What is your definition of Bushcraft?

[Templar]

Hi all,

I thought I would ask this question after this same subject came up in the Edged tools forum, the point made was that different people in different geographic locations have a different view of what "Bushcraft" is.

I'm not trying to start an I'm right, your wrong, argument but I thought that by finding out peoples definition we might be able to help people put into some perspective the uses and choices that are made for items of equipment we all use for our favorite outdoor activity...

So having said that I guess I'd better start the ball rolling....

My own definition of "Bushcraft" is learning the skills to live in the bush with little or no kit to aid me, having said that it is also the skills and knowledge to live day to day out in the bush with some degree of comfort, be it in camp or out on the trail, knowing which plants are useful and which ones to stay clear of, comes to mind.

So let me know what you think, but please remeber that no one is wrong, they just have a different point of view...

many thanks,
Karl

 

[Salix]

Hi Templar,

My own definition of Bushcraft is much the same as yours, Living lightly off the land, using skills and knowledge some would say prehistoric or stone age. Being comfortable outdoors, knowing you couldsurvive or get by if you had to.

Mark

 

[Womble]

Bushcraft is....

....The act of remembering that there's more to life and sitting in an office in front of a computer

... the sound of leaves rustling in the trees of an unexplored wood

... sitting beside an ancient oak, watching time move at a different speed

... the filleted fish cooking on a self-lit fire

... the sounds of the night as heard from the inside of a home made shelter

... the first sip of freshly picked hawthorne tea

... sitting around the fire, with friends

... more than tools, more than skills; more than boasts...

... more than my vocabulary can describe

Bushcraft is.

OK, maybe this IS a bit wishywashy, but hey, it can't all be about skills and stuff...

 

[moduser]

Mines pretty much the same as yours templer.

Walking lightly and working with nature in comfort.

Developing skills that reduce my dependance on a lot of kit (but don't look in my pack if you meet me as it's still quite full )

Bringing those skills in to everyday life so I can reduce my dependance on Mr big corporation

Moduser

 

[RovingArcher]

For me, it combines my spiritual, physical, mental and emotional states into one experience.

Spiritual in that I believe that all GOD given things on our Earth have life and therefore, have spirit. Each is deserving of respect from me and are honored, even when giving their all to help me to live another day. Each has a right to live into the future, so not taking more than I need and making sure that what I leave, will help to propogate that species, is very important to me. Also, communing with those things around me, becoming part of the whole on both the spiritual and physical planes, is also important to me and finally, remembering the power that gave us all of the gifts that we use everyday in our lives and giving thanks for those gifts, is of prime importance to me.

Physical in that I believe that all things are here for me and I am here for them. In order to live in balance with those around me, I have to relate to them in a way that has been chosen long before I was born. These ways are the skills we use to exist, to live within the environment that we choose to visit. Physical is more than using tools, or gathering wood, our physical presence is how we relate to all things we come into contact with. Forming a kinship with all things.

Mental in that we must be able to remember the skills that are our heritage. A million years of evolution have made us who and what we are and all we need to do is remember those things that help us to care for ourselves and the land. Sometimes we see it as a learning experience. I see it as a remembering experience. We kind of forget what is what until we see someone doing it and then it's "OH YEAH, NOW I REMEMBER!" and then we start to remember other things that go with it.

Emotional in that, how can anyone look at a sunset and not be affected by it for the rest of their life? How can we take the life of a fellow creature, be it plant, fish or animal and not be affected by it for our entire life? I mean, all that happens while we are there, becomes a part of us forever.

 

[Longstrider]

To me Bushcraft is being comfortable, both mentally and physically, in the Great Outdoors whilst employing skills learned through experience or teaching to make use of the resources around me to further the experience, whilst making minimal long term impact on the surroundings.

I guess it's easier to say that its a case of simply being there, doing my own thing, and loving every minute of it.

 

[Carcajou Garou]

Longstrider that pretty much what I would have said, to add being in the bush because I want to be not because I have no other choices (lost)

 

[-Switch-]

Bushcraft, to me, is the ability to have independance and a greater understanding of the natural world around me.

It's not something that I do - ie ''I'm going out bushcrafting this weekend''. And it's definately not about survival.
It's a thing rather than an activity. A noun rather than a verb.
I never 'go bushcrafting', but I may go camping, or for a walk in the woods, and the knowledge of bushcraft will have a great influence on the experience and help me enjoy better.

To quote a certain Mr. Bristow -
''Bushcraft is about being confident and comfortable in the natural environment. Whether you are having an afternoon stroll, or youre embarking on an extended expedition over many days, there is a huge wealth of knowledge and information that can help everyone get the most out of their outdoor experience. ''

 

[Trackend]

Simplifying life gives you time to feel alive
Taking away the trappings has shown me what a shallow sheep like exsistance I lead.
But above all bushcraft means to me being part of nature not just an observer of it.

