To Bushcraft or not to Bushcraft? Expedition Skills

Following on from last weeks post reviewing the Karrimor Trig rucksack this week we are going to discuss the idea of using bushcraft skills on expeditions.

Samuel Hearne who we mentioned on the blog just the other week adopted bushcraft techniques out of necessity on his journeys because the most up to date modern equipment and techniques of the time were simply too heavy for long distance exploration and he accepted that he needed to rely on native skill and knowledge to feed himself and maintain his kit over long periods. Nowadays with very light weight equipment being readily available it may be possible to carry all the kit you need for longer periods but it's the law that is the main thing that prevents us from heading into the wilderness for long term bushcrafting or to use bushcraft skills on our expeditions.

       By Nessmuk (George Washington Sears) - http://www.oldbookart.com/, Public Domain, Link

At the time of writing his 1884 book Woodcraft and his articles for Field and Stream magazine the kind of camping George Washington 'Nessmuk' Sears's was advocating was considered light weight. Nowadays the heavy canvas, tool kit and cookware would be considered grossly heavy by almost anyone contemplating an expedition on foot.

At the time though his approach was not practised by recreational hunters and campers and even the frontiersmen and mountain men of the early 1800's would, out of choice, travelled in companies sharing heavier kit between them and relying on their survival skills in extremis rather than as a routine. 

Compared to the heavy canvasses and iron cookpots of Nessmuks era though we can carry a titanium cook pot and a small gas stove that weighs less combined than the small hatchet he would have carried to process his fuel wood. Out tents or nylon tarps weigh a tiny fraction of his canvas tarpaulins and while they might now not be suitable for using to drag firewood or stretcher a casualty as they are much thinner and not as abrasion resistant as an old fashioned canvas they are more waterproof and far, far lighter.

bivibag, thermarest, sleeping bag and fly sheet; a combined weight of about four kilos, probably half the weight of an old canvas tarpaulin. 

A modern light weight camping shelter. 

Because the kit we have available nowadays is so light weight we can afford to carry more food than we might perhaps once have had the capacity to carry so we might be able to travel a little further without re-supply or without having to resort to fishing or hunting. Nowadays carrying hunting and fishing kit would be considered by many to be additional unnecessary weight on expeditions, but that's not the main reason that bushcraft and modern light weight camping an expedition seem to have parted ways. 

In the UK land ownership has been such a contention issue over the centuries and laws so restrictive regarding access to and passage over land that many of the rights exercised by Nessmuk during his adventures are denied us now. We couldn't go on an expedition across the UK and expect to hunt, fish and trap our own food or to be able to have fires wherever we camped in the evenings. Because we can't do those things we then have to rely on the modern light weight camp stoves, freeze dried food, and other modern equipment. Because we are then tied to using a modern stove instead of a fire we don't need an axe and saw to process firewood or a firesteel or bow drill kit to light it. Ye we might be able to whittle beside the camp stove in the evening but it's not the same as a camp fire and whittling for whittling's sake might be good practice for real bushcraft skills but without a purpose to you're whittling it's not really bushcraft. 

It's a great shame that we don't have the right to practice bushcraft in the countryside here in the UK, a right that is protected in law in Scandinavian counties. Allemansrätten in Sweden allows people to access more or less the whole countryside as long as they follow some sensible rules. These rules might include bans on fires in high risk areas during the Summer or completely in specific nature reserves, bans on fishing in certain conservation areas and the need to abide by relevant firearms and hunting laws. But largely access to the countryside is unrestricted as long as you practice courtesy and don't approach near peoples dwellings. 

At a camping shelter in Tyresta National Park in Sweden, due to fire risks and the need to maintain this pristine piece of primeval ancient forest fire, other than in designated areas like this one, is banned and you may only use wood supplied at camping shelters like this one rather than being allowed to cut and gather your own wood. But this is the exception rather than the rule and outside of these protected areas there is even greater freedom to experience the outdoors. 

 While I do love this principle and regularly take advantage of it on my trips to Scandinavia I can't see it working in the UK. The much larger population, the fact that most of the land is intensively managed lowland agriculture rather than forest and upland does not suit free access and neither does the mentality of many people here in the UK. We certainly aren't as a nation as closely linked to the landscape as out Scandinavian friends and I worry, having worked in the countryside my entire career, that the general level of respect for nature and the countryside here is far too low for people to be trusted with full access to the countryside.

