[Kuting]

Note from kev - we do not copy and paste entire pages.

Content removed.

Thread closed.

 

[TinMan2.0]

Good read - pays to have a plan to stay too.

 

[Vanishing Nomad]

Here is the thing, to successfully live from a backpack, you don't need lots, and lots of gear and stuff. You need skills. You need to be the type who can forage food, hunt, fish, trap,and walk the Appalachian train end to end with just thier pack.

Those types will do just fine, because they can thrive where everyone else starves.

Remember, the wilderness is a place most people think one needs to be rescued form, not thrive in. Because of that, most people will be afraid to go there. If you have the skills, you will be just fine.

Now I am off to memorize another page of Botany in a day.

 

[Leif the Lucky]

Remember, the wilderness is a place most people think one needs to be rescued form, not thrive in. Because of that, most people will be afraid to go there. If you have the skills, you will be just fine.

Outstanding analogy!

 

[Lierutian]

Pretty much all of my plans center around the idea of "reverse backpacking" to get back home. Luckily mine will soon be off the beaten path as it were, so little worry of my generator attracting thugs like moths to a flame.:thumb:

 

[Smudge]

This is a repost I believe the original is on Alpha Rubicon. http://www.alpharubicon.com/prepinfo/backpackfever.htm

As i said last time, as RD has just said here it is possible, will it be easy? HELL NO!! Will anyone be able to do it? HELL NO!! Will you have the same standard of living (and this is the key point)? HELL NO!!

Native people have been doing it for thousands of years and some still live like this today, so with a basic knowldge/ skill set I firmly believe YES it is possible to bug out with a back pack and survive, could I do it? maybe...........maybe not but thats why I practice and why I'm learning.

just my thoughts

 

[Vanishing Nomad]

I think part of it is a mindset issue. For example, I have a natural interest in this type of activity as part of my primitive/caveman life philosophy.

Since I just persue these types of activities for recreation, in a real survival situation, i will most likely fair much better than others because the situation to me will be the same type of situations I intentionally PUT myself in for vacations. I will relax, enjoy the challenges, not be discouraged by set backs, and look forward to the tasks.

The trip two years ago where i spent the night in the cave for example, I would have stayed there for weeks if I was free to.

 

[Straight Razor]

Here is the thing, to successfully live from a backpack, you don't need lots, and lots of gear and stuff. You need skills. You need to be the type who can forage food, hunt, fish, trap,and walk the Appalachian train end to end with just thier pack. Those types will do just fine, because they can thrive where everyone else starves. Remember, the wilderness is a place most people think one needs to be rescued form, not thrive in. Because of that, most people will be afraid to go there. If you have the skills, you will be just fine. Now I am off to memorize another page of Botany in a day.

There is so much Hollywood thinking at this site that I think "survivalists" will be the first to die off post SHTF. Skills is not the deciding factor, per se. Time is the largest liability and calories second. They can be impacted by skills but the game of survival is all about time and calories.

We know from past history and modern experiments that the greatest challenge to "living off the land" is time. I can go to my frig, pull out three ounces of meat and within 20 minutes have an excellent meal, even less if I want to just nuke it. But let's say I shoot a squirrel in the field, or a snipe... I've got to fetch it, clean it, find fire wood, build a fire, cook it then eat it. Realistically that is 90 minutes to two hours start to finish. I can pull a potato out of the frig and have it ready to eat in 10 minutes with the microwave. If I dig up some apios american (ground nuts, the easiest of all roots to dig up) I've got to find them -- no snow I hope -- dig them up, clean them, find wood, build a fire, find water, have a vessel, clean the apios then boil them... Again, an hour and a half or two. If you want to eat three times a day, that's up to six hours if you are a good shot and if you know where to find roots. And if you are traveling there are overnight shelters to build...

Rambo survivalists always see themselves alone surviving et cetera... its' a fun teenage fantasy. If one were to be so foolish to try that, the one thing you could do to increase your success is have at least one adult with you. It saves you 50% of your time. Four adults is even better. Four people can feed four far better and quicker than one can feed one. Saves times and distributes the calorie load.

About calories... if what you are collecting does not provide more calories in return than you are spending to collect the food, you are that many calories closer to death. That is why one person in the wilderness has to ignore greens. They literally are not worth the effort. If you have four gathering and preparing food for one meal with one fire, that's really efficient use of time and calories and greatly increases the chances of survival. Then greens become nutritionally worth it.

