The Romance of Bushcraft...

[toonman]

well, Baden-Powell had a purpose when he sugested that boys should learn to live outdoors.
-health.
-the ability to look at problems and solve them with the limited resources you have.
-the ability to look out for yourself, gathering and processing food, utensils, clothing and comfort.
-the development of character.
-religion
-respect for nature
-the notion that some things are worth working for and waiting for.
-notion of "the others", that we need each other and should help each other.
-etc.

is this romanticising?
i guess it's more real than anything.
it's the road to human peace and sustainability.

 

[durulz]

In fact, now I come to think of it, the next time I go out I'm going to wear a baggy white shirt, off my tits on opium, and swoon about like Wordsworth or Coleridge. They liked the countryside as well.

 

[BushEd]

In fact, now I come to think of it, the next time I go out I'm going to wear a baggy white shirt, off my tits on opium, and swoon about like Wordsworth or Coleridge. They liked the countryside as well.

sounds brilliant. drop me a pm haha!! :werd:

 

[stovie]

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

Red

Now that's a whole new can of worms...and ultimately I guess, other than the pleasure of aquiring and sharing that knowledge for knowledge sake, I would argue that it's not important to preserve these skills...but our world would be the poorer for the loss of this knowledge. I cannot put a price on the experiences I have had the pleasure to experience because of this collection of skills we term bushcraft...

 

[BushEd]

i'd disagree and say they are important, maybe not right now, but sometime fairly soon when all this collapses, as it most certainly will.

consider ourselves a link in a chain of knowledge...

 

[falcon]

........... I cannot put a price on the experiences I have had the pleasure to experience because of this collection of skills we term bushcraft...

Nail on the head Stovie and sharing them with great people. Ten years ago I wouldn't have guessed how it would develop even though I'd always been out and about with dog & gun, hillwalking etc etc. What started as a mission to improve knowledge and master some skills improved immesurably by finding others who wanted to do the same....and help me along the way.

Yes romantic to a degree (food for the soul) but entirely practical too by gaining knowledge and mastering skills.....

 

[British Red]

Now that's a whole new can of worms...and ultimately I guess, other than the pleasure of aquiring and sharing that knowledge for knowledge sake, I would argue that it's not important to preserve these skills...but our world would be the poorer for the loss of this knowledge. I cannot put a price on the experiences I have had the pleasure to experience because of this collection of skills we term bushcraft...

Now then, I'm with you up to "the world would be poorer". Would it now...I doubt it personally. However I think many children would be poorer for the lack of the "food for the soul" that you have provided Stovie. Probably many adults too. You provide "time to stand and stare". However, and heres then thing, its the experience that matters, not the skill.

I can think of a number of "golden moments" the Gods have seen to furnish me with.

Eating a "slice of scone" in a Cheshire farmhouse cooked on a cast iron range by an octaganarian.

Spending all day with Chris who was severely handicapped and unable to speak who, at the end of the day, held my hand to his chest, then mine, then his lips.

Sitting with a man who was an agricultural labourer who taught me to load my ammunition. He was barely literate and referred to the number 7 as an "ooky won" - but could measure powder to a tenth of a grain and cast his own lead.

Lying in long grass with Bert watching otters play. His fishing techniques later were...food oriented rather than sport though

Spending half a day stranded on "Bull Hill" (a shifting sandbank in the Exe) with some school friends. We swam, ate, sunbathed and joked. No drama, no stress.

You see, I don't think its the knowledge that matters. Its the sharing.

Red

 

[John Fenna]

I have had many "special moments" in my life, but most of them well away from "modern" entertainment, many from learning new, manual, skills from folk who knew them so well they were second nature, many from passing on, mainly manual, skills, but mostly outdoors, in the "wilds", close to nature and as far away from modern, hectic, life!
I do not like "modern" life very much at all and am at my happiest when in the "wilds" (I know places within a mile of our local tescos where the loudest sound is the hum of insect wings and the "plash" of an Otter launching into the stream)preferably without too much in the way of "technical" outdoor kit.
I have lived and worked in the big city (Brussels) in computers and nearly gone loopy - I have worked with folk with all sorts of "issues" mental and physical and found inspiration and contentment...I got my head around the unexpected death of my mother by heading up the hills, with minimum kit, for a spell.
Without the mental and physical callenge of "bushcrafting" skills I realy think that I would lose what little sanity I still manage to hang onto.
"Bushcraft" helps me retain a conection to reality that is buried under the plastic trash that inundates the modern world...it is not romantisism but therapy and an essential one for me!

 

[zorro]

You see, I don't think its the knowledge that matters. Its the sharing.

Red

Very true.

 

[Rob_Beek]

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.

This is exactly what i think too. And it's peacefull down the woods, a place to relax and shut off from the norm.

 

[BOD]

Et in Arcadia ego.

Romance of course. Not a modern thing by any means and why not yearn for the simple idyllic life even if we can experience it only for while?

