The Romance of Bushcraft...

[stovie]

...versus The Reality of Bushcraft...

Okay. Probably going to ruffle a few feathers here, but decided to start this discusion based on my reading material posted on a recent thread, and there is little doubt that my approach to bushcraft (woodcraft, backwoods camping, primitive living) call it what you will, is one of idealistic romanticism.

Lets face it, I (and probably 99% of people on this forum) will never in our lifetime have the need to resort to practising many of the skills espoused on this site "in anger". We put ourselves in artificial situations of survival (primitivism, luddite living, scouting activities [my romantic apogee] and getting back to nature) and reach for the warmth emanating from the well thumbed pages of time in order to satisfy the individualistic yearnings within each of us.

I guess what I am trying to say (or indeed ask) is, if bushcraft is not a romantic "ideal" then what is it...???

I have no need to light a fire with flint and steel, and yet I do it...
I have no need to live in a tipi, and yet I made one and have done just that for several years (on and off)...
I can get food from a supermarket, online, and yet I take great pride in catching my own protein by "primitive" methods...
I have a comfy bed at home, but choose to sleep on the ground in front of a roaring fire under the stars...

And so it goes on from equator to tropics to arctic circles and all regions between...

I guess the pebble in the pond that I am dropping, is...

"Bushcraft...if not romance, then why...???"

okenest:

 

[Laurentius]

It's a matter of degrees of remove really, the oldest method of fire lighting was not to let it go out, they say there has been a fire going at the Flask Inn in Yorkshire for four centuries, not bad.

When I were a lad, the way to light a fire in the back room was to take a shovel full of coals from the fire in the front.

Truly fire lighting is a skill that is dying out in the age of electricity. Ok I would just have been damned cold if I couldn't set a fire (using matches of course) but it was at one time for me an everyday thing not a revival cos my hot water depended on it. Same with growing vegetables, if you had a garden it was just something you did even if you did not have to they taste a whole lot better.

I have let a lot of things go in my latter years, but I used to make my own gear, not because I could (indeed I am not a craftsman) but because it saved money in a time of less abundance and superfluity than we live in now. I didn't own a car so I cycled and walked, I brewed my own wine and beer, picked berries (mushrooms scared me too much) not because I had to but because it was possible and cheap. Didn't make a big thing of it, just a way of living.

The notion of "Bush" craft is absurd, to me there is just craft and conservation, my brother is far closer to the ideal than me, he is not even on the internet, skip diver par excellence, not a great woodworker but a perseverant and persistant one and absolutely urban if not exactly urbane. What does it mean to me? well I think it is just a reverence for the old ways.

One day car mechanics will be a revived craft full of romance too, in fact it probably is already in this age of plug it into the laptop.

 

[stovie]

...What does it mean to me? well I think it is just a reverence for the old ways...

So, my claim of romance is accurate?

lets face it, I make enough cider to give the chancelor a sleepless night...but I could buy the stuff cheaply at my local supermarket...ergo money is not what this is about...its the romance of achieving reward without outlay...its the romance of survival...okenest:

 

[Matt Weir]

Yes, I believe that bushcraft for the majority of BCUK members is a 'romance' - me included. Chores of the past that were once a necessity invoke a certain romanticism within us and so we now actually enjoy these chores as a passtime pleasure precisely because they aren't a necessity but an escape from 'today'.

 

[lannyman8]

Romance with out a dought and i think it has almost a magical property to a degree. take for instance fire, if i had my way i would have one on the go 24 - 7 if i could, but as it is i cant burn 6 pencil size sticks with out some bloke moaning from 2 doors up.
there for i have to go to the woods which is better for me any way but not the point, as when i do again people can come up what are you doing, why what where when who and all those questions, as if i just killed some one.
for having a fire and sleeping in a wood, the worlds gone mad

 

[LordRose]

I think getting a little esoteric, I think people are getting more and more frustrated with the modern life. Its strange, we now live sterile lives where not alot can hurt us, we're not worried we'll starve, we're not worried we'll die on the streets, we can have practically anything we want within reason and still we're not happy.