 

[Odie]

To me bushcraft is having the confidence of knowledge to go out into the 'wilds' for a period of time an know that I am going to be able to function.

Being an middle-aged urbanite bushcraft gives me the comfort to know that when the sun goes down and my camp fire is gently glowing embers, life has not come to an end.

Last year my friend, a first-timer, and I headed out into the scottish highlands. The first night we settled down in a small clearing. My mate put up his hi-tech-sink-and-shower-built-in tent and I strung my basha between two trees. He looked at my simple shelter with some incredulity.

While we sat around the fire chatting I could see he was not at ease. I asked him what the matter was and he admitted that this was the first time he had been so far from civilisation. He just couldn't settle down to the fact that we were in the middle of nowhere - just us and our fire.

I am pretty comfortable with nature but I could understand his feeling of insecurity. After a couple of days out we trapsed into our end-of-walk
hotel, showered and got a few cold beers in the bar.

After some considerable reflection he said to me: 'mate, those last three nights have been the most liberating thing I have done.'

That's bushcraft.

 

[Templar]

Hi all,
It seems to me that from the posts so far that "bushcraft" can be defined a set of skills to aid our life in the woods, a feeling of confidence in ones own abilities and a feeling of respect for nature, and as has been said before if you disrespect nature, she will hunt you down and hurt you if she dose not kill you first..

So now we have given bushcraft a definition, how dose the geographic location alter our views?

for example: We have the perspective espoused by Mr Mears (UK), or the views put forward by Mr Tom Brown Jr (US), or even the Late Mr Richard Graives (AUST), or is it the views put forward during the Survival boom of the 80's and 90's? All can find a home in the definitions put forward so far.

what do you think?

Karl

 

[mayfly]

I think bushcraft emerged out of that whole survival thing in the 80s (Lofty Wiesmann et al) and essentially softened survival - which seemed to me and I am sure many others to be a bit remote and too military - making it something more approachable with a focus on appreciating the outdoors in a simple way, whilst also learning about ways to survive in the wilderness. Survival is about reacting to a situation and dealing with it, bushcraft is more pro-active - you choose to expose yourself to wilderness so as to enjoy it and it happens that you need to learn how to survive whilst you are out there. So I would say bushcraft is a simple, honest appreciation of wilderness, unencumbered by too much kit, and an ability to survive in that environment. The irony is that a lot of the discussion on these forums is about acquiring kit and I know I'm guilty of that one! I also think that to really 'do' bushcraft, you need to be exposed to wilderness and that is a big challenge for most of us. I don't think very much real wilderness exisits in UK any more, with the possible exception of parts of Scotland. Nothing compared to, say, Australia or Canada. We have to make do with a stay in the local woods, which is fine as far as it goes, but not the real deal.

 

[pierre girard]

Hi all,

I thought I would ask this question after this same subject came up in the Edged tools forum, the point made was that different people in different geographic locations have a different view of what "Bushcraft" is.

I'm not trying to start an I'm right, your wrong, argument but I thought that by finding out peoples definition we might be able to help people put into some perspective the uses and choices that are made for items of equipment we all use for our favorite outdoor activity...

So having said that I guess I'd better start the ball rolling....

My own definition of "Bushcraft" is learning the skills to live in the bush with little or no kit to aid me, having said that it is also the skills and knowledge to live day to day out in the bush with some degree of comfort, be it in camp or out on the trail, knowing which plants are useful and which ones to stay clear of, comes to mind.

So let me know what you think, but please remeber that no one is wrong, they just have a different point of view...

many thanks,
Karl

As I've mentioned before - I never heard the term before I happened on this forum. My college roomate, many years ago, was from South Africa, and he spoke of being "out in the bush," but I don't remember him ever saying anything about "bushcraft."

I guess the American term "woodslore" might be roughly equivelent to bushcraft, but woodslore wasn't a term I hear used much growing up either. I guess it is just stuff any jackpine savage ought to know.

I've always been interestd in this backwoods stuff, but I am often surprised how much the guys I work with know, though they are NOT particularly interested in the subject, about living in the woods. Something you grow up with, I guess, living in a rural area.

 

[Hawkeye The Noo]

I don't think very much real wilderness exisits in UK any more, with the possible exception of parts of Scotland.

Maybe that is because people think Bushcraft has to be done in the bush. Bushcraft is an attitude that you carry with you: home, work or in the bush. It can start with energy saving light bulbs, it is not always the obvious. We are on this planet to steward it. I like the terms used in the film "Instinct, " there are the givers and the takers.. what one are you? As to the words bushcraft, kids ask me what it means and I say caveman camping; they understand that. Maybe instead of wanting our own bit of the planet to practice bushcraft we can make more bush for crafting in.