"Once again
Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,
That on a wild secluded scene impress
Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect
The landscape with the quiet of the sky...

These beauteous forms,
Through a long absence, have not been to me
As is a landscape to a blind man's eye:
But oft, in lonely rooms, and 'mid the din
Of towns and cities, I have owed to them
In hours of weariness, sensations sweet,
Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart;
And passing even into my purer mind,
With tranquil restoration...


Nature is good for the body and soul. Few things are better than a good campsite in some glade ...

...and a frolic in a waterfall. Halcyone days

Still searching for the nymphs

 

[Chinkapin]

I'm with WALKS WITH DOGS on this one. Just as he says. Plus, I would add, we spent untold millennia walking through the woods and fields every day, looking for something to eat. Then we spent our nights, huddled around a nice fire, which gave us heat and light and some safety from large predators. There is no way that a drive to do these things wouldn't be encoded in our genes. A dog breed that has certain attributes and behaviors can be bred up in a very short time. It doesn't take anywhere near the millennia that we have had. It speaks to us on a deep and profound level.

And of course its Romantic.

Although we all have our own ideas, about this, they appear to be relatively similar. I'm a firm believer in the idea that we all make our own reality to a great extent. So, your Bushcraft "reality" is not mine, and mine is not yours. Yet we are on the same page both figuratively and literally.

 

[Chinkapin]

BOD --

I see you found my favorite spot for a swim. I'm relying on you to keep quiet about its exaction location. Don't let me down.

 

[forestwalker]

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.

Well, I can't speak for the rest of us, but for me one can divide it roughtly into three categories:

1. Skills I use "in anger".
2. Craftmanship
3. Historical reenactment (romanticism if you want)

Lets look at the first item. When out travelling in the bush -- and while it might not technically be a physical need, it most certainly is a need for my mental well-being -- I have the choice of being dependant on my gear, on nothing ever breaking down or getting lost, or on my skills. If I can light a fire even when all my matches are soaked I am a safer wilderness traveller, if I can read tracks or know where to find sphagnum moss I am a better field biologist, if I can find my way by looking at the trees I can travel with less fuss and bother, if I know the uses of plants I am a better biology teacher, etc, etc.

And sometimes the old style gear is obectively better then the modern stuff. In the dry cold of the arctic a pair of moosehide mukluks will keep your feet warm better than a plastic and foam boot, an egyptian cotton anorak will outperform a Gore-Tex jacket. And I save thousands by heating my home with firewood rather than electricity, and, even in the land of hydroelectric power, it probably lowers my CO_2 footprint.

The craftmanship and historical reneactment items are closely coupled. There is no reason for Robin to turn a bowl; Tescos can sell him ones in both steel and plastic, for such a low price that any simple-minded comparison would label the woodturner insane. Yet there are people who are more than willing to pay the extra price, or to take the extra time, to have something that is made with craftmanship and hundreds of years of history behind the "how it was made". In a world where it is easy to have the same spoon, cup, shirt or knife as everyone else, it is a luxuary to have one that is unique to you, that you know that while there may be others similar to it, there is not one more that is exactly the same. Students 10 years younger than the pack has envied my 25 years old leather daypack. Not because it is full of bling, not because it is the latest fashion, but because it is unique, obviously not made in a factory, and full of character (i.e. non-destructive wear marks). And works even today. That is a luxuary that can never be factory made. And that cost me US$30 in 1985 (and a few hours of work).

And the moose stew tastes better than one made from industrially produced pork, just like a piece of beef from grass feed cattle tastes better than a grain fed one (but is harder to produce in 1000 carcass lots). By slow cooking a roast, making a chanterelle risotto and a home made sauce I can eat a meal that would have cost me tens of pounds in a restaurant, for a fraction of the cost. But I could have fed my familly on ready meals from the freezer section of the supermarket; it would be less nutritious, contain at the least 5-10 ingredients that had no place there, and cost more. And taste like crap, even if you can live of it. It is the same thing; the bushcraft experience is genuine and unique, which is a luxuary in a mass produced world: I can see hundreds of animals by watching nature programs on TV, but I value seeing a single moose cow and her calves cross the field outside my house more. Because they are real!

And the forestry companies and traffic saftey people are -- in some measure -- happy that I killed the moose, since there was less browsing on young trees, and less chance of someone running their car into a moose as a direct result of me pulling that trigger.

In conclusion, by bushcraft and old fashioned skills I get a better life and a level of luxuary that could cost me a lot of money to get, for very little money. Sounds like a pretty simple question, doesn't it?

 

[BOD]

BOD --

I see you found my favorite spot for a swim. I'm relying on you to keep quiet about its exaction location. Don't let me down.

Tell others? No chance. We'll keep it quiet especially from the other half

 

[mattburgess]

What a can of worms this thread opened!

