>>2262061>thru hikers/hunters/fishermenBut when OP says "bushcraft" I don't think that's what's he's talking about, or what must people ITT envision (especially not with thru hikers, who are usually too busy hauling ass putting in miles on pricey ultralight gear to "build a lean-to shelter" or "start a fire without matches" or whatever bushcraft/survivalist LARPers seem to do).
>>2262090So I think this poster gets it. And it's really that for most good outdoors people, bushcraft is a worst-case *backup* plan for when you're in a life-or-death *survival* situation. Bushcraft is not the "main attraction" - it's more like "plan D", after plans A thru C have failed and for some reason you're shitfuck lost, far away from camp and only have a few essentails on you or something. So to the rest of us for whom bushcraft is certainly not the main attraction, it really does seem like these people are role playing out that scenario, or some sort of similar imaginary SHTF or SEER scenario.
And I'm not arguing that bushcraft isn't a valuable skillset as *as a backup plan* if you're going into the backcountry - I believe most good outdoorsmen should know how to build a shelter and find food, water, orient themselves, etc. So there's certainly nothing necessarily wrong with practicing those skills.
But when you are practicing those skills outside of real survival situation you are, objectively, role playing a scenario.
I assume that's what OP was asking about. This strange YouTube / Discovery Channel driven phenomenon where bushcraft/survival is increasingly becoming the "main attraction" in the mind of a lot of the uninitiated public when going into the backcountry. Which is just bizarre to a lot of people who have long been going into the backcountry for other reasons, like hunting or fishing or just "getting there".
