Or have I just committed the sin of bringing in religion?
If there is no religion, can it be a sin?
....discuss
Bushcraft or re-enactment
- Thread starter rik_uk3
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If there is no religion, can it be a sin?
....discuss
Hi Rich
I've only met you the once, at one of your "camping with fire, beer and curry" weekends at GYM. Great weekend, did some skills work, good introduction for my friend's son, but not a great site for the parts of bushcraft I seem most attracted to; foraging, tracking, wildife watching, generally spending time alone with nature. Thinking about it, this was the last time I've gone out for such a group activity. By and large my bushcrafting these days happens when out for the day in my local patch, or even in the grounds at work... if only I could get away with snaring rabbits there since I've worked out exactly where I'd lay them.
IIRC your bad knees mean that you can't do much walking so your outdoors time is based on the camping close to the car mode. Could it be that you then get a limited view of what other bushcrafters do since that's where you meet people under the bushcrafting umbrella?
I've only met you the once, at one of your "camping with fire, beer and curry" weekends at GYM. Great weekend, did some skills work, good introduction for my friend's son, but not a great site for the parts of bushcraft I seem most attracted to; foraging, tracking, wildife watching, generally spending time alone with nature. Thinking about it, this was the last time I've gone out for such a group activity. By and large my bushcrafting these days happens when out for the day in my local patch, or even in the grounds at work... if only I could get away with snaring rabbits there since I've worked out exactly where I'd lay them.
IIRC your bad knees mean that you can't do much walking so your outdoors time is based on the camping close to the car mode. Could it be that you then get a limited view of what other bushcrafters do since that's where you meet people under the bushcrafting umbrella?
On "the uniform" front, well I guess folks tend to use what's comfortable and works. People who do certain tasks / jobs tend to were similar things as they are appropriate. Cavers tend towards one piece, tough snag free clothing as its safe. Climbers tend to wear a harness, rock shoes and a helmet as the don't want to be picked up with a sponge.
Bushcrafters like pockets as they tend to like to have their gear to hand. "...Bushcraft is about being confident and comfortable in the world around us..." If it works and others see that it does then they will gravitate towards it. For years hillwalking instead of Goretex or other membrane / coated fabrics I've used wool and tweed. Works for me, don't see a lot of tweed about on the hill though unless you're also into fieldsports. A lot of folk wear ex-military gear as it was designed to be comfortable and practical in the outdoors at a low cost. What are the folk in Norway and New Zealand doing that is so different to the UK? I bet a large number of the Antipodean brigade are wearing Swanndri shirts and big floppy hats! As I bet that the Aussie's are wearing shorts, pocketed shirts, Blunnies and talking about 'tukker! I'm afraid I don't know a lot about the Norwegian "scene". But I'll bet they use what's local and to hand.
I change my kit depending on where I'm going and as to what I want to achieve. Will go lightweight with minimal kit if I want to go light and fast - we'll as fast as I ever go these days, but if I'm off with a couple of friends wor a wee camp then yeah, we do go overboard and fill up the car with dutch ovens, tripods and other little luxuries that make it what it is... A bit of R&R for fun with some skills thrown in.
Would love to hear as I say what others in other countries do think of us, and what they do, so please ask them to post here or pass on what they say yourself Rik.
Cheers
Goatboy.
Bushcrafters like pockets as they tend to like to have their gear to hand. "...Bushcraft is about being confident and comfortable in the world around us..." If it works and others see that it does then they will gravitate towards it. For years hillwalking instead of Goretex or other membrane / coated fabrics I've used wool and tweed. Works for me, don't see a lot of tweed about on the hill though unless you're also into fieldsports. A lot of folk wear ex-military gear as it was designed to be comfortable and practical in the outdoors at a low cost. What are the folk in Norway and New Zealand doing that is so different to the UK? I bet a large number of the Antipodean brigade are wearing Swanndri shirts and big floppy hats! As I bet that the Aussie's are wearing shorts, pocketed shirts, Blunnies and talking about 'tukker! I'm afraid I don't know a lot about the Norwegian "scene". But I'll bet they use what's local and to hand.
I change my kit depending on where I'm going and as to what I want to achieve. Will go lightweight with minimal kit if I want to go light and fast - we'll as fast as I ever go these days, but if I'm off with a couple of friends wor a wee camp then yeah, we do go overboard and fill up the car with dutch ovens, tripods and other little luxuries that make it what it is... A bit of R&R for fun with some skills thrown in.
Would love to hear as I say what others in other countries do think of us, and what they do, so please ask them to post here or pass on what they say yourself Rik.
Cheers
Goatboy.
I haven't been logged in for a while, and that is mainly because I have felt that this site is going round in circles too much, and in part there is a lot of truth in riks original post. I don't agree that this is all camping, to me and my frames of reference camping is something done with a caravan (different language I suppose), and camping is something very passive, where as for me, bushcraft is a CRAFT, not an activity. When I go out to try and practice bushcraft it's usually very different from camping. I try to practice and evolve in my skills, I try to get more experienced. At home or in the field I can also try to expand my knowledge. These things have very little in common with car-based camping.
