How do you carry it all?

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JonathanD

Ophiological Genius
Sep 3, 2004
12,809
1,479
Stourton,UK
frightening_troll.jpg


Aaaah, yous guys....
 

rg598

Native
I have no problem with any definition of bushcraft, as long as it is consistent. If we have to use another word for being able to live outdoors without modern gear, then so be it. If we say that bushcraft is anything related to nature, or a bushcrafter is someone who enjoys nature, then the term has become so broad that it no longer has much meaning. If I take an RV, drive it into the woods and stay there, am I practicing bushcraft? What if it is a hotel located in the woods-still bushcraft? At some point we can bring so much gear that we simply relocate our house closer to the forest. Where is the line, I don't know, but I think there has to be one if the term is going to have any meaning.

As far as which people actualy do what I specified in my last post, probably not many. I certianly don't. Throughout history most people have never wanted to rely entirely on knowledge of the environment. As most of us, they wanted to make life as easy as possible. Today we are here in a peculiar situation, where we try to do something (bushcraft) without having to. We remove comforts so we can presumably learn something. Saying that the mountain men would rather bring a house, two horses and three women with them on a trip does not change what we do. The more we bring, the less bushcraft skills we use. The same has been true throughout history. There are skills that Nessmuk never developed because he did not have to.

I think the highest form of knowledge when it comes to bushcraft is to go into the woods with nothing, and be able to procure what you need from the environment-flint, water, food, shelter, etc. It is very hard to do, and in most situation impossible. I don't know many people who would even be interested in doing it. However, if we call that bushcraft as well as sitting in a hotel with a view of the forest, then maybe we need more diverse terminology.
 

JonathanD

Ophiological Genius
Sep 3, 2004
12,809
1,479
Stourton,UK
I think most of us on this thread are confused. I thought I was being subtle, you guys had neon and allsorts going on :rolleyes:

What is the definition of bushcrafter in the Oxford English dictionary though? I'll go with that.
 

firecrest

Full Member
Mar 16, 2008
2,496
4
uk
Anyway, whats the point of having an actual real definition of bushcraft? Look at the animals, they are born and the best of the bunch live out their days naked in the wildnerness and knowing the environment enough to live in it. Do we call them bushcrafters? I mean they are arent they? I watched a programe the week on monkey intelligence, and these cappuchin monkeys actually harvested nuts, tapped them to see if they were ripe, left them in the sun for three days to dry , returned, rattled them to check the drying was complete, then put them on a special rock and smashed them with an anvil! Now thats bushcraft!
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,709
1,947
Mercia
Or the Valerie Singleton.........

(You can use veet...but for speed...I'm using sticky backed plastic)

Enough :D
 

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