Why did you become a Survivalist?

[BraggSurvivor]

When I was 10 years old, the television series Grizzly Adams came on the set. I was an instant fan and swore that one day I would live like that. (other than the no love life thing). I wanted a place to call my own, living in harmony with nature, with a wife seeking the same. I graduated high school early in 1984 and within a month I started my first business selling and installing chain link fences. I saved every penny earned and purchased a parcel of land in Alberta in 1986 and two years after that I expanded my business in land development and project management around the city of Calgary.

I met a beautiful gal at a farmers market (she looked so freakin hot selling organic garlic and onions) and we married 8 months later. We bought an old school bus and drove it to a small clearing on my land, parked it, installed a wood stove and away we went. Life couldnt have been better then. We felt like we were the only ones in the world.

As our dreams unfolded our first child was born, the prepping for the future came into play. I observed my friends in huge debt, marriages on the rocks or divorced, no savings and no immediate happy future. The lights came on and I then realized I had the means and blessings to obtain a more self-sufficient lifestyle. (For me that meant no mortgage or car payments and living on a piece of land large enough to support the family with grown and raised food.) I changed my lifestyle immediately and within five years my land was paid off, built my new house cash as we could afford it and had my wife at home raising our kids. Prepping started with just a winters supply and has since turned into a bit of an obsession, and I admit it. Everything I do in business, homelife, child rearing, friends, extended family revolves around being self sufficient.

With this we enjoy travelling, camping, atving, riding motorcycles and basically having a good old time as a couple and with our kids. Every day we look for the next corner in the road and keep it slow and steady. Life is good.

Why did you become a Survivalist? Whats your story?

[canid]

i only have a yearning to make my own way in the world.

i wish to-and i try to-live my life in a way that was sound yesterday, is sound today and will be sound tomorrow, so i strive to know how to meet challenges before they appear. failing that, i strive to be flexible enough to weather them when they come. i've known enough of uncertainty, and of turbulence to feel the need to get by on my terms.

i have also a strong inclination to do things with my hands, how to make things functional from everyday resources, gifts of nature, salvaged bits of 'one man's garbage' because they are everywhere and their true value to a man like me lies in what you do with them-or don't do with them, and how you care for them.

i'm drawn to the wilds because they embody for me a wild state, land not restricted-at least effectively-from true responsible use. they where a haven for me as a child, a place i could escape from impossible conflict. they where filled with curiosity and wonder; distraction and i immersed myself in it whenever possible.

i feel it is in my interest to try to keep access to these places, lest they be lost; and to return often, lest the mind forget.

[MCBushbaby]

My minimalist backpacking nature went hand in hand with survival and bush craft. Only real difference is that when backpacking I get to bring a tent and stove :)

[Alpine_Sapper]

I'm not a "survivalist" as a lot of people define it.
I'm a survivalist by nature.

As a kid, I grew up on a dairy farm attached to several hundred acres of land. I had a four wheeler with a key to the gun cabinet. I spent a lot of time hunting dove, duck, deer, squirrel, whatever I felt like. My dad was ex-military, and had this notion that he would surviv WW III. He had stockpiled food and ammo in my closet, with updated bug out bags for everyone. Mom used to raid the supplies to get the MRE desserts. I used to raid the ammo. But I could run a trout line, fish with yo-yo's, or take down just about any game by the age of 10.

Once my parents split, my mom moved us into town, and I had to use what I knew to survive on the streets of, at the time, one of the most violent cities in Louisiana. I wasn't in what you'd call a "happy home life", so I left home at 14 and struck out on my own. I spent a few years living on the streets. Literally.

At 20, I joined the army, and learned more survival skills, mainly about weapons and explosives I hadn't played with before. After a few years I got out, and went to school for Information Technology. I believe in being able to survive in any situation, and as long as there is electricity there will be computers. Knowing how to manipulate them to the fullest extent is very important. During that time I met a beautiful girl who had a similar attitude as mine...A drive to survive anything and keep on going. A never surrender attitude. Now I've got kids.

After leaving the military and moving into IT, life got really...different. I've always love the wilds, and try to get back as often as possible, but after a while, if I don't, I start to feel...disconnected. From myself. But even though I can survive a lot with just the clothes on my back, I have a family to look out for, so I started working to ensure that I had the necessary gear in the car and in the house, BOB's, etc. The catalyst for this? Katrina. I was in East Texas, and wondering if my family in N. Louisiana was going to be affected.

Since then I've started SAR training to become a more well rounded person. That will stop as soon as I leave Information Technology to go back into the military, as my current financial situation is to unstable to try and reliably raise a family, and even though I might possibly get sent to the desert, I do what I have to do so that my family will survive. With the impending ecominic meltdown so many forum members are sure is coming, what better way to make sure my family is taken care of than to let the government cover our housing and food costs?

See, I'm a survivalist by nature, because I do what I have to do to make sure my family and myself are taken care of in any situation, not just when TEOTWAWKI occurs. If anyone reading this would like to help out by sending bacon... j/k. :D

Sorry for the book, just trying to answer the question.

[palerider]

survivalist didn't have a name back when we started out it was just something we did spending allot of time in the woods just came naturally as time progressed our curiosity and knowledge came into exsistance constantly challenging ourselves led me and the eagle to join the military him the rangers myself another specialty but we always came together to learn an trade info after the army we lost touch but i continued to spend time in the bush and prepare for the future i don't think out of paranoia but out of experience we have both seen what can happen very quickly unexpectedly it has just become a way of live kind of like brushing your teeth just is what we do funny how mainstream has put a label on this we just call it a way of life...

