So.. what happened...
- Thread starter HillBill
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Don't bother getting your coat, i've got it for you lol ;-)Otherwise it'd be a toothpick
I recently joined the forum as it looked like a more interactive information exchange / hub than the one-way options from You Tube / social media, and this seems to be the case. I've not done major bushcraft activities myself, and am quietly working my way into it.
What has surprised me is the difficulty in being able to practise bushcraft in anything other than my garden - as mentioned by others, the UK seems unkind to someone wanting to actually do bushcraft activities unless you: A. Have a woodland yourself, B. Know someone who has a woodland who doesn't mind you using it when you like, C Are happy to break the law. Knives / axes, open fires and camping out seem pretty big pieces in the bushcraft jigsaw, yet any one of these on their own is a major no-no in public, so trying to do all three is a pipedream. The "arrive late, leave early, leave no trace" option is fine for some, however I'm not sure I'd actually enjoy this time as I know I'd be trespassing and would be on edge for my time there. I don't have an answer to this yet, so I continue having to do small things until I discover somewhere that will let me practise.
What has specifically put me off participating more in the forum is the cold reception I got when joining, specifically in trying to find likeminded people in my region so I could learn from others and possibly find a place where I could practise. Most responses from my introduction were nice and encouraging, however I was told in no uncertain terms that until I've been on this forum longer / shown that I'm actively involved that I won't be invited along to the local group. The person was fair in how they said this and I understand their reasoning, however a 'come back when you're committed' is a really good way to make people leave. It's a bit like saying "figure it out on your own, and once you have you can join the club….. although by that point you may not want to join the club, as you've already figured it out on your own…" I wasn't the only one that felt this way, as another chap on the thread got the same feeling. Given the uphill challenge in finding anywhere to practise bushcraft, this was a big knock-back, and I considered dropping off the forum altogether. I've got another pastime where there is a clique of elitism , where you're looked down on by the long-lived, long-experienced, done-it-all crowd, rather than invited in to draw from that experience. I don't care about this as I know what I'm doing in that hobby so I just do what I like when I'm there. With bushcraft I expect I'll continue to have to do my own thing, on my own, and participate online when I feel I have something to contribute. Really, I only stayed as I don't have any other choice - this forum is about the only resource to ask for guidance and undertake discussion in a two-way conversation.
I watch videos on You Tube from a small select group of producers that do seem to have their heads screwed on, I read books that my library can get and buy others second hand, and interact with some content on websites by a few select parties, as I don't want to miss the core fundamentals amid a sea of noise. I'm not always able to contribute something to this forum and so mostly read the threads and pick up on things where it'll help.
The other challenge is that the forum back-catalogue has grown to produce a searchable repository for self-help by the reader. This will create a conflict - wishing for user engagement in discussion and vibrant discourse on original content, at the same time as chastising users for not having read through past posts / threads to see if their enquiry has already been covered, subsequently starting a new thread because they "want it all now" as if they have poor attention spans / don't want to do the legwork. I try to teach myself to be a good information finder, so will dig online first and ask if I can't get to the answer myself.
What has surprised me is the difficulty in being able to practise bushcraft in anything other than my garden - as mentioned by others, the UK seems unkind to someone wanting to actually do bushcraft activities unless you: A. Have a woodland yourself, B. Know someone who has a woodland who doesn't mind you using it when you like, C Are happy to break the law. Knives / axes, open fires and camping out seem pretty big pieces in the bushcraft jigsaw, yet any one of these on their own is a major no-no in public, so trying to do all three is a pipedream. The "arrive late, leave early, leave no trace" option is fine for some, however I'm not sure I'd actually enjoy this time as I know I'd be trespassing and would be on edge for my time there. I don't have an answer to this yet, so I continue having to do small things until I discover somewhere that will let me practise.
What has specifically put me off participating more in the forum is the cold reception I got when joining, specifically in trying to find likeminded people in my region so I could learn from others and possibly find a place where I could practise. Most responses from my introduction were nice and encouraging, however I was told in no uncertain terms that until I've been on this forum longer / shown that I'm actively involved that I won't be invited along to the local group. The person was fair in how they said this and I understand their reasoning, however a 'come back when you're committed' is a really good way to make people leave. It's a bit like saying "figure it out on your own, and once you have you can join the club….. although by that point you may not want to join the club, as you've already figured it out on your own…" I wasn't the only one that felt this way, as another chap on the thread got the same feeling. Given the uphill challenge in finding anywhere to practise bushcraft, this was a big knock-back, and I considered dropping off the forum altogether. I've got another pastime where there is a clique of elitism , where you're looked down on by the long-lived, long-experienced, done-it-all crowd, rather than invited in to draw from that experience. I don't care about this as I know what I'm doing in that hobby so I just do what I like when I'm there. With bushcraft I expect I'll continue to have to do my own thing, on my own, and participate online when I feel I have something to contribute. Really, I only stayed as I don't have any other choice - this forum is about the only resource to ask for guidance and undertake discussion in a two-way conversation.
