So how did you all get into this??

[Landy_Dom]

my story:

I started out as a rambo survivalist wannabe in my teens - you know the sort of thing - collecting large military knives, shooting at anything that moved, getting lost in "combat and survival" magazines etc etc....

As i grew up a little (not too much ) I became uncomfortable with the whole survival thing - the knife collecting was getting to be a problem, and i was getting more aware of the need to be respectful of our outdoors, not merely go in "gung ho" and hacking it to pieces.

So where did this leave me? I certainly enjoyed many aspects of the "survival" thing, and enjoyed being out in the outdoors with the minimum of kit.... but thought "when am i going to ever get lost in the jungle after a plane crash, having miraculously got my enormous combat knife past customs....?" and wondered whether there was any point to it at all.

It started to come back into focus when my lad started to grow up, and we started camping nights out together ("boys' trips" we call them). Here was a time I could relax in the outdoors (campsite or, more often, not) and start to think about the idea of surviving for pleasure, as something me and my boy could do together.

Seeing the Ray Mears TV shows (not many of them as I don't have sky) it all became clear - there was such a thing as environmentally respectful bushcraft that was a million miles away from the whole rambo escape and evasion thing. I had found my place in the natural world!!!

I am determined to bring my lad up to know the skills to look after himself in the outdoors, and the respect to leave it as he found it.

EUREKA!!!!!!

I have my cake and eat it.

Dom.

So what's your story??

 

[AlbeoLupus]

I was walking through the forest and there was a big pit covered with branches and leaves and I fell right in

Ok real story - the short version

Did these types of things as a kid. Now I'm a big kid with a little money, so I can now buy better toys.

And that Ray Mears dude has a lot to answer for

andy

 

[rich59]

Teaching scouts to light fires with matches - I thought how we rely on manufactured things to make fire. Perhaps there was more basic ways to light a fire. Spent many months learning how to bow drill and eventually hand drill and am gradually spiralling out from that centre.

 

[Ogri the trog]

It kind of started before I knew what was going on. I went all through the Scouting movement, Cubs, Scouts, Ventures and much later as a part-time helper. Had a great time doing all the things that older Scouts will remember, loads of weekend camps, Jamborees, hillwalking, climbing and abseiling. I didn't realise it at the time but the younger kids were looking to me for guidance. Also went through Air Cadets as I got closer to working age and that pointed me towards the RAF. Went on to serve for over 12 years and spent a considerable amount of time in the wetter/colder parts of the world covered in mud trying to make myself comfortable.
Couple all this background with the fact that I've always thought of myself as a countryboy in a town and there is the soundest basis of an outdoor hobby right there.
In recent years, it has become obvious that I know more about the ways of the world than many people who I work with, but not nearly as much as those I live amongst. This means I can be a student in one camp whilst a tutor in another; just a someones signiture reads;- "Share your knowledge, its a way to immortality."

Ogri the trog

 

[capacious]

I've always been into backpacking (my Dad's influence, methinks) from a very early age. In fact, a went to the summit of Kinder Scout in the middle of winter when I was 7 (it always makes me laugh when I read that Kinder Scout in the winder is a 'formidable' mounatin, and 'should not be undertaken by anyone but a very experienced hill walker ) And watching Ray Mears on tracks (which is by far his best ever series) captivated me somewhat. (Despite the fact that I am only 18, I have probably been bushcrafting longer than plenty of the older people on this forum .........) I could even light fire with a bowdrill when I was 9 (and my dad STILL can't ) This is the only hobby I can remember having, and I have never met someone else my age who is remotely interested, let alone as serious about it as me, which is a shame, 'cause I would've enjoyed some company during winter camps...... So this is really all down to my dad for getting me interested in the outdoors, and just like nearly everyone else, Ray Mears for just being a remarkable man.

Jake.

 

[Biddlesby]

I've always liked the mountains, whenever we visited the extended family in wales I'd be asking myself which mountain to conquer. And of course I love living in a more rural area. Finally I've always liked the complexity of the natural system; far better than any system man can create.

Then all it took was Ray Mears as a spark into this tinder. I've got alot of bushcraft to do, though.

 

[match]

For me, it was plants.

My parents bought a new house and I spent a good week chopping and digging leylandii and their roots out of a bed by the kitchen door, then decided to plant a small herb garden.

What started out as the usual thyme, rosemary and parsley grew to over 150 different herbs and medicinal plants, which I still tend to and use whenever I get the chance to escape back to visit.

