Acquisition as Substitution for Adventure

Talfuchre said:
The guy who spends all the time in the woods has very simple - well worn kit. Those that don't get out - buy to suppliment it - and then drag a ton of shit along with them to make sure they USE it when they go.



TF
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Seems like such a simple concept but is very hard to implement. I know I was a lot better before I got online where I could indulge.
 
Stabman, I feel ya. I don't get to use my tools as much as I like either, and I'm constantly thinking of getting more.

For me, the acquisition phase peters out eventually, then I either move on to another hobby or go back to an older one. Probably a good idea to go through my stuff and sell whatever I don't use. Too many material possessions weigh us down.
 
I have a good excuse for my purchases. I am replacing lost and stolen gear. Well, that is the excuse anyway.

My ideal wilderness is 413.6 miles (665.62 kilometers) away from here, seven hours of driving time, not including stops for food, fuel and restroom breaks. So I am making trips most weekends to a closer, less wilderness area, about twenty miles and thirty minutes away. During the spring and summer, the river is downright crowded with aluminum canoes. The land on each side of the river is in private ownership. But now, with cooler weather, the river is becoming deserted. Most trips lately the river has been mine shared only with the wildlife. It still isn't as wild and remote as the Buffalo National River over in Northwest Arkansas, but it will do until I can make that trip again. I do have the advantage of owning a vehicle, but would be putting in ads in local newspapers, on bullitin boards and local forums if I needed transportation. My biggest limitation this year has been health and work. My health is good for the monemt and work is letting up. I'd take you on a trip with me if you could get here Stabman. We both might learn something. :thumbup:
 
I was into acquiring, "testing", and "practicing skills" when I wasn't physically able to do the things I wanted to do. I bought knives I didn't need, put more use on them than I would in a lifetime of actual use, tried different steels and grinds while pondering their(usually incremental) performance differences, and practiced skills that I'd demonstrated proficiency in as a Scout while still in grammar school as if I'd forgotten how to tie my shoes. That's not what outdoorsmen do; I was just daydreaming. Now that I'm actually able to spend a lot of time outdoors again, I don't have time for that crap, don't use any of the stuff I bought that I "might need", or because it was "better", or have much interest in any of it.
Like Esav posted, sometimes you take what you can get, but if you have the opportunity and means to get out there, why stop at daydreaming about it?
 
Well buying more and more stuff is the American dream, so I figure I'm meeting my societal duty whether I use my stuff or not. :) Although I get out for day hikes, and a few camping trips each year, I find my gear hording outstrips my ability to use the gear for it's intended purpose. On the other hand, I do all my gardening/landscaping on my own (unlike all of my neighbors), and get a bunch of satisfaction out of using my knives, saws, and whatever on my little piece of property. It may not be the same as getting quality outdoors time, but finishing up a day of gardening, pruning, and landscaping feels pretty good and helps to fulfill the need to get "out".
 
JCavSD said:
On the other hand, I do all my gardening/landscaping on my own (unlike all of my neighbors), and get a bunch of satisfaction out of using my knives, saws, and whatever on my little piece of property. It may not be the same as getting quality outdoors time, but finishing up a day of gardening, pruning, and landscaping feels pretty good and helps to fulfill the need to get "out".
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My "front yard" is a concrete driveway, and my "backyard" is a gravel driveway, backing onto a very scenic, garbage strewn alley.:D
 
stabman said:
My "front yard" is a concrete driveway, and my "backyard" is a gravel driveway, backing onto a very scenic, garbage strewn alley.:D
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I'm feeling generous, so if you ever feel like getting "out" you can come help me with yard work. No need to thank me, it's cool. ;)
 
We could make drastic life changes and move to where we want to be. That would take sacrifices that we often are not willing to make - so we purchase as a way of placating our inability to make those sacrifices.

