Minimalist camping without a fixed blade

leghog said:
Then your favorite spots should be full of shit by now with toilet paper blooms every spring.

Have fun. I'm off to a gun show.
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Enjoy your warm stinky pockets there! :)
 
I've never camped above the tree line. Honestly, I don't know I would want to unless I had no choice.

Kitty hole for me.....
 
shinyedges, I don't know why you want to give leghog grief. He is just stating the rules that he has come across. He has his way of doing things, and not asking you to carry his dog crap. That you aren't playing in the same areas as he is, and aren't subject to these rules, is fortunate for you. Most of the rules are there for good reason and to help everyone enjoy the experience more, and most importantly that in years to come others can too.
Have enough people and crap piles up fast. In disaster areas its a big issue with some pretty killer diseases that go with it all if not managed fast.

Where rules are given there are probably good reason for it. Some like to apply even stricter rules for their own piece of mind. Get far enough away from civilisation and you can apply your own rules as no one will be watching. What anyone does is their business but try to leave it for the next generation in as good if not better state than you found it.
My dog doesn't generally crap on tracks but prefers to reverse into a bush! It would take a machete to retrieve it. Good boy. He is fully trained to the whistle so rarely goes on a lead (Can be stopped on a nickel and return on demand). In town I carry dog bags.

Agreed when digging a cesspit ensure its at a depth that it still will rot but not effect the water course or something else. Basically, think what you are doing, as you don't want it washed back into camp.

I'm a fan of the new generation filter bottle water purification systems. Boiling is good, chemical purification pills better, but these new mega micro filters are even better. Where there is water available along a trail they sure save water carry weight.

Lastly, in the military we had to carry out our waste material from close recce so if the hide was found they couldn't work out how long the position had been in place. My advice is not to skimp on the placky bags or zip lock bags; double bagging freezer bags are fine.
 
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Quiet said:
Our property is not far from Adamsville. I can tell you that our spread has multiple other large pieces of wooded acreage on all sides of ours. It's a lot of area, all fields, woods, streams, hills. As for the cougar, I don't have any pictures other than the images burned into my memory from that day. The whole encounter couldn't have taken more than twenty seconds, but it felt like an eternity. That thing looked at me, and basically said "I run this joint" then walked off. I stayed still until it had gone, then turned around and went back the way I had come.
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I missed your response. So many posts in this thread. Thanks. I assume that you mean Adamsville AL. Correct? It is really nice country northwest of Birmingham. It may have been one that someone released or a male just moving through an area. We'll never know. Appreciate your response. I have only seen bobcats personally and they are very cool to see in the woods, especially close.
 
Most "survival" situations are due to people getting lost. The person is usually in one piece and lost with little chance of finding their way back once dark, or the mist has come in. It wasn't planned to get lost, and one reason they didn't have all the kit on them. If you are well prepared then its never going to become a survival situation, just inconvenient and at worst an uncomfortable night out.

Another "survival" is getting properly damaged. Then some first aid skills might come in handy. Big pain then you aren't going to move far or build anything that isn't very very close at hand. A signal whistle and possibly something to get a fire going if only a small one. Anchored to the spot then its rely on a rescue party. The mobile phone maybe your best chance.

If you have made a shelter from natural resources then you will know it takes full faculties both body and mind, and a good amount of time... a good hour if its going to actually be anything of worth. Best done in daylight. Its taught in the military for confidence building and to provide some skills that can be adapted if the occasion should arise. The emphasis is think and have flexibility in order to keep yourself functioning.

In truth survival situations in the wilderness are incredibly rare because people have planned well and taken the right resources/precautions. Far more adverse situations in a city, just look at the A&E departments. Campers get themselves in trouble from cooking and fire accidents, tripping and falling, and cutting themselves with sharp tools because they aren't careful enough or don't have the skills. Drowning another big killer for campers for some reason. On well trodden paths its unlikely to be fatal as help and emergency services are close at hand. In the wilderness then its safety in numbers. For individuals then the danger level increases marketably. Booking in or out is sensible, having no safety mechanism is verging on irresponsible. Self reliance comes with experience, but it doesn't take much to get it very wrong. Individuals are taking a big risk; their call.

Bushcraft to me is using tools and skills in a controlled environment.

Non of this suggests to me what knife size or type really matters, as thats just personal preference. I always take a small knife and if I know I've got some real work to do I'll supplement it with something more. My basic safety precaution for wilderness/unfamiliar and low populated areas is to have at least enough for an overnight if uncomfortable one. When solo hunting someone knows I've gone and when I ought to be back.
 
Whole lotta poop flingin' going on! :)

I remember in the '80s when stepping on dog poop or even running over it with a bicycle was a clear and present danger, even on town sidewalks. You had to do the old "crabgrass shuffle" to clear off your LA Gear high tops. Hollow handle survival fixed blades filled with fishing line and hooks, and a useless compass on the butt, were all the rage.
 
shinyedges said:
Just so I have this straight leghog, you don't carry a fixed blade because every ounce counts...
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Nope.

I don't carry a fixed blade in recreational backpacking and camping because I've found I don't need one. That said, why should I carry the extra weight?

Please do try to keep up.
 
shinyedges said:
The fish, beavers, otters, and other critters crap in and around water. You're hypochondria is amusing though.
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Yup. And all the added waste from us is why giardia and other cryptofauna are such a problem. I remember a day when you could drink directly from many water sources in the USA. Today only a fool would not filter or boil his water when afield in the USA.
 
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GREENJACKET said:
shinyedges, I don't know why you want to give leghog grief.
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No worries. shinyedges is revealing much more about the kind of man he is than the kind of man I am. He keeps trying because I won't take his bait. Saw that at the beginning.
 
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shinyedges said:
The fish, beavers, otters, and other critters crap in and around water. You're hypochondria is amusing though.
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If it's about yuckiness I agree. Same thing.
Difference is human poop has lots more diseases for humans than fish and beavers.
 
I love it when bottle water adverts emphasise their water come from natural springs and mountain sources. Well on most of the mountains and hills I've been on somewhere there is a dead sheep or deer stuck in some stream.
That or someone dodgy has camped up river.

Don't trust any of it. Saying that I've swam in most of it as the British Army seems to spend its whole time in ditches, streams and crossing reservoirs when training.
 
leghog said:
No worries. shinyedges is revealing much more about the kind of man he is than the kind of man I am. He keeps trying because I won't take his bait. Saw that at the beginning.
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Yea, sure. If that's what you think :thumbup:
 
leghog said:
Yup. And all the added waste from us is why giardia and other cryptofauna are such a problem. I remember a day when you could drink directly from many water sources in the USA. Today only a fool would not filter or boil his water when afield in the USA.
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Even in the old days the mountain men had a saying for a malady called 'beaver fever' from driking water from streams. That's why it was so important for them to boil water for coffee. Coffee made the boiled water taste better.
 
Jens Schuetz said:
If it's about yuckiness I agree. Same thing.
Difference is human poop has lots more diseases for humans than fish and beavers.
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Yea, he is leaving his poop there and carrying out the dog poop. I guess where he goes it's mandatory? Who cares I guess, to each his own.
 
leghog said:
How about a beach or the desert or a canyon?
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I'd probably hike back away from the immediate beach area, certainly behind the dunes if they exist. Desert or canyon would be handled much the same, kitty hole at a discrete location away from any trail. The SW deserts are pretty interesting places.
 
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