Bushcraft Heros

I thought the cool bit about Noah wasn't that he was a boat builder, but more, wasn't he supposed to talk to the animals like Doctor Dolittle or something. That said, we've already had Tarzan, and didn't he do that. That reminds me; Mowgli, he was only small, talked to the animals, and still didn't have a bear stabber. What happened to that guy?
 
Tarzan did indeed talk to the animals. I liked his treehouse too. And his chick Jane. Umgowah!
 
Codger_64 said:
Tarzan did indeed talk to the animals. I liked his treehouse too.
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Any good bushiecrafty type should talk to animals. In fact, I don't trust people who don't talk to animals.

Codger_64 said:
...And his chick Jane. Umgowah!
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Hubbahhabbah woot!!

MleXH6.gif
 
You are correct about Noah. And your observation about the others is correct as well. In fact, you just described most of my ancestors from several hundred years ago , here on our continent. Some of them went with Boone to settle what became Boonesborough, others settled the Ohio country and what became Indiana. All of them were quite competent in what we neatly call "bushcraft skills." How do I know that? I am here to have this conversation!

Regards,
Ron
 
Sullie said:
The fur trade was built off the expertise of Aboriginal women. The men were dependant on them for virtually everything including trading relations and survival. The men of the fur trade are often romanticized and have been since the early stages of the fur trade; they were used to entice young men from Europe to come over as fur traders or missionaries. The men knew nothing about survival in North America and it was common practice to marry (in the custom of the country) an Aboriginal women because you gained access to her families trading relations and she knew how to do everything you needed including building shelter, finding food, making clothing etc. They were the real experts and the fur traders depended on them in a mutually beneficial relationship for a couple hundred years before they were no longer needed and seen as an inconvenience.

I enjoy learning from Mors Kochanski, he is brilliant and shares his knowledge willingly without the flash. He lives and teaches in similar woods that I spend most of time in so all his teachings are relevant and beneficial to me.
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This is a great post.
 
I look to Scott Gossman, Kevin Estela, Colin Ashmore, Andy Padgett, Ed Arnold, Tony Montero, Marcelo Cantu, John Brown, Mike Lychock, Bill Cappalonga and Dan Schectman. These men freely share of their knowledge and love of the outdoors. That means a lot to me. I am working on getting further into the wild, how far can you get in northern central Maryland?

My biggest hero has to be Horace Kephart though. Knowing how to survive in the woods if need be, with no intent of roughing it, but having an enjoyable experience, is my idea of fun.

And he designed a kick ass knife!
 
I also greatly enjoy reading Ron Hoods articles and watching his dvds', Les Stroud seems to be the most real deal of all of the survival experts on tv, Denis Prisby and Len McDougall are men that I know through the interwebz and they seem like good people. There are a few others whose names escape me right now. Brian Griffin among them.
 
My dad is my biggest hero, set me on the path; after that, I would have to say the original people of this continent.
 
My dad never really took me hunting but we fished and camped. Cats in the cradle song and all that. We're doing better. Listening to an old friend of his that went hunting with him, he talked about my father moving very silently and stealthily, always getting good clean shots. My father always loved the outdoors. My enthusiasm is getting him back outdoors.
 
I dad doesn't know much about building, cutting, and tying things up for outdoor comfort, let alone survival. He has said many times if the SHTF he's want's me with. He set me on the path with the basics; I just ran with it :D I'm self taught, picking up bits and pieces along the way. It's because of my sense of curiosity that I've gathered up as much data and skills that I have.
When I was a kid' my idealism lead me to believe I could live in the sticks; now I really like forced air heat and hot-n-cold running water, but have retain the love of being in the wilds.
 
Carrying out the Biblical theme, I'd have to say Sampson. He was a trapper after all, catching foxes to use to set his enemy's fields on fire. He faced his enemies with improvised weapons, and when he knew he was on his way out, he took plenty of his foes with him!

For more modern times, all those involved with the Scouting movement, and Horace Hephart. Not only did he live the life, he wrote about it in a way that drew people to the outdoors.
 
I'm gonna take this in a whole other direction, I've spent much time in the woods, i live in the country on 7 1/2 acres in the hills of NEPA with a stream in my back yard zed the Delaware river at the end of my street so I have all I need to practice/home my bushcraft skills but I'm not here for that. If you want to see some ingenious bushcraft go hang with the homeless down the tracks under the bridges or in the weeds at the edge of town.