[warman87]

were do i send that bacon again i can send taters also?

[Rick]

Bacon and taters? Oooh. Me, me, me. Pick me. (rapidly waving raised hand).

[wildWoman]

I don't see myself as a "survivalist", rather a "bushrat".
Grew up in a big city and always hated it but didn't get a chance to do some backpacking out in the boonies until my late teens, then was instantly hooked: no noise, no people, clean air, breathtaking scenery, wild animals, and life reduced to the basics. Didn't think I'd have the skills or money to ever buy land and live a simple life, though, so I got a good education, looked for a normal job...that lasted into my mid-twenties. Then I realized I'd rather be stomping around in gum boots in some small northern village where it's normal not to fit in.
Looked for a job up north, just anything to get me up there, found one, bought a pick-up truck and crammed in my junk and the dog. Rented an off-grid cabin and fell in love with the area and lifestyle. Got someone to teach me to use a chainsaw, met people who worked just 2 days a week and still managed, met women who'd built their own cabins and luckily, a lightbulb went on in my head: hey, I can do this too!
Bought a cheap piece of land and built on there, met my boyfriend and then we sat down one day to figure out if the two of us might not be able to afford getting land out in the bush.
We figured that we had by now aquired the basic building, living off grid, hunting, self-sufficiency skills and were able to scrape by on very little cash without feeling inconvenienced by it. Calculation came out that we could, so we set about getting land and moving out here.
Now we're totally unfit for "civilization" and will have to live out our days as bush bums. It could be worse!

[BraggSurvivor]

I don't see myself as a "survivalist", rather a "bushrat".
Grew up in a big city and always hated it but didn't get a chance to do some backpacking out in the boonies until my late teens, then was instantly hooked: no noise, no people, clean air, breathtaking scenery, wild animals, and life reduced to the basics. Didn't think I'd have the skills or money to ever buy land and live a simple life, though, so I got a good education, looked for a normal job...that lasted into my mid-twenties. Then I realized I'd rather be stomping around in gum boots in some small northern village where it's normal not to fit in.
Looked for a job up north, just anything to get me up there, found one, bought a pick-up truck and crammed in my junk and the dog. Rented an off-grid cabin and fell in love with the area and lifestyle. Got someone to teach me to use a chainsaw, met people who worked just 2 days a week and still managed, met women who'd built their own cabins and luckily, a lightbulb went on in my head: hey, I can do this too!
Bought a cheap piece of land and built on there, met my boyfriend and then we sat down one day to figure out if the two of us might not be able to afford getting land out in the bush.
We figured that we had by now aquired the basic building, living off grid, hunting, self-sufficiency skills and were able to scrape by on very little cash without feeling inconvenienced by it. Calculation came out that we could, so we set about getting land and moving out here.
Now we're totally unfit for "civilization" and will have to live out our days as bush bums. It could be worse!


A survivalist if Ive ever seen one. Great post wildwoman.

[Rick]

Good for you, Wildwoman. It's true. If you can dream it, you can do it. All you have to do it set some goals for yourself and work toward them.

[bulrush]

I've always enjoyed being outdoors, and I have always enjoyed making things out of found items. That's it.

[trax]

I didn't become a survivalist. I grew up hunting, fishing, snaring game and learning how to live out in the bush. The skills that one requires to do so I've developed over about the last 44 years or so. I've never really concerned myself with having to "survive" anything in particular in our 'civilization' but rather have always felt more at peace and more comfortable living away from it. I could probably also include a greater sense of self-worth that one derives from having to do everything for oneself, no light switches, no grocery stores, etc. In another thread I recall wildwoman asking why the people who are planning on moving completely out of civilization haven't done so. My answer remains, there are still ties to loved ones and a sense of value in the work that I do. When the time is right for me, I fade back into the tall timber.

[dilligaf2u2]

I am a camper. Survival issues came about over time.

By the time I was 25, I knew that food costs would rise more often then fall. When a deal comes along, I take all I can get and stock pile it.

I buy bulk and plan my spending so I have what I need on hand for months on end. Still drinking coffee I got at $1.99 a #10 can. Pinto beans I got at $.09 a pound. Just keeping the pantry stocked and buying when things are on sale.

As for survival in the woods. That started in the Boy Scouts at about 8 years of age. The army offered some training. Jobs after the army offered more training and a lot of chances to use the skills.

You have to know your limitations: I will never be Rich! Good Looking! Able to whistle or sing. Other then these, the world is open for plundering!

Don

[awfoxden]

"be prepared" its the motto of the boy scout. i love the idology and values of the scouts as well as the dream of self reliance. while my family looks at me as odd and shakes their head with my constant tinkering and upgrading of survival kits and outdoor gear and pasion for hunting, i secretly prepare and plan and work toward my goal of self reliant living. i use camping and deer and elk camp as excuses to get outdoors to zero myself and come back to my sense of being as well as to hone and build on skills of the woodsman, as well as try things ive read about or heard about. everything sounds great in theroy until you get into the bush and find out it doesn't work the way words on a page state they should.

i don't consider myself a survivalist. its just my way of life. its what i think about with any stray thoughts. just being out doors and away from everyone accept who you choose to be with.

dang. i suddenly feel an overwhelming urge to grab my gear and head for the woods for a few days.

[Rick]

Don - That's okay. We can pretend we're handsome. Just remember the words of my hero Red Green. If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.