Talk about a TRUE survivalist

KuRUpTD

KuRUpTD

Joined
Aug 5, 2008
Messages
20,082
A 52 yr. old woman surviving a year in the woods alone with JUST an umbrella and tarp ... wonder what kind of knife she carried and if she batoned :cool:

BERN, Switzerland — A German woman missing for 12 years has been found living in the woods on the outskirts of the Swiss capital with nothing more than an umbrella and tarpaulin for shelter, police said Monday.

The 52-year-old woman, whose name was undisclosed, appeared to be healthy after living in the simple shelter near the community of Bolligen for the past year.

Even the ranger who makes regular checks of the woods had failed to notice her before a hiker told police this month that he had seen a woman living there, said Juerg Mosimann, spokesman for the Bern police.

Bolligen's Mayor Rudolf Burger said he was told about the woman on Thursday and found her the next day in the makeshift tent she had constructed.

"She answered our questions and told us she didn't want any contact with her family," he said.

She conversed normally, but she also spoke of a mission that she had to fulfill, Burger added. He declined to elaborate.

Mosimann said it was unclear where the woman lived before she moved to the woods.

She is still living there, but the Bolligen Citizens Community that owns the woods will soon tell her she will have to leave, said community clerk Andreas Kohli.

"There's no point in waiting for months," Kohli said. "We are looking for an appropriate place for the woman in cooperation with the social services of Bolligen and the government of Bern."

The woman was reported missing in 1997 in a village near Potsdam, Germany, outside Berlin. She was identified with the aid of an information system shared by the 25 member nations of the so-called Schengen accord enabling passport-free travel in Europe

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,480745,00.html
 
Lots of what some call "homeless people" (bums) are pretty good survivors too.
 
WOW what a story thanks for sharing it. I hope we learn more about what she eat and how she stayed warm and well just all of it. LOL

Bryan
 
I dissagree ... not all homeless people are bums but agree that the homeless are very good at surviving their situations ( they have no choice but to ) ... plus I really don't believe they would fare well in the woods. I give props to this "old" lady though as I think many of us , me especially , would have a hell of a time surviving a week let alone a year given the amount of "gear" she had
 
She most likely has mental health issues, but I don't see why they can't just let her be. She obviously wants to live there, can obviously take care of herself, and she hasn't so much as been noticed in 12 years. I think they should leave the poor woman be.
 
PM, and others are druggies, alcoholics, lazy, etc. Few are truly worthy of society's efforts to help them as they have chosen to not help themselves. Obviously, we have a responsibility to help those are are trying and need our help but that might be one or two out of ten.

This gal is not asking for anything, expects nothing, and should be left alone.
 
I am only kidding. There are obviously many people that are homeless and need help. Some have just fallen on hard time, others have addictions or other mental illness, and yes, some are just lazy bums. In any case, they all need some type of help.
 
I fully agree with all who say she should be left alone. She managed this far on her own, don't disturb her now, let her live her life the way she wants to live it.
 
In this case she wasn't homeless but considered "missing".

What amazes me is that she lived a year in the woods with none of the gear we deem essential just to survive for a few days ... probably had no ferro rod , water purification tabs, etc .... zip zilch nada. She spoke of some mission she had to fulfill ... wonder what that was.
 
While I sympathize with her, and agree she is hurting nobody, she should not be allowed to continue living there.

If you do, how do you stop anyone else from doing the same? Heck, I would not mind heading out and setting myself up a little cabin in the middle of nowhere, after all, I would not be harming anyone, right?

It isn't her land.
 
PrimitiveMan said:
While I sympathize with her, and agree she is hurting nobody, she should not be allowed to continue living there.

If you do, how do you stop anyone else from doing the same? Heck, I would not mind heading out and setting myself up a little cabin in the middle of nowhere, after all, I would not be harming anyone, right?

It isn't her land.
Click to expand...

She isn't setting up a cabin. She's sheltered with a tarp and umbrella. She's on "community land" that is seemingly so untraveled that it took this long for some stray hiker to notice her. It's not like they're moving her to build homes there, they're just doing it to be doing it.
 
Yes, community land. So I can go set up camp in my local State Forest (community land) and hang out for a few years? So she uses a tarp, do you allow a tent? Can someone build a debris shelter and hang out for a few years?

Like I said, I sympathize, but if you let her, you have to let everyone.

