6 yo charlie starts his first fire.............

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Feb 17, 2012
1,061
77
Surbiton, Surrey
Excellent well done indeed.

The sad thing is this type of achievement should be praised, congratulated and encouraged (as I know everyone here would do) but if it were to be mentioned in a more "mainstream" setting there would be those who would see the words 6yr old and fire and instantly start with the cries of it being unsafe and claiming it would be used for nefarious purposes.

Sorry to lower the tone on what is a milestone for Charlie's bushcraft education, it just irks me that such achievements are only really understood by a small percentage and the rest (with their ignorance and knee jerk reactions) would consider only the potential (and highly unlikely) misuse of such a skill.

I shall now take my glass half empty attitude away from the computer where it belongs. :)

Hamster
 

fishfish

Full Member
Jul 29, 2007
2,352
5
52
wiltshire
your right mate its sad isnt it,bjut if the **** or teotwawki my kids will be the ones with food , shelter and warmth even if i dont make it!
 

Goatboy

Full Member
Jan 31, 2005
14,956
17
Scotland
Hey don't let the naysayers drag Charlie down, fire and it's control is humankinds greatest discovery, and to start to master it at 6 is a milestone and a right of passage that is countless generations old. I say well done and he gets the first choice of food off the BBQ/fire next time you cook out and he lights.
 

mountainm

Bushcrafter through and through
Jan 12, 2011
9,990
12
Selby
www.mikemountain.co.uk
Excellent well done indeed.

The sad thing is this type of achievement should be praised, congratulated and encouraged (as I know everyone here would do) but if it were to be mentioned in a more "mainstream" setting there would be those who would see the words 6yr old and fire and instantly start with the cries of it being unsafe and claiming it would be used for nefarious purposes.

To be honest if given context I don't think that's true. I taught a bunch of beavers (5-7 year olds) how to light fires with ferro rods and all there parents were very enthusiastic.
 
Feb 17, 2012
1,061
77
Surbiton, Surrey
To be honest if given context I don't think that's true. I taught a bunch of beavers (5-7 year olds) how to light fires with ferro rods and all there parents were very enthusiastic.

Hi MM,

I totally agree with you and probably should have worded my post a little better. Groups like the scouts, beavers etc... do a sterling job of teaching skills that, IMHO, children should have the chance to experience and i think that parents understand and encourage this by having their child join such groups in the first place.

When i say mainstream i mean the media and the general public who sadly no longer value the ideals of scouting and similar groups or any form of outdoor skills, an unfortunate side effet of this is that by having no interest themselves many cannot comprehend why someone else would want to learn.
I have often offered to teach friends kids, on the whole intelligent people, the basics of fire lighting or whittling in a controlled back garden setting to be met with polite yet horrified thanks but no thanks.

Fish, apologies for derailing Charlie's thread again and congratulations to him once again - keep up the good work.

Hamster
 

Stringmaker

Native
Sep 6, 2010
1,891
1
UK
Well done Charlie!

Just as an aside, I shall be running a fire lighting session this Saturday evening. My audience will include 8/9 children ranging in ages from 2 to 13, as well as a dozen or so adults. The setting is a small rural campsite and virtually the entire site will be taking part; don't despair folks, some people still have some trust and common sense.
 

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