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Thread: Best locations / Survival stories

  1. #21
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    Did.....I mention....I offer a "CRASH" course. There a serious ramifications for failing..


  2. #22
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    Wow thats a good question. Where is that magical place? It's out there just over the next hill or is it around the next bend in this river of life we so...................well the hard truth is there is NO PREFECTsurvival places. Some are way better than others and some just SUCK!!!! You need to try camping with full gear the first few times you out take a tent sleeping bags food water. Start a fire try some fishing become one wiht the woods you will do just fine! If you go with no experience into the wilds with minimum of equipment ie "rice" you will be COLD WET AND HUNGERY

  3. #23
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Hey Fletcher - good advice. How bout heading over to the introduction section and tell us a bit about yourself. Thanks.
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  4. #24
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    "A year from now" paints a bit of a different story. Still, you have a long way to go on the knowledge trail and the best way to acquire your experience is through week-end treks. Spend one or two week-ends a month (or more if you can) backpacking and camping with your tent. In short order you will begin to get the "feel" of what your experience will be like. You don't even have to go to the woods to practice things like fire making. You can do that in your back yard. Try it with fire bow (Did I mention I'm lousy at it?), char cloth, different types of tinder, etc. Do it when it's nice and when it's raining so you get a good feel of how frustrating it can be. Then imagine that you are cold and hungry trying to make that fire and you'll begin to understand the need to perpetually practice...then practice some more. You'll also begin to understand what you need to have with you at all times.

    Practice setting up your tent inside. Do it with the lights out at night because I promise you'll get the opportunity at some time outdoors. You'll get into camp after dark and your headlamp will suddenly go belly up giving you the opportunity to sleep on cold wet ground without a tent or put the tent up in the dark. You need to become that familiar with your gear.

    Doing a week-end camping trip may not be the extreme adventure you are looking for but I promise that you'll learn tons by doing it and, in the end, that extreme adventure might not look so attractive. You don't know what you don't know.
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.

  5. #25
    City Survivalist Proud American's Avatar
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    Smile

    If you wonder if this is harsh then take a look at what every body is afraid of, look at this thread http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...read.php?t=378 The part every one is afraid of is post 10-11. Notice even though this thread is call the bear wilderness numptys he is proposing you take 70 pounds of equipment. That is already more then your planning to bring. So let me lay it out to you from one inexperienced person to another, YOU CAN'T BRING TO LITLE. If you take offence like the other guy Adrian did then you are one of those Rambo types who show up on a wilderness survival forum and think everyone else is a Rambo.That is what makes this sight so good is that there isn't a bunch of Rambo's on this sight and if they see your doin somthin that is definatley dangerous or ignorant they'll call you on it.

    If you want to not be a Rambo then youll stay and learn, if you get offended then go to a Rambo sight that will pat you on the back and say "stick it to the man", when you make suggestions like that. Granted you are better you arent just bringin a knife.

    Just my advice
    Last edited by Proud American; 09-01-2008 at 02:28 PM.
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  6. #26
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    Hey Ralbert

    1.My advice is, take the "meanest" advice you've had on here so far to heart.
    2. Look at some of the potential scenarios that were laid out here that could pop up and screw up your life, I thought Remy did a particularly good job with that.

    3. Stop thinking you're going to go out and "survive". I do that if I walk across the street and buy a package of smokes and make it back ok. Survival is relative to your situation. Do not, please, go out into a wilderness area unequipped and unprepared because you read a couple of books on survival techniques. For example, if you're going to use alternative fire starting methods, or any firestarting methods, go out in the back yard and practice it repeatedly. Got good at it? Great, now go out and practice in the rain....see what I mean?

    4. Do what several here have suggested, start with small overnight or weekend trips as you become more proficient.

    5. If you want to live off the land, literally, you better find out what the fishing and hunting laws are where you're going. Conservation officers aren't interested in your experiment with nature. They're interested in upholding the law. They're the people you're most likely to meet.

    6. If I missed it, sorry, but tell us where the heck you are on the planet. We can give a lot better advice knowing what wilderness areas might be available to you.
    some fella confronted me the other day and asked "What's your problem?" So I told him, "I don't have a problem I am a problem"

  7. #27
    Super-duper Moderator Sarge47's Avatar
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    Cool I agree....

