Fieldcraft is a Skill for Life

In a recent exchange with a friend on Twitter, we were discussing about the value of the (traditional) Scout movement.

The Scouts – who teach boys resilience, determination, activity and fieldcraft – started in 1907 by a retired British Army officer.

Since then the Scout movement has spread across the globe and has improved the lives of countless men and boys.

Fieldcraft – Skills for Life

It’s 3am and I’m shivering in a sleeping bag in the middle of a woodland. The thin nylon sheet above my head is keeping the rain off – just. But every so often, the rain gathers, pushing it down on my face.

My Oppo – Oz – is awake too and we grip our rifles, praying that the rain will stop before it’s time for us to man the sentry post.

I, like many young men my age, learned fieldcraft in the army. By then I’d missed the thrill of learning it as a boy (a handful of camping trips aside).

I had to pick up the invaluable skill of living comfortably outdoors quickly as we adjusted to living and working outside in the Scottish countryside.

Those difficult nights and damp days taught me a lot about myself and the limits of a man’s mind and body. The end of my reserve training included 6 nights in the field, the last 48 hours without sleep. I was a hallucinating, trench footed mess by the end of the exercise.

Boys Need Fieldcraft

I grew up loving the outdoors. But knowing how to live, survive outdoors near indefinitely is a skill many young boys and men lack in our time.

We enjoy a period of peace and luxury unknown in human history right now. But how long will that last.

Are our boys ready and able to live outdoors – to endure cold, cook their own meals and navigate across open terrain?

If not, perhaps it time we taught them.