anyone ever lived in the woods?

keep a low profile. move often. keep your campsite clean and tidy.

The world is your toilet.

Uh... how do you mean live in the woods? Do you mean like kick it in a cabin with lights and water? Or do you mean like buy a RV and set up somewhere randomly with no power or running water?

What part of the country?
How old are you?
Ever been in the military?
Ever been camping in the wilderness (not a campground) for more than 2 days?
What kind of physical shape are you in?

Don't talk to the sqiurrels...they're secretly out to end humanity. Don't let their cuteness fool you...

The woods belong to someone.....unless you move into a state park or something.

not me

too much bear shit

camp fire will give you away. be quite.
be impeccable in your way of living.
understand that it is the home of the trees and they are alive and feeling beings.

Where will you have your food stamps sent to, the big Oak by the pond?

Obviously, you are looking for adventure ! Good on you.

You ask, "What's it like?". Well, before you actually arrive I suggest that you go to the library and check out the book, We Took to the Woodsby Louise Dickison Rich.

This couple took to the Maine woods and if you read her book you'll be prepared for many things you didn't expect.

I highly recommend the book to anyone looking for an adventure, even tho the book is old, the lessons are ageless.

don't cook and eat food
in the same place you sleep.
and change clothes and leave them
where you cook and eat

critters come a calling from
the smell in the middle of the night

and they be hungry too

OP must have left for the woods already.

Walk On The Wild Side, marry a nice musette,she will be the great help 4 ya'

South carolina, mild winter so far
27
No they wouldnt let me in over a cdv charge agianst my stepdad
Yes plenty of times
Pretty good shape

I plan on buying a tent. During the day I will mostly be out looking for a job.

yes i have for around 3 weeks once..if you have food stamps, it will be alot easier, and plus its cold so your drinks and milk wont be to much of a problem if you can find a watersource you can sit them in the flowing stream with 550 cord,or get a very good waterfilter, i suggest the katadyn pocket pro, its around 300 bucks but the best there is.then you can purify all your water and make lots of pre made mix packets of kool aid or country time, gatorade.

Then you need a cooking source, if your goin to be walking alot get the vargo titanium stove for 60 bucks, and a small shovel for digging crap holes and dakota fire holes. dakota fire holes will be your main source of fire building, and easiest on the environment.,with lowest visibility of fire. you also need a ti spork and pot set ,wil lrun you around 100 bucks.

For sleep i recommend a hammock,the easiest set up would be a hennesy hammock system they go for under 180 bucks , includes a rain tarp and all mounting hardware, but for colder nights you should buy a underquilt, i suggest kick ass quilts from arrow head gear for 100 bucks you can get a jarbridge and sleep to 25 deg. at night.

A good fire steel would be beneficial, also a decent axe for cutting daily wood, and a smaller "pack saw" from rei for 32 bucks .they are great. their are alot more things i am forgetting but your basics should be water, and fire and your food you can keep in a dry bag and hang from trees or anything.

It want be too far from where my brother lives. I plan on using my camp as a bugout place if things get bad here. If not...well it was fun

I shit in the woods once

If you have to ask, stay out of the woods. It is NOT a picnic in the park.

never try to fuck the bear!

Agreed! It's hell when you try to kiss them. Not to mention when you try to put lipstick on them!!!!!

:bearhugga:

Survival Skillz...



[link to www.youtube.com]

Op you know, if you have the health and are up for it, DO IT! I think it will be a once in a lifetime experience. And who knows, you might even like it, and not want to move back to civilization :)

I do not have the health to live without a proper roof, so I have chosen the second best thing. I am living in an old farm house with only wood for heating, I have lots of land here to grow my own food in the spring, and I would love to give it a try this time.

My aim is to find alternative ways to the modern way of living.

I have lived in the woods for long periods (in excess of 2 months) twice.

First off, get the "fun" idea out of your head.

After a few days it becomes less entertaining especially if you are job hunting. Go to book store and get a decent military survival manual. You will be glad that you did.

Camping on private property is a problem unless you know the people. Get permission or get to a public forest.