Going round garden centres and plant nurserys looking for new things, I soon realised that many of the things they were growing were also growing out of walls, hedgerows and fields as well, where they were free and abundant. Exploring plants in this way took me into exploring nature more, and this then led on to a more general interest in bushcraft.

I'm still very much a plant man (although I'm branching out into mushrooms now thanks to help at the last Scottish Meet) but fire is also a big interest of mine (I've been doing fire performance and choreographed fire shows for nearly 7 years now, including Edinburgh's Beltane), and this love of fire drew me back to finding out 'how it all started'.

Either way, I'm very glad I got hooked

 

[Klenchblaize]

my story:

I started out as a rambo survivalist wannabe in my teens - you know the sort of thing - collecting large military knives, shooting at anything that moved, getting lost in "combat and survival" magazines etc etc....

As i grew up a little (not too much ) I became uncomfortable with the whole survival thing - the knife collecting was getting to be a problem, and i was getting more aware of the need to be respectful of our outdoors, not merely go in "gung ho" and hacking it to pieces.

So where did this leave me? I certainly enjoyed many aspects of the "survival" thing, and enjoyed being out in the outdoors with the minimum of kit.... but thought "when am i going to ever get lost in the jungle after a plane crash, having miraculously got my enormous combat knife past customs....?" and wondered whether there was any point to it at all.

It started to come back into focus when my lad started to grow up, and we started camping nights out together ("boys' trips" we call them). Here was a time I could relax in the outdoors (campsite or, more often, not) and start to think about the idea of surviving for pleasure, as something me and my boy could do together.

Seeing the Ray Mears TV shows (not many of them as I don't have sky) it all became clear - there was such a thing as environmentally respectful bushcraft that was a million miles away from the whole rambo escape and evasion thing. I had found my place in the natural world!!!

I am determined to bring my lad up to know the skills to look after himself in the outdoors, and the respect to leave it as he found it.

EUREKA!!!!!!

I have my cake and eat it.

Dom.

So what's your story??

I'm not sure I really do "bushcraft" but I most certainly 'hunt' and love being in the outdoors. Anyway, I'm only replying to commend your honetsy and openness. Definitely a 10X10 in order there.

Cheers

K

 

[Landy_Dom]

Thanks K



Dom.

 

[wilts-bushcraft]

hi my first post as well !!!!
with luck or fate my gramps was a bit of a rogue and took one for the pot so to speke !!! so i started snaring and netting rabbits with him and from then on it was just natural progression learning to spot the first plant i could recognise NETTLES ouch then dock leaves to relive the pain and so on and so forth until i knew a good handfull of freindly plants and a handfull of freindly fungi then came the trees with their personalities like old men some are hard work some are kind to you then you realise that these pearls of wisdom have a generic name BUSHCRAFT or THE craft as i call it then you meet others who share your love of the craft and you expand your repatoir and hopfully expand others too

 

[RovingArcher]

I was more or less born into it. From birth I was carried into the bush by my granny and mom to collect plants. My dad and I would do primitive camping and go on night hikes, which was training for my future he would say. He taught me to prepare my tinder bundles and how to use flint and steel to get a fire going. Taught me to use the simple pocket knife for all my cutting needs and later graduated me to the fixed blade, so that by the time I was a teen, I was considered proficient with a knife. Later, grandpa taught me to hunt and then to shoot the bow. He always said, you must learn to do everything in the hunt, before you learn to shoot, or you will want to shoot, before you know how to track, gut, skin, etc. Made sense to me. Anyways, the training continued and still continues today. In fact, the training never ends, because there is always something new to explore, examine and learn.

 

[wizard]

I wanted to say first off, thanks to everyone for all the great info, I have been lurking for a while
Let's see, how did I get into all this, well when I was a youngster, I was really into Scouting and camping. Anything in the wild. The real clincher for me was the first overnight backpacking trip. As I grew older I always had a facination with knives, backpacks and outdoor gear and went hiking, climbing and anything in the wilderness, as much as possible. When I went into the army I joined Special Forces because it was less regimented and more bushcraft skill oriented. It was also a thrill to do some of the other unique things that SF soldiers get to do.
I got off active service and maintained a reserve status until 1997. I was active in rock climbing, mountaineering, mountain rescue and as much hiking and wilderness camping as time allowed. Survival and bushcraft skills have always been one of my favorite things to learn about and practice. I'm no Ray Mears but I think I can get along most anywhere I dare travel.
Now that I am getting older, I have retired from the reserves. I still hike as much as possible and still love the wilderness and anything associated. I'm still a knife lover and recently recieved a Stewart Marsh Bushcraft knife, which I truly love. Perfect knife for the bush!
I plan to continue doing what I love until I get too old, if that ever happens

 

[Platypus]

I've always loved the countryside and being out in it.
Jack Hargreaves in "Out of Town" started me thinking there was more to the outdoors than just walking about.
Then Ray Mears in "Tracks" expanded this even further.
And of course this site has introduced me to the rest.

