The Difference between Bushcraft and Survival

To most people Survival and Bushcraft are one and the same. Perhaps this has been brought about by the way the outdoors have been presented in the media. There are, however, subtle and essential differences.

Some skills are essentially similar – making shelter and making fire for example and the ability to find food and water. The following table is modified from the article The Heart of Bushcraft by Dave Watson from IOL Horizons Spring 2009-04-05

BUSHCRAFT	SURVIVAL
Utilises	Manipulates
Works with	Fights against
Use resources responsibly so there is some left for the future	Use whatever you can find to meet your immediate needs
Comfortable reliance on the resources available – either from the field or brought in	Adapt and make things do what you want them to do
Focuses on natural resources	Tends to rely on man made equipment where possible
Inspires awareness and creativity	Inevitably is destructive due to desperate situation
Encourages participants to live and cope with others	Draws out extremes of character
Is built on hope	It fights with fear
Ultimately sustainable	Ultimately non sustainable
A group or individual activity	Best tackled collectively but often energy used in unnecessary friction within the group

Our modern society loves placing things and people in boxes – everything is meant to be predictable! A period in the outdoors learning and adapting to the surroundings can produce far reaching effects and the ability to ‘see outside the box’ often to the common good of the group.

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