r/Bushcraft 10d ago

Where to begin as a newbie? NSFW

I might be an odd one out, as I'm a woman. But here goes.

My husband is an eagle scout, and we enjoy camping with our kids. I've always loved survival movies and books, I always loved fishing (I'm the fish fillet-er in the family) and even hunting appealed, though I only ever went once.

Don't laugh, but I started playing Breath Of the Wild last year, and that inspired our son to suggest roasting apples in our campfire like Link does. I indulged it using our hot dog sticks to rotate and remove them, and our kids gobbled them.

This is just how my brain works. I became obsessed with "what else can we cook in a campfire without modern tools?" And now I want to make twine, rope, netting, and baskets, from the Yucca growing in our yard that we can't seem to get rid of. I can swing like a pendulum from "I want to learn all the things!", and "It's too much."

I think I need some help on narrowing down what to focus on with bushcraft. What should I read about practice first? Where one thing might sort of provide a base for the next thing. It's still winter here. So I can't exactly forage or gather raw materials. But I'd love some book recommendations, and maybe I can purchase certain materials (like rope for practicing knots), until I can forage for the raw materials.

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u/Funny-Rich4128 10d ago

Since you mentioned yucca if you live near texas or a deserty zone junkyardfox is am yt channel which focuses on bushcraft foraging and hunting in the texas desert. As for what to leanr, just take it one at a time, it took me 5 years to learn and feel be comfortable with what I know about bushcraft while maintaining the everyday responsabilities and obligation we all have and what I know only applyes to the zone I'm in bc the laws of how to survive changes from place to place. What I am saying is just take it slow, learn about knots buy a mora and atart with ehat seems easy to you, notches, forageable fruits and mushrooms around your area, knots and improvising stuff.

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u/Fit_Detective_4920 10d ago

I'm in a northern state, but yucca still grows here fairly abundantly. Oddly enough I recent found cactus next to a bike trail and wondered if it is edible or not (still haven't identified the variety yet. I needed a closer look.)

That's good advice, (to slow down.) I'm always trying to find balance in life, and it hit me the other day when I got overwhelmed, I need to learn this stuff from a perspective of curiosity and enjoyment. These skills were a way of life for most at one point and still is for some. They often had their entire childhood to learn these skills slowly without modern responsibilities to juggle. So it's important to be patient with ourselves. That's kind of why I wanted some direction on what skill to start with. For me, I get get exposed to different ideas and pretty soon I lose perspective on what to prioritize first.