Anyone into wilderness survival/bushcraft?

[JAVO]

This guy is fairly new, but he knows his stuff and posts much of it for free online. I learn at least several new things from each of his videos. Here's a good one on how to light a fire in the winter.

 

[small.wonder]

Not so much survival, but I love to hike, kayak, and forage! I've wanted to actually go backpacking for sometime but never can convince enough friends to make a trip of it. :/

 

[JAVO]

Not so much survival, but I love to hike, kayak, and forage! I've wanted to actually go backpacking for sometime but never can convince enough friends to make a trip of it. :/

Experiencing nature is what it's all about! I enjoy all of those. Foraging especially is a big (and advanced) part of bushcraft. I've been foraging for many years, but I just tried ramps this past year. They're great! I had also hoped to sample morels for the first time, but no luck with that.

And then there was the time when I was a teen and decided to try cattail root. I figured out later that what I'd actually eaten was a wild leek. At least it wasn't poisonous. What do you typically forage for?

 

[gromit]

I would love to learn foraging from someone who actually knows what s/he is doing...!

 

[JAVO]

I would love to learn foraging from someone who actually knows what s/he is doing...!

No doubt. There are plenty of poisonous plants which look like edible plants.

Wild carrot looks similar to the toxic hemlock. The scariest one is probably the appropriately named and highly toxic death camas, which looks like wild onion. It even has a bulb on the root and sometimes grows alongside wild onion! The main difference is that it doesn't have an onion smell. When I eat wild onion, I have to be careful that I'm smelling the actual plant and not just onion on my hands.

 

[small.wonder]

Experiencing nature is what it's all about! I enjoy all of those. Foraging especially is a big (and advanced) part of bushcraft. I've been foraging for many years, but I just tried ramps this past year. They're great! I had also hoped to sample morels for the first time, but no luck with that.

And then there was the time when I was a teen and decided to try cattail root. I figured out later that what I'd actually eaten was a wild leek. At least it wasn't poisonous. What do you typically forage for?

I gained interest because my brother is in the culinary industry and works for a restaurant group that's basically "farm to table", but they also purchase produce from foragers! My brother was fascinated and would talk to the people who came in, started doing research and eventually foraging himself. I don't have nearly as much experience as he has but I've had ramps and wild onion, and we've found some mushrooms out in Colorado (I think chantrelles?).

Is bushcraft like backpacking?

 

[kyuuei]

If you desire backpacking, I'd say it'd be much easier to go into a social circle that already does this.. Meet-up websites and such would be useful. or you can start out just going to National parks and backpacking around them on your own--try to make friends along the way.

Bushcraft is one of those things that I think are invaluable. I'm not sure why I never take the time to learn it all, but it's really useful whether you're actually out in nature or not.

 

[JAVO]

I gained interest because my brother is in the culinary industry and works for a restaurant group that's basically "farm to table", but they also purchase produce from foragers! My brother was fascinated and would talk to the people who came in, started doing research and eventually foraging himself. I don't have nearly as much experience as he has but I've had ramps and wild onion, and we've found some mushrooms out in Colorado (I think chantrelles?).

That's interesting! I like the farm to table approach and using food from foraging.

Is bushcraft like backpacking?

Yes. Really there's significant overlap, and the only distinction is mostly in the the goals of why people go out in the woods/mountains.

Backpacking is more focused on the journey itself, while bushcraft is focused on the knowledge and skills it takes to live outside--the same ones which would allow one to live outside for an indefinite time. People more focused on backpacking might try to cover a specific trail or number of miles, while people focused more on bushcraft tend to leave plenty of time for around camp tasks like starting a campfire with sparks or friction, cooking over it, maybe building a natural shelter or just a fire reflecting wall of logs. Bushcraft is more focused on knowledge and skills, while backpacking is more focused on miles, trails, and gear. A backpacker is more likely to cook dinner on a portable stove, while a bushcrafter is more likely to cook over the fire.

If you desire backpacking, I'd say it'd be much easier to go into a social circle that already does this.. Meet-up websites and such would be useful. or you can start out just going to National parks and backpacking around them on your own--try to make friends along the way.

Bushcraft is one of those things that I think are invaluable. I'm not sure why I never take the time to learn it all, but it's really useful whether you're actually out in nature or not.

Meetup groups are great for backpacking. I do at least a few trips with meetup groups every year, and I organize a few trips also. True, bushcraft skills are great to know. They allow me to carry less, and to not worry about forgetting something or a gear failure. My sleeping bag getting soaked or lost down river just means that I'll be building a shelter instead of sleeping in my tent rather than trying to bail out and get back to the trailhead.

 

[JAVO]

Mors Kochanski and Ray Mears are probably the most knowledgeable and respected bushcraft instructors alive today. I'm always amazed with the amount I learn when I read or watch them. There are many videos of them on youtube.

This video is old and low quality, yet still timeless...

