Shelters

Alright, im sorry that you think im being obtuse.

I just dont know anybody who does what you are claiming. I have several hundred acres of woodlot that is selectivley cut every 15 years. I do go into these woodlots and practice shelter building. Just because I can.

I dont however see people cutting down trees for overnight shelter in popular camping spots or even in backwoods or crown land. Thats just silly.
 
Thomas Linton said:
I just think that because life may be at stake, you need the knowhow to get shelter.
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I agree 100% with the entire post and especially the quoted sentence. Whenever I am in the woods I am constantly looking for natural shelters, rock overhangs, blown down trees, evergreens with low thick branchs and anything else that I could use and maybe improve upon a bit for shelter.

The only point I am trying to make is it is fast getting to the point that there is not enough for everyone and it is very important to conserve every bit we can. And cutting trees to practice a skill that will more than likely never be used doesn't make much sense to me. Chris
 
It is silly, Ottoshot, and you see the evidence of it all over our forest lands. I believe in private property rights and your woodlot is yours to do with as you please in my opinion. I'm talking about shared, public lands here in the states. More of the destruction of trees that I see is for misguided attempts at firemaking. White man fires.
 
Ottoshot said:
Alright, im sorry that you think im being obtuse.

I just dont know anybody who does what you are claiming. I have several hundred acres of woodlot that is selectivley cut every 15 years. I do go into these woodlots and practice shelter building. Just because I can.

I dont however see people cutting down trees for overnight shelter in popular camping spots or even in backwoods or crown land. Thats just silly.
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Take a holiday down to Ft Bragg and I will take you to places that look like the woods have been swept and there are no branches on the trees as high as a tall man can reach. Chris
 
runningboar said:
Take a holiday down to Ft Bragg and I will take you to places that look like the woods have been swept and there are no branches on the trees as high as a tall man can reach. Chris
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You see that here in the easy access areas of the Sawtooth National Recreational Area too, rb.
 
runningboar said:
If everyone that goes out into the woods does it, even once, it will hurt.
Bring out the flame throwers. :( Chris
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As you wish:
tree_hugger.jpg
:D:D:D
 
KILLAFORNIA said:
As you wish:
tree_hugger.jpg
:D:D:D
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Yeah man I hug trees, I also don't fish with live bait unless I am planning on eating the fish I catch, I throw back fish I am not going to eat, I don't kill more game than I can use, I don't litter or throw my beer cans in the fire ring, spray paint rocks or carve my initials in trees. If you do, then I wish you would find new hobbies. Chris
 
runningboar said:
I am from GA and I live in NC not Canada, shelters aren't at the top of my priority list for survival, I did not "blast" anybody.

Name one survival situation not including TEOTWAWKI or alien/zombie invasion that you would need to fabricate a shelter from natural materials. Do you routinely go into the backwoods with just your cutting tools and nothing else, no, I didn't think so. I have a space planket, poncho, or dropcloth in every pack, I bet you do too.

Car breakdown, you have shelter and shelter material if you decide to strip the car, plane crash same thing, I am at a total loss, I can't think of a single situation I would be in the deep woods that unprepared......unless maybe you do it on purpose just to see if you can. :rolleyes:
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Not eveyone lives in Georgia. :D (It would get crowded.)

It is true that the prepared are the least likely to need "survival" skills.

It's just as true that the careful are least likely to need a first aid kit, but . . .

But here's a "situation." A Scout group went on a canoe trip in Canada in early June (No, they didn't love Black Flies, but that's another story.). It's not like Georgia in early June in the Georgian Bay area. Best I can tell, they had all the necessary gear - until one adult got bored with portaging and decided to "Run" one of the rapids (that the real Voyageurs portaged around). After that, the group had less gear. Then a decision was made to cross Talon Lake instead of taking the long way around (where you'd be protected from the wind by the trees) -- and they had less gear and understood why it is called Talon Lake. Then it got cold - below freezing cold.

In short, Murphy happens to even the learned and prepared, and it CERTAIN SURE happens to the ignorant and those with poor judgment. So prepare for Murphy. AND while it may not be you who makes the dumb move, you may have some motivation to try to deal with the consequences.

Cars can be about as good a rain/wind shelter as a tent, assuming the windows are intact after the drunk broadsides you and knocks the car into the stream bed, soaking you and the interior. But cars do not insulate well. A car covered with brush would be "warmer."

