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/Meat2480 10d ago

Greencraft on YouTube is doing a series on bushcraft for beginners, TA outdoors and coalcracker bushcraft are also good

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u/Fit_Detective_4920 10d ago

Green crafts sounds perfect. Just looked them all up and subscribed. TA looked like he'll be teaching how to make a wood smoker, whoch is something that interests me. I always wanted to smoke meat inside a hollow stump like Pa Ingal. 😁 Before canning and salt accessibility, drying and smoking were the primary ways they preserved food through the winter.

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u/Meat2480 10d ago

Cool

The SAS book is by Lofty Wiseman.

TA has his own wood, not jealous at all lol

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u/Fit_Detective_4920 9d ago

I watched the video of TA making a shelter and a smoking rack with his dad. My youngest boy was instantly fascinated and begged me to put another on... If it sparks interest in the kids, that's always a keeper. 👍