These guys/folks learn how to reuse and repurpose everything, they use old lawnmower blades garbage picked from the street to split firewood, I've seen them boiling water with rocks/stones in wooden pots they hollowed out by burning the center out with a red hot piece of steel 1" pipe that they kept in the fire just for that reason and also for defense, you wouldn't believe how they are picked on and despised by most people with homes.

There's a guy I met who lives in the woods just a few hundred feet from the track of a man commuter train line going from Jersey to NYC. He has a camouflaged hut/shack/tent depending on the time of yea, (of course his living quarter's are less substantial in the summer power the winter. I'm trying to get my daughter to use her degree in media communications to shoot a video of these people, it's a whole different world where they live forcing them to improvise every day just to survive and for them they're is no going home when they're done , they live the Bushcrafter's life. Next time you see one strike up a conversation with them, buy them a hamburger they might surprise you and teach you a thing or too.
 
T. Erdelyi said:
I'm gonna take this in a whole other direction, I've spent much time in the woods, i live in the country on 7 1/2 acres in the hills of NEPA with a stream in my back yard zed the Delaware river at the end of my street so I have all I need to practice/home my bushcraft skills but I'm not here for that. If you want to see some ingenious bushcraft go hang with the homeless down the tracks under the bridges or in the weeds at the edge of town.

These guys/folks learn how to reuse and repurpose everything, they use old lawnmower blades garbage picked from the street to split firewood, I've seen them boiling water with rocks/stones in wooden pots they hollowed out by burning the center out with a red hot piece of steel 1" pipe that they kept in the fire just for that reason and also for defense, you wouldn't believe how they are picked on and despised by most people with homes.

There's a guy I met who lives in the woods just a few hundred feet from the track of a man commuter train line going from Jersey to NYC. He has a camouflaged hut/shack/tent depending on the time of yea, (of course his living quarter's are less substantial in the summer power the winter. I'm trying to get my daughter to use her degree in media communications to shoot a video of these people, it's a whole different world where they live forcing them to improvise every day just to survive and for them they're is no going home when they're done , they live the Bushcrafter's life. Next time you see one strike up a conversation with them, buy them a hamburger they might surprise you and teach you a thing or too.
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Now you've done it. We shift from romantic fiction to gritty realism in one post. And a damn fine post it was too.

I couldn't agree more. I've told folks over here umpteen times that survival is not pretty or fun, and if you want an easy glimpse of what it looks like go walk in the trees around Sangatte.

I love a bit of Heath Robinson / Jerry rigged / Red Neck ingenuity. And I've got no qualms at all about leaving the bottom half of whatever it is I'm smoking with a guy in a doorway clinging to a hot air duct as a treat to nod off to sleep with.
 
In Dundee's name I trust. Amen.
 
Greatest bushcraft hero...Jesus..40 days/nights in the wilderness..no food (albeit by choice)..made his abode with the beasts of the field and came out a Boss :thumbup:
As far as recent times, I guess the guys that have made me excited the most about the outdoors and how to thrive as best as possible would be Stroud and Mors K.
But I give props to anyone that I hear about doing it; every time I go out for "playtime" knowing I have a warm bed to go to when I get over it..makes me think of how so many others survive/thrive for so long out there with next to nothing and that is both humbling and amazing to me.
 
T. Erdelyi said:
I'm gonna take this in a whole other direction, I've spent much time in the woods, i live in the country on 7 1/2 acres in the hills of NEPA with a stream in my back yard zed the Delaware river at the end of my street so I have all I need to practice/home my bushcraft skills but I'm not here for that. If you want to see some ingenious bushcraft go hang with the homeless down the tracks under the bridges or in the weeds at the edge of town.

These guys/folks learn how to reuse and repurpose everything, they use old lawnmower blades garbage picked from the street to split firewood, I've seen them boiling water with rocks/stones in wooden pots they hollowed out by burning the center out with a red hot piece of steel 1" pipe that they kept in the fire just for that reason and also for defense, you wouldn't believe how they are picked on and despised by most people with homes.
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It's true; whether you're talking urban or "woodsy" survival, those who thrive without a home tend to have the goods.
 
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