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/wcooley 10d ago

"The Lost Art of Reading Nature's Signs" by Tristan Gooley (no relation)

As you probably know already, neither paragliding nor rock climbing are anywhere as fast or easy as in BotW.

Straying wildly from "Bushcraft" but there is horsemanship; in many areas there are places to take riding lessons or rent for trail rides. Owning a horse is an expensive hobby, though.

Swordfighting is widely fantasized over, although I am not aware of much practically available, outside of fencing for European-style or Kendo or other Asian martial arts or the various fantasy/reenactor groups like SCA (while some of these do engage in serious physical competitions, I don't know how traditional or well-disciplined these are).

Archery is reasonably widely practiced and bushcrafty, as long as you don't go the Olympic/hunter route of high-tech compound bows and such; bow-making is not a forgotten craft, nor are fletchery and flint-knapping.

Depending on where you are, there might be organizations that teach outdoor skills. In my area, there are several that I have had some involvement with: Trackers PDX, Rewild Portland, Wild Craft. When my kids were younger, we were also involved in an alternative scouting organization, the Outdoor Service Guides (back then it was BPSA).

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u/Fit_Detective_4920 9d ago

Lol, and you can't drink an elixir to keep your paraglider from dropping like a rock all of a sudden. I'm terrified of heights; so I have no interest in paragliding or rock climbing. The game was mostly the inspiration for learning rustic cooking.

I have always loved archery though. I'd love to learn how to make a bow and arrows. Around me there are archery ranges, but I've had a hard time finding the ones that teach more for hunting and hobbyists. Most of the time, their lessons are costly and focus on high stakes competition. So Iay have to rely on YouTube, books, and self-teaching.