So, do you want to let everyone?
 
PrimitiveMan said:
Yes, community land. So I can go set up camp in my local State Forest (community land) and hang out for a few years? So she uses a tarp, do you allow a tent? Can someone build a debris shelter and hang out for a few years?
Like I said, I sympathize, but if you let her, you have to let everyone.

So, do you want to let everyone?
Click to expand...

In my opinion, yes. If they can fend for themselves and have such a minimal impact that they go literally unnoticed, I don't see why not. I seem to be missing whatever point you're trying to make.
 
Don't know how it works with your state forests, but with ours (and national forests) you can camp there indefinitely, but not set up a permanent shelter.
 
So I can go set up camp in my local State Forest (community land) and hang out for a few years? So she uses a tarp, do you allow a tent? Can someone build a debris shelter and hang out for a few years?
Click to expand...
Don't know how it works with your state forests, but with ours (and national forests) you can camp there indefinitely, but not set up a permanent shelter.
Click to expand...
Correct, depending on who manages the land. You can wilderness camp in the National Forest or BLM land as long as you wish, as long as you don't build any permanent structures and follow their other guidelines. That's not true of state parks, city parks, etc.
 
Well thet would be very cool.

Most of the state forests in the North East, you can only camp in designated areas. I am surprised more people don't push the limits of the "permanent structure" rule

Even the registered campsites have time limits.
 
Not to be the naysayer here but there is a seeming assumption that she was "surviving" in what we attach to our perceptions as "survival".

The story said she was simply "found living in the woods on the outskirts of the Swiss capital". She was staying in woods near a living area that a community group "owns" so she wasn't out in the middle of nowhere.

Most people don't notice a lot of things in their environments so it shouldn't be a surprise that it took awhile to find her - obviously when she was reported she was found rather quickly.

I personally don't have any doubts that she was moving into the capital area and "surviving" on what she found in that area - maybe even committing petty thefts and vagrancy at times.

It sounds more like she was squatting on the land rather than surviving. I doubt she was pulling down any mad Les Stroud or Bear Grylls skills.

I seriously doubt she was trapping/hunting game, making friction fires, building shelters, batoning wood, or practicing bushcraft skills.

She probably has some form of schizophrenia - the "mission" reference - and was probably in town during the day hours and simply moved to the shelter to sleep. If she doesn't want to have contact with her family and hasn't been ruled or adjudicated mentally incompetent then that is her right but it doesn't give her the authority to trespass.

I've dealt with similar situations with people in my career. Sometimes you even know they're there but it takes time to catch them.

If she was really "surviving" as we think of it I doubt she'd be so close to a town or property.
 
Most of the state forests in the North East, you can only camp in designated areas.
Click to expand...
That's for state forests, probably the same state parks and other state properties everywhere.

And, at least in most states, state parks are generally much smaller than National Forests and BLM lands, with many X more visitors. Wouldn't take long for a small park to get completely trashed...

Some exceptions though. Colorado has some State Wildlife Areas that allow overnight camping under certain circumstances - No Trace backcountry camping only, or camping in the parking lot but only for licensed hunters actively hunting. Ditto some of the large state wildlife areas in New Mexico.

Here's the nearest example to me, the James M John Wildlife Area. 8,000 acres. No vehicle access. Few visitors except some hunters in season. Rough terrain, and a variety.

102. James M. John State Wildlife Area - Las Animas County
a. Camping is prohibited within one-hundred (100) feet of any stream.
b. Public access is prohibited from December 1 through April 1.
c. Public access is prohibited except by foot or horseback only.
d. Hunting access is restricted during the regular rifle deer and elk seasons to big
game only, on a drawing basis, in accordance with #209(B)(1).

Seems very reasonable to me. :thumbup: :cool:

Even the registered campsites have time limits.
Click to expand...
That's so that nobody "moves in."

If you want to camp at a campground for a longer time limit, try applying as a Campground Host. My retired aunt and uncle did that this year at Rocky Mountain National Park. They had a blast, and their duties mostly consisted of visiting with the other campers.
 
If she doesn't want to have contact with her family and hasn't been ruled or adjudicated mentally incompetent then that is her right but it doesn't give her the authority to trespass.
Click to expand...

:thumbup:

Having small city parks and public spaces over-run by "survivors" (aka bums, vagrants, winos, crazies, thugs, etc.) sucks. :mad:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top