Walking, the basic Bushcraft and Survival skill

[boatman]

Lovely recent posts of people out in the woods with their children. Fire lighting etc. all useful things for them to do but in addition and pre-eminent is getting children used to walking longish distance. We walked with ours and it was normal to walk the four mile round trip to school or to do some shopping and further for recreation.

As they grew older they went longer distances for fun with us or on their own in their teens and ten miles wouldn't faze them and neither did the odd twenty miles in a day. We were happy that whatever happened they could walk out which is a great thing to have in reserve. Missed the last bus? Walk home.

 

[Mick721]

An oft overlooked, taken for granted life skill. I agree entirely.

 

[BillyBlade]

My secondary school had an outdoors centre that was 36 miles from the school. We used to be allowed to walk to it, sponsored, to raise funds for its upkeep.

Served me well when I joined up. Even now 30 years later I still don't get concerned about long hikes when the need arises. Well, my knees do, but two co codamol shut them up just fine!

 

[poolcue]

My children have always walked to and from school, whatever the weather. Even my youngest (almost 3) walks roughly 3 miles a day at the moment! They love it. It keeps them fit and they see so much they'd otherwise miss sitting in a car. Just last week, we saw a Kingfisher for example. I have to chuckle when I hear other children complaining about walking from the play-ground to the car


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[tsitenha]

Legs and wind will get you there, Slowly acquire endurance and enjoy the scenery.

 

[Salaud]

Well, my knees do, but two co codamol shut them up just fine!

Cocodamol.. the friend of the knackered knee. I know em well.


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[redandshane]

Great post
I agree boatman This is something that I have thought about a great deal over the years and in reality you can light all the friction fires you like and build shelters till you are bored with it; but the ability to be mobile and follow or locate resources in addition to evade danger is one of the greatest skills we possess.
It is where the dilemma of what kit you carry clashes head on with how that weight/bulk will affect your mobility.Even in a static camp the ability to forage over a greater area increases your ability to access resources.
I look forward to hearing others views on this and perhaps picking up a few tips.

 

[Alreetmiowdmuka]

My secondary school had an outdoors centre that was 36 miles from the school. We used to be allowed to walk to it, sponsored, to raise funds for its upkeep.

Served me well when I joined up. Even now 30 years later I still don't get concerned about long hikes when the need arises. Well, my knees do, but two co codamol shut them up just fine!

With an ibuprofen chaser!

 

[BillyBlade]

'Brufen? I like a Zaipan chaser these days! Man I hate being old....

The point made above about mobility and carrying kit was spot on. I reguarly find myself astonished at the legion of socially challenged on you tube who love to show you their 3 day bug out bags, almost all weighing more than the bag I did a 6 month deployment with. Compounded by the fact that they have a physique that suggests the longest walk they do is to get past the salad bar to the pie section of the buffet. Hence 'bugging out' for that lot, well, I'm not really seeing it in all honesty. They need to try it, not talk about it and kit collect.

Still, it makes them happy, and they keep many a skint squaddie in beer tokens via ebay, so all good.

I still miss having knees though

 

[boatman]

What I find most annoying about knees is going downhill. Ridiculous that on the flat and uphill is OK but when gravity assists the knees rebel. Weight is certainly a factor and I started camping and hiking with minimal kit, added to it over the years and am now working out how little you really need especially if you are covering distance.

 

[Alreetmiowdmuka]

A bottle of whiskey and a roaring blazer n you can leave most of your kit at home

 

[Corso]

spend alot more time roaming than crafting these days

 

[andybysea]

I try and get about 40 miles a week walking done(8 miles x 5 days) its great terrain were i live plenty of big old cliffs and beaches to make it more challenging. Ive done a couple of 30 and 50 milers this year and have more planned for next year.

 

[Kerne]

At the risking of hijacking the thread - Knees! I have a well dodgy one courtesy of a rugby injury (finished my career - could have played for Wales - all I needed was talent…) and I also find that going downhill is the worst thing. I can also get a blister on the sole of my other foot as I can't control the footfall so well. Ho hum...

Back on thread:
I agree with the OP that walking is key and that we should start them young. Once a week it falls to me to stand at the gate of the school where I work as the children arrive and most of that time is taken up with making sure the few that walk in avoid the many being driven in. I teach in a neighbourhood comp with very few kids living more than a couple of miles away yet the majority get dropped of by Mummy or Daddy. And that's on an ordinary day - if it rains!?: the logjam of cars has to be seen to be believed!

