Bushcraft?

GPyro said:
It's fun to read all this.
But in actuality, the closest I get to roughing it any more involves a large RV.
Heck I even bring the gas log fire pit with me.

I work outside every day on large commercial and industrial jobsites.
Usually on top of the building, or hanging from it.
My time off doesn't involve whacking on anything with anything.
I get more exercise in one day than most folks get in a month.

There is a corkscrew that frustrates the heck out of me tho.
So I keep that around. It keeps me humble.

I'd bet most folks here, considering the age I believe most of you are, probably fall in similar lifestyles.

Just saying.
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I too have worked an industrial type job for 40 plus years along with some farming and ranching on the side. I wish I had an RV, or even a pop up camper. Mostly I/ we use a tent when camping out. Me, my kids and son in laws all grew up tent camping. My girls have a few times when they were kids but usually it’s just us boys. There’s something alluring about campfires that brings out the primal tendencies and roasting something you caught or shot on a stick, the smell of wood smoke and hearing it sizzle and crackle and a cup of coffee just seems to taste better. As I’ve gotten older I don’t rough it like I used to and I have taken advantage of some of the modern tools and convenience. But I like to keep in practice camping and doing things primitive and teach my grandkids some skills. Someday they might need them.
 
That’s because Buck knives are better than Benchmade. Everyone knows that. Lol! They may not be better but they are equal in quality.

The quality you get from a Buck for the relatively low cost is second to none. Makes me wonder why people buy gas station knives. For just a little less money you get a lot less quality than if you bought a Buck.
 
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I must be "lucky" considering all the times I went out in the boonies and sticks on my bicycle when I was young and stupider, with nothing but a standard 110 or 7OT, or Western L66, and a "Demo" knife/4 blade Scout/Camp knife, a hatchet/Tomahawk, bow saw, Zippo or Bic lighter, single shot .22 rimfire rifle with iron sights, or single shot break open 12 gauge, or a CVA .45 or .50 caliber muzzleloading rifle, 3 or 4 section bamboo cane pole, "pup tent", cheap Coleman (or no name) sleeping bag, yet somehow managed to get a fire started, my tent up, upland game that was in season, fish, and I actually survived/lived to tell about it, without having "the latest and greatest" anything, that the "experts" of the day claimed you "needed" when fishing/hunting/camping.
 
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From what I read on dedicated “Bushcraft” forums, I think they could easily be termed “General Outdoor & Camping” forums. I really don’t see much they are doing that I couldn’t do with a 119 or 105 and most of it with a 110. Here are some good “Bushcraft” knives, the bottom one especially flies under the radar of most folks:
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My current look at "Bushcraft"

As a young man my father was in the Air Force and most of my outdoor life consisted of small slow creeks, lakeshores and scouts. In which we were taught the use of the knife, axe and bow saw. This was all done in the central U.S. out-of-doors. I have carried a small knife for my entire school career, change that to life. Never needed anything else. When I got out of college I became a wildlife ranger and was handed a badge and gun my third day, and found a old TL - 29 in the glove box of my old assigned truck. I worked in the woods and waters and did all manner of animal and people stuff. Used the knife to cut all kinds of stuff but left it in glove box and carried a smaller folder, used a axe a little for my 'batoning'., a Plumb.
I shot a whole bunch of bullets as a firearms instructor, but never had to draw human blood. I don't remember having to baton anything with my knife. If I was going to need a hunting knife I carried one but not usually on my belt. With a bad knee my western hunting is over, so I carry a small knife in my pocket. 300Bucks
 
Knowing when and where to go can make a difference in how many people are around.
I've been in many campgrounds in the Upper Peninsula in May and October, and be the only ones there.
Of course there's a chance of snowstorms too. That just makes it fun. Usually the weather is always good tho.
The rustic places tend to be less occupied.

Maybe when I retire I can find the motivation to get back to the basics of it all.
.....Yeah right.
 
