Responsibility to future bushcrafters

[Man of Tanith]

oh no not the definition of what is bushcraft again.....


bushcraft is many things to many people.
some use nothing but modern materials and equipment.
some use nothing but natural materials.
some use a tent
some use a tarp
some build a shelter
some never use a knife at all
some use or carry a bazillion sharp items and look like the dwarves being disarmed in the second hobbit movie when they empty their pockets.
some like to sit around a fire drinking their beverage of choice.
some like to cover miles and miles then drink purified water.
Some like to chill out asap
some like to survive.
some like to do a blend of all or none of the above

all the above are valid definitions and experiences of bushcraft and none are better than the others.
its a case of 'this is my truth tell me yours'

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

'this is my truth tell me yours'

My truth is identical to your truth with the addition of a hammock

 

[Man of Tanith]

pah hammocks they'll never catch on

 

[Graham_S]

Survival is all about staying alive until someone can rescue you.
Bushcraft is about not needing to be rescued...

 

[British Red]

Survival is about not needing to rely on others in your day to day life.

Bushcraft is about having fun in the woods.

 

[rg598]

I find it very interesting that we have developed this survival/bushcraft dichotomy when it comes to outdoor activities. We somehow seem to try to fit all trips into the woods as being either bushcraft (Chill out asap) or survival (Get out asap). What about everything else? What about hunting? Are you chilling out, getting out, or doing something all together different? Is that not part of bushcaft? Is climbing a mountain not bushcraft? You are not chilling out, yet you are not getting out either, so I suppose it's not survival. Most outdoor activities, at least as I am familiar with them, involve neither an attempt to "get out asap", nor to "chill out asap".

For me bushcraft is a set of wilderness skills. They can be used however one chooses and under whatever circumstances and conditions they may be required. Bushcraft skills can be used to survive, they can be used while hunting, while climbing a mountain, while chilling out, or while undertaking extremely challenging activities. Certainly one can choose to undertake only relaxing trips and use bushcraft solely in furthering that "chilling out", but I don't think that is necessary nor essential for the practice of bushcraft, nor do I see it as being the ultimate goal for bushcraft. I doubt that many of our ancestors whose skills we are now attempting to learn, ever viewed them as means to relaxation.

I'm not saying my definition is the correct one, nor that there is such a definition, I just wanted to make sure we are not limiting the definition of this field of study to simple equations. Sorry for the derail.

 

[tom.moran]

bushcraft is not going to work and pretending im ray mears and normally ale or rum (or both)

 

[Spaniel man]

I find it very interesting that we have developed this survival/bushcraft dichotomy when it comes to outdoor activities. We somehow seem to try to fit all trips into the woods as being either bushcraft (Chill out asap) or survival (Get out asap). What about everything else? What about hunting? Are you chilling out, getting out, or doing something all together different? Is that not part of bushcaft? Is climbing a mountain not bushcraft? You are not chilling out, yet you are not getting out either, so I suppose it's not survival. Most outdoor activities, at least as I am familiar with them, involve neither an attempt to "get out asap", nor to "chill out asap".

For me bushcraft is a set of wilderness skills. They can be used however one chooses and under whatever circumstances and conditions they may be required. Bushcraft skills can be used to survive, they can be used while hunting, while climbing a mountain, while chilling out, or while undertaking extremely challenging activities. Certainly one can choose to undertake only relaxing trips and use bushcraft solely in furthering that "chilling out", but I don't think that is necessary nor essential for the practice of bushcraft, nor do I see it as being the ultimate goal for bushcraft. I doubt that many of our ancestors whose skills we are now attempting to learn, ever viewed them as means to relaxation.

I'm not saying my definition is the correct one, nor that there is such a definition, I just wanted to make sure we are not limiting the definition of this field of study to simple equations. Sorry for the derail.

Well said that man. 'Bushcraft' is really just a set of skills used to enhance whatever outdoor activity you happen to be doing at the time, whether it be mountaineering, hiking, travelling, hunting, fishing, farming, homesteading, even gardening. I don't think I've ever gone 'bushcrafting'.....

 

[John Fenna]

OK - a further derail - define "chilling out"
For me that is doing something I want to do, in a time scale that suits me, in an environment that suits me.
In my mountaineering days that covered soloing VS climbs - in fact , when my mother died I took to the mountains to get my head together after the cremation.
Chilling out does not - for me at least - simply mean lazing in a sun drenched hammock with a cold one in my paw ... though that can come into it
Getting into the trees with a set of skills and basic tools and building a semi permanent camp - hours of sweaty toil and effort - certainly comes into it .. my wish, my time, my place
Using the skills, up in my workroom at home, helping earn a bit of a living also counts for me (both as chillin,and bush CRAFT) as does going to a craft fair where I am hired to demonstrate some of the basic skills ... and selling some of my crafts!
Even going to work, taking folk with learning disability into the woods and showing them some basic skills such as how to use a bowsaw safely counts.
Sitting doing my accounts neither counts as chillin nor bushcraft - that is Survival!

 

[Toddy]

Yes

M

 

[boatman]

"It takes one out of oneself" is a phrase that can be applied to walking or just living in the woods but then so does paddling a boat or fishing. When I do a full stint at a reenactment or, coming up this weekend, a Green man Festival with our Have-a-Go-Archery set up there is no time for reflection. and it is a pleasure when child or adult, gets it and the arrows thump home in one of our (native) animal targets. Admittedly brown bears and wolves aren't too common nowadays but we represent the fauna of prehistory and it is as close to hunting with the bow as you can get in the UK. Bushcrafting Education as well as fun?