Ranging, Pathfinding, Bushcraft & Survival Notes: The Naked Ape in the bush...

Ranging, Pathfinding, Bushcraft & Survival Notes: The Naked Ape in the bush...

Karl is right, few people have a true understanding of what it is like to go naked into the wilderness. Yes it can be done, but it can also be very hard and painful to get started.
The skills:
My first priority in such a situation is to construct a shelter, or find a natural one summer or winter. My second task is to make fire, or at least have the materials ready to make fire. For me this means finding a grass tree with a healthy flower stem, two if possible with different size stems. This can sometimes take a lot of searching but if it is winter and you are in a place where it gets very cold, this is a must.
Once you have a shelter and fire and have found a water source, you can relax a little. Not comfortably so, but there is not so much urgency at this stage. You need to have the ability to get close enough to a wild animals to touch it before it knows you are there, either that or you need to know how to make and use snares and hunt with a spear or bow. This too means that you need the skill to be able to make cordage, make spears, and make a bow.
Now I can do all this, but it has taken me a long time to learn, because as Karl said, there are other things in our lives that take up the time. Even so, just because I have the knowledge and ability, that does not mean that it is easy for me to accomplish. It is hard, painfull at times, uncomfortable and in the beginning it really gets you down. It takes a lot to keep going, at least it does for me.
Priorities may change from the above, depending on where you are and the time of year, present weather conditions and the time of day.  If you are in an unknown area and have the time, your first priority may be finding water. Being able to think clearly in such a situation can also be very hard. But the skills are worth learning if you have the drive and the time.
Now I suggest you go take a look at Karl's post for some very good advice and suggestions.

Defining Bushcraft.

What is Bushcraft?



Bushcraft appears to be something that encompasses a large variety of outdoor pursuits, and, the making of equipment and tools used in those outdoor pursuits. So how did this start, where did it come from?


My main reason for writing this article is because I have just been rebuked for posting our latest promo video on a bushcraft forum that I belong to. I might point out that this video has been accepted on other forums and I have received good feedback on it. But on this particular forum I was told not to post any more videos that advertise our group. I might also point out that this forum, though a worldwide forum, has members mostly from the UK and the USA, so if I were angling for members it is unlikely that anyone would want to travel 14,000 miles to attend meetings once a month.


The reason given was that the video did not contain items relating to bushcraft. Well most of you will have seen the video in question, the 30 second one my son produced, and I think you will agree that everything in the video bar the 3 second sword scene was in fact an outdoor pursuit. If the sword part is what offends the forum moderator then I think it is a rather petty complaint. Basically the video is a promo for the pursuit itself, not just our group. It was made to encourage people to think about the things that we do, and perhaps encourage them to give it a go themselves.


So with that in mind, where did bushcraft begin? I think it must have started as survival skills which then became “living Skills”. Later on pacific names were given to people who spent time in the woods and practiced these skills, they were called woodsmen, foresters and Rangers. These people went into the woods armed, for their own protection, and in the case of the 12th-14th century Rangers, for the protection of others who lived in and around the forests.


Later these Rangers spread from England and Europe to the New World, where it was again their duty to range the surrounding forests looking for sign of any enemy that might threaten the local community. Once again these men went armed, and this was a time when the sword was still considered an important piece of equipment, so much so that the local militias were bound by law to carry a sword.


So where am I going with this? It is easy to get sidetracked when you have so many thoughts in your head all at the same time. My immediate thoughts shortly after the rebuke were; I wonder if Horace Kephart would not have been taken seriously as a bushcrafter had he carried a sword? Of course I don’t carry a sword in the woods, I just enjoy the use of the sword when not trekking and camping. The sword fighting is only a very small part of what we do, however the "hunting sword" was once a part of the hunter's equipment, and as hunting knives and guns recieve mention on bushcraft forums then I don't think the hunting sword is out of place.


I guess my reason for writing this is to bring people’s attention to the meaning of Bushcraft/woodscraft/woods lore, to get them to think about it so they don’t rebuke someone out of hand for posting a non bushcraft topic without seriously thinking about it. Had I been a new member and posted such a video, then I agree my motives may have been in question, but I have over 140 posts under my belt on that forum and the feedback from those posts are always encouraging.


To quote Horace Kephart: “As Richard Harding Davis says, " The same article that one declares is the most essential to his comfort, health, and happiness is the very first thing that another will throw into the trail.
A man's outfit is a matter which seems to touch his private honour. I have heard veterans sitting around a camp-fire proclaim the superiority of their kits with a jealousy, loyalty, and enthusiasm they would not exhibit for the flesh of their flesh and the bone of their bone.
 On a campaign you may attack a man's courage, the flag he serves, the newspaper for which he works, his intelligence, or his camp manners, and he will Ignore you ; but If you criticise his patent water-bottle he will fall upon you with both fists."


Maybe that is how I feel at present, I am being criticised for my choice of bushcraft material, and not only that but my post was removed from the site.


I think to be fair the most I could be accused of is being proud of my son’s efforts in producing this video, and I wanting to share it, I don’t really think it is fair to accuse me of feathering my own nest at the expense of someone else’s forum.

Bee Hunting.

Michel-Guillaume-Jean de Crevecoeur. 1735-1813.

Life on the Frontier. 18th century. Bee Hunting.
I take with me my dog,
as a companion, for he is useless as to this game; my gun, for no
man you know ought to enter the woods without one; my blanket, some
provisions, some wax, vermilion, honey, and a small pocket compass.


With these implements I proceed to such woods as are at a
considerable distance from any settlements. I carefully examine
whether they abound with large trees, if so, I make a small fire on
some flat stones, in a convenient place; on the fire I put some wax;
close by this fire, on another stone, I drop honey in distinct
drops, which I surround with small quantities of vermilion, laid on
the stone; and then I retire carefully to watch whether any bees
appear. If there are any in that neighbourhood, I rest assured that
the smell of the burnt wax will unavoidably attract them; they will
soon find out the honey, for they are fond of preying on that which
is not their own; and in their approach they will necessarily tinge
themselves with some particles of vermilion, which will adhere long
to their bodies. I next fix my compass, to find out their course,
which they keep invariably straight, when they are returning home
loaded. By the assistance of my watch, I observe how long those are
returning which are marked with vermilion. Thus possessed of the
course, and, in some measure, of the distance, which I can easily
guess at, I follow the first, and seldom fail of coming to the tree
where those republics are lodged. I then mark it; and thus, with
patience, I have found out sometimes eleven swarms in a season; and
it is inconceivable what a quantity of honey these trees will
sometimes afford. It entirely depends on the size of the hollow, as
the bees never rest nor swarm till it is all replenished; for like
men, it is only the want of room that induces them to quit the
maternal hive. Next I proceed to some of the nearest settlements,
where I procure proper assistance to cut down the trees, get all my
prey secured, and then return home with my prize. The first bees I
ever procured were thus found in the woods, by mere accident; for at
that time I had no kind of skill in this method of tracing them. The
body of the tree being perfectly sound, they had lodged themselves
in the hollow of one of its principal limbs, which I carefully sawed
off and with a good deal of labour and industry brought it home,
where I fixed it up again in the same position in which I found it
growing. This was in April; I had five swarms that year, and they
have been ever since very prosperous. This business generally takes
up a week of my time every fall, and to me it is a week of solitary
ease and relaxation.