What makes you good at bushcraft

[tomtom]

it depends what you deem 'good' someone who goes in to the woods and mannages a one match fire.. comes out happy, feeling they have achived..

or someone who can light a fire in 2mins flat with a bow drill made from rawhide they took from the animal they killed with their bow which they also made with the flint tools they knapped that morning!?

whats the measure of a good bushcrafter..

either way i think they will need a bit of what hoodoo mentioned.. and a bit of what you get in the army time and place to practice!

 

[RovingArcher]

What makes me a good bushcrafter? Not sure that I am, but I love being in nature and what I do while there. I have patience and a desire to learn and succeed.

 

[Squidders]

I think that good bushcrafters are the ones out there bushcrafting all the time.

 

[Nod]

I've always loved being out in the country. As a kid, like many of us I suspect, I'd spend from morning till bedtime in the local woods, with my friends, in our den. You learn to craft shelters and items from the things you found around you. I remember harping on for ages for Mum and Dad to get me an "Adventure Kit".....do you remember those? You got a water bottle, a compass, a mirror with morse code instructions on the back, a whistle, a pair of plastic bino's and a real penknife and a belt to hang it all off. So chuffed when I got that for Xmas!!!

I spent some time in the forces, most of it in the Territorials, but it was the fact that we went out on exercise and spent time in the outdoors that attracted me there in the first place. Plus you got paid to do it!!! Bargain!!!

I think I just grew up with a love for the outdoors. I really miss the childhood times when 6 or 7 of us could head out for the day and camp out in the woods. Imagine the outrage now if six or seven 38 year olds were seen lighting fires and building shelters in the woods alongside the local golf course like we did in the 1970's..............ah........childhood bushcraft was the best eh?

 

[Goose]

I've always loved being out in the country. As a kid, like many of us I suspect, I'd spend from morning till bedtime in the local woods, with my friends, in our den. You learn to craft shelters and items from the things you found around you. I remember harping on for ages for Mum and Dad to get me an "Adventure Kit".....do you remember those? You got a water bottle, a compass, a mirror with morse code instructions on the back, a whistle, a pair of plastic bino's and a real penknife and a belt to hang it all off. So chuffed when I got that for Xmas!!!

I spent some time in the forces, most of it in the Territorials, but it was the fact that we went out on exercise and spent time in the outdoors that attracted me there in the first place. Plus you got paid to do it!!! Bargain!!!

I think I just grew up with a love for the outdoors. I really miss the childhood times when 6 or 7 of us could head out for the day and camp out in the woods. Imagine the outrage now if six or seven 38 year olds were seen lighting fires and building shelters in the woods alongside the local golf course like we did in the 1970's..............ah........childhood bushcraft was the best eh?

I got one of those too,my dad removed the penknife christmas morning (till I was a bit older!)then ended up with stitches when he closed it on the joint of his thumb! I never saw the knife again

 

[JimH]

A sense of adventure.

Looking at the world beyond the bars of the cage we've collectively constructed.

Self reliance.

Quietness.

Persistance.

Good humour.

I lack all of these to varying degrees, but they are the qualities I admire most in people I've met in this line.

Jim.

 

[Spacemonkey]

I really miss the childhood times when 6 or 7 of us could head out for the day and camp out in the woods. Imagine the outrage now if six or seven 38 year olds were seen lighting fires and building shelters in the woods alongside the local golf course like we did in the 1970's.........

Dunno-I'll let you know in 5 years, but no one's complained yet!!!

 

[stotRE]

I think I just grew up with a love for the outdoors. I really miss the childhood times when 6 or 7 of us could head out for the day and camp out in the woods. Imagine the outrage now if six or seven 38 year olds were seen lighting fires and building shelters in the woods alongside the local golf course like we did in the 1970's..............ah........childhood bushcraft was the best eh?

From an early age me and my brothers were building tree houses, rabbiting with ferrets and pestering our dad until he bought us all a bowie knife each. Our neighbours must have been very tolerant with our midnight garden campfires and our re-enactments of taking Pegasus bridge armed only with mud bombs and tommy gun sticks.
No wonder we all ended joining up!

 

[Toddy]

I've always loved being out in the country. As a kid, like many of us I suspect, I'd spend from morning till bedtime in the local woods, with my friends, in our den. You learn to craft shelters and items from the things you found around you. I remember harping on for ages for Mum and Dad to get me an "Adventure Kit".....do you remember those? You got a water bottle, a compass, a mirror with morse code instructions on the back, a whistle, a pair of plastic bino's and a real penknife and a belt to hang it all off. So chuffed when I got that for Xmas!

I so wanted one, but I was a *girl*, and girls weren't supposed to get these things
I was taught to sew when I was three, bake scones and oatcakes by six and *finally* got my hands on an axe (for firewood!) when I was about eight. I got a marlin spike not long after. My dad eventually relented and bought me a sheath knife when I was about 13, I've still got it
I'm delighted that the dads on this list are happy to teach their daughters too.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Stew]

Surely this gets to the deeper question of What is Bushcraft?

I personally think I practise Bushcraft every day just by walking to work.

I'm lucky in that I have a half hour walk along a river bank and through a wooded area.
All the time I'm seeing nature at work - the Swan on her nest, the ducks already with babies, the Muntjac running away from me as fast as possible, the Limes, the Maples, keeping my eye out for fungi, etc, etc.

I'm not doing anything as such, but I still think of it as Bushcraft.

 

[Nod]

You should have come out with us Toddy We had a girl in our group. We were all equals in our den.

My two daughters love coming out with me now. We follow the deer tracks, spot the wild flowers and insects, the girls search out birch bark for me (one of their favourite things to do). We take our nature book with us and if there is anything we don't recognise (of which there are many LOL) we look it up.

I've even had one occasion where they have brought me back a right manky collection of different mosses and insisted we check each one out in the book before we went home.

On special occasions though we seclude our selves away, have a fire and cook ourselves some dinner. Now that really is an adventure for them.........and it's good because they are learning all the time, and so am I, simply because I have to check out all those lumps of moss they keep bringing me!!!!

 

[Lithril]

Personally I think patience and a love of the outdoors is essential for bushcraft.

 

[moko]

Thanks to everyone for your comments. Its been great to hear all your views and (to be honest) to arrest my fears that the bushcraft family is not full of SAS weekend wannabes. Thanks again - I feel at home.