I think the car is a good hard shell shelter in it own right, I have been thinking about future plans and it seemed odd to go some where in the car just to set up a flimsy cloth shelter somewhere else from it, plus the main point is to go hiking and I'm more likely getting back to the car needing to relax and time out, car camping is pretty good.
How far do you camp from your car?
- Thread starter Wayne
- Start date
I dont really do bushcrafty style camping, im either bikepacking,kayaking or walking. So it really just depends how far away ive travelled from the car park in a day!
But if im any closer than a mile to a parking spot, then id say im too close to the roads or paths for my liking.
I do however have a van, and quite often sleep in the back of it when away visiting several areas, so maybe im the worst offender here, cant get any closer than that
But if im any closer than a mile to a parking spot, then id say im too close to the roads or paths for my liking.
I do however have a van, and quite often sleep in the back of it when away visiting several areas, so maybe im the worst offender here, cant get any closer than that
I don't really know what that is to be honest. This isn't the place to go into 'what is bushcraft' type discussions but I don't see turning up with a crate of Stella, a Vango camping chair, and a double gas burner as bushcraft. Doing that is fine, nothing wrong with it, but let's not call it bushcraft camping
Depends. If I'm back packing it's a train or bus into the next county or wherever my start point is, and then walk home over a few days. Camping in the usual wood it's about an hours walk cross country from the farm where I leave my transport. But I don't claim to be a Bush Crafter, just a bloke who camps in the woods...
I meant that i dont walk into the woods with my sole purpose to be camp, whittle, cook and generally chill out or do bushcraft type activities. If i did that, i imagine id end up camping within closer ranges to the car as most forestry car parks tend to be beside the forest. Though it would really depend how far a suitable camp spot is
But i dont, so i end up camping a fair distance away from the car due to being in the hills etc. Not sure where the beer and chair has been mentioned.
But i dont, so i end up camping a fair distance away from the car due to being in the hills etc. Not sure where the beer and chair has been mentioned.
No, sorry, wasn't getting at you
- I've been to camps that describe themselves as 'bushcraft' but where everything is just unloaded from a car - I just don't see how that is 'bushcraft camping'! It's quite possible to practice bushcraft activities at such a camp - but they are activities. As I said, I don't know what bushcraft camping is. Like you I camp in the hills (sometimes) and my bushcraft skills may make that a more rewarding experience.No, sorry, wasn't getting at you
Ah,sorry, wasnt sure how to take your post to be honest, never mind
Im not really sure how i would define bushcraft either. Most trip reports on here involve splitting wood, having a fire and cooking some food, so i think of them as bushcrafters when i read them. But when im away doing the same, i dont consider myself as bushcrafting. Just having a fire.
Maybe its the beards.
I thought bushcraft was just camping but more frontier style? I mean its not like we live in the bush here, its countryside, woodlands, moors, meadow etc so I guess its just a term, that if I use (not that I like to) but people get a more defined picture of what you mean, The skills in bushcraft I thought was always part of camping but more as fall back skills, I mean if you can light a fire with match's and tallow blocks you would. if you forgot something, hay you got that ferro rod you stashed no? forgot that too best find some sticks and unlace your boot then.....
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Big can of worms the what is bushcraft thing.
I only use the term as a catch all shorthand for a wide set of life skills that can be applied in many different ways. Nothing to get precious about in my opinion.
I use some of those skills almost every day, even though I may be a long way from the wilderness. If I demonstrate traditional fire lighting skills to school children in an urban classroom is that bushcraft? How about if I recycle a washed up plastic bottle to make a candle lantern on a remote Scottish Island, is that bushcraft? What about carving a wooden toggle for my tent in front of the TV in my living room or using a Kochanski flip flop winch to pull a van out of a snow drift? Are they bushcraft? How about teaching kids how to boil water in a wooden bucket? Repairing my boots instead of just chucking them? I could go on and on and on....
I think location has less to do with it than mindset. It's either something you get or you don't.
As Joe said above, it's quite difficult to get away from roads in the UK, we often have to travel some distance to get to places that have any kind of "wild" feel. Leaving a vehicle abandoned for any length of time invites a whole bunch of problems we don't want to get into.
Very often if I'm on a photo tour I'll bunk down in the van for security and for ease of mobility. It's not a camper van so I'm just using it as a shelter and mode of transport. I still cook on a hobo stove and spend my evenings watching the sun go down instead of watching RM on the telly.
We drive up to BCUK organised meet ups or the BushMoot and sit in our Vango Chairs with a pack of beers for socialising in the evening. During the day, if we are lucky, we learn something new that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives. Is there anything wrong with that? Who cares what we call it?
Does it matter whether your shelter is made of snow, canvas, steel or even bricks and mortar? Surely what matters is the knowledge in your head, the skills in your hands and the passion in your heart.
I only use the term as a catch all shorthand for a wide set of life skills that can be applied in many different ways. Nothing to get precious about in my opinion.
