It was Scouting that got me into Bush Crafting, can any other claim the same?

[Silverclaws2]

Though we called it pioneering and backwoodsmanship back then, it was most definitely Scouting that alerted myself to what became Bush crafting and yeah back then we was constructing shelters from the green and kipping out in our creations and with pretty much sod all kit beyond what we were taught to fashion from the environment, fire hardened bone knives anyone? In fact the only steel that was commonly accepted was that of the common folding pocket knife though we had hatchets from time to time, to know I did all my early bush craft cutting with a Victorinox Handyman.

So did any of you find your inspiration for bush crafting from the Scout movement, and if you did, did you stay with the programme to it's Queen's scout completion, to potentially become a leader yerself ?

 

[Broch]

By the time I joined the scouts I'd already spent 3 years in the North African scrub 'playing'. My first Skip, a wizened old lady who was fantastically knowledgeable and skilled, pulled all my dirt-time experience into real 'process' and made it more applicable to the UK scenario. Unfortunately, she retired a year later and the bloke that took over was, there's no other word for it, pathetic. He knew far less than I did as a teenager and the theory he did know had clearly never been practiced - so I quit

To be honest, I was probably never really suited to the culture.

 

[CLEM]

I went to the scouts once with my best pal Joonsey, he was a Scout there. There were two Scout groups where I lived,this one was at the Methodist Church in the centre of the village, i was from the edge of the village on the Council estate, closer to the next Village really which was universally thought of as much rougher, it was and still is. Much rougher now actually.
I only attended that one afternoon, i was asked to leave after one of the boys there Adam and his two pals began to take the mick out of my scruffy unfashionable hand-me-down attire , to be fair to Adam i was indeed a bit of a ragamuffin. Humiliation isn’t pleasant and I felt very embarrassed so i reacted and did what very much needed to be done. In my opinion.
I never returned, i decided that they were all a load of great big poofs and that was that :-D.
Anyway i punched Adam in his big fat face three or four times and was dragged out of the church hall and instructed to leave. I should’ve gone to the other group on the edge of the village, they had an actual wooden Scout hut by the way. Much better than the poofs in the Methodist Church Hall, the poofs :-D

A few years later i met Adam again at secondary school, Adam it quickly turned out hadn’t learnt anything in that time , i only punched him once though in the return bout :-D

 

[MartinK9]

Cubs, Scouts, Venture Scouts then 22 years Military then Bushcraft in 2009. Skills learnt, forgotten and re-learnt finding true friendship and great memories along the way.

 

[demented dale]

Cubs, Scouts, Venture Scouts then 22 years Military then Bushcraft in 2009. Skills learnt, forgotten and re-learnt finding true friendship and great memories along the way.

As a youngster it was cubs, scouts and then pile upon pile of boys comics, Tarzan films and reading Robinson Crusoe and the adventures of tom sawyer. And as an adult it was a longing to learn and a shifting toward self reliance Multi discipline approach. DD xxx

 

[Stlh374]

Simular but it was only a few years ago I realised it had a name started out in the cubs then the scouts growing up spent alot of time foraging in hedgrows in my late teens fell in love with green laining in my landrovers was wildcamping every weekend usually somewhere in wales cooking outside and still foraging which was very limited from what my nan had tought me then I fell into a career that took most of my time and stopped getting out asmuch until covid happend and I was off work for 3 ish months then someone posted a bushcraft page on a 4x4 page on Facebook and a few searches later found this forum started a proper online foraging and plant id course and have been addicted once again since only problem now is seeing all the tools and stuff you can get these days I really shouldn't be allowed adult money

 

[HorseGuy]

I was in the Cubs for a bit when I was younger. Didn't do much or learn much though. I few years later I chose to join the Air Cadets instead of the Scouts because they get to fly planes and gliders and when you're a kid that seems way cooler.

 

[TeeDee]

I was and did - not the leadership bit.

I guess my question is - How similar is Scouting from back in the day ( 70'S ) to what is currently known as Scouting ? Is it broadly the same? I honestly don't know.

 

[biscuit]

I wish I could have been a Scout, I didn't get on very well at Guides.

It was all confined to the school hall so it was more like a youth club with uniforms, and we didn't do anything at all outside. My nerdy knowledge of the Great Lakes in the north Americas was not well received by the Guide leader. Ended up leaving after 18 months or thereabouts, with an armful of badges on my sleeve though none of them were outdoorsy. A disappointing ending that could have gone differently if girls could have been Cubs & Scouts back in the 80s.

 

[Silverclaws2]

Cubs, Scouts, Venture Scouts then 22 years Military then Bushcraft in 2009. Skills learnt, forgotten and re-learnt finding true friendship and great memories along the way.

Yeah, same here, cubs, scouts, venture scouts and I was an ASL for a couple of years before I committed myself to six years in the armed forces.

And I had my day in Windsor after having achieved the Queen's Scout Award.

 

[demented dale]

I was and did - not the leadership bit.

I guess my question is - How similar is Scouting from back in the day ( 70'S ) to what is currently known as Scouting ? Is it broadly the same? I honestly don't know.

