Bushcraft Etiquette

[ranger]

A few days ago I went to one of my favourite spots for practising bushcraft, one I often camp out at. The last time I was there I stacked up a large pile fire wood/kindling between the branches of a tree. It had taken me a few of hours to collect and would have been enough for a couple of nights camping out. I was a bit annoyed to find that someone else had made use of nearly all the wood, without making any effort to replace it. It was obvious the person was a fellow bushcrafter as they had built a litter shelter. So is there a bushcraft etiquette about this sort of thing or am I being over sensitive?

I have no issue with someone else enjoying the spot I use, I’m glad they can enjoy it too. I know from a personal perspective, I’d not make use of someone else’s efforts like that without making any effort to replace it.

ranger

 

[redflex]

I think everyone should show mutual respect in life not just in bushcraft.


If you use or borrow something either from nature or another person you should always replace it or return it.


They should had cleared the shelter afterwards, clearly they only interest is that of theirs,

They may use bushcraft skills but they are not bushcrafters as bushcraft it is as much about respect for nature and other as it is about the skills

 

[g4ghb]

I think everyone should show mutual respect in life not just in bushcraft.


If you use or borrow something either from nature or another person you should always replace it or return it.


They should had cleared the shelter afterwards, clearly they only interest is that of theirs,

They may use bushcraft skills but they are not bushcrafters as bushcraft it is as much about respect for nature and other as it is about the skills

Here here! - I agree totally - it's not a lot to ask / expect is it?

I keep thinking back to the alpine hut tradition of leaving a match sticking out the box on top of a ready laid fire in the stove..........

It's how I try to live by!

 

[Topcat02]

What a bunch of That is the height of bad manners.

 

[Shewie]

Hi Ranger

It stinks doesn`t it - I had a similar experience last year except not only was all the wood I`d collected burnt, but the fireplace had expanded to about 10ft in diameter and was now full of charred holsten pils cans. There were plastic bags everywhere and even a broken fishing rod and reel sat on the ground. I couldn`t bare to leave the site as it was so spent about an hour collecting all the crap up in my backpack rain cover and carried it out.
Mindless ignorance.

:twak:

 

[ranger]

Thanks chaps. As I say I did feel rather annoyed/dissappointed in the other persons attitude. The spot is somewhere that's quite hard to find and it would have been obvious that someone had taken time and effort to collect the wood. It was also stashed very discretely - as others have stated, it's nice to leave things as much as possible as if you'd never been there.

I was also suprised that no effort hed been made to take down the shelter. One of the nice aspects of bushcraft is that generally people have a great deal of respect for each other, nature and the environment.

 

[BirchBark]

Personally I follow the idea of leaving no trace when using the countryside. If you leave a fire pit or a pile of logs for burning its like advertising to people "Please camp here" and not just to other bushcrafters but to the local yobs who may not have been thinking of starting a fire until they came across the log pile. However if on private land where the land owner has allowed bushcrafters to set up a permanent camp I totally agree that replacing the fire wood is a definate courtesy that should be followed.

Leaving trash, even though its a common occurance these days, really p*sses me off. Well done Shewie, if only there were alot more of us willing to clear up after others, even better it would be nice if people would not trash thier envorment in the first place.

 

[capacious]

I hope you dismanteld the cheeky bas*ards shelter. Or pee'd on it. Or both.

 

[pierre girard]

A few days ago I went to one of my favourite spots for practising bushcraft, one I often camp out at. The last time I was there I stacked up a large pile fire wood/kindling between the branches of a tree. It had taken me a few of hours to collect and would have been enough for a couple of nights camping out. I was a bit annoyed to find that someone else had made use of nearly all the wood, without making any effort to replace it. It was obvious the person was a fellow bushcrafter as they had built a litter shelter. So is there a bushcraft etiquette about this sort of thing or am I being over sensitive?

I have no issue with someone else enjoying the spot I use, I’m glad they can enjoy it too. I know from a personal perspective, I’d not make use of someone else’s efforts like that without making any effort to replace it.

ranger

I'd imagine that this situation is a little different in England. I never get bent about this sort of thing, but then I seldom camp at the same place twice. If I leave extra wood at a campsite - it is because I gathered too much (which I usually do). I don't expect to return and find it still there. If I camp somewhere, and there is firewood left by the last person to use the site, I use it with no compuction and feel no obligation to leave wood - unless I've gathered more than I ended up using. It's not like I, or the camper before me, own the wood.

Gathering wood gives me a chance to check out the area and see what animals and flora are close by. Gathering enough wood for a couple days seldom takes me more than 15 minutes - which I'm sure colors my outlook on the issue.

To me, bushcraft etiquitte is what my wife practises - whenever we are on a portage (portage etiquitte) If anyone else is on the portage, we don't get to launch our canoe until we've helped other portagers carry all their packs across. She also carries a garbage bag, in her pack, to collect all the campsite debris, i.e., plastic, candy wrappers, beer cans, etc. that less careful individuals have left at the site. Leaving a campsite in a condition as untouched as possible - is the best campsite etiquitte. While it is not possible to "leave no trace," I always do my best to leave as little trace as possible.

Boy scouts used to be the worst at this. They would make little tables out of saplings - that wouldn't stand up, line paths with rocks (sometimes spray-painted white), and sweep the duff off trails - leading to erosion - in the mistaken belief they were "improving" the campsite. Thankfully, I've seen less of this kind of thing, the past few years.

PG

 

[RovingArcher]

It's pretty much the same here as Pierre Girard describes. In an area where available firewood is at a premium, my feelings might be different, but where the forests aren't kept neat and clean, there is usually plenty of deadfall to collect for the firepit and if there's some left over, it belongs to the next one to use the site.

