Alrighty then. Since the original post, I've done a bit of thinking and self examination on the premise, that "Survival = Hobby", and the further explanation of the OP's wider meaning to not restrict the word "survival" to it's literal meaning, but rather to the more descriptive term "bushcraft" (which I might term "woodcraft). I can see how for many people it is just a pleasant occasional diversion, an excuse to get out and enjoy the natural world, or to play with their favorite knives. Nothing wrong with that at all.
As many have said, bushcraft is just a hobby. "Hobbies" implies a recreational pursuit undertaken for enjoyment and relaxation. And as with most hobbies, people participate at whatever level their interest leads them to. Some people turn a hobby into a business. Some people just fantisize about participating. And some people pour all their energy, extra cash and free time into it. Likewise, levels of "expertise" vary widely, as do the environments in which bushcraft is practiced.
As an aside and of no real consequence, to the notion that "Bushcraft" is a new term, I offer the word from the consumate source (If it is on WIKI, it HAS to be true!):
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 1800s. 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 Jeannie Gunn; published in 1908.
The Life of Captain Matthew Flinders by Ernest Scott; published in 1914. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushcraft
As to the alternately used term, Woodcraft:
Woodcraft is a recreational/educational program devised by Ernest Thompson Seton in 1902, for young people based on camping, outdoor skills and crafts. Thompson Seton's Woodcraft ideas were incorporated into the early Scout movement, but also in many other organisations in many countries.
In the UK, John Hargrave developed the ideas and founded the Kindred of the Kibbo Kift and the Westlakes founded the Order of Woodcraft Chivalry. The main surviving UK organisation is the Woodcraft Folk who broke away from Kibbo Kift in the 1920s.
Many groups were founded elsewhere in Europe in the inter-war years. Typical was the Czech Woodcraft League, founded in the 1920s by Milos Seifert; it grew in its early years but was suppressed for half a century, first by the Nazis and then by the Communists. It survived by guile and misdirection, emerging with the fall of Communism, a small but dedicated organisation with members of all ages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodcraft
Origins? Earliest I find with the brief search is a passage by Sir Walter Scott in Chapter 33 of Ivanhoe (1819)
"That will be but blind trust," said the Outlaw; "we will retain thee, Prior, and send them to fetch thy ransom. Thou shalt not want a cup of wine and a collop of venison the while; and if thou lovest woodcraft, thou shalt see such as your north country never witnessed."
Alrighty then, back to the original question as it pertains to me. I don't think of my acquiring survival/woodcraft/bushcraft skills as a hobby, but rather a life long pursuit. My interest, as best I can recall, has been there all of my life. Even before I began the "hobby" of collecting and researching knives and cutleries.
But I guess it depends on how an individual defines "hobby". Or the other three terms, "Survival, Bushcraft, Woodcraft". Does my livlihood depend on it daily? No, but my survival (strictest definition) has been made possible by it quite a few times in my life. My daily life has been enriiched by all of the adjunct "hobbies" this core interest has spawned. But still, I don't think of the core interest as a hobby. "Lifeskills" maybe.
Codger
) or other trashing of the woods. But I have been in campsites where there is no downed dead wood and watched drunken macho guys with big knives start chopping down live trees to feed their bonfire. RB is absolutely right, it is an issue.
. I didn't name it that, just a name from Philmont (google my avatar if you don't know what Philmont is).