How to get started in Bushcraft?
Bushcraft is one of those things that people hear about and think “Oh that sounds fun” and then never do anything about it. The problem with people starting bushcraft is they think the initial setup cost can be quite high, just like with any activity you’re about to start and don’t have the equipment for. The thing most people don’t realize is that there’s no need for a £100 knife and £300 professional hunting jacket if you just want to go into the wild and have a go for yourself. To help you get started on your path to becoming a skilled survivalist here are a few activities you can try for as little money as possible.
Go camping
What better way to learn about the wild than by spending time there? Camping is an excellent activity to get started on because it puts you right in the middle of all that wild food and crafting material, but most importantly it creates the opportunity to try your hand at some other activities. Perhaps building a wall to protect your campfire or your own pot hanger or even cooking up a few nettles or some pine needles to make tea. Being in the type of terrain you want to learn about is one of the best ways to, well, learn about it.
Learn to start a fire without matches or a lighter
Matches can get wet and spoil, and the flint from a lighter can ping off or not work properly in the rain, so how do you make a fire if you don’t have these two conventional items? Fortunately for the skilled bush crafter, there are many ways to start a fire, with some being much more advanced than others like the fire plow or bow drill. To start off the only thing you’ll need is a flint and fire steel, the most popular and reliable of all fire-starting tools, though it does take some practice to get right. If you want to buy a flint and fire steel then don’t spend more than £10 on one, they are all made of the same material and last just as long as each other so don’t be tricked by brand names.
Go fishing
In a survival situation having the knowledge of how to catch fish can be a lifesaver, but the best place to start isn’t by finding a secluded mountain lake and trying your luck with a homemade fishhook. Find your nearest fishing lake and spend a few hours there practicing how to cast and strike and the general basics. There are stocked fishing lakes across the UK and you shouldn’t have to travel far to find one, but these lakes will almost guarantee a catch and give you the experience of how to catch and handle a fish. After you know what you are doing it’s time to practice some bushcraft fishing using a makeshift line or hook, and if you’re lucky enough to catch something then what better way to eat it than on a fire you built yourself? As with most other equipment concerning bushcraft, you shouldn’t spend lots of money on a fishing rod. There’s a huge choice out there for under £30 and some as low as £15 which is good enough to practice with but you do get the quality you paid for.
Make a shelter
This requires nothing more than walking into a woodland that has a good amount of building material and just having a go. It’s useful to have a knife, hatchet, and some cord so you can build the more advanced options but these aren’t necessary to get you started. Take a look at a few pictures of survival shelters and choose one you’d like to build, then head out into the woods and get started. You can look at pictures of shelters all day but until you get out there and actually try to make one, you won’t have any experience with them and won’t find out for yourself why things did or didn’t work.
Go for a hike
Going hiking is the best way to work on your navigational skills and offers the chance to check out some wild foods and become familiar with what’s out there. There are so many places in the UK and probably every other country where you can go and spend all day walking in the countryside at the cost of nothing more than a compass and some walking boots.
Build a few extras
When out hiking or sleeping in your sturdy and hopefully waterproof shelter, what better time to craft a few extra things for your camp? Fire-protecting walls, pot hangers, cooking spits, your own bed, or maybe even making a birch bark container or some cord out of nettles.
Read about the basic wild foods and try some for yourself
There are so many edible plants out there that people just see as weeds or just another piece of green in the hedge, but when you learn how to recognize what’s food and what isn’t, it opens up a new food source with a whole range of new recipes and most importantly, will help to keep you alive should you ever need to find your own food in an emergency.
There is no better way to learn about something than to do it because actual experience is more valuable than just reading. Taking a hike and spending a single night in a tent will give you the opportunity to practice most of the skills you’ll ever need and the best thing is that it isn’t expensive or difficult to get started. With a flint and fire steel, knife, tent, and a good pair of walking boots, the front door to get started in bushcraft is wide open, you just have to take the first step and walk through it.
