For Bushcraft

[Scythe13]

This is a quick explanation about why I seem to be so focused on my bushcraft at the moment. I even saw a comment, I can't remember who from, that said bushcraft wasn't a prepping skill?!?! This totally threw me. It seemed a most odd thing to say. But anyway....

My view of bushcraft...

Bushcraft skills and wilderness survival are, in my view, to be thought of as the 'last ditch' option. I know what you're thinking now. But why the huge interest in it S13?

Well, it really comes down to a 'worst case scenario' kind of idea. Obviously the real worst case would be a scorched planet, with no plant life, and oxygen is running out, so you're doomed to diet a painful death and there really is no hope. But I'm much more optimistic than that.

Let's say your caches have been ruined, your home has been obliterated and you have bugged out. Your BOL has been over run. As have your other 2 BOL's. Suddenly you just have your BOB and your wits about you. You find yourself being chased, so drop the BOB for speed. It's either that or get killed. So you drop the bag and run.

So you've found yourself gear-less and on the run.

You can end up in a few different places, city, suburbs, rural, or hefting forest area.

Surviving in the city wouldn't be much of an option, so you'd keep moving. You can't find any area that seems safe, near to the city. So you end up going rural and forest.

Now you're in the forest and have no survival gear with you. Nothing except your skill set.

Here's the fun bit....if you can survive in this situation, regardless of the season and the alike, then you're in a damn better situation than most other people.

Think it out. If you can survive without any gear in the wilderness, then surviving WITH gear, will be so much easier! You'll never have to worry about losing camp or equipment, because you can just move on and start again.

If, however, you're very dependent on gear, stored food, farming, and the alike, then you're like a scuba diver, deep underwater, without air canisters. You're basically screwed.

Let's say that TSHTF. Yes you have all this amazing stuff, and stored food, and aquaponics, and the alike. But you could also just take a walk in the woods for a few years, and survive perfectly well.

Steve had a good laugh (and understandably so) at my desire to learn about the throwing stick, and going hyper primitive. But the thing is, once I have those skills, I'll be able to just get up and go, and survive perfectly well. However, I can also pick up a 12bore, and pump some rabbits. There's nothing stopping me doing that. However, these skills are a fail safe, for if everything else goes wrong.

As MB says, the skills are often romanticised way too much. I'd have to agree, they are. Also, as Steve said, an arrow head of metal is faster to make (never tried it, but will take his word for it). However, if you had the skills, you'd not need to have those tools around you. You'd be able to just get up and go for a stroll in the woods.

So, if you would like to know what's next for me and my learning curve of throwing sticks, rocks, and wearing a loin cloth (haha, I joke about that last bit....or do I?!?!) I'll let you know, I plan to learn EVERYTHING I CAN.

If TSHTF, I can bug in, bug out, or enjoy an extended wild camping trip, without any gear.

Having the skills doesn't hamper your ability to survive, but laughing and overlooking the skills could.

[Highlander]

It doesn't have to be a last chance option,... even if things were going really well, you are in your country retreat and sitting pretty,.. you would still be very pleased that you had these skills, because almost from the beginning you should be looking to add fresh meat to your table,.. not waiting until you run out of beans,.. you cant do that without a certain degree of bush-craft skills

Even lighting a fire in your house would be difficult without matches or lighter,.. unless you knew your bush-craft skills

So,...its far from being a last chance option

[Grumpy Grandpa]

(14 November 2013, 23:06)Scythe13 Wrote: Let's say that TSHTF. Yes you have all this amazing stuff, and stored food, and aquaponics, and the alike. But you could also just take a walk in the woods for a few years, and survive perfectly well.

...and I say - more power to your elbow, mate!

Every skill learned, no matter how primitive, is another string to your bow - and the more the better! Well done!

[bigpaul]

having bushcraft skills like hunting, snaring, trapping, fishing, and knowing which plants are edible or which wood gives off the least smoke or reading tracks will all come in handy post SHTF and will enable us to make our food stocks go further.