Roughing It: FOR REAL

Best of luck!

I'd brush up on medical knowledge and trapping skills if I were doing what you plan to do. I'd also establish a regular check in with someone (even if it is just IM.) I'd buy bulk foods like pasta or rice to supplement fish/game/wild edibles. And I'd plant a garden as soon as possible. If you have the means, think about chickens or rabbits (or even goats) as relatively cheap protein.

Also, if this is very rural, I'd be conscious that there may be those who might be in your area who do not want to be found and plan accordingly.
 
JD Spydo said:
Hey BRother I know you meant well and your point is well taken. Personally I like to work and I like doing things with my hands and I love jobs that have produce satisfying results. I love doing quality work. Because I feel that the way this entire nation is heading downward is because we as a nation have indeed lost our way.

It was hard work that built this nation. And it will take a hard effort to get this nation back on track too.
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i hear you man,work is soo slow here,itz risky just getting by,warm temps are going to be in my area soon,we do a lot of hiking and staying outdoors....all the best
 
jd-sent ya an email but it bounced. will try again. but im working on the bike and have yr number...you will be hearing from me. peace bro
 
Seems like you are going to do
Wilderness or Country or Cabin Living
and
Survival Studies/Experiments as a hobby.

I think that is a proper summary, but I keep reading more
survival-type stuff from you and more Cabin-Living stuff
from posters. Are they (we) trying to tell you something?

Yes.
Get more practical and hardheaded.

For instance, the "wild edibles" is a good pastime but is
dangerous and many texts/photos/pictures should be
consulted, especially if you are going to eat any of wild plants.

Also, you need a way to generate hot water and get clean.
A large pot for heating and a tub to stand in. Round watering
tubs are sold at feed stores. Don't go to town stinking, if you
can help it.

If you cannot heat water and do basic cooking on your wood
stove, then you have a problem. Get that fixed pronto.
Get a spark-arrester screen for your stove-pipe outlet.

Get a few real tools (for Country Living), besides your survival
tools. Examples: Long-handled round point shovel, snow shovel(?),
pick-ax, carpenters hammer, carpenters hand saw (crosscut, rip, or both),
wood chisel, cold chisel (2), set of files, tape measure.

By going to craigslist.com or walmart you can get all these very cheap,
except the saws may not be easy to find and you could pay $25 at HomeDepot.

These are examples of how you need to be preparing more for Living and a
little less for survival hobbies. I agree, you do need hobbies and distractions,
especially when you suddenly have less human contact.

An AM (and maybe FM) radio that does not eat batteries, is desirable.
My experience is that when you get lonely for human contact, talk-radio
helps, but music-radio not so much. Get some hard copy radio schedules,
while you have access to the internet; the schedules will help a great deal.

One poster advised contacting a church. I would re-read that post, because
not only could you get odd-jobs through a church, you might get a regular job,
if you don't stink ;)

You may need to devise safe places to hide valuables while you are in town.
Make that a very practical hobby, before you need it.
As people get to know you (and they will), they can see that you just arrived
in town, or are on your way to town, so they can burglarize you cabin.
Teen-tweens love these adventures, and some older people too.

I hope your Living is good and your Hobbies are fun. Good Luck.
 
I would also get some sort of routine going as far as "camp-life" goes. The daily chores will be essential for your comfort and safety.

This may ensure that your basics(health, fire, water. etc) are available/prepped in case of sudden illness or injury. ie; make sure there is always a few days of water and wood inside the cabin,etc.

Around here, we have quite a few natural food stores that are co-ops. You can often become a member of these for very little $. Often one of the advantages of membership is the ability to volunteer working in the store for HUGE discounts on food.

Agree with others here about the food stamps/unemployment. You paid into this system and there is nothing wrong with getting something out of it.
 
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Man, you are fortunate to get away to a place like that and live for real. It will be an experience like no other.
 
sadiejane said:
jd-sent ya an email but it bounced. will try again. but im working on the bike and have yr number...you will be hearing from me. peace bro
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I think what the problem is Bladeforums may have my old "swbell" e-mail address because I never went to get it updated. I was away from here and Spyderco.com Forums both for a while. My new e-mail address ( at least till I move) is >> joespyder@sbcglobal.net << That should be allright until I move. And I don't have my Gold Membership up to date either because of the economic quandry I've been in lately. But try that one. I sent you a reply e-mail through this Bladeforums system but I guess you haven't gotten it. YES!! I could dearly use that bike :) >> JD
 
Pics dude, lots of pics, as you survive, journal it !!!! You will look back one day !!!
 
My apologies to all of you who have tried to contact me via e-mail. Due to my procrastination of not updating to my new e-mail of >> joespyder@sbcglobal.net < some of you tried to get ahold of me to have discovered that the old "swbell.net" e-mail no longer worked.

I deeply apologize for any inconvenience that may have caused. Now any of you should be able to contact me at the e-mail I just posted in the previous post to this one. Or you can just use Bladeforum's e-mail system to contact and it will work because I just did sucessfully edit it and updated to the new e-mail.

I sincerely thank all of you for all of the great and caring information you all have been sharing with me the past 2 days here on the "Survival" subforum here at Bladeforums. All of your posts and suggestions have been great and believe me I completely acknowledge all of them. Many of the suggestions of tools and other stuff you all have suggested I have already obtained most of those tools and I am pretty much ready except for a few items I need to.

