Living in the wild

[Risen]

I don't claim to be a sword expert, but I would venture a guess that a machete is much more useful than a conventional sword.

A mechette is useful and shaped for cutting down vegetation in a hack sort of motion. A sword is created and useful for self defense purposes. In a situation where you never know what might happen while you're out alone in a remote area, it's best to have multiple options. And considering I already have a limited amount of sword and martial arts training, I might as well use that to my advantage. Training is also a good way to keep busy and stay in shape in such an environment.

But above all it's not so much the weapon you use as much as it is KNOWING HOW to use it effectively.

 

[mortabunt]

Can I come with? *dreams*

Only if you take care of the meat and other things...

 

[Risen]

Only if you take care of the meat and other things...

Don't worry, I think she could handle my meat just fine .

Amargith, i think we would have a blast roughing it outdoors in the wilderness. (and not just for the above reason)

 

[Nonsensical]

Don't worry, I think she could handle my meat just fine .

Amargith, i think we would have a blast roughing it outdoors in the wilderness. (and not just for the above reason)

:moonwalk:

 

[cascadeco]

I'm thinking of taking the plunge. Contunuing ina full time job, dropping school, and saving all my money to get started on living on my own SOMEWHERE away from people. Just me, nature, and all the animals I can hunt for free and plants I can grow. Logistically, I need three things more than anything else:

1. Land where it'd be legal for me to live off of with limited tax liabilities and other intrusions by government regulation meant to prevent people from being self sufficient and living outside of society. Outside the U.S. if need be.

2. A hardy location with enough water to support 1 human being, enough animals to hunt (no problem if this is a location near the ocean).

3. A good climate fit for growing a few crops and mild winters. A location with a fair amount of wild edible flora would be a plus.


Hunter/gatherer sort of living with a bit agricultural action. Preferably I shouldn't really NEED to raise any livestock, but it'd be an open possibility. It might be more of a necessity if I have to pay a lot of money annually to the government or what have you. The money I save should be enough to supply my tools and starting seeds or possible land costs for a year, though I could make plans to make room to produce a surplus of food items which could be sold.

In any case, does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? The hardest part is obviously finding a good location where you will be ALLOWED to live this way. This is something that should be open to every American in this vast country (of vast swaths of federal land forfeited by the dumb ass states), but alas, that quality has fallen by the wayside as so many things in this country have. Hunting, fishing, growing food, shitting outside; that's easy crap. I'd just need to hone my skills a bit before making the journey and learn quite a few things while saving the money.

If in the U.S., obviously to fit the above the west-coast states would be more fitting (washington, oregon, california), but also really expensive. Hmm...Hawaii could work too. Would be expensive though.

Out of country might be a better option - central or south america. (In S. America, Ecuador is awesome), but I don't know the legalities of buying land, being an expat, etc).

Re. edible plants and hunting/gathering for subsistence - Read 'Into the Wild' if you haven't already. (haven't read this thread - maybe someone already mentioned it)

Your plan sounds awesome. I hate having to find a job in the 'real world' in order to make a living and survive.

 

[BallentineChen]

Have you tried doing any backpacking? Sometimes I feel the "Into the Wild" urge and that usually fixes it. Probably a good idea to dip your toes before you jump in with both feet anyway. I bet there are still some great spots in the Northeast to inhabit, but I'm partial to New England anyway.

 

[Risen]

Have you tried doing any backpacking? Sometimes I feel the "Into the Wild" urge and that usually fixes it. Probably a good idea to dip your toes before you jump in with both feet anyway. I bet there are still some great spots in the Northeast to inhabit, but I'm partial to New England anyway.