So yes partly because of the romantic view, but also because life has become so artificial that we no longer really feel like we're alive. We dont have time to talk and spend time with friends and family, modern life feels like a treadmill you can never get off of. For me at least, just taking few days out of this mad world gives me a bit of a relief.

 

[durulz]

Yes, I will happily put up my hand to the claim of Romantic idealism - for all the reasons you state.
I've never been under any other illusion. I've always felt that way and always said so. Which is part of the reason why I often use the term 'Bushcraft' - there's a romance to it. And that's also why I really think of myself as a 'camper'.

 

[SimonM]

Yes, I believe that bushcraft for the majority of BCUK members is a 'romance' - me included. Chores of the past that were once a necessity invoke a certain romanticism within us and so we now actually enjoy these chores as a passtime pleasure precisely because they aren't a necessity but an escape from 'today'.

Very well put Matt, sums it up nicely for me too!

Simon

 

[w00dsmoke]

...versus The Reality of Bushcraft...

I guess what I am trying to say (or indeed ask) is, if bushcraft is not a romantic "ideal" then what is it...???

And so it goes on from equator to tropics to arctic circles and all regions between...

I guess the pebble in the pond that I am dropping, is...

"Bushcraft...if not romance, then why...???"

okenest:

I don't know why you are asking the question? You know the why. This sounds like a pseudo sociology uni essay question pmsl!

Obviously the meaning of "bushcraft" is a highly contested term and the breadth, depth and spectrum of what we who define what it means to us personally is as infinite as the search for the meaning of life!

So excuse me saying but I think if you are asking the question then you don't have that understanding and it's way more complex than placing it's meaning to two possible sides in binary opposition to each other.





/COLOR]

 

[zorro]

Romance versus reality, that can be aplied to many things in life, not just bushcraft.

I suppose it boils down to "is it worth the effort?"

If it's not, then it's probably time for a change.

 

[salan]

Part of the reason to me in learning these skills, is to keep them alive.
I agree that we have become so 'insulated' in our modern world that we forget all to easily other people on this planet STILL need and use these skills every day to some degree or other.
What would it take to 'topple' the western world so that we again need these skills? not much. I don't mean this in a scaremonger way but it can happen to countries.
So for me Yes it is romantic, but also skills of the past that i concidder well worth keeping alive (just in case!).
Alan

 

[Walks with dogs]

I suspect its just impregnated in our DNA somewhere. We've used these skills and lived the lifestyle for hundreds of thousands of years. We are literally a couple of generations away from that, less so in some places , and could possibly find ourselves there again in the future.

No surprise then that we find ourselves drawn to it.

 

[lee2205]

i see bushcraft as a way of enhancing day to day life. for example an open fire warming the livingroom seems (for me anyway) far more satisfing and pleasurable than having a rather sterile radiator hanging on the wall. some may think such a thing as an open fire is not bushcraft but consider the preparation that it requires, gathering, seasoning, chopping and burning the wood all require some knowlage of bushcraft.
hunting, gathering and producing food yourself would be other bushcraft skills that can enhance daily life, not just because you save money on your food bill but you also have the benifit of knowing that what your eating is definately fresh and healthy.
recently a knowlage of bushcraft has come in very useful for many of us. with the weather be so bad the knowlage of its patterns and behavior has made us adapt the way we live to get through it easier than most. for example just knowing how to dress for the occasion has proven , probebly, the most usefull skill of all. did you go out of a morn only to go about your day shivvering and complaining, i doubt it , on went the base layers out came the boots and jackets and of you went nice and sung.
bringing bushcraft skills into daily life may make life easier , or indeed harder but there would seem to be, in my experiance anyway, a greater level of satifaction at the end of the day which can only be good for the soul. this could be described as a romantically practical view of bushcraft and the money saved by applying these skill is definately a bonus in a modern world.
would it not be a good thing to have our children taught bushcraft as part of their education allowing them to keep these skills alive and enhance their lives and those of future generations. they may also gain a level of respect for our world and each other that just doesnt seem to exist anymore.
this may be seen as an idealistic, even romantic, idea to some but it can be acheive by take trips out, going fishing and hunting letting the nippers loose with a pile of logs and an axe (certainly makes them sleep better ) all keeping bushcraft alive.
lee

