Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Getting into bushcrafting and/or Wilderness Survival and not break the bank


Getting into Bushcraft/Wilderness Survival without breaking the bank

          It is so easy to get caught up in the glamor and romance of Bushcrafting and Wilderness survival, but all to often many normal folk get frustrated and discouraged when they see Bushcrafters on youtube or other videos using and wearing high-end expensive gear.
          Well I’m here to tell you, you don’t need that high-end expensive gear, though I will be first to admit that I do have high end expensive gear. Only because I scrimped and saved for them, or traded for it for skills that I taught. Quite frankly, this high-end “glamor” “Glamping” bushcraft that a lot of us see, has come about only recently, maybe in the past ten years or so, maybe more.
          It wasn’t to long ago that many wilderness survival practitioners and Bushcrafters, either made their own gear, or used surplus items. Hell, when I first started this I used to get stuff from surplus stores. Even the late Ron Hood used to go to thrift stores for some of his gear. That shoulder bag you see him wearing in his videos? He got that at a thrift store.
          So there you have it. You don’t need to spend a large amount of money to start out in wilderness survival or bushcrafting. I mean, bushcrafting when broken down into its original form, was making your own gear. That’s the essence of it all. Should you get top quality gear if you can afford it? Absolutely… However… I must add is that you get your skills down and know what you’re doing before getting that high-end gear. It’s heart wrenching to see someone starting out with a high-end expensive tool break it because they didn’t know what they’re doing. By starting out simple, if you mess up, its not the end of the world. And it’s not a big hit in the wallet either.
          The four essential items you need, need to cover the main basics. A knife, water container for drinking and cooking, shelter, and bedding. Of three of the four, you don’t need to spend a lot of money on your gear. The one that you will need to take a hit in the wallet on is the bedding.
Knives: Yup, welcome to what could be called an obsession by some. I call it seeing what works for me. ;) But, for starting out go basic and simple. Of which, I suggest the ubiquitous Mora. Great thing about them; aside from being cheap, they’re actually quite tough knives. Cody Lundin has had one for well over twenty years. If you want to be bushcrafty ;) you can buy the blade blank and make the handle yourself, something I advocate as it becomes very personal to you. Good example is the one on the left in the picture.

Water container: As of late, it seems some experts are now advocating having a steel or metal container. I see their point, but combined with my cooking pot, I really don’t need a metal water container. But, for starting out, try using a Gatorade bottle or some other sports drink bottle, as long as its at least a quart and wide mouthed. 32 oz wide mouthed will do the trick. Added bonus, you can get the drink cheap. I’ve seen the on sale for .80 cents. From there you can get a Nalgene bottle, make sure its clear, and wide mouthed. I have one that’s 48 oz.
Cooking Pot: Now here’s a mine field subject ;) There are many choices on this, but again I say keep it simple. I have a Mors Bush Pot that holds 2 quarts, and I like it, but sometimes I do go to my old stand by which is a coffee can. Ron Hood used to use this on his treks, and they used to make them in 16 oz, but now you’re lucky to find one that’s in 14 oz, and metal at that. The coffee can pot can be beaten up, used to dig holes, and still be ready to used. Add a bailing wire to it and you’re ready to go.

Shelter: Truth be told, sometimes its nice to do open sky sleeping, but there are times and places where this isn’t feasible. Either due to weather, or heavy dew. The shelter I bring with me is the polish lavvu ponchos buttoned together, but they are getting ridiculously expensive when at one point they were dirt cheap. Still, starting out I used a 12x12 sheet of plastic of heavy mil quality, which is what I used on my survival trek with Ron Hood. However, the draw back is it’s durable to a certain point, then holes start forming etc. I found a nice alternative for this is a 8x10 tarp. You can make this into different shelter, and with some cord you can make it into a A-Frame shelter. It also packs up easily and doesn’t take up much weight.

Bedding: For me a good wool blanket will do the trip. Its warm, even wet. But now we’re to the part where if you want to keep warm, you’re going to have to spend a good amount. No way around it, you’re going to be spending quiet a bit for a good wool blanket. Yes, there are some that aren’t that expensive and are twin size. I for one like the large wool blankets, queen size is what I have. You can go for the ones that are twin size, if that’s your preference. However, I HATE drafts. I don’t like being woken up with a draft creeping up my leg or back, and I have to flop around to adjust the blanket. With a queen I can even double wrap myself which will prevent drafts. But, as I said, you’re going to pay a pretty penny for one of these, unless you get lucky and find one that size in a thrift store. I for one have never been that fortunate.
          The blankets I recommend are the Pendleton, Hudson Bay, or any 100% wool blanket. You can find them on line if you do a search.

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