I just got back from a solo camping trip (my first ever camping trip) in the mountains for 2 days. Twas a fair challenge between keeping my car alive and taking care of everything that needed to be done at the camping site, not to mention fighting off the insects. I expected it to be bad, but the flies, bees, and mosquitoes were just the triple threat from the bowels of hell. I suppose it could've been worse, but I was going with nothing more than a beach canopy and my Suv for shelter. Brought a plethora of food with me, but water was a bit of a difficulty. I had plenty to drink with, but I had to walk wuite a ways to get access to water I could use to wash my dishes, snuff out campfires, and whatever else.

But for the most part it was a developed campsite, so it could've been much more difficult. I was just lacking some necessary supplies and experience. I'll definitely have to go again, and try backpacking as well. I took some pictures (for as long as my friggin camera would work :/ ), and I'll post them later.

 

[Risen]

Camping photos of Palomar mountain. Unfortunately, my camera was acting as badly as my car was, so I only managed to get a fraction of the photos I wanted to. Makes me very sad.

First up, the campsite-

A mushroom I found in a nearby tree-

The rest of the area-

 

[JAVO]

Sounds like an ok trip.

A collapsible plastic bag with a spout is useful. There's a 2 gallon one too which would probably be a better size for solo trips.

Amazon.com: Reliance Products 5 Gallon Poly-Bagged Fold-A-Carrier Collapsible Water Carrier: Sports & Outdoors

 

[Risen]

Sounds like an ok trip.

A collapsible plastic bag with a spout is useful. There's a 2 gallon one too which would probably be a better size for solo trips.

Amazon.com: Reliance Products 5 Gallon Poly-Bagged Fold-A-Carrier Collapsible Water Carrier: Sports & Outdoors

That looks nice. I just improvised with a large bucket lined with a trashbag, and empty 1 gallon drinking water containers. The bucket was mandatory for washing dishes. The trip was great, it was just a lot of work and not enough planning/preparation. I had no choice though, since I chose the timing due to my house being fumigated for 2 days. I had to go somewhere, so to the mountain woods I went .

 

[runvardh]

If I were going to do this my concern would more be making sure I knew what veggies were eddible where I was going. Past that I'd do more of a migratory living using a tent that I could line to deal with summer and winter. After that it's more just pack things up on my back go some place, squat for 3 weeks, pack up and move to another location. I'd try and stay near streams and get my protien from fish while grazing on whatever berries and such I can pick up. I hear if you make a tea out of conifer needles you can keep your vitamin C intake up as well. The only other problem, for me, that I can forsee is that I'd get lonely after a while.

 

[Willfrey]

Every time I've went camping I had one item that was invaluable : A bowsaw

Awesome for cutting down limbs or sawing up a dead tree for firewood. Its a lot of work, but less maintenence intensive then a chainsaw.

 

[runvardh]

I have a fold away camp saw that works nice for that exact reason.

 

[nonplussed]

I thought you meant this would be an indefinite arrangement, but since you're talking a year, it probably won't take as much planning as I initially thought.

First off, have you done any kind of hunting/fishing before? It's not a sure-bet, and it's also illegal to do without a license and tags. You might want to look into a hunter's safety course if you're set on the idea of hunting for food.

Look for a guidebook that covers edible food in the area you'll be staying. You'd be really surprised how much edible vegetation there is. Something else you might think about is a 'weed garden.' Here's a little article about them : Lazy? Green? Grow a Weed Garden : Planet Green I love dandelions, they're tasty, and you can use all parts of the plant, from leaves for salad, to flowers for eating/fermenting, and even the roots as a coffee substitute.

Since this is a temporary setup, I'd personally go with a travel trailer or a bus or something like that.

One last thing, even as an introvert, you may eventually want some social interaction, so you might think about either finding someone to join up with you, even if for only part of the time. You might also think about setting up camp somewhere vaguely close to civilization.

 

[JAVO]

I hear if you make a tea out of conifer needles you can keep your vitamin C intake up as well.

True. Or, you can just grab a handful and chew on them, preferably above horse-butt height along trails. That Christmas tree smell is much stronger as a taste.

