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Thread: Looking for some information

  1. #1

    Default Looking for some information

    Hi everyone I am interested in learning about really surviving on my own but I have almost no experience. I have done the whole tent camping thing but it just wasn't what I was looking for. I like to learn about surviving with as little as I can in the event that it is my only choice.

    I have started a fire from sticks by making a bow with my shoe lace.
    I can make a decent, not-so-waterproof shelter
    I can determine some hazardous plants
    I can tell when the weather is about to unleash on me

    Unfortunately

    I can't read a map
    I can't accurately navigate the land
    I have zero hunting and trapping experience
    I have minimal gardening or foraging experience

    I'd like to get some training to help me with the things that I have no experience with and refine the ones that I do know how to do. But I don't know how to go about learning these things other than getting lost and possibly killed.

    I have seen some videos on these things but was looking for a more hands on approach so I was wondering if there are any place that specialize in this.

    Any advice would be appreciated.


  2. #2
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    It would be easier to offer meaningful advice to your questions if we knew more about you. Age, area, a little more about your experience.
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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Senior Member tjwilhelm's Avatar
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    It would also help to have a general idea of your geographic location. There are a number of quality, affordable training programs...one may be near you.

    Another suggestion: Pick a specific topic and start a thread with questions devoted to that topic. I'll bet you'd get some productive results!

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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Hunter63, saying Hey, and Welcome.
    You said that you can start fire with sticks and shoe lace and a debris shelter......Where did you do that?
    Park ?...Yard?

    Location in the country or world will dictate what plants are there.

    Have you looked at a road map?....or drive?

    It would really be helpful to have any idea where to start to answer your questions.
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  6. #6

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    Sorry about that. Heres a little info. on me.

    I am 21 from rural North Carolina. I have been camping in state parks across the country since I can remember but I really want to take it to the next level and try and do it with as little as possible. I have never been hunting and don't own any weapons other than a bowie knife and hatchet. I'd like to be able to get some training with primitive survival (knife, bow+arrow, trap making, and foraging).

    When I got the fire going it was at a state park in VA using things I grabbed off dead trees around the camp but it took about 2 hours of trail and error. The shelter was made in the woods outside my house.

    The only experience I have with maps is when I got lost driving home from a camping trip and it was more luck than me doing it right.

  7. #7
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    If you have done camping I am assuming you have some gear?

    Most people have the wrong idea and want to "Go surviving", when they really just need to learn and practice outdoor skills....so they can get by with found, salvaged, home made items needed.,,,when things go wrong or they find them selves in a situation they didn't plan on.

    You have a good start, so just pick a skill you want to learn and spend your time camping, and enjoying the out doors as you practice the skills you want.

    By doing a search in the many categories you mentioned, and answer your questions.

    The thread Crash listed is a good start as to what you need to know....so I'll repeat it.
    http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...ve-in-the-Wild
    Last edited by hunter63; 05-19-2012 at 09:29 PM. Reason: splin'
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    Senior Member Thaddius Bickerton's Avatar
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    What you are asking is for life lessons in a way. let me see if I can try to illustrate what I'm getting at.

    FIRE: first you learn to make it with a bic or a match. Tender and prepping any fire wood from gathering squaw wood to using your axe / knife / other sharp stuff to get that ready. You build and tend and use and put out your fires. OK, after a time you can use a set of skills and put together a fire and have started to develop a general idea of size and uses that fire offers to your wants and needs and location etc.

    Now next suppose you learn how to get that fire going in the rain / damp conditions. You run into some challenges and then you figure out or ask and learn how to manage those.

    Then you start thinking, what if I lost or forgot my bic / matches, and you learn how to make a bow drill , or just for fun you decide to learn how to use flint and steel. Someone points out that firesteels are really really good ways to make fire and you decide to get one and put it on your knife sheath or around your neck on a laynard or attached to your key ring etc.

    You take your new tools and repeat what you did with the first ones till you master those.

    At a certain point you realize that you would feel comfortable if you ended up needing fire and had none of your fire making materials with you.

    That repeated for each skill moves you towards being able to adapt to use what you have.

    It would be the same for like starting with a sleeping bag and tent and devolving to sleeping on a fire bed in a debris hut or what ever serves your wants.

    Just for my personal point of view, the first thing I want above all others is a knife. I could find a sharp rock if I had to but a good knife is the first thing I want if I have to make do in the woods, closely followed by a fire steel and a way to carry water. That is of course not even beginning to be ideal, but a knife, fire and water are my starting points.

    If you look around there is a lot of different ways to evaluate the list of general wants you will need to manage anywhere , in the wild, or at home.

    One is the rule of threes which goes something like
    3 minutes without air
    3 hours without warmth
    3 days without water
    3 weeks without food.

    so you make sure you meet or have the skills to meet the rule of threes for the length of time you want to be able to manage.

    Navigation, well if you get the military manual on map reading and go to the usgs and get the topographical maps for your area, and buy a decent compass. I prefer an old lensatic gi compass, but siva makes a bunch of good ones also and you are able to learn to use the map from that one military manual. There are several download sites for it all over the web. (I happen to have my hard copy from the corp and pretty much memorized it a good while back.)

