The Essence of Bushcraft

[THOaken]

Many of you seem to be implying that I'm romanticizing the Bushcraft hobby. While that is partly true I do feel that there's more to it than that. Let my clarify my stance on this: I romanticize Bushcraft insofar that I feel deeply connected to nature and have a good understanding of ancient history, particularly Iron Age Britain and earlier. I understand that romanticizing the woods, especially for our kind who likes to go out there for days, is a bad idea. But I'm not some person who will wander into the woods without fully preparing for it, nor do I think anyone should do that unless they have the knowledge that allows them to properly thrive in the environment.

Yes, I'm someone who wishes to live in the woods one day and yes, I'm a solitary creature who wishes only to listen to the whispers of the trees, but I understand Bushcraft's limitations and the dangers of the wilderness.

*I should also clarify that it is my understanding of mythology, lore, and the ancient polytheistic traditions of Europe's past that is partly the source of my romanticism.

 

[MikeLA]

Good post, with you 100%

To me Bushcraft is another name to us folks who enjoy the outdoors, call it what you will bushcraft, Survival, Wilderness skills. JUST be outdoors and practice skills.

 

[dave53]

so in short camping out to give you a chance to learn some skills in bushcraft regards dave

 

[British Red]

To me bushcraft is a hobby - its fun. It has no more, and no less, validity than golf or stamp collecting. Its not a higher purpose or an important act of cultural preservation. Its just boys and girls making dens in the woods, low tech camping and an extension of going for a nice walk.

Its great, and its enjoyable, but lets not pretend its more than it is.

 

[THOaken]

To me bushcraft is a hobby - its fun. It has no more, and no less, validity than golf or stamp collecting. Its not a higher purpose or an important act of cultural preservation. Its just boys and girls making dens in the woods, low tech camping and an extension of going for a nice walk.

Its great, and its enjoyable, but lets not pretend its more than it is.

Let's just agree to disagree. Think about how many branches of skills and activities are connected to Bushcraft. Are you really saying that this hobby has equal validity to stamp collecting?

Anyway, I understand your point of view, but there are some of us who, whilst understanding the limitations of this hobby, appreciate our cultural heritage and how it connects to Bushcraft. I know people who are conservationists, living history reenactors, and ancient language linguists. They are all Bushcrafters who see Bushcraft as a chance to further understand the lives of our ancestors.

What about people such as Gary Waidson of BCUK and Ravenlore? Even prolific Bushcrafters such as Ray Mears takes a similar view.

 

[Toddy]

THOaken....Iron Age Britain was both an agrarian and a tribal society.
They lived with a very uncertain future, hard living for most, and nothing like the information or variety of resources that we happily access today.
They most certainly did not live solitary.
Family groups formed the core, extended family was the support network, inter tribal trading and warfare, a nasty mess of smal wars, raiding, and trying to provide for the lean times. Kingdoms don't emerge until as a response to the invasions from the continent.

Just a rather strange time to focus on for 'bushcraft'.
Most who decide to go purist on the topic go for Mesolithic.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[THOaken]

THOaken....Iron Age Britain was both an agrarian and a tribal society.
They lived with a very uncertain future, hard living for most, and nothing like the information or variety of resources that we happily access today.
They most certainly did not live solitary.
Family groups formed the core, extended family was the support network, inter tribal trading and warfare, a nasty mess of smal wars, raiding, and trying to provide for the lean times. Kingdoms don't emerge until as a response to the invasions from the continent.

Just a rather strange time to focus on for 'bushcraft'.
Most who decide to go purist on the topic go for Mesolithic.

cheers,
Toddy

Notice how I said also said "and earlier", Toddy. I understand all of the things you've just said, though. Before agricultural food surplus, small bands of nomadic hunter gatherers foraged and lived off the land. Sounds a lot like the principals of Bushcraft to me. But anyway, there are campers and there are Bushcrafters with academic interests... Not sure why we're arguing.

 

[British Red]

Let's just agree to disagree. Think about how many branches of skills and activities are connected to Bushcraft. Are you really saying that this hobby has equal validity to stamp collecting?

Absolutely I am - philately has a historical component, and international dimension, an art aspect, and covers the history of social communication.

I personally enjoy shooting, it has dimensions of sport, science, engineering, history, trigonometry, wildlife management, land management, militaria and so on.

I also enjoy beekeeping, seed saving, self sufficiency, soap making, food preservation, aboriculture, brewing, gardening, woodworking and many more. All these hobbies have many dimensions and can extend into archeology, legacy skills, social history, and many other aspects beyond learning than the skills themselves. All hobbies are fascinating and can lead into many allied fields of study - which is great.

