It's very quiet on here these days

[swkieran]

It's very quiet on here compared to how it used to be whats going on and where is everyone. Not even the legend martin.

[shepherd]

also noticed this... seems to be alot less active members and new posts compared to when i joined..

[David_JAFO]

hello,
I agree
Regards
David

[rik_uk3]

I think a lot of forums are less busy these days, facebook is slowly killing them off plus I believe 'Bushcraft' is loosing popularity

[FishyFolk]

I am not doing so much after I stopped making my little youtube movies. And as the runt is getting older, it's become more a dad and lad thing to get out, and we only do the simple things, like
walk into the trees, and make hot chockolate on the wood gas stove.

You are right about facebook taking over too. And people are drawn more to survivalism, or prepping...which simply is not my cup of tea.
In here every day, and make a comment where I feel I have something to contribute...but it all tends get somewhat repetitive.

Despite all that, still a great, friendly community :-)

[OakAshandThorn]

Sometimes it's a "loss of interest", sometimes life steps in, and social media encroaching on respectable forums such as this. Not sure if "bushcraft" itself is losing popularity, on the contrary, it seems to still be popular. Ross at WoodTrekker made a post about this last year, called 'The Neglect of Backpacking' - http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2015...ckpacking.html

That the AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club) and other backpacking clubs/organisations are losing members is shocking. What seems to be dominating, at least on youtube, is what I call 'backyard bushcraft'. Either the person is staying in the "wilderness" of his backyard for a night or two at the most, or they make a short walk to a natural shelter on a friend's land and "tough it out", again for a night or two at the most. Because of the short trip, there's no need to pack light, so out come the 80+ litre rucksacks that weigh only the Stars know how much. There are very few backpacking channels, and fewer backpacking-specific forums online. Heck, there are bushcraft schools popping up all over the place (being a youtube star and-or a forum fanatic is apparently all you need on your re`sume` to start a bushcraft school).

I don't know about the rest of you, but to me a lot of what I call bushcraft involves backpacking. I want to be immersed in natural surroundings in all seasons. Heck, it's not so much the destination that matters to me as it is the trek getting there. And yes, that involves going light, and having knowledge of bush skills to be comfortable. There is no reason why someone cannot be comfortable with a base weight of less than 20 lbs /9 kg. Now, I'm not ultralight gung-ho, but I am rather brutal when it comes to choosing the kit I take with me. For most of my excursions, I don't take an axe anymore...sometimes not even my Silky saw. Some people might be a bit surprised at this, but for me there is usually no need, unless I take my Emberlit stove with me, and for that I don't need a large axe or even my Gränsfors Small Forest Axe. When I plan on burning wood for the stove I take my tomahawk...it gets the job done for the weight. And hey, I'm completely comfortable - that's the whole point, isn't it? To be comfortable in the bush, and I'm not weighed down by a heavy pack, so I [I]can[I] go the distance and enjoy every minute of it.

All that said, the closest rival to bushcraft IMO is the survival/prepping side. Also not my cup of tea, especially since a lot of the information out there (on social media) seems to be a lot of careless speculation without meaningful comparison to survival scenarios that have actually happened and learning from them.

But I do agree with Rune, the community is fantastic, in Europe anyways...in the US, not so much lol.

[shepherd]

I think a lot of forums are less busy these days, facebook is slowly killing them off plus I believe 'Bushcraft' is loosing popularity

makes sense, but its a shame

[jus_young]

There is always a cycle that forums go through, popularity increases and makes a new forum look busy, it levels off in membership with a constant flow of newbies and leavers, and then the membership goes quiet. The reasons are many as have already been said, I for one have had life turned upside down in recent times, busy lives and changes of interest all play their part, but the forums then come full circle and start to grow again.
The forum does need to survive during the quiet period and is down to the regular members that keep things going and encouraging new folk along. With so many new forums attempting to start and not necessarily making it people don't always find their way here but some do and the boom will return.

[swkieran]

Did you all have a good new year that's the main thing plenty of drink and good meat, and bushcraft activity's I hope.here was me prepping for the new year celebrations

[rik_uk3]

As Jus said, things in life change and this can lead to people moving on. For me, I almost died from TB several years ago, that and Marlboro have buggered my lungs and I now have COPD; this means I can't really walk on level ground for more than a couple of hundred metres without puffing for breath...no more hiking for me sadly.

That said, I'm still interested in 'Bushcraft' (and I'm a bit of a 'Prepper') and am now enjoying passing on some basic skills to my grandson; he's now in the Beavers and next month will be old enough to join the Cub Scouts. We are having fun with https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/doc...flashcards.pdf which I printed out and and I'm teaching him map and compass skills...he's top of the class lol. If the rain stops I'll be a 'garden bushcrafter' and teach some basic fire lighting stuff.

We all change and adapt, for me I'm selling off my stoves et al and turning my 'man cave', AKA garden shed from a kit dump and into my radio shack, I'm getting more involved back into ham radio... I'll always have a Primus/Optimus stove there for a brew or breakfast though lol.

Keep the faith and get out when you can


Sent from my new Surface Pro 4 whilst in bed after Sciatic pain woke me up...Tramadol has kicked in so I'll wish you all good night