I use some of those skills almost every day, even though I may be a long way from the wilderness. If I demonstrate traditional fire lighting skills to school children in an urban classroom is that bushcraft? How about if I recycle a washed up plastic bottle to make a candle lantern on a remote Scottish Island, is that bushcraft? What about carving a wooden toggle for my tent in front of the TV in my living room or using a Kochanski flip flop winch to pull a van out of a snow drift? Are they bushcraft? How about teaching kids how to boil water in a wooden bucket? Repairing my boots instead of just chucking them? I could go on and on and on....
I think location has less to do with it than mindset. It's either something you get or you don't.
As Joe said above, it's quite difficult to get away from roads in the UK, we often have to travel some distance to get to places that have any kind of "wild" feel. Leaving a vehicle abandoned for any length of time invites a whole bunch of problems we don't want to get into.
Very often if I'm on a photo tour I'll bunk down in the van for security and for ease of mobility. It's not a camper van so I'm just using it as a shelter and mode of transport. I still cook on a hobo stove and spend my evenings watching the sun go down instead of watching RM on the telly.
We drive up to BCUK organised meet ups or the BushMoot and sit in our Vango Chairs with a pack of beers for socialising in the evening. During the day, if we are lucky, we learn something new that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives. Is there anything wrong with that? Who cares what we call it?
Does it matter whether your shelter is made of snow, canvas, steel or even bricks and mortar? Surely what matters is the knowledge in your head, the skills in your hands and the passion in your heart.
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I suspect what Wayne was really getting at is how many of the keyboard warriors actually do 'dirt time' at all and the 'how far from the car' was really just a measure of one's willingness to test our skills.
I'm sure that is indeed what he's getting at and it is a valid point, but there are some very respected members here, prolific posters some of them, that can no longer travel far from their keyboards for one reason or another.
The old insult bandied around used to be " All the gear and no idea." I've even heard it levelled at me on a few occasions. Now it's interesting to see some of my ideas being copied by some of those critics. Some of the gear that I had to make myself can now be bought from online suppliers.
The new way to create a clique is to call others "Keyboard Warriors", I'm sure that will pass as well because by the very nature of the Internet, we all have to use a keyboard don't we?
There used to be a great community here, it didn't matter if you were new or old school, fit or infirm, what mattered was what you brought to the conversation. I still see glimpses of it here and there, but some of the inclusiveness seems to have faded now. There seems to be a resentment of new people that ask the sort of questions we all asked when we started.
YouTube and other media channels have filled that education gap to some extent. I'm not a great watcher myself but they serve a purpose for others. Some of the content seems to be good, other stuff less so, such was always the case even here, it is down to the beholder to judge the value of that content and decide how much faith they put in the provider.
Some of the best content I've seen is filmed in backyards, some of the nonsense looks like it's filmed in the woods. Location is no criterion for quality.
Just like some of those other old hands, gone for me are the days of hitch hiking to the trail head and disappearing into the hills for a few weeks. My body would punish me severely for that now.
Age catches up with us all in the end, even the formidable Miskwyïsin is having to make sensible concessions to Chronos by taking his grandson along now.
The old insult bandied around used to be " All the gear and no idea." I've even heard it levelled at me on a few occasions. Now it's interesting to see some of my ideas being copied by some of those critics. Some of the gear that I had to make myself can now be bought from online suppliers.
The new way to create a clique is to call others "Keyboard Warriors", I'm sure that will pass as well because by the very nature of the Internet, we all have to use a keyboard don't we?
There used to be a great community here, it didn't matter if you were new or old school, fit or infirm, what mattered was what you brought to the conversation. I still see glimpses of it here and there, but some of the inclusiveness seems to have faded now. There seems to be a resentment of new people that ask the sort of questions we all asked when we started.
YouTube and other media channels have filled that education gap to some extent. I'm not a great watcher myself but they serve a purpose for others. Some of the content seems to be good, other stuff less so, such was always the case even here, it is down to the beholder to judge the value of that content and decide how much faith they put in the provider.
Some of the best content I've seen is filmed in backyards, some of the nonsense looks like it's filmed in the woods. Location is no criterion for quality.
Just like some of those other old hands, gone for me are the days of hitch hiking to the trail head and disappearing into the hills for a few weeks. My body would punish me severely for that now.
Age catches up with us all in the end, even the formidable Miskwyïsin is having to make sensible concessions to Chronos by taking his grandson along now.
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I think Broch has it there...
An awful lot of the interweb is taken up with folk spouting their "skills" - skills that have never really been tested outside of environments that offer a quick escape if the fertilizer hits the air-conditioning ... that is, not really tested at all.
My views of "What Bushcraft Is" tend to be similar to Wayland's and although I do not camp far from a car these days due to physical limitations I know thet my skillset HAS been tested in really remote and testing conditions so the "how far from the car" question does not worry me personally.
If someone wants to learn a new "Bushcraft" skill while sleeping in a car/frame tent/caravan then fine: I do not see the need to have to sleep in a cave to learn Flint-knapping
I do find it off putting to see "experts" on the interweb claiming that the "skill" they are sharing will stand up in the wilderness when it is patently obvious to anyone with a deep background in such skills that the "expert" has only just discovered the the skill in question, has not perfected it yet themselves and they are showing poor technique as a "fail safe wilderness skill"...
