What is your motivation to learn Wilderness\Surv. skills ?

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Nov 25, 2006
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There are many folks here from various walks of life, with varied interests and motivation levels. For myself, I would say that I am moderately interested\ motivated to learn particular outdoor skills, in the sense that I focus on the basic and practical. I have had an inner longing\desire\interest in the outdoors since being a child. My father was exactly the same way. We always had a lab for duck hunting and I remember helping him build an ice plane\boat type deal with a V.W. engine and airplane prop in back. It ended up being used on a frozen lake as it was finished in winter. The engine eventually blew on it. My father got a moose with a bow back in the 60's and one of my earliest memories is one of his moose hanging from a tree. There are so may stories\memories. I have shot nothing larger than white tail and mulies, smoked fish, picked every type of edible mushroom\plant that I knew was safe. I pressed cider and made maple syrup from tree sap etc. Today I have even more outdoor interests such as motorcycles and metal detecting, if anything, these interests have expanded. I am sure that we all have many similar traits or experiences. These days I am slowly getting up to speed with practical aspects of outdoor survival. I thought that axe use was swing, chop, have a fire. Now I realize that I knew very little about axe, knife use as outdoor tools, and that there is much to learn. I also have greater respect for the safe use of cutting tools, particularly as I now desire to use them with more frequency. I am taking this all in stride though as I do have various interests to compete for my outdoor time. And ''Bush Craft'' or outdoor skills are just part of a bigger picture. I find myself taking this stuff in smaller steps when the interest spikes. I do respect those with higher skill sets and try to leave my ego at the door. This can be a humbling experience for someone that has spent years outdoors. But what the hey, it's fun and interesting to gain more outdoor skills\knowledge. I feel that my primary motivation to learn higher levels of outdoor skills is simple survival. I was very close to being lost in the Boreal forest a few years ago and it was a lousy experience. I stumbled out near dusk, exhausted, clothes ripped up, drinking bog water. About the only thing that got me out about a half mile of were I went in, was a pin on ball compass. That experience was a reality slap for me.... I will add however that I had a tin of sardines in a jacket pocket, a lighter and a folding knife. Even back then I took precautions.
 
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hey fellow Canuck. my story is fairly similar as I guess a lot of Canadians will say the same. I lived in mostly northern towns/cities so hunting/fishing or just playing in the woods as a kid was always a part of life. grew up w a knife on the belt or in pocket. had a few close calls myself out in the sticks and certainly fixes you up in a hurry. I never leave the house without ample supplies and a good water filter/purifier now. great fun and couldn't imagine life without the outdoors
 
A nice middle class Jewish boy from North West London in a Jewish Scout Troop
The Scout masters and instructors were superb
Where did they learn their skill? Dont know

As a high scool kid, backpacking the countryside

On to ROTC in High School
More outdoor skills
Mountain backpacking and very light weight bivouacing

Long distance backpacking and then snowshoeing in the Earsten Seaboard in the US

Motivation?
Just learning to take care of myself outside
 
I live in a pretty rural area, with tough winters. I also spend a lot of time hunting, hiking, etc. 'out the back door' in some big, wild country. Even as a kid, I was outdoors as much as I possibly could be, hiking, exploring, camping. After I finished school, I taught wilderness skills for a dozen years in Alaska, British Columbia, Mexico and South America. I've never really thought of my skill set as "survival" skills, though I guess they could be if it really came down to it. For me, it's just good ol' self-sufficiency and it allows me to enjoy being outdoors in a wide range of conditions, which given where I live and what I like to do, is a good idea.
 
It's part of my up bringing & lifestyle, taught by a man born in the late 1800's whose favorite outdoor stompin ground was the Canadian bush. :)
 
I grew up in the suburbs of NJ in the 1960's but spent a lot of time in the local woods fishing and trapping. In 1970 I joined the Marines and was sent to Panama for U.S. Army Jungle School training and have been a outdoors person my whole life. I am retired from the forest service and spend the majority of my time hunting and fishing now. I learned a long time ago to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. I always carry a knife, compass, water, and a small pack with enough stuff to keep me safe for any unintended overnight stay in the woods.
This forum has a giant wealth of information to learn new skills and ideas; my motivation is to never stop learning.
 
I really don't have any motivation, I love the forest, but in a survival(apocalypse)situation I plan on just preying on my fellow man. When I travel to the forest , bring supplies, don't need to live off the land(as I never go far, I have a swamp in my back yard). Not a fan of hunting, but I do the same process to watch animals.

though wilderness survival is perhaps the oldest tradition humanity keeps, as its what got us through many thousands of years in the forests and plains.
 
