talking on bushcraft

[dennydrewcook]

hi guys im new (old just never actually taken time to sign up before) to this forum. 15 and have loved bushcraft for five or so years, now its coming up to my gcses its defiantly a lot harder to get out and do the stuff I want to. now to my point I have a speaking and listening test soon and for it I have to talk on a subject of my choice I want to talk about bushcraft but am stuck on what to say can you guys help?

 

[Harvestman]

So, if bushcraft is spending time outdoors, with a fire, a rent or tarp, and possibly sleeping out there, then perhaps you can talk about why you enjoy it, and what you do while you are out. This might mean talking about how to construct a fire safely and effectively, or why you use certain knots, or what kit you use and why you have chosen it. Imagine you are taking someone with you on a bushcraft trip, and had to teach them because they are a total beginner. What would you tell them? That is your talk.

By the way, nice to meet you, and welcome to the forum.

 

[rorymax]

Hi dennydrewcook, welcome, the good folks here give good advice.

rorymax

 

[dennydrewcook]

hey Harvestman thanks I was more planning to talk on the importance of bushcraft and why we should not loose the skills learnt by our forefathers. I more wanted advice on why we need it and some good tips.

 

[birchwood]

Hi , Perhaps you could talk about the skills of catching,harvesting, preparing and cooking food. Also using the fur,sinews and bone to make clothes and weapons/tools.Building shelters to protect themselves from the elements and predators.ie,weaving and carving. These are the basic skills that our forefathers had to have to survive.
Now people just wander into a shop and buy their homes clothes and food.

 

[Ruud]

This might be of interest to you, good article of Weekend Woodsman.
http://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/whats-the-point-of-practicing-primitive-skills/

 

[Harvestman]

hey Harvestman thanks I was more planning to talk on the importance of bushcraft and why we should not loose the skills learnt by our forefathers. I more wanted advice on why we need it and some good tips.

Ok. You could take an apocalyptic approach and suggest that if society breaks down we might all need those skills. You could take a historical approach and say that these are the skills that were stage in our development to the prersent day, you could take a traditional crafts viewpoint and say that the skills have value in themselves and should be preserved, or you could take a non-western cultural view and say that many of these skills are still in use today in various parts of the world. All of those approaches have value, and you will find supporters for all of those ideas.

For me the basic necessities of life are food, water, shelter and warmth, so you might consider fire making, shelter construction, hunting & trapping, and how to obtain water (which might mean making containers). There is plenty there.

 

[Goatboy]

Harvestman has some good advice there, you could also delve into the fact that we've evolved to be (or have been for a greater part of our evolution) hunter-gatherers. This farming lark and living together in big groups where folk do such specialised things is all a relatively new game and hasn't been proven to work yet. Our bodies and brains are wired and designed to be doing these bushcrafty things and it takes the stress off the body when we do them. We've not yet fully evolved to cope with dealing with city living and have a lot of evolutionary hangups that come to the surface in odd ways.
I don't know if you want to go down that route? but it may be an interesting way into the topic for you.
Hope this helps,
GB.

 

[dennydrewcook]

Thanks I like it

 

[dennydrewcook]

Thanks goat boy

 

[dennydrewcook]

This is great stuff everyone the links brilliant and your advice could even get me an a (fingers crossed)
I'll keep you updated on my grade thanks for the great welcome you've got me addicted to posting
already

 

[homesicksteve]

There's some great stuff in this thread.

This one shocked me : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/5357434.stm

So much knowledge has been lost in a world that thinks it knows more than ever.

'hope it goes well for you.

 

[Tengu]

Guys, guys, I think you are giving right but not so useful advice to the young man.

I do bushcraft because it is fun. if it wasnt I wouldnt do it.

(Same as studying Archaeology which seems to involve IT interspersed with the occiasional boat of playing in mud.)

The OP is still young and that is what he and his classmates (with any luck)will value the most, not virtous stuff like preserving old skills.

 

[dennydrewcook]

Tengu hey firstly what's an op? I must be young to know 😂 Secondly I don't really understand the point your making i have to sound ( and hope I am) mature in my exam and need to use sophisticated language also my classmates won't hear as it's to a teacher. I enjoy bushcraft because I enjoy knowing this is what our ancestors did and if possible id like to show people that we're not all nutters with knives who wear green and camouflage clothes. I want to show my generation that their computers they love so much are not as good as the world around us. Hate to come across stuck up but to get a good grade I need to sound mature.

 

[Tengu]

OP=Original Poster.

Yup, Me and my fellow scholars are of course in it for a connection to the past, a qualification that will lead on to a highly paid and respected position (in teaching,of course) a place in preserving our island heritage and IT

no, actualy we are here to have fun

Anyhow, next week is our Christmas pub crawl. (Meaning we will visit every pub in town intentionaly, rather than get kicked out of them and have to find the next, in case you lot thought that was frivolous...)

 

[dennydrewcook]

Are you doing a course eg gcse in bushcraft? Just interested as I'd love to do one.

You seem young so I'm presuming you know how stuck up the gcses are and I'm not like that but to get a good grade I will have to talk like it 😐.

Sounds cool can't wait till I'm old enough to do that 😏

 

[cranmere]

Hi, it's nice to meet you. I smiled a little at your description because 'way back when I was taking O levels (before GCSEs) I was made to do needlework because I failed my Latin, so instead of the usual skirt I made a tent for my exam piece. I don't think they had encountered a girl who made camping gear and went exploring before.

Can you describe things in a way that makes people feel that they are there with you? Could you paint them a word picture of sitting in front of your camp fire, the things you are cooking, hearing, seeing. The wind in the trees, the sound of an owl in the dusk. It's a sufficiently unusual subject that you could make the examiners really interested in what you are describing. I've done exam marking and someone who does something a little bit original is always looked at favourably.

 

[dennydrewcook]

Goatboy and harvesterman that's exactly the sort of style I'm going for cheers

 

[Tengu]

I am a humble first year undergrad in Archaeology. (Bushcraft skills very useful in experimental archaeology, and of course, general outdoor ones, as the sites are often in the middle of nowhere.)

I am indeed very young and have spent many years in perfecting my Rebellion of Youth.

I did a GCSE in Physics, Statistics and Astronomy a few years back...half of doing well in exams is knowing how to answer the question...not necisarily the answer...you are quite correct.

Ill be doing a presentation of my own next term. You need confidence, knowlege, enthusiasm and of course an ability to enthuse others...oh, and be able to answer questions.

 

[dennydrewcook]

Cranmere 😳 (embarrassed now) haha it's good to know examiners are people and they do look for originality you have described techniques I'd never thought about using in bushcraft really appreciated. I love the vibe of this website it's so relaxed and I've learnt a lot in a very short time cheers