TF
 
I had this same issue last year until I started meeting people who are willing to go as far and as fast me who have cars. Just cover the gas and pack up a few beers and they'll invite you again :D also the ability to turn a miserably cold and rainy trip into a fun card game over trout or a tin of popcorn by a warm and toasty fire is a huge reason for people to invite you. "Man we need PR on this trip because he can get a fire going regardless..." or "last time that guy packed six bottles of Alaskan Amber 6000 feet up a pitch, he needs to come again"... you get the picture. The trick is getting your foot in the door. I met a guy in the bowling alley that asked me if I knew what bushcrafting was because of the RC-3 on my hip. We're going to Jennie Lake this weekend to catch some trout and practice firecraft, shelter construction and land nav, he's driving. The Outdoor Rec Center at my university was a huge help. Start looking for local hiking and camping groups on facebook and yahoo and such, you'll find something. I did what Talafuchre is suggesting. I was living in Houston, absolutely miserable and inescapable from urban sprawl for 100 miles in any direction. I packed up my life and moved to Idaho and now I have mountains as far as the eye can see accessed from the trail in my back yard. I think it costed me around 2400 bucks to do, but it was a heck of a 5 day road trip. Camped out every night all the way across the country and there wasn't a day that went by that I didn't spend at least 5 hours on a trail. Not a bad gig to get to hike in Northwest Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho and Oregon all in the same week. And it just so happened my new landlord had 5 whitewater rafts sitting in his garage... that's a whole other story. There are few of us out there that want to do this stuff, and when we find each other we tend to stick together like glue.
 
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I find it slightly different. I have a mountain of bautiful, perfectly conceived and executed knives

I go ut up the hill a lot, but the things I actually take with me are pretty much the pond life of the collection :D If it will stay sharp and I don't think it will break, it can come - also if it didn't cost much more than $30
 
Living vicariously through gear is unfortunately pretty common. When we buy a new headlamp, knife or whatever, we are not only buying the gear, but also the experience that COULD follow with it. But it can never substitute actual use and experiences.

A bit like this cartoon illustrates.:

worst_case_shopping.png
 
It took me awhile testing out different knives and gear before I settled into what I prefer. I don't look at my purchase history too badly because I really did try the gammot of different styles, sizes, thicknesses etc. It was a lot of learning and I used most of that gear in the woods at some point until I found a system that works for me. I think that if I had just bought the knife which I view is perfect for me right now at the beginning of this journey, I might not have recognized its strengths and advantages. So goes with a lot of pieces of kit. Being able to try out new designs and evaluate them for improvements can work hand in hand with your outdoors experience. It only gets antogonistic when one comes at the expense of another.

Stabman, as you know, I do most of my stuff in Ojibway prairie which is just a bike ride away from you. Just don't go cutting live trees in my little paradise - and there is no need to do that because there is a tonne of dead wood all around there, and keep things tidy, small and managed. Nobody bothers you there if you avoid the main forested part on the other side of the road.
 
I wanted to ad that I've had some "bad trips" before. You know what I'm talking about. Eating those mushrooms growing on cow patties and then heading to the state fair.....No I'm joking. I mean camping trips where I was I'll prepared. I'll prepared in more ways than one. Materially, I'd always forget a few things as my trips were very spontaneous. They still are. I just know better now and always have some gear on hand. It sucks forgetting something be it a pillow, cleaning supplies, toilet paper, etc. But I was also I'll prepared in knowledge, respect, and love for the outdoors. So while I was enjoying the quite solitude while sleeping cold in my bag and wishing I would have cooked those beans before eating them from the can, roasting marshmallows over a fire, and beautiful vistas during hike, but I wasn't enjoying at the same level as I do now.

It's like if you were going to Italy and didn't speak a word of Italian, didn't really care for the food, didn't drink wine, coffee, or know a Da Vinci from a Michelangelo. You wouldn't enjoy at the same level as someone who learned Italian with a passion, enjoys good wine and coffee, renaissance art and architecture, and really enjoys eating and Italian food in general and had dreamed of visiting Italy for many years.

This is where Bladeforums, material acquisition, reading and learning comes in. It allows you to really enjoy the outdoors. Which is for the most of us in the USA and Canada easily and abundantly available with only a short drive. Or in your case, a bike ride. That would be my way of getting out If I didn't have a car. You may not get out as often, but when you do you'll have no shortage of ideas and fun activities to keep you busy. So I wouldn't sweat the reading and material acquisition. It's all part of the fun and supports the community.
 