I grew up in a very rural area and have always been an outdoorsman and hunter. In a TEOTWAWKI situation, my friends and I will be hunters of human predators who seek to prey on the weak and defenseless. Their supplies well be distributed to their intended victims. The cull will be rather quick I suspect. And then we will settle in doing what we have always done, gathering and growing food, taking care of our own and those who can't fend for themselves. Country boys will survive. ;)
 
In a TEOTWAWKI situation, my friends and I will be hunters of human predators who seek to prey on the weak and defenseless. Their supplies well be distributed to their intended victims. The cull will be rather quick I suspect. And then we will settle in doing what we have always done, gathering and growing food, taking care of our own and those who can't fend for themselves.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
 
I like to have a basic skill set that I can fall back on. I grew up in the woods and really enjoy things. The biggest change I have made is taking less physical risk. If I can climb down, I climb down rather than jump the last 4-6 feet even if it takes longer. I pay attention to stream crossings relative to footing. I don't try to be macho or brave.
 
All my life I have lived in places where the climate is harsh. Growing up there were some pretty close calls that drove home the lessons of self reliance. Getting turned around in a blizzard at -40C and getting home with severe frostbite was one of them. I was 8, walking home along a pretty straight forward route. Dumb luck got me through that one, as much more time out in that cold would have killed me. Rural living during the formative years turned lessons into habits.There were week long power outages, storms and floods. Army life drilled the lessons in deeper and added security to the list of concerns. Civilian life and a down economy added more things to worry about.

Quite right codger64. Looters will be shot. Survivors will be shot again.
 
a timeless primal urge ? to feel closer to nature ?
im not in canada right now but in a part of the world with a lot of palm trees and cactus .
just learned how to make cordage from sabal palm fronds , its really strong stuff !
 
The woods and woods craft traditions need to be taught to the younger folks and passed down. Like gardening, it is a dying skill set for the majority of young people.
 
I grew up in Ukraine and spent my summers at Carpathian mountains with my grandparents. I have grown to respect and appreciate the harsh but beautiful Mother Nature. Now I live in New York City where sheer numbers of people who would not last a day in the woods is staggering,- enough to keep me on my toes and keep me motivating to hone my outdoor skills and learn new ones...just in case.
 
Survival and being moderately comfortable in the outdoors. Both my parents "joined" up when I got old enough to join the scouting experience. I was told we were camping before I could walk. I voluntarily had my bed on the screened in back porch in Alton Ill for almost 3 years all 4 seasons. I actually got frozen in my bed after a particularly heavy frost, My bear hair blanket froze to the bed but I was warm and comfy under it, had to wait till the sun hit that side of the house to get up. Dang do I miss those days :)
 
Funny thing being threads talking about motivations for learning skills, if yea can only have one knife, bear attacks etc etc seem to get more response and interest than threads showing actual skills or outdoor activities. The very threads which knowledge could actually be exchanged. Seems we want to idealize certain aspects of outdoors skills but doing or even looking at another person doing is simply too taxing. No offense to Upnorth or anyone. I am one of the worst offenders as a simple review of the bear attack knife thread will attest. Mark my words. That love puppy is going to be a 20 page girl. You'll see.

Can a person baton with a Mora....Yes they can! There I said it. :D

To answer the question I grew up on a farm so being outdoors was a fact of life. Knives, guns and kit are all good but skills offer a certain degree of fun IMHO that can't be matched by ownership of stuff. I mean how many knives can I own? Heck I only got two hands. So once the glow of that last wonder knife with magical super steel fades what is there? The next one? No, actually using them and having a good time.
 
A deep rooted drive to have as much say in how and when I die as possible. The only thing stronger is the desire to not let my close family members down should they need me.

Combine that with a love of nature and it is the motivation and the method.

Bill
 
Great thread. I took advanced wilderness courses so I could enjoy myself more in a variety of conditions. I echo Smithhammer's comments in that regards. I never grew up with a mentor or anything. My brother and parents were never really into the outdoors. They sort of wonder how and why I got into it. But it's important to me.

Now, my kids (daughters) and family spends a great deal of our vacation time camping and hiking. My kids know what a false summit is. They know how to hike and layer clothing. They know not to wear cotton when they venture into the woods. They know how to use a knife and string a tarp and how to paddle a canoe. They can fish. They're getting to an age where they seem less interested in it each year (which I think is natural for daughters), but they will have a better foundation that I ever did.
 
I spent a lot of time in the woods as a child and loved it. I have always had more of a desire to be outdoors, learn self-sufficiency skills, etc than the rest of my family. I guess it's an internal drive for me. I love being outdoors. I like having the least amount of gear on me as possible so I'm not weighted down. Knowing what I need and how to use it are huge motivators for me. My son has shown an interest in the outdoors and bushcraft skills, so I've been teaching him as his age and skills allow. In the end it makes me a better woodsman, hunter, and father so I just keep on learning what I can (no ego here, I have lots to learn).

My family benefits from the fruitfulness of the hunt and the comfort I can provide them during hiking and camping trips. The rest is really me just serving my own internal desire.
 
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