Are we weird?

[Dan1982]

Having grown tired of trying to explain people what "bushcraft" is and what it means to me and referring to it as "Ray Mearsy sorta stuff" my friends tend to think of it as a little strange that i would like to go out and camp under a tarp or search for wild foods or have an interest in knives etc.... (the last one always causes an odd look.) why do people tend to think of it as a bit weird?? what is the average persons perception of "bushcraft?"
The first things most people say to me is "bushcraft??... what? like eating worms and berries and stuff?"

Just wondered if i was alone or if anybody elses friends were as misinformed as mine?

Dan

 

[spamel]

The best thing to do is agree with them! You'll find that when they ask if you eat worms and you say "Yes, but you need to know how to prepare them correctly!" they'll be hooked! Then you go on to tell them how you put the worms on a warm stone by the fire so that they excrete the soil out, shrivel up and dry. You've seen thew worms dried up on the pavement a few days after it has rained, right? Well, they look just like that! You crumble them into your food as you cook it like a bouillion cube and it adds a bit of flavour and protein.

 

[bikething]

the one that really winds me up (from my mum ) is " are you off on one of your bush tucker challenge's then?"

"no, i'm going camping in the woods"

 

[Bodge]

Sometimes the look on someones face when you say you'll be sleeping in the woods says it all.

Let em get on with their blank stares and get that godam hammock tied up.


Bodge

 

[spamel]

the one that really winds me up (from my mum ) is " are you off on one of your bush tucker challenge's then?"

"no, i'm going camping in the woods"

Yeah, my mum thinks she is a comedian too!

 

[Prophecy]

why do people tend to think of it as a bit weird??

Because those people have lead a very sheltered life. Some of my friends can't even understand why I'd want to go for a nice walk through a forest, never mind stay in one.

It's sad really, and I feel sorry for them in a way.

 

[mace242]

I do stuff like take spoons, jerky, dried fruit, etc in to work. They may think that I'm a bit odd in all my bushcraftiness (?) but they do like the results - especially the ones you can eat... Had several people making nettle string once too.

 

[Wayland]

I do weird for a living so most people I talk to just add it to the list of my eccentricities.

 

[shocks]

i tell em its scouting for adults

without the singing

 

[mace242]

I do weird for a living so most people I talk to just add it to the list of my eccentricities.

I just sit at a desk all day waiting for the weekend, scratch that, waiting for any time i can spend with sky overhead and mud underfoot.

One thing that did just occur to me though. I call a holiday camping somewhere making my own food, walking miles each day exploring, discovering new things and filling myself full of new experiences, doing my own thing in my own time - other people call a holiday just sitting by a pool slowly turning brown... I know who I think is weird...

 

[mazeman]

i tell em its scouting for adults

without the singing

or the woggle

 

[Grooveski]

Don't drink tea or coffee so everyone thinks I'm wierd.

Stoating around the woods? Naw, never been an issue.

 

[spamel]

Don't drink tea or coffee so everyone thinks I'm wierd.

Stoating around the woods? Naw, never been an issue.

Funnily enough, I have a German friend who drinks maybe one or two small cups of tea a day and the rest of the time he is on water. It threw me at first due to the fact he works in security and therefore has to stay awake all night, but I remember him falling asleep now and again on night shifts in the Guardroom! I should call him up actually as I haven't spoke to him in a long time.

 

[SAS_MAN]

I do stuff like take spoons, jerky, dried fruit, etc in to work. They may think that I'm a bit odd in all my bushcraftiness (?) but they do like the results - especially the ones you can eat... Had several people making nettle string once too.

I agree one day i brought a pair of hand made hare skin mittens to school. Every one thought i was really strange and a cruel animal killer. I thought that they were really strange not eating meat.

Also when i mention that i do bushcraft they look at me strangely and think that i cut bushes for fun.

I feel sorry for them as they dont get to be out there and see amazing things.

 

[Shambling Shaman]

Try explaining you do "LARP" (Live action role play)

 

[alanssaab]

groovski , wierd niether do i , i love oxo drinks instead

 

[Grooveski]

Like Spams pal I just drink a lot of water.
...and catch all sorts of parasitic nasties. Not carrying a brew kit has it's drawbacks.

 

[Wayland]

Try explaining you do "LARP" (Live action role play)

Tolkienesque re-enactment......?

 

[Shambling Shaman]

Tolkienesque re-enactment......?

Fantasy mainly (with Mark & Amender), did a bit of English civil war.

"Cross country pantomime" Was the best description I heard.

 

[andywinkk]

By brother takes the mic all the time, after middlewood he asked me if i had crafted my bush lol,
But he is quite impressed with the spoons and stuff that i make and i aint even that good yet