stabman said:
I was sitting here the other night, contemplating what outdoors knife I was going to get next (Cutlass Machete was looking pretty good:)).Then I looked around, trying to figure out where to put all these damn knives, thinking I needed a new tool box for em...and then it hit me like a bolt of lightning.Acquisition substitutes for adventure, albeit poorly.I have all these great knives which exceed all my conceivable needs, but I don't get to use them enough!!!:mad:Living in a city with no car makes getting out into the woods proper difficult, and there's only so much "woodsiness" one can engage in covertly in the city before the cops will show up.So, I've been buying new knives, as evaluating them is a knife activity, and I get all these great plans to get out there and use the hell out of them...but the weeks go by, and the big adventure doesn't happen yet, and another knife looks neat.Whenever I DO get to go out and really use them, the desire to acquire more gear drops immensely, in the time leading up, during the woods time, and for a bit after.I guess I'm really craving the wilderness far more than a pile of new stuff, but stuff is easier to find in the city than widerness is.Anyone else notice the same thing?
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I have noticed the same thing. I don't suffer from it now but I have, in the back when. Mine came through a conspiracy of factors.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I guess first was my father. For a smart bloke he could be a plank and would make for an ideal cartoon of 'the n00b”. Whenever he'd get into something he'd rock up to a store like a victim in waiting with the attitude of 'the salesman will outfit me with what I need'. Like a subtard from The Hamptons that tries to absolve themselves from responsibility with a personal shopper he'd take the advice of anyone that appeared to know more than him as gospel. Classic rookie mistake; he had no way of knowing whether that person knew an inch more or miles more, he just knew more.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Devoid of an real drive to find out for himself he didn't see how that worked. He didn't know that the advice he was taking on kitchen knives probably came from a guy that everyone else who truly knows laughs at, so he'd lob out for huge sets of the apparent best kitchen knives. He never cooked much with them. Same with fishing. He did a bit of fishing but it was fairly narrow band. He was sold a huge amount of fishing gear though for just about every fishing eventuality one could imagine, some of which wasn't even relevant to this continent. And if he did go to such a continent where such fishing would take place the smart move would be just to hire the gear when he got there. He got two boats by following along this mechanism, with trailers, paid mooring, the works. One of them was never used but he had it for years. Mebe the years have improved him, and the tinterwebz ability to investigate may have given him a kick up the are arse, I don't know. I do know that on his projected trajectory he would have shelled out thousands on neo-bushcraft gear, and most certainly have been suckered into neo-bushcraft courses by some nurk who's qualifications are “I was trained to be an architect and I spent my life as a plumber, but I've been doing neo-bushcraft since 1942”. A guru like that could have sold him a bridge.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I figure I probably started like that through the same means – not having the wit to know what you don't know even mediocrity can look like genius and set you on a path to buying stuff. In mitigation I was small when I suffered from it but I still resent having fallen into that trap. Apathetic idiot throws money at it. I'm cured now, nay inoculated, and what was once a marketers wet dream for vending goods or services is now a salesman's nightmare. The guiding principle for me now is 'salesmen, know your game, 'cos even if you don't I do, I will learn it and absorb it into my Borg”.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Whilst the above hinges around ignorance and to some extent the inevitability of what ensues for me there was another mechanism at work, that of “identification”.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There was a time in my life where I had to be based in a city. I am not a natural city person and although I can thrive there and have a great deal of fun it wasn't where my heart was. I had to be there for work but apart from that I didn't like it. For pleasure the city was a place one goes to increase field of availables and not be limited to fistful of some pseudo-home-schooled agricultural many moons bints from down the village with ox-bearing hips. But I always felt like a bit of an imposter with an identity that lay elsewhere. I always new I was getting back out. To satisfy 'the real me' I'd buy loads and loads of gear most of which I could not use. I used to send loads of it 'back home', some of which was delivered directly and I hadn't even seen. By the time I did move back out of the city some of the stuff was obsolete to me already and I had never so much as put a hand on it. On fine day there was an awakening - “this crap has got to go”, and I adopted a completely different position. A position that has stuck with me ever since. I can see where it came from, the use it served me at the time, and I think it would be folly to go back and change it even if I could. The function of that behaviour, allowing me to maintain my identity at a time when I could not be it, was invaluable. I have no use for it now. I gather few farmers watch Country File but for many plebs it is a golden TV of dreams. Same meat different gravy. I wonder if that would change for a farmer locked in a cell with a remote control. Claw for what you can get is my prediction.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Although the anecdote above is uniquely mine I believe I see the same mechanisms at work in others although the surface structure may be different. I've known many a guy working abroad that buys stuff they wont be able to use for a good while and I strongly doubt that they are simply stockpiling a playroom full of bargains too good to miss ready for one fine day is sufficient explanation. I think the buying of stuff is how they are maintaining a link to an identity they can't express at the moment.--------------------------------------------------------- It might be a wild punt but I also speculate for those that have never had such an identity that's what they are trying to do too, but a just a little differently. “I want a knife like Mears has”, and then some bedroom Tarzan fantasy from a track house. They function as props to set a stage. The more props the better the set dressing, or so it goes. When it is not a fiction and there is no stage all those props become redundant. So there I rest it, two things: The inevitability of more money than sense of the novice who never has done, and the bought identity. Every thing else is just a matter of degree. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------…This homebaked theory is a gift from me and a pipe. It is worth exactly that. Burn after reading. Nobody should enjoy anecdotes too often and homebaked theories are as disposable as survival gurus. Snoop gaiters, and don't get any on you.
 