    ....with Trax, Remy(great post, BTW), Rick, Proud, Crash, & all the others who's names escape me now. There's something "not right" here. You need to pay attention, listen, & learn. 1st learn to enjoy the outdoors; learn what you need to do just to have a great time. The rest will come with practice. No one here learned how to get along in the Wilderness in a short time & by reading only a couple of books. They started out by camping & had experienced people, oft-times instructors/Scoutmasters to teach them "hands-on" what they needed to know. That's what you need to do, it could save a couple of lives here.
    Last edited by Sarge47; 09-01-2008 at 09:23 PM. Reason: needed to add more.
    SARGE
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  8. #28

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    Yeah, what he said.

    But don't run off, Ral & Ral's girlfriend. It might not be the advice you were looking for, but there's a lot here that can help you.

    (At least until you start talkin' about killing gophers and lumberjacking with your trusty Kit Carson tommy-hawk.)

  9. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by remy View Post
    Loud, messy, undisciplined, cocky children that think they know it all...
    Well thank you for that nice little flaming metaphor there Remy. Did we stumble into an angry survival elitist cult here? Because if we did, we’re sorry, we didn’t mean to register on a forum where people are more interested in discouraging rather than actually giving helpful advice.
    I see people using referrals like Rambo... which is odd, because I clearly remember saying we’re dedicated to learn everything and got a whole year to prepare. I’ve never seen Rambo prepare anything longer than 5 minutes nor have backup.

    It’s understandable you guys try to prevent newbies from going into the woods with nothing more than scented toilet paper and an electric shaver.
    I thought it was clear we don’t belong to this category because all those survival books have detailed checklists of stuff you “absolutely need” and we plan to bring along every single item on that list. When I said “no luxury items” I obviously didn’t mean items on that list. I thought that was common sense but apparently I was wrong.
    I guess hearing to many doom scenario’s of people going unprepared makes you think everyone new has an IQ of below freezing point. To be honest, it’s quite insulting.

    Quote Originally Posted by LostOutrider View Post
    I just don't get it. Is this because of how society has increasingly distanced itself from wild places? Even small rural towns growing more suburban and insular, so that the folks living in them - the closest they get to the wilderness is the camo T-shirt section of the local Wal-Mart? Or is it {......}
    Yeah, it’s probably the camo T-shirt thing... I know someone who likes to collect stamps. Could you psychoanalyze that hobby for me too?

    Quote Originally Posted by Fletcher View Post
    Wow thats a good question. Where is that magical place? It's out there just over the next hill or is it around the next bend in this river of life we so...................well the hard truth is there is NO PREFECTsurvival places. Some are way better than others and some just SUCK!!!!
    Ok, so there’s no perfect place? But there is a “way better” and “sucky” category? Wow, got it!
    Maybe, just maybe when I asked for a good location, or “that magical place” as you’ve so elegantly put it... I wasn’t asking for an actual perfect place but suggestions for locations which have the highest density of “way better” places and as little “sucky” ones as possible.

    Please, enough with the “oh my god, you’ll die there you idiot” bandwagon flaming. The type of place we have in mind with the equipment we’ll bring is nowhere near the approximate vicinity of hazardous.

  10. #30
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Please realize that most people here really do want to be helpful. I'll go back to my last question for you in order to try and provide you with some helpfull info.

    What part of the world are you in now and how far do you want or would you travel for your journey?

