Armchair Bushcraft

[Wayland]

Hi Ron, I've been reasonably well but time catches up with us all in the end.

Yes, it is a shame the forum is not what it once was. The youngsters tell me that forums are "dead" now but FB and the like are nowhere near as good for finding information in my opinion.

I still stop in here regularly to check what's happening but most of the kit sale threads leave me cold I'm afraid.

 

[RonW]

I hear you on getting caught up on.
I now pay the price for foolish behaviour 30 years ago.

I quit "social" media all together. And my social life took a nosedive because of it. Might also be the population here, since lasting social relations does not appear to come easy. Or at all.
Funny thing is that BCUSA is still thriving. People come and go, but somehow it persists. All other digital outdoor places I used to visit have gone the way of the dodo or focus mostly on geartalk a.k.a. buybuybuy-threads.

 

[Olly]

Apologies, I've been 'here' for quite a while now, but rarely post anything, perhaps because I don't feel that I have much to contribute given the skills and experience of other members of this forum...

 

[Wayland]

Sometimes the best contribution is just the act of starting a conversation.

Ultimately, everything has been discussed before at some time but it does no harm to revisit a topic because it stimulates a new audience with new ideas.

Most of us are more than happy to share what knowledge we have but the most depressing thing is thinking that no one is interested.

 

[lou1661]

I have been keeping an eye on this thread and part of my lack of response has been down to a few things, but probably the main one being that my written prose is not the best. I have started threads and had no response, or a response to a question I had not realised I had asked! I have responded to threads, and my post has been lost in the traffic, making any response lost. But probably most of all I see posts from members who always know best or sidetrack the conversation and derail it onto the same things they go on about all the time. Yes I should reply more but sometimes the fun is taken out of it, so I don’t.

 

[RonW]

But probably most of all I see posts from members who always know best or sidetrack the conversation and derail it onto the same things they go on about all the time.

That was one of the main reasons I left the forum. That and a lot of, in my eyes, nonsensical chatter, nowhere near related to the main idea of the forum. Or what it claims to be.

 

[Ruud]

And I don't care for all these semi-mandatory bushcraft-skills like carving, cordage making and the like. Plus I no longer can do a host of others. Since early this year I can no longer properly use my shoulders, elbows or right hand. At times I could not even hold and use a knife properly, let alone split wood.
As such even my "homestead" took a severe beating; no planting, no harvesting, no conservation, no wood splitting, nothing.

Take care man, hope you get through these hard times fast.

 

[Wayland]

I have been keeping an eye on this thread and part of my lack of response has been down to a few things, but probably the main one being that my written prose is not the best. I have started threads and had no response, or a response to a question I had not realised I had asked! I have responded to threads, and my post has been lost in the traffic, making any response lost. But probably most of all I see posts from members who always know best or sidetrack the conversation and derail it onto the same things they go on about all the time. Yes I should reply more but sometimes the fun is taken out of it, so I don’t.

That was one of the main reasons I left the forum. That and a lot of, in my eyes, nonsensical chatter, nowhere near related to the main idea of the forum. Or what it claims to be.

Nothing much wrong with your prose Lou, I think that is eloquently put and I agree, the character of the forum has changed dramatically since I joined and I am very disappointed to see people that should be encouraging new members often dismissing their questions as if it is beneath them to answer properly.

The forum always did tend towards a light, conversational atmosphere which often got sidetracked in the past, but not usually before dealing with the original question.

Sadly many of the old helpful hands I once knew have moved on to other things or different places and I suspect the forum will never be what it once was. Things change and there is not much to be done about that.

I am not here as much as I used to be, I too have different interests now, but I will try to be more helpful and responsive when I am here. The only thing I can change is myself.

 

[RonW]

Take care man, hope you get through these hard times fast.

Much of it is permanent or with a high probability of reoccurring. So I must adjust my ways.
The homesteading-bit I will not give up, but I must find ways to lessen the burden to the body. The farmjob is over.

