What are the main draws of 'bushcraft'?

[William_Montgomery]

As for myself, I see society pull us more and more towards comfort, leisure and immediate gratification. We outsource many of the hardships of life, and while that path has led to many great discoveries, I am aware it's a double edged sword. It feels like we move forward and forget the lessons of the past too readily.
So for me, I think the draw towards bushcraft is tied in with taking more responsibility and providing a more direct way of reaping the fruits of your labour. It's the appreciation of the journey, not just the end result.

How about you? What is the attraction?

 

[Broch]

Others on here will be tired of me saying, but I don't recognise 'bushcraft' as a subject that I practice. I don't go 'bushcrafting'. To me, it's just a convenient label for a wide range of skills that are applied to actual outdoor activities - such as camping, trekking, fishing, shooting, canoeing... We used to call them back-woods skills, or wilderness skills, and by practicing them we made our outdoor activities more enjoyable and safer.

I am keenly interested in the British Mesolithic and Neolithic periods and the tools, resources, and practices of that period - but I don't try and emulate them, just learn from them and apply what is useful in my outdoor work and play.

 

[William_Montgomery]

Others on here will be tired of me saying, but I don't recognise 'bushcraft' as a subject that I practice. I don't go 'bushcrafting'. To me, it's just a convenient label for a wide range of skills that are applied to actual outdoor activities - such as camping, trekking, fishing, shooting, canoeing... We used to call them back-woods skills, or wilderness skills, and by practicing them we made our outdoor activities more enjoyable and safer.

I am keenly interested in the British Mesolithic and Neolithic periods and the tools, resources, and practices of that period - but I don't try and emulate them, just learn from them and apply what is useful in my outdoor work and play.

I get that. It's a funny term and it never quite feels like it adequately describes what you mean. Hence the inverted commas. As you say, a convenient label.

That sounds like an interesting study. Are there particular principles/skills that have transferred well to your work?

 

[Broch]

That sounds like an interesting study. Are there particular principles/skills that have transferred well to your work?

Ah, 'work' for me now is managing 20 acres of ancient semi-natural woodland for conservation. The two main things I apply are the natural 'oneness' with the ecosystem and the practical 'problem solving' using resources around me. On top of that is the respect for the natural world and the awareness that every action I take will have unplanned consequences.

That all sounds a bit 'tree hugging'

 

[Kav]

Louis Armstrong “ If you have to ask what Jazz is, you’ll never know.”

 

[William_Montgomery]

Louis Armstrong “ If you have to ask what Jazz is, you’ll never know.”

Jazz, like 'bushcraft' is a term that covers a wealth of things, techniques, practices, traditions and ideas. I study both, but I'm not looking for definitions of either.
It was more of a 'why' rather than a 'what' question.

 

[Kav]

OK ‘ Why not?’ And ‘ Because it’s there.’
As a archaeologist, I can get into deep stuf about Sajada ; the Hindu
‘ return to the forest’ quote Gilgamesh and the Wildman, Waldens Pond and The Monkeywrench Gang.
I do it to escape the incessant chatter in my head never reached in a Zendo.
“ Sometimes I just sit and think. But mostly, I just sits.”

 

[moocher]

Fresh air ,exercise, wildlife watching opportunities ,stopping getting to tied to modern living ?

 

[Tengu]

`Comfort, Leisure and immediate gratification`

All modern, yet timeless desires.

And yet they make life more complex.

Provided you have plenty of resources, the outdoor life is much simpler.

 

[William_Montgomery]

Fresh air ,exercise, wildlife watching opportunities ,stopping getting to tied to modern living ?

Yeah, watching wildlife never loses its appeal. It's been a good year for it.

 

[demographic]

Just keeps me interested while I'm walking the dog.

 

[William_Montgomery]

Others on here will be tired of me saying, but I don't recognise 'bushcraft' as a subject that I practice. I don't go 'bushcrafting'. To me, it's just a convenient label for a wide range of skills that are applied to actual outdoor activities - such as camping, trekking, fishing, shooting, canoeing... We used to call them back-woods skills, or wilderness skills, and by practicing them we made our outdoor activities more enjoyable and safer.

I am keenly interested in the British Mesolithic and Neolithic periods and the tools, resources, and practices of that period - but I don't try and emulate them, just learn from them and apply what is useful in my outdoor work and play.

Would flint knapping fall under your interests? I've got a friend who is interested and I'd like to find a good book on the subject for them. If you happen to know of any good ones.

 

[Broch]

I've had a go after some basic tuition. I'm not convinced I could have done it, crude as my efforts were, from text alone. I think it's one of those things that has to be demonstrated. So, sorry, no, I don't know of any suitable reference; perhaps there are others here that do.

I've used basic microlith bladelets to work green wood, but only really to see how effective it is. I've never attempted to make an 'article' like a digging stick or bow using stone technology.