 

[locum76]

Using the word 'bushcraft' does seem to glamourise/ romanticise a lot of every day tasks. Gathering wood, brewing up outdoors, fixing a tent, sharpening a knife, making a leather bag etc are all activities which are undertaken by millions of people in this country and across the world who don't even know what bushcraft means.

 

[Whittler Kev]

It's a matter of degrees
One day car mechanics will be a revived craft full of romance too, in fact it probably is already in this age of plug it into the laptop.

Couldn't agree more. My old man showed us how to make something fit off of another vehicle through necessity and lack of money. When our combine engine blew up he borrowed a binder (that a neighbour had as an antique display item) to get the corn in (about 1970, not 1920).
Whenever I have to take a car to the garage it's usually, plug it in, fit a new bit, if that doesn't cure it fit another part. Could be why they're called fitters, not mechanics now.okenest:
I like others do occasionally light fire with a spark, make charcloth, make a blade, etc, not because I have to, because I want to know I will be able to do, it if I ever have to.
Thats it step down off the soapbox, give some one else a chance

 

[hog]

Matt Wier has put it there, it's getting away from the norm, yes we can light a fire with a lighter but why not light it with a Flint,why not get away from the confines of four Walls and sleep outside?
And yes it is also a romantic thought and fun to do.having said this romantic as it may be the skills are good to have when you might possibly find your self for some reason or another back in the stoneage.

 

[bhofmann]

I admit I do it for the romance, the sheer pleasure of being outdoors and experiencing something different and more in touch with the world I live in. In my case I think you can add a good dash of mid-life-crisis in the mix as well.

When I saw a taxidermy fox at the car boot this morning, complete with fresh meal in it's mouth, I had to ask myself what right I thought I had to take that meal from a fox when I can buy perfectly good and safe food from the supermarket before I go out.

But even though we only do this for the love of it, not for need; I believe it is a good thing to keep techniques, tools, and skills alive for future generations. After all, none of us know when we might need them.

 

[BushEd]

For a start doing things for pleasure or romance seems as good a reason as anything else to me.

And i would like to add:

You don't need to buy most of things you buy,
you don't need to get a job and live like the state wants you to,
you don't need to sit in front of a TV for hours, wasting time.

There is nothing in life we need to do, except die.

So find a reason to do anything, and make it your own.

Hurrah for Romance, poo-poo to drudgery and banal practicality, complicity.

 

[British Red]

Of course its romance. Or escapism. Or fantasy. Its a big old game of let's pretend

The realty is that many (most?) Do not have regular access to land to practice these skills. Let alone need them in daily life

Indeed people say its important to preserve these skills. But I have far less frequently heard people discuss why its important.

Its a hobby and a way to escape a boring day to day life

Red

 

[legin]

Of course its romance. Or escapism. Or fantasy. Its a big old game of let's pretend

Its a hobby and a way to escape a boring day to day life

What about learning for the sake of learning and fun? When I was working I was on the firearms team for ten years. I had fun putting holes in targets and driving fast in big powerful cars. Last week I did a two day First Aid at Work re-qualifier. I had fun there. I work in a school and look upon the "naughty" lads as entertainment. Yes, in the unlikely event of a disaster that causes the breakdown off civilisation the skills we learn may actually be vital to our continued existence, but until then, can't we just have fun?

Nigel.