Thinking about gear... and other things.

TF, I feel the need to give you a serious answer... yes... it happens on occasion.

You are lame.

How dare you think you can come to a conclusion about the way you live your dreams... the reasons you do so... or the validity of your reasoning. Don't judge, just do. Why try to discern between true survivalists and armchair bushcrafters? Unless you are teaching bogus skills and taking advantage of folks, you have nothing to be ashamed of. You, of all people should know that we constatntly cycle through philosophies and practices based on reevaluated or newly aquired knowledge. Sometimes, it is just a tweek... othertimes... a giant leap. One thing is for sure... it won't be the last change.

In my opinion, your post can be interpreted in a positive or negative light. The positive being that you are indeed intune with who you are and have the humility, honesty and conviction NOT to pretend to be someone else. It sounds like you are going to concentrate your efforts toward the aspects you love about the natural World... I think that's awesome. Negatively, you are downplaying all those previously enjoyable experiences, however real or imaginary they were. If you are choosing cut a new trail, I find it a shame to look back at the path that got you this far, with resentment. I also feel that you are admonishing others who may or may not be truly living the bushcraft life. Personally, I'm happy to see folks with a W&SS mindset doing whatever makes them happy.

I try to live as much of this stuff as I can... when I can't... I am not above pretending in my backyard or living vicariously through newly aquired gear... To HELL if I'm gonna give up anything that is able to put a smile on my face.

It's all good, brother.
Rick
 
Nice introspection.

My take on your post (and Rick's serious one) is to do what makes you happy. I like that. :thumbup:
 
One of my favorite authors wrote " The road is the thing, not the destination. Travel too fast and you'll miss all that you are traveling for." I read that when I was 10 or 12 and it stuck with me to the point that everytime I do get to the woods, I purposely slow down and enjoy the scenery. Also, like many others, I enjoy woods time with friends but sometimes I just want to be in the woods by myself to relax more and not have to worry about the people who are with me.

David
 
kgd said:
A There is a lot of truth, particularly the parts of buying gear as an actual substitute and symbol for dirt time, adventure, fantasy.
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Not to get political but that is something that has happened in the US, probably the world to some degree.

When I was a kid my mom didn't work. My dad worked like 8 to 4. We didn't have a lot of money but we went to museums, went hiking, had picnics, went shooting. When we got older we went hunting.

On the weekend we didn't have much to do but recreate. My dad worked 15 min from home. All the shopping and other stuff, and housecleaning my mom did.

Back then people were poorer in goods but richer in time.

There is an interesting article by Elizabeth Warren who may head the new consumer finance protection agency where she sort of tracks this phenomenon.

In the boom of the 1960s, for example, median family income jumped by 33% (adjusted for inflation). But the boom of the 2000s resulted in an almost-imperceptible 1.6% increase for the typical family.
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The crisis facing the middle class started more than a generation ago. Even as productivity rose, the wages of the average fully-employed male have been flat since the 1970s.
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But core expenses kept going up. By the early 2000s, families were spending twice as much (adjusted for inflation) on mortgages than they did a generation ago -- for a house that was, on average, only ten percent bigger and 25 years older. They also had to pay twice as much to hang on to their health insurance.

To cope, millions of families put a second parent into the workforce. But higher housing and medical costs combined with new expenses for child care, the costs of a second car to get to work and higher taxes combined to squeeze families even harder. Even with two incomes, they tightened their belts. Families today spend less than they did a generation ago on food, clothing, furniture, appliances, and other flexible purchases -- but it hasn't been enough to save them.
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http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/2009/12/07_warren.huffingtonpost.html

What I'm getting at here is that as the article suggests people have less free time and the cost of consumer goods is actually LOWER than it was in the 70's thanks to globalization so when people buy gear they really ARE substituting- Not because they are weenies or poseurs but because the average person has more money to spend on gear than time to spend on dirt time.

The same phenomenon can be seen in the gun world. When I was a kid in the 60's and early 70's the only semi automatic military style weapons, were... well semi automatic military weapons.

The popular guns were target and hunting rifles. However with the increasing lack of time, the development of rural areas into housing subdivisions or strip malls( to serve our recreational shopping needs) there is a huge market for military style guns. It's the same fantasy thing that people are sort of substituting for the actual time shooting or hunting that they used to do.

A few years ago I saw Frank Luntz the famous republican poster on a show and they asked him about issues he had identified that were important to the public, but not really on the politicians radar. One of the things he said he had found was that many people he polled identified lack of spare time as a problem for them.
 
