Are you embarrassed in what you do ?

[Nagual]

I think many people of any age group take the mickey or the likes out of things like bushcraft because they don't really understand that the term 'bushcraft' doesn't necessarily mean running about the woods in camo, and drinking ants wee. Simply going out for a one night camp with tents, cookers etc for some is what bushcraft is, for others a more limited kit may be the thing. I know most of know this, but my point is that it's their lack of knowledge, maybe even their fear of the great outdoors is what makes them use ridicule as a form of defence.

Is there an easy way around this? Well I would love to say yes, but there isn't really, as everyone is differnt it will take a different reply. Use as much honest information as you think they will accept and crutially understand, ranging from "I'm just going for a walk in the woods, to see whats there" to "I'm off to ID some various conifir trees to see how they each taste when using their needles for tea, made with my hobo stove while camping out for a couple of days under my A frame debris shelter.." But accept that some people may never just 'get it'

 

[IMOM]

Just ask them wether they have seen the film "Stand By Me " then ask them wether they laughed at it or not ......Ok so its not quite the same as bush craft but is all about an adventure with mates in the woods ! lol

I would continue to keep your self to your self unless you can trust some one to explain further ,its not worth the time or effort to narrow minded people ,Its only going to give them more ammo for P!!SS taking.

I know from first hand being an Army cadet was not cool at all,When I was at school.
Might have changed now but wasnt at the time ,I would be out at weekends learning life skills and not drinking and smoking in the park or bus shelter ......well most weekends any way lol

 

[Barn Owl]

Are you in a toon or village?

When I was your age we were in the woods regularly,punks and metal heids.
Almost everyone had an interest,be it airguns,ferrets,birdwatching(well me anyway) and we often had a wee libation on a weekend overnighter.

Of course there'll always be the crowd that think it's daft but whose going to have the better memories,abilities and a different conversation topic other than fitba','puter games and the price o' cider or sherry.

Keep mind and see if any of us are going out and I'm sure we could pick you up sometimes to join us.

 

[Shewie]

'bushcraft' doesn't necessarily mean running about the woods in camo, and drinking ants wee.

Now you tell me

 

[J4C3]

Agree with Avalon the older you get the less you care about what others think and are very happy from doing so

 

[Peter_t]

Iv always been socially awkward and talk about bushcraft or other ‘weird’ things about me are still best avoided.
The woods have always been an escape from society but too much escape has a negative effect of losing more social skills and confidance. i have abandoned most of my old friends who just play xbox all day. This has only recently worried me being nearly 19 the some of the few friends are moving away and im thinking apart from work I haven’t really got anywhere.

So don’t try to just avoid everone its not good for you!


pete

 

[jackcbr]

I think you're starting to see how it is from everyone else, but let me share a little life history from me. I wasn't much in school, not top of the class, not a swot or a sporty type. OK I was a prefect, but more by luck I think. I had a group of friends, people I knew and people I wouldn't give the time of day too. I was really in to Karate back then, and lifeguarding and use to get a lot of ribbing from the guys at school. But now I look back, I went off to college and the group of friends from school got smaller, but a new group started. These people were more like minded, people who wanted to learn more, hence going to college and stronger friendships made. That lead to uni and on to work. As for that group of friends from school, well I'm only in contact with one guy (it was 25 years ago), the best friend I could have, shame he's not a bushy too.

As for going off into the woods, well the guys at work do take the mick, but it is different. They do it out of good humour or at least I take it as that. I am the urban Ray Mears to them and they are always interested to hear what I got up to at the weekend, if only to take the p**s out of me and so what, I am who I am and I just don't care. Anyway, if they are doing it to me, then they're not doing it to someone else and I'll always give as good as I get. But now a few of them are chomping at the bit to come out with me.

I sometimes look back at the people that I went to school with and hear what has happened to them. And you know what, there was a reason I didn't stay in contact. I wasn't into drugs, or stealing cars, or being a teenage dad. I got myself an OK education, a job that gives me enough to live on and enjoy myself, a beautiful girlfriend (of 15 years BTW, we don't see the need for rings), a house, a dog, a cat and some quality time in the woods.

I guess I'm saying the same as everyone else, be yourself, be true to yourself. The people who tease you today will be mere memories tomorrow. A true friend isn't someone who loves you because of who you are, a true friend loves you in spite of who you are.

 

[Matt Weir]

Hi Pinerevolver,

There has been some great advice so far so I hope you read through it. As I have two lads a similar age to you I wanted to tell you what I think as I would hope others would help my lads out.

