The Fashion Thing.

[Wayland]

I’ve seen a few postings lately ripping into the bushcraft “fashion” thing and it started me wondering if there really was a “fashion” thing going on, or whether it all comes down to people finding the same solutions to similar problems, amongst a limited range commercial options?

For example, a significant number of people are returning to wool garments because wool has properties that they feel suits the kind of things we do.

As there only a few manufacturers of woollen clothing designed for the outdoors, it creates a certain “look” amongst those people that some might call a fashion.

The same could be said of wide brimmed hats and Ventile too.

I was looking back over some pictures I had taken at meets and moots and I reckon about 35 – 40% of the people shown are wearing one or other of these so called “fashion” items.

The rest are wearing a mixture of surplus, commercial outdoor gear and street wear, but of course because this mixture comes from a much wider supply base, there often does not seem to be as much similarity amongst that mixture.

I think most people buy gear for functional purposes but some, myself included, do also favour a certain kind of aesthetic feel or look too.

Does this really constitute a “fashion” or is it down to that limited supply base?

[Treemonk]

I think you have called it spot on Wayland, a mix of what works practically for the person, what feels aesthetically right for the person and moderated by what is actually on the market.

Perhaps what the posts are trying to get across, is that people new to the wide world of bushcraft and its associated spheres, get a message that the uniform and toys are more important than knowledge and skills. I'm all for the right tool for the job, but you've got to know how to do the job first!

[spoony]

who cares? were what YOU are comfortable in, i like issue stuff because its as cheap as chips, and i dont mind if it gets damaged, nowt wrong with wide brimmed hats, just bought the baba one, barmah do kids ones hes only 19 months and it fits a treat, and it was only £5

[spoony]

but there is a fashion though, or is it more of a trend? to look the part maybe some folk think it may be easier to fit in, if they look like mearsy.

[durulz]

It's an interesting thought, and one where one has to be careful when saying anything - it's all a potential mine field.
However, to suggest there isn't a bushcraft 'look' would be a tad disingenuous. After all, how many bushcrafters do you see wearing burberry, with baggy jeans, sports top and loads of gold jewelry? Not many. And the reason for that is because people drawn to such things as bushcraft are also drawn to related issues - favouring natural textiles (and colours) and such things. And all this creates a 'look'.
I think there IS a bushcraft uniform. But I don't see it as 'official' or even 'necessary'. It's a 'uniform' by association - people into one thing are generally into another.
I don't mind that.
But I what I DO mind is the suggestion that I must have certain labels or wear certain items. Or wear the flavour-of-the-month. To be honest, I've not encountered much of that. But if I did I couldn't imagine myself caring about or spending much time with people who did.

[slasha9]

It's a good question and I agree that a lot of the gear that we acquire is from a limited range of options, so just by random chance a lot of us will choose the same item or at least something similar. But I don't think that it's quite that simple, many of us (me first!) are armchair enthusiasts who spend far more time thinking about getting out there than actually getting out there, we spend a lot of time on the internet, and a lot of that time on here! If you look at the forums, the ones about kit and reviews are always the ones with most people signed in so that proves that we spend a lot of time discussing what we think are the best bits of kit. Just look at the Crusader mugs, there are a whole range of different metal mugs out there that could do the same job, but I bet that almost everyone on this website has listened to the reviews, comments and opinions and so if you checked all of our attics and sheds you will find a lot of crusader mugs, because we have all listened to the advice on here that they are the best available. That advice is correct, but if we hadn't all got together, either face to face or over the internet then a lot of us would have just bought whatever we saw in a shop and thought was shiny.

I can't really say that we are all fashion slaves, but I do think that the more we exchange ideas and opinions, then the more likely we are that we will influence each others ideas and choices, I know that I built a hobo stove from a Woolies utensil holder and a coffee tin just because I saw on here how to do it.

wow, I type REALLY fast....

rant over, thanks for your patience

[maddave]

I’ve seen a few postings lately ripping into the bushcraft “fashion” thing and it started me wondering if there really was a “fashion” thing going on, or whether it all comes down to people finding the same solutions to similar problems, amongst a limited range commercial options?

