"Practicing to be homeless..."

Don Rearic

Don Rearic

Joined
Oct 8, 1998
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I have a neighbor who works for a federal agency that spies on all of us. ( :D )

He spent a few years in the Marines and through his own career path, ended up where he is now.

Nice guy!

So, he watched me load the car up once with packs and all sorts of nonsense and he asked me if I was going hiking or camping and I replied in the affirmative. I asked him if he wanted to go sometime and he said to me, "No, I had enough of that sh*t in The Marine Corps. Practicing to be homeless..."

I mean, yeah, I know some people's ideas of "roughing it" is staying in a hotel that doesn't offer room service... (I've actually heard someone say that before...) And I don't think less of him for that or anything, but I have to say, it really made me think of how valuable any type of camping experience is when it comes to "survival."

It doesn't matter if it is a ground sheet and a sleeping bag or if you add a tarp or even a tent. Even if you are sleeping in a camper or some type of RV or perhaps only the back of a pickup truck. (I did a lot of that in the early to mid 1990s).

What is your preferred method of practicing to be homeless and what do you think you gain from the experience of it?

I mean, to me, camping is simply enjoyable and I don't really care if it is hiking or car-camping type or in a camper or whatever. Just getting outside is great.

I also think people today have it so incredibly easy compared to just 16-20 years ago. Look at the plethora of knives and other gear you have access to, it's amazing!
 
I enjoy camping for what it is. Nature, no traffic, no cells, no TV... It's just a way for me to get away from it all and from the ppl that like to be victims. We all work, go to schools, do sth and we know how it works yet a lot of ppl around us like to portray themselves as victims of "the system" even though they are endorsing it and trying to maintain it.
Now maybe I'm too anarchistic, young, dumb or what ever else you can think off but I don't like that idea of "I support ppl as long as they don't screw me over, then it's poor me".

So it's just a way to rest up. And if it gets to a need to use those skills and experience, it simply won't be sth new. And it also brings the much needed sense of accomplishment. I still feel better about making a fire or a primitive shelter, or even knowing how to track a few animals in my area than by being able to reach the max level in the newest PC, Xbox or PS3 game.
 
Our last camping trip was fun (Mike & Dave & myself) Camping out of our packs,I packed a tarp & mosquito net.. hoping to do it again in the fall(colder weather)
 
October has always been my favorite month of the year and it is definitely prime campfire-coffee-sleeping bag-back of pickup or tent - time. :D
 
When I was a kid, it was usually a sleeping bag and a pack, no tent. I liked sleeping out under the stars. When I met my wife and we were just dating, camping turned into a pack my Pathfinder to the gills, even took my gas grill, and head to a place where there were showers and bathrooms. I now find my self getting back to the basics, trying to take less and less gear each time, and relying on my smarts and my hands. One thing I never really enjoyed was the sound of a generator kicking on at 2am to run the AC in an RV a few sites down. So, I am now backcountry camping in the Smoky Mountains National Park, and the Cherokee National forest. I like the quiet solitude much more than campground camping by far. Moose
 
I find it helps me mentally separate needs from desires.

Of course this sort of thing does lend itself to a whole new set of desires, what with all the nifty gear that's available. But even so it's probably less than most of us use in our everyday lives.
 
I find that getting away from it all-refreshes me spiritually,mentally, and physically. There's nothing better to me than watching a sunrise sitting by a fire having a cup of coffee !! I wish I had some of the newer gadgets back in the day but old fashioned basic camping is still the way to go. :thumbup:
 
I camped a lot as a kid, both with family and friends. After my time in the Army in a unit that spent most of it's time in the field, I sort of lost my taste for "sleeping in a dirt hole, being cold, wet, hot, tired, hungry and then having to walk home."
Now that my kids are old enough to carry their own packs, we are starting to head out again, a night or two at a time.
I'm hoping that it gives us a better sense of being more self reliant. And of course, giving us an excuse to use some really cool, ESEE knives!
 
I have always loved camping. In over forty years of doing it, I've done it every way from full-service cabins , to bringing a knife,billy can, fishing rod, and tarp in the middle of nowhere. The common denominators I enjoy of it all is relying upon myself , seeing nature doing it's own thing , practicing my skills , being able to think on a different level with things , and a big favorite of mine...peace and quiet away from " civilization".
I've had times when I thought about being homeless ,and I've come very close to it numerous times due to personal issues. I came to the conclusion that if I ever did become homeless , I would rather take my chances surviving in the bush than to be homeless in a city with the crime, drug and alcohol abuse , violence , and all the rest of it. If the shtf , my family and myself would hit the hills ,no doubt about it. I'm not a misanthrope , but there's a lot of bad people out there and I'd rather take my chances on my bush survival skills with Mother nature.
We spend too much of our lives paying bills and taxes , putting up with BS , traffic , crowds , and all that stuff ,that camping or going in the bush is the greatest relief there could be ,Imo. Thanks. :)
 
Don, I definitely feel where your neighbor is coming from. I loved camping as a kid and through college. But then came 6 months in Quantico with a bivy bag a rifle and a fighting hole. Since then I've wanted nothing to do with "roughing it." That was over a year ago now, and I'm just now getting the itch to get back into the woods. I don't mind the bivy, but I figure if I take away the rifle, e-tool, ammo, kevlar, flack, and various other odds and ends I can afford the added weight of a tent. Just got a new one man tent that I can't wait to take out.
 