Don't forget the first aid kit.
 
CSG said:
My guess and opinion is that many people here are making up for something "lacking" elsewhere and/or have very few true outdoor skills.
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Whats with that comment? I just dont understand the reason for an attack like that. There are many people here who I have much to learn from.
 
Exactly why I told where I am from and where I live, if I lived somewhere else perhaps my priorities would be different. ;) Chris
 
I've built several different shelters all from dead fall material...but I never cut down live wood....If I had to I suppose I would by while recreating there's just no need to I now normall construct a farmework of some sort from naturla materials and lay atarp over top.
 
That's not an attack, Ottoshot, it's an observation and supposition...
 
It *is* a comment on the topic if you read what the topic is about, Tom, seeing as though I started it and know what my intentions were in doing so. I didn't point to anyone in particular but am commenting about the mindset of some people and their choice of equipment, why they choose it, and for what purpose.

I'm not trying to come across as a troll although my comments could be construed by the guilty as such. ;) However, I am trying to shake some of what seems to be conventional wisdom here.
 
Here in ontario, we have this provincial park called Algonquin. It covers about 7630 square kilometres and is a major camping destination throughout the province. It is where I began camping and learning conservation as a kid. Many of the campsites show the kind of abuse you are talking about. But it is to be expected with that park due to the nature of the visitors there.

What people dont know is that this park is actively logged by companies contracted and regulated by the federal government. They clear cut whole areas, but leave a small strip of forest along the rivers and lakes so visitors have no idea what kind of destruction goes on just a few hundred meters away. There are logging roads cut throughout the park. So I shake my head when people complain about the destruction of the campsites, because it is just a drop in the bucket compared to what is really going on.

I really enjoy camping on crown land now but still visit provincial parks on occasion.
 
CSG said:
It *is* a comment on the topic if you read what the topic is about, Tom, seeing as though I started it and know what my intentions were in doing so. I didn't point to anyone in particular but am commenting about the mindset of some people and their choice of equipment, why they choose it, and for what purpose.

I'm not trying to come across as a troll although my comments could be construed by the guilty as such. ;) However, I am trying to shake some of what seems to be conventional wisdom here.
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OK, my bad. You set out to make critical comments about other, unnamed members.

Most of the people here have expressed a pro-conservation stance. Have you noticed?

Did you know that when we did a poll of blade length, about 4" was the smashing winner? Have you read the threads where the majority view expressed is that a SAK is the idea wilderness knife? Have you read the MORA threads? Have you seen either of the official forum knives? I assure you that the "big knife" guys feel like a lonely minority here.

A "straw man" makes a good target because it will have no great defense mounted. Your are preaching, largely, to the converted. But you have been here but a moment.

More broadly, carrying a gun does not make someone a criminal. It's just a thing. So carrying a large knife -- or saw or axe -- does not say much about it's likely or intended use. They may identify a member of an Appalachian Trail Association Trail Maintenance Crew.

Neither, I think, does learning how to make a brush shelter identify the learned as a dispoiler of the environment. I have learned, and I have planted many, many more trees than I have ever cut down.

To plumb your position, do you contend that knowledge of how to make a brush shelter should be surpressed in a wilderness survival forum?
 
You haven't read what I've written here then, Tom. You are protesting a bit much, however. But your 6800+ posts in 5 1/2 years here trump my few posts this past month. Seems you are intentionally missing my point too. I suggest you go back and read what I've written here.
 
Deadfall is not always readily available and if it is it may not be of sufficient size. Most of the dead stuff that I encounter out on hikes or walks is rotted beyond use anyway. So whats wrong if I cut down 2 or 3 sapplings off of my own land (a year) in an attempt to learn a skill or to dry out for a camp fire. State Parks are different because they are for everyone's enjoyment, but they are protected by law correct? And there are practical reasons for carrying a big knife, such as big knives are easier to find if dropped, especially in snow or water and self defense(seriously)
 
CSG said:
You haven't read what I've written here then, Tom. You are protesting a bit much, however. But your 6800+ posts in 5 1/2 years here trump my few posts this past month. Seems you are intentionally missing my point too. I suggest you go back and read what I've written here.
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Dang, I calculated that at my rate of ~65 posts per month over the last 6-7 months (454/7), I would have about 4290 posts in 5 and 1/2 years. Good job on a lot of posts Tom :thumbup:.

I still pack a tent. :D
 
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