 

[RonW]

Apart from distances it is also the way we western folks walk; Body leaning forward, kicking the foot forward, ramming the heel into the ground and flapping the foot down.
Last summer I tried a different approach and it was quite an eyeopener. Actually lifting the foot, put the outside down first and roll the rest of the foot down. It was exhausting doing that all day, because I was not used to walk that way, but it was much more enjoyable and above all quiet!
Try walking in the woods barefoot or with mocassins on. It'll immediately show you what is wrong with our knuckledragging way of going. Unlearning the old habbit's not that easy though.

 

[boatman]

I try Kephart's method as he gives it in his Camping and Woodcraft:

How To Walk – There is somewhat the same difference between a townsman’s and a woodsman’s gait and there is between a soldier’s and a sailor’s. It is chiefly a difference of hip action, looseness of the joints,
and the manner of planting one’s feet.
The townsman’s stride is an up-and-down knee action, with rather rigid hips, the toes pointing outward, movement springy and graceful, so long as one is walking over firm, level footing- but beware the banana-peel and the small boy’s sliding-place!
This is an ill-poised gait, because one’s weight falls first upon the heel alone, and at that instant the walker has little command of his balance. It is an exhausting gait as soon as its normally short pace is lengthened by so much as an inch.
A woodsman, on the contrary, walks with a rolling motion, his hips swaying an inch or more to the stepping side, and his pace is correspondingly long. This hip action may be noticed to an exaggerated degree in the stride of a professional pedestrian; but the latter walks with a heel-and-toe step, whereas an Indian’s or sailor’s step is more nearly flat-footed.
In the latter case the center of gravity is covered by the whole foot. The poise is as secure as that of a rope-walker. The toes are pointed straight forward, or even a trifle inward, so that the inside of the heel, the outside of the ball of the foot, and the smaller toes, all do their share of work and assist in balancing.
Walking in this manner, one is not so likely, either,
to trip over projecting roots, stones, and other traps, as he would be if the feet formed hooks by pointing outward. The necessity is obvious in snow-shoeing.

 

[treadlightly]

Agreed. We should get kids used to walking distance as a basic part of life. It's not so hard to get them into the habit.

As for walking styles, the so-called 'barefoot' approach works well for me - shorter strides a shuffle of the foot rather than heel planted down first. That technique with flat soled, light shoes/boots.

 

[sandbender]

My dad would take me over the Pentland Hills and back when I was really quite young, we'd take a thermos and some sandwiches so were never weighed down.

Another thought for folks who want to walk for longer, try some poles, it may seem odd at first but can make a big difference to the wear and tear on your body.

 

[The Cumbrian]

My idea at the moment is a mile a year. Both my kids can walk their ages(ish); my youngest has just turned 5, but he could walk 4 miles when he was 4, and he'll be walking 5 miles come the spring. My eldest is 9, and can do a 10 mile fell walk with only a moderate amount of whinging.

I think back to when I was 13 and did the 5 Pass walk for the first time with Scouts. 28 1/2 miles over Scarth Gap, Black Sail, Sty Head, Honister and Newlands passes. It took us 7 hours that year, and two years later we did it in about five hours, without any training apart from regular fellwalking. We were a long way off the fastest time too.

Saying that though, my parents didn't have a car, and I used to walk nearly two miles to and from school in all weathers without thinking about it, it just had to be done.

 

[Elen Sentier]

What I find most annoying about knees is going downhill. Ridiculous that on the flat and uphill is OK but when gravity assists the knees rebel. Weight is certainly a factor and I started camping and hiking with minimal kit, added to it over the years and am now working out how little you really need especially if you are covering distance.

No shock-absorbers! titanium replacements help but I still need a bunch of medication to walk nowadays.

I think getting children to walk a good distance is really important. When I went to secondary school it was a two mile walk to the bus stop into town and school, then a two mile walk home, so it was four miles/day walk from age 11. Before that though I was always outside and walking so it was no big deal. It was a wonderful chance to watch for wildlife every day, and in the dark too during winter as school didn't finish until 4 o'clock in those days so it was 4.45 when the bus stopped 2 miles from home Kids miss out on such a lot if they don't the chance to be self-sufficient nowadays and being self-sufficient includes being able to be alone, and in the dark, without being afraid.