I'm not a bushcrafter.

[Wayland]

Recently I was called a "Cybercrafter" by someone, the inference being I suppose that I wasn't a proper "Bushcrafter."

Well I have to agree, I've always said I'm not really a "Bushcrafter" and I'm not even sure I know what one really is.

(Let's not all start trying to define one, because we all know where those threads tend to go......

It did start me wondering how much bushcraft I actually do though, and when I started thinking about it, that surprised me.

I suppose like most people I don't get out as much as I would like to. Most often for me a proper trip out is a landscape shoot and I only get to do that once or twice a month on average.

More often than not that involves camping either from the van or wild if the location requires and allows it. Not really bushcraft but I cook on an open fire and often sleep under a poncho or a tarp.

I use fire lighting skills almost daily in my work and demonstrate a few other bushy skills in the same sessions. Not really bushcraft but it keeps my hand in I suppose.

I take my dog up onto the moors or into the woods for a yomp once or twice a day. Not really bushcraft but I use my eyes and ears to take in the natural world around me and I often come back with pockets full of tinder or materials for some little project or other.

I like making things, so my hands are often busy making some little nik nak or other either connected with my work or to do something useful while out and about. Not really bushcraft but I've taught myself to work with bone, leather, metal and wood although that's not my strong suit. I make most of my living history equipment and also make or adapt much of my outdoor gear or clothing too.

I do get to a few of the meets and moots but I suppose that's not really bushcraft either, although we do get to practice a few skills and sit around the fire in the evening with friends swapping ideas and stories.

So I'm definitely not a "Bushcrafter" but I'm lucky enough get a fair bit bit of crafting into my life.

How about you guys? Ever added it all up?

 

[xpolex]

on a trip to babylon oops i mean london i got described as crocodile dundee with an amebix backpatch.....im lucky its in my life all day every day in some form or another but then i dont have the responsibilities alot of the guys on here have if its in your heart then its there and you craft..however whenever whichever if ever is personal....that sucks that you came up against that wayland .

 

[firecrest]

But what on earth is a cybercrafter? sounds like LARP!

 

[Nat]

I manage to get out for long weekends about 4 times a year where i light a fire, cook on said fire and use it for heat and warmth. Usually that's with a small group of friends who just fancy getting out and away from the city as much as me. Work and family commitments take up most of my time. On the rare occasions i can sneak a few hours out, i hit the moors and hike for a few hours, get my kettle out and make a brew.
I don't carve spoons or feather sticks. I occasioonally make a leather sheath or belt pouch for a family member and that's it.

Not much really, i don't call myself a bushcrafter, more of an outdoorsman.

Labels are so crap anyway, you do what you do because you want to do it, not to be categorised.

 

[xylaria]

People that name call do so because they have a weak idea of their own identity.

If I step out my own front door, and spot bittercress growing between the cracks on the pavement, i am practicing a bushcraft skill, a skill i wouldn't hone if camped out every weekend with ratpacks. A bloke that lights his solid fuel fire every day without matches is honing skill. The bushcraft skill portfolio holds interest to us becuse they were day to day living skills of the past and primative people. There is no reason why they not are part of our day to day life taking dogs for walks, doing school runs, or just being ourselves. It is that bimbling way of looking at nature, peering at fallen logs and seeing what they can become that makes us what we are, not the looking like ray mears.

 

[HillBill]

I know what you mean Wayland.

The skills i have and use, I have had and used, since before i ever heard the word "bushcraft"

I shoot/hunt so things like tracking, stalking (of the furry/feathered kind), preparing game, tuning in, hide/shelter building, flora and fauna identification etc are all skills i learned and use whilst out with the rifle and imo are neccessary to be successful in this field.

Hiking/camping is the other activity i do where "bushcraft" is used. This is just general campcraft though, fire making, cooking, using natural available resources to improvise things i need, navigation etc.

So am i a 'shrafter??? No i am a Hiker/Hunter who has the skills to competently hike, camp and hunt self sufficiently.

