Kit and the like

[Siberianfury]

ive done the whole building my own shelter, chairs ect from natural materials, hunting and gathering for my food thing, but when i go out into the woods its alot more convenient to string up my tarp, hammock, sleeping bag, cook on some billycans and use my knife and axe to cut wood. as its convenient and i have the kit, i might aswell use it.

if i had the motivation to go out with minimal kit all the time i would definatly do it and would get alot more skilled and knowlegable, but convenience seems to get in the way.

 

[Andy BB]

Sounds like some toff nicked his girlfriend

 

[lannyman8]

EagleOwl, im no middle class but earn a good wack but am still skint all the time, some of my kit is pricey some home made and cost nout....

some things i wont skimp on though. my boots for 1, they cost £140 but they are now 6 years old and going strong....

my blades are hand made by me as i will not pay £250 + for a knife i can make for 1/5 or less...

this is a family forum though so bad words and ranting are probley not the best way to go dude...

regards...

chris.

 

[Siberianfury]

alot of more affordable knives outperform knives costing £200-£400, yes a price tag is a form of advertising, if a bit of kit is more expensive then it should be better, but this is not neccesarily the case. im currently unemployed between jobs, i ride a bike because i cant afford the bus, when i can afford it i will buy nice kit. i have no problems with other people who buy expensive kit, they have worked for it and they have decided to purchase that peice of kit. i realy dont see an issue.

im not exactly wealthy, but i have no problem with people who are.

 

[whats wrong with you all]

We are probably the group of people who have the biggest impact on the planet. Just because you only burn dead wood doesn't mean your not causing damage.

i would love to know how exactly bushcrafters are the worse of the bloody lot for the most impact to the planet, some interesting twist of logic there. Please, i'd love to know more

 

[spandit]

I made my own knife partly for the skill and partly because I'm a tightwad. I agree that taking hundreds of pounds worth of tech into the woods is not everyone's idea of fun but each to their own. I like reading about expensive kit but also enjoy the cheap/free stuff.

Don't really know what point I'm making here... just back from a late shift and a bit tired

 

[John Fenna]

Looks like someone had a bad day!
Me - middle class background, LOW income, likes making gear - full stop, will take greenwood if needbe (but usually from stuff I have grown myself or know is totally sustainable).
I will point up value for money gear as and when I come across it - be it expensive but long lasting or cheap and cheerful - can get by with basic kit but find I am more comfortable in slightly more expensive/luxurious kit and therefor more able to enjoy being out.
I hope one day to get to the point where I am getting into the woods using only gear I have made myself - or at least designed myself - either from junk or budget sources ( some folk might say most of my homemade kit is junk made from junk)
Aye - to get out there you do not need to spend a fortune - but if you want to it is an option when it comes to kit selection - for Budget Bushcrafting kit users you do not have to be poor to use it, just unwilling to spend money on luxury!
Bushcrafting is, as has been said, a wide church, with as many facets as there are practitioners ...have fun out there, however you do it!

 

[Tiley]

I reckon it's all about choice and a journey: to start with, you choose (probably too much) gear that you can afford to ensure that you're comfortable when living - not just sleeping - outdoors; as time and experience accumulate, you abandon or modify the mountains of stuff that you take with you; as this latter part goes on - it's the 'journey' if you like - you continue to modify or leave things at home while still being comfortable. No-one should expect to read about it all in a book or online and then practise it perfectly and minimally. The gear that you bring softens the blow so that you are gradually eased into knowing how to live satisfactorily with a 'bushcraft minimum'.

Another choice relates to what you can afford to pay. Lottery winners and millionaires have a huge choice of stuff available to them; those between jobs or unemployed don't. I'm pretty sure that 'class' has little or no bearing on the choice that is made about gear - after all, it's not there as a status symbol; it's there to do a job. One of the great pleasures lies in discovering how well a relatively inexpensive piece of kit works when compared with a more expensive, fancier equivalent. Perhaps an example of this would be the Crusader cup compared with pretty much anything titanium.

