just wish to give thanks

[hayshaker]

i just got done reading a post in which a 19yr,old canadian i believe
had wish to go survive in the wils of northern onterio,ca. this has into the wild written
all over it. i wish to give much thanks to all the caring honest and insightful members
of this fourm who are too many to list,like myself many here are middleage or better
and have the t-shirt so to speak, not armchair survivalist that would give off the cuff advice
that would endanger another. as we all know here nature can be a brutal and unforgiveing

teacher.in jan the wife and i were involved in a vehicle roll over in -50 below zero weather.
i trully believe if it were not for survival training we woulld have died. just saying,
i really think sometimes people get too caught up in the romantic hollywood idea
of surviving in the wilderness and i sure along the way many have lost thier lives as a resault.


i,ve been here only a week and can see many here who are willing to take the youg and naive
and point out the realities of survival and the illusion of survival. off and on i,ve been a camper all my
life never been military just a camper.most every thing on the subject was self taught for the
most part.i find here there is still so much to learn one never stops learning. thier are many noobs
waking up these days for various reasons and thank god there are the right people here to show them the way.hayshaker(mikey) thank you.

[1stimestar]

We get many running off to the wilderness posts from the young (and sometimes not so young) and naive. And frankly, most of us DO understand that longing. I know being in the wilderness is good for me and good for my family. The problem is, to do it successfully without relying on dumb luck, requires work. Work to make money to buy your own land. Work to buy tools and gear and supplies. And last but certainly not least, work to learn skills. Knowledge is the most important aspect of surviving in the wilderness and that takes time and practice. One of my favorite quotes is "Success is often overlooked because it wears overalls and looks like work."

Lot of people tell me how lucky I am to be living in Alaska. Supposedly living in a dry cabin in the middle of Alaska is many people's dream. I tell them that luck had nothing to do with it. It took a lot of hard work, still taking hard work, and I had my priorities set pretty tightly. I saved, I didn't buy any luxury items, I drove cheap, junk cars, I planned, and I persevered.

I'm still working my behind off, planning, and saving. I am hoping to buy my own house this winter but it's been a long road.

[hunter63]

Most people try to advise and temper the brave souls that want to RWTTW.....with just their knife.

At the same time most of us wish those people good luck, success, advice,..... But to not ruin the dream...but to realize that it is tough to do, hard work and expensive.

[Tokwan]

There are many people in Malaysia (where I am and live), laugh off when they see me with my survival kit or talking about the survival kit. They would always nmention " emulating Bear Grylls? I sometimes had to tell them a big fat NO! as I do not agree to some or most of his methods.
Some would just brag off about knowing someone who can just go into the jungle with a knife. Well good luck to them.
It is very very important that we teach the right stuff, advice them and guide them, provided they wanna listen.

[Rick]

Some would just brag off about knowing someone who can just go into the jungle with a knife.

Ask them if their bodies are ever found.

[Tokwan]

The Grik ( a district) head of Police happens to be an ol pal of mine and we met a couple months ago. Apparently, he has hear of me doing solo hikes and camping. He advised me to be extra careful when I go in the Grik Jungle (mixed of primary and secondary forest) as his department had just found two skulls, where the two men were believed to have been trampled by elephants and their bodies eaten by tigers. They recovered a 12 gauge nearby which belonged to one the victims....Even if we are ready **** do happen, so imagine if we aren't!