Are people making enough crafts?

[Mike Ameling]

I don't know, maybe because I just don't think about showing off? When I'm blacksmithing, sewing leather, chopping/carving wood, building a footbridge over a creek, starting a fire, or finishing up a knife, I just don't think about stopping in the middle of everything and taking pictures. Plus, I don't have a good digital camera.

But I do stuff every day. Take my blacksmithing. My current tally for the year is 400 traditional flint strikers. But I haven't kept track of all the sign brackets, candle stands, quilt racks, railing parts, sculpture parts, or scraps for the junk iron pile.

I spent today repositioning mineral assets on my driveway after all the flooding. (moving the gravel from the ditch back up onto the driveway) Tuesday and Wednesday I rebuilt/repositioned the footbridge over the creek that got flooded out. Tomorrow I will clean up the pack-in campsite down in the woods. And I still need to put wood handles on two bowl adzes I forge up a couple weeks ago, and make up a couple more all wrought iron axes based on originals from the 1600's. But I just never think about it. I just do it.

I will consider some How-To stuff. The big problem will be getting good pictures. And then we will see if any of my humble ramblings will be worth reading.

I always enjoy the How-To postings. It's great to see what other people are doing. But I also understand why it is so hard to get into that "teaching" mode to document what you are doing and post it for others to see.

That's how things go out here in the Hinterlands.

Mikey - glad the rains have stopped for a bit

 

[Tengu]

Ive tried my hand at various things but I will admit Im not that skilled.

What I am good at is finding things, and being resourceful with what I pick up.

This must be part of bushcraft too, as so many people in the outdoors practice it.

I can make things but if I can find or trade the item like as not wont do so.

If I want a wooden spoon like as not I can have a car booter give me one for the effort of saying `will you chuck that in, please?`

If I want to make something I prefer to spend my efforts on my other big hobby, which is model making.

 

[jon r]

i stop to take photos of what im doing to compile tutorials every now and then to help people out. Sometimes it can get annoying and i just want to get on with whatever it is that im making!

I enjoy Photography and bushcraft so the two go well together to make a tutorial i supose.

 

[KAE1]

Jon,
For me I think its a question of what you choose to do with your spare time. For those of us working 50hrs a week and with a family, we have a choice. Currently my few spare hours are spent Nature watching, camping, canoeing, deerstalking. I simply don't have the time to make stuff as well but I really enjoy hearing about those who do.

 

[decorum]

My 30 minute draw knife sheath knocked up to protect me from it & it from me
Not great; just a working, usable prototype.

 

[Greg]

Jon, at 17yrs old I was preparing to join the paras, you, well your enjoying your life with your chosen vocation which without a doubt is very good.
I didn't mean to say that what you have produced in this thread is wrong. I just know that everyone has different thoughts on bushcraft.
Can anyone really and I mean really define bushcraft?
I don't think so, it is too broad a subject to have any one meaning.
Too me its a love of the outdoors, and learning about things our predecessors relied upon for their very existence. It doesn't mean that I'll master the manufacturing of equipment that some find fascinating or (to put it in a modern term!) Awesome.
I know myself that if the sh*t hit the fan I could make stuff to get me and my family by but I also know that I am not capable of creating the objects that you and your peers create on a daily basis which to me are brilliant pieces of art that I could only dream of making no matter how good the tutorials are.
I just think that if you enjoy making things then fair enough and if you enjoy just getting out and living out of the normal routine then thats great aswell.
There shouldn't be an us and them just because some of us don't feel the want or need to get into the production side of things, after all thats life isn't it.
Supply and Demand.
If you and others can make it there will always be people like myself who want to buy it. Its life.

 

[British Red]

It is interesting this one. Personally I like bimbling around with a camera. A lot of my pictorial threads started because I tend to use a camera like others use a notebook - recording what I ahve done so that if it goes well I can remember how, if it goes badly it helps me track down what went wrong.

As a result when I do a thread they probably come across as fairly dry and factual as opposed to say Patricks stuff which just makes me go "WOW". There certainly is an intimidation factor there too. Leather work scared me till Singteck took me under his wing and sat me down and talked me through it. Flint knapping likewise till I spent a day with John Lord. Other stuff (brewing, flint & steel firelighting etc.) I preferred to learn alone.

There is a huge amount to learn out there but thats the joy if it to some extent - do as much or as little as you like, Often the camera and the brew kit calls to me. But walking in the woods, having a brew and taking pictures of birds, deer and insects. Is that Bushcraft? I think probably not, but I enjoy it so who cares?

