There’s been a recent increase in people interested in bushcraft techniques.
And for good reasons, too!
There’s nothing quite like heading into the woods with nothing but your bare necessities and your wits, right?
Related Post: Top 50 Bug Out Bag List Essentials
So, if you’re interested in learning bushcraft skills, there’s no need to wait any longer.
Here are just a few of the more challenging bushcraft abilities available.
But first you might be wondering…
Bushcraft Skills – Survival Skills
What Do You Mean By Survival Skills
Bushcraft skills or Survival skills are methods that a person may employ to live in any type of natural or constructed environment.
Water, food, and shelter are the essentials of human life that these approaches are designed to provide.
The bushcraft abilities also aid in the preservation of life by teaching and interacting with animals and plants.
Survival skills are often associated with the need to survive in a disaster situation.
Basic survival skills are ancient ideas and abilities that people have employed for millennia.
Basic wilderness survival skills, especially in dealing with emergency circumstances, are required for various outdoor activities including hiking, backpacking, horseback riding, fishing, and hunting.
Bushcraft and primitive living are both self-initiated but have many comparable skills.
So that you know what we mean by bushcraft skills, what are the top 6 survival skills you could learn?
What Are The Five Basic Bushcraft Skills To Learn
Here are 5 buscraft skills l to help you thrive in any situation.
Bushcraft Skill #1 -Attitude
Your attitude is more important than any other talent when it comes to surviving in the wild.
Your attitude might even determine whether you survive or not with this first of the fundamental survival skills!
To start, consider “The Rule of Threes.”
A human can survive for:
- 3 minutes without air
- 3 hours without a regulated body temperature (shelter)
- 3 days without water
- 3 weeks without food
The Rule of Threes emphasizes the importance of having basic survival know-how in order: first, to seek shelter, second, to drink water, and thirdly, to eat food.
Being unprepared for a harsh natural environment entails overcoming many challenges while remaining calm.
When faced with a potential survival situation, remember to use a “SPEAR”:
- Stop
- Plan
- Execute
- Assess &
- Re-evaluate
You’ll keep your mind and body occupied by implementing your fundamental survival skills in a methodical way.
Giving praise, celebrating achievements, and recognizing positive qualities will make it easier to keep a pleasant mood.
It will also aid in the reduction of anxiety and other bad emotions.
Your chances of surviving are considerably improved if you maintain an upright attitude!
Bushcraft Skill #2 – Shelter
Most people who die in a survival scenario succumb to hypothermia, which is easily prevented with basic survival knowledge.
In a survival scenario, being able to construct a shelter is critical.
Here are some things to think about when planning to build a shelter:
Shelter Considerations:
– Location (away from hazards, near supplies)
– Insulation (from the ground, rain, wind, air)
– Heat Source (body heat or fire-heated). Personal or Group Shelter
There are a variety of shelters to think about, ranging from natural hiding places such as caves, hollow trees, and logs, to constructed shelters such as a debris hut, lean-to, debris tipi, scout pit, or snow shelter.
Bushcraft Skill #3 – Water
Since the human body is mostly made of water (about 78%), it should come as no surprise that water ranks higher than fire or food on this list.
Ideally, a person should drink about a gallon of water per day.
Dehydration and/or the damaging effects of water-borne illnesses from unclean water are responsible for the deaths of many people.
The best sources for clean drinking water in a wilderness setting are springs, head-water streams, and collecting morning dew.
Related Post: How To Filter Water – 5 Ways You Can Purify Water
Boiling is the most popular and successful technique for making safe water. Boiling for 2-3 minutes will destroy bacteria and viruses, as long as the water has been brought to a boil.
Bushcraft Skill #4 – Fire
Even though it is not directly a survival need, fire is one of the most useful basic survival skills.
It can assist you to warm up your body or shelter, dry your clothes, prepare water for cooking, and cook food. Additionally, fire may provide psychological comfort in a survival scenario by providing a feeling of security and safety.
Ideally, when traveling in the wilderness, it is best to carry multiple fire-starting tools, such as a lighter, matches, flint and steel, etc…
We strongly suggest practicing fire-starting in several weather conditions in various habitats. Excellent fire-making abilities are critical.
If you were to become stranded without a modern fire-making gadget, friction fire is the most efficient prehistoric approach.
Popular friction fire-making methods include bow drill, hand drill, fire plow, and fire saw.
Another great way would be that of early pioneers.
They built the Self-Feeding Fire in order to take a much-needed refreshing nap (no need to add logs).
How to Start a Self-Feeding Fire That Lasts All Night Long
Related post: How To Start A Fire Easily
Bushcraft Skill #5 – Food
Food may be low on your survival skills essentials list, but we can survive much longer without it than we can without shelter and water.
Humans can go without food for nearly three weeks before dying (though I’m sure you wouldn’t want to do that).
Wild plants often provide the most readily available foods, though small wild game will also support your dietary needs.
Here are a few plants which are abundant throughout North America:
- Cattail: known as the “supermarket of the swamp”, the roots, shoots, and pollen heads can be eaten
- Conifers: the inner bark, known as the cambium, is full of sugars, starches and calories, and can be eaten on most evergreen, cone-bearing trees [except for Yew, which is poisonous]
- Grasses: the juices from the leaves can provide nutrition, and the root corm can be roasted and eaten
- Oaks: all acorns can be leached of their bitter tannic acids, and then eaten, providing an excellent source of protein, fats, and calories
Plants may be difficult to identify, and some edible plants can resemble poisonous look-alikes. If you are unsure of what a certain plant is, do not consume it.
Last Words
Every person has their own personal favorite bushcraft camping equipment, and which survival skills they should study.
Over the years, preppers and campers have developed their own wilderness bushcraft kits and skills based on their interests in wooded settings.
But everyone is different.
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