Camping or surviving?

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Originally Posted by rwc1969

So if someone is well prepared, but not camping, and gets themselves into a survival situation then in fact they are not surviving just camping?

So, the only way you are in a survival situation is if you are totally unprepared?

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No, you're in a "survival situation" every nano-second" of your like. Once you stop "surviving," you're dead; got it? Here's some info that might explain it better:

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...blog.php?u=296
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...blog.php?b=104
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...blog.php?b=105
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...blog.php?b=109

Perhaps this may get the message across; "Survival" is NOT the latest extreme sport; it's life or death! That's the definition, not mine, but the real deal! :cool2:

I'm new here but this topic caught my interest. My true survival experiences as defined in OP was when I was caught flat footed without the proper gear, but I define my gear a bit different. Camping is for a known duration and usually bring needed supplies and survival gear is set for more indefinate duration and need more ways to acquire or make things I need. An example of the difference would be in my camping kit I carry a small Exponent folding butane stove and in my survival pack I carry a Swiss army stove that burns wood that will never run out like the butane will. Some use a BOB to get to a location in which case I would be using my camping pack. My survival pack has more tools to make a BOL when I get there.

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Originally Posted by Alaskan Survivalist

I'm new here but this topic caught my interest. My true survival experiences as defined in OP was when I was caught flat footed without the proper gear, but I define my gear a bit different. Camping is for a known duration and usually bring needed supplies and survival gear is set for more indefinate duration and need more ways to acquire or make things I need. An example of the difference would be in my camping kit I carry a small Exponent folding butane stove and in my survival pack I carry a Swiss army stove that burns wood that will never run out like the butane will. Some use a BOB to get to a location in which case I would be using my camping pack. My survival pack has more tools to make a BOL when I get there.

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Redefining terms is not acceptable with me. Welcome. Now how about hikeing over to the intro section & introduce yourself. Here's a start: http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...ead.php?t=7813 :cool2:

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Originally Posted by Sarge47

Redefining terms is not acceptable with me. Welcome.

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Well, if you want to be cranky, he most likely will not want to ride down the river with you............on your special ride the river fantasy trip......:winkiss::innocent::winkiss: I have the book by Dale Carnagie.....:innocent:

1st, thanks for the intro. 2nd, so what do you do if you lose your BOB? Just curious. :cool2:

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Originally Posted by Sourdough

Well, if you want to be cranky, he most likely will not want to ride down the river with you............on your special ride the river fantasy trip......:winkiss::innocent::winkiss: I have the book by Dale Carnagie.....:innocent:

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...is Christmas dinner at his place canceled as well? Just wonderin'. :innocent:

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Originally Posted by Sarge47

1st, thanks for the intro. 2nd, so what do you do if you lose your BOB? Just curious. :cool2:

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I would make the best of whatever I have to work with, but and I mean a big but, Alaska has some bad weather and being prepared is a way of life. I don't go to the grocery store on a sunny day without bringing a warm clothes. Winters are long and home preparations are an annual event. Animal and fish migrations determine you do things at the right time. Ever try calling a moose anytime other than during the rutt? Catch salmon when they are not spawning? Pick blueberries in the spring? Preparation is a way of life and if I loose it all I start over. Homesteaders develop thier environment which is my approach, from where ever I start from.

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Originally Posted by rwc1969

I am not in a survival situation every nano second of my "like", whether I "life" it or not.:cool2:

I'm just living, when the shtf then I'm in a survival situation, maybe. got it!?

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Whatever. :cool2:

AS - You bring up a very good point. So let me ask a question of our Alaskan brethren and our northern Canadian friends. Have any of you experienced a late season calamity, fire, thunderstorm, etc, that did destroy some or all of your winter time preparations and, if so, how did you recover from it?

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Originally Posted by Rick

AS - You bring up a very good point. So let me ask a question of our Alaskan brethren and our northern Canadian friends. Have any of you experienced a late season calamity, fire, thunderstorm, etc, that did destroy some or all of your winter time preparations and, if so, how did you recover from it?

