Are you a doer or a donta

[falling rain]

I'm not a big fan of kit but of course I do have some key items. Some people like kit and and want to look like Ray M .......That's fine too if it's what you're into. I get out as much as possible and make or carve things at home or practice techniques when I can't get out (currently carving a priest (not a church priest but a hitting rabbits or fish over the head priest) from Yew. I've never used Yew to carve with before it's lovely close grained wood and a pleasure to carve with - a bit like holly

 

[moduser]

Although I don't practice my bushcraft anywhere near as much as I'd like most weekends involve being outdoors either;

Attending a field archery shoot
A bike ride - I don't ride on roads so take the bike somewhere and ride
A bit of hill walking with friends
A walk in local woods

The important thing is I try and keep my eye open for foragables, potential camp sites, water sources etc

Plus I get a chance to practice my map reading, trying a new piece of kit or whatever.

Plus there's always the garden, bonfire to be lit tonight - happy Samhain so I'll at least try and get it going with a bow drill



David

 

[jasons]

Hello my name is Aaron and I am a Bushcraftaholic.

A couple of years ago I was a fresh-faced university graduate with my whole life ahead of me. Then I got in with the wrong crowd, hanging about in the woods, starting fires, carrying knives - it was a slippery slope. Now I have a serious kit buying habit - thermarests, ventile jackets woodlore knives; I've tried everything. My girlfriend and most of my old mates have deserted me - now all I have for company are squirrels and badgers and this odd bloke called Jason Sears who sits around the fire with me at night and we drink Special Brew together and swear at the moon. Help me, please. Help me.

good stuff :You_Rock_

 

[Ed]

Its my job .... so I can't really get away with not doing any bushcraft....

Ed

 

[xylaria]

There are 5000 members of this community, and we will all have different skills which will practised in different way. In more knowledgable societies the person that guts the deer is not normally the same person that can remember where those tasty winter roots are. Thats the point of a community. As for kit I have secatures and basket, I don't have anything made of gortex(tm), because I don't need to. But I don't live in the Carngorms or hunt anything. Bushcraft I believe is hard wired into the human soul, just as sitting about dicussing the best way to skin a rabbit or what plants are good to eat. Our community just uses a computer rather than a campfire for that disscusion. I think bushcraft is too broad skill for one person to have (a few members come close though). WE can't all be Ray Mears, and even has things he doesn't know.

 

[JonnyP]

There are 5000 members of this community, and we will all have different skills which will practised in different way. In more knowledgable societies the person that guts the deer is not normally the same person that can remember where those tasty winter roots are. Thats the point of a community. As for kit I have secatures and basket, I don't have anything made of gortex(tm), because I don't need to. But I don't live in the Carngorms or hunt anything. Bushcraft I believe is hard wired into the human soul, just as sitting about dicussing the best way to skin a rabbit or what plants are good to eat. Our community just uses a computer rather than a campfire for that disscusion. I think bushcraft is too broad skill for one person to have (a few members come close though). WE can't all be Ray Mears, and even has things he doesn't know.

Well said....

 

[JonnyP]

why has this come up in New Posts, when it was last year that this was last posted on...????

 

[tomtom]

I get out there when I can, I'm pretty lucky in that my course at Uni is based in the out doors so I do field trips to various interesting places normally around once a week and spend time identifying plants and looking at the landscape.. and thats just for work My free time seems to get taken up with general student life/partying and with the more boring side of studying for a degree. But I'm lucky enough to live near some pretty amazing places both at home and at uni and try to get out there and enjoy them when I can!

By the way, Great photos guys!

 

[ScottC]

why has this come up in New Posts, when it was last year that this was last posted on...????

Because there's a bug which means your PM's actually get randomly sent to one of the threads you posted in!!!

 

[JonnyP]

Because there's a bug which means your PM's actually get randomly sent to one of the threads you posted in!!!

No its not, its because someone has voted on the poll...... :welcome:

 

[ScottC]

Well spotted, Jon. Wish I was as observant as you!

 

[JonnyP]

Well spotted, Jon. Wish I was as observant as you!

It sure does help to keep your eyes open and your wits about you Scott.....

 

[ScottC]

Enough pixie boy

 

[Heathenpeddler]

I don't get out much. No job, no money, no car. The nearest to bushcraft I can get usually is at the PermOrganics farm - very basic stuff, last week I sharpened their axe (the edge was all rolled over and as sharp as a spoon!) and made a leather cover for it. Collecting shiny things is beyond my budget so that's out. Whittled a clothes peg and would like a spoon knife so I can do that.

I'm a crafter and armchair enthusiast with a longing for more

 

[Greg]

I work shift but every month I have a 10 day period off (I have a hard life!) and in those 10 days my wife practically kicks me out of the house for 3-4 days so I get to practice quite a bit but still not as much as I would like.
I work as a part-time Instructor at a Survival School in the Brecons which helps alot aswell!

 

[garbo]

for me bushcraft is not somthing I do, its somthing I live, its the way I think about life, the way I see things, the thrill of finding a new plant or tasty morsel, a new way of doing somthing
I have to live in a real world too, I have a wife and kids a car and a house, etc,
I guess the bottom line is I'm comfotable when the power goes off
I do my own thing and its ok by me if you do yours

 

[BushTucker]

try to get out atleast 3 times a week, just walking with my camera, sometimes i will see a nice spot so camp there, i camp out in the garden about 4 times a month and elswhere about 6 times a month, so not a lot.

But now I am getting more reliable, light weight and genuinely usefull things for my kit, I believe I will do a lot more.

My marriage is on rocks at the mo so have to try and behave...

 

[firebreather]

As im new to all this malarky I have posted - not often. But i have hill walked and camped for most of my life with brief periods of not doing anything.

I have too much shiny kit and wish to get rid of most of it by learning new skills.

Bushcraft for me is about being to enjoy what is there when its there.

Now call that bushcraft or enjoying the countryside i dont know. I wish i could get out more but life and work gets in the way and im still getting back into walking after a lay off ( just got fed up with it all).

I am a big RM fan and have watched his programs avidly so i fit into the armchair bushcrafter and it has pushed me to get back out and do something i love ........whatever its called.

 

[Tengu]

I think its more a part of life.

Im currently doing work experience with council security on their amenity site.

This gives me lots of opportunities to find things. (cat basket, mahogany plank, ali sheet, bamboo headboard etc...)

Theres a canal, and trees and wildlife.

I found out where the deer were getting in. (its part of security, see?)

and I have plenty of time to sit and alter kit.

 

[ArkAngel]

I don't get out as often as i would like, my eczema is kicking the do-daa's out of me at the moment so my arms and various other parts of my body are wrapped up in steriod covered bandages the doc's advise is to stay out of the way of "mucky" activities at the moment to keep the risk of infection down so that curbs a good number of activites.

Still leaves a fair few things to do though. At the moment i am honing my tracking skills going out for walks with my camera. Badger's, deer and foxes are rife in the area so i am tracking them with the hope of good shots.
Also the Red Kites released from Harewood house near me seem to be spreading out and colonising the area. I see at least 1 (possibly 2) pairs around the farm so i want ot get out and see more of them.

I used to be a kit junkie but must admit the more i know the less things tend to get used. My axe's get some hammer due to having an open fire but a lot of other equipment is not getting much use. I have a WS woodie and a mora and find the mora is getting the most use.
I am really considering getting rid of some stuff that i don't use (like the woodie) while the prices are good and using the money on something i do a lot of (photography). Peoples opinions on that would be welcome (along with offers!!!)

It really is true, the more you know the less you carry.....unless it's camera gear....the more you know the more you carry