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Fellow members.
Out of interest,
how long have you been into Bushcraft?
What got you started?
Frogo
I was a cub scout at a very early age... my mum was a helper (barghera if I remember correctly) ;-) I've been involed in the outdoors ever since, be it scouts/ventures (campcraft), living in the country(traditional skills) or travelling round the Thar desert in Rajastan on camels, or eaten to death by bugs in the jungle.... I just never seemed to grow up and never stopped playing in the woods or wild places ;-)
Ed
TheViking
19-08-2004, 22:17
Hi...
Hmm.... tough Q... :wink: Think it just hit me! :-) First I was a survivalist, but changed to bushcrafter later... Bought a few books on the subject(s) and read them. I was 10 or so... :wink:
Started young, no idea of what I would need, just took a blanket, plastic sheet and some biscuits. Got wet, got hungry and got hooked.
I think then it also carried the label survivalist
Frogo
I don't know why but for as long as I can remember I have been drawn to the woods. I loved the sense of adventure and the excitement of getting lost and breaking through the foliage 3 hours later back to civilisation (and the fury of my parents), I was always fascinated how people in films made fire in seconds by rubbing too sticks together and how they could magically find water in plants and then, when I was about 11 years old I bought The SAS Survival Handbook from an outdoors shop and read this avidly. I then began to see Ray Mears on the telly and it really took off from there.
jamesdevine
20-08-2004, 08:46
I grow up in a rural area near the coast so when I wasn't doing stuff with the scouts I was out and about working and playing in the fields and along coastline. I gave it up for a while when I got married and bought houses and like and then my wife both me Ray Mears book from a book club and I have being into Bushcraft ever since. There aren't alot of woods around to play in but Bushcraft isn't just about being in the woods for me it's really being able to be part of the real living world and not the artificial one we find in our towns and cities that really keeps me interested. This campfire also has alot to do with it as well.
Good question.
James
i was also born with the bug.. i can remember picking blackberrys from my dads sholders.. then when i was allowed got a little (blunt) pen knife and made spears ect.. from there it went to fire lighting and onward and up ward... then i came across ray mears and suddenly it all had a neme "bushcraft" woohoo
isnt it funny that those of us who got that calling for the out doors also developed a hand in hand need to have knives..
gurushaun
20-08-2004, 15:39
Cadets, stint as a scout leader, forming a college Walking/ Climbing club, TA...then just wandering around in the woods :yikes: :biggthump.
Cheers
Shaun
Squidders
20-08-2004, 22:34
I used to swim at a local lake that has woodland... started sleeping there, night swimming. This involved friends and beer.
We always got a good feeling cleaning the place up and avoiding park rangers...
Much later, I caught a few Ray Mears' programs on the telly... they hit something primal in me.
SquirrelBoy
21-08-2004, 10:46
A lad at school was in the scouts, his survival tin was of great interest to me - all those bits were like something out of a James Bond film !
I latter joined the scouts myself but left rather early as a friend of mine had a bad time with some of the others. Shame, as I think I would of really enjoyed it.
Saw the BBC program Tracks with R.Mears and it rekindled the spark as it were...