 

[John Fenna]

I am a Bushcrafter - so art thou all bushcrafters!
Bushcrafting is what you make it - from shooting (cameras or lead) to cooking to whittling spoons and all the other bits - as long as you have an interest in the "bush" (as in wilds) the crafts involved in the outdoor life, being comfortable "out there" or wanting to learn any of the skills of whatever you concider bushcraft to be.
Bit of a Zen thing I guess....or some darned philosophy anyway
I think bushcrafter ...therefor I am bushcrafter
It aint what you do - it is where your heart is..
Not very clearly put for a wordsmith, but I hope you get my drift....

 

[firecrest]

Its hard to be a bushcrafter in england anyway. those people who call us "cybercrafters" who `go out and do it for real` would like to put that down to the strength of their character but usually fail to spot they have an advantage of three things
Firstly they have land or have been granted permission to bushcraft somewhere. Secondly they have transport to get there and thirdly they have time.
These are not shining character attributes and the person who can only get out a few weekends a year shouldnt be sneered out. if you have a passion and you can't get out to do it, you read about it and learn until you can get out. There is nothing inherently wrong with this its only what a persons lifestyle permits.

 

[xpolex]

can we use xylarias reply as a site heading myabe get a banner made with it on or summat or then again tshirts or tattoos imjust playing huckleberry finn and that'll do me.

 

[Wayland]

I think it was just a term he had heard someone else use because it was much more articulate than the rest of his rant.

I'm guessing it's the same thing that the guys on the "dark side" accuse us of, ie. sitting behind our computers all the time and not actually going out and doing something. "Armchair bushcrafting" I suppose, which I do indulge in occasionally. I like making things sitting in an armchair almost as much as I do sitting on a hill side.

I don't carve spoons or feather sticks either Nat, I don't see much point in them when nature leaves pine cones lying all over the place and how many spoons can a guy use for goodness sake.

The first time I heard the term "Bushcrafter" was in the 70s and I was already wild camping out on the fells of Westmorland by that time.

 

[Nat]

Pine cones are excellant. I use them as much as i can once the seeds have dropped out

 

[Tadpole]

I can make a spoon out of gathered wood just as easy in my garden as in the woods; I can practice with flint and steel or bowdrill as easy too. I can cook Cassoulet in the Dutch oven over a wood/charcoal fire or even in the oven at home. Making and doing are skills that need practice. And I do need to practice, it’s just I get in to the wood about 4 times a year, five if you count the moot. I’m not going to stop just because I don’t have a 100 acre wood to play in. Bushcraft is practicing skills useful to me in the woods. Skills that make life in the wild places easier more fun. I'm not a bushcrafter, or an anything elsecrafter either, I’m not a “doing” I’m a “being”.
I don't think of myself as a bushcrafter, more a wannabe wild camper, and garden variety maker of things useful.

 

[Shewie]

I noticed that little dig you received Wayland, I suspect it was just beer talking.

We don`t need to justify ourselves or our interests to anybody, give us a title if you want but that doesn`t stand for anything. If we like to sleep out under the stars and cook our meals over a real flame then what`s the harm in that. If we can learn a few skills to make the whole experience more enjoyable along the way then even better.

Do I think I could live off the land, build a shelter from natural resources and make fire without man made devices ? Yes

Do I want to ? No

It`s just a hobby Mr Snidey comment maker, get over it

 

[Wayland]

Actually the comment didn't bother me, I have a life that I'm very happy with and judging by the stream of negativity that is present in the other posters previous posts I suspect he goes through most of his life like that too.

I've noticed a few time that when people dislike something I say, the first thing they turn on is how I make my living. I guess it's just jealousy from people living sad lives.

I find it more amusing than anything........... Get a life!......

 

[Nat]

I'm sure i speak for alot of people on here when i say you lead an interesting life Wayland. Doing what you do with the teaching, the photography etc must be extremely satisfying

If only more of us managed to be in such an interesting position.