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Talfuchre said:
We could make drastic life changes and move to where we want to be. That would take sacrifices that we often are not willing to make - so we purchase as a way of placating our inability to make those sacrifices.
TF
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That is the most concise and well summed up statement about mindset I've read in a long time. I hear people complain they cannot afford to take time off and/or 'afford' financially to learn from a qualified individual or attend a class. Yet, they have no trouble plunking down some serious coin on another new custom knife or piece of kit without reservation.

As John Wayne once said and as Talfuchre just alluded to "people do what people want to do". If people really want to learn and are absolutely resolved in becoming a master of the wilderness then they'll suck it up, take the time off of work, travel as far as they need, do what they need to do, in order to develop their skill, knowledge, and confidence - with a pro instructor, at a class, or even with a qualified non-professional friend. BUT most of us are unwilling to make the sacrifice so we cruise the forums to live out our adventures chatting with others who are often as ignorant/unskilled as we are and only help feed us to buy more gear.

Stating only for myself...I literally took the slogan of a fishing guide seriously - "Quit Wishing and Go Fishing!" The very best investment I've made for myself is to travel to the best resources I can find and afford in order to learn, grow, and develop...rather than lurk on this and many other forums "wishing" I was improving. I can say rather than buy another custom knife, I chose to invest in a resource and it has accelerated my growth, confidence, and confidence. Now rather than wishing for a new knife I want to go out more often and enjoy my new found freedom in the wild.
 
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I haven't bought a knife for anything other than everday utility, just-cuttin'-crap purposes in two years.
And unless you count the Old Town canoe I just traded an old SKS for, nothing really survival related.

My outdoors stuff these days is horses, car camping with my family, and walking through the front yard.

Concentrating on finishing college, with scattered focus on starting a business, and helping with the two businesses I'm already a part of -- not counting feeding the heathens and working 40+ hours every week.
 
Quirt said:
That is the most concise and well summed up statement about mindset I've read in a long time. I hear people complain they cannot afford to take time off and/or 'afford' financially to learn from a qualified individual or attend a class. Yet, they have no trouble plunking down some serious coin on another new custom knife or piece of kit without reservation.
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Quirt,

I am a professor of philosophy and write some. I really pride myself on concise thinking. I really thank you for taking the time to post up about my thoughts. I think your extrapolation on these ideas were a concrete example that brought my sentences to life. Thank you.

TF
 
When I first started to read this thread I was thinking man that would suck to be in a area where you can not practice any skills or have a little fire, then I read kgd's thread and found out you are not to far away from where kgd goes to practice skills and my thinking
changed.
If you are that close to a place like that get out there to it and tell us about it and oc corse post some pics:D

Bryan
 
kgd said:
Stabman, as you know, I do most of my stuff in Ojibway prairie which is just a bike ride away from you. Nobody bothers you there if you avoid the main forested part on the other side of the road.
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I just looked up the location with Google Earth...I never actually have been to that area of Windsor.
Looks like it would only take a bus ride to the hospital I used to work at, then take a bike the rest of the way.

Now I just have to buy a bike; I never replaced the one which was stolen 8 years ago.
At least that'll be cheaper to find than a car.:D

So, is Matchette Road the dividing line past which they don't want people going?
 
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