There was a load of cub packs camping when I went to the bushmoot . It looked exactly the same. The hats have changed though. x

 

[Silverclaws2]

I was in the Cubs for a bit when I was younger. Didn't do much or learn much though. I few years later I chose to join the Air Cadets instead of the Scouts because they get to fly planes and gliders and when you're a kid that seems way cooler.

The quality of Scouting always was in the hands of the adult leadership in that the skill and enthusiasm of the adult leaders defined the group and iirc our group was a bit of traditionalist group run by a bunch of retired pongos of whom understandably might have been keen to teach a bit of field craft.

I later joined another group that was all about mountaineering and pot holing, to in event learn new stuff.

 

[TeeDee]

I wish I could have been a Scout, I didn't get on very well at Guides.

It was all confined to the school hall so it was more like a youth club with uniforms, and we didn't do anything at all outside. My nerdy knowledge of the Great Lakes in the north Americas was not well received by the Guide leader. Ended up leaving after 18 months or thereabouts, with an armful of badges on my sleeve though none of them were outdoorsy. A disappointing ending that could have gone differently if girls could have been Cubs & Scouts back in the 80s.

## apologies in advance - I realise its a thread tangent !! ##

I think this has come up before and been discussed somewhat and others here whom are scout leaders ( can't remember the forum members name ) have disagreed with me - but I can't help but feel that there should be a few bastions of 'Boyhood' left to be filled with boys.
Its a tricky age for many ( Boys and Girls ) and I honestly do think Scouts should be scouts and Guides should be guides - if the activities are not appealing to Guides that guides tend to run then they need to address that by changing.

Not having a go at you Biscuit - I just feel Boys need their own space as much as Girls.

 

[Silverclaws2]

## apologies in advance - I realise its a thread tangent !! ##

I think this has come up before and been discussed somewhat and others here whom are scout leaders ( can't remember the forum members name ) have disagreed with me - but I can't help but feel that there should be a few bastions of 'Boyhood' left to be filled with boys.
Its a tricky age for many ( Boys and Girls ) and I honestly do think Scouts should be scouts and Guides should be guides - if the activities are not appealing to Guides that guides tend to run then they need to address that by changing.

Not having a go at you Biscuit - I just feel Boys need their own space as much as Girls.

From 1976 girls were allowed to join the Venture Scouts section for 16 to 20 year olds. This was expanded to all sections in the year 1991, although the admission of girls was optional and has only been compulsory since 2007.

But of course things won't change unless there is a demand for change, either from the membership or the lack thereof, where of course minorities as ever have no voice.

 

[slowworm]

I was only in the cubs, collected a huge array of badges etc but mostly down to my own desire to learn things.

Personally I've always preferred mixed groups so wouldn't have had any problems with girls in the pack, as long as they were interested in similar things.

 

[Aristotle]

I was and did - not the leadership bit.

I guess my question is - How similar is Scouting from back in the day ( 70'S ) to what is currently known as Scouting ? Is it broadly the same? I honestly don't know.

I was in Boys Brigade as a boy in the 1980s-early 90s.

I am now a scout leader.

Activities depend on the knowledge/skills/enthusiasm/availability of the leaders.

We do bushcraft activities with our group.

There is a lot more regulation, requirement for qualifications for some events and paperwork than there used to be. Events need to be more planned and various people need to be notified.

Some districts are more cautious than others.

There are still some good outdoor events and competitions that take place that are genuinely challenging.

Our group recently took part in a big point to point "evading capture" over a large area of West Lancashire from midday until 9pm. It was excellent.

 

[Silverclaws2]

I was only in the cubs, collected a huge array of badges etc but mostly down to my own desire to learn things.

Personally I've always preferred mixed groups so wouldn't have had any problems with girls in the pack, as long as they were interested in similar things.

My first Venture Scout unit was mixed and what we learned as young adults was how to properly conduct ourselves in the presence of the opposite sex.

 

[johnnytheboy]

Beavers then Cubs!

Then fishing and hunting! Just being outside is great!

 

[TeeDee]

My first Venture Scout unit was mixed and what we learned as young adults was how to properly conduct ourselves in the presence of the opposite sex.

I'm not looking to derail the thread and this will be my last comment on this addition - I didn't need to wait until my venture scout unit days to know how to integrate or conduct myself with the opposite sex. I would hope most young people from the 16-20 age bracket would have that somewhat squared away from other social experiences before then.

I actually think if anywhere mixed scouting at venture scouts age level is probably a good thing as both are now young adults and the activities around that age are more social based from what I remember.

But I can't help but think in our current age where younger males/men/boys seem to be - I'm going to use the word 'struggling' in many ways with identity ,friendship , connection , role models - that a little separation ( works both ways ) and acceptance that boys and girls tend to mature at different rates , tend to have different interests and tend to act and behave differently. Not ALL but mostly.

I realise I've used the word 'tend' and probably will now get lambasted for making generalisations in the current world view.
So be it.

 

[Broch]

I 'tend' to agree