 

[g4ghb]

Have always been outdoors... Grew up in a village so spent most my childhood in the fields arround. My Dad was/is a diver so most weekends I was beechcombing (even as a kid I prefered rocky beeches to sand, just as well realy)

Started Scouting at age 8 (would have started earlier if they would have let me!!!) and have never left!!!

Mountaineering, Climbing, Mountain Biking, Canoeing etc - just like to be active outdoors i guess

Add to that my lifelong love of knives and fire where else would I be

 

[ozzy1977]

It startede as a kid living in a village with a 100 acre wood over the field at the bottom of the garden. I was always going in there with a penknife and a stick to poke and prod things, and ended up working in there felling trees, clearing rides etc that all ended when the women started coming along. But I was reading and collecting a few bits along the way but never got around to useing them.

The other day I got a Frosts Mora and found this site, just got to dig out my tools and go for a walk

 

[Landy_Dom]

Seems to have kicked off quite a bit of interest, this thread.....

keep them coming, please - it's good to hear where we've all come from

:You_Rock_

Dom

 

[NickBristol]

Great thread - really interesting to read

It wasn't until a few years ago that I knew there was a hobby / lifestyle called bushcraft, at least not one I could distunguish from survival ideas. I knew a lot about survival, both E&E type and fieldcraft from the forces. Bascially I knew how to stay alive, but not to be comfortable nor to be able to extend myself over more than a week or so. I was lucky that I was in a non-traditional outfit (NOT in SF tho) and was frequently working for the UN in many of the more exotic places in the world, picked up skills along the way, tho mostly in self-control, appearing neutral and not standing out.

What are more useful these days are the skills my dad taught me as a young and impatient child - how to use a saw without the teeth jamming, how to identify and use different woods for different tasks, how to be safe around sharp things, how to map read properly, how to walk quietly, the basics of how to observe wildlife and tracking. The biggest thing he taught me was how to think my way out of problems and situations, to be flexible and never to be narrow minded, and to be really appreciative of the natural environment. I will be forever grateful to the old guy for that.

 

[Salix]

Hi Guys, great thread,
With me i suppose i have always been drawn to the wild, both physically and spiritually, i love wild places and feel really at home in a forest or woodland. As a child i spent many hours out in the countryside, tracking, denning and generally playing castaway, i took this into my adulthood, left it for a few years as i chose a career path, but then swung back into it when i changed career about 10 years ago, i wouldn't say i'me a pro.............but 10 years as a ranger certainly helps, on the spiritual side i would say i have some paganistic beliefs, a deep respect for nature, and a real love of wild places.
I am also deeply interested in our ancestors, and how they lived, anything pre roman captivates me.
Mark.

 

[Womble]

Back in 2001 I was shown a book at a scouter event - the coffee table Ray Mears book. I'd been a Scouter for about 3 years then and still desperately finding my feet (having never been in the Scouts) - especially as I had at that point been thrown in at the deep end and found myself leading the troop.

Regardless of what you might think of the man and the skills in the book - it is a great thing to use to inspire you and just get you thinking about what you're capable of and what's actually important. My tagline on here comes from then, when it was my cry when we'd finished all the boring stuff of a troop night and could get on with things!

That's how I started, anyway. From there it's been courses, meets and just getting out there and sitting under a tree. It's probably imporved my quality of life (as I work in central London and commute for 2 1/2 hours a day), and I feel like I've only just scratched the surface of what there is to learn.

 

[Burt]

My interest has always been there; well at least from the age of about six or seven when I started getting insect guide books & books on British countryside. Growing up in a village I would spend nearly every daylight hour in fields making dens/fires etc. A break then during the adolescent years, then the interest picked up again; spurred on dramatically by Ray Mears and his very inspirational subjects on bushcraft.

Although a long way off competenant at most skills, the burning desire to be outside and learn, especially in woodland is greater now than ever. I enjoy taking my son out who is four and a half, and trying to open his eyes to what is out there on your doorstep. The only thing that holds me back is where I live there is a distinct lack of woodland due to intensive arable farming.

Good thread!