Bushcraft

Ahatchet,aknife,and sometimes a saw are staple tools for bushcraft.

Abillhook(a common tool inEurope) with a saw blade, used as a bushcraft tool inFrance

Bushcraftis the use and practice of skills, thereby acquiring and developing knowledge and understanding, in order to survive and thrive in anatural environment.

Bushcraft skillsprovide for thebasic physiological necessitiesfor human life: food (throughforaging,tracking,hunting,trapping,fishing), water sourcing andpurification,shelter-building, andfirecraft.These may be supplemented with expertise intwine-making,knotsand lashings, wood-carving, campcraft, medicine/health, natural navigation, andtooland weapon making.

Bushcraft includes the knowledge to handle certain tools such as bushcraft knives and axes. A bushcrafter can use these tools to create many different types of constructions, fromdugout canoestoa-frameshelters. There are various types of shelters to construct or use in the wilderness. The first is a purpose-built shelter like atent.Another example is an improvised shelter, like using a large tarp or blanket as a tent. Indigenous shelters include asnow caveor barklean-to.Lastly, natural shelters includecaves,underneath a tree, or within thickets.

Bushcraft includes the knowledge to tie different knots for different purposes. These knots include the reef knot, figure 8 loop, improved clinch knot, clove hitch, and snare noose. Thereef knotis also referred to as a square knot. It is good for bundling items together because you can tension the rope during the first part of the knot tying. Tying bondages together like a sling is a common use. Thefigure 8 loopis a strong knot because it forms a loop that will not draw tight. You can use a figure 8 loop at the end of a fishing line to tie on a hook or lure. This knot is also useful to hold loads or to lift or drag items. Theimproved clinch knotis often used to attach a hook to a line or to attach an anchor to rope, or fore tying up to a pole or tree. Theclove hitchcan be used when creating a raft or to attach a shelter to a tree. It is commonly used to start a lashing, binding one thing to another such as a shelter frame. Thesnare nooseuse is commonly used to catch animals. The snare consists of a noose attached to an anchor point like a shrub. As the animal moves through the noose, the line will tighten around its neck.

The term bushcraft was popularized in theSouthern HemispherebyLes Hiddins(the Bush Tucker Man) as well as in theNorthern HemispherebyMors Kochanskiand more recently gained considerable currency in the United Kingdom due to the popularity ofRay Mearsand his bushcraft and survival television programs.The origin of the phrase "bushcraft" comes from skills used inthe Australian bush.Often the phrases "wilderness skills" or "woodcraft" are used as they describe skills used all over the world.

Etymology

Miniature bowdrill kit

TheOxford English Dictionarydefinition of bushcraft is "skill in matters pertaining to life inthe bush".

The word has been used in its current sense in Australia and South Africa at least as far back as the 1800s. Bush in this sense is probably a direct adoption of the Dutch 'bosch', (now 'bos') originally used in Dutch colonies for woodland and country covered with natural wood, but extended to usage in British colonies, applied to the uncleared or un-farmed districts, still in a state of nature. Later this was used by extension for the country as opposed to the town. In Southern Africa, they getBushmanfrom the Dutch 'boschjesman' applied by the Dutch colonists to the natives living in the bush. In North America, where there was also considerable colonisation by the Dutch, they have the word 'bushwacker' which is close to the Dutch 'bosch-wachter' (now 'boswachter') meaning 'forest-keeper' or 'forest ranger'.

Historically, the term has been spotted in the following books (amongst others):

• Preliminary titles forThe Art of TravelbyFrancis Galton,published in 1854, includedBushcraft or Science of TravelandBushcraft or the Shifts and Science of Travel in Other Countries
• The History of Australian Exploration from 1788 to 1888byErnest Favenc;published in 1888.
• My Brilliant CareerbyMiles Franklin;published in 1901.
• Campaign Pictures of the War in South Africa (1899–1900)byA. G. Hales;published in 1901.
• The Explorers of Australia and their Life-workbyErnest Favenc;published in 1908.
• We of the Never-NeverbyJeannie Gunn;published in 1908.
• The Life of Captain Matthew FlindersbyErnest Scott;published in 1914.

Trademark

The word bushcraft was registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as atrademarkby Bushcraft USA LLC on November 12, 2013, as aservice mark,for "Providing an on-lineforumfor bushcraft, "and" Providing on-line forums for transmission of messages among computer users concerning bushcraft "(Ser. No. 85690815). This led to some concern about the validity of the mark among Internet users who asserted there were senior uses of the mark in a more general context such asMors Kochanskias early as 1981, however no formal opposition was ever filed, nor any assertion of continuous use in commerce as the mark related to Internet forums. As of 2021, Bushcraft USA has not publicly enforced its mark against other Internet forums using the term.

Promoters

The Irish-born Australian writerRichard Gravestitled his outdoor manuals "The 10 bushcraft books".

Canadian wilderness instructorMors Kochanskipublished the "Northern Bushcraft" book in 1981 and an expanded edition of the book in 1988. He hasstated on numerous occasions that book title was an explicit reference to Graves' work.

The term has enjoyed a recent popularity largely thanks toRay Mears,Cody Lundin,Les Hiddins,Les Stroud,Dave CanterburyandMors Kochanskiand their television programs.

See also

• Batoning
• Fieldcraft
• Outdoor education
• Scoutcraft
• Survivalism
• Woodcraft
• Czech tramping

People

• Bradford Angier
• Dick Proenneke
• Horace Kephart
• Jamie Maslin
• Lofty Wiseman
• Mors Kochanski
• Ray Mears
• Richard Harry Graves

Further reading

• Daniel Stables (13 Mar 2023)."Why bushcraft is booming again".BBC Travel.

External links

• The dictionary definition ofbushcraftat Wiktionary
• Media related toBushcraftat Wikimedia Commons
• Survival and Primitive TechnologyatCurlie
• Native Bushcraft and Medical Plants, Peru