When I was about 17-20 my friends and I would at a moments notice pack up our trucks and head up to the Sierras in the summer. There's a small lake at the VERY TOP (8593 ft) called Crater Lake. We would get up there at about 9-10PM, lock into 4LOW, and crawl up the trail with our caravan of trucks. We'd spend 2-3 days up there fishing, shooting, and having fun. Everyone would just sleep in the back of their trucks or around the campfire. We had no fancy gear or electronics, just our knowledge and love for the outdoors.
 
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It's all relative - in my Army days, I was happy if I didn't have a rock jabbing me in the ribs when I slept - now, older, fatter, and happier, I've finally given in and started taking a thermarest pad with me. :)

You can get used to anything, if you're willing to - but some people just cannot adapt to change or allow nature to have any part of their lives outside of an occasional TV show or Ansel Adams print. They will not make it long in the woods.

military-sucks.jpg


Nature is a wonderful instructor, but death is the ultimate teacher.
 
I personally like spending time in the woods, no matter the reason. Getting away from all the fancy gadgets we can use, and only use what we can pack on our own backs. Or cars if car camping is your thing :thumbup:
 
Perhaps you neighbor may someday regret the way he thinks about 'practicing to be homeless', in the time of a dreadful event were to happen, where we all relied on skills to survive.. He'd be done.. Because he was military don't mean jack.. Period.. (other then serving his country of course)..

What I mean is if you don't "practice" anything for that matter you tend to forget, and aren't quite as crafty as you once thought you were..

Yeah you remember the basics, but sometimes the basics aren't enough to pull you through..

I used to play Bass and gave it up for about 6 yrs, starting back I knew the basics but my dexterity, muscle memory and just plan knowledge of music was GONE>>

Practice up buddy, its fun... and maybe someday VERY USEFUL>.
 
TheGame said:
I personally like spending time in the woods, no matter the reason. Getting away from all the fancy gadgets we can use, and only use what we can pack on our own backs. Or cars if car camping is your thing :thumbup:
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History repeats itself.....

It amazes me how far we've come from the primitive lifestyles are ancestors knew, yet we find ourselves trying to get back to that.. Maybe not to "live" that way again but just enough to quench our thirst..

Being born and raised inner city Los Angeles my whole life, people would think I was crazy when I just wanted to "get away", and go up in the mountains..

Thus the reason I'm in Tulsa... I got away !!
 
TheLastDaze said:
Perhaps you neighbor may someday regret the way he thinks about 'practicing to be homeless', in the time of a dreadful event were to happen, where we all relied on skills to survive.. He'd be done.. Because he was military don't mean jack.. Period.. (other then serving his country of course)..
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I don't know that he would be doomed, it all depends on what event happens.

What I mean is if you don't "practice" anything for that matter you tend to forget, and aren't quite as crafty as you once thought you were..

Yeah you remember the basics, but sometimes the basics aren't enough to pull you through..

I used to play Bass and gave it up for about 6 yrs, starting back I knew the basics but my dexterity, muscle memory and just plan knowledge of music was GONE...
Click to expand...

I had a similar experience playing guitar. I never could play lead worth a damn but I was a pretty good rhythm player. I quit for about 12 years and started again and so much of it was long gone. But some of it amazingly enough, came back after a very short period of time.

I don't know that you can compare the dexterity and familiar task transfer (as opposed to "muscle memory") loss to survival skills. Playing an instrument is an incredibly dexterous skill set of skills. You can forget how to play certain songs or portions of songs just like you can forget certain pieces of information that is perhaps vital to survival. But as far as the skills are concerned, I don't think there are many of them that are so involved with familiar task transfer that you will "lose" them as you lose the ability/dexterity to play a stringed instrument.
 
some people are perfectly "at home" out in the boonies. while you may not be in a house or apartment, it doesn't mean you're "homeless".

so i've gotta guess that it's a "mindset fail" on behalf of your neighbor. sounds like he wants his barcalounger, and 500 channels of cable TV on the big screen with cold suds in the fridge and just doesn't care to spend any time doing with less than he has now.
 
I think practicing to live in the woods in some type of extended survival situation is very much like being "homeless" in the modern context. If you take away the issues of homeless people, many of them are masters of survival in urban, suburban and some in semi-rural environments as well.
 
I haven't gone camping in many years. I really need to remedy that post haste.
 
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