Woodcraft Arts Honor

Recreational Activities

Requirements

  1. Research and describe the meaning of the term Bushcraft.

    Answer: Bushcraft (do inglês bush = mato/floresta + craft = habilidade/ofício) significa 'habilidade no mato' ou 'arte de viver na natureza'. É o conjunto de conhecimentos e técnicas para sobreviver e se sustentar em ambientes selvagens usando os recursos da própria natureza: fazer fogo, construir abrigos, obter e purificar água, identificar plantas comestíveis, confeccionar ferramentas, dar nós e amarras, orientar-se sem instrumentos e cozinhar ao ar livre. Diferente do campismo comum (que leva tudo pronto), o bushcraft valoriza a autossuficiência, o mínimo de equipamento e o respeito à natureza.

  2. Prepare a list of edible wild species from your region.

    Answer: Examples of edible wild plants and fruits in Brazil (varies by region): Surinam cherry, araçá, jabuticaba, guava, cashew, umbu, pequi, juçara (palm heart), taioba, purslane, ora-pro-nóbis and mangaba. Each person adapts the list to their region, always with safe identification. — The forest offers many foods — but you should only eat what you can identify with complete certainty.

  3. Explain why we should not eat plants/mushrooms found in nature without knowing them.

    Answer: Because many wild plants and mushrooms are TOXIC or poisonous and can be easily confused with edible ones. Eating the wrong specimen can cause severe poisoning, liver and kidney damage and even death. For this reason, you should only eat what you know with absolute certainty or under the guidance of a specialist. — When in doubt, don't eat it: toxic plants and mushrooms imitate edible ones and can kill — safe identification is a matter of life and death.

  4. Know methods of finding the cardinal directions in different situations such as night, day and an overcast sky.

    Answer: • During the day (with sun): the sun rises in the east and sets in the west; using the stick/shadow method, mark the tip of the shadow at two moments — the line between the marks points east-west. • At night: in the Southern Hemisphere, locate the Southern Cross and extend its long axis (about 4.5 times) down to the horizon, finding South. • Overcast sky: use the compass; or observe signs of nature (denser vegetation and moss on the more humid side, the tops of the trees), always with caution. — Sun and shadow during the day, the Southern Cross at night and the compass (or signs of nature) under an overcast sky — you can always find your bearings.

  5. Take part in a Bushcraft-style campout.
  6. Assemble and use at the campout a survival kit with at least 10 items.
  7. Complete the following while at the campout:
    • Collect, store and purify water for consumption at the camp;
    • Use two different types of campfires to prepare the food;
    • Use three of the following methods to light one of the campfires: bow, hand drill, flint and steel, magnifying glass or piece of glass, bag of water, steel wool and battery;
    • Use a camp stove to cook one of the meals;
    • Collect and prepare food found in nature;
    • Improvise kitchen utensils and use them on one of the days of the camp.
  8. Complete three of the following requirements:
    • Build a raised bed;
    • Prepare a natural shelter and use it during one night at the camp;
    • Make a rope using natural materials;
    • Build a table using pioneering;
    • Make torches and use them at night;
    • Build an improvised shower.