Embrace Technology

[SMARTY]

I know that as Bushcrafters you would like to think that the 'Old Ways' are kept alive and are perhaps the prefered method of doing things. But what are your views on the technology available to make life easier in the great outdoors. I recall when I first started teaching survival (some 20 years ago now) Matchess in wax and everlasting matches were the methods of the time. Now its fero rods, high powerd gas lighters etc. Also the application of mobile phones and PLB's for locating survivors is amazing these days. I am constantly suprised to meet people who tend to use the old skills and ignore the advances in technology. What are your thoughts?

 

[Celt_Ginger]

I like both. I enjoy the skills neded to achieve things using the older methods and believe that we should take the time to learn them, but not dismiss the advances in technology either. I prefer using my steel knife and axe, yet i know I could fashion a flint knife if I needed to.I know how to build a shelter, yet prefer to take a tarp with me, etc etc. It seems that getting an ember with the bow drill is a Bushcraft rite of passage, yet I prefer to use flint and steel. A marrage of the old ways and the new is the way I prefer to practice my Bushcraft.

 

[DKW]

Depends on what i want to do when im out. WHat the goal of the outing is.

I do primitive trips, aswell as "sightseeing" trips with my scouts. Well numerous other things aswell.
Depending on the nature of a trip, what i want to achieve, i choose the nature of tools and equipment i will bring.

 

[Wayland]

I like both.

I like the self reliant nature of old methods but for speed and reliability some new technology is really handy.

 

[Mr Adoby]

Remember Otzi?

http://wilderdom.com/evolution/OtziIcemanAlpsPictures.htm

He was an example of how we are eager to use modern technology. I suspect he was a true super-modern high-tech representative of his time.

Whats new today will be traditional and oldfashioned tomorrow.

But it's interesting to realize that some old techniques may be just as functional and efficient as the best today. But I guess he'd would have really liked a good bivvy-bag with a dry down sleepingbag inside..

A.

 

[Man of Tanith]

personally its a case of old ways to practice them or i have plenty of time to do them (i am still a long way off most of them) and new ways when i NEED something instantly.
I'd like to saw all my brew stops when am out are made on a small fire lit by a bow drill and feather sticks but its so much easier to light my hexy block with a zippo
same with shelter making I'd like to use all natural cordage and a debris sheltar but paracord is a lot easier and quicker when it is absolutley hammering it down with rain,
Regards
Sam

 

[Wallenstein]

I spend my day surrounded by bits of hi-tech gear, with time measured in miliseconds and everything done by the light of a laptop screen.

When I'm out in the woods it's nice to take my time by e.g. lighting a fire with a bowdrill. It's great to have a ferro-rod as a backup, or a windproof lighter when the bowdrill breaks, but taking an hour over a job gives my brain a chance to chill out and actually think, rather than just reacting.

I have GPS and LED headlamps in my pack, and use them when needed, but nothing beats cooking over a fire with wood collected over the space of 1hr earlier in the day, all in the light of a kerosene lantern.

I think there's perhaps a difference between people for whom "bushcraft" was actually "normal life", and people (like me) for whom it's a hobby to be enjoyed in the knowledge that I'm 20 mins drive from a Tesco supermarket or a warm pub. As such, using primitive techniques becomes a pleasure, rather than a chore.

We have people in the office who are into old skool computing - early 80s machines etc - they will spend hours tinkering with them at home, but when they come into work they will always prefer to use the cutting-edge server farm to process their work.

 

[scoops_uk]

I am constantly suprised to meet people who tend to use the old skills and ignore the advances in technology. What are your thoughts?

For me that's the whole point of bushcraft, it's using that old knowledge to live comfortably in the wild. I can make a bow drill from scratch with no tools, can't make a turbo lighter, can't even make the gas to refill it. (Well maybe the gas, but refilling is definitely off the list!)

Otherwise I'd be in a caravan!

Scoops

 

[Still Waters]

I do embrace technology but i never rely on it hence my interest in bushcraft

Bit of both for me realy ill turn up at camp and light a fire with firelighters and a butane lighter then spend a good few hours practicing the bow drill.

Im very lucky to have modern convienences to give me the time to practice what i belive are almost soon to be forgotten skills

 

[jungle_re]

As with most of the replies a like a mixture of both. The satisfaction of using simple tools to acheive an outcome is still a real buzz for me however for expeditions the new technology could be an absolute god send things like the spot could be a real life saver. If i go the technology route then it need to be good.
I like shooting my hunter bow becouse its naked no flags and whilstles, it fairly primitive i have no interest in shooting a compound bow. Im often told well that just progress and technology but to me the evolution of the bow and weapons led to the firearm so would much rather use any one of my rifles. Both have there place

 

[SMARTY]

Its good to hear that there is a mix of ol and new ways being practiced out there. How about this question then...Who takes a modern back up for and old skill with them as a routine thing. For example a box of matchess to back up friction fire lighting.