I think my only conclusion is that lables are unhelpful the words "Bushcraft", "Survival" etc. cause huge argument. I could see that "Crafts" could do the same. I would be the last man to condemn others for buying stuff. I love making things. Without being arrogant, I am good at a few things (brewing mead, wine and beer, campfire cookery etc.). I enjoy sharing the products of that. I also like to have nice things from friends I have met and friends I have yet to meet. Stus knife, Weaver's spoon, Topknots firesteel and sharpener pouch, Russ's crusader lid, Ceggas axe, Singtecks axe mask, Leons possibles pouch and several other items are all treasured parts of my kit along with things I have made myself and bought from shops.

Its nice to have things a craftsman made just as its nice to make things. It all keeps the skill and love of the unique and special rather than mass produced alive

Red

 

[jojo]

I didnt mean to make anyone feel bad! That wasnt the intension of this thread! If you dont like making crafts then thats fine, there are plentey of other lovely things to do in the world of bushcraft other than make crafts!

I said that crafts was the main part of bushcraft for me but that isnt the case for everyone!

I dont mean to intimidate people with my crafts, the intension was to inspire people

Don't worry Jon. You won't be the last one to get yourself in a bit of bother with some bunch of words. Words have a tendency to take a life of their own once they have been written and get the writer in unexpected tight corners! Who was that guy who wrote "the satanic Verses"? Can't remember. But it turned the Moslem World against him.

No one is going to come after you with that hand forged viking axe, or that lovely hand crafted veg tan leather hangman's noose (Well, I hope anyway )

I suppose for me, Bushcraft is a "hobby", I have not a lot of time so spare on it, I like making "things" and it take less time, and I can spend more time with my family, by staying at home making something, whether it's a knife or a leather bag or whatever, than I can by having to get in the car to drive to the nearest wood, which i'd love to do more of.

 

[xylaria]

There seems to be a lot of talk about equipment on BCUK but i dont see enough people using their equipmant to make things! There are about 6500 members on BCUK and for a bushcraft website there doesnt seem to be many people making crafts. There will proberbly be only a couple of threads a week showing things that people have made in the DIY section and thats it!

The DIY section of the site is my favorite part and its a shame people dont make more things. I appreciate the fact that people dont have much time and resources these days...

For me 'Bushcraft' is mostly about 'crafts'. It puzzles me why i dont see more people making things.

I hope you can see what i mean

Jon

Substitute the word crafts for wild food and its exactly how I feel. I deal with the kit chatter thing by hardly ever clicking on it. I also don't bother with threads that are moaning about what was read in the daily mail or complaining about stuff that can't be changed or is only remotely related to bushcraft.

I love looking at the traditional crafts section, but like a lot of people what i make is rubbish. I wittled spatula last week and sanded it by using sand I found. I evan stained it with blackberries. If it wasn't for experts like you sharing your knowlegde, I would still be at home using a dremmil and a mouse. You really do inspire alot of people it is just a thread does get viewed by more people than post in it. It makes very hard to judge the positive effect it has on others.

I know I should make a proper tutorial with wild food but it is either basic cooking skills which I feel would be patronizing to cover, or identity skills which I am rubbish at teaching when it come to plants. Jon pickett does a far better job. I know some people need pictures to inspire them, I took pictures of knotweed pie but the end result is green sludge which tastes far better than it looks. What you make alest looks good.

To me bushcraft is going out and making something what you find, from badly made but functional spatulas to hazelnut and wild mushroom stir fry. I really like your posts as you obviously aren't fishing for compliments you just want to share your enthusiasm with others. I know how you feel, but trust me there are more people who out doing stuff than you think.

 

[big_swede]

This is a question of definition. To me, making crafts while being out (which I'm not right now ) is surely 'bushcraft' (start to dislike the term), but going out to your shed making pouches, knifes and whatnot, that I have a hard time seeing as bushcraft. That would be just crafts to me. You can't take out the bush in bushcraft, but you can take out the craft out of the bush

I hardly bring back anything I've made and used. A halfdecent cordage is of little use in my ordinary life, the same goes for a lean-to, a frying spatula and longer fishing rigs. I'll gladly pay for items which may be of use to me, instead of investing a full work week to get the same result, and which I'm bound to be less then pleased with. (Actually, I made a decent canvas bedroll, but that isn't bushcraft, that's sewing. And I certainly like doing some crafts, working in the forge, knitting, and other stuff)

 

[jon r]

conclusion: do what you want

 

[Eric_Methven]

Do what you want, call it what you want. So long as it pleases you that's fine. There's plenty doing crafty stuff all the time. I show some stuff if I remember to pick up the camera and there's plenty of stuff that I craft on the spot then discard afterwards without even considering that it is crafty. I'm only reminded that I have crafted something when someone says
"You're not throwing that away are you?"
"But it's served it's purpose, and I can make another one when I need to"

Each has a purpose and as long as it serves that purpose then fine. What's rubbish in your eyes, either because it was so simple to make or is rough and ready, may be a thing of beauty to someone else.

Call it bushcraft, woodcraft or dremmelcraft. It doesn't matter - so long as you are doing something crafty and you still enjoy it. And if you don't feel able to make stuff for whatever reason, buy something from a craftsman and help keep the skills alive that way.

