What does Bushcraft mean to you?

[philipb]

well bushcraft is a word that seems to cover many things and I guess I am still trying to work out what it means to me and in what direction I will take things.

But for most are the skills and knowledge gained just a hobby enjoyed in their spare time. Is bushcraft akin to any other hobby like golf or maintaining a classic car or is it fundamentally more significant than that

 

[Gcckoka]

Bushcraft for me is not a hobby for sure it is meaning of life , like hunting , I can say that fishing is my hobby but hunting and bushcraft is lifestyle , for me it means wilderness living skills and survival knowledge , knowing how to live in the bush. It is a difference between he survived in the woods and he was livin it , you know what I mean ?

 

[philipb]

Bushcraft for me is not a hobby for sure it is meaning of life , like hunting , I can say that fishing is my hobby but hunting and bushcraft is lifestyle , for me it means wilderness living skills and survival knowledge , knowing how to live in the bush. It is a difference between he survived in the woods and he was livin it , you know what I mean ?

I do know what you mean. This is the sort of answer I was expecting as people seem to give more importance and significance to bushcraft skills than people do to their hobbies. I can see it being part of a lifestyle. But unless you are living or planning on living that lifestyle and you live in a mostly urban environment then wilderness living skills are in reality no more important than the skill of a good golf drive are they not?

 

[philipb]

I am playing devils advocate here some what and maybe the explanation I am seeking can not be easily put into words but it would nice to hear some opinions

 

[redneck]

You can't pigeon hole it, it means different things to different people, you do what you enjoy and let others do what they enjoy and we can all call it bushcraft, regardless.

 

[Klenchblaize]

An investment in KNIVES!

K

 

[Wild wandering woodsman]

In my youth, bushcraft was a means of escape, it was safer at 5 years old to wander the countryside alone, than it was to be at home. As a teenager, to get out in the woods was therapy, helped me grieve with the loss of my father, he was a woodsman, and to be there was like I was still with him. Since 17 I have spent the larger portion of my life living in the woodlands and wild places of the UK. No family and having being hurt or traumatised by every human I had ever known led me to live a life of solitude alongside nature the best I can. Ironically even my family name means to live /come from the woods/valley! I tried to get along in modern society, even was married and had children, but in the end it just proved that I don't belong in that way of life. So personally for me, its not a hobby, nor a way of life, it is my life. I do now live in a house, but its set in 200 acres of mixed woodland, with my girlfriend, who has the same attitude to life as I do, and were expecting and our little human will be brought up to understand how we live our lives and that bushcraft is our lives. Everything I do everyday has some aspect of bushcraft or wilderness living involved. Without getting too long winded thats the best description I can give of what bushcraft is to me, all I can add is that I dont call it bushcraft, I call it living.
Best wishes
Jon


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[philipb]

WWW thank you for that meaningful answer and for sharing your experiences

 

[John Fenna]

Oh - to me it is not a hobby but a life choice!
I doubt I could live in a city again - my soul would die and the body soon after!
I sleep better in the woods than in my own bed, I am calmer and less likely to fall into Clinical depression if I have a regular dose of "Out" and the making of kit, the testing of kit, carving, sewing etc ready to go out keep me sane at home.
When out, just the proximity of "Nature" refreshes me and the learning of plant lore etc stimulates me and even mundane tasks like cooking, sorting out the loo area, getting firewood become a pleasure.
Individual elements, such as spoon whittling , count as "Hobbies" - Bushcraft is a lifestyle

 

[SGL70]

Bushcraft - things I do when I hunt, fish or camp...often food related.

 

[Tengu]

Its an important part of Archaeology...Many sites are in places that make the wilderness look busy. You need to be able to read the land and understand how people used it. Experimental archaeology means crafts.

Bushcraft in one work to me is INDEPENDENCE

 

[Jaeger]

Aye Up All,

Good question philipb.

As most have responded - it can be different things to different people.

To me it is very wide ranging and as is regularly featured within BCUK covers issues/items that might not at first seem to fit in with the term 'bushcraft' in the purest sense of the meaning (is there one? - could be dangerous! lol) as an example take 'equipment' stoves, from simple wood burners to liquid fuel pressure burners.

It can be/is often, an extension of other (employment) things that I do outdoors;

It can occupy some (a lot!) of my leisure-time so I suppose it qualifies as a hobby too;

I enjoy the aspect of learning new ('bushcraft') stuff and passing old/new stuff on - how would you term that?

Some of it for me provides comforting links to days gone by i.e. the artisan handcraft skills and techniques that we regularly see demonstrated in the forum posts, and the potential that they will be carried into the future.

Above all for me it is a sort of psychological insurance - knowing that I have the knowledge and skills to be self reliant if I ever need to be - again.

 

[Hammock Hamster]

It's already been said but the term "bushcraft" will mean different things to different people.
For me it is a hobby but one that I dedicate a lot of my spare time to. A lucky few are in a position to choose bushcraft as a way of life (and I envy them above most others) but I think for most of us with the usual full time job, house etc... Can only ever treat it as a hobby albeit one that we can dedicate a lot of time to.

