There is a thief amongst us..

[JonnyP]

Got back from a day out to the wilderness gathering last night.
I was saddened to hear that some scum had stolen a knife from the bring and buy stand.
I know we are not all going to be perfect citizens, but to steal something from a fellow bushcrafter is very low. I hope whoever stole it gets caught and exposed for what they are...
I know they may not be a BCUK member (I hope they are not), but I do hope they see this and feel bloody ashamed for what they did...

Other than that the gathering was a great day out yesterday, but after a four hour car journey getting there, there was no food to be had, it had all sold out apparently, so big thank you to Smarty for feeding us. :You_Rock_
It was great to see old faces and to meet new ones and to see loads of the bushcraft teachers and various crafts people.
I have seen PatrickM's photo's of his work on here, but to see it in the flesh is something else, amazing stuff..
There are some very clever and inspiring people in the world of bushcraft...
I wish we could of stayed for the whole event.. Hopefully next year...
Why was there not a BCUK stand there..?

Oh...Jason and Aaron..... :You_Rock_

 

[spamel]

I hope they chop their fingers off with it and the cut goes gangrenous. And their hand falls off, so they only have one hand to eat with and wipe their butt!

 

[Aragorn]

I know they may not be a BCUK member (I hope they are not), but I do hope they see this and feel bloody ashamed for what they did...

the sad thing is John, if there that hard faced to steal something in broad daylight, off friends, then i don't think they will be at all phased by your post, i hope it didn't put too much of a downer on your day.

 

[C_Claycomb]

I was told that at last year's gathering there were about 2000 people. With numbers like that it is all but a statistical certainty that you will get at least one or two with low morals. Also with those numbers they probably won't consider there being much fellowship with all the other attendees. It is not, I think, the first time that someone at the gathering has had something go missing from a stand. Its rare, but the bigger the gathering, the more likely this stuff is. It is something that folk at the big knife shows and game fairs have to watch for quite closely.

As for there being no BCUK stand. Why would there have been a stand? What would you expect to see there? BCUK did have a stand at the Wilderness Gathering a few years ago, Stuart and I manned it, we had the whole site downloaded onto a PC for people to look at. It wasn't really worth the trouble, or the noise that the generator made! Of all the folk that wandered passed, only about five were not already members, or had not heard of the site. With all the real, live, activities going on, no one was all that interested in looking at a computer, and I can't say that we blamed for that!

 

[Tourist]

I'm sure there are a lot more people there than just members of BCUK or this forum.

Even though I was a Plod for some years I still prefer the unofficial Army way of dealing with a toe-rag who has the audacity, gall and bare faced cheek to steal from people he, or she, is closely associated with.

 

[JonnyP]

Good points guys. I was just saddened that someone from a group of people that I feel very comfortable being with should do such a thing. The stall holders will have to be even more vigilant and it makes us all less trusting of each other..

As for there being no BCUK stand. Why would there have been a stand? What would you expect to see there? BCUK did have a stand at the Wilderness Gathering a few years ago, Stuart and I manned it, we had the whole site downloaded onto a PC for people to look at. It wasn't really worth the trouble, or the noise that the generator made! Of all the folk that wandered passed, only about five were not already members, or had not heard of the site. With all the real, live, activities going on, no one was all that interested in looking at a computer, and I can't say that we blamed for that!

See what you mean Chris. It just seemed weird to be there and see almost everyone there except BCUK. A BCUK stand would surely act a bit like the local post office, being a meeting point where folk on here could meet up..
Maybe BCUK could have a shop selling decent food there. They would of made a fortune yesterday ...

 

[SimonM]

It is a sad sign of the times that my first reaction was "Only one?" .

I think the self discipline needed to become a "bushcrafter" (I hate labels but if the [leather] hat fits!) means that 99.99% of us will hard working, honest types. But as with all cross sections of the larger community there will always be a minority who do not conform.

On a purely personal note, I agree with Spamel

I hope they chop their fingers off with it and the cut goes gangrenous. And their hand falls off, so they only have one hand to eat with and wipe their butt!

:AR15firin

Simon

 

[spamel]

Oh, and I hope their colon prolapses! There are many other wicked things I could think of, but that'll do for now!