 

[scoops_uk]

Modern backup is always handy.

Although if you are backing up a skill with technology when you're learning the skill as a backup to the technology I think you meet yourself on the way to the woods.

Scoops

 

[leon-1]

Its good to hear that there is a mix of ol and new ways being practiced out there. How about this question then...Who takes a modern back up for and old skill with them as a routine thing. For example a box of matchess to back up friction fire lighting.

Nice thread Chris.

I don't rely on any one thing, when you are cold wet and hacked off, you are losing motor function in your hands it would be silly to mess around with trying to get a friction fire set up and running when you have a cheap disposable lighter in your pocket.

I carry a lighter, matches in a matchsafe, a firesteel and my own skills / knowledge. I don't rely on being able to have an open fire, I carry a lightweight stove as well.

Most of us don't make candles when we're out and about we carry candle lanterns and torches (both are a different take on technical advances to an age old problem of seeing at night).

Most decent torches have a strobe function which is a modern alternative to other types of signalling.

Daysacks and bergans are modern alternatives to packframes and swags.

I think many people actually benefit from technology and advances in equipment, but they don't really notice it until it's pointed out to them. Basha's, string to cord, lights of all kinds, fire in many different guises from means of starting it to cooking over it and means and methods of carriage of the kit we take with us.

 

[crwydryny]

personaly I tend to use more traditional skills simply because battries can run flat, electronics can become waterlogged or smashed, lighters can run out of gas and unless you're within range of a mast mobiles are useless, and GPS tends to be unreliable in mountainous or heavily forested areas.

while if you've got the old skills all you need is your brain and some improvisation to make the tools you need and presto you can get out of anything (hopefully) because one thing you're gaurenteed to never be without even when your gadgits have all died on you is your brain.

 

[Wayland]

Oh..I don't know....

The amount of people I meet that haven't bothered to switch their brains on in the morning is quite amazing.

 

[Tor helge]

I still use matches, and horror not the waxed ones , just plain safety matches in a waterproof match box. I also carry a lighter as I smoke.
I own several ferro rods, but frankly I don`t see their advantage over the match. I`m seldom in the woods for more than 3-4 days anyway.
I also consider the old flint and steel to be more fun and ocationally use that to make fire.

I own two GPS units that I never use. One Garmin GPS12 and one Magellan Meridian Gold. When I have the units in my pocket they tend to turn themselves on and deplete the battery while just lying in the pocket. Why aren`t they made with a proper on/off button .
The GPS units work well however, and they are more than accurate enough to navigate by, but I use a map and carry a compass. Why should I then carry a GPS too?

I also use a mobile phone, but they are dependent on a signal to work. Many places have no mobile net available.

Modern backpacks I find better than the old ones and I (mostly) use a modern one. The Ortlieb sacks are wonderful and a gift to any man travveling in the wild:You_Rock_ .

The list could be made longer, but I`ve bored you enough already. The bottom line is that I use what works for me wether it is the old way or modern gadgets.

Tor

 

[kiltedpict]

Something Ray Mears said at his Aberdeen Lecture I found interesting. He showed a picture of an African tribesman lighting a fire using friction. You could clearly see that on the ground next to him, the tribesman also had a ferro rod / flint and a box of matches.

Ray pointed out that in a land where firelighing is arguably relatively easy (I assume the abundance of dry tinder!), they still carry mulitple methods of making fire, and what he felt was strange was how we often only see the need for one method in an environment that is often a challenge for making fire (and I'm thinking the soggy damp cairngorms!!)

For me, I lkek the backup of a small lighter, but love the feel of the ferro rod- even for lighing my stove. As for friction fire lighting- can't wait to give it a try soon!

Best wishes,

KP

 

[Tengu]

The ferro rod is a delight in itself...but I prefer matches.

 

[Chance]

Look at the lesson of history: for most people, lighters killed matches killed the fire piston killed flint-and-steel killed fire-by-friction killed lightning strikes... for day-to-day use. In fact, if you use electricity for light and heat, maybe we've come full circle.
Perhaps the likes of us are more aware that almost all of these techniques require consumables, and always carry a back-up in our head (skills, that is).

 

[crazydave]

I dont think technology is all its cracked up to be as people rely on it instead of learning the basics. pvc wetproofs did just that all day every day. goretex fails on a regular basis and reliance on gps's and mobile phones are no substute for good mapwork and common sense. people think that they are safe and off they go despite what their eyes are telling them and the warnings of 80mph gusts on the hill tops.

survival is basically the same techniques no matter if its 1908 or 2008 some kit improvements are great but not allways better, fleeces are light, washable and cheap but a good woolly is warmer and more durable. large ferro rods are great but you should allways carry an emergency kit/survival tin for those times when you should have listened to the little voices in your head but didn't.