I've had people say to me, "Those flasks are brilliant Eric. You could make a fortune if you went into full time production". Duh! Then all the fun would go out of it and it would become just a chore.

Someone asked me at the Lanark festival last week why I didn't just stay at home and make stuff to sell and employ someone to sell the stuff for me. Same reason. I make stuff so I can go to the festivals and cover my costs and make a few bob on top. The beer tent and the dancing are much more fun than sitting at home pulling thread through leather full time.

It's all about having fun. Life's too short to take it too seriously. Long live crafty stuff. It helps pay for the beer.

Eric

 

[rancid badger]

I understand exactly where young jonr's coming from as far as wanting to see more 'had a go at this' type posts.
The thing is, a lot of people ARE put off by some of the stunning and ingenious things that turn up on here.
I think, sometimes,they look at things and decide that; either they could never make anything as good and so dont bother to try or have a go, find that it's not as simple as it first appears and give up trying.
It's such a shame, it really is. the other aspect of this is the people who beaver away making stuff and enjoying the process as well as the finished items but never bother to let anyone know what they have made.
When I have put things on here in the past I have honestly been humbled ( is that the way to put it?) by the response, indeed, overwhelmed. The thing is that nothing I make is ever anything other than either a doodle or an experiment, some of which are badger poo and some of which turn out ok.
To be honest, Ive never seen any of jonrs stuff but it shouldnt matter to anyone whether the things they are making seem good, bad or indifferent, it's not a competition or at least it shouldnt be.
I would like to think that instead of people being put off having a go, they might be inspired to keep trying, after all, that is how skills are developed.
Dont be put off, feel intimidated or think that you are 'useless' take inspiration from what you see and keep trying, if it doesnt work out first, second, third or fourth time keep going.
Oh, and by the way, nearly all my spoons are asymmetrical and when I sell them at our annual festival it's usually the 'perfect' ones that get left behind.

Go for it and dont be put off

sincerely
R.B.

 

[Hoodoo]

It's all about having fun. Life's too short to take it too seriously. Long live crafty stuff. It helps pay for the beer.

Eric

Amen!

 

[Squidders]

It's all about having fun. Life's too short to take it too seriously. Long live crafty stuff. It helps pay for the beer.

Eric

Couldn't agree more!

I suspect a lot of us make things all the time without a second thought, let alone photographing it, writing it up and then posting.

It's all about having a good time and well, they'll just have to shake their finger at me if i'm not being crafty enough for them. I'll try and make the minimum quota next month perhaps

 

[British Red]

It's all about having fun. Life's too short to take it too seriously. Long live crafty stuff. It helps pay for the beer.

Eric

You need to extend your range Eric!

Brew your own - then the crafty stuff IS the beer

Red

 

[sharp88]

Yeah I'v noticed that also, as have many others. Its very materialistic, but kit is a very important factor at times and people need advice and so forth. I love the feeling of something I made myself though.

 

[sallyinwales]

To me, life is a big adventurous journey and we learn so much at every stage. Sometimes, what we learn is just to watch and absorb from others, sometimes, we are making frantically, sometimes we are teaching. Very occasionally all come together and there is a chance to post and share a process and an end result in a forum like this, but that doesnt mean that the rest of the time is ill spent. I'm a compulsive maker of things, I physically cannot sit with nothing in my hands being worked on ( I can knit or spin whilst walking for example). I think a very good point was made earlier though that some people are good at using a camera as a notebook, that lends itself well to how-to posts. Me, I often have no idea where my camera is, so the moment passes before I think 'I should have captured that stage of the project to make it easier to show others what I did'.

I ought to make more of an effort to photograph and write things up though. Another forum I'm on has an active policy of encouraging members to write articles that go in a seperate section, that works very well to focus the mind, but I also like seeing the quick snaps of something that was in progress

I'd like to see more pictures of people just 'being' outside, or of a fire well laid, or a particularly inspiring natural feature or a newly tried foodstuff. All that is here too, and is as equally inspiring to me as the craftwork

 

[Tadpole]

The only time I’ve posted about and ‘crafts’ that I have made, I posted about making my first and second spoon, one of the posters, gleefully encouraged me to burn the spoon. After that I decided not to post about my makings, online at bcuk but post about it in my sometimes journal. This week I’ve made a couple of dozen antler buttons for my soon to be Christmas presents (leather phone pouches for my family) several , apple blackberry, and slider berry crumbles, homemade three seeded bread, a second tri-stick and enough wood shavings to keep my hobo going for another week

 

[jon r]

The only time I’ve posted about and ‘crafts’ that I have made, I posted about making my first and second spoon, one of the posters, gleefully encouraged me to burn the spoon. After that I decided not to post about my makings

Thats terrible! Who was that man!