Living in the wild

golok

golok

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The thought of living in the wild was running through my head as I soak in the ambience of a sterile office environment. Can a solitary man survive comfortably out there in the wild on his own.

Taking into account his knowledge of the natural habitat and his ability to fend for himself with some hunting and fishing, will it be safe for him indefinitely?

I know that there are a few rugged individuals who have managed to survive on their own out in the wild for years. These individuals have divorced themselves from the so-called civilised world and feel that they prefer the comfort of Mother Nature and all her relatives.

I have a friend who actually survived on his own up in a mountain for two years. But then he is a monk. Naturally, he enjoyed it.

What would it take to carve out an existence like that?
 
That's an interesting scenario, golok. :)

Disease or injury could be a limiting factor to how long an individual could survive in the wild. An infected puncture wound, snakebite from a venomous species, malaria, etc. could really ruin your day :( . While I don't doubt the effectiveness of natural remedies, an afflicted person would be hard-pressed to cure himself in the wild. Vitamin or mineral deficiency could also be a problem (it still is among some remote tribes today).

I'm still a newbie outdoorsman, but I would say that fire, shelter, and water would be my immediate priorites, their relative importance dependent on the specific environment. I would probably establish a 'camp' instead of being constantly nomadic. A proven knife would make things *much* easier ;) . Fishing would be the easiest form of hunting, unless you already know stalking and game hunting skills.
 
I think most people who like the outdoors have had this thought. If it were me, I would get as many books on the subject as possible. Anything from game prep to building a cabin. I'd take survival courses from several different instructors. For basic gear, I'd save and buy the absolute best (Rifle, knives, axe, saw, clothing, etc) I'd take several practice trips on weekends, then for a week, then two, then a month. I'd practice skills at home too. I'd also scout out different places that could sustain me. Check for fish, game, shelter sites, good raw materials for shelter and tool making. Yep, I've day dreamed about it myself. Might be fun to try someday! ;)
 
Ishi, a member of the Yahi tribe of N. California, surrendered himself to the whites after 50 years in seclusion. He and 11 others escaped from a massacre that killed his entire village. One by one the band of 12 died off. Finally it came down to Ishi, his sister, and his mother. 50 years later they were discovered by a group of surveyors who had no idea that they had just found the last "wild" Indians in the country. The three of them ran away, and his mother and his sister are thought to have died while fleeing. Three days later Ishi showed up in a town, surrendering to what he thought was a race that still hated all Indians and that would surely put him to death. While grief was his likely motive for surrendering, it was noted that he was starved and malnourished.

It seems to me like survival was not a walk in the park, even for someone who had been raised that way from infancy.
 
Can a solitary man survive comfortably out in the wild on his own? Yes,it is possible. Just read some of the books by Tom Brown Jr. What would it take? You would have to be an EXPERT in all aspects of survival skills (this is assuming that you don't have years worth of modern provisions and tools cached up somewhere). Not just that you've taken some classess and read some books, but that you could be a top notch teacher on any topic, fire making, shelter building, edible plants, hunting, tracking, making clothes, etc... Not only that, you would have to be able to KNOW you can survive, so that your mental attitude would not break down in bad circumstances... That's one reason I think that if you've just studied modern survival techniques and not primitive skills, that's not enough. Just my opinion...

Kevin Haney, Coordinator
Mid-Atlantic Primitive Skills Group
"Where 'primitive' is not a pejorative!"
www.mapsgroup.org
 
There is a great book by Peter Matthesson (sp?) called "At Play in the Fields of the Lord" that takes place in the Andes and Amazon basin, that takes the protagonist through a progression of more primitive situations to the ultimate...
 
I believe that, as a species, we are communal/social creatures. By design I excel at one needed skill while you excel at another and Mary at still another. The individual that excels at all skills doesn't exist, while when we are together we can take care of basic needs as a group and still have time for art and self contemplation.

Even the mountain man came down to trade hides, at least at Rendezvous
 
An interesting book to read is by Horace Kephart "Camping and Woodcraft: A Handbook for Vacation Campers and for Travelers in the Wilderness". First written in 1906, expanded in 1917, not much about newer technology (obviously)...but covers things from dressing game and markmenship to building sheler and furniture in the woods. Basically an old fashioned woodlore book.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_6/002-8425058-8352068?v=glance&s=books
 
This would not be that difficult. It would be hard work, at lease at first but the most difficult part would be learning how to LIVE. When men are worried about survival they are always at the edge of death. When we stop surviving and start LIVING things become much easier. Nature gives us all that we need we just need to be aware enough to see it, have the knowledge to find it and use it properly. Once you have the skills LIVING will be easy, if you don't have the skills then you will be surviving...or not.

