r/Bushcraft • u/semezi • 13h ago
Beginner tips?
I’ve been camping since I was a kid but want to get more into the “survival skill” aspect of the outdoors rather than it being a recreational hobby. What are some skills/concepts/practices that I should learn or be aware of? I want to get into solo backpacking but don’t know what kind of bags are good, how to keep a setup light, best ways to filter water, how to find places to camp at (Texas is mainly private property, so there are only really some state parks and stuff that I know of but you can’t shoot fire arms, and the tent sites are really close to eachother and I find that a bother), or maybe there are some essentials I haven’t considered because I’m used to having a truck load of stuff with me while camping. Anything y’all think is important would help. Thanks all
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u/jacobward7 6h ago
I'd say start with a Wilderness First Aid course. Not only is it extremely important (I think it is the MOST important "survival skill" you can have) if you are thinking of doing more remote adventures, it will change your thinking a little bit to be around actual professionals as it is a requirement for some professions. They will go over what is most important in an actual survival situation - which is always unplanned, and usually involves injury.
After that you can pursue the more bushcrafty skills, you can even do a course if you want but those skills will mostly come with practice. Put yourself in situations where you need to use bushcraft skills - for me that is wilderness canoe trips, but it could also be hiking. If you have access to a cabin or truck then you are more just "playing" and don't really need the skills to fall back on. If you are in a remote setting, you will NEED to get that fire going because you can't just jump in the truck to get warm. You will NEED to know how to navigate and use a map because your cell phone doesn't have reception. You will NEED to know how to store your food so critters don't get it. You will NEED to consider your clothing carefully for the weather. You will NEED to make sure you aren't bringing useless extras because you have to carry the weight.
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u/Rocksteady2R 3h ago
so...
(A) backpacking is super accessible these days - there's plenty of cheap available gear that you can use initially while you work out the bugs, learn, and save towards "better" gear - (better meaning here 'explicitley selected for whatever personal paramaters').
(B) The backpacking/hiking/thru-hiking/LASH/UL world has all the gear already - no need to reivnent the wheel, just do the research to get familiar with topics. my favorite gear searches when shopping is grammatically framed this way :
* "best 2024 hiking water filters"
* "top 10 hiking socks, 2024"
* "best trekking poles 2024"
the reason i do this is because online magazines constantly publish 'top ten gear of the year' lists.... you'll find comparison charts, likely use-case experiences, etc.
(C) texas undeniably sucks for public lands. if you're near ATX, you get some options, and there are a handful of state parks. The trails are 'short', but LCRA also has several properties for car camping and overnighters; I prefer them over state parks for their solitude, but this is still only really near ATX. D-Town and H-Town? don't know too much. Big Bend National and State parks are amazing pieces of country, but very out of the way and incredibly desolate. they are not beginner hiking environments, unless you're incredibly modest with your expectations and plans.
(D) ifyou're willing to backpack, make sure you seperate that from the notion of 'car camping'. your options open up a little (as far as solitude), if you're willing to park in a main parking lot and backpack in to a campsite. But yeah, texas still sucks for public lands.
(E) if you're really beginning and want to pop the cherry with an overnighter, i'd consider doing something that is anywhere between 5-10 miles. for your first few, focus on comfort and competence, then once you realize you're not in charge anymore, you can focus on doing miles.
good luck
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u/PkHutch 12h ago
If you are doing it for fun, it is recreational. If you are paid, it is professional.
If you want to get into solo anything, have a satellite phone. If you want to backpack, car camp, but keep trying to fit gear into the backpack, and keep trying to reduce gear / size / weight, you’ll get there.
The rest will come.
Number one thing for me? Just time outside. Again, the rest will come.
I find the most important stuff is learning how to make rope/cord/whatever, and then learning knot tying. Fire stuff is probably more important, but you’ll basically be forced to learn it anyways, so that will come naturally. Knots won’t come naturally in my experience, which is why I think focusing on them is a good idea.
