Just do it.....wilderness is outdoors

[Sourdough]

Just do it. What is with this hold my hand, pack my gear, tell me what to take, where to go, what to wear, etc.

There was a time when you just did it, and learn on the fly.

So for beginners this is how it works......Go outdoors.....Now put one foot in front of the other foot, repeat, repeat. You are now outdoors and hiking.

Now if you make a mistake, next time do it differently.

Only on my first backpack did I take canned goods, and wieners.

A little less talk and a bit more action.......JUST DO IT......:rolleyes:

[crashdive123]

I sense a **** commercial coming. Nicely said Hopeak.

Hmmm. I guess N I K E is a banned word

[Bibow]

you couldn't have said better although at first i thought that was what people did on this website. and as i've seen so far the first thread i posted was the breaking point for a few on you ::""'''/;non noobs"" ive been doing that for a while.

[Rick]

I agree with you, too. The only way you'll ever figure out what's right for YOU is to go try it. Adjust accordingly. I make changes to my gear all the time. Adding something and taking something else away. I've never been one to use a sleeping pad but I just ordered a self inflating Therm-A-Rest this week. I'm getting old.

[trax]

I have often offered a bit of advice on this forum based on the premise that common sense is not all that common. Try some skills at home or on a short same-day excursion, but at some point yeah....what we do on this website? I don't do anything on this web-site except read and write. People have to get out there sooner or later and put it to the test.

and yes Rick, you are.

[Gray Wolf]

Far be it for me to go against the grain here :rolleyes: but I would rather see someone come to the pack and ask questions (after searching the threads), than just go out and just do it, especially if they're young. I thought that's one of the reasons were here on this forum, to help, to share and to learn... JMHO

[trax]

Well yeah GW, that's why I offer that piece of advice that I do, start small and grow outward. I have this visual of people who have never been on so much as a steep trail suddenly attempting rappelling and going splat! Or someone who's never been out of the city trying bear hunting for the first time. We had a kid here once who wanted to try stopping a charging moose by throwing ninja stars at it. So that's why I advise the way I do.....but eventually I hope everyone that logs in here gets out to nature and does something (just not where I am, I go out there to escape humanity, lol)

[Rick]

Well I certainly hope that wasn't Norman. You throw stuff at Norman and you'd hurt his feelings. Then he starts crying. You ever see a moose cry? It ain't pretty.

[trax]

Want to see what's not pretty? The squashed remains of someone who thought they were going to stop a rampaging Norman with a throwing star. Can't tell if they were crying or not because by the time Norman goes over 'em you can't tell their eyeballs from their a**holes. (Little broken fingers sticking out of the pile of goo clutching a throwing star)

[Rick]

I'll bet that really messed up his Yin and his Yang.

[Sourdough]

Far be it for me to go against the grain here :rolleyes: but I would rather see someone come to the pack and ask questions (after searching the threads), than just go out and just do it, especially if they're young. I thought that's one of the reasons were here on this forum, to help, to share and to learn... JMHO

I just don't see very many reports of last weeks or last weekends outing. Yes there are a few, very few.

I was shocked that last night someone started a thread that he was going camping with just what he could backpack, as if he had just invented the concept.

I just get the feeling that for most this is one more sit on there butt, inside, and fill there head with new data, and never or rarely, JUST DO IT.....:rolleyes:

[pgvoutdoors]

The lack of a thread search prior to asking questions has been very common with new members. They obviously need to start there first to establish a basis for their questions to the forum.

[Gray Wolf]

I just don't see very many reports of last weeks or last weekends outing. Yes there are a few, very few.

Yes you're right, and I'm guilty of not posting my outings. I'm out so frequently that I don't post about it unless something out of the ordinary happens, or it's a special trek. I think that quite a few members do the same. :o


I was shocked that last night someone started a thread that he was going camping with just what he could backpack, as if he had just invented the concept.

THAT'S WHY WE'RE HERE! To help, teach and learn. :)

[pgvoutdoors]

Here's a few more pictures of My ten day New Mexico trip. It was great, very rugged and limited water, but a lot of fun.


Just do it. What is with this hold my hand, pack my gear, tell me what to take, where to go, what to wear, etc.

There was a time when you just did it, and learn on the fly.

So for beginners this is how it works......Go outdoors.....Now put one foot in front of the other foot, repeat, repeat. You are now outdoors and hiking.

Now if you make a mistake, next time do it differently.

Only on my first backpack did I take canned goods, and wieners.

A little less talk and a bit more action.......JUST DO IT......:rolleyes:

[JRR]

When I was around 12, I used to head out for a day in the woods with nothing but my pocket knife, or the .22 if it was squirrel season. I'd never even heard of a backpack - unless it was the kind some of the kids lugged their schoolbooks home in. If I were heading out all day, we'd either have a great appetite for supper, or maybe carry along a tin of sardines. If we were planning an overnight or a weekend trip, someone would tote a cast Iron pan and we'd all throw in something from the house, venison, an onion, hamburger meat, a bell pepper. After supper, I'd curl up by the fire in an old wool blanket that I'd been wearing as a cloak or poncho and freeze my feet off all night. And I loved it. No one ever died either. Sadly, someone started telling kids they couldn't leave the house without taking a survival course and spending $3,000.00 on fancy gear that just neuters the entire experience.

[TrappinGal]

create an archives board. group all the most basic and frequently asked questions and their answers there so the new members will have somewhere to learn the basics in their quest for more knowledge.

Name it something like "Newbies Pitstop".
That may cut down on the older members getting aggravated but i will tell you, i thought thats what the experienced persons on any forum were supposed to gladly do, answer questions for newbies so that they could learn from others experience and not just go out hit and miss on their own and hope for the best..

[trax]

TrappinGal, like I said to mountainboy, I'll answer any serious question I can seriously, but when we get questions like "I'm thinking of going living in the wild for a year" or "I'm going to go camping with just whatever I can pack on my back" over and over and the person writing doesn't bother saying where they're going to live in the wild or going camping, or what kind of experience they may have already, it gets pretty annoying. Like Dr. Evil says in those Austin Powers movies "throw me a frickin' bone here people" In that other thread you mentioned your trapping forum, well is it any good to tell someone about beaver sets if they've never been on a creek or a beaver pond? Uh uh, see what I mean?

I'm like JRR said, I was ten and out in the bush by myself with a hatchet .22 and a knife, figuring things out for myself. It was great. Unfortunately, a kid tries that nowadays and he winds up in court or a foster home. My mom was happy to cook the rabbits and grouse I brought home. But in the meantime, I threw out a couple of smartazz answers because it seemed to me that was what the questions deserved. I don't want to scare anyone away.

[Ole WV Coot]

Before I was old enough to be trusted with a gun my friend and I trapped mainly rabbits. They were well received at each of our houses. Rabbit was a good change from beans , cornbread and fried potatoes six days a week and chicken on Sunday. Since you're in WV you should know what I mean. Eastern KY in the early 50s wasn't that prosperous and we learned how to farm, trap, butcher when we were kids. I probably get a little short when younger people want to make a game out of survival when we seldom had anything but a pocket knife. No canteen either the water in springs was decent to drink, and those were the best years of my life.

[sh4d0wm4573ri7]

I have no problem offering advice my problem is the constant barage of ****** whom ask and then don't listen or say well you can't talk me out of it I'm doing it anyway and not with your advice if you ask for it use if your not gonna listen anyway don't ask duhhhhhhhhh

[skunkkiller]

trekking is doing just that getting out and doing it or you don't learn a thing .you know about some thing but if you don't do it you don't know for sure if it works or not.so go out an learn...