Five Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Bushcraft
Before answering with the five things I wish that I knew when I started bushcraft, perhaps it’s pertinent to declare up front that for a long time I didn’t know the word “bushcraft” or that I had been “bushcrafting.” In other words, I had been engaged in bushcraft activities long before I knew of the word. Because of that, perhaps it’s a bit difficult to pin down exactly when I started bushcraft to answer the question of what I wish I knew when I started. Therefore, I’ll answer in something of a round about way, I suppose, by answering the question in terms of what I wish that I had learned in Boy Scouts.
Five Things That I Wish I Had Learned In Boy Scouts
Before I begin, I want to be clear that I’m not disparaging my time in Scouts or holding the leadership responsible for what I didn’t learn. To be fair, I was in Scouts before the internet, so I want to applalud the men, mostly fathers, who gave of their time to be devoted to leading us and for the time, talent, and treasure that they put into it. With that disclaimer, as I look back on what I learned then and what I know now, I certainly would’ve preferred to have learned a few things differently.
#1 Knots!
First, I recall earning big points at a Klondike event with my knowledge of knots, yet today I wish that some other knots were taught. While the Bowline was certainly taught, the other two major knots of the often used “rapid ridgeline” were not: the Prussik and the Trucker’s Hitch. Oh, how much mileage I would’ve gotten with those two additional knots!
#2 Toggles!
Second, I don’t remember ever using toggles when I was coming up in Scouts, yet now I seem to use toggles all the time! Toggles are so incredibly useful! From putting a toggle on a string to hang a pot or pack to using a toggle to secure a slippery half hitch, it was just something that I wasn’t taught until my “internet age” of watching YouTube videos.
#3 Morakniv & The Scandi Grind!
Third, while I know that some Scouts today are aware of Mora knives, at least in my circle back in the day, nobody used a Mora or had a knife with the now ubiquitous Scandinavian grind that is so popular among modern bushcrafters around the world. Back then kids were infatuated with the Rambo knife – and perhaps for good reason, but a Mora would’ve been such a great option back then!
#4 Fire Craft!
Fourth, while we lit many a fire on campouts, in retrospect I’m rather surprised at the disparity between what I know now and what I knew when I was in Scouts. At the time I thought that I was pretty good at fire craft, especially how to arrange various fire lays, but now I realize that this ever so important aspect of bushcraft was something that perhaps wasn’t stressed enough. Again, I don’t want to blame the fine men involved with Scouts, as I truly appreciate all that they did, but looking back on it, what I have learned online makes what I learned back then pale in comparison – and that brings us to my fifth thing…
#5 The Internet!
Finally, it’s hard to say that I wish that I had the internet back then, as in a way I count myself blessed to have been a kid well before YouTube and social media, but if I’m being honest, the readily available information available online these days is really quite incredible. Perhaps I’m finishing my list with this because kids these days, who never knew a time before the internet, really don’t know what it was like back in the dark ages before Al Gore brought to us the internet. We had to figure a lot of stuff out on our own back then, or perhaps we were limited by what the men (mostly men) in our lives knew and taught us. Nowadays, however, the “problem” is not a lack of knowledge so much as the difficulty, at times, of sorting through so much information to find the real gems.
Conclusion
In conclusion, again I want to express appreciation for my time in Scouts and for those involved in it. I also want to express appreciation for what I’ve learned since then and for the many people who I have learned from, whether online or in person. Perhaps if I live another 20 years I’ll be able to reflect on what I wish that I had learned in this season of my life, but for now, I’ll just keep focusing on learning more and more. To be sure, there’s a lot more I wish that I had learned decades ago, but regardless of what we learn and when we learn it, are we living to learn and learning to live? Each of us are on a journey, and for my part, I’m grateful for the stories that I have to tell. What do YOU wish that you had learned when you started bushcraft? Please leave comments below, as I’d love to get your perspective!
Cheers!
JWS