The trouble with consuming and other modern irritations...

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demographic

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Apr 15, 2005
4,694
712
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I just reminded myself of when I did my brief stint of HFT when the guys would buy new rifles one month and desire something different the next, so they'd sell it for a stupid price to the gun shops or on airgunbbs, loosing several hundred pounds just so they could have something new...

The less you use the kit, the more often you are seduced by new kit offering more. Use it a bit and it becomes an old friend that you enjoy taking out on a trip.
Well, that's my take on it anyway.
 

vizsla

Native
Jun 6, 2010
1,517
0
Derbyshire
I have to agree with demographic i used to have loads of kit but i spent most of my tip flitting from one to another like bags for example so i got rid of most of it and kept the one that suited me most. A duluth pathfinder and its perfect big enough for winter and longer trips but small enough for day trips picnics etc and it keeps all my gear in one bag ready rather than two or three.
There also a big difference between people who spend constantly maybe because there never happy with what they have and then theres people like me i suppose who is quite happy to spend £500 on a knife because i appreciate the maker and quality and it will get alot of use but will still be like new as long as its in my hands and if anything possibly gain in value, then on the other end of the scale my favorite coat is 40 years old and cost next to nothing but its the best quality coat iv ever come accross. So for me im prepared to pay for the best in quality but once im happy with that item it will stay with me, like my main user knife iv had since i was 17 but its still as good as new to most eyes. People buy for different reasons like alot of people only use £10 moras and think people who spend any more are daft but for me i couldt think of anything worse. But at the same time i can unserstand that totally as to them the knife serves a purpose and fulfills that purpose as good as a knife ten times that will.
Each to there own i suppose like most things
 

SimonD

Settler
Oct 4, 2010
639
1
Lincolnshire
of course!!!!! is there any other colour?????

you can mount it horizontally over the chest too for those "shopping mall / zombie" scenarios.

excellent. i have a space ready and waiting in my display drawer. is it feasible to get a laser attatchment? you know what, sod it, i'll just get me an 8001 too. may as well have the set. can't wait. so whats a poo skinner?
 

J4C3

Forager
Apr 11, 2010
143
0
Derbyshire
Good post OP,How much is needed and how much is middle aged men with too much time and money misspent in all the wrong places,How you find your happiness is up to each person but when your spending XXX on kit,just take a look at the amount and cost of the unused and older kit laying about.

oh and while im at it im out of here,those dumbs ad's with loud audio when you open a page not how i choose to spend my free time
 

Sappy

Forager
Nov 28, 2011
155
0
Braemar
The less you use the kit, the more often you are seduced by new kit offering more. Use it a bit and it becomes an old friend that you enjoy taking out on a trip.
Well, that's my take on it anyway.

Agree with that.

To quote the movie fight club " working jobs we hate so we can buy shecht we dont need"

Suppose im lucky in that i work only 10 or 15 hours a week to support myself. Which allows me to go camping 4 days a week.

Buying kit is similar to sitting reading this site. its what happens when you cant get out
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,715
1,962
Mercia
True Raikey,
and making the switch back from consumer to (larglely) self sustaining is quite a difficult one!

Tell me about it - the reality of being even close to self sustaining is hard work, longer hours, for less return, than working in an office
 

Manacles

Settler
Jan 27, 2011
596
0
No longer active on BCUK
I don't think it has anything to do with that instinctive hunter/gatherer-thing. It has to do with a much more basic instinct; greed. Always wanting more than you have or need....


Greed, in the way it's being discussed in this thread absolutely IS the gatherer instinct, minus the self discipline to control the urge![/QUOTE]

There do seem to be two schools of thought emerging on this subject. Greed certainly does seem to be a very prevalent modern disease, and I would certainly agree the greed in the context of this thread lacks the self discipline to control the urge, but I sense it is also more than that. I embarked a year or so ago on a project to reduce my personal possessions and one thing I notice is that the less you have the more you need to be secure in yourself. Modern society has given us the media that continually scaremongers (last week's fule queues would be a classic example). If society did break down (and I do have a certain amount of faith that it won't) and we all had to, for example, become refugees we could only take what we could actually carry. That would certainly be a leveller.
 

mace242

Native
Aug 17, 2006
1,015
0
53
Yeovil, Somerset, UK
Some people will "collect" kit for want of a better word. Fair enough if that's what they want to do and even better if they use it. Some make their own only as good if it gets used. I really don't mind and I'll talk to and learn from a person that has only read what they know in books just as well as somebody who goes out and does. Like most the pressures of modern life get in the way of me doing as much as I'd like, and sometimes I'd rather go on holiday with SWMBO that camp alone in the woods. It's all different and I think on the whole none of it really matters... We should all just have fun in whatever way makes us happy.
 

Harb505

Forager
Nov 22, 2011
149
0
Lincolnshire
I don't think I would stand much more chance than anyone else if it came to a true long term survival situation. Sure I might do better for a little while but not in the long run. I enjoy walking and camping because I like to get away from the complexities of day to day life but I still rely on modern technology that will probably eventually need fixing using other modern technology. I spend money on what I want/ need when I can and refrain from buying in excess.
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,715
1,962
Mercia
My kit certainly would help me survive

ct-hoes.jpg
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,715
1,962
Mercia
Depends when you start...:)

My hand soil ridger should arive this week :approve:. I bought it, a three tined canterbury hoe and a hand operater compost sifter by selling one of my fancier axes. I'm gradually converting my excess Bushcraft kit into tools I can use every day.

The next axe sold will become a 6' crosscut saw
 
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British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,715
1,962
Mercia
I'm cold and chuffing wet :)

Just been out in the barn potting up 150 ramsons which are going to be used to underplant the new hedges! Its freezing and howling a gale out there :(
 

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