What is Bushcraft?

At its core, bushcraft involves using traditional skills and knowledge to thrive in natural environments. It encompasses skills such as building shelters, foraging for food, making tools, and starting fires using primitive methods. We've covered plenty of those skills here on the Georgia Bushcraft blog, but another part of bushcraft is always expanding and honing your knowledge. There's always more to learn and more to practice. 

Sometimes people might think that bushcraft and survival skills are the same thing. While they share some overlap, bushcraft differs from survival in several key ways. Survival skills are typically focused on short-term, high-stress situations. These skills are often practiced with the aim of addressing urgent needs such as finding shelter, water, and food to survive long enough for rescuers to arrive or self-rescue in an emergency situation. In contrast, bushcraft is more about long-term, sustainable living in natural environments. It's a broader approach that incorporates skills for thriving in the wild over extended periods, emphasizing not just survival but also comfort and efficiency. While survival skills may include techniques like signaling for rescue or making improvised shelters, bushcraft delves into the skills that allow you to live comfortably in the wilderness, including building shelters intended for long-term use, more purpose-driven fire lays, and plenty of camp-crafting. 

In many ways, the essence of bushcraft lies in the realm of self-reliance. Sure, you could carry extra gear to address your needs, but being able to use your skillset to meet those same needs gives a deeper sense of accomplishment. Not to mention, it also provides a strong connection to yesteryear when these "primitive" or "traditional" skills were just a part of living. Foraging for wild food and medicine used to be an everyday thing, but now it's seen as a fringe activity.

READ MORE: The Best Beginner Bushcraft Gear

It could be seen as nostalgia, but focusing on these skills reminds us how easy we have it now. And it helps expand our problem solving skills beyond ordering the next thing that will arrive in the mail in two days, or calling someone to fix every little thing. This mindset of creative problem-solving ties back to the self-reliance aspect and helps us to use our mental toolkit and skills more efficiently.

At the same time, a significant amount of cultural preservation is taking place in the world of bushcraft. From primitive skills across the world to practices from native peoples from the land we call home. It provides a deep appreciation for those ways of life.

Bushcraft really is what you make it. No matter if you want to be proficient enough to get that fire started even though it's raining on your next camping trip, or if you want to tan the leather to make your clothing, forage for food, and knap stone to a cutting-edge, it's all within the community of bushcraft. We think that it makes people better problem solvers, teaches them to rely on themselves, and, as is the case with Georgia Bushcraft, you meet some great people during your bushcraft journey.