I'd agree with you about the clothing - except the jeans. For the outdoors, the fabric is useless and I've never found a pair that have fitted me.

Greenwood? It's a carving pleasure and I use it when I can get hold of it legitimately. In terms of appreciating and conserving nature, then yes, some restraint has to be exercised. As a race, we've not been good at this through history but tiny inroads are being made to try and decrease the rate at which the countryside is being ravaged. Careless bushcrafters who cut down anything and burn up everything are like a sort of 'enemy within', ultimately skewing the majority's ability to use and enjoy a beautiful, natural and fragile landscape. So, care and consideration are required rather than total abstention in relation to all aspects of bushcraft, not just the greenwood question.

 

[Bushwhacker]

I remember the days of simple kit and good technique which has now been replaced with glossy ad-filled mags, syndicates, wheelbarrows full of kit being carted about, nigh-on hotel-like set ups, fighting over the best spots, elitism, cliques and so on.

Anyway, enough about the world of fishing. I don't see bushcraft getting this way, well, maybe the wheelbarrows full of kit but that's personal choice about what you want to take.
Most important thing is that this community is welcoming, helpful and freely shares knowledge with others. A far cry from some of the things I've seen over the years in other hobbies.

 

[Tank]

I guess i wont be getting my gift it on item from this member then lol...... oh well

 

[Paul_B]

I know he has gone and its too late for him to see this but I wear the latest gear. That is where a lot of my spare cash goes if not all of it. Bushcraft isn't my only interest, I go climbing, do mountaineering, whitewater kayaking and various other outdoors activities that isn't strictly bushcraft but associated with it such as multi-day backpacking with lightweight gear so you can move further in a day. For me I consider a certain amount of synthetic and technical gear as important for my safety. Whilst I will never need a down suit designed for the high mountain ranges the UK is a wet and mild environment which has its own dangers. I mean cold and wet in winter can kill.

I used to use whatever cast off clothing I could lay my hands on. That was my Dad's old work jackets and woolly jumpers and even cords!! I still reckon that a woolly jumper my parents came back from a Greek island with was my best ever soft shell on account of the natural oils left in and the very tight and thick knit. totally windproof up to just below blowing you off your feet wind speeds. Coped with heavy rain for about half an hour. Felt dry inside after 10 minutes if wet through once the rain stopped. Copes with snow all day. Then I got some paramo for my 21st which overall was better than what I had before. It made me enjoy being out more as I was comfortable in more conditions. Later on I bought better gear or at least the best buy in some outdoors magazine. Was carp IMHO but after 6 years of that eVent jacket it died and got replaced with an Asgard project goretex pro cag from Berghaus. It has amazing performance and fits me like it was custom made. Over kill perhaps for my uses but as someone who has experienced the beginnings of hypothermia in the Lakeland fells, who has been stuck on a crag injured for hours unable to move, who has suffered frost nip so bad my hands were like claws I now get good, modern and performing gear.

DOn't get me wrong I know the right old school gear works, look at the Leeds performance fabrics research into the Mallory and Irvine Everest gear they found. It works very well. My old woolly sweater worked too. I just find it is easier to find modern gear that works to a higher standard hence I get it IF I need it. What is wrong with that. Afterall if your gear has to be used for many activities as you can not afford activity specific kit then I guess I'll go with my modern synthetic "mountain" gear (well clothing I guess really). It's his choice for him and mine for me. Nothing wrong either way IMHO.

 

[Paul_B]

Sorry for the long ramble. I don't like people imposing their views as we all have our opinions and views on life. It is for us to decide our own ways.

Beside £30 tarp!! Bloody cheapskate! Mine was at least £60 and I'm trying to save for a £200 one from USA. I have my standards don't you know! Harumph!

 

[BPR_MiK]

£30 for a tarp ?? you lucky lucky b*****d.. I paid £9 for mine from ebay and it shows...It was all i could afford and one of the eyelets has fell out on the first use but it does me and it`s all i`ll be getting for the foreseeable.

but who cares really ? At least i get out there and do my thing.. I`d doubt i`ll buy better gear but i don`t feel any resentment to those that do.. I would if i could.