    Additionally - is there a type of environment that you would prefer? A tropical island setting has always had a certain allure for me, althought the challenges can be many. Our members that live way up north would probably say tha 40 below 0 offers up some challenges. Is there a particular time of the year you would prefer to do this?
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  11. #31
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    Northern Mountains of Montana up around Shelby or Chester, it gets pretty devoid of human contact there, but your miles from a town. The Park Rangers won't mess with you if you sign in and leave a return date (if your not back by the return date they'll check on you, if you're not around they'll start a search) that's a safety precaution. Those deep forested mountains run up through Canada and can be anywhere from challenging to life threatening.
    Between now and the year before you leave for wherever you go practice: fire making, making shelters, i.d. of edible-medicinal-dangerous plants in the area you choose, i.d. the wildlife in the area, streams and ponds, water purification, get a map (topo and road) and learn to read it and terrain features, start working out carrying your pack on hikes or walks with a minimum of twenty pound more than you will carry so you get used to it, always tell someone where you are going, when you are going, and when you'll be back. Take a minimum of three emergency signal devices (whistle, signal panel, mirror, chem-lites, Never a flare gun in the forest may cause a fire) and search the threads here for more info and this is the begining of the training.
    Never take anything here as downing you, we're a thick skinned bunch who have many years of wilderness experience and some here have been on and are on SAR (search And Rescue) Teams so we see this all the time and really don't enjoy pulling carcases out of the forests, montains, deserts, or rivers. If you can't find it in the search ask. Reading a survival book is good but it's second to actually practicing it and becoming really good at it.
    Hope this helps you.
    Beo,

    I know some on here aren't gonna like this but if their gonna do it then I'd rather try an help then send them off to site that is full of Numpty's who may fill their head with garbage.
    Last edited by Beo; 09-02-2008 at 08:23 AM.
    There is no greater solitude than that of the Tracker in the forest, unless perhaps it's that of the wolf in the wilderness.

  12. #32
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    Oh, and by the way I am not part of any "angry survival elitist cult" and my knowledge comes from years of training as a U.S. Army Ranger and even more years just learning the wilderness ways and survival techniques by listening and hands on training from those better skilled than me. You may not like taking a course but they are very helpful, or the military would do away with them and there wouldn't be public ones. Try one and see if you like it, it can never hurt.
    Just my two cents.
    Beo,

    P.S. remember...
    Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.
    Last edited by Beo; 09-02-2008 at 08:57 AM.
    There is no greater solitude than that of the Tracker in the forest, unless perhaps it's that of the wolf in the wilderness.

  13. #33
    Senior Member bulrush's Avatar
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    Ralbert, this site is full of well-meaning people who have been there, done that, and know how dangerous being unprepared is. That said, I will get right to the point. You have no idea how unprepared you are by jumping into a 2-3 week survival, live-off-the-woods scenario. You need to ease into it.

    Please understand that the woods and camping has been an almost daily part of my life since I was 10 years old when I moved to the country. Now read how unprepared I was below.

    I discovered how unprepared I was when I went camping with my son and the Boy Scouts. It had been raining all week for about 4 hours per day and all the wood was soaked. After the first night of camping, I discovered no amount of matches was going to make me a fire. And only one scout (almost Eagle scout I believe) knew how to make a fire with wet wood. Well, you carve off the outer layer of wood until you find dry wood underneath. We were all shivering and freezing (it was about 45 degrees and wet) until he woke up and showed us how to get the fire started.

    That said you need to ease into things in the following manner:
    - Do an overnight campout in your own backyard. Practice fire making with the skills you will use on your 2-3 week final "test". Make your own food. Since you may not be able to hunt or fish in your own backyard (I'm assuming you're in a suburb) you can bring your own food. If you can skip using the toilet and dig a pit in your backyard, do it. Get your water from a stream if you are lucky enough to live by one. A 5 gallon bucket helps a lot here.

    - Next do a several night campout in a campground, near water. Do the same as above, though the campground may not let you put your human waste in a pit. You may be forced to use a pit toilet. Do several of these campouts in various weather types: cold (with snow), warm, rainy, dry.

    Then you might be prepared to go on your 2-3 week jaunt.

    I have some survival hints which will be useful in the woods. It also dispels many myths about various topics of survival. It is meant to be printed out and studied, or even take it with you into the field.
    http://www.geocities.com/csroberts/survival.htm

    Survival is a lot about managing risk. Do you really want to risk drinking "pure" stagnant water? Have you ever had uncontrollable diarhea for 4 weeks straight? Do you really want to take that risk, or should you boil that water first? Do you feel lucky?

    We are trying to discourage you from doing too much too soon. Many people here are in search and rescue and they are tired of finding dead bodies to bring home. We are trying to encourage you to take logical steps, it is harder than it looks. Identifying edible plants and non-diseased meat is harder than it looks.

    I am experienced enough to know my own inexperience. I know there are things I don't know, and that makes me cautious.