At 16 your school mates may not think that that it's the coolest thing to be chilling in the woods and you say that they ask why you go up there.

There are a couple of reasons why anyone at that age would actually notice this and be bothered to bring it up.

One reason they bring it up (especially when their mates are with them) and they come across in such a way that makes you feel awkward is that they feel like they see an easy target - someone who does stuff that their group doesn't do - so they bring it up just to highlight someone else and put them down in order to appear superior which is a common thing at lads your age and is fundamentally bullying - some folk don't seem to grow up and carry this on unrefined and come across all their lives as ar$eholes - most men refine it and it evolves into banter, experience will teach you how to handle it in years to come.

If you think there is bullying going on then it's important to get it stopped. You can either ask for help from an parent or teacher which is the official route or challenge them which may mean you tell them you don't give a $hit what they think escalating up to smacking the ringleader right in the face (many a best friend has actually been made via this route) but it is up to you how you play it.

The other reason why they would bring it up is that they are actually interested in which case there is nothing to be embarrassed about as they share the same view. In that case you may get a bushcraft buddy who you can teach what you know and bounce off each other to learn more.

Whatever the situation it's important that you try to build up confidence in yourself - it will happen and comes through experience.

Hope this helps and best wishes.

 

[TomBartlett]

Try and get them involved. Tell them to man up and spend a night in the woods. You can then share your hobby with them and hopefully convert a couple to world of bushcraft. If they continue to take the mick after spending a night out in the wilds, at least they'll be doing it from an informed position.

 

[forestwalker]

As others have said; there is no *actual* need to conform, nor do you need to explain or justify yourself to anyone (short of ending up in front of a magistrate, etc). Just tell then you like the peace and quiet out in the woods, and leave it at that.

Personally I was one of the snarky outcasts, so I said things like "I like to woods because you aren't there", which in retrospect was not the best strategy.

 

[EarlyRiser]

Be proud of your own individuality and the fact that you're strong enough not to blindly follow the crowd.

Have you considered getting involved in Explorer Scouts (15-18) as it sounds like you'd have a lot to offer a group like this?

Cheers

Tom

 

[ScotchDave]

As a fellow Scot you can always fall back on the traditional refrain: tell them you're practising for when the English invade!

Dave

 

[Melonfish]

My mates rip me for going camping in rain without a tent all weekend and I'm 33! I didn't really fit in when I was younger but looking back I wouldn't change anything. Just keep doing what you enjoy and you can't go wrong. I've always figured there's enough going on in my own life without trying to keep others happy, if somebody can't understand that then it's their loss.

Be thankfull thats just your m8's my wife never stops going on about me charging off for weekends damn near killing myself (outdoor courses)

As a fellow Scot you can always fall back on the traditional refrain: tell them you're practising for when the English invade!

Dave

We already are? can't you see the pasty white blighters swatting midges even now?

I think everyones jist here is be yourself and be proud of being yourself. i know how hard that is at 16, its like asking a caveman to climb to the moon but the fact is you'll grow into it. m8's can be cruel, especially in school and if you don't have a rough time in school then what kind of man would you be? you are doing the learning life skills thing and tbh you've got the jump on your m8's with a wicked hobby and an adventurous spirit!
better then glued to the x-box.
if they ask you what are you doing up there, just say simply enjoying the freedom! i think thats something they'd instantly relate to then want to try.

 

[pango]

Hello Pinerevolver,
This, at first sight, is an odd sort of post. But you've made me look back at myself at your age... to others, probably a detached, rebellious loner. I wasn't a loner. I now see that my problem was being self-contained and too independent!

But I was lucky! My saving grace was that it was a 10 minute walk to the woods and a 15 minute walk to the shore from my childhood home. That's where my angelic wee pals and myself spent our time killing things and eating them, and "camping" was not something I saw as being a particularly strange thing to do.

I was also lucky when, aged 17, I found a mate who delighted in pursuing the dreams of childhood, the unattainable height of "Carlin Maggie", shoreline crags and the mysterious depths of caves of which local myth and legend was designed to terrify children.

Nerds? I'm not sure what that means, but if it means we were hungry for knowledge and adventure then we certainly proved over the decades that Nerds we must have been! Although no-one called us that when, at 18, we turned up one Fri or Saturday night covered in muck and had half a dozen bonnie lasses trying to clean us up with the corners of damp hankies.
Cool is what you make it!

