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What I do used to be called camping in the 60s........then it became wild camping in the 80s................ now in the noughties it's termed bushcraft.............. I still like to call it camping in the wilds. Any "bushcraft" skills I learn is kept on file in my memory and adds to a more enjoyable camping outing, plus I have learned to make things which I enjoy using more than commercially available items ie my hobo stove.
Survival is about staying alive till rescue..........bushcraft is about living in the wild and the skills not just to survive but to thrive.
Survival is about staying alive till rescue..........bushcraft is about living in the wild and the skills not just to survive but to thrive.
I see myself as a bushalist or a survicrafter.I find I use the same skillset what ever I do.A fire is a fire no matter how you light it,I can light a fire using a lighter and using natural materials.I can erect a tent and build a shelter from the natural stuff around me,both will give me a dry comfortable night.
Bushcraft and survival are exactly what you want them to be(and everyone has a different opinion of it too)
Bushcraft and survival are exactly what you want them to be(and everyone has a different opinion of it too)
Good answer, pretty much how I feel. As for most bushcraft skills....we used to get badges in the scouts for most of them
As most go to the woods to practise there skills then I think the term should be Woodcraft, knowledge you have gained is Woodlore. Bushcraft is skills used in Africa, Australia etc. All the courses carried out in the UK before the popularity of Raymond where survival courses even Ray himself labelled his courses survival back in the late 80's.
I think survival is just a skimmed down set of skills learned through studying bushcraft, the first things you should learn is how to feed and water yourself, keep warm in different weather, move through the landscape. there not two separate disciplines, survival is just basic understanding of how to promote life, then you will expand on this to make things easier, such as makeing a woven basket to carry things instead of using you clothing, gradually making items that may last longer and have more specialised uses or be a more efficient version of what your using already. IMO.
Also when did bushcraft become a verb?
Also when did bushcraft become a verb?
Imagine the scene
Its late one summer evening and the day has gotten away from you.
You are walking through the woods looking for a suitable place to make camp for the night, when you stumble upon me quietly sitting by my campfire.
I have been there 2 days and in a split second you take the scene in. There is an a frame shelter set up using wood and a tarp, or maybe a hammock and tarp if you prefer. There is a fish, or a fresh rabbit cooking over the small fire. On the floor sits a bowl with some locally collected berries and leaves in it and I am sat on a chair made of branches, tied with nettle cord or maybe paracord. I am sipping a hot drink made from a kettle now sitting by the fire. On my waist is a camp knife and I am wearing dark coloured clothing and a wide brimmed hat is on my head.
A greeting is exchanged and I would probably invite you to join me for a cup of tea and to share my meal with me. If you were comfortable with me, I would probably even offer to share my camp for the night.
This would probably lead to a long talk about the days activities and the things we had seen. Stories and experiences would being swapped. I would probably offer you some of the Southern comfort I carry in my hip flask.
You comment on the spoon I have carved while I have been there and I admire the leatherwork on your knife sheath.
We eventually settle down for the night and in the morning pack up and head our separate ways after exchanging personal details, with a promise to stay in touch.
So what am I, a Bushcrafter or a Survivalist. Or just a fellow spirit that loves being out in the woods and enjoying nature. Does it matter what label you put on me, its who I am thats important, not which box the world tries to force me into. I take people as I find them, not on a preconception of what I think they will, or should be like.
Its late one summer evening and the day has gotten away from you.
You are walking through the woods looking for a suitable place to make camp for the night, when you stumble upon me quietly sitting by my campfire.
I have been there 2 days and in a split second you take the scene in. There is an a frame shelter set up using wood and a tarp, or maybe a hammock and tarp if you prefer. There is a fish, or a fresh rabbit cooking over the small fire. On the floor sits a bowl with some locally collected berries and leaves in it and I am sat on a chair made of branches, tied with nettle cord or maybe paracord. I am sipping a hot drink made from a kettle now sitting by the fire. On my waist is a camp knife and I am wearing dark coloured clothing and a wide brimmed hat is on my head.
A greeting is exchanged and I would probably invite you to join me for a cup of tea and to share my meal with me. If you were comfortable with me, I would probably even offer to share my camp for the night.
This would probably lead to a long talk about the days activities and the things we had seen. Stories and experiences would being swapped. I would probably offer you some of the Southern comfort I carry in my hip flask.
You comment on the spoon I have carved while I have been there and I admire the leatherwork on your knife sheath.
We eventually settle down for the night and in the morning pack up and head our separate ways after exchanging personal details, with a promise to stay in touch.
So what am I, a Bushcrafter or a Survivalist. Or just a fellow spirit that loves being out in the woods and enjoying nature. Does it matter what label you put on me, its who I am thats important, not which box the world tries to force me into. I take people as I find them, not on a preconception of what I think they will, or should be like.
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I just wanted to add to mine, when did bushcraft become a title too? as WT said "Bushcrafter"? very good post there Wild Tthing!
May I ask why Rik.
Surely, a survivalist would be happy to be found (rescued)
When I started out in the late 70's, World War 3 was a distinct possibility and there was a great chance that we would get nuked back to the stoneage or that the Russians were coming. For those of us that wanted to still be around, the order of the day was to prepare for long term survival if it came to it. This meant using the skills that I retain today, and keep adding to. There is always more to learn, but it is our attitude that makes us who we are.
There are extremists in everything, and these are the ones that give any passtime a bad name.
Surely, a survivalist would be happy to be found (rescued)
When I started out in the late 70's, World War 3 was a distinct possibility and there was a great chance that we would get nuked back to the stoneage or that the Russians were coming. For those of us that wanted to still be around, the order of the day was to prepare for long term survival if it came to it. This meant using the skills that I retain today, and keep adding to. There is always more to learn, but it is our attitude that makes us who we are.
There are extremists in everything, and these are the ones that give any passtime a bad name.
If I voluntarily go out with a minimal kit for my own pleasure and enjoyment, it is bushcrafting , or woodcraft for us older types.
If I end up outdoors with minimal equipment from an accident or emergency, and have to get by until things get better, it is survival.
Same basic skills, same basic equipment. Different mindset.
YMMV
If I end up outdoors with minimal equipment from an accident or emergency, and have to get by until things get better, it is survival.
Same basic skills, same basic equipment. Different mindset.
YMMV
Surely Bushcraft and survivalism are just different parts of the same pyramid? You start at the pointy end with knowing enough to stay alive for example start a fire and make shelter and find food and water. That would be enough for most situations and good on you if you can do these things as most can't. At the other end of the scale you are making shingles for your roof and turning out rocking chairs. The big end of the pyramid never really ends or course but the more you know, the more you have control of your environment and the more you get to know about how you impact it and vice versa.
Sometimes they would but don't confuse survive until rescue with survivalism. A lot of the survivalists gain skills for the end of the world times, you would want your shelter well hidden, don't see them as extremists as such, just careful. Like you said there are extremists in all walks of life, one or three here lol.
Actually, aren't we talking about three separate things here?
1. bushcrafting - having fun in the woods
2. Survival - surviving a disaster until rescued, or until reaching civilisation.
3- survivalist - preparing for teotwawki.
"3-Survivalist - preparing for teotwawki" - and everything else in between?? teotwawki seems a little ultimate and final.
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