The Rules Of Bushcraft!

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Kim

Nomad
Sep 6, 2004
473
0
50
Birmingham
WARNING: Bushcraft is highly addictive. If you are worried about your bushcrafting addiction please visit your local supermarket immediately and reassure yourself that there are no bugs, dirt, rain, etc in the "real world"

:wink: Tant[/QUOTE]

In which case we're all in a hell of a lot of trouble and there isn't a supermarket bigger enough to accommodate such an ever expanding group of spoon carving, fire lighting, knife weilding, jolly people like us!!!!!

Bushcraft rules...mmm...have fun, share knowledge, leave no trace but what you learn in the mind of another.
 

Tantalus

Full Member
May 10, 2004
1,051
133
60
Galashiels
lol sorry kim just my warped sense of humour in action

a knee jerk reaction to the modern trend of everything coming in sterile plastic packets with health and safety warnings

now i have this mental pic of 500 bushcrafters whittling spoons sitting on the floor in tescos while people carry on with their shopping all around

i find i cant go for a wander in the wilds without learning something, and if i meet someone it is just natural to swap info, even looking around someone elses camp i start asking myself how did they do that , or what is the reasoning behind putting that there

bushcraft in my opinion is the complete opposite to the pics i see of commuters crammed into trains or stuck in traffic queues who never actually talk to each other, each one in their own sterile bubble just like the produce in the supermarket

gimme a fire and a corner of woodland any day, not only is it the perfect antidote to modern life but anyone wandering past is welcome to sit and share whatever i have

i guess if i had to pin it down to one thing it would be the sharing i enjoy most, be it knowledge or roast rabbit

Tant
 

James Watson

Tenderfoot
Jul 30, 2004
84
0
45
Salisbury
www.nativeawareness.co.uk
TheViking said:
So... What "rules" do you know in bushcraft?? I know this which is used by DK SAS:
1. Use your eyes.
2. Save your energy
3. Use your imagination (improvise).
:wink:

It's actually 3 rules used in survival, but I guess they can have some relevance to bushcraft also! :D :biggthump

Hi All,

I'm a little confused.. It doesn't take much :)
Whats the difference between bushcraft and survival?

Best wishes,

James
 

TheViking

Native
Jun 3, 2004
1,864
4
35
.
That's a discussion we have had a lot in the past! :wink: Take a look at this thread. :wink:
As I wrote, they are mostly used in survival and if you try and read them again and think about them, they make sense. :biggthump
 

Ed

Admin
Admin
Aug 27, 2003
5,973
37
51
South Wales Valleys
Whats the difference between bushcraft and survival?
Survival = Stuck in the wilds trying to get back to civilisation (to be saved)
Bushcraft = Going into the wilds and living comfortably for a time

You get the idea.... Personaly for me, Bushcraft is a step beyond survival. Its not just surviving in the wilderness, it living with it and living there comfortably.

Most people will have there own deffinitions though.

:)
Ed
 

Tantalus

Full Member
May 10, 2004
1,051
133
60
Galashiels
bushcraft is practicing skills which enable you to carry less and travel more freely in your own time

survival is having nothing to carry and a long way to travel or an indefinite wait

Tant
 

Kim

Nomad
Sep 6, 2004
473
0
50
Birmingham
Stuart said:
are you sure thats the right way round

Trust me, with my bow drill skills, I'd be in a survival situation before you could say...Kimberly and her complete lack of bow drill skills... :rolmao: :rolmao: :rolmao:

(and a lighter weighs less and takes up less space than a bow drill!!!)
 

Kim

Nomad
Sep 6, 2004
473
0
50
Birmingham
:rolmao: :rolmao: :rolmao: :rolmao: :rolmao:

Very good!!

Yeah, I know, practice, practice, practice...

After all, you never know when you might to put into practice the skills you've learnt.

(still going to carry a lighter though... :wink: )
 
G

Ginja

Guest
Survival / bushcraft, hmm ...

Survival is dealing with a 'problematic' situation successfully, whether it be in the wilds, at work, wherever and whatever. There's no middle ground with the word 'survival' - no half-survival, or nearly survival - you either do or you don't. What people really mean in this context is 'survival skills' - ie. skills that you use to 'survive' a particular situation. Hence, no-one goes into the woods and willingly practices 'survival', what they practice are the skills of survival.

(all sounds very obvious, I know ...)

Bushcraft, as the term implies, is a 'craft' or skill to be applied when in the 'bush' - it could just as easily be called wildcraft, or outdoor-craft, or moorcraft, or woodcraft, or wetlandcraft, etc. By definition is does not necessarily relate to survival skills (eg. you could spend your life making spoons, or bows and arrows as a 'bushcrafter', and have no interest at all in actual outdoors survival), though of course living off the land, or making oneself comfortable in the landscape clearly plays a major role in survival (and vice-versa).

What I'm trying to say is this: there's no neat and tidy distinction between the two terms - what you get instead is people's own perception of what they like to do themselves, and how they like to be perceived when they're doing it.

I've always described myself as a 'survivalist' because a) I first gained an interest in this field by wanting to learn more about actual survival, that is, simply staying alive outdoors; b) I enjoy learning immediately practical outdoor skills; c) I only discovered the term 'bushcraft' fairly recently, via Ray Mears. You'll also find that people who, to put it blunty, 'wanted to be soliders but didn't join the TA' will more often use the term survival (boy soldiering, to be tacktful about it ...), possibly because it better suits their mental perception of themselves.

(getting all Freudian now ...!)

By contrast, bushcraft - a 'craft' - is more often used by people who practice other skills besides survival, such as carving and tool-making, specialist food preparation, etc - ie. skills that are certainly useful, but not 'essential' to surviving in the outdoors. Similarly, it's a term often used by people who are keen to disassociate themselves from militaristic 'survival' training/techniques (for whatever reason).

Anyway - to say that bushcraft is a 'step beyond' survival is a bit misleading to me, because I view them as quite distinct and different disciplines, and not 2 things can be easily measured against each other. Perhaps it is true that in a popular sense, bushcraft touches upon a broader range of skills than survival training; though that doesn't necessarily make it a 'step beyond' - because by contrast, dedicated survival training is surely going to stand you in better stead should the proverbial sh*t ever hit the fan ... !

In short, horses for courses ... it's all a state of mind!

G :)
 
G

Ginja

Guest
Cheers Stuart - had to chew on this subject for a good while before posting ... bit of a rant, but glad you liked it! :)
 

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