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Thread: Geezer survival advice

  1. #1
    Resident Wildman Wildthang's Avatar
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    Default Geezer survival advice

    As we get older, I think it is important to realize your limitations. There ae a lot of us on this forum that aren't spring chickens anymore, and I think it would be a good idea to share our learnings about how to still get out in the wilderness, and manage our aging body's within safe limits.
    I knw I can't cover near the ground I could in my younger years, so I just take it slower, and one thing I have noticed in doing that is I see more and find more things that I would have missed when I use to gallop throug the woods.
    I am also very much more careful to not get hurt, and take my time when I chop wood, and hike over rough terrain. I guess age at least teaches you to be more careful and to slow down. I also realize that I don't panick near as easy as i did when I was young, and will now just sit down and think my way out of a situation rather than simply react to the first thought that comes to my head. And if it is 10 degrees outside, I just stay in the house and wait until it''s warmer to take off into the woods.
    So what has changed with you now that you are a Geezer Wilderness Survivor?


  2. #2
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    It's a good subject and a good question. When I was younger I never used a tent or ground pad. I carried a poncho that served as my tent if I needed one and a small piece of tarp that served as a ground cover. Today I have to have a tent and a pad. I can't sleep on the ground anymore and it's even getting harder to sleep with a pad because of my shoulders. I try to keep the pack as light as I can but it's still a struggle NOT to add this item or that because I've always carried it. The trouble is, as you pointed out, it makes for a heavy pack. Working smarter means packing lighter, choosing easier terrain and knowing when a warm fire indoors is better than a cold fire in the woods.
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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Yeah,.... great subject
    Step one......Remember meds (the remember part comes harder)

    Step two,.... Pack lighter, yeah all that stuff is cool, but gets heavy....and how often do you use it anyway?.....It's just that I can afford in now...That's kinda cruel if you think about it

    Step three...I don't have anything to prove, and certainly don't care what other people think.....
    Lot of my partners in "adventuring" who were the only ones that I needed to keep up with, have passed away.....I win?

    Step four.....I get the "sloooooow" down part....These days everyday can be Saturday, so you don't need to rush....whats another day, right.
    Not every animal in the woods needs to die or plant need to be picked....take what you need and watch and enjoy the rest.

    Step five....If it ain't fun anymore, don't do it,...let it go.....lots of thing go from fun to job, and we only do it so we won't break the streak....been doing it for 25 straight years.
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
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    Senior Member BENESSE's Avatar
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    I take cue from people much older than me who are still going and getting it done. People in their 70s and 80's I encounter on the ski slopes who could give me a run for my money and do, and people in my yoga class who've been practicing for 40+ years and are stronger in many ways than I am. I always strike up a conversation because I admire them and am interested in what their secret is.

    The only thing I'm doing differently now that I'm approaching fartdom, is that I try to compensate for the old, if you don't use it, you loose it. I work out smarter, I definitely eat healthier (used to be a bacon connoisseur in my younger days) and I'm painfully aware of how our time here is finite and how I want to enjoy it for however long it ends up being for me. The way I see it, you can either ski and hike when you're 80 or you can settle for a Hoveround and hope there are ramps where you want to go.

  5. #5

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    Many old people go to warm climates, I see why it takes a lot less energy to live and survive. I have lived at 9000ft in cabins in the winter it took so much energy.. just to live. I have also lived in warm climates so much easier.

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    I am 72 years young and definitly handicapted (back, knee, both shoulders and a balance problem). When I am out in the wild, I use a hiking staff, watch where I put my feet and think safety when I do something. I still hunt but do so from a fixed blind and use a rifle rest. When fishing, I shore fish rather than boat by myself(just sold my boat). I nolonger do things alone. I have some one else along. I can still boat fish but have trouble because of the balance problem. Still, I value every minuite that I am able to spend out of doors. An ATV/UTV enables me to get out and do many things that I could otherwise not do.

  7. #7

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    Drink plenty of water, take your time, rest if you need... As you get older though, we have the unique advantage of being able to appreciate and enjoy the outdoors more... maybe because were getting closer to the dirt with each passing day, and we know it.

    EB

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    Resident Wildman Wildthang's Avatar
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    Well I think it is important to keep doing what we love up to the point we just can't do it anymore, it's what keeps us going. I am 51 years old and hopefully I have a few good years left, but I can tell I am not near as durable as I use to be!
    I guess when we get too old to hit the woods anymore we can all just sit around in our hongs and make knives

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    Senior Member Stiffy's Avatar
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    Well, since alzheimer's tends to run in my family, I always let people know where I'm going and when I plan to return. Then if they hear about an old guy found roaming aimlessly around in the woods, they'll know if it's me.
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    Super-duper Moderator Sarge47's Avatar
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    Cool Well...

    I just throw all the crap in the trunk!
    SARGE
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  11. #11

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    I agree with what most have posted, slow and steady. Take time to enjoy the moment. Think before I tackle something since I'm usually by myself

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    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    I find that my biggest change, now that I am retired, is that my woods time is more selective and of better quality.