I watch videos on You Tube from a small select group of producers that do seem to have their heads screwed on, I read books that my library can get and buy others second hand, and interact with some content on websites by a few select parties, as I don't want to miss the core fundamentals amid a sea of noise. I'm not always able to contribute something to this forum and so mostly read the threads and pick up on things where it'll help.
The other challenge is that the forum back-catalogue has grown to produce a searchable repository for self-help by the reader. This will create a conflict - wishing for user engagement in discussion and vibrant discourse on original content, at the same time as chastising users for not having read through past posts / threads to see if their enquiry has already been covered, subsequently starting a new thread because they "want it all now" as if they have poor attention spans / don't want to do the legwork. I try to teach myself to be a good information finder, so will dig online first and ask if I can't get to the answer myself.
If you being around here mean more photographs and information on reptiles and snakes then that will make my visits here even more worthwhile.
BTW is one q for you. I once walked for a week (stravaigning) in Knoydart peninsula and I saw rather a lot of lizards of different sizes and I think species. Not being an expert I had no idea what they were. Is that area particularly high in lizard numbers? Why? Also how? Now I used to expect to see adders in Galloway forest part in D&G southern scotland. I expect to see sand lizards on the coastal rocks of sunny Devon and Cornwall. I never expected to see quite so many and some were larger than what I thought UK species got to. I used to see a few in certain areas of the Lakes too but they were small.
Anyway, it is good to see an old regular apear back on this forum.
Probably 15 years ago I was off for a week solo fun in Scotland and on the way up I popped into a campsite somewhere near Stirling and once pitched I pottered around looking for some likely Bushrafters who were supposedly meeting up there.
Being a barely socialised individual who despite going there to meet up with people it was not guaranteed that I would in the end. I plucked up the courage and introduced myself to someone who looked a likely BCUKer. What luck! I met a guy who IIRC was there with his partner and he introduced me to a gang of people. There was a guy who had set up an anvil and charcoal hearth and was trying to make a knife. Not too successful as he was drinking some pretty potent stuff!! There was the guy who had bivvied down in some woods at the edge of the organised site in his cammo tarp and bivvy (with a nice fire in front that went out before he left to join the main group - BTW the next morning I watched his tidy up and leave no trace was well done). Then there was the guy who was into the WHW who it seemed to me that he did it every year and probably had multiple compleats of it. There was the people using an ancient looking single skin cotton tent (a boxy affair protected by his landy IIRC).
Overall I found them really good bunch of people that made me feel at home joining them. I still do not know why I never met up with more people. Back then there were neet ups happening all the time.
Now I do wonder if there are any left on here who recognise who I might be talking about in the above. I can not remember names or screen names for those people but others on here might. My point being that back then there were more people and more meetups than I think happen now. This kind of created groups of online friends who met up all around the country. I expect this still happens but it seems less organised and frequent nowadays.
Being a barely socialised individual who despite going there to meet up with people it was not guaranteed that I would in the end. I plucked up the courage and introduced myself to someone who looked a likely BCUKer. What luck! I met a guy who IIRC was there with his partner and he introduced me to a gang of people. There was a guy who had set up an anvil and charcoal hearth and was trying to make a knife. Not too successful as he was drinking some pretty potent stuff!! There was the guy who had bivvied down in some woods at the edge of the organised site in his cammo tarp and bivvy (with a nice fire in front that went out before he left to join the main group - BTW the next morning I watched his tidy up and leave no trace was well done). Then there was the guy who was into the WHW who it seemed to me that he did it every year and probably had multiple compleats of it. There was the people using an ancient looking single skin cotton tent (a boxy affair protected by his landy IIRC).
Overall I found them really good bunch of people that made me feel at home joining them. I still do not know why I never met up with more people. Back then there were neet ups happening all the time.
Now I do wonder if there are any left on here who recognise who I might be talking about in the above. I can not remember names or screen names for those people but others on here might. My point being that back then there were more people and more meetups than I think happen now. This kind of created groups of online friends who met up all around the country. I expect this still happens but it seems less organised and frequent nowadays.