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Magnussen said:
Cool post HD..... gets ya thinkin.... ouch.
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I'm lucky in that I have a lot of acres and there is still a lot of land around me to where if I want to go shoot I can walk 25 feet from my door. 50 feet or so to start hiking in the woods.

However I leave for work at around 8pm and don't get home till 7pm. On the weekends I normally have to spend probably half my free time mowing grass, washing dishes, going to the store to get groceries, cleaning house. Taking the cars in for maintainence.

My wife and I have a saying about our place that all the pets and animals live there and we are "just visiting"

When I look at how much time my parents had to do stuff it's amazing. Now I can afford stuff my parents never could because it's cheaper and my wife and I both work. But that time thing sucks.

I'm lucky in that even though my time is limited I can recreate without driving anywhere in nature. But I know people who have the same time constraints as I do but only half the vacation and holidays. They also have to drive an hour or two just to get to any woods they can play in.
 
pitdog said:
I'm glad everyone has come to the conclusion that they only need one knife, now send all ya spare ones to me so I can waste my time out playing with them in the woods !;):thumbup:


Ps. Now y'all stoppin with the knife talk and survival practicing, let me know what forum I can catch ya on....The knitting and cross stich forum maybe ?
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Should have spoken up sooner Pit. Just like Tkaz, I don't have gear I won't use. Can't tell you how much stuff I've given away including knives. Most noteable was a Ritter Grip and a Swamp Rat M6.;)
 
This is a great thread due to the responses. Pitdog has made a great point - and I want to iterate that these were merely my personal observations made for general perusal.

Rick has made a few VERY good points - and I think he has hit at the heart of the matter for me at this point in my life.

The question I find myself asking time and time again is something like 'What am I to do with myself?'

I suppose this is similar to 'What is the meaning of life?' or 'What is the point of all of this?' - but I do not think I need to answer these larger (and perhaps unanswerable questions) in order to answer the first.

"What am I to do with myself?", when restricted to the concept of 'dirt time' is the topic at hand for me.

What is it that I like about the woods, why am I there, and what should I do when I get there? This, I think, would stop me from wasting a lot of time and energy pursuing the aspects of dirt time that I do not enjoy.

Rick's post, however, cut to the heart of the matter with portions of my introspection and was something I desperately needed to hear. I should not downplay the portions of my life that have gotten me to where I am at. I guess I have a tendency to feel ashamed for things that I have done in my past that could have (should have?) been embarrassing at the time. However, many of the things I have done absolutely made me happy at the time.

I guess, at the end of the day, I cannot believe (even though part of me knows that it is right) that we are simply here to make ourselves (and others?) happy. I think I need to think about Rick's post some more concerning doing things to make myself happy.

TF
 
Great thought guys.

Just to put in my perspective.

I went through a lot of changes over the last few years. My whole life I was poor and had to make do with "good enough". I know some see nobility is finding the least expensive thing that will barely do the job and "good enough" is good enough. Most of my gear acquisitions have been in the vein of finding the perfect [insert item] for me.

Does it matter? Yes! Because I plan to live my life, and do it how I want. Luckily, I really don't want much. The down side is, I want what little I want to be ideal.

After doing the multi-year gear shakedown, I've pretty much decided on what I want. Hint: A lot of stuff is going to go up on the X in the future. So gear acquisition, unless it fulfills a purpose I really don't have anything to cover, is going to be minimal. So yes, I did have a reason beyond mere acquisition for buying all the stuff I did.

As for real bush crafting, I don't have trouble getting a decent amount of time in. For explanation sake, look at the background in these pics:
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I don't have to go to a national park, or drive 20 miles to hit the woods. That's my back yard -- I mean literally, my back yard. I can go out, sweat, get eaten by bugs, and practice bush craft to live-long day, and then go inside and take a shower. I can walk across the street and enter what is a good 70 square miles of nothing but woods, much of which borders a very large lake. I'm lucky.

Like some others mentioned, I don't do the ultralight through-hike thing, because, to me, that's no fun. If it's your thing, go for it. I also don't have to. Like I said, I can go out and enjoy pretty much all of the biological diversity of FL across my street -- I'm also only about 12 miles from the Atlantic. I usually don't have a huge amount of weight because I don't carry a lot of things. Although, sometimes I can load up 90 pounds of stuff, throw it in a canoes and paddle through the little streams and rivers criss-crossing the area, and into the lake itself.

To me, in life, the destination is the thing. Whether we are talking the afterlife, or where I'm going camping -- the destination is important, the rest of this is just having fun along the way.

Life's too short to be miserable.
 
