Alone in the wilderness - revised inventory

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Originally Posted by Stoner Shadow Wolf

Anyone know any real good survivalist books i can benefit from??

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Tom Browns Guide to Wilderness Survival.

You can also find a ton of Tom's stuff on Google Video or Youtube.

i'll be sure to look that up! thanks! :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by dragonrider

Cygnus, you are interested in doing the AT next year, right? I just read Bill Bryson's book, A Walk in the Woods. It is a laugh riot, but also a very good travel book about his expereinces on the AT. Lots of humor, but also history, science and hiking lore. I'd recommed it for the humor alone.

I'm getting very intersted in doing a long thru-hike next year, but not as long as the WHOLE Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail. I'm thinking about maybe the John Muir Trail, or I am also considering doing the Tahoe Rim Trail first. The JMT is about 220 miles, from Yosemite to Mt Whitney. And the TRT is 165 all the way around the Tahoe Basin. So they are both long thru-hikes in the Sierras, and the terrain is similar. But TRT crosses into civilization now and then along the way, so you have more options for resupplying, and you can get a shower every week or so. Or you can even just duck out of the whole deal if it is not working out.

One of the things that sounded great about the AT from the book was that it does get into or close to town fairly often, which the PCT and JMT do not do. A week of wilderness at a time sounds good, and I don't think I'd like to carry more than a weeks worth of consumables at a time. So I'm leaning toward the TRT just for the resupply aspect. It's also a loop, so I wouldn't need to arrange for pickup at the other end.

Another thing that sounded great about the AT is that it has SHELTERS. Mostly I am fine with sleeping al fresco or pitching a tent. And I'm fine with shitting in the woods. But shelters and privies could be nice at times too.

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I'm going to have to check that book out, sounds like a good read!

yeah the thing about the AT having towns to stop in every week or so is appealing to me due to only wanting to carry up to a weeks worth of food as well.

The thing about the shelters is that some of them suck, its just a plank to sleep on and a roof over your head. I've section hiked on the trail and at some of the shelters, I would have rather slept in my tent. When I do my thru-hike, I'm bringing a hennessy hammock instead of a tent. It's so much more comfortable than regular tents and shelters. Plus, some of the shelters are big enough to where you can mount the hammocks to the wall.

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Originally Posted by cygnustaxt

I'm going to have to check that book out, sounds like a good read!

yeah the thing about the AT having towns to stop in every week or so is appealing to me due to only wanting to carry up to a weeks worth of food as well.

The thing about the shelters is that some of them suck, its just a plank to sleep on and a roof over your head. I've section hiked on the trail and at some of the shelters, I would have rather slept in my tent. When I do my thru-hike, I'm bringing a hennessy hammock instead of a tent. It's so much more comfortable than regular tents and shelters. Plus, some of the shelters are big enough to where you can mount the hammocks to the wall.

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Ha ha! Yeah, Bryson got into the fact that some of the shelters are just plain awful. And in some areas they are crowded with people or overrun with mice. He had a few funny anecdotes about sharing shelters or campsites with awful people as well. The appeal to me is that you could carry a minimalist shelter of your own for most uses, but if the weather got REALLY bad, you would have the shelter as an option. Bryson did sections northbound, and the first was in MARCH, and he actually got caught in a blizzard once.

I'll have to check out that hennesy hammock, although I personally tend not to sleep well in a hammock. I'm also thinking about tarp shelters that rig up over trekking poles. In some of the Seirra locations that I used to go to in the past, there were not always trees for a hammock or for rigging a tarp.

I just signed up at the Practical Backpackers Forum under the same screen name (which is sort of a wierd screen name for that kind of forum, I must admiot). It looks like they have a lot of good advice and info about backpacking.

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Originally Posted by dragonrider

Ha ha! Yeah, Bryson got into the fact that some of the shelters are just plain awful. And in some areas they are crowded with people or overrun with mice. He had a few funny anecdotes about sharing shelters or campsites with awful people as well. The appeal to me is that you could carry a minimalist shelter of your own for most uses, but if the weather got REALLY bad, you would have the shelter as an option. Bryson did sections northbound, and the first was in MARCH, and he actually got caught in a blizzard once.

I'll have to check out that hennesy hammock, although I personally tend not to sleep well in a hammock. I'm also thinking about tarp shelters that rig up over trekking poles. In some of the Seirra locations that I used to go to in the past, there were not always trees for a hammock or for rigging a tarp.

I just signed up at the Practical Backpackers Forum under the same screen name (which is sort of a wierd screen name for that kind of forum, I must admiot). It looks like they have a lot of good advice and info about backpacking.

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I've never been a big hammock fan either, but when I tried it out it felt perfect. I tested it out in my yard and I felt like i had a normal nights sleep in my own bed rather than feeling grumpy and stiff from sleeping on the ground. The hammock comes with a tarp that you can put over it for extra weather protection and it also works well to sleep under without the hammock.

have you ever been to whiteblaze.net? Its another hiking forum thats mainly for Appalachian trail hiking but there's lots of good info about other trails and stuff too.

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Originally Posted by cygnustaxt

I've never been a big hammock fan either, but when I tried it out it felt perfect. I tested it out in my yard and I felt like i had a normal nights sleep in my own bed rather than feeling grumpy and stiff from sleeping on the ground. The hammock comes with a tarp that you can put over it for extra weather protection and it also works well to sleep under without the hammock.

have you ever been to whiteblaze.net? Its another hiking forum thats mainly for Appalachian trail hiking but there's lots of good info about other trails and stuff too.