    Good luck.
    Last edited by bulrush; 09-02-2008 at 09:30 AM.

  14. #34
    Cold Heartless Breed tsitenha's Avatar
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    Ralbert, obviously you've no mind to heed anything anyone says here.
    To insinuate that we are "elitist" just because we don't agree and pump your deluded romantic ego with your (read a book, seen a RM show on the tele and did I say we will take a year to read more) mentality; can't be further from the truth.
    You've still haven't told us where your from (the UK I would guess)
    or where you would like to go (Scandanavia?)
    Or any other real life preparations such as trapping rights, hunting licenses, not to mention the ability to shelter/warm yourself, provide potable water, find adequate flora in the locale that you have in mind. Can you use a knife without loosing digits? Or even mend those digits?
    Let alone the physical abilities of trekking,wilderness living or enduring the insects, or dealing with the myriads of factors that will crop up, a year is way to short for a final test.
    Again take a course, expand your knowledge base with real camping/hiking trips, call back in a year or two let us know if it is still as easy as you seem to understand it as of this moment.
    YO

  15. #35
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Please, enough with the “oh my god, you’ll die there you idiot” bandwagon flaming. The type of place we have in mind with the equipment we’ll bring is nowhere near the approximate vicinity of hazardous.
    Then you need to spell out what the variables are and not expect us to just intuitively understand what it is you are doing. When you make statements like "your experience is little or none" or "not sure we need all the equipment" it leads us to believe exactly what you say. If you take off into the wilderness with no experience and leave behind important tools you take a good chance of dying or being seriously injured or some SAR group has to risk their life to rescue you. See the point? And no, I don't assume you have an IQ below freezing point. I don't assume anything. I just respond to what I'm told.

    If you want our help, we're more than willing to try to help you but we aren't very good at guessing your intentions so do as Crash suggested and let us know what geographic location you are in, where you intend to do this, and what "list" you intend to take with you. For all I know your list is from a grocery store.
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.

  16. #36
    Senior Member Riverrat's Avatar
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    Ralbert, I live in rural New brunswick, have most of my life. If I look out any window in my house, I see woods, I live in the woods and have the better part of my life. I would not even think of trying to "live off the land" unless it is the last option to stay alive. It is almost impossible to find food enough to live,(find out the laws for your area) you will have to have clean water, enough to drink and also enough to keep clean (help prevent sickness).
    What is your medical training? what do you do if your GF falls down and breaks her leg? arm? or better yet, her back? does she know how to help you in the event you are hurt? Believe me it can happen, had and axe bounce of a dry log and hit my hand while choping fire wood, cut the radial artery, even with a proper first aid kit, and at the time, a basic FA course, I was weak, white and feeling dizzy by the time I got out of the woods. Accidents happen, that is life, but if you are not prepared for them, you can die, it is no joke.
    You have some of the best advice ever given to anyone, given to you on this site, start with small trips, overnight, even a couple of days. take the courses, and listen to the ones who have given you advice here, they are not trying to discourge you, but keep you alive. Ask your questions and you will recive answers, if they are not the ones you want to hear, maybe you should re-think what you are planning, espically if everyone is saying the same thing.

  17. #37
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    Did I point out that I offer a "CRASH" survival course, 100% guaranteed to learn bunches of stuff.....?

  18. #38
    Cold Heartless Breed tsitenha's Avatar
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    Ralbert, you want exact info on the best place to survive?

    Isle 4 at your local Tesco (grocery store).


    Now that's funny no matter who you are.
    See we do have a sense of humour, about the only sense we collectively possess

  19. #39
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    OK the best place to survive is in a warm shelter with in walking distance of a superwalmart that is next door to a hospital...............





    SURVIVAL IS A STATE OF MIND NOT A PLACE
    Last edited by Fletcher; 09-02-2008 at 10:39 AM.

  20. #40
    Super-duper Moderator Sarge47's Avatar
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    Cool Yo Ralbert!

    That flaming post of yours was uncalled for. Your plans are NOT feasable; every one is telling you that. I think you're a Troll from TheFreakinBear, either that or a total idiot! I will be watching you really close! If you come on as a Troll you will be banished!
    SARGE
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