bushcraft and survival mag

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firecrest

Full Member
Mar 16, 2008
2,496
4
uk
To be fair the only issue I bought was because I recognised some of Firecrest's art work in it and thought it may have been some how linked to BCUK.

I thought that a lot of the: try this, do that, make this sort of stuff had been lifted straight off here a dumbed down slightly.

I gotta say the cover price doesn't justify the content and since getting into Bushcraft I have learnt more skills and picked up better advice on this forum than I should imagine a life time of subscription to that magaizine would generate.

Oh and SWAT was a great magazine and I remember it fondly from my yuuf.
.

lol hope my article wasn't part of the downhill bit, took me ages to write that! sorry to hear you were dropped dave, tbh I've only bought a couple of issues so I don't know personally whether the mag is going downhill or not, it's no longer stocked anywhere local to me.
well if anybody starts another mag, you know where to come for an artist ;-)
 

Kerne

Maker
Dec 16, 2007
1,766
21
Gloucestershire
I've got a subscription with some time to run but I doubt that I will renew it. I like getting a bushy rush delivered every so often but there are massive reservations concerning the mag:
  • The layout - graphic wizadry over content
  • Quality/relevance of articles - sometimes the bushcraft link is tenuous in the extreme
  • The "stories" for kids - OK, it's a bushy mag but surely literary worth counts for something?
  • Same old, same old - article topics repeat with monotonous regularity
  • Quality of writing - often the articles are by excellent practioners whose writing skills are not as well developed as their bushy skills (Dave - a definite exception in this regard!)

And: what do they mean by those asterisks next to each title? - I keep looking for a footnote...

That said, it is something of a "curate's egg" in that there is often very good stuff littered around. It seems to me they are aiming to catch too wide an audience in order to boost sales but, in doing so, are failing to attract their core audience - our good selves. And after reading the treatment meted out to Dave and others, I reckon they'll not be seeing much more of my money.

As for a BCUK mag - Brill! When you look at Pablo's blog and other offerings by people here, it is clear that we have the talent.
 
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geoff88

Forager
Jul 14, 2006
136
0
67
SW England
Sorry to hear what's happened Dave. Like many people here I only ever bought a few copies but always liked your articles. The one where you used a kukri to butter toast was great.:lmao:
Sure something will turn up and you get to spend more time in your wood.
See you at the knife show I expect.

Geoff
 

IntrepidStu

Settler
Apr 14, 2008
807
0
Manchester
Fact is that the mag is aimed at people that are Grylls fans rather than Mears et al fans.
So it's style over substance.

Got to aggree with you there Mark. Thats one of the reasons why I cancelled my subscription. It was a pretty good mag in the early days but its gone way down hill. Just looks like they want to make as much wonga as possible (to many adverts now)

Stu
 

Dave Budd

Gold Trader
Staff member
Jan 8, 2006
2,894
321
44
Dartmoor (Devon)
www.davebudd.com
you must be one of the new recruits then :D I've been hearing from other writers that they are also thinking of quitting the mag. Rats and sinking ships maybe?

To b honest I only ever flicked through it anyway. too many ads, stupid artwork that confuses the eyes and the articles often dumbed down any kind of information that the writers might have been trying to get across. I know for sure that while the writers mostly are experts in their fields, they aren't allowed to write what they would like to as the staff have other ideas of what a good story might be or would rather cover it in-house (thus putting their own twist on things, particularly reviews of things). Then when an article is submitted there is no guarantee that it gets printed that way! :mad:
 

Nat

Full Member
Sep 4, 2007
1,476
0
York, North Yorkshire
I'll admit to buying the last 3 issues, but the latest has sat at the bottom of the stairs on the magazine rack since i bought it.

What we need are people willing to contribute to a regular zine
 

Opal

Native
Dec 26, 2008
1,022
0
Liverpool
Never seen the mag anywhere on Merseyside or anywhere on my travels around the country.
Does it reall exist or is it all in yer minds? :D
 

Dave Budd

Gold Trader
Staff member
Jan 8, 2006
2,894
321
44
Dartmoor (Devon)
www.davebudd.com
funny you should ask that. Until it went into smiths I'd never seen a copy other than the one that got sent out to me. They were very proud to announce that it was for sale in Borders shops around the country before that. Can't say I blame them for being proud to have the mag in the high street, but my nearest branch was over a hundred miles away :D

Who knows, now I'm away maybe it'll pick up again! :lol:

Lets hope that the other bushcraft publications become so popular that the everybody raises their game a bit further ;) Certainly I was getting to the stage that new ideas were running thin and I didn't want to fall into the trap of repeating myself every 12 months or so
 

Mang

Settler
[Tin hat]I'm a Bushcraft magazine subscriber sticking his head over the top!

There's been (as Tony said) a large amount of negative comments about the mag yet no one from memory had started a dedicated thread before Dave's one. Also, did anyone write to the mag with constructive criticism? Dare I radically suggest BCUK combining it's talents with Bushcraft and S S magazine? Great to hear an alternative talked of, but who's gonna stump up the time and the cash for it?

Surely there's also a finite(ish) amount of things that the magazine can cover on the subject-As for repeating itself, what do a lot of BCUK threads do?!

I've only glanced at the latest issue as I'm saving it for holiday reading, but bushcraftwise there's articles on:

*Tapping sap and what to do with it
*Ultimate Ash bow
*Mr Budds' What saw?
*Badger watching
*Striking a spark (flint and steel)
*Building a raised (shelter) bed
*Mors Kochanski words of wisdom
*Shore plant foods
*Budget bushcraft
*Handmade knife review
*Cedar as a medicine
*Tanning small pelts
*Night navigation

Sure, you can argue about the depth and length of features but they are relevant. I would agree that perhaps the Ben Fogle one does stretch the mags remit somewhat. I would also agree that those that don't like Bear have seen a lot of him recently but to be fair to the magazine, the features were there on a plate for them and I can't fault them on that, it's just a shame that the opportunities came in succession.

In general I'd say it's hard to pigeon hole what constitutes bushcraft titles. When I started the Bushcraft and Nature Social Group on Escouts I replied to a post where someone said they where an amateur and I said: Knots, camping, compass, fires, pioneering, nature walks, pioneering, axe and knife work it's scouting, no bushcraft, no scouting , no bushcr...I'd personally ike the mag to stick to 'temperate climate subjects' but appreciate that there are those who enjoy other stuff.

Oh, and my forthcoming contribution is a recipe in letter format.[/Tin hat]
 
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