    I do not have to make the woods fit my time. If it is raining I will go tomorrow, if it is too hot in the afternoon I will go in the morning. If stripe ar running I can devote a week to them, I can hunt every day of deer season if I want too so I do not go out in adverse weather just because that is when I have off from work

    And if I want to go camp in Tampa for two weeks in Janurary I can!
    Last edited by kyratshooter; 02-08-2013 at 10:27 PM.
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    Senior Member WolfVanZandt's Avatar
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    Ya'll have forgotten the most important rule - keep a bunch off young folks around to do all the work and to haul you out of the creek when you fall in.
    True enough, my final home is still out there, but this is most certainly my home range and I love it. I love every rock I fall off and tree I trip over. Even when I am close to dying from exhaustion, a beautiful sunset doesn't lose it's power to refresh and inspire me and that, in itself, is enough to save me sometimes.

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    As a "senior man" I no longer try and "bust the boonies" as I did when younger and stronger. Couple that with back and hip problems, and my outdoor activities today no longer entail "sleeping in the leaves."

    About five years ago I sold my 14x16x5 canvas A-wall tent and interior frame, folding tables, two Colemen lanterns (still kept two), cots, Simms Sheepherder stove, and some other assorted camp equipment I'd used for many years on many camps, both vehicles and horses and pack mules. Reached a point where setting up camp was too much of a chore. I no longer looked forward to such a tedious amount of work.

    I sold my saddle and all my tack as I no longer was comfortable on a horse. Shanks mare is it for me these days. My daypack is lightweight, although in a dire emergency, its contents and what I know, would get me through a night "on the mountain."

    So I bought a nice tent trailer, thick, wide beds, gas stove and furnace, electric lights, etc., and with my oversized goose down sleeping bag, began to really enjoy being out in camp again. Now I can walk out of camp, hunt elk and deer -- carefully -- and if I don't get one, I still enjoy being out in the mountains. I don't try to get up steep ridges or down in dark canyons. I've done that enough to know that getting an elk or deer out of places like that is a distant memory for me.

    Back at the tent trailer, I just turn on the lights, fire up the gas stove and relax with a cold beer while heating dinner. My partner and I can play cards and tell lies about "the good old days." If the weather turns harsh, that tent trailer is mighty nice. If it gets too harsh, I just hook it up to my 4x4 pickup and head for civilization.

    No matter. It's the "getting out" that is important to me these days.

    For the past several years I've gone to the gym M-W-F to work on my back and hip problems, and on alternate days, do a series of eight exercises at home. Bores the living Hell out of me, but it is necessary and enables me to still walk and get around out in the boonies, although to a far less degree than when I was younger.

    So that's what I do to combat "geezerhood" and still get outdoors.

    S.M.
    "They that can give up essential liberty to gain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

    - Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790),U.S. statesman, scientist, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759

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    One step at a time intothenew's Avatar
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    Pass it on to another generation.

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    Everything seems to have been covered so I will just pass along a couple of thing to remember as we approach fartdom as B put it.

    1. Never trust a fart.
    2. Never take a sleeping pill and a laxative at the same time.

    Sparks

  17. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by intothenew View Post
    Pass it on to another generation.
    A good portion of what I know came from 'geezers' as the OP puts it, though I prefer the term elders. My lineage had a firm belief in 'passing it on to another generation'. I can only speak for my personal experience, but is my opinion that the worst thing society can do for society is put their elders out to pasture as many are so inclined to do in this day and time.

    Even someone who never ventured to the woods, nor did anything particularly special or eventful their lives, will have garnered some wisdom over the decades. It cannot be avoided as simple observation of the times changing, lends a large measure of wisdom in itself. What more of someone who actually lived?
    My knowledge and wisdom base is a product of all those who ever took the time to teach me or instruct me in any manner; that product influencing, and refining my own personal experiences.

    Passing it on to another generation used to be a given, but now a majority of the next generation views their elders as a problem, rather than the wellspring of wisdom and knowledge that they should be. The elders (geezers) of this time, should pick and choose whom they teach with care for that reason. Those youth with enough sense to listen will be tomorrows leaders and forerunners, while the rest happily graze in the field of ignorance.

    My opinion for what it's worth.

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    Senior Member ClayPick's Avatar
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    The one I hear is "just keep movin"

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    Resident Wildman Wildthang's Avatar
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    My dada was 50 when I was born, and he taught me much of what I know now about the wilderness and what it has to offer. Living off the land was a way of life for him and he not once called it survival, just living!

  20. #20
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Sitting back and just reading, I'm getting the "slow down' part is kind a major part of the process.
    Today's "event" will be tomorrow's "story".....

    intothenew, you are fortunate to have the opportunity to pass along, and even more important, take advantage a great gift.

    Some day they will say, hey, I'm gonna take you (fill in the blank)....like we used to......

    That is what it's about.....congrats.
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
    Evoking the 50 year old rule...
    First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
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