In the woods long-term Rambos will die. Rambo and friends would have a good chance of survival in the woods.

 

[arrexian]

Frankly these articles chime well with the crowd which has arrived since obama appeared likely president and since the general economic downtown. Those folks some older members would have called sheep or zombies before. That is, they do not practice any outdoor activity or want to. They slave in the urban environment and consider survivalism to be stocking up on things, googling and buying a handgun. They like to talk about trendy stuff. Well the true sense of survivalism is that of all kinds of outdoor pursuit, safely and self-sufficient living. Stocking is not being self sufficient. In terms of post major shtf.. the argument comes time and again from such folk that preps are the only answer. Preps run out. Period. Getting off the grid however pre shtf is different, that is the best option of all IMO and that is what I aim for (and would in itself be an outdoor pursuit.) I don't think any person aims to end up bugging out. But egging all yours baskets by just mylaring your way through a nuclear event or permanent food shortages, off your mortgage whored budget? Good luck, unless you are a multi millionaire and can afford 10 years or more storage. Frankly I would label any such person a severe social misfit to waste their money like so. Most these people though prepping for permanent shtf will just buy a few months, or a year, of foods and say that's that and b!tch about outdoor survivalists (can't even believe I just had to specify "outdoor"). WTF? At the end of the day you will need to move, or die. I mean, these articles and some recent members here claim that there is "no such thing as bugging out, with what you can take on you." Have you ever heard of a refugee column? They happen here on planet earth, in reality, not in some fantasy. They are out there right now in several wartorn famine struck countries. People have to move, people who until that time had considered themselves self sufficient and safe with even their off the grid setups. Those who did not become refugees die. There must be no better option by the time it is decided and that should include the mentality of those stockers - bugging out is a last resort for which your fat ass should be prepared. So to have a lot of multi-use preps at a managable weight is sensible, along with as much knowledge and practice as possible of hunting/fishing and bushcraft. The idea that in this total shtf situation such prepped refugees are solely planning on hunting, fishing and bushcraft is nonsense too.. Ever heard of looting and personal theft? It happens across the board in these contexts. I don't give a damn if you are a king in a "castle", you would be reduced to the same at some point for survival, if there was no air of law. Until the last few months BOBs were posted a lot here and there were many thanks. Now it has spun around, as the pro consumer, shy of the woods, overtakes. I suppose it's a topic close to my heart, as I have backpacked alone many countries, in lawless areas, and also happen to like hiking, camping and kayaking with a backpack. I guess that's just weird around here these days, perhaps I should invest in some pop music and video games then pop to costco and bump the economy with some panic corn buying.

 

[Vanishing Nomad]

I know people who lived off the and for years, and years. I know a girl who spent her entire child hood living in a small cabin deep in the mountains. They lived off the land that whole time on ONLY what they grew, foraged, hunted or trapped. They had no outside help ever.

She can go hiking all day with me, forage the entire time, come home and be too stuffed to eat dinner. It takes far less time to pick and aster and eat it, than it does to nuke a Pizza Puff.

If you have the *Skills*, wilderness areas are so full of food and bounty you will be wondering why anyone wants to limit themselves to a modern grocery store.

I am getting this from someone who not only did it, but was born into that life, and knew nothing else untill she was ready for highschool. Since you obviously never lived that life, and she has, I am going to listen to her and her experiences first. She says it's easy if you have the skill and don't fear hard work, I can't argue with her expertise.

 

[MountainManDan]

in my mind it is foolish to think you can do it if you never have. grab your gear and go. go live off the land for a month...you will learn alot...you will also learn alot about yourself.

i've hiked into the wallowa mountains and when you stop seeing the recreational backpackers...keep going...for days. with nothing but the clothes on my back, a pocket knife, a book of matches, a hershey chocolate bar, and a single potatoe. that particular trip i had no contact with anyone else for 47days...it definitely can be done. it can not be done by those who do not know what it takes, it would be suicide. so why in the world would people think that they will be able to do it in less than ideal conditions? they won't.

to be honest i enjoy living that way. it is a positive wonderful experience...but i do not know many people who could do it mentally or physically.

 

[Vanishing Nomad]

I think the way to do this, is to build some skills, and go out and test the skills for short trips. gradually as you learn more skills, go on longer, and longer trips untill you could stay out there indefinitely.