The next step is I guess I'll just go ahead and sell my vehicle so I'll have some cash to fall back on. Because until I get another serious job it's going to be a monster to support it anyway :( But this bike is truly a GOD send. And hey I love to ride bikes anyway :). Again guys/gals thanks a BILLION for all the encouragement. Because I got a feeling I'm gonna need it :D
 
It sounds like you are quite prepared brother. Good luck and keep safe.

Also I would second the garden idea, the sooner you can plant the better as well.
 
I'm still not real clear on the part of Missouri where the cabin is located, but it might well be in an area where you can make some extra money in your spare time by harvesting ginseng. Some states require a license to sell it.

http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/plantpage/flora/ginseng/


Found it:

Missouri Ginseng Law and Regulations | Print | E-mail

• No license is required to harvest wild ginseng on private land in Missouri, but the property owner’s permission must be obtained.

• Anyone who buys ginseng in the state of Missouri for resale must register annually with the Missouri Department of Conservation (and file quarterly and annual reports), unless they do not maintain a ginseng business address in the state and they are registered as a ginseng dealer in another state.

• The harvest season for wild ginseng in Missouri is September 1 to December 31 and the selling season is September 1 to March 15.

• Missouri state law requires all harvested plants to have at least 3 prongs, which (except for the mature fruits) must be kept with the plant until it is returned to the harvester’s home or place of business.

• Missouri requires that the seeds from each harvested wild ginseng plant be planted within 100 feet of the parent plant.

• Harvest of ginseng is prohibited on any land owned or administered by the Missouri Department of Conservation and on most other state-owned lands.

• The Missouri Department of Conservation serves as the state’s ginseng coordinator and can be reached at (573) 751-4115 or:

901 West Truman Blvd.
P.O. Box 180
Jefferson City, MO 65102

• It is illegal to collect ginseng in Mark Twain National Forest, which can be contacted at (573) 364-4621, or at:

401 Fairgrounds Road
Rolla, MO 65401

Provided by the American Herbal Products Association, in cooperation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and United Plant Savers
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Codger_64 said:
I'm still not real clear on the part of Missouri where the cabin is located, but it might well be in an area where you can make some extra money in your spare time by harvesting ginseng. Some states require a license to sell
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Hey Codger I'm somewhat aware of the ginseng plants. I've consumed quite a bit of ginseng in my days. One of the ways I was going to try to earn a nickel down there is to cut cedar bushes. A guy I know that lives down there already is making more cutting cedar than he is at his regular job. And I've got a couple of Stihl chainsaws and I've got other tools in which I can harvest some cedar. There are a few smooth bark hickory trees down there that my friend who owns the place told me I could cut and sell to these BarBQ joints here in Kansas City ( LOVE THAT Kansas City Bar BQ:cool::thumbup:) and split the $$ with him. There are some other ideas I've got that I'm going to try out.

I'll be doing some mushrooming this spring. We've usually got about a 3 week window that we can harvest Morel Mushrooms here in Missouri and folks will pay you a pretty nickel for those. I don't trust other mushrooms enough yet to harvest them. It's not like I'm going down there completely helpless. I've actually been anticipating this economy going to hell for some time and I've made a few provissions. I am sort of poverty stricken money wise because of huge medical and dental bills because they screwed me out my insurance. Won't talk about that one much because it truly makes my blood boil violently :mad:

But I'm getting my Ps & Qs in order and if can avoid stuff like 1% bikers, gangs and so forth I think I'll be just fine.
 
My advice is simple:

1. Don't get stuck in your head.
2. Take a Bible, whether or not you are christian, there are good lessons and peace of mind to take solace in there.
3. Never believe you have "plenty" of food or water, always be on guard to find ways to keep both squirreled away.
4. Any injury is worth waiting to let it heal in the wild, a bum wheel is three times worse when you need it to get water or fire.
5. Stay warm.

God bless JD, the road you are on is a tough and fulfilling one.
 
Just to let you all know my internet service may be getting cut off tomorrow. And I'm having a bit of tough time finding a new battery for my laptop computer so I can use it in those WiFi areas. But my e-mail will be good for some time ( at least 2 months or maybe longer).

Anyone who can recommend a vendor for an older HP Compaq laptop battery I would appreciate knowing that for sure.

I truly want to very sincerely thank all of you for the great advice and information. I'll definitely be keeping in touch when I can.
 
JD Spydo said:
Just to let you all know my internet service may be getting cut off tomorrow. And I'm having a bit of tough time finding a new battery for my laptop computer so I can use it in those WiFi areas. But my e-mail will be good for some time ( at least 2 months or maybe longer).

Anyone who can recommend a vendor for an older HP Compaq laptop battery I would appreciate knowing that for sure.

I truly want to very sincerely thank all of you for the great advice and information. I'll definitely be keeping in touch when I can.
Click to expand...

Not sure on the laptop battery, a simple google search should turn up some good leads.

As for a job, maybe a data entry. If you can find one where you can download the work, bring it back and work on it at the cabin, that'd be good. You'd be limited by batter life, but it may work.

Not sure how I can help, but gladly will if I can. In any case, enjoy every moment while staying at the cabin!
 
Sign up for some of the free email account
like gmail.com and hotmail.com
you dont have to have an internet provider to get those.
they are free,so you can always get mail from wifi at starbucks or something.

change your email address's here and at any other forums where you
expect people to be responding to you.
 
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