users would have utilized them as well as retaining a knowledge of the use and construction of their traditional tools.

I don't deny that we are probably all susceptible to the shiny new piece of gear syndrome to some degree or other. Personally I'll happily analyze anything and everything if it makes my outdoor pursuits safer, more comfortable, more efficient, more enjoyable, etc. Whether it's something developed for SF units, spun off from NASA technology, or used by pioneer life recreators, its origin lost in the mists of time, if it suits my needs, I'll use it.

I also don't deny that it's a double edged sword. Technology often times falls short of its stated abilities. The new is not always better than the old. Sometimes it's at best a middling substitute for the old. Sometimes it's exponentially better than the old. Sometimes the new is heavier or bulkier than the old, sometimes the other way around.

I suppose forums like this, the ability to discuss with one another what has or hasn't worked for us, allow us to navigate that difficult terrain better.

For me personally I enjoy both ends of the spectrum. I guess I'm striving for some sort of comfortable middle ground. I have a tremendous appreciation for the "old ways" having tried my hand at many of them at various times. But I also have a tremendous appreciation for human ingenuity and seeing if it can better the previous incarnations of outdoor gear.

 

[Seagull]

Hell.

I didn't know that it was all quite so polarised.
It has yet to dawn on me, that this is anything other than an interesting "jolly" to places that I really like to go to.

Am I missing something here?

My kit consists, (nine times out of ten) of walking boots, water bottle, pipe, leather hat, dog , a handful of IAMS dog biks in my latest pouch ( in the hope that someone may just ask me where I got it).

For me, its all to do with the just being there, the looking and the thinking.

Different folks and all that, what?

Ceeg

 

[dwardo]

Bit of both here also

Another considertion to throw in is sustainability ie. i would rather use things like my tarp and thermarest than hack down a load of shrubery and make a natural bed However there are places where stuff like that is in abundnce but sadly not often...

 

[BushTucker]

I am also a bit of both, I love technology and gismo`s, I use gps as a backup but mainly compass and maps, I like to take ratpaks and powdered mash tatty, but like the addition of catching a bit of protein too.

I dont have expensive kit but i feel comfortable with what i have for the places i go and for what i do, If i dont have what i need out dooors then i make it or do without.

I just enjoy the out doors and the peacefull experience.

Don

 

[demographic]

Mix and match, plus I don't even pretend that me going out camping sometimes in the UK is "bushcraft" so I take the mick and call it "Herbacious Bordercraft"

Some old ideas are good but some are crap, best not to get hung up on old for olds sake or tech for techs sake either.