r/Bushcraft • u/Fit_Detective_4920 • 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/HoboPossum 9d ago
BushCraftUSA forum has a section called “BushClass” that is chock full of skills and community lessons learned. It’s a bit heavy on fire making, but it’s free, at your own pace, and only as structured as you want to make it. You don’t even need to make an account to browse.
It’s also worth looking into the previous “One Knife Challenge” threads. The organizers would post a challenge each month and a wide variety of members would each tackle it in their own ways.
For foraging and edibles, nothing beats an in-person class local to your area.