Naturism

TeeDee

Full Member
Nov 6, 2008
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Exeter
Naturism

Firstly - its not currently appealing to me, I watch Naked and Afraid and my mind wanders into Paranoia territory -( Imagine getting a Spider/Scorpion/Snake/OOmpah-Loompah bite THERE?!?!? ) , But I Imagine we must have some members ( pun not intended ) whom enjoy getting more bare then clothed whilst out and about.

But if you are brave to stick your head above the digital parapet - can you explain what the feeling/appeal is ??
 
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oldtimer

Full Member
Sep 27, 2005
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Oxfordshire and Pyrenees-Orientales, France
I was once snorkelling on Tahiti beach in St Tropez and after a long swim along the beach, decided to come ashore. I realised that I was about to land on the nudist beach and was so embarassed to be the only one wearing swimming trunks that I took them off and strolled nonchalantly back along the beach back towards where I had started. I'd like to think I blended in but I think my white bum probably betrayed me.

I have to say that my brief exposure to naturism felt pleasantly liberating.
 

The Frightful

Full Member
Apr 21, 2020
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Essex
I ran around my secluded garden firepit once after a few too many beers when our closest friends were around, much to everyone's amusement. Shoes are a must imho, also walked naked sober solo a few times to get things from she's etc. I must admit a sence of freedom and at one with nature but couldn't see myself doing it with strangers around, lets be honest 99. 9% of naked bodies aint exactly astheticly pleasing. Apologies to any Adonis's and Aphrodites, and of course online present company !
 
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TLM

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Nov 16, 2019
3,257
1,723
Vantaa, Finland
I was just slowly snorkeling along the south cost of Thassos when I almost collided with two fairly nicely shaped female mammary glands. The owner looked slightly indignant but did not say anything, I went around her but had a slightly better situational awarenes from that point on.
 
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saxonaxe

Settler
Sep 29, 2018
513
1,215
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SW Wales
There are risks involved...
Quite a few years ago I was on my boat anchored in a secluded bay in one of the Greek Cyclades Islands, Milos I seem to remember. Also anchored was a Greek flagged ordinary production yacht, something like a Bavaria or similar and at a distance a beautiful USA flagged Ketch all shining varnished wood and snow white decks. Sitting in the sun in the cockpit of my steel Gaff Cutter when a voice from nowhere called " Hi there."
I looked over the side and there I saw a blonde lady treading water alongside my boat. She was wearing her skin and it was very obvious she had no trouble floating...In an American accent she invited me to join her and others aboard her yacht, she gave me a wave and swam away...

Scuffling about below I found my cleanest T shirt and least wrinkled shorts and launching my dinghy rowed over to the American flagged Ketch. Rowed alongside, caught the Toerail and stood up in the dinghy. There flaked out on a towel, completely starkers, lay a blonde lady.
"Thanks for the invitation" I called...she sat up...different lady!!
She screamed, grabbed a clear glass jug which I soon found out contained Lemonade, and hurled it at me. The jug shattered on the stainless steel stanchion about 3 inches from my ear and I got a cold shower of Lemonade complete with ice cubes..
I promptly dropped back into the dinghy and began rowing away only to hear shrieks of laughter from the Greek flagged yacht. All became clear later when I learned that the Greek yacht was in fact under charter to an American family who also owned the Ketch. Unable to carry so many family members in one yacht they had chartered the Greek yacht for their get together. The blonde ladies were sisters and unless they were dressed, looked very similar..

Later, giant barbequed steaks and fresh crusty bread were lovely but I confess cold Lemonade is much nicer to drink than shower under. :laugh:
 

Damascus

Native
Dec 3, 2005
1,698
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Norwich
back in the seventies, whilst in the military, I was in Norway and we were bused into an army camp to get shower and hot meal, having been out on exercise for two weeks. The gym we used had a sauna and couple of us decided to use it, nice especially when a group of female Norwegian ladies came in too, clothing is not worn and yet a couple of us had to have our towels over our laps to hide embarrassment, I still chuckle at the situation and the ladies were none to phased! Happy days………
 

TeeDee

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Nov 6, 2008
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I can sort of understand in any situation where one is sunning or potential water sports etc - But what prompted my question was watching the news last night to see that they had shut a Museum so that naturalists could wander through nude.

