I happened upon a retailer of Bushcraft gear, all your favourite axes, "Scandinavian" Vietnamese outerwear etc etc, and did a quick bit of mental arithmetic. Excluding underwear, by the time you'd come out of this place with the minimal amount of gear for a night in the woods, you're wallet would be at least £1k lighter. I do have the greatest respect for those of you who make your own stuff from scratch, I can manage an alteration, but I must try harder. The "Green pound" ? Has surely gone insane.
The cost.
- Thread starter GuestD
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Green Pound?
Try again, this time: Green Pesetas.
1K?
That is before the shopping at a very famous' bushcrafters online store!
Try again, this time: Green Pesetas.
1K?
That is before the shopping at a very famous' bushcrafters online store!
Most people ( even here...) do not realize you can use the same clothes as in the 'normal' life.
Take the trousers with a hole in, repair and wear.
I used to wear my Greenland jacket as a standard autumn jacket in town. Plus on my treks, fishing, mushrooming...
Boots, backpack, sleepingbag and shelter is something I have never saved on though.
Take the trousers with a hole in, repair and wear.
I used to wear my Greenland jacket as a standard autumn jacket in town. Plus on my treks, fishing, mushrooming...
Boots, backpack, sleepingbag and shelter is something I have never saved on though.
Take a look at Rune Malte Bertram-Nielsen, if you want to see bushcraftiness in more or less ordinary clothes with the odd hole here and there.
A Fashion Victim, no?
I wear what I please...Which is often whatever I can get hold of. (Or find. Three nice T shirts the other day, one went to a friend who was delighted).
I have some very nice clothing and kit which I cherish and look after...very little of it new.
I wear what I please...Which is often whatever I can get hold of. (Or find. Three nice T shirts the other day, one went to a friend who was delighted).
I have some very nice clothing and kit which I cherish and look after...very little of it new.
I've spent my working life in the outdoors, a lot of it in the Scottish Highlands, and learned to wear what is practical for the job. The old thick wool donkey jacket in the cold, covered with an unlined oilskin in the wet, worked remarkably well, and still does. I see a lot of outdoor gear seems to have "dry clean only" on the tags. Thats handy. The old denim work jackets I used to buy, £20 for a pack of five, There's a shop in Aberdeen selling a superbly denim weave Japanese one for over £400. I was in Armstrong's in Edinburgh's Grass Market recently, excellent second hand clothes shop, good for a rummage. I've had a load of really good stuff out of there over the years, including a mint Driza-Bone poncho, and an immaculate Akubra. No luck this time, there was a Camel Wool foreman jacket for £30, but a bit on the tight side for me.
There's a kind of surplus/retro/gamekeeper's type of outdoors dress that seems pretty widespread among the bushcraftering folks. Lot of hype about expensive clothing and hi tech this that and t'other, but at the end of the day, it's best to be reliably comfortable, and that often means not just out for a ramble but sitting beside a fire or stove too....and you don't want to be wearing a four hundred quid jacket and a hundred and fifty quid pair of trousers when the fire starts spitting out embers. Or getting ripped to shreds on the gorse and bramble either. Besides, mud clogs up breathable membranes, but it dries and brushes off wool 
I have some serious technical kit that I wear for activities, but for sitting round a fire it gets put away and the Norgy jumper and a pair of chefs trousers or jeans works for me.
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Exactly, and that is exactly what would happen to the stuff I saw today, which is learned through experience. Origonal gamekeepers tweed had many purposes, including excellent camouflage, warmth in winter, and the ability to retain heat even when wet. Still handy in today's world too. Regarding dry cleaning. If the garment gets a good soaking on a day out in the rain, and it doesn't shrink, then a cold wash in soap flakes is the way to go, and towel dried flat.
A while back I suddenly found myself a bit flush and had just discovered Wyynchester. Most of you will have seen the lovely but pricy Aussie Swag.
https://www.wynnchester.com/product/patrol-pack/
At the time there were a lot more products, one being old army duffels. Long straps for hooking over a shoulder, 3 big brass pop studs to secure the baffle over the zip. Zip had been replaced with a decent sturdy thing with a neat leather pull tag. Stitching replaced where worn. A Wyynchester leather patch sewn onto it, and the fabric rewaxed to give the thing a lovely distressed look. Cost £53!