 

[Kadushu]

I like having direct control of the essentials for living, as opposed to the strangely abstracted and layered systems of the modern world. What the heck does that mean? Well take for example a popular topic at the moment: heating. The modern way will look something like: you go to school/college/uni to gain qualifications, then apply for a job, work at some task in exchange for money paid into your bank account (the government takes their snip), you take out a contract with an energy supplier, pay them (the government takes another snip) and energy is piped or wired into your home where some appliance (which you could never build from raw materials) converts it into heat.
The bushcraft/homestead version is more like: you find some dry branches in the woods, set fire to them, heat!
You're also directly responsible in the bushcraft/homestead scenario so if something isn't working then there's no higher management, helpline or government body to blame/appeal to, it's just down to you. Overcoming the variables that nature can throw at you is really your problem and no one else's.

 

[Harold Godwinson]

I imagine the draw of bushcraft is different for every one.

For me I grew up playing in the woods, lighting fires and building dens with my friends, was it bushcraft? I think not, to kids it was just fun, we all had old army surplus jack knives and pinched matches out the house.

Loving being outdoors lead me to join the army from school and I served 15 years. Being lucky enough to be one of the last cadres to do the all arms survival, escape and evasion courses run by the SAS it cemented my fascination with the subject. But I had never heard of bushcraft until in 1991 I found a copy of RM's Survival handbook in a shop in Padstow.

Suddenly survive and E&E took on a different taint and I was hooked.

I did a few of the woodlore courses when I left the army, studied tracking under shadowhawk, bashed a few stones up with Will Lord and a few other bits and pieces to boot.

In the early noughties I travels to scandinavia a lot and practiced the skills I had learnt in Sweden, Norway and Finland and loved it.

Then about 2010 I had a complete mental melt down and was diagnosed with PTSD. I lost two years of memory and came very close to ending it all. Luckily I got help from Combat stress.

Through out all this time, the really low times especially I always had bushcraft as my safe place, my safety net where I could escape to and try to deal with things. I never understood until then what the draw of bushcraft was to me but now I do. The draw of bushcraft to me is all about a freedom of the spirit, mind and body. Its a way of escaping the world, of escaping reality and the dark memories, of escaping people.

For me bushcraft has to be as pure as I can make it, I don't carry loads of kit, I don't do luxury, I rough it, even to the point of going out in winter onto the moors with just a blanket to sleep under sometimes. I go native for want of a better term.

But some how it re-sets me, its like a drug, a calming salve. for me bushcraft and my time in the field isn't a leisure activity its a necessity.

Whether you call it bushcraft or woodcraft or survival skills it doesnt really matter - for myself its just a part of life and one I will need to be able to do until the day I die as the alternative is a very scary, violent place.

The reason I have shared this is that I know there are a few ex-service people on the forum and some may be fighting the same battle as I was, probably without knowing, I didn't, I thought it was just me. And I wanted to let them know that many of us have been there and come out the other side. Not all wounds gained in battle are visible, but they are still a medal of honor. Help is out there. Feel free to PM me if you need to reach out.

So what is the draw of bushcraft, for me its so much more than the whole, it allows me to be mindful, to escape the anxiety and pressure, to be myself on my own terms and it allows nature to help and heal me.

Wow reading that back it was a bit heavy, sorry, but if it helps someone else reading it then I am content to share.

I understand now that bushcraft is a place I was searching for to escape to, its a safe place. I know for many people its a hobby and they play at bushcraft and that is great, I am happy for them but the skills I learnt saved me, when I lost everything and was homeless the skills I had learnt helped feed me and keep me alive, literally.

There is a Robert Service poem "the men who dont fit in," that's bushcraft to me and long may it be so.

 

[Tiley]

For me, the attraction to 'bushcraft' is simple: it enables me to get to know, understand and appreciate my immediate, natural surroundings.

Being out of doors and abandoning the multi-layered complexities of modern living are bonuses but not, in themsleves, the motives for me pursuing this activity.

 

[Wayland]

Judging from the number of axes and knives people seem to think they need and the tactical chic clothing they wear I'd say Testosterone might have a lot to do with it for some folks...

 

[Toddy]

Well, maybe .....but not all of us

I didn't know that all the things I did were 'bushcraft'. I still find it an awkward kind of word to describe.

It's an awareness, a skillset, an in touch with the seasons and the life /lives that flow through them.
It's a rich grounding in reality, in possibilities and potential.
I think it's the knowing how, the when and the where; and it needs work, it needs thought, it needs practical application.
It stirs and kind of satisfies all the senses

M

 

[Laurentius]

I am with Broch on this one, I would have to know what bushcraft is before I answered that.

 

[Laurentius]

For me I grew up playing in the woods, lighting fires and building dens with my friends, was it bushcraft? I think not, to kids it was just fun, we all had old army surplus jack knives and pinched matches out the house.

Only nowadays you do not have to pinch the matches on the sly