Going to a camping site, rolling out the barbie and having a few cold ones under a tarp with my mates wouldn't be something I would call 'bushcrafting', but then again, that's just me. I think you should have some sort of goal with your outing, and try to evaluate afterwards. I also sincerely think it is a positive thing to try to limit yourself to basic stuff, you live 99% of your life in your comfort zone, why not try to expand that zone by going outside of it? If that means giving somebody else the right to call you re-enactor, then so be it. I still think it is a good experience to try to survive by the classic (almost parody) combo of blanket, pot and tarp.
Can it be that there has been an inflation in the word bushcraft, that something that once stood for something now has been widened to incorporate any activity that takes place outdoors? Shame really, in that case.
Not trying to be elite in any way, but I don't buy this bushcraft broad church thing, there has to be some connection to learning a craft, not just drinking beer by the car. Cause then it's just camping.
Going to a camping site, rolling out the barbie and having a few cold ones under a tarp with my mates wouldn't be something I would call 'bushcrafting', but then again, that's just me. I think you should have some sort of goal with your outing, and try to evaluate afterwards. I also sincerely think it is a positive thing to try to limit yourself to basic stuff, you live 99% of your life in your comfort zone, why not try to expand that zone by going outside of it? If that means giving somebody else the right to call you re-enactor, then so be it. I still think it is a good experience to try to survive by the classic (almost parody) combo of blanket, pot and tarp.
Can it be that there has been an inflation in the word bushcraft, that something that once stood for something now has been widened to incorporate any activity that takes place outdoors? Shame really, in that case.
Not trying to be elite in any way, but I don't buy this bushcraft broad church thing, there has to be some connection to learning a craft, not just drinking beer by the car. Cause then it's just camping.
Rik do you actually NEED to get your head round it...?
I think most of us on here have one or two hobbies that we indulge in outdoors the equipment we buy is very much down to the individual. I dont think anyone would disagree that some products are definaltey a rip of price wise but its up to the indivdual if they want to part with the spondoolies.
I for one buy what I find is comfortable and does what I require of it whether I am in the high mountains, paddling on a lake, or chilling round a camp fire . The cheaper the better really but if not I save up to get it and then look after it.
One thing I have found about this site is that everyone is passionate about the outdoors and the simple pleasures it brings. I dont think anyone needs to look at what people wear or carry and make any sort of judgement.
Its a shame your friends even have to have such a view really but each to their own I guess. I will continue to enjoy the outdoors for what it is without thinking I have to appear a certain way to participate in a hobby that I enjoy.
anyway thats just MHO!
Have fun folks!
Andy
I think most of us on here have one or two hobbies that we indulge in outdoors the equipment we buy is very much down to the individual. I dont think anyone would disagree that some products are definaltey a rip of price wise but its up to the indivdual if they want to part with the spondoolies.
I for one buy what I find is comfortable and does what I require of it whether I am in the high mountains, paddling on a lake, or chilling round a camp fire . The cheaper the better really but if not I save up to get it and then look after it.
One thing I have found about this site is that everyone is passionate about the outdoors and the simple pleasures it brings. I dont think anyone needs to look at what people wear or carry and make any sort of judgement.
Its a shame your friends even have to have such a view really but each to their own I guess. I will continue to enjoy the outdoors for what it is without thinking I have to appear a certain way to participate in a hobby that I enjoy.
anyway thats just MHO!
Have fun folks!
Andy
Well... in
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-glamping19aug19,0,1779817.story?coll=la-home-center
and
http://www.pawsup.com/resort/acc_tent.php#images
there is 'camping' of a sort going on, but the bushcraft (if any) is left to the staff
Does topiary count as bushcraft?
Only if done wearing the appropriate clothing and using the right tools..
A broad church yes - but I agree there should be some conection to learning, practicing the craft or outdoor skill, be it shooting your dinner or watching how the wildlife lives, woodcopicing or plant IDing, cooking wild foods or carving a wooden spork...
getting ratted with your mates on a campsite is....getting ratted with your mates on a campsite!
While good fun it cannot realy be called "bushcraft" on its own......
How about getting ratted on Sloe gin gathered on a foraging day out and sipped from Kuksa made by hand, whilst carving a spoon sat near a fire?
Now that is my kind of bushcrafting...but be careful with that knife as you get ratted!
i love my ti spork, my knives, my many billies, multitude of stoves, tents, tarps, many sleeping bags, down mat, torches / candle lanterns, backpacks etc etc.
does it make it better than when i just went out with a penknife, cheap tent and crappy sleeping bag? yeah a little but it does.
Just like I no longer live in a one roomed digs like when I was 19. Did the digs suffice? of course they did but it doesn't mean I will be swapping them back for what I have now (well maybe the mortgage and responsibility).
And with that I'm off to buy something else with a Swandri patch on it - hopefully something completely unnecessary.
does it make it better than when i just went out with a penknife, cheap tent and crappy sleeping bag? yeah a little but it does.
Just like I no longer live in a one roomed digs like when I was 19. Did the digs suffice? of course they did but it doesn't mean I will be swapping them back for what I have now (well maybe the mortgage and responsibility).
And with that I'm off to buy something else with a Swandri patch on it
- hopefully something completely unnecessary.
John
I've tried that FAK, SAK and daysac treatment once! ain't half painful and I walked like a bushcrafter for a week!
Alan
Oh no I forgot to do a risk assesment!! Surely there will be someone first aid trained around said camp fire. Mind you I could just drink the gin and avoid the risk of carving the spoon.
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