Your Approximate Age 45.
Your Gender: Male.
Your Geographic Location (small town in West Virginia, family ranch in Texas, or the “the Lower East Side”) Okinawa, Japan.
Your Occupation (present and relevant past, such as military, technical, etc.) Field Engineer.
Your Prior Relevant Training (all types, such as first aid, military, firearms, survival, etc.) BSA...and just doing it.
The Nature of Your Prior Experience (Terrain, Season, Number of times/years, and longest duration in Wilderness) Jungles, mountains, and oceans of the sub-tropics to the lakes of Quetico, Ontario, to the deserts and mountains of the western US and the Middle East. Duration: Two weeks.
Your Level of Experience (novice, intermediate, advanced, expert, instructor, etc.) Experience? Probably expert... Solo comfort zone? Novice...
Your Preparedness Planning (type and level) Level: OCD
Your Interests and Hobbies (gardening, wilderness skills, urban survival preparation, knife-making, firearms, food storage, backpacking, etc. )
Anything that involves sleeping outdoors.
Your Membership and Learning Objectives: How to go it alone, and not be afraid... To master the psychology of survival.
Now that we got that out of the way, a little about me.
I’m a gear whore. I hang with some really hard-core Japanese guys who make all their own stuff. Their own bowls, and eating utensils, and on and on. I like my Snow Peak Titanium stuff, my MSR water filter, and bladders, and Dragon Fly stove, and brand-name tent, hammock, etc. But I also use what works, and not just “the best.” For instance, the best knife I own is just a .125 thick Mora. Not full-tang, but an excellent knife, none the less. I own nothing that says “Bayer” on it... I don’t always have “the best,” but I do like quality.
That’s not to say that I can’t go completely wild. For instance, I always start a fire with a friction method, or ferro rod where I can, but I also carry two lighters... When I do sea kayak “expedition” for a couple nights or a week, I sleep in a tent or under a tarp on the beach. When I do a jungle or forest trek of the same duration, I practice making shelters when I have time, but I prefer to sleep in a hammock. I can make a bamboo hammock, but I like my ENO One-Link system. I carry two compasses, and know how to use them, but I also like to have my GPS on full-time, if just to plot the trail.
In other words, I have some skills, I practice the skills, but I like my modern gear.
I have a lot of respect for the guys who do it 100% with the “old ways.” It’s a lot of work.
I learned my E and E from the US military guys who teach it. Never been in the military, but worked there my whole life, and that’s cultivated great and lasting friendships. Okinawa has some of the best US military Jungle school instructors around.
I always take too much gear, and my brother always gives me hell about it... I’m not a minimalist. “Two is one, and one is none...” Yea, I’m one of those guys. 50L pack for a two night trip. You should see my BWCA/Quiteco set up...LOL. In my defense, we can get everything for two guys and a dog, for a one week outting, into a single canoe (kevlar, of course).
I love dogs. I have two Japanese Akita's.
Just came back from a week in Southern California (work), where I was able to spend a couple nights solo in the San Bernardino Mountains around Big Bear (Gray’s Peak). Doing a trip to the Minami Alps in Nagano next month, where we’ll trek to two 3,000 meter peaks in three or four days.
Married for 25 years, and I still sleep on the floor in a bag, while she sleeps in the bed. That’s just where I’m happy...on the ground, in a sleeping bag.
I'm terrified of getting lost. I'm 100% sure that if I ever lose the trail when I'm by myself, the vulture un my shoulder will get me, and I'll panic. This is the reason I joined this forum. There's a ton of good info and you seem like good people who know what you're doing, so I'm sure there's help here. I'm going to post a thread in the General survival area outlining exactly what my problem is, and hope that many will read it and chime in.
Thanks,
Matt