For example, a significant number of people are returning to wool garments because wool has properties that they feel suits the kind of things we do.

As there only a few manufacturers of woollen clothing designed for the outdoors, it creates a certain “look” amongst those people that some might call a fashion.

The same could be said of wide brimmed hats and Ventile too.

I was looking back over some pictures I had taken at meets and moots and I reckon about 35 – 40% of the people shown are wearing one or other of these so called “fashion” items.

The rest are wearing a mixture of surplus, commercial outdoor gear and street wear, but of course because this mixture comes from a much wider supply base, there often does not seem to be as much similarity amongst that mixture.

I think most people buy gear for functional purposes but some, myself included, do also favour a certain kind of aesthetic feel or look too.

Does this really constitute a “fashion” or is it down to that limited supply base?

Interesting observation... My kit is generally green possibly because I like photography and you can get closer to wildlife etc. And also when photographing landscapes there's nothing worse than getting a throng of gaudy coloured ramblers in your shot that you have to photoshop out My kit is all outdoor brands or surplus too because a lot of my time (including my job) is spent outdoors. However I'm not a "label slave" I buy what works for me, and a lot of my stuff comes from Primark , matalan and even Asda !!

[gregorach]

Hey, at least we're not as bad as all those fashion victims in the construction and off-shore industries, what with their hard-hats, their hi-vis vests, and their steel-toed boots, or those bright orange immersion suits all the off-shore guys wear. They all look exactly the same!

[Draven]

I think there is an amount of fashion in it, but not in the generally accepted sense. I don't think people buy GB axes because they're "in" right now, or because everyone else has one, but because they're generally accepted to be good axes. A practical fashion, perhaps. Then you get the anti-fashions. Ie, the fashion of going against the common fashion. People who buy Finlay axes because they don't want the same axe as everyone else. Not a prime example since the Finlay axe is very functional, but I'm sure some people do get them for want of something different. Nowt wrong with either IMO! Same goes with the Mora thing - they're recommended because they're very good, not as a fashion accessory.

I'm sure you do get people who are completely new to the whole "Bushcraft" thing and buys things that Mears uses, but I don't really see that as necessarily being a bad thing - after all, he is held in high regard because he's very good, not just because he's a celebrity. It becomes distasteful when people are looked down upon for not having all the right gear, which to be honest I've seen more in other outdoor activities and not really experienced with "Bushcrafters" except possibly with knives - and at that, it's more the sorta "Why would you buy a fully serrated tanto-pointed fighting knife with removeable ninja-star tsuba and a hollow handle packed full of cyanide-tipped darts to be used with the sheath-mounted blowpipe for bushcraft?"

As for clothes, the toughest trousers I can afford are blue jeans and the toughest jacket I can afford is leather, so that's what I use - I couldn't pick ventile or goretex out of a lineup if they had captions

Pete

[sirex]

i don't think it matters, and i don't think its even possible to distinguish. - i had a karrimor (and later eurohike) rucksack as my school bag from primary school right upto university, and i always wear a fleece, weather in town or out hiking.

i have noticed i'm shying away from "the north face" clothing recently due to the number of city type people that seem to wear it. i know it shouldn't, but it bugs me ;p

wear what you want, but really outdoor clothing can give you alot of service for the price, so its very functional. i find, at least.

[SimonM]

I have recently bought some gear off Andywinkk, who has a clothing factory. All natural materials, Ventile & moleskin etc. You will not find any of it in the shops, but yet it still has that "look" about it, that just screams out "bushcrafter".

Personally, for me to spend money on gear or clothing it has to fit certain criteria:

• Is it in earthy colours?
• Is it practical?
• Is it fit for purpose?
• Do I like it?
• Can I afford it?

If "yes" to all the above - it's mine!

I have had times in my life when I was not sure where the next meal was coming from, literally. Now, I have a good job, that I love, so I treat myself every now and then...

Simon

[Dan1982]

I think that it is equally as unfair to look down on people who DO have expensive gear as those who have cheap, basic gear. And i bet this is FAR more common! ("oh look at him over there, he thinks he's Ray Mears")

If you are lucky enough to be able to afford expensive kit then buy expensive kit if not then dont.