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Yes I have, and in a word, POTATOES! A little salt for them is nice too. I lucked out and somebody left a huge bag of them on my steps. I never found out who left them and I don't know if they know how much they meant to me but I know I will never forget it. Whenever asked I say growing potatoes is the single best thing to know for your survival. I have seen some lean times since but I have never been hungry, I just fill the hole in my belly with potatoes.

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Originally Posted by Alaskan Survivalist

Yes I have, and in a word, POTATOES! A little salt for them is nice too. I lucked out and somebody left a huge bag of them on my steps. I never found out who left them and I don't know if they know how much they meant to me but I know I will never forget it. Whenever asked I say growing potatoes is the single best thing to know for your survival. I have seen some lean times since but I have never been hungry, I just fill the hole in my belly with potatoes.

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A bag of potatoes can keep you going. There's a lot of nutrients there! Many's the time when I was on my own & very low on cash. I'd buy a 20# bag of spuds; deep-fry, or boil 'em, then mash 'em, or refrigerate the boiled ones and make hash browns. Bake 'em, what ever works! :cool2:

if it wasn't for taters I wouldn't be here.

I wholeheartedly agree that people often blur the distinction between camping and "surviving." People go camping all the time. But nobody in their right mind would go out seeking a survival situaiton. By definition, a survival situation means that your life is in peril.

How often have we heard people say "I am into surviving" or "I like to go out suriving." Well, unless you are suicidal, aren't we all "into surviving"? Nobody says "Hmm, I think I'll go out dying today ..." Nope, we all want to survive.

With these things in mind, it must be said that there is definitely something in between traditional camping and being in a "survival situation." You might call it "minimalist camping" or "adventuring," or whatever you prefer.

In this kind of outing you are trying to hone your survival skills without actually being in a survival situation. It could not be called "surviving" because that is not what you are doing. Still yet, "camping" in the general sense is not an adequately descriptive term.

Perhaps the "big thinkers" on this forum could agree on a suitable term to describe outings in which you are practicing and perfecting the skills that would be needed in a survival situation without actually being in one.

"Survival Skills Preparation Outing" (SSPO for short) comes to mind as a good term, but I am sure that you guys could come up with something much "snazzier."

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Originally Posted by preachtheWORD

I wholeheartedly agree that people often blur the distinction between camping and "surviving." People go camping all the time. But nobody in their right mind would go out seeking a survival situaiton. By definition, a survival situation means that your life is in peril.

How often have we heard people say "I am into surviving" or "I like to go out suriving." Well, unless you are suicidal, aren't we all "into surviving"? Nobody says "Hmm, I think I'll go out dying today ..." Nope, we all want to survive.

With these things in mind, it must be said that there is definitely something in between traditional camping and being in a "survival situation." You might call it "minimalist camping" or "adventuring," or whatever you prefer.

In this kind of outing you are trying to hone your survival skills without actually being in a survival situation. It could not be called "surviving" because that is not what you are doing. Still yet, "camping" in the general sense is not an adequately descriptive term.

Perhaps the "big thinkers" on this forum could agree on a suitable term to describe outings in which you are practicing and perfecting the skills that would be needed in a survival situation without actually being in one.

"Survival Skills Preparation Outing" (SSPO for short) comes to mind as a good term, but I am sure that you guys could come up with something much "snazzier."

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For now, I'm just going to refer to this as "Survival Camping" for ease in understanding! I will title my new thread that way! :cool2:

I see myself as a camper but with that said you still need a basic knowledge of survival skills such as fire, water, hunting, wild edibles, and shelters IAW climate conditions in case you get lost in the wilderness or what ever environment you may end up in.

You could just call it practicing bushcraft.

So what happened to Deadly Toad? I haven't seen him in a bit.

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Originally Posted by Oly

I see myself as a camper

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Well, yeah. You can't call yourself a mountain man with that lumpy recliner in the woods. Right?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3279/...5572c86739.jpg

LOL now your talking.