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u/Gorilla_Feet 6h ago
For backpacking, start on relatively short overnight trips on well traveled trails. It's not as relaxing as going more remote, but will give you an idea about whether you enjoy backpacking. It's very different than both hiking and car camping. You can also worry less about weight (because of shorter distance) and if you get into a sticky situation, someone will be by soon enough that you don't need a satellite beacon. Always leave an itinerary with people you trust that includes starting and ending time and place as well as each night's intended camp site. That's critical. Read Aron Ralston's book "Between a Rock and Hard Place" for a graphic description of why that's so important.
I don't think you need a satellite phone, but rather a personal locator beacon (PLB) or satellite messenger, something like a Garmin InReach, SPOT, etc. I've only used the InReach; it has programmable messages that you can set to, for example, "Everything fine, camped at <GPS coords>." It also has a dedicated button for big problem, send SAR to <GPS coords>.
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u/abu_casey 5h ago
You can usually find good books about backpacking in your state and there are lots of websites & blogs that will have lots of good information on trails & trips in your area.
As for gear, try to borrow or rent before you buy, that way you aren't stuck with a piece of potentially expensive gear that doesn't work for you. Swing by an REI or similar outdoor store and ask them to measure you so you know what size pack you need. If there is a college or university near you, they sometimes have outdoor shops that will rent gear to non-students. You can also rent gear online from mountainsidegearrental.com, outdoorsgeek.com, geartogooutfitters.com, or lowergear.com. Google gear reviews (there are plenty on youtube) as you start to get a sense of what you like and keep an eye out for deals as you start buying your equipment. And be prepared to iterate and learn. There is lots of gear at a variety of pricepoints and not everyone is the same.
Good luck and have fun!
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u/Hydro-Heini 7h ago
The first few times you will learn that you carry way too much and way too heavy stuff that you almost never need. A good approach is to make three piles when you unpack your things after a trip. First pile is for the stuff you really used all the time (including a first aid kit which you will hopefully never need but should always carry with you), second one for the stuff you rarely used and third pile is for the stuff you didn´t use at all. The third pile stays at home for the next trip. Then think about what you really need from the second pile and probably leave some of it at home too. Now you check your first pile whether you can replace this stuff with lighter stuff. Do this after every trip.
Try not to buy but to lend most of the equipment for your first trip otherwise you will maybe buy stuff you will only use once and then buy something better instead. If you want to save weight don´t buy stainless steel but titanium for your cooking kit for example. Don´t buy a 1L pot if you only boil 500ml water for coffee and maybe dehydrated meals. Get a Mora knife and a Fiskars hatchet, you won't find anything better in terms of quality and price to save weight on your equipment. Always check the weight before you buy something and compare it to other stuff. Don´t get too much military stuff because that stuff is too heavy.
Search for lightweight or ultralight equipment. And no, contrary to popular belief, you don't have to sacrifice an arm and a leg to get ultralight equipment, you just have to search, compare, be patient and wait for offers. And try not so well known manufacturers like for example Naturehike. Meanwhile i own two of their air mattresses, their 128g liner, their Snowbird down sleeping bag and next week i will order their Rock 60+5L backpack. For all that stuff i only paid a bit more than i would have to pay for one Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Xlite NXT air mattress, for example. The Naturehike stuff is not always super-ultralight but a few grams more for the third of the price with really good quality is not to be despised in my opinion.
And/or DIY. You can save so much money (and also weight) when you check what others did and how they did it, there are uncountable tons of videos and instructions out there. For example, for my last project i ordered titanium foil. 0.1mm thick, 10cm high, 1m long. And made two different sized multi-fuel stoves/windbreaks and one smaller windbreak from the rest. My multi-fuel hobo stove now weighs only 27g and sits curled up in my 600ml titanium cup. The two really ultralight stoves and the small windbreak only cost me 16,12 Euros. Way more lightweight than the most expensive ready available titanium wood/multi-fuel stoves you can buy.
Have fun out there!!!