Bushcraft

Encyclopedia : B : BU : BUS : Bushcraft

Bushcraft is, to a certain extent a version of what have always been called survival skills. A popular term for wilderness skills in Australia and South Africa, the term was popularised in the northern hemisphere by Mors Kochanski and recently gained considerable currency in the United Kingdom due to the popularity of Ray Mears (an ex-student of Mors Kochanski) and his bushcraft and survival television programmes.

Bushcraft is about surviving and thriving in the natural environment, and the acquisition of skills and knowledge to do so. Bushcraft skills include; firecraft, tracking, hunting, shelter building, the use of tools such as knives and axes, foraging, hand-carving wood, container construction from natural materials, rope and twine-making, and many others.

This modern form of Bushcraft encompasses much more than just a collection of survival skills though. Primitive skills and technologies which are often thought of as crude or backward in the modern world can be of great importance and are seen in Bushcraft as great achievements.

The respect gained for our unknown ancestors in the acquisition of these skills can be an important part of Bushcraft. With regards to respect and understanding, one thread of Bushcraft is also concerned with respect and understanding of the natural world, its flora and fauna and the way these elements interact.

'Bushcraft' is also the title of a British magazine catering for the above skills published by [BushcraftUK]

Origin of the Term

Before the recent popularity of Ray Mears and his programmes, the term was also used by the Irish-born Australian writer Richard Graves and Canadian bushcraft teacher Mors Kochanski. The word has been used in its current sense in Australia at least as far back as the 1800's. The accompanying term Bushman (in the sense of someone adept in bushcraft) has been used in South Africa and Australia since a similar time. It is more common to hear the term bushcrafter to describe someone interested in bushcraft.

The term was used in the following books (amongst others):

The History of Australian Exploration from 1788 to 1888 by Ernest Favenc; published in 1888.
My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin; published in 1901.
Campaign Pictures of the War in South Africa (1899-1900) by A. G. Hales; published in 1901.
The Explorers of Australia and their Life-work by Ernest Favenc; published in 1908.
We of the Never-Never by Jeanie (Mrs. Aeneas) GUNN; published in 1908.
The Life of Captain Matthew Flinders by Ernest Scott; published in 1914.

External links

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