Now , I'm not saying its wrong and I'm not saying its right -but I just wonder if its a case of the clothes once worn just feeling 'wrong' ?
 

MikeLA

Full Member
May 17, 2011
2,091
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Northumberland
I was walking up Ben Nevis camped at the tarn near the top when we saw what turned out to be two young German ladies skinny dipping. Needless to say we very quickly ran over and introduced ourselves.
Funny how a conversation can bring back funny memories.
 
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Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,413
1,702
Cumbria
Whe about 13yo a family holiday at a gite in france just over the dunes from a lovely, sandy beach in the southwest, Atlantic coast was interesting. first week there was a world cup series international surfing competition. So all loud rock music and surfer types. So cool. Second week they sll pscked up and went. The beach reverted back to what it wass before they turned up. A nudist beach.

We made the best of it! Mostly older German people with no inhibitions. I spent most of my time body boarding in the excellent surf. One time riding it in I got flipped in an inconvenient moment. When the wave pulled back and I turned to get up I found out I was lying under two young women or girls at about 16 to 20 yo range. It didn't matter I was 13 and so embarassed I simply got up and ran in to my beach towel and lay down to chill out. I think I found it more awkward than they did.

I did kind of learn that the French were more relaxed about nudity than the English but the older Germans were in another league of relaxedness about it. I actually think some of the older people had actually forgotten they were naked either that or they had forgotten to put their swiming costumme on and hadn't noticed. The theories of a rather prudish, English 13 year old boy!!
 

Dave Budd

Gold Trader
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Jan 8, 2006
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Anybody that follows me on social media will probably be aware of my infamous PPE post a couple of years ago. I spend most of my time alone in my own woodland/workshop and sometimes it get's warm and there are only so many layers one can take off!

Granted, when I'm working there are areas that I need to cover because grinding sparks hurt, as do brambles; hence the need for appropriate PPE ;) . If it's hot then I'll dispense with the extra layers, especially if I'm working outside in the woods doing something like making charcoal, or if I'm staying out over night (having cooled down with a beer in hand) and need to fetch something, go to the loo, do a little job, etc. Of course, in the woods it doesn't actually get warm enough very often :(

As far as insects and things go. I've not noticed any difference in their level of attention. The horseflies, mosquitos and other bitey things are just easier to feel landing on bare skin than they are on thin clothes (that don't stop the beggers from biting), so you stand half a chance of swatting them away. I've never been a tick magnet (two in my entire life), but I suspect the same applies there: they head for warm, dark, damp places and if you are well ventilated and exposed to the sun then I suspect fewer of them would land on you?

Why do I do it? Apart from cooling down when it's hot, it's quite a freeing feeling, with the breeze on your skin and the extra tactile experience of the world around you. By that I mean that you notice everything that you brush against, for better or worse (as I say, brambles are not fun!). Then, once you decide it's too cold or it's time to go out into the real world (or to do some welding!) and you put clothes back on, it actually feels even better having the clothes on than if you had never taken them off. Kind of like an all over hug, a kind of warmth beyond just a rise in temperature.

After a while, whether alone or with others (I've only done that once whilst at uni), you soon forget about the whole clothes vs naked thing, you don't notice things like genitals any more than you notice what trousers or t-shirt somebody is wearing. Although if you REALLY want to feel naked, put your shoes on without socks! That's just odd!
 

