Sometimes being an outdoorsman is conflated with being a bushcrafter. It doesn’t happen often, but it happens. So, am I a bushcrafter? Honestly, that’s a very perplexing question. And after much thought and research on the matter, I can unequivocally say “NO I am not.” But how did I get to this point? It wasn’t that difficult, really. “Seriously you are self-contradicting yourself. You say much thought and research and then say it wasn’t that difficult. ‘Yeah, well, sometimes it takes a while to get to the obvious answer.'”
After many years of casually looking into it, it seems there is no consensus on what bushcraft is. I’ve read numerous threads on forums and the only thing everyone can agree on is it’s personal to each person and can mean different things to different people. there in is the rub. I mean, if we’re going to bequeath a title onto an activity, I feel there should be some guiding tenets attributed to the title. “Oh, you’re really opening a can of worms with this one, aren’t you? ‘Shoosh! Let me be.'” When I hear baseball, for example, I don’t think cars racing around a track, or someone playing golf. When I hear fishing, I don’t envision someone with a firearm stalking deer during hunting season. When I hear dancing, I don’t think of people sitting and playing poker. What then do I imagine when I hear bushcraft? Honestly, someone, perhaps a landscaper, who shapes shrubs and bushes into cute art, ala Edward Scissorhands. Since I don’t craft bushes into artsy things, I can’t consider myself a bushcrafter. “Oh, you’re going to piss off some people with that. What else is new? Seems like we’re in the era of the easily offended.” All that said, what defines me the best is an outdoorsman; someone who likes to spend time outdoors doing outdoors activities–fishing, hunting, camping, hiking, etc. Do I know how to start a fire by rubbing sticks together? Yep! You betcha. Can I make some sort of debris shelter? Sure! Have I ever used a ferro rod? I sure have. All those things are just things I’ve done as an outdoorsman.