    Plant ID is one of those never ending things, you just have to grind it out and keep gathering knowledge, field guides, talk to folk, read herb books, etc . Ask yourself, what modern thing would I like to be able to replace with found materials and then what ones are in my area and then locate them. for examples, aspirin can substitute willow bark tea. for cordage you find plants that provide you with fibers that you can use primitive cordage twisting to make into usable lengths and such. For fire other plants .

    Well as usual I just rambled off into my own thinking.

    I would suggest you make a list of things you want to learn to do based on what you determine you would need to provide for any length of stay in the woods. Then seek specific knowledge on each of those. As you do you will start to meet people who know those areas and eventually that may lead you to classes you want to take etc.

    I found that a lot of college history / archeology / anthropology etc departments often do projects that you may want to join.

    Also any number of what I term ABO walks schools are out there, and in my younger days I went on several of them but by that time I had a lot of real world experience going into the woods.

    Id say start with a decent back pack camp set, and slowly devolve it towards using more and more simple tools to accomplish what you want.

    While there is truth to the statement that the more you know the less you carry, there is also wisdom in not letting yourself get into a situation where you haven't done all you can to prepare to not get in such a make do situation.

    Sorry for the circular story. If you ask specific questions, you will get much better answers from many here that know much more than I do. But I never mind throwing in my two cents. Of course what you hear and get from me is worth exactly what you paid for it.

    It was a good question you asked, just very general and narrowing it down to specifics would probably net better help.

    Thad.
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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    I cannot offer advice on courses for your area other than - google "primitive skills courses north carolina" and you will get some hits to study.

    Doing it with as little as possible does not mean that you can't take what you normally would for a backpacking trip - just don't use it unless it is an emergency. Each trip, slowly ween yourself off of a piece of gear (but still bring it). An example would be

    On trip #1 don't use a tent or tarp, build a lean to.
    On trip #2 don't use a tent or tarp, build a debris hut.
    On trip #3 don't use a ten or tarp or a lighter/matches, start a fire with a mag block
    On trip #4 don't use a ten or tarp or a lighter/matches, start a fire with a ferro rod and natural tinder

    At some point you can stop carrying a piece of gear, but not until you are experienced in several disciplines an under any condition. This way you will progress toward your goal, gain experience, gain confidence.
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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    I hate to break it to you but there is no next level. It's all camping. It just depends on what you have with you. The next level requires Search and Rescue.

    Start with the basics. Pick a subject and work on it. It's how all of us did to one degree or another. The things that you should know how to do with some proficiency are.

    Make potable water
    Make fire (there are different types of fires depending on your situation)
    Make shelter

    If you learn to master those three then you'll be miles ahead of the game and you can start to include other subjects.
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  11. #11

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    Thanks for the answers guys they were very helpful.

    I'd like to do it with as little as possible but I plan on bringing emergency supplies to avoid having some S&R guys risk their lives to help me. I got that map reading manual downloaded and have been going through it and it doesn't seem nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Guess I'll start doing some research and gathering some supplies so that I can hopefully head out in a year or so.

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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    If you have that woods close to your house, start there, with practice of what ever skills you are working on to learn.

    Get used to the idea, than you will not be "surviving", you will be learning the skills "To survive" if necessary.
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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    First of all, you do not go out and learn any of these skills. You learn them and practice them in a controlled environment, then you move to a wilderness area. You do not go out and learn to survive. Those are the people that keep the search and rescue squads in business.

    As was stated, "it's all camping". Some people would consider the normal gear a well equipped ultralight backpacker carries as primitive survial gear. It is all a matter of perspective. As long as you are "going out to survive" you are still camping.

    Survival is when the world falls apart, you never anticipated it, and you still come out of it uninjured and with minimal discomfort.
    If you didn't bring jerky what did I just eat?

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    Super-duper Moderator Sarge47's Avatar
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    Cool Like Rick and Kyrat said...

    Quote Originally Posted by kyratshooter View Post
    First of all, you do not go out and learn any of these skills. You learn them and practice them in a controlled environment, then you move to a wilderness area. You do not go out and learn to survive. Those are the people that keep the search and rescue squads in business.

    As was stated, "it's all camping". Some people would consider the normal gear a well equipped ultralight backpacker carries as primitive survial gear. It is all a matter of perspective. As long as you are "going out to survive" you are still camping.

    Survival is when the world falls apart, you never anticipated it, and you still come out of it uninjured and with minimal discomfort.
    Forget the exploitation of TV where they try and make "survival" sound really cool. Eating bugs is no picnic, get it? (pun intended.) Learning to do without is okay, but I don't do it. If I want to go to "the next level" in starting a fire without matches or a Bic, I'll use one of those butane thingees that they start charcoal with! I can use Ferro rods and my "Strike Force," but prefer the regular way. You see, I don't "go survivalin'," I go "camping" because I love the outdoors. If it hits the fan then I'm into "survival mode."
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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SurvivalNoob View Post
    Thanks for the answers guys they were very helpful.

    I'd like to do it with as little as possible but I plan on bringing emergency supplies to avoid having some S&R guys risk their lives to help me. I got that map reading manual downloaded and have been going through it and it doesn't seem nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Guess I'll start doing some research and gathering some supplies so that I can hopefully head out in a year or so.
    Sounds like you are off to a good start. If you run across questions, please ask. Remember - you will learn more by doing, even if you make mistakes along the way.
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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    And remember the old saying, "It's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. That's why I always take the essentials with me.

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