Famous bushcrafters, how did they earn their fame?

[Imagedude]

We all know of numerous mountaineers, aviators, explorers etc and the stories of how they became famous for, say, being the first to climb Everest, the first to fly across the Atlantic or to circumnavigate the globe etc. I was wondering what the famous bushcrafters did to earn their fame. What have been their major achievements? I'll start the ball rolling with Dick Proenneke and his 30 solitary years of retirement in Alaska.

 

[Retired Member southey]

What is a bushcrafter?

 

[shaggystu]

What is a bushcrafter?

i still have no idea mate, but i'm fairly sure that the aforementioned dick proenekke certainly wouldn't have classed himself as one

 

[Retired Member southey]

True dat homes! And neither was he solitary for 30 years! he visited family, had visits from his mate Babe.

 

[Dave]

Anyone from Down south old enough to remember the great Oliver Kite? He used to do a programme in the sixties, 'Kites Country'
Soldier, countryman, broadcaster, naturalist, writer and fisherman.

[video=youtube;vGL76417fTA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGL76417fTA&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLA5D793E910C9A530[/video]

Playlist:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB-1Qr7jPRo&feature=BFa&list=PLA5D793E910C9A530

 

[Robbi]

great video

 

[bushwacker bob]

No. I'm not old enough to remember.

 

[Twodogs]

And another thread dies ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[John Fenna]

How does anyone get famous - good PR!
Every single "famous" person has only achieved that status by either writing a book/magazine series/film about what they have done, had someone else write/film about what they have done - and then that writing/filming has made it into the public awareness by good PR... be it "viral" or carefully executed.
The best of bushcrafters, if without PR, will not get heard of, while absolute pilchards who fake stuff for the camera, do incredibly risky (if not faked) stunts and are purely media products wil be known and revered by the illinformed if they have good PR.
Simple realy....

 

[Wayland]

I think most that became "famous" did so through promotion, self or otherwise.

There were thousands of people who practised the skill set we describe as "Bushcraft" that we never heard of, but the writers like Kephart, Nesmuk and Rowlands are known as heroes of the genre.

More lately it is television that has set the trend with Mears, Hiddins and even Grylls being deified.

I have met many here or in other walks of life that have just as much knowledge and experience to offer that may never achieve "Fame" but just get on with living lives even more remarkable.

 

[Wayland]

Must type faster...

 

[rik_uk3]

There aren't many famous 'bushcrafters' really. Ray Mears I suppose is a self taught woodsman with many skills who set up one of the very few successful bushcraft Schools in the UK and no doubt worked hard at getting onto mainstream media, Les Hiddins would be the same I suspect, two chaps with real skills and ambition; Les Stroud perhaps did the same. So I guess hard work, knowledge, PR and persistence was the key to their success, much the same formula for success in any sphere of employment.

 

[robin wood]

There aren't many famous 'bushcrafters' really. Ray Mears I suppose is a self taught woodsman with many skills who set up one of the very few successful bushcraft Schools in the UK and no doubt worked hard at getting onto mainstream media, Les Hiddins would be the same I suspect, two chaps with real skills and ambition; Les Stroud perhaps did the same. So I guess hard work, knowledge, PR and persistence was the key to their success, much the same formula for success in any sphere of employment.

Yep I'll go with that and add being in the right place with the right idea at the right time. Lots of hard work, Woody Allen said success is 80% just turning up. I don't know what the next in thing will be but there is no doubt from the media point of view that bushcraft has been done.

 

[Dave]

I think most that became "famous" did so through promotion, self or otherwise.

I think there is more than a kernel of truth in that. And there's always a nagging doubt about people who are so self aggrandising in any walk of life.
**Worst are the legions of people who display sycophancy toward them.

Course I may just be a curmudgeonly sod....

'Fame is the First Disgrace' Heathcote Williams.

 

[johnboy]

I don't know what the next in thing will be but there is no doubt from the media point of view that bushcraft has been done.

Fingers crossed its traditional crafts or wood turning...

 

[blacktimberwolf]

We have to define fame............Dick, Mors & the like are not 'famous' but are only known by a certain number of those who share an interest in bushcraft or wilderness living .... ask anyone in the street who they are & you'll get blank looks.
Bear, Ray & Les etc. are better known thanks to the fashionable interest in bushcrafty/survival activities, which they helped to create through their repective TV programs. It could be argued that these TV personalities have helped the more 'serious' bushcrafters (Mors, Dick etc. ) become better known to a larger selective audience due to the interest they have aroused, inciting some viewers to delve deeper into the subject..(sorry that's not very clear )
Also let us not forget, the 'great bushcrafters' haven't done anything original or unique, millions of people have done similar things before them, which cannot be said of the other achievements mentioned by imagedude at the start of this thread..

 

[Imagedude]

I would define fame as being well known within a particular community. Just because the X-Factor watching general public doesn't know your name doesn't mean that you are not famous within other circles. e.g. Dave MacCleod is famous within climbing circles but otherwise unknown. What I want to know is have any 'famous' bushcrafters ever gone walkabout to hone their skills, ever spent a year or two in the arctic/antarctic without a film crew, ever done anything solely for the love of it without thoughts of film or publishing potential...?

 

[blacktimberwolf]

What I want to know is have any 'famous' bushcrafters ever gone walkabout to hone their skills, ever spent a year or two in the arctic/antarctic without a film crew, ever done anything solely for the love of it without thoughts of film or publishing potential...?

Most of 'em I reckon, before they realised there was money to be made in filming their exploits. They don't spend their whole lives filming either & have to 'hone 'their skills in situ, away from the harsh eye of the camera, so they can look proficient when displaying their skills when the cameras are rolling..

 

[rik_uk3]

Most of 'em I reckon, before they realised there was money to be made in filming their exploits. They don't spend their whole lives filming either & have to 'hone 'their skills in situ, away from the harsh eye of the camera, so they can look proficient when displaying their skills when the cameras are rolling..

Very true, and you can't really spend a year on your own in the Antarctic or Arctic, you'd be dead before you were famous.

 

[suburban bushwacker]

You re-write someone else's book, perhaps using their title, have a lucky encounter with a TV producer looking to shoot some cheap airtime.
OR
You pay your way up a very big mountain, and have a lucky encounter with a TV producer looking to shoot some cheap airtime.

Simples