To each their own and all that! I personally couldnt care less what anybody else is wearing. some of my stuff is quite expensive and others are from the surplus shop!

Just my two pence!

Dan

[Shewie]

I tend to buy stuff that`s been proven in the field and has usually been recomended by folk on here. I have a mixture of Gucci gear and Asda/TKMaxx substitutes so I suppose I am a bit of a sheep in that respect.

[Klenchblaize]

Whilst I feel sure there's a hard-core of site members who'd wish to distance themselves from a charge of being victims of bushcraft fashion (victim being a rather too appropriate description in the eyes of many!), I'm more than happy to confirm no such aversion to sporting as many backwoods designer labels as I can muster! After all why on earth shouldn't we wear our hearts on woollen-balled sleeves as pronouncement of our passion?

Wayland has it in one word: "AESTHETIC"

Have a happy bushcraft-related retail therapy-packed weekend!

Cheers!

[w00dsmoke]

I can never in the broadest description call my self fashionable in the pop culture sense however certain styles of dress sense never change much for particular contexts. When I'm at a rock concert there are many like me who turn up in combats, t shirt or biker jacket etc and there is an expectation that this is what people will see among many but not all at such places, the same can be said for any other context, including bushcraft.

We tried to study this in depth during our often laborious social anthroplogy lectures and you can decosntstruct what "fashion" is, but a big key to this is that people are influenced by those who are influencial on them and their peers...people do want to connect with other people and want to fit in generally speaking so quite often a style of dress will arise among those who are in that group or want to be in it. This is not the whole story only an element of a very big part. For example if Ray Mears uses this and that and the next thing because he thinks it's good and the best then naturally people will follow because he is highly regarded as "one of those who has the knowledge and is abale to share it amongst us all". People want to be seen to be in "the know" as well. So status is a big part but only part of it.

Other people are equally as influential but it's not the whole answer, through information sharing, experience, practicalities, economics, aesthetics, local cultures, traditions etc dress evolves for certain activities and these are equally as influential on all of us as Mr Mears or Bear or whoever.

But bring it all togther and that's what you'll find in any bushcrafty meet. A conglomerate of it all. Who cares why it's personal, as long as I';m happy with what I wear I'm not really bothered who isn't but bear in mind step out of folks expectations and you'll draw their attentions good and bad and that's a social fact!

[British Red]

I think that it is equally as unfair to look down on people who DO have expensive gear as those who have cheap, basic gear. And i bet this is FAR more common! ("oh look at him over there, he thinks he's Ray Mears")

If you are lucky enough to be able to afford expensive kit then buy expensive kit if not then dont.

To each their own and all that! I personally couldnt care less what anybody else is wearing. some of my stuff is quite expensive and others are from the surplus shop!

Just my two pence!

Dan

Good post. I have to say the "inverted snobbery" we see from time to time is probably the most prevalent form of snobbery.

Does anyone need a £200 knife? Nope

Or an ultralight bivi? Nope

Guess what.None of us need any gear at all. Because none of us need to go out at all. Its a hobby, pure and simple. You buy stuff for your hobby because you want to - expensive or cheap, simple or complex, lightweight or tough as old nails. I personally don't really care so long as no one and no creature suffered in the getting of it, good luck to you.

To those who think you should only buy "cheap and cheerful" - well done, you just took away business from craftsmen and people preserving old skills and gave it to (usually overseas) factories.

To those who think you only need fancy kit...no, its about skill, not kit.

What gives any of us the right to citicise anothers choice?

Red

[forestwalker]

Interesting, Waylands most made me think: why do I wear what I do? Why do I wear greens and greys in the outdoors? Why wool, buckskin and leather?

There are two main forces that drives what I wear in the outdoors, one is "practical", the other is "look". Many years ago someone went on an advanced survival course wearing a tux and wellies (10 days, no knife, no nothing, Swedish summer). Looked silly, was not practical at all, the tux certainly was dead at the end of it. There is a "wilderness look", that many want in order to fit in with what they percieve as proper. A tux is wrong, but if Wayland turned up in his viking age outfit that would also be "wrong" (even though it would be very practical, unless he wears the pansy eastern style puffy pants, of course ;-).