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Bushcraft is a newer word used to describe parts of what we knew as woodcraft or camping skills or survival skills. If we could master everything in the old BSA Fieldbook for Boys and Men we would be pretty sharp outdoorsmen. My copy is well worn and was printed in 1971 - still good reading and a good reference manual. A good Buck Knife of a style that suits you will do, as will a Plumb or Estwing hand ax. OH
 
Out in this part of the country for a 100 + mile radius you can drive most anywhere but I sure as heck have camped there. Believe me it’s definitely camping. We may not have the trees and mountains but it is probably more of a challenge to find firewood and shelter not to mention a creek with water in it. This part of the country was the wildest and the last to be settled and wasn’t for the meek or tenderfoot. Just 14 miles north of me on the Cimarron river near Wagon Bed springs is where Jedediah Smith the frontiersman and explorer was killed May 1831 by Indians while looking for water for the Santa Fe Trail wagon train. His knife and trappings that were taken were later traded in New Mexico near Santa Fe. Just 74 miles west in the Oklahoma panhandle is where I grew up along that same Cimarron river valley with the wagon ruts still visible just a mile from our house with Indian ruins and burial grounds on a small hill top near by. The last Buffalo were found there in the late 1880s with that strip of land known as No Mans Land was finally combined into the state of Oklahoma 1907. It is rough rugged country and weather is very unpredictable. Knives were essential tools in our everyday life and some other cutting tools were often needed to travel and haul wood back to home. It’s different from other places for camping that you normally think of but it is camping.
 
DDDWho, It didn't quite look like that photo back then. It was shortgrass prairie, they settled there and build sod or rock cabins. Water was still possible to find in big creek bottoms. as irrigation wells had not lowered the water table. Some areas had playa lakes, large , shallow depressions left over from the ice age. Waterfowl were abundant. You built your cabin near a low creek where there was Cottonwood trees for wood. Mostly you burned old dried out Buffalo chips. They turned over the virgin soil with oxen and planted wheat. A good knife was needed, usually a small straight knife, sometimes a old friction folder. The land changed after cattle came and steam tractors came, and the world really changed after fence wire was invented. My kin did the same in east Kansas, more wood though. As mentioned that photo was in heart of the dust bowl and the short grass blew away.

Lesknife, One time I was out there and stopped at a section corner to read my GPS and looked down and there was a 309 Buck in the road. It had been run over, maybe just once, and the liners just pinched in just a little. A little wiggle or two with a big flat blade screwdriver straightened it back up good enough. I still have that one.
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Lesknife , I certified livestock scales in that area in the early 1990's for the Dept. of Agriculture. A vast landscape. But once you drop off in many of those canyons, it becomes the typography that 300 is talking about. Senecas (marshes / seeps) where springs found their way to the surface. Circled by huge cottonwoods. Deer and songbirds gathered at them and and quail. The water was dulce (sweet). I carried a 1990 426, in a finger groove handle, with a early drop point blade. I still have it. Every year I prayed I would not break down out there and I marked all those Senecas on my maps. Knowing if a break down happened, I could survive at a seneca. DM
 
Opening a can of Beanie Weanies with a sak is about as bushcraft as I will get. I don't need a youtube video to use a sak either...

Buck would be my last choice of knife, not been to happy with them in actual use... Buck is just a generic term for hardware store knife. Never had an issue with Sak coming in and saving the day camping, at home or at work. I feel sak has done a good job of evolving, toothpicks and bottle openers are my go to features. My outdoor/fishing/hiking knife choice is a 3v Kephart made by Lt Wright. Nesmuk, Kephart and others lived off there knives the only newer design I would put in that category would be a Sak.
 
SA
Snacktime said:
Opening a can of Beanie Weanies with a sak is about as bushcraft as I will get. I don't need a youtube video to use a sak either...

Buck would be my last choice of knife, not been to happy with them in actual use... Buck is just a generic term for hardware store knife. Never had an issue with Sak coming in and saving the day camping, at home or at work. I feel sak has done a good job of evolving, toothpicks and bottle openers are my go to features. My outdoor/fishing/hiking knife choice is a 3v Kephart made by Lt Wright. Nesmuk, Kephart and others lived off there knives the only newer design I would put in that category would be a Sak.
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SAK would be my last choice for a real knife or outdoor tool. I use a Leatherman Wave for a multi tool. Your term for Buck being a generic hardware store knife is laughable. I don’t know which models you are referring to but Buck has made superlative knives for 100 + years for millions of outdoor enthusiasts who hurt, fish, camp, work and jobs of many kinds and has earned a reputation as a top manufacturer of knives and tools. Your statement is way off base here in the Buck sub forum.
 
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