I don't see the need to say one is beeter than another - all learning and study is great - and equally valid. They are though, hobbies. Learning for learning sake, enjoyment for enjoyments sake. They don't need a higher purpose - any more than art or music do.

 

[Scopey]

Bushcraft, its essence is a core of good solid outdoor/camping/backwoods skills; thats the essence, the core, then you can dress it up a bit with things/other hobbies that interest you; photography, birdwatching, spoon carving, fire lighting, re-enactment, hunting, fishing, mycology, cooking, et al.

That's it for me in a nutshell - I'm ex military and love being outdoors , whether its in the mountains or the woods , I'm a keen mountaineer, hill walker, camper, I enjoy hunting, photography, seeing Mother Nature at work, trail running, mountain biking and shock horror as a kid loved all those cheesy 80's survivalist magazines and books. Oh and I'm also a bit of a prepper..... Quite fancy a Canadian canoe as well
Anyway for Bushcraft is a skill set I can use across my ever growing list of hobbies when I'm outdoors. You may catch me one day trying my hand at carving an oar, making an axe handle and I'd LOVE to one day be able to go on the woodlore long bow making course but hell would freeze before I carve a spoon or make a bowl/basket - however I would never put any person down for doing what they enjoy - don't get this whole concept of - "I'm a bushcrafter, your a camper... Or comments like "surely that's not the spirit of bushcraft"....

Labels are a complete waste of time - if your outdoors and having fun then it's all that matters.

 

[Toddy]

THOaken....I suspect you might have more in common with Torjus' philosphy than with most folks on here.
His website is
http://livingprimitively.com/author/admin/

(that's the link I copied, but it looks a bit odd ) anyway, his name is Torjus Gaaren and he makes some excellent stuff

cheers,
Toddy

 

[THOaken]

THOaken....I suspect you might have more in common with Torjus' philosphy than with most folks on here.
His website is
http://livingprimitively.com/author/admin/

(that's the link I copied, but it looks a bit odd ) anyway, his name is Torjus Gaaren and he makes some excellent stuff

cheers,
Toddy

Thanks for the link, it looks great. I'll have a read later.

 

[Toddy]

He is a member, but we're not quite primitive enough for him.

There's another site that might interest you too, Nativetech, well worth a look. Torjus is more focused on European stuff though, and that's more appropriate to the flora and fauna of the UK....no deserts or tropics, iimmc.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Macaroon]

If there was a definition of bushcraft that meant anything it would be the sum of all the definitions expressed - but why does it need defining? To attempt to attribute some kind of validity or higher purpose to things tends to make them pong a bit, in my view.............hubris, perhaps? Just my tuppenceworth; atb mac

 

[Aussiepom]

For me, the word itself states clearly enough what it is. It can be made even more clear if you simply insert a space between the 'h' and the 'c': Bush craft. A set of skills/knowledge relating to a particular subject. In this case, relating to the bush/wilderness/woods/outdoors/etc.

It is not a verb. You don't do bushcraft, you have bushcraft and each individual possesses their own level of it.

 

[Tiley]

For me, the essence of bushcraft - like any hobby, really - is time. In a world where things are nigh on instantaneous, the processes of gathering fuel and kindling, sourcing water and then waiting for your fire to build before you make tea (possibly using you titanium pot...?) means that you have the time to appreciate your surroundings and the weather that has and is shaping them. I hope I'm not romanticising the process but I do feel that, for me at least, bushcraft - if we must call it that - seems to give me more time. It may be that one's options are drastically limited when in the woods or out in the wilds so making a cup of tea becomes an exciting focus and one doesn't worry about how long it takes; it's all part of that process of slowing down that is important, appealing and refreshing.

I have a passing interest in where the skills came from but, by and large, I won't bust a gut to mimic them. Historically, we have always adopted new technologies that make our lives easier - think of the development of matches, for instance; though, that said, the process of lighting a fire using flint and steel or even friction still excites me more than doing so with a firesteel.

I would, however, give them a bit more 'cred' than being mere outdoor skills. If you use them every day, then, yes, they will become just that. But because, for most of us, they are skills we employ periodically, there is still that frisson of excitement and achievement when we succeed with them, lifting them above the coldly catalogued 'outdoor skills' category.

Ultimately, all that really matters is that it - bushcraft - remains fun, informative, educational and accessible.

 

[tamoko]

Independent Living Skills in the wild. Life rather than survival.
To do this, as I see it needs a certain set of knowledge, skills and experience.
In this sense, I am particularly interested in ethnography and bushkrft as "practical ethnography."