The number of times I've seen people flout signs saying not to disturb undergrowth or cut live trees, even a few years ago at the 2014 Bushcraft show I watched a man and his young son, systematically cutting down willow coppice stems to make way for their shelter despite signs asking people not to cut vegetation.  The amount of litter I find in the countryside, the poaching that goes on, the gates that get left open, the dogs that are allowed to freely roam and terrorise livestock I'm not sure our nations countryside could survive the kind of access that Allemansrätten gives the Swedes.

Bushcraft when practised properly does not impact the countryside negatively, a neatly coppiced hazel rod here and there, some harvested fruit, fungi or some legal caught fish or game, a fire carefully extinguished and the ashes scattered, shelters taken down after use do not disfigure or endanger the countryside. That is not the perception though and and any thought of cutting wood, having fires or harvesting wild food on a hike, camping trip or expedition is fairly likely to be met with disdain by modern light weight campers, especially because of the weight of the kit and equipment that allows you to do those things. Additionally the though that you would burn wood or cut a piece of living hazel to make a spoon, whistle or bow for your fire set will shock and horrify people who don't understand the nature of hardwood trees and the benefits of coppicing. Leaving no trace is a good moto of campers but actually if more people engaged with bushcraft instead of insulating themselves from nature with modern light weight kit maybe they would feel inclined to leave a positive trace in the environment.

Chris Loynes of the University of Cumbria gave a great talk about this idea of leaving more trace at the Nature Connections Conference in Derby in 2016 and published a blog post on the topic HERE.

With the availability of modern light weight kit camping and bushcraft have become two very separate things to most people and that is a shame in some respects.

We'd be really interested to know how you link your practice of bushcraft with other outdoor activities and would love to feature some guest blog posts on the BushcraftEducation blog with peoples thoughts and ideas. Please get in touch with us through social media or in the comments section on the right of the page. We look forward to hearing from you and perhaps to publishing a guest post from you soon.

Bushcraft and the Law: Woodland

This post really follows on from the Applied Bushcraft post from March where I discussed the overlapping skills between Bushcraft and Woodland Management, and how we had used them in our recently started woodland management project. This post discusses some of the legal considerations we had to make before we got stuck in with the actual management work, and some other more basic considerations for bushcrafters who use, or want to use, woodland for recreational purposes too.

A view of the bottom portion of the coup we cut in 'our' wood in February.
Notice for later than the vast majority of the stacked wood is relatively small.

As with any area of land there are some basic rules we must remember. With regards working in woodlands when that involves felling or removing wood or trees and other plants, there are certain restrictions. In practise these affect Bushcrafters very little thankfully because woodland is a prime place to practice and enjoy bushcraft, but are nevertheless worth bearing in mind. The most formal of these guidelines have been aimed at forestry workers or land owners and as such deal with quantities of timber and sizes or numbers of trees far greater than the average Bushcrafter would ever deal in. Nevertheless, a little knowledge goes a long way and this info may be useful, if for nothing else than being able to defend yourself with some facts to anyone who may challenge you while undertaking legal activity. 

1) Access and Permission: 

I hope it goes without saying that land owners permission is essential for any activity within woodland, even just being there. As nice as it would be if it did, a public footpath or other right of way 'through' a wood does not constitute free or unrestricted access to the whole wood or forest area. Woodland which seems unused or unmanaged does not mean it is un-owned, there will always be a landowner no matter how uninterested they are in the land. It may be that the owner has no problem with members of the public roaming the wood but never assume. (Geoff covered similar issues in his post: Stealth Camping).

FC guidelines on ensuring public safety
around their operations - don't make
their job harder!

Similarly, you may think removing a couple of hazel wands or picking a basket of edible wild fruits or mushrooms or whatever it may be will make no big difference to the wood or its owner, but at the end of the day without permission you still shouldn't. Having said that I doubt even the most unfriendly land owner will make an issue over someone picking a hand full of black berries while walking along a footpath or along a boundary. (Geoff again covered similar issues in his post: Legal Foraging). 