 

[Hypatia]

I learn at least several new things from each of his videos.

Me too.

 

[JAVO]

Me too.

It's a fun learning too, isn't it? I'd much rather be watching a bushcraft video than watching a game.

One of the things I like about learning to live primitively is the independence it offers. If a person can live without anything, then they are dependent upon nothing.

 

[Hypatia]

It's a fun learning too, isn't it? I'd much rather be watching a bushcraft video than watching a game.

One of the things I like about learning to live primitively is the independence it offers. If a person can live without anything, then they are dependent upon nothing.

Yeah.
I like learning about nature, too.

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.”
-Henry David Thoreau​

 

[ndovjtjcaqidthi]

Love this shit.

I'm probably going to end up living in the woods alone or with someone.

 

[greenfairy]

Cool! I will be checking these out.

 

[JAVO]

Yeah.
I like learning about nature, too.

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.”
-Henry David Thoreau​

Me too. Nature is awesome! I like that quote!

 

[Hypatia]

Me too. Nature is awesome! I like that quote!

 

[Azure Flame]

if I could find a beautiful place to live where this wasn't illegal, and had some friends to join me, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I tried living wild when I first moved to colorado but its illegal. I mean you can hide from the rangers and be sneaky about it, but even then that's something I don't want to have to worry about. Otherwise I spent 3 weeks on an expedition in the olympic mountains, and it was the most amazing experience of my life. I make enough money off of passive income to buy food from a grocery store each month, but not enough to live a city life. I'm not a hippie, I'm a nomad. The difference is that one is a badass and one is lazy as fuck. And finding a girlfriend who also wants to be a "nomad" is quite a difficult challenge.

I decided that the perfect lifestyle would be 1 week in the wilderness, 1 week in civilization, on off. Perhaps I'll start looking into some mountain climbing meetup groups or something.

 

[JAVO]

if I could find a beautiful place to live where this wasn't illegal, and had some friends to join me, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I tried living wild when I first moved to colorado but its illegal. I mean you can hide from the rangers and be sneaky about it, but even then that's something I don't want to have to worry about. Otherwise I spent 3 weeks on an expedition in the olympic mountains, and it was the most amazing experience of my life. I make enough money off of passive income to buy food from a grocery store each month, but not enough to live a city life. I'm not a hippie, I'm a nomad. The difference is that one is a badass and one is lazy as fuck. And finding a girlfriend who also wants to be a "nomad" is quite a difficult challenge.

I decided that the perfect lifestyle would be 1 week in the wilderness, 1 week in civilization, on off. Perhaps I'll start looking into some mountain climbing meetup groups or something.

Living wild permanently would be fun! I don't know if I can think of anything more awesome than three weeks in the Olympics!

My observation is that the longest trips tend to be with backpacking meetup groups or clubs.

 

[cascadeco]

Not educated on / into bushcraft and survival per se, but, find it very interesting. Also think it would be invaluable in many outdoor situations, most especially when unexpected things occur and survival does become a very real thing. I've backpacked/camped quite a lot, snow-shoed, done extensive hiking, and it definitely occurs to me off and on that that's all fine and dandy IF nothing bad happens (i.e. I have the food and tent, water filter, whatnot, for the X days that are planned), but if something unexpected does occur, supplies are destroyed or injury occurs or end up having to stay longer than planned, having additional knowledge could be difference between life and death. Though, typically I'm in areas with enough traffic (ie at least one or two hikers coming through each day) that pure raw survival isn't as much of a concern.

This guy is fairly new, but he knows his stuff and posts much of it for free online. I learn at least several new things from each of his videos. Here's a good one on how to light a fire in the winter.

Cool. I found 1)the random wildlife (boar?) ambling through the site, and 2) the different properties (level of heat) between the birch bark vs. the lichen very interesting.

 

[JAVO]

Not educated on / into bushcraft and survival per se, but, find it very interesting. Also think it would be invaluable in many outdoor situations, most especially when unexpected things occur and survival does become a very real thing. I've backpacked/camped quite a lot, snow-shoed, done extensive hiking, and it definitely occurs to me off and on that that's all fine and dandy IF nothing bad happens (i.e. I have the food and tent, water filter, whatnot, for the X days that are planned), but if something unexpected does occur, supplies are destroyed or injury occurs or end up having to stay longer than planned, having additional knowledge could be difference between life and death. Though, typically I'm in areas with enough traffic (ie at least one or two hikers coming through each day) that pure raw survival isn't as much of a concern.

I'd call all of the stuff you do bushcraft. You just didn't label it before you did it. Nature study and awareness is a big part of bushcraft too, and I know you've got that down well.

Cool. I found 1)the random wildlife (boar?) ambling through the site, and 2) the different properties (level of heat) between the birch bark vs. the lichen very interesting.

I think that may have been a reindeer calf? That was my initial impression without watching it again. Ha ha, thanks, I missed that about birch bark vs. lichen.