Let each person make thier own choices and just be happy with yours.

 

[The Lord Poncho]

Interestingly, just under half the threads started by this kindly fellow are kit orientated. This amuses me.

It depends what your definition of 'city boy' is, but if it's someone that job requires them to sit staring at a computer screen, typing up reports that have no real consequence to life; and reading and contributing to this forum as a way of escapism to the woods that I love, then yes, I’m guilty!

 

[Paul_B]

You middle class city boy you! Its people like you destroying the planet!!

(PS did you spot the winking smilies to indicate I don't mean it?!)

 

[DavidJT]

Mmm.... Not such a wise old Eagle-Owl!...

1. Don't post when drunk.
2 . Don't post when angry
3. Post your thoughts as an invitation to debate, not as a diatribe.
4. Be tolerant of others and their personal preferences.

Anyway, many wise words been said before (usually by Toddy!).

EagleOwl if your reading this, stick around, we all have bad days.

 

[Retired Member southey]

Its all about perception, let me use me as an example,

Dave 1, no friends close by, unemployed for three years, and sporadic employment for the three years before that, I cut down trees, I burn wood when out, I still buy expensive kit and sometimes pointless kit and tell every one about it here and on face book,

Dave 2, We have moved house 4 times in the last 6 years so my mates are spread about, been a house husband for the last three years to look after our little nippers, and the three years before that I worked as an aircraft fitter, postman, HGV driver, radio communications installations engineer, I cut down trees that are mark to come out for management purposes with permission and use the wood to make things for family and friends to better my skills and hopefully one day make a little pocket money from it and provide us with new plates and bowls due to my clumsy ways, I burn wood while out as IMO it is better than taking fuel with me that uses heavy industry to make it usable for my means, as I mentioned we move a lot due to wifely and her work so having access to a place where i can talk about skills and kit that i enjoy using or find out how to make the things i need whether that be in the garage or while out and about is brilliant!

As I said in my previous post if your on the what's new button a lot then you mostly see kit related threads as they often have the highest turn around of posts with peeps expressing there views, excitements, hints and warnings, where as if you potter of into the forum sections you see the threads that slow boil with constant additions over time building up lots of information on very hard to learn subjects, like Bushwhackers tracking threads, brilliant idea but because it takes time to gather pics they build up slowly rather than 50 posts over night.

Of course if your just looking for an instant support structure to help you with your own problems, you cant expect peeps to warm to your issues immediately, friendships(even electronic ones) take time to build, I've been a member here for quite a while but it only in the last year that I've truly come to understand what a great place this is, and what a encyclopaedia there is held in the minds and threads of the members, it does, as everything worthwhile should, take effort on your part to become part of the forum, and accept that there has to be different opinions to make this place work, after all its a forum not an agreement.


HOLY POOP! that's two semi lucid posts in one thread! where's THE HELLION, I need some pointless goonery!


Cheers Southey!

 

[northumbrian]

""CLASS """ AAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH i hate that fricken word it anoys the bejesus out of me that some people think they r better than others !
by the way what video 's about cheap gear ? tell me more please ! lol

 

[Andy BB]

You don't have to be posh to be classy.................................

 

[pauljm116]

Someone really did have a bad day. I think most of us will agree on the old saying 'to each his own'. I must admit Ive got loads more kit than I actually need and it is a pain carrying it all through the woods but I do like to be warm, dry and comfortable so whereas someone may sit on a log I prefer to take a fold up chair. I do like to take lots of fancy kit, but doesnt mean I look down on people with basic kit. Also just because myself and many others on here do like to take tons of nice fancy, shiny stuff into the woods it doesnt mean we dont appreciate and enjoy nature as much as the guy who has all home made gear. We all go out there for the same reasons so why cant we all get along, whether we be rich or poor, middle class or working class.