I do understand your points @Astrochicken and I would hope that we are on the whole an encouraging group.
Where I can be useful and not repeat other posts in the thread I will share my view/method/choice. I will do so even when I’m my head I’m thinking “why don’t they try it a few different ways themselves and tell US which they find best.”
I would go further than @Broch on British island geography and say that there is no “bush” in this country at all by the original definition of the term as used in other continents. However that does not stop us practicing the craft once we have decided what bushcraft means
Well done for working things through in your garden. I’m making a rope trivet in my armchair
Where I can be useful and not repeat other posts in the thread I will share my view/method/choice. I will do so even when I’m my head I’m thinking “why don’t they try it a few different ways themselves and tell US which they find best.”
I would go further than @Broch on British island geography and say that there is no “bush” in this country at all by the original definition of the term as used in other continents. However that does not stop us practicing the craft once we have decided what bushcraft means
Well done for working things through in your garden. I’m making a rope trivet in my armchair
Also as mentioned before by others; UK is a small island with a large population and not much forests.
If you lived in my country; more or less same size as UK but 75% of the landmass is forests and only 6 million people.
Doing stuff right now. Mostly drinking and sitting though.
@Astrochicken
I would certainly recommend you come along to one of the moots, a lot of very friendly and VERY knowledgable people, as well as an opportunity to live wild for a little while
I'm a big advocate of garden bushcraft tbh. If you think of it as a survival skill, then learning to make a good fire with easy materials and cook over it is a bedrock ability, and one you can begin at home and then refine over time to the point at which you can handle unexpected materials anywhere etc. It sort of depends on what the appeal is, but assuming you lived somewhere with some wild Bush - a learner wouldn't be ready to go out there for basic safety reasons,without practice at home. That's what works for me as a way of thinking about it anyway. Like as a long apprenticeship.
I 'play' survival whenever I go out, asking myself questions about how to find water or tracks or locations for shelters. That in and of itself is a very eye opening practice, and makes one relieved one is a mere 20 minutes from a main road.
I would certainly recommend you come along to one of the moots, a lot of very friendly and VERY knowledgable people, as well as an opportunity to live wild for a little while
I'm a big advocate of garden bushcraft tbh. If you think of it as a survival skill, then learning to make a good fire with easy materials and cook over it is a bedrock ability, and one you can begin at home and then refine over time to the point at which you can handle unexpected materials anywhere etc. It sort of depends on what the appeal is, but assuming you lived somewhere with some wild Bush - a learner wouldn't be ready to go out there for basic safety reasons,without practice at home. That's what works for me as a way of thinking about it anyway. Like as a long apprenticeship.
I 'play' survival whenever I go out, asking myself questions about how to find water or tracks or locations for shelters. That in and of itself is a very eye opening practice, and makes one relieved one is a mere 20 minutes from a main road.
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I think people get hung up on the notion that it all goes on in the woods somewhere. Take away the word bush and what you have left is craft, and that can be making things with textiles, leather, wood, metal or whatever. I have just been "crafting" a couple of leather knife sheaths and a compass pouch in my living room. I expect they will be used outside somewhere at some time, but not until the weather improves and the nights are shorter.I would go further than @Broch on British island geography and say that there is no “bush” in this country at all by the original definition of the term as used in other continents. However that does not stop us practicing the craft once we have decided what bushcraft means View attachment 91691
Well done for working things through in your garden. I’m making a rope trivet in my armchair
Has that blade got a chip in it mid way along the edge?
Or is it just how it looks in the pic?
Totally agree mate. Shows a blades been getting some proper use too.
Been a while since i've seen a Deval Bushcrafter.
Has that blade got a chip in it mid way along the edge?
Nah, it's just where JD has been grinding away the serrated blade to make it UK legal
It’s got two big chips. Although not as bad as it was a few years ago. It had three then. It doesn’t t really get in the way anymore. Another year and they’ll be near gone I reckon.Has that blade got a chip in it mid way along the edge?
Hi Paul. Yep, I can do that no problem. That’s a promise. And thankyou.
That far north you’ll just be looking at the Common lizard. You probably saw a mixture of juveniles and adults. The colouration can vary between the sexes, especially around the breeding season. It’s far too cool that far north for any invasive species to be thriving. They mainly stick to the south coast.
Actually made me laugh mate. Nice one.Nah, it's just where JD has been grinding away the serrated blade to make it UK legal
Yeah i can see where the third is almost out. How'd you manage that? Gotta have battoned through something you shouldn't have? Was that originally slightly hollow ground?