 

[Laurentius]

You know, the way things are going, it is going to end up with wheelchair bushcraft for me. FWIW my mum used to own a wheelchair that would fit in well with your camp, an electric four wheel drive wheelchair made out of plywood, and she used that to the limit. I can remember once, I think it was inverlochlarig or somewhere pretty remote when her batteries ran out, so I left her up there and walked back to the car to carry up the spare pair we had for such eventualities. Anyway by the time I started back up the pass, there she was coming down as it was more a case of her relays had overheated and recovered and she was coming back down under her own steam. She was a force of nature.

 

[Wayland]

Sounds like a grand lass.

 

[Nice65]

You know, the way things are going, it is going to end up with wheelchair bushcraft for me. FWIW my mum used to own a wheelchair that would fit in well with your camp, an electric four wheel drive wheelchair made out of plywood, and she used that to the limit. I can remember once, I think it was inverlochlarig or somewhere pretty remote when her batteries ran out, so I left her up there and walked back to the car to carry up the spare pair we had for such eventualities. Anyway by the time I started back up the pass, there she was coming down as it was more a case of her relays had overheated and recovered and she was coming back down under her own steam. She was a force of nature.

“so I left her up there”. Brilliant

I see a lady in an off-road chair quite often, she has a huge wagon, knobbly mud tyres and big battery capacity. She’s quite happy tracking it through Sainsbury’s on the way home and grabbing her food and drink.

I’m armchair bushcrafting this evening, running an axe stone over the Elwell hook I just got, and looking out into the rain at the wispy brambles it’s going to behead.

 

[Robson Valley]

Good mountainous Morning in the pouring rain!
Probably snowing up top, no plans to get beyond hot food in the kitchen.

Now that I'm home (post op) , about time to haft another Pacific Northwest First Nations crooked knife blade.
Made it down into my shop last night and found a couple of birch blanks.
The blade is a Kestrel 'C' bend, a gift to the old man from my D1.

First step is to lay out the tapers for the nose and tail of each blank.
I promise a new thread and some pictures.

 

[Janne]

Congratulations to a successful operation!
Quick healing and no complications!

 

[Robson Valley]

I'm OK. Every day is a little bit stronger. 16 mm tubing does wonders.
Armchair Bushcraft can't match day after day day-dreaming of bushcrafty stuff ( carving).
I even made some wood chips last night to be certain that I wasn't still dreaming.

Polish a knife. Cook supper on a little camp stove in your kitchen. Practice.
Got a new and simple recipe? Pretend it's pi$$ing rain and cook it up.

Right now, I have white lumpy rain and the freezing level is only 200' at most above my place.

The question is: do I use a Stanley Bailey #5 or a spoke shave to prune my new knife handles to shape?

 

[Wayland]

Glad to hear you are mending well. Best of luck.

 

[Corso]

Most social groups have a life span, unless new members appear to replace those who have lost interest/moved on things stagnate and eventually die.

However what also happens with an influx of new members is the old questions get asked all over again which in itself makes the old hand's loose interest

Even a site as popular as BCUSA has very little actual new content and they have a much bigger population

could be worst though look at britishblades - there was so much useful information on there that disappeared over night

 

[Wayland]

Worth remembering that the information here could disappear the same way if it is no longer worthwhile or cost effective for Tony to maintain the site...

 

[saxonaxe]

Some interesting observations in this thread. I know nothing about the other types of social media, but I am a member of BCUSA which I find entertaining.

When dealing with dangerous game it's good policy not to approach an unmoving and silent animal which appears to be dead, without first testing for a reaction. One can simply wait to see if there is life present or throw a stone at the carcass to test for signs of life.

With that tactic in mind, trying seemingly brainless posts about technology mishaps or Spaghetti ballistics did provoke a twitch or two...So fear not, in this case there are still feint signs of life in the forum......

 

[Wayland]

Given our current situation with so many of us locked down by the Coronavirus, This thread has taken on a different perspective.

Now it would seem that I am enjoying my camping even more vicariously through my model making.

I can't get out there but at least I can still enjoy the aesthetic.