Is bushcraft still popular?

[Paul N]

On the mental health front I totally agree, I never feel happier and more 'at home' than when I am in a forest or on open moorland. Fortunately I don't have any mental health problems (though some might disagree! ) but I know plenty of folk who have used bushcraft get-togethers as their refuge from a cruel world. A few nights in the woods is their therapy. Contact with nature has been scientically proven to be therapeutic.

On another front I came across a new (to me) supplier of bushcraft equipment the other day - The Bath Bushcraft store. They are a well stocks supplier of all things 'bushcraft' as their name implies - actually no! They are a well stocked supplier of great (and some not-so-great) camping equipment. Their name is a misnomer. They are a top notch camping shop, but bushcraft - not so much. True - they have survival tins, survival packs, and many other such 'necessities' that will impress a schoolboy (just in case he falls out of an aeroplane into the jungle), so the name almost fits I suppose, but most of their stock is camping equipment. They are playing on the name, which, as someone has said, often adds 10% or more to the price. They do have some very good equipment, I'm not knocking them as a shop, only the name is misleading.

I suppose my point is that bushcraft is not the ability to own and carry a lot of equipment around. It is the knowledge and skill to not need most of it. The ability to make the things you need from what you find in the environment around you. A fancy lighter that the wind cannot blow out is great, but the ability to light a fire without it weighs less. The same applies to the very nice tripods available, three sticks and some natural cordage do just as well. Just two examples of a long list. Great equipment - but not bushcraft equipment - camping equipment.

 

[GaryHW]

I have to agree with Paul N there, for me Bushcraft and Mental health are completely linked - I have suffered with PTSD for most of my adult life, both whilst serving (although I didn't know it) and since leaving the army and going bush definitely helps me smooth it, lets me re-ground myself and de-combust in a safe way.

I honestly believe if I didn't have my overnighters and bushcraft interest I would long ago have exited existence - as we used to say with typical squaddy dark humour - "stop the world I wanna get off!"

 

[Big Red]

There is most definitely a link with being in the natural environment, amongst trees in a woodland, the sound of a babbling Brook, birdsong and nature in general, and mental well being.

I consider myself a very fortunate man, the vast majority of my working life was spent in that very environment, with the majority of that on Dartmoor. I have lived in larger towns in the past, but after 33 years living where I do, they feel very alien to me now. I admit to being pathetically out of my comfort zone, even in somewhere like Newton Abbot, I just cannot wait to get out and back to “my” corner of Dartmoor.

I am a very content man, my wife loves the things I do. I have a couple of spots close to where I live, where the scenery would absolutely blow you away. Places where I WILL NOT see another human being, unless the farmer turns up, a friend of over 50 years…….It makes me smile every time I go there, rain or shine.

Photo just does not do it justice.

 

[1 shot willie]

Bootiful........

 

[Bushcraft Rob]

Prior to Ray Meres and such like back in the late 60's-70's bushcraft wasn't even a word in this country. It was called camping, you belonged to the cubs and scouts were we did all of this at a fraction of the cost.

 

[Ystranc]

Hi Mike

Following this thread and read your comment. Why do you think this? Why at this particular point in time is bushcraft more relevant?

I had to take a bit of time and think about this before I answered because I have mixed emotions about the numbers of people who are coming from the cities to enjoy the British countryside. On the one hand it’s great that they’re experiencing and benefitting from being in nature but on the other hand humans tend to destroy whatever they touch and change whatever they observe. The more of the visitors that learn and understand the “leave no trace, take nothing and leave nothing behind” ethos the better.
The skills involved in bushcraft (although the name is relatively modern) were handed down over generations but key bits of information were missed out and forgotten to the point where even some of the traveller communities have lost the ability to live off the land, the few that still can take real pride in those skills. Successive governments have introduced so many ill informed, disjointed bits of legislation that prevent ordinary people from accessing the land in a positive way.
Don’t get me wrong though, Britain isn’t ready for Allemansrätten…..see what I mean, about mixed emotions?

 

[38thfoot]

A few of my opinions on various tenets of the conversation:

As a forest school consultant it is heavily linked to mental health of children (which is how we justify the prices we charge) but although I use a strong bushy thread it is not the actual intent and there are plenty of forest school instructors who don’t have a confident knowledge of it.

In terms of scouts I think it is very much case by case; my son is off open fire cooking tonight having also been shooting and axe throwing in the past few weeks! Different scout groups have different staff which sets the agenda for what they can and can’t (or are willing to) deliver.

In terms of bushcraft itself it’s natural that as a hobby some people find a way to monetise it and that can then drive an aspirational shopping list. I genuinely don’t see too much of it on here but I do think that at times it’s not the most welcoming community, maybe because of the monetisation where by people who’ve played in the sandpit a long time aren’t welcoming of new kids turning up with a shiny bucket and spade. It’s also a hobby where role can be protective of “their” version of the skill set required, telling people that they can’t be a proper bush-crafter unless they do a certain thing (usually involving fire bows).

38

 

[cuckoo996]

My opinion

Money ruins everything.
Social media has messed it all up too.
Too much red tape and too many idiots being given a voice.

The world has changed, you'll be lucky to see anyone born after 1999 getting involved in any outdoor pursuits. I mean the main active users on here, our beloved forum, there aren't many, if any, under the age of 40.

I'm in the throes of trying to set up a charitable forest school, FREE forest school for kids, mainly for those that have had a hard time but just in general to get kids out there doing stuff and get off the Internet.
Red tape, course after course, DBS and other checks, insurance, health and safety, limitations, lack of interest.

Why encourage kids and teens to get involved in the outdoors? Why spend all that money on kit and travel when you can spend £200 on a smart phone and they can sit in the corner out of my way? So as an adult can spend my time ignoring my kids on tiktok, Facebook, Instagram etc etc

I could rant all day for the reasons that not just bushcraft but so many other outdoor pursuits are in decline, but it won't change a thing.

Money, Internet, greed and control. It's killing everything.

Plus it's all part of the plan, look at the curriculum nowadays, maths, computing, repetition repetition. It's not a part of future currently, unless the masses get together and change the world we live in.

Rant over

 

[divebuddy]

Interesting. I have just had to clear the gun club and all the stuff from the kitchen. All the mugs have gone to the local homeless charity and the pots and pans to the Orchard Forest School at Lupton House, Churston. Thinking of volunteering there.