I do like that the trash left by others was cleaned up. I carry a small trash bag with me on hikes/walks and collect whatever trash I find if possible. Same when camping, as most who enter the woods don't care a bit about how they leave it.

I try and leave as little sign of my visit as possible, but I can usually tell if people frequent the area I'm in and if there is a firepit there, I use it and then will usually make it smaller prior to leaving, but I don't remove it, because someone else will just come along and make another one someplace else and if there's a pit available, maybe they won't disturb more of the forest and will camp where it's already been established.

 

[BobFromHolland]

One impressive sign of bushcraft etiquette I have found hiking on the Long Distance trails in the south of Sweden was an axe and logs of wood lying at a fire place down the trail for easy use.

I am sure that axe would have been knicked within hours after leaving it here in the Dutch woodlands.

 

[RovingArcher]

One impressive sign of bushcraft etiquette I have found hiking on the Long Distance trails in the south of Sweden was an axe and logs of wood lying at a fire place down the trail for easy use.

I am sure that axe would have been knicked within hours after leaving it here in the Dutch woodlands.

That is impressive. The axe would have been gone same day here in the states.

 

[Swampy Matt]

One impressive sign of bushcraft etiquette I have found hiking on the Long Distance trails in the south of Sweden was an axe and logs of wood lying at a fire place down the trail for easy use.

I am sure that axe would have been knicked within hours after leaving it here in the Dutch woodlands.

The Wood Pile would have been arrested for 'Possession of an offensive weapon’ here in the UK...

 

[Graywolf]

Your not being over sensitive,He should have realised that someone had collected the wood and asked if it would be okay to use .Personally I would have said something ,and I can understand that you are annoyed.
Clayton

 

[william#]

the eternal dilema about saying something
the problem being if yu do often there is then a tension created
and if yu dont its like yu just take it like a good boy .
its such a small thing - this wood pile - thats why its such a big deal i think - its basic and a simple thng which should not have even been an issue - should of asked the guy if he has been potty trained yet sounds like not a very evolved chap

 

[Swampy Matt]

Has anyone stopped to consider whether the wood was used by someone who needed it?

Example - Guy sees woodpile whilst in woods. Later he injures himself or realises the first stages of hypothermia are coming on and needs to make a fire. Rather than waste valuble energy (AND RISK HIS LIFE) searching for wood, he returns to where he knows there is a large woodpile and uses it to keep himself alive.

In a wood near me its hard to distinguish between the woodpiles left by the woodland managers, those left by bushcrafters, and those left by 12 year old chavs on motorcrossers for their stoner fires. Therefore I'm happy to use whatever is available.

Matt.

Oh - my girlfriend is laughing because she finds if "pathetic" that grown men are discussing "who stole my twig"...

 

[Wayne]

Has anyone stopped to consider whether the wood was used by someone who needed it?

Example - Guy sees woodpile whilst in woods. Later he injures himself or realises the first stages of hypothermia are coming on and needs to make a fire. Rather than waste valuble energy (AND RISK HIS LIFE) searching for wood, he returns to where he knows there is a large woodpile and uses it to keep himself alive.

In a wood near me its hard to distinguish between the woodpiles left by the woodland managers, those left by bushcrafters, and those left by 12 year old chavs on motorcrossers for their stoner fires. Therefore I'm happy to use whatever is available.

Matt.

Oh - my girlfriend is laughing because she finds if "pathetic" that grown men are discussing "who stole my twig"...

I'm with matts gf here. You left your wood it got used. You shouldn't really be collecting more than you need. Dead wood is an important habitat for loads of rare invertebrates. The public oods near me are littered with the remains of badly constructed shelters. Leave no trace means exactly that no evidence you were ever there.

It is always a shock to discover people engaged in our chosen recreaction don't think the same. Its life and we have to get used to it.

 

[Big Geordie]

I sort of understand the concerns however I'm wondering how old the shelter was?
Did he come back with his 6 year old the next few days to show & impress him with bushcraft ? When was he going to use it again?
I also tend toward the "leave no trace" style which would suggest that you gathered too much.
Of course I will never accept the untidy ******** who leave beer cans and broken glass about.
George

 

[Lithril]

I'm with Wayne here, I'm of the opinion that you should leave the area exactly as you found it, once there are traces that an area will be used others will try as well then we get the left over bbq and beer can site.

Matt

 

[Roving Rich]

I am whole heartedly with you Ranger on this one. It is simple outdoor etiquette to leave a pile of firewood behind if you found when when you arrived.
This has been the practice of all traveling folk i have encountered in the UK. I was first educated to this practice by horse drawn gypsies who have a regular bunch of pull ins, then new age traveler (the more seasoned of them), where they had actually trimmed the lower branches off the beech trees in an old drove and stacked them off in the back of the hedge to both make room for future visitors and provide a supply of firewood. Further on the few long distance paths i have traveled I have discovered campsites in copses with a set up (open) fireplace and a stack of firewood at the edge of the clearing. In all cases it is etiquette amongst these folk to replace the firewood for the next visitor.
I have been very greatful of it after a long days travel, having pulled in cold and hungry in failing light and discovered the warmth and light of a fire is only two minutes work rather than half and hour.

It is certainly a practice to be encouraged, especially among members of this community. Just as leaving the match sticking out of the box, setting the wood burner ready to light, and refilling the Kelly kettle with fuel before putting it away.

Another piece of etiquette, which is really an unwritten law as far as I am concerned - Is never to refuse someone a drink of water. I'm not talking last ditch survival situation here, just when you have and they have not.

Top marks to you Ranger - you set an example for all to follow.

Cheers
Rich