Ric
 
I think it would be very hard to do it alone for a very long time.
All it would take is one bad injury or sickness that prevents you from gathering food and water, and your days would be numbered.

Many primitive people around the world have rather short lifespans when compared to us.

Not to mention...why would you want to?
Ever heard the term "mad hermit"?
I really believe that humans were not meant to be alone. We need interaction with other people. That's why solitary confinement is so hard on prisoners.
I've read many stories about folks lost at sea or shipwrecked on islands, and the loneliness and boredom seems to be one of the greatest problems they faced.

Good luck,
Allen.
 
If you're serious, become a member of the Primitive Skills Group......Many of them have been there and done that.....These are the folks who go off into the woods naked or with just a knife or ...well, you get the picture......all of them went through the fire-lighting Tom Hanks(CAST AWAY) thing and would have had no problems with his problems.....
It always is a problem to survive, but if you've tried it, at least it's not a surprize.....and those folks have tried it.......it's a fun group but be prepared to get lots of e-mail......
Steve

P.S.
'Survivor'....is popcorn to such as them......'What you call hell, they call home', to paraphrase that Rambo movie.....
 


Many primitive people around the world have rather short lifespans when compared to us.
Allen. [/B]
Click to expand...


Which tribes are we talking about here. Most primitive tribes I've heard of and studied live quite a bit longer than we do. There are several tribes in S.America where the average tribal age is 85 years old, average age of people over 30 is 113 years. There is a clan in the steps of Siberia where the average age of people over 30 is 109. That doesn't include the mountains of China, Tibet, India where the holy men and women live in caves on mountain tops all by them selves for their whole lives to ages well over 100 years.
Our modern living is more devastating to the human body than any other way of life in the history of man kind. Stress, fast food, processed/genetically altered food, pesticides/herbicides, lack of exercise, smoking, drinking, not to mention the food we buy at out grocery store has almost no nutritional value at all. I could go on but I think you get the picture.

Ric
 
I lived in northern Canada for a number of years, just moving south two months ago. There are still a good number of people up there that do live in the wild. They come into town, sometimes once a year, once every two years, or whatever, usually by dogsled. The most common things they buy are flour, sugar, lard, hand tools, gas, oil, and a chainsaw. Some don't even buy those. There are still people living totally primitively in the ARCTIC. Not many, but they are there. There are also many who live semi-primitive lives, only coming to town a few times a year for supplies, but they usually have a cabin, boat, snowmobiles, etc.
Hard people living a hard life.
 
With a partner or a group of people I could understand ......... but alone ???
Me thinks a few screws would be loose.
 
Hi

Hope you don't mind a contribution from a newcomer.

I got a lot from reading "Paradise below Zero" by Calvin Rutstrum (MacMillan, 1974 ) who describes living in the arctic areas of North America. He has an excellent chapter on "Remittance Men" who chose to live a solitary and secluded life, albeit usually by making use of the best available technology compatible with solo man-powered travel. I can recommend it as a good read, and a guide to the necessary attitude as well as the technology and techniques.

Chris
 
Ric, Do a quick web-search for "The Health of Indigenous Peoples" released by the World Health Organization. It paints a sorry state of affairs for native peoples.

Also...
The Congress of Russian Indigenous Peoples (which covers 45 different ethnicities) declared the average for Russian indigenous people is about 10 years less than the Russian average.

In a study by WHO it was discovered that the indigenous people of Norway live 10-20 years less than other Norwegians.
And the Inuits of Canada live 4-5 years less, on average, than other Canadians.

And according to the Australian Bureau of Stats, in 1997-1999, the average life expectancy for indigenous Australians was 56 for men and 63 for women. The average for all Australians was 76 for men and 82 for women.
In 1991 is was 68 for Maori men and 72.9 for Maori women.

According to the the latest studies it seems that the Okinawans have the longest average life-spans.

I'm very skeptical of holy men living in caves for 100 years...
maybe too many episodes of Kung Fu?

Allen.
 
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