European centric ?

[TeeDee]

Just musing on the recent thread touching upon desert survival.

I appreciate we are a bcuk - with an emphasis upon the UK theatre for bushy / survival activities but Is there interest ( and looking at producing some new content ) in studying other geographical zones and bushcrafty / survival related topics , plants , navigation etc etc. ,??

Desert Survival
Jungle Survival
Polar Survival
High Desert

We have lots of well travelled knowledgeable people on the forum to contribute but not sure if there would be the need or interest ? It would definitely open up new topics to cover but do people want them covered ??

 

[C_Claycomb]

We once did, and it was good, but it very much relies upon a much smaller pool of experienced people, generally living in the place, to carry the conversation. Even in the forum heyday it was often the case that those with that kind of experience were too busy living it to spend much time writing about it!

 

[forrestdweller]

seeing that i left europe over 20years ago and have been in a few different environments since then (currently costa rican rainforest) i'm always interested in posts covering other parts of the earth disc...

 

[HillBill]

I was both Desert (Djibouti) and Jungle (French Guiana) commando trained. What do you want to know? Jungle is easy, (harder to die than it is to live) Desert, a little less easy (50-50) when you know what you're doing. Polar, not my forte... High desert, again, not my forte. Most of that is mainland US

 

[TLM]

Climatewise Europe reaches from subtropical to arctic. Only thing missing is desert. In my mind that does cover enough interesting regions at least for a good start.

 

[Springchicken]

Technically, Dungeness in Kent is a desert...

As has been pointed out, most bushcraft practitioners who frequent this site are U.K.- based and keen to hone skills relevant to their immediate surroundings. That's not to say that there wouldn't be interest in informed discussion about jungle/arctic/desert challenges. Mr Mears has touched on them in a couple of his series in the past; the programmes remain fascinating and some of the survival/bushcrafty skills have a ubiquity that is both reassuring and intriguing. Queries and discussion about different environments would always be interesting, in my opinion.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Only thing missing is desert.

There is the Tabernas desert in the Almeria Province in Andalousia.

 

[TeeDee]

I was both Desert (Djibouti) and Jungle (French Guiana) commando trained. What do you want to know? Jungle is easy, (harder to die than it is to live) Desert, a little less easy (50-50) when you know what you're doing. Polar, not my forte... High desert, again, not my forte. Most of that is mainland US

Its not so much what I want to know as possibly expanding the scope of the forum ,the level of postings and experiences from around the world in different theatre's - I don't know how in depth it would need to be but equally it can't be too vague and limited that it holds no value.

I guess if we are distinguishing between bushcraft ( your/my/their definition ) and survival skills then it may have no place - but equally can anyone here in the UK say with a straight face that they go into the ' Bush ' to practice their skills set?

We tend to practice and study small segments of survival skills in a safe 1st world nation way. Not sure why we would want to limit that to just one location???

Surely the understanding of how to start a fire is as relevant wherever one is.

Maybe I'm being pedantic , but I see merit in looking at other locations and at least understanding or reading upon voyeuristically how others may do it even if all it adds is some new , interesting and engaging content from people that have acquired those skills or don't call the UK home or English their 1st language.

 

[TLM]

Depending how one defines "Europe", there are some fairly arid places just north of the Caspian see.

While these places are good for practice if one wants do it in a safe place I kind of have a feeling that one can walk out of these too easily for them to be the real thing.

I did not know about the Tabernas region, that would be an interesting place to visit.

 

[HorseGuy]

Desert Survival
Jungle Survival
Polar Survival
High Desert

We have lots of well travelled knowledgeable people on the forum to contribute but not sure if there would be the need or interest ?

I for one would be interested to read about it although I have little to contribute other than maybe a few tips on how to survive in a UK supermarket.

 

[Herman30]

Only thing missing is desert.

Well, Polish coast has this:

 

[TeeDee]

Well, Polish coast has this:

Good for Poland.

 

[Broch]

Well, Polish coast has this:

This is desert - notice distinct lack of people! - it's why I love it so much.

 

[TeeDee]

This is desert - notice distinct lack of people! - it's why I love it so much.

View attachment 99455

Must remind you of the Welsh valleys so much.

 

[Herman30]

This is desert -

If I can choose I much more prefer dessert.

 

[slaine_23]

Is bushcraft a particularly anglophone activity? Not exclusively obviously, and for many round the world bushcraft skills are the basic skills of life, but as a hobby, a pastime. Am conscious my limited language skills are probably a factor in that view and it’s far from being an opinion.

 

[TLM]

Is bushcraft a particularly anglophone activity?

As far as I know not really but the set of priorities varies according to region, here in Finland I have a feeling that we might be more trekking oriented.

 

[HillBill]

Its not so much what I want to know as possibly expanding the scope of the forum ,the level of postings and experiences from around the world in different theatre's - I don't know how in depth it would need to be but equally it can't be too vague and limited that it holds no value.

I guess if we are distinguishing between bushcraft ( your/my/their definition ) and survival skills then it may have no place - but equally can anyone here in the UK say with a straight face that they go into the ' Bush ' to practice their skills set?

We tend to practice and study small segments of survival skills in a safe 1st world nation way. Not sure why we would want to limit that to just one location???

Surely the understanding of how to start a fire is as relevant wherever one is.

Maybe I'm being pedantic , but I see merit in looking at other locations and at least understanding or reading upon voyeuristically how others may do it even if all it adds is some new , interesting and engaging content from people that have acquired those skills or don't call the UK home or English their 1st language.

Let me think on it. I'll come up with something.

 

[ONE]

Is bushcraft a particularly anglophone activity?

I don't think so, but the UK/Ireland version of it is in my opinion/experience rather unique. It is quite... compromised, in many respects to make it acceptable/sustainable on small, densely populated islands. Somewhat more controversially, we rather play at it, for societal & legal reasons.

 

[slaine_23]

I don't think so, but the UK/Ireland version of it is in my opinion/experience rather unique. It is quite... compromised, in many respects to make it acceptable/sustainable on small, densely populated islands. Somewhat more controversially, we rather play at it, for societal & legal reasons.

I wondered if there was eg a bushcraft.fr or bushcraft.es - this is maybe not the same question as the OP. Also if some of this bushcraft stuff could be driven by a survivalist POV, which in my experience is a particularly American notion. I prefer the idea there are people who just like messing about outdoors rather than some mentalist agenda of Armageddon. More multilingual sites indicates the former more sanity driven.