Laurentius

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 13, 2009
2,540
705
Knowhere
I guess I can look a bit of a sight on my allotment on those hot summer days that permit it, wearing a skimpy pair of running shorts but also a pair of wellies or thick long socks and boots cos you do need some protection from nettles and stuff. I am also not known never to have gone skinny dipping in remote Welsh lakes, it just seems the right thing to do so long as there is nobody about.
 

haptalaon

Forager
Nov 16, 2023
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South Wales
I can sort of understand in any situation where one is sunning or potential water sports etc - But what prompted my question was watching the news last night to see that they had shut a Museum so that naturalists could wander through nude.

Now , I'm not saying its wrong and I'm not saying its right -but I just wonder if its a case of the clothes once worn just feeling 'wrong' ?
I've known people in my life who just hate the sensation of clothes, it's a tactile thing. They'd happily go about in the buff if our culture and our weather made it an option XD

Nudism is not for me, but it is kind of beautiful. I've got some really lovely, platonic memories of friends skinny dipping in a wild lake or people unexpectedly stripping off for the summer solstice, and I really vibe with that sort of liberating, back to nature, man is a kind of animal in the wilds, almost spiritual aspect, having had these happy moments where people felt so comfortable in their skin and in the fields and forests around them it felt right. So I'm very supportive!

There's a post that goes around tumblr and idk if it's true but talking about how cultures where public nudity is normal (like saunas in Scandinavian culture) are far more chill about bodies and the fact people age and don't look like film stars come in all sorts of ways. I think that's probably true and a good thing.

Bit like how in the British film classification system, nudity on its own (no salacious content) can be passed at a U rating, on the basis that there's nothing to censor about bodies.

There is a very funny interview with a no-nonsense witch from the 1970s explaining that her coven doesn't do 'skyclad' rituals because thats bonkers in the English countryside, what with the weather and midges.
 

The Frightful

Full Member
Apr 21, 2020
542
150
Essex
I can sort of understand in any situation where one is sunning or potential water sports etc - But what prompted my question was watching the news last night to see that they had shut a Museum so that naturalists could wander through nude.

Now , I'm not saying its wrong and I'm not saying its right -but I just wonder if its a case of the clothes once worn just feeling 'wrong' ?
To be honest i don't really understand how or why being naked in a museum environment would make the whole experience better. Any naturalists I've seen at Brighton or on the small screen are generally lets say 'mature' and i would suggest its more to do with exhibitionalism than being at one with nature, but that's just my own pov, no offence intended or implied
 

TeeDee

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Nov 6, 2008
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To be honest i don't really understand how or why being naked in a museum environment would make the whole experience better. Any naturalists I've seen at Brighton or on the small screen are generally lets say 'mature' and i would suggest its more to do with exhibitionalism than being at one with nature, but that's just my own pov, no offence intended or implied

No offence taken for me - which is the bit I wasn't getting . Most naturist events seem to happen outside , beach , camping assumably in full sun - in the same scenario most of other people are either in swimming costumes or shorts and t-shirts whilst camping so I can get the leap from why one may want to go a step further and get ones default birthday suit on.

But in a museum? Whats next , Tesco opened on certain nights with special options?

Not pouring scorn - just interested in what the appeal of doing it in purely urban indoors environments may be?
 
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Chris

Life Member
Sep 20, 2022
980
1,137
Somerset, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire
It’s not illegal to be naked anywhere in public, just if you’re doing it to cause distress or alarm to others. I quite like that this is the case - nothing more natural than the human body, and the only thing that makes it shocking is the fact we’re used to hiding it away.

I think in nature it’s quite a nice idea. For practical reasons though I don’t fancy the idea of doing it around town.
 

Pattree

Full Member
Jul 19, 2023
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UK
Was the Museum closure for the opposite reason. A group had applied for a visit (wearing the group uniform) and the museum closed because there are many cultures that would not wish to come into contact with naked strangers; me included, it’s just my upbringing.

As in @haptalaon post I have been to camps where a small minority of members chose to be naked, referring to being “skyclad”. I felt for me to be so was so much against my upbringing that it would distract from my purpose in being there.

I am usually barefoot and that is enough to gross people out! I never wear shorts and rarely short sleeved shirts. It’s just me.
 
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