Is Bushcraft a sport?

hollowdweller said:
Yeah like Nessmuk he said he "smoothed it" and talked about setting around the fire smoking his pipe and drinking liquor.

If he was alive today he might even burn a fatty or two!:thumbup:


Now that would be some "bush" crafting!

bananastoned.gif
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:D:thumbup:
 
I think the word- sport- has developed some new meanings.

I don't think competition is the key element, but due to the consumer marketing "essence" of our modern culture, anything that involves getting off the couch or out of the desk chair at this point is a "sport" and requires large amounts of "gear", "training", and other $$things$$ that can turn a $$profit$$.

In this sense, bushcrafting, like hiking or jogging, is both a "sport" and an "anti-sport".
 
I think the part that was the most disconcerting was the sincerity and absolute conviction on the salesman's part that the Bushcrafter carried only a knife.
 
Bushman5 said:
its a fancy buzzword for going outside and playing in the woods. It also sells knives and gear
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If by this you are referring to the numerous "Walter Mitty's" on the internet and their use of the term I have to agree :thumbup:.

If however, you are using a broad brush to describe everyone who uses this term, I've got to say it shows how ignorant you are of the true meaning of the word and those who still practice it within the context of its' original meaning.



Mick
 
SouthernCross said:
Originated in the UK did it?

(( rules violation )) :thumbdn:

The true use of that term has been in use here in Australia for well over 100 years :grumpy:

It is still a way of living for those who are lucky enough to live in a country that isn't overpopulated, that are lucky enough to venture into areas where nature still has precedence (which over here is a significant proportion of our continent :thumbup: )

I've seen people on the net describe Bushcraft as a long term extension of "survival skills". I think of "survival skills" as the abreviated, simplified form of Bushcraft skills.

The modern version of bushcraft seems to focus only on working wood with an edge tool. How little those who expouse this view really know about what Bushcraft really means :thumbdn: .


Kind regards
Mick
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100% Mick (except for the violation part, of course :o ) Bushcraft (at least to me) is an all-encompassing word that includes all facets of wilderness living, not just making something out of wood with your scandi edged knife.

Doc
 
koyote said:
I think the word- sport- has developed some new meanings.

I don't think competition is the key element, but due to the consumer marketing "essence" of our modern culture, anything that involves getting off the couch or out of the desk chair at this point is a "sport" and requires large amounts of "gear", "training", and other $$things$$ that can turn a $$profit$$.

In this sense, bushcrafting, like hiking or jogging, is both a "sport" and an "anti-sport".
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I guess that's why they call golfing a sport. :eek:

Doc
 
I think bushcraft is definitely a sport. After-all the term sportsman can be interchangeable with fisherman, hunter, woodsman, outdoorsman. No competition is required to be a sport necessarily. It is the drive to continually improve your skills and learn more about your craft that determines sport on a recreational level.

I like how Mors Kochanski defines the term Bushcraft. "...the basic existence skills that allow you to live in the bush on an indefinite basis with a minimal dependence on technological materials and tools."
 
DOC-CANADA said:
Bushcraft (at least to me) is an all-encompassing word that includes all facets of wilderness living, not just making something out of wood with your scandi edged knife.

Doc
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(Note: Bolding in the above quote was added by myself).

Very well put Doc :thumbup: :thumbup:

I'll readily put my hand up to belonging to this view :D




Kind regards
Mick
 
Guess I would agree it's a "sport" qualified as a "sporting hobby" like hunting, fishing, scuba diving, or even backpacking, rather than competitive sport.
 
This is what Bushcraft is to me. The lifelong accumulation of knowledge that allows a person to be able to utilize the natural resources in a primitive enviroment with minimal tools indefinately. The natural man's skills passed down from generation to generation. A sport when you play at it to accumulate knowledge. A way of life when you live it. Loosearrow
 
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SouthernCross said:
If by this you are referring to the numerous "Walter Mitty's" on the internet and their use of the term I have to agree :thumbup:.

If however, you are using a broad brush to describe everyone who uses this term, I've got to say it shows how ignorant you are of the true meaning of the word and those who still practice it within the context of its' original meaning.



Mick
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yup, i was referencing the Waltmitties....:cool:
 
Is making pottery a sport? Of course not, no one would refer to it as a sport. What about building a log cabin? Nope. So in that same sense of using natural materials to make useful things, no bushcraft isn't a sport.
 
Bushman5 said:
its a fancy buzzword for going outside and playing in the woods. It also sells knives and gear
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The meaning of words change over time and places in the world.

I think Bushman5 pretty much got it right this time.
If its a way of living like your father and his father before him, in the bush, its a way of life.

If you log on to the web and discuss what the term means, it mean your in the fancy buzzword group who likes to play in the woods. (Yes that means all of us here) and then the term is closely related to Ray Mears.

The 2 words are spelled and pronoun's the same but means difference things at its core.I think the two are easier to separate when English is not your first language :)
 
OP back up again..

Jenner 515 said:
Heard a salesman at the local knife store try to explain to another customer that "Bushcraft" was a sport, that originated in the UK.

The salesman's premise was; equipped with just a knife, an individual competed in the outdoors (against nature I suppose) and somehow determined a winner.

It was this competitive atmosphere that brought along the evolution of the Bushcraft knife.
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Bushman5's post

Bushman5 said:
its a fancy buzzword for going outside and playing in the woods. It also sells knives and gear
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So I have to agree with Busy in the context of this thread. Salesman by virtue of their schlickterism try to sell stuff. It is their drop and their profession. That is what the salesman was doing when he referred to Bushcraft as a sport.

Do I believe it is? No. Does the Salesman believe it? Probably not. Did the salesman want to sell a knife? Yes, most definitely.
 
Dictionary.com defined sport as "1. an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.
2.
a particular form of this, esp. in the out of doors.
3.
diversion; recreation; pleasant pastime."
So in the purely technical term I would say its a sport.
 
jlubas said:
Dictionary.com defined sport as "1. an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.
2.
a particular form of this, esp. in the out of doors.
3.
diversion; recreation; pleasant pastime."
So in the purely technical term I would say its a sport.
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IMO, No. 3 seems to me to describe those who like to use their limited time outdoors to play & describe what they do as bushcraft :D




Kind regards
Mick
 
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