What I take and usually don't need is a selection of nice cutlery, air pistols plus ammo, crossbow pistol etc, when I could really have carried another few beers or some extra insulation.
What is bushcraft ?
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What I take and usually don't need is a selection of nice cutlery, air pistols plus ammo, crossbow pistol etc, when I could really have carried another few beers or some extra insulation.
the set of skills to enable you to live comfortably quickly and easily when you havn't got the kit or already created infrastructure. But you have got to learn, and you can't use skills before you learn them, so why do it uncoftortably. Its not about pushing yourself into danger and beond your capabilities to extreme situations, quite the opposite.
See ray mears
I think I'll change my name to Cirdan to join in with the lotr theme, or Morgoth !
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How many people here live solely on the income generated from their 'bushcraft' activities? Very few at a guess and even fewer are earning a good salary.
You can be a volunteer worker in the realms of bushcraft but I don't think many live high off the hog from their paid bushcraft jobs. No income to me relegates bushcraft to a hobby/helping out or a pastime and nothing wrong with that but lets not get carried away with it.
You can be a volunteer worker in the realms of bushcraft but I don't think many live high off the hog from their paid bushcraft jobs. No income to me relegates bushcraft to a hobby/helping out or a pastime and nothing wrong with that but lets not get carried away with it.
what is bushcraft ? imo its what you want to make of it. To many people join the forum and after a year comment on every thread thinking they know best I just read and laugh .
Bushcraft is learning about and appreciating a wilderness, normally woodland or forest, environment through play.
Here's a similar discussion on this very topic from a little while ago. I only post again for the video in post 1:
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101176&p=1223104#post1223104
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101176&p=1223104#post1223104
Very well said Ross. This is exactly what bushcraft is to me.....
Something to sleep in, something to sleep under, something to sleep on.
Something to cook in, something to cook on, something to cook.
Something to wear, something to keep that lot dry if it rains.
Something to drink from, something to drink.
Something to keep me clean.
Some tools to make the above easier.
Luxury ... something to bring a smile to my face
.........and this is what bushcraft camping kit is in its simplest terms.
Realistic minimum kit for a comfortable night out in my local area;
bivvy bag
sleeping bag
something to drink
something to eat
Cheers,
Stuart.
IMO.
Bushcraft = the ability to make all the above in the wilderness if you don't have them.
Guys c'mon this is the second post in a week where i have asked for it not to get personal. if you feel like this be sure to leave the forum ! this is a place for people to share and learn information not for people to moan about other people. (It also clearly states in the rules not to make things personal)
And finally if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything.
And finally if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything.
to me that's the best explanation I've seen and the more you learn the more you make of it
I think Bushcraft is many different things to many different people, if you filled a wood with 100 people into "Bushcraft" then you would get 100 different answers, but I like to think of not to define the world, but except that what I think Bushcraft is, might not be what the next man thinks Bushcraft is. The main point is that no matter how you define your version of Bushcraft, as long as you enjoy what you are doing that is the main thing.
I think the term bushcraft as coined by uncle ray, is a modern term for what used to be called wilderness survival. sort of makes it sound less threatening to some folk. but survival to me is the skill set used to get out of potentially life threatening situations, whereas bushcraft is the skill set employed to live comfortably along side nature and the elements and not be in a rush to get out of natural surroundings. but enjoy being there.
Agree entirely with you greatbear but it does almost sound like a bushcrafter could be a cast away, and then like a child at a birthday party, not want to leave when rescued as they're enjoying it too much!
That is the very romantic version of the term. It is the idea that there is some set of skills which if mastered, will let you live comfortably in the wilderness with a knife and the resources nature provides. I imagine that is a very optimistic view. I am yet to see anyone successfully do it. The reality is that life in the wilderness, even on communal level is a struggle and few of us would have the stomach to do it.
For me bushcraft is just a set of wilderness skills. It is not a set of wilderness skills that lets you do ______. In some situations those skills may in fact allow you to stay in the woods comfortably. In other situations those skills might barely be enough to keep you alive.
I think there is a big disconnect between what people (famous ones included) say bushcraft lets you do, and what it actually lets you do. I find it amusing when Ray Mears talks about how bushcraft lets you live comfortably in the wilderness with just the knowledge you have and the resources nature provides, and then proceeds to pull out 200 lb of gear from the back of the truck and set up camp. Apparently there was a bit more needed to be comfortable in the bush than the knowledge. Yes, he made a pot hook from a stick, so he could hang his three cast iron pots, under his tarp, next to his folding chair and bedroll... Bushcraft!
Listening to Ray on our BBC Radio Programme Desert Island Discs he said that he had a preference for a light pack decrying the huge packs that teenagers are burdened with on outward bound type expeditions. If he is portraying the opening of Canada then Baker Tent, stove and all the rest are appropriate being the sort of stuff, for example, surveyors were equipped with.
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