One other issue regarding access and permission is that of safety surrounding other operations being undertaken in the wood. Deer management is undertaken in many British woodlands to protect regenerating timber, commercial forestry operations or ground flora in conservation areas, or just as a sporting enterprise. The safety implications to stalkers of unauthorised, and therefore unexpected people in woodlands where they are working go way beyond the inconvenience of startled or spooked quarry! Felling operations are also potentially dangerous - while signs are often put up warning of ongoing forestry operations in woodlands where there is no public access this is a case of best practise not legal requirement. Falling trees and bullets meant for deer rarely take prisoners! Stay safe and legal.

2) Woodland Classification or Designation:

Not all protected areas are 'Nature Reserves'. Various levels of environmental protection exist (such as SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest), SAC (Special Area of Conservation) and others) with many of them never widely publicised or documented unless you know where to look (DEFRA's on-line mapping tool MAGIC can show you a wide range of information on the protection status of an area). Some of these designations come with strict guidelines as to what management or activity can or cannot be undertaken in the wood. Felling or thinning operations, and removal or disturbance of other plant species, are commonly restricted or pre-prescribed. 

In these areas the most basic of foraging or material harvesting tasks can become illegal due to the site specific guidelines issued by the relevant nature conservation body (Natural England in England; Scottish Natural Heritage in Scotland, Countryside Council for Wales in Wales), and there is a fine associated with damaging or disturbing these areas: ignorance will not be a suitable defence, even less so if you didn't have permission in the first place. The moral of this story is that even with landowners permission care should be taken to remain within site specific requirements; don't assume that because there isn't a Nature Reserve sign up the land is not protected.

Related to these protective statuses but even more unlikely to affect bushcrafters are Tree Preservation Orders (TPO's). This grants a specific tree protection, often due to some historical significance. The fine for felling one of these can be £10,000 per tree! 

3) Felling Rules and Reg's:

As coppice less than 15cm diameter
at 1.3m from the ground no licence
is required for this sort of felling.

When bushcraft activities blend into larger scale woodland management then Felling Licences have to be considered. These are sought from the Forestry Commission when required, but there are exemptions which allow some felling or woodland management to go ahead without applying for a licence depending on a number of things. Our woodland management work has not yet required the application for a licence because several of these exemptions apply as follows:

Type of Tree Work - Pruning and Pollarding do not require a licence.

Quantity - No licence required if felling less than 5 cubic metres of timber in a calender quarter.

Tree size - No licence required for cutting trees less than 8cm in diameter, 10cm in diameter if thinning and 15cm in diameter when coppicing (all diameters measured at 1.3m above ground level). 

Legal requirement - No licence required for trees which are dangerous or cause a nuisance. We have felled a number of dangerous trees with major rot in their roots in the early stages of the project and may yet have to fell a few more.  

(All above information taken from Forestry Commission web page on Felling Licences, anyone seeking additional information on the rules of large scale woodland management would do well to start here).

If you have read to the end congratulations - I realise these articles on law are not the most interesting to everyone but they are hopefully informative. This subject may not effect all bushcrafters but elements are well worth being familiar with and may be useful in the future. I hope it will prove to be useful for you as it certainly has for me recently!

Richard

Deer Stalking, an adventurous activity?

This article appeared in the September 2014 issue of The Professional Mountaineer Magazine and was the last of three articles of mine published there on the topic of access and the potential conflicts and common grounds between the outdoor education/adventure sports industries and the countryside management (in particular gamekeeping and deer stalking) sector.

In this particular article I look closely at what makes up a days deer stalking and compare it with the experiences which might be had by anyone else pursuing a recreational activity out of doors. 

Keep an eye out on this blog next month where I will examine this relationship between countryside pursuits and outdoor education even more and suggest how bushcraft might bridge the gap between them.

Shooting and Recreation in Upland Areas

This article appeared in the September 2013 issue of The Professional Mountaineer Magazine and was one of three articles of mine published there on the topic of access and the potential conflicts and common grounds between the outdoor education/adventure sports industries and the countryside management (in particular gamekeeping and deer stalking) sector.

Having been involved in both outdoor education and countryside management for quite a while I can't help thinking that perhaps there is more common ground than we think and one activity springs to mind that seems to sit somewhere on the periphery of both industries; can you guess what that activity is?  

