The theme “Life long Learning”. I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting from the symposium. Ive been stuck inside for months on a walking frame so anything in way of online training Ive been grabbing at the moment to stay sane.
Two things hit me at once upon opening the log in link. One I had no idea who half of these people were. Actually it was more like I only knew of three out of the 34 speakers and secondly the amount of PHD, professors, doctorates that were among the speakers. I was expecting them to come out in suits and ties.
My intention was to watch only the presentations that I was of interest in way of skills taught. Then after the opening keynote speech by David Delafield I reconsidered that attitude.
I spent the next four days watching and listening to every presentation and they have changed the way I look at bushcraft. Im not going to go through what every speaker said. The ones that effected me the most I have already done posts on. However many I did not mention. Several I had to contact in person to let them know how their speeches effected me.
I’m writing this summary because many people are like me. They would have been only interested in learning a new skill, but I wanted to share the big picture.
David Wescott was the First speaker and talked a lot about where ideas came from and the history of bushcraft and the pathways that lead you from one area of research to another. This really struck a cord with me. I have had a mild interest in the history of bushcraft suck as reading Nessmuk and Kephart however Davids presentation made me realize just how many other writers were out there before those two authors and has opened up a whole new area for me to research and learn from. The books of those authors i have put posts up for to add to my reading list and hopefully introduce to others at the same time.
David Delafields opening speech mentioned Dr Lisa Fentons speech from three years previously, of which I immediately looked up and watched before the other 2022 speeches and I realized that I had only been looking at a small section of what bushcraft stands for.
Bruce Zawalskys presentation on Mors Kochanski super shelter something that has never been of interest to me having never lived in snow has started me redesigning it to something i may be able to use in Australia as an emergency shelter system and making it into a one piece of material instead of three different pieces.
Mattias Norbergs presentation of forests and trees reminded me of just how precious this planet is and how old some of the trees are and exactly how much humanity has destroyed most of the habitat here and turned it into mono-culture systems that are not sustainable.
Dave Marrone from Lure of the North i had to contact in person. His speech was very inspirational for me and I had to let him know what bushcraft had done for me to help get me through the many years of rehab and time in hospitals.
Dr Chris Eastabrook how do I start, one of the more original presentations and one of the inspirations for this article along with Andrew Thomas Price. Chris must have said the word controversial at-least ten times though out his speech and the subjects he was talking about the notions he was presenting just seemed like common sense ideas to me. If the subject matter he was talking about was in any way controversial then the UK is a lot worse off than Australia at the moment in terms of thinking.
karie Lee knocke after hearing her presentation on using acupressure in wilderness settings I had to look her up and obtain the new season of Alone. Ive stopped seeking out instructors to learn skills and have been looking for people to teach me mindset. Karie Lee would be one of those people you could just sit in the backwoods with and learn how to look at life again.
Paul Moseley takes bushcraft to a whole new level of thinking. He will easily achieve his masters. Ive watched his presentation three times and still cant put what he is talking about into words. He has taught me more about teaching and thought process than anything else. The future of bushcraft is in the hands of people such as himself. Intent, context and content the words are still going through my mind. If nothing else he is one of the main instigators that introduced me to reading Seton, something I will always be grateful for.
Raven Grays tutorial is another one of those links to people that have pushed me more and more towards the teachings of Jon Young. The Kamana Naturalist Program will be in the forefront of my mind with study .
Kielyn Marrone story’s made the north woods seem like a great adventure. I wanted to pack my bags and head straight to Canada.
Dr John Leach Survival psychology , I found this was one of the most interesting areas to my perspective. I have known of people that have been told their terminal and had two years to live and they have just rolled over climbed under a table and been dead in two weeks. Why do people give up even after being rescued. I need to know an answer to this. Ive lost too many friends now and i think its the same reason but not from accidents, from surgeries. I still think he needs to study disabled people as they are always surviving it is a constant. The people that are told they are terminal and continue to fight no matter what.
Patrick McGlinchey.I found the story of his child hood and how he escaped the slums and finding a connection to the wood lands to be absolutely fascinating.
Monica Wilde just the precept that you go from teaching foraging to be asked by students but could you live off the land to actually trying it for a year. A must have for my book list.
Dr Manu Tranquard the science of bushcraft. ill have to get my thermal monocular out and try it on everything after his demonstration of thermals on fire lays and what works and what doesn’t. I want to question everything from down vs synthetic vs blankets to shelter systems. Test out every theory that has been passed along with out ever finding out if they are true.
Dan Baird the ultimate wilderness survival prioritization system. On my list of individuals I want to do individual posts on but I need enough concentration to do it justice. I had done so many courses and read that many books the systems they always quote have never really made sense to me. its good to see someone trying to work it out.
Jonathon McArthur made learning to tell story’s for teaching and learning an adventure into the imagination.
Andrew Thomas Price from Drydad Bushcraft as mentioned before, one of the inspirations for this article. His idea is to start teaching bushcraft by 3D online. Another person I had to contact in person. He spoke about well being through bushcraft. I was amazed to learn that he had been receiving grief for thinking of teaching people through the net. I thought this was one of the few original ideas i had heard in a long time. The amount of mental health patients and disabled he could help. i wanted to let him know how bushcraft had helped me.how i had spent 12 years of my life on an oxygen hose in and out of hospital and that all that kept me going was my animals and waiting for the next dvd from Ron Hood to arrive so I could escape four walls for a short time. I have known people that have spent over a year of their lives confined to a hospital bed. To be able to bring the wilderness to them would be a gift. The second time i had to travel interstate to have a work up for the second set of lungs my friends wanted to show me the town. I was too exhausted to do much. All I wanted to do is sit in the wheel chair under a nice tree and have my bare feet in the grass. I hadn’t touched the grass in five years and they couldn’t understand. if he can do that for someone that cant go out side as far as I’m concerned hes my new hero.
James Ingamells once again someone I had never heard of. I had heard of his company Woodland Ways however. His speech into how he became disillusioned with bushcraft to begin to study for a master degree into Outdoor Experimental Learning was something I really need to hear at that moment in time and something I’m not ready to write about as yet. He would be the person I would want to learn to be an instructor through.
Cat Bigney someone that inspired me and depressed me at the same time. Cat reminded me just how far I have yet to go with learning and at the same time inspired me to put more back.
Dr Ziga Ogorelec just listening to him you could see how much he enjoys being out there with something I forget from time to time. When I do Ill think of him from now on.
Dr Theresa Emmerich kamper puts experimental archeology into a whole new light From Season 9 Alone. I want to go out today and build a Pit Home after watching her efforts on the series.
So these people have introduced me to looking at bushcraft in a whole new way. I’m now interested in experimental archeology, psychology, history, where bushcraft may be heading with the new laws being introduced and how much I can put back in to something that has helped me through many years.