Must admit I think of this question quite a bit and personally it’s a little piece of what most people have already said, with the main drive being the ‘romance/boys-own adventure and a dash of midlife crisis! The only thing I don’t really consider is the usefulness of it in the event of the apocalyptic collapse of modern life – in fact the survivalist side of things kind of puts me off it! Something about too much camo clothing, stockpiling canned food, bottled water and guns in the basement makes me uncomfortable. Still, they will be the ones laughing come the revolution!

I have to say that the older I get the more I crave a more simplistic way of life. The modern world is simply too b****y much sometimes - and often doesn’t seem to make any sense at all. Bushcraft takes things down to a simpler level – warmth, food, nature, creativity and a little bit a peace. I think a lot of people are drawn to that. Of course for most of us we have the luxury of playing at bushcraft/simple living – I wonder how many of us would be so keen if we had to do it full time? Maybe we enjoy it so much because we have the perspective of modern living? In fact there’s nothing really stopping me from jacking the job in, finding a bit of land and living the good life. Just haven’t got the bottle to do it!

Viva armchair bushcraft!

 

[forestwalker]

What a can of worms this thread opened!

Must admit I think of this question quite a bit and personally it’s a little piece of what most people have already said, with the main drive being the ‘romance/boys-own adventure and a dash of midlife crisis! The only thing I don’t really consider is the usefulness of it in the event of the apocalyptic collapse of modern life – in fact the survivalist side of things kind of puts me off it! Something about too much camo clothing, stockpiling canned food, bottled water and guns in the basement makes me uncomfortable. Still, they will be the ones laughing come the revolution!

But of course I stockpile food in the basement! Where else to put the freezers full of moose bits? And the gun safe (with the hunting rifle and shotgun) is also down there. No camo clothing, and why store bottled water when you have gravity fed spring water? But the silly survivalists are just silly. For me it all about handy skills and a way of travelling in the bush that I enjoy. Hopefully the revolution will mean no more Microsoft, which can only be a good thing.

 

[locum76]

ummm, whats wrong with microsoft?

 

[gregorach]

These discussions always remind me of a particular scene from Iain M Banks' Look To Windward, where two of the characters are discussing the enjoyment of dangerous sports by many citizens of The Culture (Banks' utopian, post-scarcity, space-faring anarchy). Please forgive the lengthy quote, but I think it's aposite...

"The point is," Ziller said, "that having carefully constructed this paradise from first principles to remove all credible motives for conflict amongst themselves and all natural threats [...] these people then find their lives are so hollow they have to recreate false versions of just the sort of terrors untold generations of their ancestors spent their existences attempting to conquer."

"I think that is a little like criticising someone for owning both an umbrella and a shower," Kabe said. "It is the choice that is important. [...] These people control their terrors. They can choose to sample them, repeat them, or avoid them. That is not the same as living beneath the volcano when you've just invented the wheel, or wondering whether your levee will break and drown your entire village. Again, this applies to all societies which have matured beyond the age of barbarism. There is no great mystery here."

"But the Culture is so insistent in it's utopianism," Ziller said, sounding, Kabe thought, almost bitter. "They are like an infant with a toy, demanding it only to throw it away."

[...]

"I think it is only natural, and a sign that one has succeeded as a species, that what used to have to be suffered as a necessity becomes enjoyed as a sport. Even fear can be recreational."

My emphasis.

 

[BigM]

This is a really good topic as it makes us ask what bushcraft means to us individually and thus can tell us a little more about ourselves as a result.

There are, and always have been, people who look to the future for our solutions and those who look to the past. The former often see the future as a bright shining place, where man can live in peace and harmony away from the horrors of war, plague, bloodshed etc. The latter see the past as a more peaceful, tranquil place.

I suspect that most bushcrafters are atavistic in their outlook. They are not so concerned with the promises of the Utopia of the future, but hark back to the security of Eden of the past.

We would all like to have ten acres of woods in which to play, but that's all it is- play. There are too many people on the planet to allow everyone to live this lifestyle unless we give up our modern standards of living, and there are just too many citizens of the world who don't give a fig for feathersticks or firesteels, they want microwaves and motorways. The people who least want to live the "bushcraft" life are often those who use the skills most- the poor of Africa and Asia. They want the western dream as they see it and would prefer to have an modern oven rather than have to make charcoal or collect firewood everyday.

So in conclusion, I would say that for me there is a certain romance involved in bushcraft, it scratches a certain itch that I feel where it comes to connecting with the wilderness and to a certain extent, the past. I also feel that as was said above, you have to have lost something to be able to appreciate it fully. In our modern part of the world any true wilderness has been largely lost, we are the people who feel that loss most keenly and therefore seek to keep alive the skills and lifestyle associated with living in the wild. There was no name for bushcraft when people practiced it daily as a means of living- it was just what they did. It wasn't until the modern world overtook the traditional one that we began to see the merits of that older way of life.

Hope all this makes sense to some degree.