But, I just love the thing. Almost every time I take it out someone remarks on it, I look forward to when I can use it for a B&B weekend or a stay at a friends place. I think that’s the value of some of these items, they give pleasure to use.
https://www.wynnchester.com/product/patrol-pack/
At the time there were a lot more products, one being old army duffels. Long straps for hooking over a shoulder, 3 big brass pop studs to secure the baffle over the zip. Zip had been replaced with a decent sturdy thing with a neat leather pull tag. Stitching replaced where worn. A Wyynchester leather patch sewn onto it, and the fabric rewaxed to give the thing a lovely distressed look. Cost £53!
But, I just love the thing. Almost every time I take it out someone remarks on it, I look forward to when I can use it for a B&B weekend or a stay at a friends place. I think that’s the value of some of these items, they give pleasure to use.
i just spent 10 days working in the woods
cheap walking trousers (8quid)
aldi merino tshirt (less than a tenner)
matalan flannel shirt (8quid maybe)
wool jumper (matalan i think? 20 quidish)
cheap down jacket (20 quid)
cheap softshell (30 quid)
priciest item was my boots
certainly not a grands worth
cheap walking trousers (8quid)
aldi merino tshirt (less than a tenner)
matalan flannel shirt (8quid maybe)
wool jumper (matalan i think? 20 quidish)
cheap down jacket (20 quid)
cheap softshell (30 quid)
priciest item was my boots
certainly not a grands worth
I couldn't agree more, I've got stuff I paid premium price for, but it is premium quality and durable. This stuff isnt. It is "the emperor's new clothes".
Pretty much the same here. The Aldi merino long sleeve shirts are excellent, and they last. I've acquired three Swanndri shirts out of charity shops, its more fun sourcing stuff that way. I won't scrimp on boots though. Altbergs, and Hoggs field boots most of the time. Primark had some excellent half zip wool jumpers a couple of years ago for a fiver.
When I introduce people to the backwoods I try to get them to think more 'wild man of the woods' rather than military or even high street - old but serviceable. I think of the clothes my Grandfather used to wear 'in the field'; he wouldn't have been seen dead in any of the fashion clothes currently sold for the outdoors but he always came home with dinner!
I'm in the woods most days - work clothes work fine
I'm in the woods most days - work clothes work fine
yep, that's me
There's another, with the kettle hanging on a "Snotrum". My one was made out of a length of 're-bar', the base is bent at an angle so it goes vertically into the groud, so once the kettle is boiled, soup/food cooked, you easily rotate it away from the fire.The
It looks like he is waiting for the kettle to boil, so he can start cooking the dog he has just caught!
When I first started out in the outdoors - backpacking and mountaineering - I was dangerously impressed with the big brands and swallowed wholesale all the information that came with each shiny, new purchase. Using the stuff in the field quickly dispelled the manufacturer's myths, particularly when it came to waterproofs.
Age and injury drew me to bushcraft and, generally, I have managed to exercise a little more discernment, fuelled by experience, when choosing gear. I don't look for brands necessarily, just good simple design and genuinely functional fabrics. There are occasions when I do indulge but that's usually after a good deal of research and 'humming-and haa-ing'. Ultimately, if the product, made by whoever, is durable, well-designed and fulfils a need, then I'll buy it. Adopting that more considered, 'brand-blind' approach has saved me a lot of money over the years and enabled me to afford,among other things, better boots. However, I'm still on the quest for a comfortable waterproof jacket that actually works for longer than a week, doesn't drown me in my own sweat and is reasonably hard-wearing, though!
I hope he fried an onion before cooking the dog.
Age and injury drew me to bushcraft and, generally, I have managed to exercise a little more discernment, fuelled by experience, when choosing gear. I don't look for brands necessarily, just good simple design and genuinely functional fabrics. There are occasions when I do indulge but that's usually after a good deal of research and 'humming-and haa-ing'. Ultimately, if the product, made by whoever, is durable, well-designed and fulfils a need, then I'll buy it. Adopting that more considered, 'brand-blind' approach has saved me a lot of money over the years and enabled me to afford,among other things, better boots. However, I'm still on the quest for a comfortable waterproof jacket that actually works for longer than a week, doesn't drown me in my own sweat and is reasonably hard-wearing, though!
I hope he fried an onion before cooking the dog.
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