I am reminded of Bare faced Grill Chef or whatever his name is in Man Vs Wild (in Costa Rica) showing the worst Bow Drill technique ever - but still producing a coal the size of my thumb (once the camera was off his bow drill for a second!) - and BG is far from the worst!
Rely on that skill lesson in the wilderness and you will be dead meat!
An awful lot of the interweb is taken up with folk spouting their "skills" - skills that have never really been tested outside of environments that offer a quick escape if the fertilizer hits the air-conditioning ... that is, not really tested at all.
My views of "What Bushcraft Is" tend to be similar to Wayland's and although I do not camp far from a car these days due to physical limitations I know thet my skillset HAS been tested in really remote and testing conditions so the "how far from the car" question does not worry me personally.
If someone wants to learn a new "Bushcraft" skill while sleeping in a car/frame tent/caravan then fine: I do not see the need to have to sleep in a cave to learn Flint-knapping
I do find it off putting to see "experts" on the interweb claiming that the "skill" they are sharing will stand up in the wilderness when it is patently obvious to anyone with a deep background in such skills that the "expert" has only just discovered the the skill in question, has not perfected it yet themselves and they are showing poor technique as a "fail safe wilderness skill"...
I am reminded of Bare faced Grill Chef or whatever his name is in Man Vs Wild (in Costa Rica) showing the worst Bow Drill technique ever - but still producing a coal the size of my thumb (once the camera was off his bow drill for a second!) - and BG is far from the worst!
Rely on that skill lesson in the wilderness and you will be dead meat!
You know my feelings about that charlatan but the important thing is that we have the knowledge to see through him even if he is in an exotic location close to a hotel.
We judge him not by his location but by the rubbish he spouts. ( Or, being charitable, the rubbish his production team make him spout. )
I just think it is unfair to make a judgement about peoples skills, based on their fitness or ability to access real wilderness. I wonder how far Mors travels from a vehicle these days?
We judge him not by his location but by the rubbish he spouts. ( Or, being charitable, the rubbish his production team make him spout. )
I just think it is unfair to make a judgement about peoples skills, based on their fitness or ability to access real wilderness. I wonder how far Mors travels from a vehicle these days?
As I am lucky enough to look after an area of woodland with very good vehicle access I never set up camp more than 300-400m from my car. Does it detract from the experience of enjoying the great outdoors? No, and why should it? I think to get into the whole 'your not a true bushcrafter unless you are 50 miles from the nearest person and surviving on hunting with a spear and sleeping under pine branches for six weeks' type of argument is just pretty ridiculous.
In my short time on the forum I have felt a real bushcraft snobbery from those who look down on others for doing something different or not what they consider the proper way of doing things. This is exactly the thing that drives people away from what is a wonderfully rewarding pastime,e.
In my short time on the forum I have felt a real bushcraft snobbery from those who look down on others for doing something different or not what they consider the proper way of doing things. This is exactly the thing that drives people away from what is a wonderfully rewarding pastime,e.
Ho far away? Difficult question.
The closest I have been sleeping over ( is that bushcrafting? Maybe not!) is just beside the car on a level stretch of forest floor I could park the car on. I have not been able to sleep inside a normal car dince my early 20’ due to back damage.
Furthest away - a couple of hundred km’s from my vehicle.
These days I usually set up my tent or tarp between one and two hours of walking from a ferry in a fjord.
I also camp in the garden of my Norwegian house.
To be frank I enjoy both. Maybe the garden a bit more, as I am closer to the toilet.....
The closest I have been sleeping over ( is that bushcrafting? Maybe not!) is just beside the car on a level stretch of forest floor I could park the car on. I have not been able to sleep inside a normal car dince my early 20’ due to back damage.
Furthest away - a couple of hundred km’s from my vehicle.
These days I usually set up my tent or tarp between one and two hours of walking from a ferry in a fjord.
I also camp in the garden of my Norwegian house.
To be frank I enjoy both. Maybe the garden a bit more, as I am closer to the toilet.....
On this crowded island the concept of finding some place 'remote' has a curious duality. On one hand we have the vast expanses of wild Scotland, the high forests of Wales etc and on the flipside places that are less obvious where modern road construction has created isolated patches of young woodland. Some can still be legally (and safely) accessed on foot with slim chance of a trailcam photographing another human for weeks or longer...
Entrance to a seldom used bridleway
Entrance to a seldom used bridleway
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But first we should have a definion of what a bush crafter is.
What skills he needs to have to earn that title.
There is not much I personally craft when outside, I even have to use matches or a lighter.
The only items I have crafted the last 15 years plus, are three spoons ( birch bark, birch twigs and birch root) and three forks ( birch twigs)
I had to improvize because I forgot them at home and son and wife gave me hell.....
Wonder who coined the expression bushcrafter?
What skills he needs to have to earn that title.
There is not much I personally craft when outside, I even have to use matches or a lighter.
The only items I have crafted the last 15 years plus, are three spoons ( birch bark, birch twigs and birch root) and three forks ( birch twigs)
I had to improvize because I forgot them at home and son and wife gave me hell.....
Wonder who coined the expression bushcrafter?
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