Hi guys,
I'm 14 and Im just gettig into bushcraft.
My only problem is that I don't know what the law restricts me from doing, say, if I was in this "Bucknells woods" that I'd mentioned here.
I mean, am I allowed to camp there overnight? Can I build a fire? Can I even carry a knife??
Please explain it to me as if I were a baby, because, looking at my knowledge of this subject, I am.
Hi Jth910 and welcome to the forum.
With regards your question about camping in woods the simple answer is you're not allowed to camp anywhere in England without permission from the landowner, and this applies to fires as well. Some folks do ignore this rule and camp covertly on the chance that they won't get caught but it's something that isn't condoned on this forum.
The first thing to remember about knifes, bearing in mind your age, is it's illegal for any shop or supplier to sell a knife to anyone under the age of 18.
As for carrying one it depends one whether or not it is a 'legal' knife and by this is it a folding knife with a blade less that 3" long and does not have a mechanism to lock the blade in place. Probably the best known example of this type of knife is a Swiss Army Knife (SAK). Any fixed blade such as a sheath knife or locking knife is definined as illegal to carry unless you can answer satisfactorily the question 'do you have a legimitmate reason to carry such a knife'.
If you were carrying the knife at the bottom of your backpack and going to a camp then, yes you probably do. If you were walking down the high street shopping with the knife dangling on your hip then no you wouldn't and you could end up on a criminal charge. The other thing is that because of your age you may have a hard time explaining why you're carrying a legal folding knife.
Here's a very good article written by Dave Budd, one of the members on the forum, for the Scouting association on the rules around carrying knifes. Scroll down to page 50 for the actual article.
The best advice I can give you is to get an adult to carry the knife for you until you reach where you're camping/practicing bushcraft then they can give it to you to use.
I hope that answers your question but if you're still unsure about something do say. There's loads of folks on here who are very knowledgable and willing to help those folks new to bushcrafting.