Other Rewilding/Bushcraft Forums

While this is the best forum I’ve found so far, the only one I feel welcome in, there are others out there. I hope that by posting these links (if I can actually find out how, otherwise just plain URLs to copy and paste), I can help bring the scattered cavefolk community together. Some sites may be less sincere than this, but I figure contact is worth a shot, anything that might help spread the word. More people communicating means more skill-sharing and maybe even trade.

I’m not sure how one would even go about any collaboration with these sites; while merging into one big rewilding mega-forum would be great, I understand the urge to remain independent and can totally respect that. Maybe contact these other admins, talk about some kind of affiliation, have links to each other’s sites, maybe talk with those on Facebook about signatures, banners, etc leading back to the forums? I’m all about getting rewilders off the main social networks, they own, record, and sell everything you say, but that means we need to compete for traffic. There must be others out there seeking more private thought-out conversations.

So the links:

Paleo Planet
Founders: PaleoAleo, KrisTuomala
Admins: Ehkahk, sandhillcowboy1, Pamunkey, Thudling, Thumper1945, CoyotlViejo, TerrorStrike, Single Stave, IceMan, the warrior yeti, Haines, Fundin
“Ye Olde Seer”: bullgrouse
Probably the second-best forum I’ve been on. Beautiful photos. Not too fond of the whole Yuku thing, accounts are a pain in the ass, but the forum itself is great. Seems about the same amount of traffic as here, and I could be wrong, but it at least feels like more of a female presence. Women seem less inclined to rewild and that’s just a damn shame.

Primitive Archer
Obviously mostly archery-oriented. I haven’t made an account because it isn’t my thing, my eyes are too bad to use a bow, but it’s a site my mate would probably love if he would try reaching out to others like us. I do have a thing for archers. I can’t find any info on admins or founders without an account, but I did take a look at their statistics. New members per year seems (I’m not good with numbers) to have peaked in 2007 at 4500, went down to just 650 last year, and a little over 200 so far this year. Male to female ratio is 43:1.

Permies
Staff
It seems to me that permaculture and primitivism, while similar on the surface, have different intentions. At least judging by the permies I’ve spoken with, they seem to think it’s possible to live sustainably in balance with nature while still maintaining the modern human population and technology. I disagree and may very well be judging them wrong. Either way, both communities share skills and values, something rare nowadays. Very comprehensive site.

I’ll add more as I find them.

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Feralculture Forums. http://forums.feralculture.com “The feralculture community is a gathering place for those interested in experiencing and expressing the richness of life as a human animal. We’re inspired by the wild, permaculture, hunter-gatherer and horticulture traditions, earth-based skills, land-based lives, and those working to regenerate damaged ecosystems and build real-world communities.” I’m an admin there and somewhat active. Andrew and Jennifer, the main folks, are more active there now that they have internet up in remote Alaska (where the feralculture project is).

I’m not on facebook, but the feralculture group started out of a paleo rewilding permaculture group that I can’t remember the name of. Still likely has 1000+ members.

I’m on paleoplanet.net as “corax”. I usually offer what I know (not everything) about leather and tanning. Lots of experienced folks, but plenty of cultural appropriation.

I think primitive archer folks have moved to the paleoplanet.net archery forum which seems really active.

I was on permies.com but left because they required that they spam you with monthly e-mails. Maybe all my posts on leather/shoes and what not are still up there. But there’s not much on rewilding. I got tired of the capitalist/feudalism/stewardship (e.g. “benevolent dictatorship” land projects where you can “intern” or take a “workshop” for $$$$) orientation compared to stuff like Feralculture.

Not a discussion group, but I recommend Steven Edholm’s “Skillcult” videos on Youtube and his website (skillcult.com). Steven responds to comments on youtube, and has tons of knowledge to share on apple grafting (not rewilding) to bowdrill (rewilding). If you’re into bark tanning his videos are essential. https://www.youtube.com/user/1sustainablehedonist

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For whatever it’s worth, the name of that group is “Intentional Paleo Community.” (https://www.facebook.com/groups/paleocommunity/)

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