Back to basic.

[dusk]

Twice a year I isolate myself for +- 5 days,
with a backpack filled with basic needs
And go in to the forrests.
I'm doing this for 5 years now.

And it doesn't really matter to me in wich season.
But I can tell by experience that I like it more in the winter.
Because with a fully loaded backpack in the hot sun climbing and walking around
can feel pretty fucked up.

But it keeps me on edge.
And it gives me a feeling of independence.
Even water comes out of mountain streams,
and I wipe my ass with leaves.

And if someday everything is back to the stone age because of some disaster,
I know a bit how to move around.
And it makes me feel confident about the future.
If the shit goes down I'm practically ready.

But I don't know if the shit really goes down,
How intense it is.
Maybe I freak out! I never been in a war situation.

[Delirium]

I do the same thing a few time a year. I usually take a pound of rice, my knife, my sleeping bag, and a water filter. For shelter i construct a debris hut, and then i have the rest of the time to forage, hunt, and explore. I enjoy it, being largely cut of from civilization. It gives you plenty of time for reflection and meditation.

[dusk]

And what I always have, the first day is the hardest for me,
At the end I always wanna go home.
But if it's time to go home I don't wanna go.

[loveme4whoiam]

I really want to do things like this, the only thing that comes close though is spending a couple nights on Dartmoor in the freezing lee of a tor (a big granite outcrop).

I love Ray Mears' stuff (he probably seems like a jerk to you guys who actually do it) but I love all his programmes. The getting-back-to-your-roots feel of everything is brilliant, I just wish I could take the time to learn properly and actually do it. Still, there's plenty of life ahead of me :)

[Hegemonicretribution]

I've been doing it for about 7/8 years now, although I sometimes extend the trips to a month, sometimes they are a weekend, but most of the summer at least is spent out, as well as othertimes.

I love it, and they are skills I have found useful before.

[loveme4whoiam]

Would anyone recommend any specific reading/websites/people to hunt down and interrogate in order to get a basic knowledge of the skills you need? Or did you all pick it up as you went along?

[Delirium]

About primitive survival or about backpacking?

If you are talking about survival skills i would suggest some books by Tom Brown jr. to start out with. Alot of it is just getting out there and doing it, reading material gets me pumped up and gives me new ideas.


I love it, and they are skills I have found useful before.

Bowdrill especially!

[Hegemonicretribution]

Originally posted by [email protected] 30 2006, 08:39 PM
Would anyone recommend any specific reading/websites/people to hunt down and interrogate in order to get a basic knowledge of the skills you need? Or did you all pick it up as you went along?
Personally I was brought up camping since the age of 2, every year, for a couple of months, without fail. I always loved it, and started getting into survival through a renegade army cadets instructor. He took us on several "unoficial" trips to learn what cadets can't let you. I also went on a few survival courses at this point, and read up on quite a bit of literature, this was when I was about thirteen.

Shortly after I took up camping just with friends, and my cadet friends and I would usually rough it. You learn through experience, and I lived rough for a couple of months with a couple of friends on and off, this taught me a lot. Lots happened, and the lack of a fixed "home" wasn't really noticed, the social aspect is what counted. I did kill chickens, and snare rabbits during this period, as well as catch fish and eat what we could get hold of locally.

This is pretty much how I learnt, it was just an interest that I followed up where possible, and I started pretty young which is lucky. Make sure you are with someone that knwos what they are doing your first few times though, and first-aid knowledge is essential. Also sart with more equiptment, and work out what you need by slowly cutting down on what you bring. I do a weekend once a year with the close I stand in and a knife, just to keep in practice.

[dusk]

It would be cool to go on a expedition in arnhemland Australia.

I saw that on a Ray Mears show.

Very rough conditions, good training.

[patrickbeverley]

Originally posted by [email protected] 30 2006, 01:56 PM
Twice a year I isolate myself for +- 5 days,
with a backpack filled with basic needs
And go in to the forrests.
I'm doing this for 5 years now.

And it doesn't really matter to me in wich season.
But I can tell by experience that I like it more in the winter.
Because with a fully loaded backpack in the hot sun climbing and walking around
can feel pretty fucked up.

But it keeps me on edge.
And it gives me a feeling of independence.
Even water comes out of mountain streams,
and I wipe my ass with leaves.

And if someday everything is back to the stone age because of some disaster,
I know a bit how to move around.
And it makes me feel confident about the future.
If the shit goes down I'm practically ready.

But I don't know if the shit really goes down,
How intense it is.
Maybe I freak out! I never been in a war situation.
Maybe I've been reading too much free verse, but reading this it looks very much like a poem to me.