Bushcraft skills.

leghog said:
Terrain association is critical in navigation. Compass alone can't provide that. Map alone can.
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I would like to second that. I prefer having a compass and a map, but honestly rely on terrain association much more than dead reckoning (shooting azimuth and following). I recently won both state and region II land navigation challenges for best warrior and used my compass once (integrity, I am not lying). That being said, the courses had no more than 3 miles max between points. Where I really pulled away was because the weather was horrible both events (raining, lighting, wash outs, etc) and it was hard to use your compass and wet map in the dark etc. Many of the other competitors got overwhelmed and forgot to just terrain associate.

That leads me to feel that land navigation and being comfortable in the woods are probably two of the most important factors in having safe adventures in unfamiliar areas. If you can just take a deep breath and look around, you can probably locate yourself on a map. Find your backstops and a handrail and just go. Trust your pace count and relax. Anyhow, that is what I think about land navigation. Just be cool and smart and you’re good.

Adventures are fun.
 
Spend a lot of time in the woods and don't try to learn everything at once. Pick up skills as you go. Develop a plan for a day trip where you want to focus on something like navigation or finding water/water purification or primitive fire. Go to a primitive meet up here or there. Ask questions, practice, and enjoy the time that you are out.

In the end, I spent a lot of time on this forum and learned many great skills from the members here and good friends like Rick Marchand. But I also rarely if ever do 'survival' style camping. My wife and I do a lot of extended canoe trips and we bring all the latest gee whiz gear that makes our lives easier and comfortable without adding too much weight for the portage trails. In the end, its the time spend outside that counts. There are trade offs to less gear which translates into more time working with materials to compensate. The fault with having no skills is that you can't compensate when your gee whiz gadget fails. The fault with having no gee whiz gadgets is that you might be light on your feet, but your feet are treading a 100 foot circle for most of the day trying to make the stuff that could have been easily packed in. Having skills and gear is a great situation to be in.

Ultimately, choose your trip goals, gear and desired activities so that they line up and you will love your time in the wilderness.

From Rick - "you only have to drink gritty water you purified by dropping fire heated rocks into a hollowed out part of a stump once before you come to the joint realization that the method both works and sucks at the same time"
 
leghog said:
I've never been lost in any terrain. Regardless, I stand by my statement regarding terrain association.
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Okay.

That’s another thing to remember. What some find indispensable, others never have a need for. That’s especially true with gear. I see the load out of some peoples packs and just go “why...?” :D

I saw a guy at the beach with a 60 pound ruck on his back once. Not out in the middle of nowhere mind you. He was in the middle of a state campsite where the beach is about 100 yards off and little kiddos running around. Could not take my eyes off him. I was dumbfounded.
 
Shotgun said:
Okay.

That’s another thing to remember. What some find indispensable, others never have a need for. That’s especially true with gear. I see the load out of some peoples packs and just go “why...?” :D

I saw a guy at the beach with a 60 pound ruck on his back once. Not out in the middle of nowhere mind you. He was in the middle of a state campsite where the beach is about 100 yards off and little kiddos running around. Could not take my eyes off him. I was dumbfounded.
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That pack is to tote all his beer around...:D
 
Shotgun said:
Okay.

That’s another thing to remember. What some find indispensable, others never have a need for. That’s especially true with gear. I see the load out of some peoples packs and just go “why...?” :D

I saw a guy at the beach with a 60 pound ruck on his back once. Not out in the middle of nowhere mind you. He was in the middle of a state campsite where the beach is about 100 yards off and little kiddos running around. Could not take my eyes off him. I was dumbfounded.
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Which has little to nothing to do with navigation.
 
The Zieg said:
Dirt time. Go out. Have fun. Pick a few (three) skills to practice for the summer and get competent with them. Then practice them this winter. Repeat next year. Try new regions. Desert in Four Corners, alpine, eastern grasslands, Colorado has a lot to offer. You'll be a skills monster in no time.

As for the gurus, they're not going to make you a superhero, because they're not superheroes. But they often serve as foci for groups of people who are practicing together and building their skills.

BTW, did you cut your hair? Looks good.

Zieg
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Hey Zieg! ^_^ Thanks for this message; these are all REALLY good ideas. ♡

I think you might be talking about an old photo I posted from when I had a pixie cut (usually a different crazy color every week. xD). Currently I've grown out my natural red, past my waist!! ^_^ I am very proud that I had the patience to accomplish this. :p
 
Yo SG,

To do is to learn. So go and do.

Make a fire,
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Cook something,
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Play with your knife, any knife,
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Set up a tarp or a tent, doesn't have to be fancy, just has to be,
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Go have some fun and don't take yourself or any of this too seriously,
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Cook a steak!
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Eat a steak,
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It can be a lot of fun. It doesn't have to be all gloom and,
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Go and do. Do and learn. Great advice. It's fun too.

I've certainly been twisted up a bit and came out at a different location than I was expecting. It usually happens on flat repetitive rolling woods terrain where there are no real landmarks, drainage patterns may be variable, and you can't see very far. No trail of course either. Add clouds and without a compass, you can get a bit twisted up and think you are headed "North" when you're actually headed in the opposite direction. Map doesn't help much other than to provide extremes of where you might just end up at. But come out you will unless you are walking in circles.
 
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22-rimfire said:
Go and do. Do and learn. Great advice. It's fun too.

I've certainly been twisted up a bit and came out at a different location than I was expecting. It usually happens on flat repetitive rolling woods terrain where there are no real landmarks, drainage patterns may be variable, and you can't see very far. No trail of course either. Add clouds and without a compass, you can get a bit twisted up and think you are headed "North" when you're actually headed in the opposite direction. Map doesn't help much other than to provide extremes of where you might just end up at. But come out you will unless you are walking in circles.
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I you're headed south thinking you're headed north, I'd suggest you have larger issues than gear issues.
 
I take your post as a bit tongue and cheek as obviously anyone going north thinking they're going south or vice versa is just a bit twisted up with their directions. This can happen when you wander in a circle without even realizing that you are. Your sense of directions become all screwed up.
 
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bore said:
Start fishing and hunting. Then sleeping out. A 22 and some fishing gear is a good start. And a lean too. And a cooking kit. An air mattress. A better knife. A saw. Maybe a tent. A good back pack.. It don't stop. Good jacket, better pants, boots, flashlights, fire starting stuff, what else.. Lol
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"[W]hat else?" Skills.
 
stabman said:
Just go out there and do things. :thumbsup:

People really overthink it a lot of the time.
Basically, go out there to camp, and make some things.
-Carve a spoon
-Make a debris shelter
-Practice getting the fire going more easily each time
-Cook a steak or yummy vegetables with the fire
-Etc.

Maybe you don't want to sleep on the raised platform you make (it might be too wobbly or "pokey"), but use it as a bench/table for you stuff.

If you just practice a few of the things you want to try out, you won't get bored while camping. :)
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:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
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