If you follow this blog at all, you know I am a great fan of being outdoors. Recently, I have been dabbling back into the whole notion of Bushcraft. What is that, you ask? Let me explain it. Buschraft is, in essence, being able to get by, in the woods, with minimal gear. It is, in essence, a combination of skills, all related to outdoors; tracking, tree, plant, and insect identification, shelter building, fire building, knife and axe skills, foraging, and making your own gear, to name a few. Think of the mountain men of old; those that blazed trails for the pioneers. Those that lived here BEFORE the pioneers. Often, men of old went into the woods, mind you, there werent trails then-with little more than an axe, a knife, a gun, and whatever their horse could carry. They crafted what they needed. They hunted and trapped animals. They ate wild plants. They treated their own ailments, made their own clothes. There is somewhat of a renaissance of these skills coming back. Not so much being a true mountain man, but more self-reliant. This is the more REALISTIC spinoff of the now hollywood phenomenon of the "prepper". Mind you-most of us ARE preppers of one sort or another. But, we do this as a way of life-nay, a way of LIVING. We (and, most preppers in general) arent crazy end-of-the-world people that Hollywood would have you believe. We take life seriously-ALL life. We just want to be prepared for that time that we are without those things we take for granted-heat, running water, easily accessed food, etc. But, I digress....
So, anyway, over the next few months-my goal is by fall-I will be documenting my development of skills, and what I am working on. Hopefully, with these updates, I will become a little more active in this blogging community. I recently came across a forum called BushcraftUSA. They have an online, self-taught "course", if you will, that works around you getting some basic skills under your belt, and then using these skills on some outings, one of them being an overnight. There are 3 levels; basic, intermediate, and hard(woodsman). Even though some of these skills are basic, and stuff I am familiar with, to meet the requirements, one must document themselves doing the skill, either via photos, or video (the hardwoodsman course must be ALL video). So, I want to get the basic one done by fall. There are 13 skills lessons, and 5 outings, as well as completing 5 electives, to get the Basic certification. Now, its an honor system. Could you cheat? Yes-but, you only cheat yourself. Here are the 13 requirements for it:
Make a feather stick
Light 5 manmade tinders (without a lighter, of course)
Make a twig fire
Demonstrate 4 basic knots-Done
Improvise a cooking implement from metal
Knife sharpening-Done
2 strand twist with man made materials-Done
Braiding with man made materials
Set up a tarp shelter-Done
Make a simple snare
Tree ID and uses
Make bannock
Make a pot hook
Electives:
Twig bundle fire
Make a PSK-Done
Whipping rope & tool handles
Make a ridge line
Make a FAK
Flint & steel with char cloth
Paracord bracelet-Done
Improvise a flint & steel striker
Make a lanyard for your firesteel
Make & use a fishing kit
Improvise a chair
Improvise a fish hook
Spend a night out with a wool blanket
So, as you can see, there is a lot to play around with. I have done several, as marked above. But, it looks to be a busy & enjoyable summer!!!