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One of the guys I have been backpacking with recently has mentioned a hammock like this. It can be rigged with either a tarp or a bug net.

I'll have to check out whiteblaze...

I recently purchased all my survival gear last weak. Except for a few accesories ill be getting for christmas pressents lol. Someone mentioned takeing a dog with you, Its funny just today my mother was telling me shes going to buy me my own boxer someday(im always joking about kidnapping hers). Taking a dog with you means you also got 2 mouths to feed. I plan on doing a few month long trail runs here in menomonee county wisconsin next spring. My goal is to do some extensive backpacking and hunting out in the rockies in a couple years.
Check out the story of Dick Proenneke. I wanna test myself against the real world, I wanna climb a mountain and chill at the top.

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Originally Posted by Trip06

I recently purchased all my survival gear last weak. Except for a few accesories ill be getting for christmas pressents lol. Someone mentioned takeing a dog with you, Its funny just today my mother was telling me shes going to buy me my own boxer someday(im always joking about kidnapping hers). Taking a dog with you means you also got 2 mouths to feed. I plan on doing a few month long trail runs here in menomonee county wisconsin next spring. My goal is to do some extensive backpacking and hunting out in the rockies in a couple years.
Check out the story of Dick Proenneke. I wanna test myself against the real world, I wanna climb a mountain and chill at the top.

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What kinds of things did you buy, and what is on the ole Christmas list?

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Originally Posted by Trip06

I recently purchased all my survival gear last weak. Except for a few accesories ill be getting for christmas pressents lol. Someone mentioned takeing a dog with you, Its funny just today my mother was telling me shes going to buy me my own boxer someday(im always joking about kidnapping hers). Taking a dog with you means you also got 2 mouths to feed. I plan on doing a few month long trail runs here in menomonee county wisconsin next spring. My goal is to do some extensive backpacking and hunting out in the rockies in a couple years.
Check out the story of Dick Proenneke. I wanna test myself against the real world, I wanna climb a mountain and chill at the top.

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They have special packs that you can put on dogs. Obviously you wouldn't want to load the dog down too much, but i'm sure that you'd at least be able to pack all their food plus some other small essentials. Might be able to pack your cooking gear with the dog or something so you can save space in your pack. As long as your dog is trained, I bet it'd be pretty cool to have a companion like that to tag along.

Some people get the dog to carry his own food. I suppose you could also get him to carry something for you. My brother had a dog who came to him already with the name Niner. He said he was going to get that dog one of these packs, fill it with beers, and rename the dog Twelver.

Twelver. Nice :D


I wonder if Pathfinder ever took that trip? I guess if he did he's still not back. I hope it's cause everything is going so well he doesn't want to return.
This thread should be pretty interesting if and when he gets back.

I wouldnt want to load a small dog much less a puppy with stuff. Anyways to not seem disingenuine Ive grown up around the outdoors my whole life(Im curently 22) and I love camping. Ive wanted to go to whyoming and go elk hunting but the expensises are a feet on there own. So this last year I slowly started colecting my camping supplies and looking into where I wanted to test run a couple months stay. My plan is to get a feel of some of the things I bought see how they hold up, So when I do get out west SOMEDAY to do some extensive hunting ill be prepaired. Im planning on going camping some time in early spring possibly.

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Originally Posted by Trip06

I wouldnt want to load a small dog much less a puppy with stuff. Anyways to not seem disingenuine Ive grown up around the outdoors my whole life(Im curently 22) and I love camping. Ive wanted to go to whyoming and go elk hunting but the expensises are a feet on there own. So this last year I slowly started colecting my camping supplies and looking into where I wanted to test run a couple months stay. My plan is to get a feel of some of the things I bought see how they hold up, So when I do get out west SOMEDAY to do some extensive hunting ill be prepaired. Im planning on going camping some time in early spring possibly.

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yeah i would only suggest having a dog carry things if they were already full size plus i wouldn't load them down too much.

Yeah camping supplies are expensive! I've been stocking up so I can go on my northbound thru-hike of the Appalachian trail next year. I've got most of my major bases covered and I've been experimenting with some DIY gear. Made my own stove and some other nifty gear. I want to try and pack as light as possible since i'll be carrying a pack on my back for about 7 months straight lol.

I dont think anyone implied a small dog. Just a dog. I have a German Shepard.
She carries all of her food when we go out on walkabout in the bush.

If you are looking for some great deals on camping supplies check out
Campmor-com. They have a lot of great brand name stuff as well as some interesting bargin equipment.

I just found my perfect spot here in Wisconsin to do this, In one of our National forests ill have roughly 6 square miles of freedom surrounded by lightly traveled roads. water ways, hills, fields, PLENTY of wild game, Might be so lucky to see a black bear(I never have seen one in the wild yet) I dont want the rangers looking for me so I will be ninja as possible at all costs. I found Googles MAPQUEST with Aerial view is EXTREMELY PERFECT for scouting the geology of the land. The areas not far from the local town/my familys private ranch If shit happens. I got GPS, Maps, And all the gear planned I need. Im going to live off 1 MRE a day and hunt/fish the remainder of my diet. I think Im going to go next late March till the end of May hopefully. Maybe longer If I decide.