Evening all,

When dealing with wilderness survival, their seems to be myriad schools of thought, but one of the terms bandied about most frequently is "bushcraft". The working definition of this term, as I've been able to deduce from what I've heard around the yard is this:

Bushcraft (Noun): using intelligence and a small knife do the work of much larger tools, while expending less energy

But while I've read books on wilderness survival, and done what I can in the way of field training, I'm still something of a novice on the specific art of bushcraft. With that mind, I've decided to start a thread on the subject for the general edification of posterity. Here are the questions I'd love to have answered by you rough-living, knowledgeable sorts:

1. What does bushcraft mean?
2. What is the idea bushcraft tool?
3. What is the best way to learn about it?
4. How does it vary by terrain? (i.e. is woodland the only kind of bushcraft)

Now lets get started!

P.S. for your convenience, we could abbreviate "bushcraft" as "BC", if you like

this should be interesting. good idea on starting this thread cloak.

Good topic. I have been on a quest for similar answers lately. I make no claims of being overly knowledgeable yet but it does seem that BC is a lot more of being comfortable in the woods as apposed to merely surviving. Kind of a doing more with less. The more knowledge you have the less gear you need. If you don't have a knife...chip one out of flint, no matches...make a bow drill, no cordage...weave some out of reeds, etc. Just my opinion so far.

idk.
I always thought of BC as doing the smaller more finesse work using a nice kind of small handmade scandi ground knife.
I often think of it as notching, skinning (maybe), whittling, and such.

that is what I think of as "typical" BC.

I don't think of it as emergency or "survival" type of stuff... for me at least.

or as mac once put it "why do I need to be able to whittle a spoon to survive?!" (or something along those lines)

I often think of a survival knife as being about a 7-10" bladed knife that can both chop, , pry, and be sharp enough to whittle, notch, and you should be comfortable enough with it in many different grips to do the finesse work.
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but thats JMO and I didin't really cover all your points, but I thought I'd throw my opinions out there, even though I'm no expert on the subject.
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Interesting, so we're sorting seeing BC and survival as two diverging disiplines. I agree that BC seems to be something you'd do for fun, and in some cases isn't needed to survive.

And I also agree that survival knives should be at least 7" if you'd not packing a hatchet <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

To me Bushcraft is the study and practice of primitive skills and the practice of minimalist camping using the most basic of tools. This could vary greatly from place to place. The one thing that I always try to keep in mind is that no matter where you are, humans have most likely thrived at one time or another with what's there and nothing else, so by learning the skills of our ancestors we can live in the "Bush" with little or no modern tools and or dependance on them.

The one philosophy that really stuck with me from the little training I've had, is that when your in the "Bush" as long as you depend on modern supplies, you are not all that different from a scuba diver depending on an air supply, if the air supply is cut off, you die. If you depend totally on modern equipment and don't learn and practice the Bushcraft skills that apply to your area then you are always vulnerable to "drowning" so to speak if anything cataclysmic were to happen.

I've always liked the saying the richest man in the world is not the one with the most stuff, it's the man who needs the least. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

thats what bushcraft REALLY is!
well put rainwalker.
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indeed, well put Rainwalker

I like that saying, I may need to steal that...

So what do people do the practice BC? And how do we define modern equipment? Obviously things like GPS and Propane cookstoves are out, but what about knives? Or Flint? I assume that sturdy clothing and boots are acceptable

As for a BC knife, are we looking at maybe a 3"-4" blade, 8" overall blade? Maybe, 3/16-1/4 in thickness? What about folders? Are there BC tasks that would require something stronger than a folder? That may be a bad question, because if you're in a BC situation you're probably not only going to have a folder

I wouldn't call BC, a situation.
I would say it's a skill, so that you can live without modern equipment, even though you may have it.
but really, it's what you think of it, some people just see it as sitting around whittling spoons and thats fine, thats what they think it is and thats there definition of the word.

kind of...
I personnally would want a bigger blade for BC because then you can carry one bloade and have both a chopper/digger/prybar and knife for whittling and finer tasks.
thats just me.
honestly, there is no absolute meaning for BC that I've seen.
there is what I think of as the "typical" (what I think most people think of when they hear the word) meaning of the word, then there is rainwalkers meaning (which may be closer to the actualy meaning)

you would take what you need Cloak, if a folder will do, then bring a folder.
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idk if my post made sense... some of it may sound like it contradicts itself...
idk.
I hope it came out right.

I think that all bushcraft revolves around carving a spoon out of something.
After all, just about the only thing that keeps us from de-evolving to apes is the use of a spoon. Or, the ability to produce spoons at the drop of a hat. If, of course, you have a hat.
At this point, I do not know how to carve a hat out of anything.

AS far as equipment goes, I personally think anything that requires fuel or power sources that have to be carried in is a real crippling dependency. That includes batteries too.

I'm not saying I'm a purist either or that I practice that on a regular basis, I'm just talking about the ideal situation to me.

A good fixed blade knife, is probably the last thing I'd want to give up. The size that's important would depend on the local environment. But if it came down to one and only one a good 3 to 5 inch blade would probably be the most ideal. Although since I usually EDC a small blade of some kind (usually more than one <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> ) I would most likely prefer to add a bigger blade or a small axe to accompany me as an addition to what I already carry.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> What's that saying... Teach a man to make a spoon and.... oh I can't remember. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />