Which essential bushcraft skill do you lack?

[GalaxyRider]

OK fess up. Which bushcraft skill is your weakest suit?

For me it is the recognition of many plants. I read about the different types and their uses, then when I get outside they all just look green and leafy!

Anyone else have a bushcraft Achilles heel?

[Humakt]

I'm exactly the same as you.

[paulthefish2009]

Not to bad on small plants,it's trees I struggle with along with fungi. Paul

[JonnyP]

Tracking

[f0rm4t]

Tracking
Map & Compass
Plant ID
Birds & Wildlife
Hunting
Fire
Hiking
Shelters
Water Purification
Wild food


However! Talking bollox sat around a camp fire with a hip flask of good cognac is something I'm a professional at! ;)

[paulthefish2009]

Tracking

Yeh good one Jonny,I've never even tried to track something,quite good at spotting rabbit runs and deer lay ups though. Paul

[AL...]

Fungi ID

Cheers
AL

[Roadkillphil]

Fungi ID

Cheers
AL

Yeah, me too. I know a couple but I see loads out and about and I'm always left wondering if theym edible or no.

[Silverback]

Fire by friction
Fungi id

[ian c]

I would say that i am useless at ID plants, fungi, and most wild foods but try to remember things when shown to me as i find it easier when someone who knows what they are doing shows me what to look for.

[fish]

fungi , plants, flint knaping,basket weaving.

[FishyFolk]

Plants - I have not got a clue, not very interested either. Only know a few berries + dandelion and stinging nettles. I have no clue about trees either...I know birch, rowan, spruce and pine...That's it. I could identify an oak to I guess, but they do not grow here.
Fire by friction. My stick does not even get warm....and then there is the whole punk wood issue!

[Kernowek Scouser]

Identifying wild foods and catching live food are my weakest areas.

As I'm allergic to mushrooms, I don't even bother to try and identify fungi, as they are all evil as far as my digestive tract is concerned. And I think I have wild plant blindness as most green stuff just looks like a thistle or a mint leaf to me.

I can happily skin, gut and prep something someone else has caught, but the only meat I can gather myself, is the kind that comes in either a tin or vacuum packaging. Being heavy footed and an average shot seems to give my prey more than a sporting advantage.

[jus_young]

Got to be plant ID. If I ever got stranded somewhere I would die of starvation within a couple of hours. Then I would also be very cold for those few hours as I haven't yet mastered fire by friction.

[Mountain Goat]

All of them. :mad2:


Though honestly fire without cotton wool as tinder and identifying plants and fungi.

[Ehecatl]

However! Talking bollox sat around a camp fire with a hip flask of good cognac is something I'm a professional at! ;)

Wot he said!

[mark]

Tracking
Map & Compass
Plant ID
Birds & Wildlife
Hunting
Fire
Hiking
Shelters
Water Purification
Wild food


However! Talking bollox sat around a camp fire with a hip flask of good cognac is something I'm a professional at! ;)

I second that motion

[sam_acw]

Fire by friction, axe work and I could always learn more plants.

[treefrog]

I confess that I've never lit a fire by friction in my life; not enough time (or admittedly interest) to get into learning it. But here's my cunning plan:
whenever I'm out on a backcountry trip I take along 3 or 4 disposable lighters and some matches in a waterproof container, and I also bring a firesteel.
In the vanishingly remote chance that all my lighters and matches fail, and I can't survive without a fire, I reckon I've watched enough videos of other people doing it
that I can just figure it out on the spot. Wish me luck.

[BJ]

I lack most of the skill but I make up for it in enthusiasm:)

[bkemeny]

Fire by friction, natural cordage, flintknapping, plant ID, fungi ID. Planning to learn all of them in time :)

[OakAshandThorn]

Definitely fungi ID. I haven't done friction fires yet :ashamed:. Tree and plant ID is no problem for me - I can identify nearly all native trees in Connecticut and southeastern New York. With shrubs and low plants, I'm decent, though it can get difficult in the winter months.
My tracking skills need to be improved, and to be honest, I haven't even bothered with trapping/hunting. It's futile with all the legal nonsense and the tangle of regulations in my state. If I lived somewhere with more relaxed hunting laws, I'd certainly give it a go, but definitely NOT in Connecticut.