 

[Squidders]

I heard this yesterday also an it made me sick to my stomach if i'm honest.

Everyone I have met while shrafting has always shown respect for other peoples property and I can only hope that the missing knife was taken by a guest of a bushcrafter (and while I still wish catastrophic colon failure upon them) - I hope someone finds out and they are dealt with.

Trust and respect should be easy within bushcraft, it's not like we're (most of us anyway) competative and always trying to gain the upper hand!

It was a crummy end to a great day for me.

The event gets bigger every year and is very well organised... top stuff!

 

[Seagull]

Just got back from the WG...Six and a bit hours.

I hadn't heard about this particular incident, but it is really sad .
Ten thousand misfortunes upon who ever did it!

I did hear a comment , from an anxious looking fellah who had apparantly misplaced a knife and was looking around the portaloos to see if he had dropped it therein.... I hope it hadn,t fallen in there, cos most of them had a well-used look, by then.

So I am tired, daggy, smelly and I.ve a load of kit to sort out...probably take me a week!

Enjoyed every minute of it.

Ceeg

 

[spamel]

It is a worrying thing, both this and the little known event at The Moot this year. I want to be able to trust everybody at these events, and feel that I can. I've not met anybody yet who I didn't like at these meet ups, and have left my kit in my camp area and gone off on walks with no concern at all of any kit going missing. I've lent kit out, let folk take a swing at a fallen log with my axe, lent knives, brew making kit, billies, cups, sleeping bags, rucksacks, an underblanket, the list goes on. I even remember Wayland lending Corr a bunch of kit last year as his car had been broken into the night before a Delamere meet and his kit in its entirety was stolen. Everybody treated my kit with the utmost respect and Waylands' loan of kit to Corr was gratefully recieved.

I think we can put this down to one slimey individual who shouldn't spoil our enjoyment of each others' company. I for one will not be running back to check my kit every five minutes. That doesn't mean you can all go and nick my gear by the way!

 

[crazydave]

fact of life I'm afraid, just because you share an interest doesn't make everyone trustworthy as a shiny thing is a shiny thing and all big events suffer magpies.

 

[Dan1982]

Poor form indeed! I genuinely dont believe that it would be a BCUK member, or at least not a regular poster anyway. But again it is an unfortunate fact of life that morals and a sense of conscience in people do tend to be on the decline. Once the barrier of trust has been broken it can be very hard to rebuild but we are considerably lucky that the vast majority of us would never consider doing such a thing and it will not affect my trust in you guys anyway!

Hopefully an isolated event!!

 

[firebreather]

A slight mod on an age old saying....


"I hope they live an interesting life"



Greg

 

[Wayland]

Is the missing knife identifiable in any way.

 

[leon-1]

Is the missing knife identifiable in any way.

Apart from being a handmade damascus steel knife with custom sheath, not really.

I met the guy that made it last year and he's a really decent bloke, which makes this all the more dissapointing, but Roger has already been talking about how this can be avoided in the future and has a very good idea which he will implement next year. No comfort to the owner / maker of the knife I fear.

 

[Wayland]

If it's ever been photographed, it might be worth putting up a piccie.

People low enough on the food chain to nick stuff are often stupid enough to show stuff off.

 

[Mesquite]

If it's ever been photographed, it might be worth putting up a piccie.

I was just thinking the same. Every damascus blade pattern is unique enough to be like a fingerprint that identifying it will be pretty simple

People low enough on the food chain to nick stuff are often stupid enough to show stuff off.

Or even try to flog it on ebay.......

 

[Wayland]

At the very least they will never be able to use it comfortably around 9,772 members of this forum

 

[Aaron]

Steve and Stuart manning the stall felt really bad about it - but the knife got nicked when the bring and buy stall was really busy (at times there were 15+ people crowded around) and so they couldnt be expected to have eyes everywhere and answer shoppers queries at the same time. Hats off to them for manning the stool off of their own backs all weekend to sell other peoples stuff for them - I was well chuffed as I picked up a Snowsled Ventile smock on there for £50!

John - you should have stayed for the Saturday night mate, I have never come so close to wetting myself since being in nappies (my, those two years have flown by......)