The other question this raises for me is "what is bushcraft?" Which is a topic that has been loudly discussed here and elsewhere.
My own view is that it will agin mean different things to different people. I see bushcraft as a way to relax, to enjoy being outdoors and appreciating nature, learning dwindling and forgotten skills etc...
As has been said above for some it's a way of collecting be it knives or other kit both modern and traditional.
The only real problem I have with the question are people who pigeon hole exactly their definition of bushcraft and purport that that is the only "real" way to practice it.
I know that everyone has their own motivations and way of bushcrafting and see no problem with any that I have come across as I tend to have an each to their own mentality but I do take umbridge when someone tries to tell me what I'm doing isn't "real" bushcraft.

Slightly long and ranty procrastination over but thought I'd add my tuppence worth.


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[Janne]

For me Bushcraft is to be in nature, being able to have a comfortable, safe time with as little stuff as possible.
Like a lightweight shelter, sleeping bag, tools. Compass, laminated maps.
To rely on my skills and not on equipment that can endanger my wellbeing if it fails.

I am not as hardcore as most forum members as I do not have the skill to use flint & steel, nor do I make my own gear.
Most of the equipment I have is pretty old now. Most of it I used during my Army days from more than 30 years ago. I have tried, broken and rejected a lot of stuff, what I have and use now works extremely well, even if it is all banged up and ugly. Just like myself!

 

[Joe tahkahikew]

My family group (and many others) we live in the bush, or what you call forest. It is for the most part a place we call home. We rarely ever visit towns or cities. We come to the settlements only for buying stuff such as things we like to eat special, clothing, equipment & to sell furs. We live there and get a lot of our food from hunting. Before I came to England I did not know what you meant by bushcraft (we have no word for this in Cree).

For us it is the simple act of knowing and being in the forest without too much trouble. But much of what we do, people from outside don't know or understand why we do things the way we do, but we've learned from our fathers & mothers how to make the forest home with what we have. For us hunters bushcraft is not separate from knowing the way of animals, birds,insects and plants.

For us knowing only one without the other would be no sense and this puzzled me when I saw some people in England practice what they called bushcraft but could not identify birds or animals or even identify common trees and their uses. For us, bushcraft is much wider set of skills without which we would not be able to live in the forests for long or comfortably.

Enjou namiste

 

[Willcurrie]

Bushcraft to me is not being outside it's being inside the outside, learning and appreciating the natural balance and cycle of nature. It's not an escape to me it's a part of the way I live. It is unfortunately to me, mainly a solitary path as I don't come across many people who share the same thinking. My daughter dips in and out and I enjoy her learning stuff that I hope she will appreciate in later life. SWMBO is game for a bit of camping now and again but I notice she can't allow herself to relax and take in what's around her for long, she's programmed to be doing something all the time.

 

[bob_the_bomb]

I'd sum it up thus: survival skills are those necessary to get out of the wild after having been dumped there unexpectedly. Bushcraft skills are those necessary to enter the wilderness deliberately and thrive there. An overlap but with very different aims.


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[nic a char]

I was born in Oz so bushcraft = survival in the bush, admiration for the exploited and abused indigenous peoples and their ancient culture, plus family memories.
In Scotland now, it means enjoying, understanding, and responsibly exploiting the the landscape, earth, water, flora, fauna, and developing skills which connect me to my ancestors and atavistic drives.

 

[Robson Valley]

As a family, we went on fishing trips into the Boreal forest & lakes of north-central Saskatchewan. As I recall, we never went to the same place twice. Bushcraft, to us, is the task of optimizing our living situation, rain or shine. Shelter, wood & water came first. As an example, my brother and I were taught maybe a dozen different knots and we were expected to use them as needs arose. We were taught some plant ID, enough to go foraging in the forest clearings or along roadsides for edible berries. There was lots of fishing and some aimless and disorganized whittling but nothing purposeful.
Different species of fish need different cleaning/filleting techniques. Learn to cut bone free fillets and get on with the task.

Fast forward 50 years. There's an unspoken sense of cooperation for some tasks even now. Case in point: I'd made pie dough and had the apple filling ready to go. Built the pie then decided that a top, woven of 3/4" strips, would look good. My brother understood immediately what his hands could do to help me. Done in no time! Dang good pie, too.

I have become totally disoriented, hunting in mountain forests, on a couple of occassions. No freakin' idea which way back out to the road. Then it starts snowing, visibility some 25 yards or less. My little pack has enough for at least 24 hours, shelter and water. Wood is no issue. First, a Recta Prospector compass. Big bubble over the decades so now a Brunton 8066 Eclipse. Trust the compass. Always.

 

[Janne]

I was born in Oz so bushcraft = survival in the bush, admiration for the exploited and abused indigenous peoples and their ancient culture, plus family memories.
In Scotland now, it means enjoying, understanding, and responsibly exploiting the the landscape, earth, water, flora, fauna, and developing skills which connect me to my ancestors and atavistic drives.

For me, survival skills and bushcraft go hand in hand.