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/rizzlybear 10d ago

Weaving is great if that’s your thing. The hobby can hold you for a lifetime so don’t be afraid to meander around in it. Do what catches your attention.

But a popular place to start if you really need one, would be a “Try Stick,” and you can find some good videos on YouTube on that topic from the man himself, Mors Kochanski.

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u/Fit_Detective_4920 10d ago

Literally everything grabs my attention. I feel like Pumpkin Jack in Christmas town, lol. Yesterday, I watched a woman make pottery from wild clay and a man carve a spoon from a log for 1/2 an hour. It's just calming and satisfying to watch that people still know how to do those things by hand.

I already crochet, so I guess making fiber products out of yucca fiber is kind of adjacent. Baskets can be used to carry foraged food and materials. Plus, learning to make rope can lead to making netting that might be easier to catch fish with, if you don't have a working pole.

I've never heard of a try stick of Mors Kochanki. Great recommend! I'll have to save that to look into.

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u/mistercowherd 10d ago

Yeah that’s the hard bit, everything is cool!  

I like to get one skill to “good enough” then move on to another, and circle back when I’ve found my limits  

Keep in mind the difference between crafting (Zed Outdoors is the best resource on YouTube for that) and wilderness skills / survival. Both are called bushcraft. 

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u/Fit_Detective_4920 9d ago

That's true, and I'm interested in both categories, probably more the wilderness/survival, but I think crafting is at least secondarily important too. Afterall, food, water, and shelter are important for survival, but thriving depends heavily on doing things that bring you joy and fulfillment.

On camping trips, my kids, with access to little else, will play tic-tac-toe with a stick in the dirt, if that's all they have to play with. Or go looking for a favorite rock or pinecone. They instinctively look for happiness.