Jamie- with a touch of hypocracy as I could recycle more.

 

[Naruska]

Òn a personal level, I tend to think of bushcraft as an understanding and respect for the environment you live in...in addition to the ability to exist in that environment...

 

[mayfly]

Maybe that is because people think Bushcraft has to be done in the bush. Bushcraft is an attitude that you carry with you: home, work or in the bush. It can start with energy saving light bulbs, it is not always the obvious. We are on this planet to steward it. I like the terms used in the film "Instinct, " there are the givers and the takers.. what one are you?

You widen out the debate to include an environmental and conservation approach to bushcraft. I kind of agree with you. For my part, I think I am sometiems a taker and sometiems a giver. In general a bushcraft approach to enjoying wilderness will take less, so in that sense being into bushcraft positions us less as takers. But there is certainly some taking in the desire to seek out quiet places and spend time there, especially if you fly long haul with it's associated CO2 emmissions (IIRC, something like 8% of CO2 emissions come from flying which is huge).

The extreme end of taking is perhaps flying around the word making TV programmes promoting buscraft. Thse are overtly commercial projects. Do they - net - take more than they give? I think they probably take more and there is certainly an amount of self promotion and ego involved, which at times I find distasteful. However I enjoy the programmes and learn a lot from them and so maybe they engender learning that gives a lot back.

As for carrying bushcraft as an attitude you take with you wherever you go, I'd agree. I'd only say that to develop that attitude you have to get out there and practise, and my point was that to really do that, whilst it is fine to do it mainly, locally in a wood; I think you need to find true wilderness to consilidate the learning and secure the attitude. Most of my bushcraft is done on my allotment! But I really get more out of going to real wilderness when I can. For arguments sake, I would regard real wilderness as being at least a day's hard walk from the nearest town, but YMMV.

My allotment beckons...

 

[British Red]

I guess to mangle an old quotation up a bit:

"Bushcraft is like pornography...I can't define it, but I know it when I see it"

Red

 

[falling rain]

Bushcraft - A timeless collection of knowledge, wisdom, skills and awareness from around the world built up over millenia and including present day technologie (GPS, Tarps for example) and a respect and understanding of our natural world - that's how I'd define it.

 

[BOD]

I think it is in those ‘developed societies’, where many people are alienated from the natural world in a physical sense not an aesthetic one, that there is a conscious separation of “bushcraft” from the ‘normal’ world.

In transitional and traditional societies there is no such division just varying degrees of knowledge. For instance, although most Chinese Chinese live in cities, have mobile phones and watch TV, they are still eating bush tucker and they prepare their food in traditional ways and often with traditionally made utensils.

So if you take a city dwelling Chinese man or woman into the bush you may have to teach them fire by friction but they would be able to prepare and eat bush tucker probably in more ways than you know. This is basically what happened in the 1990s in Western Australia when a shipload of illegal migrants were beached in the north and abandoned by their human traffickers. They were told a city was a few miles away! After several weeks a man turned up at a station and search parties were sent out only to find a well-fed group of Chinese camped out in the bush where most city dwelling white Australians would have perished.

Similarly, I see ‘detribalised’ indigenous people in Borneo who have clearly lost most of their culture – they are ignorant of basic facts- through urbanisation and Christian evangelism yet they retain quite a lot of bush crafty skills such as shelter building, plant ID and food preparation.

Ironically, many of them are fascinated by hi-tech ‘survival’ gear and camp equipment and would like to acquire it.

 

[Templar]

Hi all,
So from what has been said thus far, it seems that "Bushcraft" is a concept that we carry with us, that we apply, even if we dont realise it at the time, when ever a problem arises, like that quick fix on the way to work in the morning, or the way we notice the little things as we walk through the park on a saturday afternoon, or maybe the way we look at our life from a perspective that we can deal with life a little easier because we feel our place on the planet and have an undestanding of how our resourses can be affected by our collective use.

Maybe its a feeling of being at peace, with our self, when we are returning to our roots and becomming a part of nature again and not just a user of nature, that quiet pride we feel in our self when we carve our first spoon from a block of wood, or create a fire from our own two hands and a couple of sticks, and can look at it and say "I did that, all by my self!" or the first time we actualy notice that the forest has its own sounds and rythum to life that slows us down from our imposed hi-tec hectic lives...

So that makes bushcraft a very personal concept and a skill that we carry day to day, and some thing that is great to get together and chat about and share our collective knowledge with those who wish to listen, but its also a way to help preserve some of the knowledge that is disappearing from our modern, computerised world.

Yes there are some rather deep thoughts involved, but it is something that I think we can all relate to in one way or another...

let me know if I'm close or not, or maybe just scratching the surface...

many thanks
Karl