Every time I've went camping I had one item that was invaluable : A bowsaw

Yes, a bowsaw and extra blades are indispensible for a steady supply of firewood. It's best paired with a 3/4 to full-sized axe for splitting. A bowsaw blade can be stitched into a heavy leather belt so that it's always with you. It's not too difficult to make a frame from sturdy branches and some cordage, such as someone has done in this photo:

I have a fold away camp saw that works nice for that exact reason.

Those work great for smaller diameter firewood and shelter construction. If depending on fire for heat below freezing or so, I'd want a bowsaw.

 

[Alwar]

Yes, a bowsaw and extra blades are indispensible for a steady supply of firewood.

Lehman's has a stainless steel collapsible one.

 

[Risen]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'm well into the planning stages now.

For one, I'm thinking I'll spend about $2,000 on a portable dome enclosure to live in, or build it myself from bare materials, which would be MUUUUUCH cheaper. Something like this-

Red Sky Shelters : Red Sky Shelters : Yome Home

Coupled with a woodstove for under $1000 (hopefully about $500), a table, and a cheapo bed inside. Outside the area will have a large fire pit and an area sectioned off by barbed or hot wire to keep out unwanted beasts and people. The enclosure will also be adorned with a minimal solar panel setup to run a medium sized high energy efficiency freezer (meant to be powered with solar) to store meat, costing somewhere around $2,000 for the panels and fridge setup altogether. The price for the solar panels could be considerably less if I build them myself. I should also be able to get away with having enough power to run very small appliances on sunny days, or LED lighting at night.

Then I'll probably need to spend around $1,000 on guns and ammo. I need a revolver and a rifle suitable for hunting birds and large game (pigs and deer). Coupled with weapons training and hunting classes, this will likely run me at least $2,000.

Then about $1,500~$2000 or so for tools and bear minimum food provisions, water treatment, other tools and preparations.

This plan should run me about $6,000~$8,000, minus travel expenses or any land expenses. Wherever I plan to go, I intend to maybe try renting a place to stay for a month or so, enough time to order in the larger supplies I need and gather things CLOSE to my new home instead of buying everything in California and moving it across the country.

Now, my biggest logistical issue is figuring out where the heck I can stay. I am considering Idaho, Arkansas (Ozarks area), Montana, or possibly the great lakes region. These areas seem to have lots of open land. The problem is finding land where I can at least somewhat legally go squatting. I'm actually considering federal wilderness preserves which usually seem to be open to hunting and such. I imagine that the state might not come looking for me if I decided to live on those lands, but I'm not sure about that.

I could REAAAALLLLY use some help in pinpointing a good area to use :/.

 

[Willfrey]

If you don't mind the snow I grew up in rural areas in north-central Idaho (Idaho County) and there are some places I could reccomend, but as far as squatting I have no clue of the legality. In south Idaho it stays pretty dry and the Snake River valley gets a bare minimum of snow (or rainfall for that matter), though of course the terrain is pretty bleak. South Western Idaho has some dry areas that are wooded, the Owayhee mountains for the most part are bare, but areas around Silver City (A badass ghost town) have plenty of trees. Again, Silver City gets dumped on with snow, but the closer you get to the valley floor the less snow you'll run into.

Also... I'm going to pitch again my idea of maybe getting a pickup with a cab-over camper. On the question of legality there is a stark difference of parking your vehicle somewhere for a while as opposed to actually putting down a dome structure...

 

[JAVO]

Here are a few people who have done this:

[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYJKd0rkKss"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYJKd0rkKss[/YOUTUBE]

Alone in the Wild - National Geographic Channel

 

[wank]

Really, I suggest becoming exceedingly familiar with this pleasantly broken system of ours, and figuring out how to obtain an allodial title(as I'm sure it's possible, just exceedingly difficult), coupled with owning your straw man(less difficult)(or destroying it, but this would be a more difficult matter as well), and then the world is yours.