In our 40's, my mate's wife came home after a night out to find 3 or 4 of us lying on the living room floor, the worse for wear, Hendrix blaring quietly in the background. After turning the volume down and opening the windows, she said, "Will the real Peter Pan please stand up?"
We replied in unison, "I can't."

Show me the rule that says you have to grow up!

 

[Norton]

I was a cadet at your age and when you grow up in a council estate in the West of Scotland that leaves you open to all sorts of abuse. The skills and hobbies I learned as a cadet have made me a much more successful and employable person than the people who mocked me, bushcraft teaches you more about yourself and how you handle situations than it does anything else. It will also teach you over time what you deem to be successful as we all have different opinions and that's what makes us interesting as a species. I was told once that the difference between a man and a boy is that a man can provide for himself and his family and a boy cannot (you can change that to adult and child if you want), bushcraft is teaching you how to provide for yourself and your future family, whether that's obvious in a run your own bushcraft school kind of way, or less obvious in a learning valuable life skills kind of way doesn't matter trust me it is.
Be proud of what you do and who you are, if others mock you it can be hard but there are plenty of us out here that enjoy similar things to you. Continue to learn and if you think you've found someone who may be interested to learn with you then break them in gently, a week under nothing more than a tarp can put a novice off but an hour in the woods teaching them tree identification can awaken an interest they didn't know they had.
For me teaching a skill to someone, no matter how small makes me a success and bushcraft gives me more skills to teach more people.

 

[Morning Fox]

I remember taking the mick out of boys at school when we were around you're age (15/16) for going to boy scouts and explorers... camping... bushcrafting.. etc.

Then when I grew up I started to really wish that I had gone to scouts and explorers myself... and I realised how much of a stupid ignorant little fool I was for taking the mick.

Bushcraft is for real men, anyone who takes the mick is an idiot so don't worry about it too much me old son!

 

[Biker]

Pinerevolver,
I wonder now if you're a bit overwhelmed by all this sound advice. It's easy for us oldies to say we don't care what others think about our hobbies but at 16 years of age you're made entirely of nerve endings. You have my sympathy for not being a conformist with the rest of the herd, must be difficult being the square peg in the round hole. Personally I'd feel pretty happy about that being different and all.

But if I can offer any advice and that's don't change. Do what you want to do, be what you want to be. They have their interests which is sitting in a darkened room clogging their arteries and getting carpal tunnel syndrome playing on their X-boxes for 8 hours straight. Meanwhile you're out there breathing fresh Scottish air and toughening up and learnig things they press keys on a game pad to achieve.

I envy you your desire to do this at such a young age. I look back and wished I'd joined the Scouts, like Morning Fox said above.

So be yourself don't cast your pearls before swine, in other words don't waste your time justifying yourself or your actions. See if you can turn it around at them instead if it gets too difficult. Ask them in the most sarcastic voice you can muster "So getting to level 9 on your X-box game makes you a better person than me does it? ... Whatever." then roll your eyes. Give them some time and maybe the importance of what you said might sink in.

Good luck mate. I have two daughters about your age (16 & 18) living in Galashiels with their Mum and stepdad. Peer pressure is hellish but they're gradually learning that it's not the whole world.

 

[lightfoot]

After skimming the thread I've read all sorts of wise and fatherly advice so won't repeat it.

However, practically speaking, if you still feel you need to get people off you case if they're taking the mick then, as you're studying for a BASC Deer Stalking Level 1, tell folk you're developing your career skills. Perfect.

In a year or so you can run some tracking and stalking courses for us BCUK oldies and we'll be in awe of you ;o)

 

[Alchemist]

Chin up mate. Although popular at school for playing sport I have always been a little different. When I look back on the parts of my life that I feel were wasted (smoking pot at Uni, perhaps the Army) I realise that I didn't spend enough time doing the things that really got me going. Maths is something I should have done at Uni because as strange as this sounds, I absolutely love it! You have got something that gets you up in the morning. You are a lucky man.

You are not likely to regret the things that you did in life, only the things you didn't do.

The other option is to be normal. Copy what other people do. Emulate someone who you think epitomises all this for you. You will lead a hollow life but nobody will bother you as much. After all, Alan Turing, Einstein, Darwin, Hannibal and many others would have been much happier if they had just gone with the crowd. Wouldn't they?

A Buddhist would say No Mind, only go straight. You are holding onto fear. Let it go.

Oh yes, I forgot to say- F*?! them

 

[locum76]

It has occured to me that, actually, Bushcraft isn't cool. But then, neither is gardening.