I envy you i really do.

What the hell is cybercrafting anyway?

 

[John Fenna]

I would love to earn my bread in a way that not only educated people and produced things of great beauty, as you do Wayland, but also allowed me to get out in the wilds as well!
If anyone knocks your method of making a living it can ONLY be pure envy!

Anyone dealing out pure negativity needs pity not condemnation, the poor beggars must have awful lives (I am not priy to the origional character assassination attempt but have come across this sort of thing before...) there are some impoverished characters out there, who think they rule the world but only scrape allong the fringes....

 

[Pict]

I’m not a “doing” I’m a “being”. - Tadpole

Very wise. I think it is best to not define yourself by what you choose to do. I enjoy bushcraft, wilderness survival, and primitive skills immensely and find them to be a rewarding hobby mainly because they get me out in the wild places. The wild places seem to hit my "reset" button like nothing else. I think God is most happy with me when I am most happy with Him and nothing gets me there like spending time letting Him show off the things He's made and planned for me in the wilderness. I don't really care if other people think I do that well or not, it works wonders on me. Mac

 

[Retired Member southey]

Edited thread, no longer relevant.

Family forum; explain to a seven year old.

 

[durulz]

Reality is, just about all of us (even Ray Mears - God Bless His Name) spend less time 'bushcrafting' than we do living our day-to-day 21st century lives. That's a reality. Does that make us bushcrafters or not? I don't know. Don't care. What have we got to do to fulfil some kind of bushcraft agenda? Live like Grizzly Adams? Well, maybe.
Truth is, when out doing, or just talking, with friends who also 'bushcraft', there's always a tinge of irony when we use the term. Which is good (means we aren't taking oursleves too seriously).
Deep inside, I think of myself as a camper. A 'wild' camper if I'm feeling subversive. But bushcrafter will do. Even better would be 'someone-who-likes-going-for-walks-in-the-countryside-occasionally-camping-occasionally-just-sitting-and-doing-a-bit-of-whittling-occasionally-taking-a-couple-of-bottles-of-his-favourite-ale-occasionally-practising-a-few-skills-with-old-friends-occasionally-just-sitting-there-and-staring-at-the-trees-or-the-far-horizon-occasionally-just-enjoying-spending-time-alone.'
But that's too long-winded.

 

[Toddy]

Yeah ? Well what am I then ?

I've been out this weekend, got sodden wet and muddy , played with fire under a chute with good company had a bimble around, did some axe stuff this morning, foraged some greenery for lunch Now, I'm sitting here sewing a woolen shirt for the Dark Ages meet up, that will make a quite excellent bush shirt too

I make everything, from food to dyes, medicines to clothing, basketry to tanning; and I do it on a daily basis.

Get out and do it they proclaim...........get out and do what exactly ? The stuff we do we integrate into our lives, we live with it, the gathering, the wandering, the learning, the making, the stuff we produce, the resources we harvest, day in day out, week in week out, all year around. How much more is there that we could do, apart from cut ourselves off from the reality of the modern world (and the benefits ) and the requirements of earning a living ?

You are a brilliant exponent of your trade Gary Your work opens the hearts and minds of children to the rich heritage and culture of the people of these islands we call home. It engages them on so many positive levels that it ought to be added as a core element in the curriculum.

I know a lot of people who do the same type of work, and I am frequently asked by schools to recommend a living history education specialist, you are one of only four of whom I will give name and contact details.

I have also watched as you held an audience of adults spellbound and fascinated It was a very good morning

Am I a bushcrafter ? Yes. I make using the natural resouces I actively acquire. I know where and when and what to look, find and use: and I keep learning
So do most of us who are active on this site.

It's a shame there's a pitiful spite and bile among some others who really ought to know better
Apparantly they're not getting a feel good, satisfied, factor in what they're doing.

I think they need to learn to chillout and not stress themselves into such bitter rants.

cheers,
Toddy