The cold won't be so bad down there as long as you can keep dry. Rain gear, tent, tarps are a must. Above freezing weather can kill you if you are wet all the time. You will be doing a lot of walking. Get decent boots and waterproof them if they are not already. Thick wool socks will keep your feet in good shape, even when they get wet.

Hygiene is going to be as important as food and shelter if you are job hunting. No one wants to hire a bridge troll. Maintain a set of clothes for that purpose and sponge off before you visit anyone. Find a place to take a shower at least once a week if you can. If not, get a sun shower. It will still be cold in the winter but you get used to it. Make sure your latrine 'toilet" is down hill and down wind.

The tough part is going to be applying for jobs without an address. Get a mailbox. If there is a decent bus or train station around, you may want to get a locker for "street" clothes. If you have a cell phone, you can get a small solar charger at Harbor Freight or Walmart. If you don't have one, get a basic burner "prepaid" for call backs.

Find a place to secure your gear while you are job hunting. Nothing sucks more than coming back to camp to find your gear missing. Food especially can be an attractant, so get used to burying or hoisting it high. I would suggest not using the same way in and out of the site every time. People notice patterns.

If you are going to plan on living off the land you should lay your hands on a couple of Conibear traps. They are light, quiet, easy to use and inexpensive. If you don't mind eating critter, they will keep you in meat. Vegetables will be harder in the winter, but canned food can be kept and prepared easily. You can even cook in the can if necessary. Higher fat wont hurt you, because you will need the calories. Depending on your size, the weather and the hike in and out, 2500-3000 calories a day. Stay away from alcohol. Its expensive and will lower body temps.

Good Luck to you.

Yes, I did it for 4 months to save money. But, it really depends on where you live. I chose to live at a camp grounds, it was $6. per day. They have showers, toilets, fresh water, etc.

As another poster pointed out, private property & state parks are a little hairy. Say you go to a job interview and return to find all your stuff gone. That would suck. If at all possible, locate a camp ground. Good luck & have fun!

I did because there was porn out there.

if you have not taken survival training then you will die

you live in close proximity to the at you ca camp there and hike the trail as long as you like. but like they said keep it tidy and move atleast every other night. the katadyn someomne suggested earlier is a great! water pump, i actually own one . but there is a "sawyer" or something like that filter now that is much smaller/lighter and much less expensive. it has a ceramic filter just like the katadyn but it's over all more popular now. you could always boil water too, which is free but tedious, and inconvenient.

it's going to be cold on the at this time of year. bring synthetic clothes. Some "under armor" type things are advised. a warm synthetic outer layer like synthetic fleece hat and jacket are warm, light, water resistant, and dries fast. synthetic dress socks, and wool socks over them will help keep your feet dry and reduce the chance of blisters. be sure to bring a cheap emergency rain poncho too, maybe even 2 ofthem just incase one gets busted, because you want to stay DRY.

a tent is nice it will keep you warm and dry but don't topuch the sides in the rain or your are screwed. on the at there are pretty nice shelters spaced about every 5-10 miles so shelter would be easy just make sure to bring a nice warm sleeping bag, and a styrofoam pad to sleep on. it keeps you insulated and elevated.

there are also towns about every 10 miles or so so restocking on food or other amenities should be simple and help keep your pack light. you can find individuals that provide shuttle services into town cheap as well or you can hitch hike.

Another thing to being would be a nice long length of sturdy para cord, to hang food bags out of reach of animals. again at the shelters there are bear cables for that. but you can use rope for nearly anything! i'm sure i'm forgetting alot of things.

I did it here in Sweden.

It barely works in tenth, you must have a biiiig one in which you can stand up otherwise you can't make it in a small one. The condensed water ruins everything and mold starts to grow in a week if you can't keep it DRY inside, that was my main problem, the wetness inside a tent kills you, and the f:ing small critter find their way in in no time.

It's different if you get a log cabin, it's more cosy and you don't have the problems associated with tents.

Again, if you go for tent, you should buy a big one but when it's cold there could be a water condense problem if you don't have something to keep the inside warm, also, it's then risky to have open fire there. These were my main problems. (You should have an American Indian tent)

When I lived wood cabin that was almost acceptable, you get stinky pretty fast and I love taking showers, but in the spring, summer it's fine.