We are all different but on here at least we all share one common interest and that is a love of the outdoors.
I guess for some the fun is hard core survival stuff, lets call these the Dave Canterbury's.
For others it's discovering the wonderment of nature, we'll call these the Tom Brown's.
I fall into the 2nd catagory, I'll be walking along when I notice the movement of a lizard sunning on a rock, I might then spend 30 minutes-1 hr or more watching the little guy.
It might not be a creature it might be an owl pellet that I find, I'll then start breaking up and trying to figure out exactly what the bird ate over the last couple of days. I might stumble upon some Raccoon tracks and spend an hour or so trying to follow them through the bush.
Some days I have my total hippy head on and find myself amazed at the size of some trees and I'll sit with my cup of tea staring at these old monsters trying to imagine how it would feel to have their height and mass and what tales they could tell of sights they had witnessed through the years.

Life is short so ya gotta do whatever floats ya boat, ignore how others might perceive you. I'm sure many people think I'm nuts when they come across me lying in the trail watching a bug go about it's business but who cares.....I'm a happy nut !:D

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I agree Justin - and, as always, great posts.

I need to find out what actually makes me happy and stop thinking about what might make me happy - or what would be cool to show others.

TF
 
pitdog said:
We are all different but on here at least we all share one common interest and that is a love of the outdoors.
I guess for some the fun is hard core survival stuff, lets call these the Dave Canterbury's.
For others it's discovering the wonderment of nature, we'll call these the Tom Brown's.
I fall into the 2nd catagory, I'll be walking along when I notice the movement of a lizard sunning on a rock, I might then spend 30 minutes-1 hr or more watching the little guy.
It might not be a creature it might be an owl pellet that I find, I'll then start breaking up and trying to figure out exactly what the bird ate over the last couple of days. I might stumble upon some Raccoon tracks and spend an hour or so trying to follow them through the bush.
Some days I have my total hippy head on and find myself amazed at the size of some trees and I'll sit with my cup of tea staring at these old monsters trying to imagine how it would feel to have their height and mass and what tales they could tell of sights they had witnessed through the years.

Life is short so ya gotta do whatever floats ya boat, ignore how others might perceive you. I'm sure many people think I'm nuts when they come across me lying in the trail watching a bug go about it's business but who cares.....I'm a happy nut !:D
This thread will make a person do some thinking...but like Pit, when I hit the hills (my back yard) I'm in no hurry to see how far I can walk :rolleyes: Heck I might not walk a mile. When I go I usually got the twins with me so we take our time so I can teach them & let them play & explore ;) As far as having to many knives....I love knives & as long as I can afford it I'll be purchasing them :D
I don't have alot of gear, I'm the type of person that don't like to waste money so I try to get only what I think I will use !
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Talfuchre said:
I guess, at the end of the day, I cannot believe (even though part of me knows that it is right) that we are simply here to make ourselves (and others?) happy. I think I need to think about Rick's post some more concerning doing things to make myself happy.
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Hey Tal, since my understanding is that we are basically on the same page on the deity thing, then your job is to reproduce and replicate your genes. My understanding is that you accomplished that. I guess that makes you in retirement mode. So find that happiness you are looking for :D :D
 
Im not a big Survival enthusiast but like to study and practice some. If I ever find myself in a dire situation maybe Ill retain some of it.

As far as knives, Im always evolving. Right now Im on a multitool kick. If a tornado causes me to capsize my canoe,and I stick my hand in a conibear trap while pulling myself from gator infested water, the Leatherman Surge is what I want .
 
Wow, TF. Nobody gazes at a navel like a philosophy prof! It is common for people to treat objects like totems; the urge to participate in an activity is temporarily satisfied by researching and buying kit. To that extent, using gear as a surrogate for activity can be counterproductive.

It is a far-reaching phenomenon. Just look at all the exercise equipment and such sold to the overweight. Buying a custom knife out of Unobtanium 770 doesn't make one an outdoorsman any more than buying a diet book will make you fit. The point isn't that the gear is bad, it is that we can allow it to quench our thirst before we actually get out and enjoy the woods we're gearing up for.

It is easy to dismiss these people as posers, which is a tendancy that we all have to wrestle with. Another aspect worth considering is that for some older folks, or people with severe limitations, the surrogate may be all they can handle. It may bring back memories of past glory or fuel dreams of adventure they will never be capable of experiencing.

Finally, since this topic swerved a litle into the metaphysical, consider that the minutes we have on this globe, the energy we possess, and our other talents are the true currency we have. Spend wisely.
 
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