That's right it's Bushcraft, it includes many of the skills used by countryside managers in various roles, whether it's woodland management, handling game etc.. but also can be used very effectively to meet the outcomes of outdoor education such as improved self esteem, confidence etc.. 

Bushcraft has a lot going for it not just as a recreational activity but as a tool both of the outdoor educator and as a way of prolonging and preserving the traditional skills of countryside management. 

Trading Places

In this recent article published in the Institute for Outdoor Learning's Horizons magazine I report on some 'skills swaps' carried out at FE colleges between outdoor education/adventure sports students and countryside and game management students.   

Opinions of Outdoor Activities

I am collecting peoples opinions of the following pictures to try and gauge public perception of land based and outdoor activities. It's really aimed at people involved in the industries of agriculture, game management, countryside management, outdoor recreation/education and adventure sports but if you are involved in any of these activities as a hobby I would also be interested in your opinions as well.

Rewilding

The concept of rewilding is not new but it is an interesting one, I have spent time in Sweden and New Zealand where things just seem a little wilder, maybe it's the presence of large mammal carnivores in Sweden or the access to vast tracts of land with relatively open access in both countries which makes it seem that way. Monbiot's words about rewilding human life by having access to rewilded habitats make me wonder; why can't project's like the Alladale wilderness reserve in Scotland be allowed a little more scope and support to rewild areas of the highlands? I know there are issues regarding access but no one in Sweden moans or complains or refuses to go to an area where there are bears or wolves and no one in North America refuses to go outside for fear of being trampled by a cow moose protecting it's calf, the fences are necessary to control the release of reintroduced species but you can still grant access to people via styles and gates if they want to camp and walk there.  

It's also not realistic, despite monbiot's suggestion, that we just leave things to themselves. Rewilding is not a case of just stepping back and letting nature take it's course, we have already disrupted natures course so severely that if we are going to 'rewild' we need to carry out some pretty major management to return things to a state in which they would manage themselves. The reintroduction of species already extinct from an isolated area (such as the UK) is an example, you can't leave an area of land and expect these species to reintroduce themselves, we have to be heavily involved and committed (financially as well as emotionally) to projects of this size. Species need to be reintroduced from other countries which requires licences and lots of money and expertise and there may even be a need to selectively breed species to produce an animal that will match the fauna historically found in the area  such as has been attempted with the Heck Cattle which were introduced to the Oostvaardersplassen in the Netherlands. These few points alone show that although the benefits of rewilding as Monbiot expresses them are very important and interesting carrying out that rewilding of ecosystems is not as strait forward or simple as just leaving nature to itself. 

What may be easier to achieve is the rewilding of our own lives, we dont need gigantic elephas antiquus or even the still living Asian elephant to engage with nature, a patch of weeds or a dry stream or canal (Pyle 2011) is enough. The rewilding of our own lives can be done very effectively through bushcraft and other outdoor activities, what could be 'wilder' than living off the land using bushcraft skills as people who would have shared our countryside with the extinct Irish Elk or the spotted hyena's and hippos which Monbiot talks about. 

Before people start thinking about rewilding they need to engage with the habitats we do have, get outdoors and see what nature and wildlife has to offer and then maybe there will be possibilities to fund a rewildling project in the UK.    

References;

Pyle R (2011) The Thunder Tree; Lessons From an Urban Wildland; Oregon State University; Reprint ed. 

Stand up for Stanage

I know this isn't strictly related to bushcraft, but this campaign from the BMC (British Mountaineering Council) begs the question why can't there be a closer relationship between mainstream outdoor activities and field sports?  Maybe bushcraft which combines elements of both is a good common ground to start on;

https://thebmc.co.uk/stand-up-for-stanage

As I first read this article and the proposed 'Stanage Charter' I was pleased that there was going to be an effort to protect this iconic area of the Peak District but as I read the charter and saw the point that *Shooting rights should not be excercised I was very disapointed.
I am deeply concerned that one interest group among popular outdoor activities should include in their agenda the restriction of another outdoor activity. To my mind there is no reason that shooting (and field sports in general) and climbing, walking and mountaineering should not coexist amicably and support each other. Shooting and game management activities taking place would not automatically mean that access to stanage was restricted.
AFTER ALL WE ALL WANT TO SPEND TIME OUTDOORS; whether you want to carry a gun or a climbing harness is largely irrelevant.