There was an article a while ago in Bulletin of Primtiive Technology regarding what people wear in those circles. Actually most of them -- when teaching at e.g. Rabbitstick -- is actually as out of character as someone in a suit and tie would be (e.g. wearing mid 1800's "trapper" clothes while doing paleolithic stuff from 3-5000 years ago). And the clothes give an expecation in the audience; someone wearing buckskin gives the impression of being a long time expert, while the person in more normal outdoors gear does not: regardless of the actual credentials of the people involved. And most of us want to "fit in" with those we percieve as "ideals", and thus tend to dress a bit the same, hoping more-or-less uncounciously that some of the "cred" will rub off on us.

Personally, I try to ignore this, but I know I will never actually be able to do so. Is my vadmal and buckskin an "image" I put on when out in the bush? Is there a difference from a teacher wearing a tweed jacket, or a system administrator a black T-shirt with "RTFM" or "Scary Devil Monastery" on the front? All of us will probably tell you we are just wearing the proper, convenient clothes.

[HillBill]

Its a colour thing for me. Greens and browns to blend in. Materials depend on what i'm doing. Goretex etc for hiking, wool and natural materials for camp use. If it aint going to blend me in then i will not wear it. Hunting and military being the reasons.

Fashion does not even enter my head. I simply do not care what people think.

Even now as i type this i am wearing the £8 asda olive trousers and a brown hoodie. How i dress in the woods is how i dress at home. Its just how i dress, simple as.

[SimonM]

Fashion does not even enter my head. I simply do not care what people think.

I can relate to that....I wear a suit all week for work, so at the weekend I wear what I am comfortable in. This is usually green or brown and comfortable!

When not at work, I always wear boots - usually fabric and comfortable.

There is a pattern forming here...

Simon

[Shewie]

I've never understood the brimmed hat thing though ?

Surely that's a fashion item, a leather hat isn't that clever in the rain and a woollen one is surely warmer in the cold.

[gregorach]

What's wrong with a leather hat in the rain? They're usually oiled, so they're waterproof. The brim provides shade, both for your eyes and the back of your neck. You can even use one as a water carrier at a push.

[durulz]

You can even use one as a water carrier at a push.

And you can also use one as a frisbee when it's time to relax and unwind and just hang out with some chums.

[gregorach]

Not to mention as a handy foraging basket...

[firecrest]

My clothes have gradually gotten greener and more `bushcrafty` because I found the army surplus store was the cheapest place to shop for fair quality. I think thats true of a lot of people.

[bonzodog]

i use a mixture,if its been proven by people who have forgotton more than i know its good enough for me..

[Twodogs]

Its a hobby , if you like it have it , works for me .

Go to a landrover show and see all the rooftop tents and full on exped preped motors most dont leave the UK , it dont matter its a hobby , enjoy ..


Twodogs

[durulz]

Not to mention as a handy foraging basket...

Or a bush bidet...

[gregorach]

Or a bush bidet...

Now you're taking it too far.

[xylaria]

you can fan a fire with a wide brimmed hat as well.

I don't care about fashion, I know so little about kit I wouldn't know what it cost wearer most of the time. I notice if it doesn't fit them though, and I do wonder if they are doing what quite a lot of women do which is try to wear something because it is "fashion" rather than if it fits. I wear cheap jeans and bring water proofs.

[Shewie]

Fair point about the oiling Dunc, they're just a bit too Les Hiddins IMHO

Each to their own though, that's what makes life interesting

I'd prefer to wear nothing when it's warm and wool when it's cold. If it's raining I personally wouldn't wear anything but there's always something like the Lowe Alpine mountain hat or Sealskinz hat if a wet head became bothersome.

I tried one of the Kakadus on once but I thought I looked a pratt in it so didn't bother buying it.The fact I was wearing my work suit and tie at the time didn't help I suppose.