Bushcraft hmm i had a thought but this is a family forum
To me it is the collection of skills required to live in a semi-primitive manner in a given environment. So that will include, but not be limited to: fire starting, shelter building, food gathering, primitive hunting/trapping, utensil/tool making.....whatever makes life livable and comfortable.I'd say tools can be basic (flint/stone) or can be a lot more up to date, depending on how far you are able or willing to go.
Bushcraft is starting to a tad overhyped. But not to badly yet. But all "bushcraft" is just a bunch of skills used while out in the wilds to make life easier and more enjoyable. Fire making, shelter, making tools and so on. Basically, self reliance. The more you know and can do, the less you have to pack. Bushcrafting does tend to fall back on primative type skills because you are using the resources around you. You are not going to find a tree that dispenses lighter, meths or nylon or other types of gear. One thing I have noticed is that people get so wrapped up in the hype, that they forget to enjoy themselves. As far as tools, that greatly depends where your at geographically. In northern america,it is most commonly a knife, ax and saw. Not always, but generally. Other places use different tools.Pretty much my take on it. Some like to poke fun at me, but I like doing things old school while I am in the woods. Nate
Personally I hate the term bushcraft.Don't really know why, but I feel uncomfortable seeing people dressed in tacticool camo gear trying to make relatively simple tasks look complex to boost their own egos.I'm not stereotyping people, just sayin.We have evolved, we do read and therefore I would assume a fair few wouldn't simply curl up and cry regardless that they don't practice/preach bushcraft.Most of it is common sense a lot of it is knowledge to a degree. But the human urge to survive is remarkable as history so often dictates.
Hmm, interesting thread. I dabble in bushcraft a little bit, so here is my attempt to explode a few myths.There are a few guys who strut around with a dozen knives hanging from their camo gear but, thankfully, there are not too many. You only really need one good fixed blade knife, and maybe a smaller folder if you're a gadgety type. Most of the "genuine" bushcrafters I've met tend more towards being "custodians" of the countryside more along the lines of the traditional gamekeeper rather than the "survival" type portrayed in some TV shows. I only have one fixed blade knife - it does the job adequately and its a tool, that's all.For me it is about connecting with nature, quietly and gently. Part of the skill set involves learning to use the stuff that is around you, things like making a tripod for your kettle from branches.There is a foraging element, which is really only an expanded level of wild food awareness, we've all picked blackberries, cloudberries, chokeberries etc, and it's just a bit more knowledge than that really.Firelighting is a key skill - I learnt to use a piece of flint and a steel striker, and there is still a childish fascination for me in getting the first flames of the day. What nicer than to sit by an outdoor fire?I'm certainly not a "Rambo" type and would rather watch the birds than kill them.As far as the actual term "bushcraft" goes, I was reading about that only the other day in Ray Mears' "My Outdoor Life" autobiography (which will give you the clearest view of what it is all about) and in the early days of the term it was apparently used as a preference to "survival" which had strong connotations to the training given to pilots etc in WW11 and was seen as a "softer" term more akin to caring for the natural environment than simply staying alive on it. As a point of interest I hate the term "bushcraft" as, for me, it is a rather vague description and way back the term "woodsman" was seen as a similar term for the skills (however I'm told that means something else these days....)