Wifes trip to Boulder. Ref: "hardcore outdoors folks"

J

JackBauer24

Joined
Mar 13, 2006
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My wife just went out to Boulder Co to see a good friend of hers. So of course I dropped a good bit of coin on a basic but good PSK for her. She said people were giving her a hard time about taking so much stuff. It's a nagene full of stuff. Her friend and her new "hardcore" friends would go out on an entire day hike or even two without even a knife. They're dumb enough to go with out so much as eating breakfast or even taking some kind of meal bars with them. I'm proud my wife was the only prepared one and stood her ground. She said she was nervous as hell the whole time because she didn't feel like she could trust these people in the wilderness without me there. I know some of these people, they're a hippy/yuppy/outdoorsy/liberal hybrid. They'd likely freak out if someone even mentioned taking a gun. These people think they're all that is wilderness and I'm confident the majority of them couldnt' survive one day without their thousands of dollars in REI equipment.


/rant. lol
 
I'm a graduate student at the U. of Colo. in Boulder but I live 14 miles away -- I would go nuts living in Boulder. I'm afraid your wife's experience is typical. :(
 
Good for your wife for standing her ground. She did the right thing by being prepared. What a bunch of yuppies to make fun of her for it!
 
Yeah, those are usually the kind of people that others will label "outdoorsy." We just get labeled as nutjobs. :)

The "outdoorsy" people tend to look at me funny when I have a RAT 3 strapped to my Camelbak, like I am going to jump on top of a deer, slit its throat, and gut it in front of them. IT IS A 3" BLADE! I love seeing them with their carabiner knife and its 1.5" blade that maybe locks, having trouble cutting a piece of string.

REI sells some great stuff, and I spend a lot of money there, but buying equipment without knowing how to use it is a giant waste of money. I have seen several people lately ask where the "flints" are "that Bear Grylls uses." The end is nigh.

Man, now I am starting to sound like you guys. :P
 
storl said:
Yeah, those are usually the kind of people that others will label "outdoorsy." We just get labeled as nutjobs. :)
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Ever seen "outdoor" magazine? lol it hardly has anything to do with outdoors. It's like a metrosexual version of who knows what.
 
I live 15 miles from Boulder. Around here, it's commonly referred to as "The People's Republik of Boulder", or 27 square miles surrounded by reality. Good for your wife!
 
sodak said:
I live 15 miles from Boulder. Around here, it's commonly referred to as "The People's Republik of Boulder", or 27 square miles surrounded by reality. Good for your wife!
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+ one. Boulder is a great little town to drive...through on your way to do something.
 
I had a similar experience when attempting the bow drill, one hiker (decked out in rediculous gear) saw me and goes "careful that can go up in flames in seconds"...HUH!!! I wish it would!
 
Boulder's just your typical liberal mecca, but hey, they keep Mountain Search and Rescue busy !

I live downtown in the People's Republic of Boulder:eek:, complete with my camo pickemup truck, 8x5 American Flag, 3x5 POW/MIA


and one of these on my front door.

stickercolorsmall.jpg


I do get vandalized from time to time by "the enlightened peacenicks" :barf: Got to kick the $hit out of one about 6 mo ago, protesting the action in Iraq by trashing my truck :rolleyes:

trucks.jpg




oops, better watch it or this will wind up in Wine & Cheese.
 
Jack, good for you for looking out for your wife's best interests, and good for her for being receptive to your efforts. I think her "friends" are just food that hasn't been eaten yet, and I'll bet your wife is already on her way to outgrowing them, even if she doesn't realize it yet. :thumbup:
 
storl said:
REI sells some great stuff, and I spend a lot of money there, but buying equipment without knowing how to use it is a giant waste of money. I have seen several people lately ask where the "flints" are "that Bear Grylls uses." The end is nigh.

Man, now I am starting to sound like you guys. :P
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oh I love REI. Didn't mean to sound like I was throwing off on it. I think you get my point though.
 
jimmyjones said:
Boulder's just your typical liberal mecca, but hey, they keep Mountain Search and Rescue busy !

I live downtown in the People's Republic of Boulder:eek:, complete with my camo pickemup truck, 8x5 American Flag, 3x5 POW/MIA


and one of these on my front door.


I do get vandalized from time to time by "the enlightened peacenicks" :barf: Got to kick the $hit out of one about 6 mo ago, protesting the action in Iraq by trashing my truck :rolleyes:
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I'm sorry to hear about your truck getting trashed, that sucks. I wish everyone could just get along.
 
JackBauer24 said:
oh I love REI. Didn't mean to sound like I was throwing off on it. I think you get my point though.
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No, I understood exactly what you meant. I have spent a lot of time in the woods (not nearly enough lately), and have seen plenty of the guys that just dropped a couple grand at REI (or LL Bean back in the day) and think that is all they need to spend a week in the woods.

They usually do just fine, don't die, and don't burn the forest down. However, a crappy first experience can turn you off of the outdoors for a lifetime. I have had my share of retardedly equipped trips growing up, so I know that you can still have plenty of fun when you are carrying a backpack full of canned goods instead of some dehydrated stuff. I also understand that everyone has to start somewhere, so I hate for people to have a bad experience because no one helped them prepare. The outdoors is a wonderful place, and not being able to enjoy it like we do is a big shame.

People everywhere are willing to help, you just have to ask. Actually, thanks to the Internet, you don't even have to ask. Just come to places like this.

I get made fun of for my firesteel too, but that is probably because I suck horribly with it.

It's like when I hear someone making fun of a fat guy out jogging. Hey, at least he is out there trying. I take the same approach with people outside. At least they are out there. Don't make fun of my knife and firesteel, and I won't make fun of your patchouli and BO stench. :)

On the Outdoors magazine issue, yes, I have a subscription, so I know what you mean there too. Half the magazines I subscribe to have the corporations/guns/knives/conservatives are bad viewpoint, so I just ignore the editorial stuff and stick to the quality content like their gear guides, trail reports, fitness advice, etc.
 
storl said:
It's like when I hear someone making fun of a fat guy out jogging. Hey, at least he is out there trying. I take the same approach with people outside. At least they are out there. Don't make fun of my knife and firesteel, and I won't make fun of your patchouli and BO stench. :)
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Good call!
 
Boulder !! When I was in Denver in the early '70s the Movie 'The Godfather ' came out . Most people I knew there thought the Mafia was just a Hollywood invention. Little did they know that Boulder was a Mafia center from the '30s !!!. In the 70s Boulder tripled in size which alone would cause many problems. It has of course been a drug center and the school noted for being a great party school ! The mountains there are a great place to camp, hike , or hunt but you don't have to associate with idiots. We were shooting at an informal shooting range in the mountains when a hysterical guy runs up shouting for us to stop .His kid was climbing around nearby and we had no clue . But why did he pick an obvious shooting area to let his kid hike ???
 
Back in the late 70's I was coming from the east and headed for the west coast.
Stopped in Boulder looking for someone, stayed in town at this Budda place for a few days, slept on the floor and ate bowls of rice, good stuff.

Was looking for and finally found Laughing Coyote Mountain, outside of Boulder, where T. D. Lingo ran his "Brain in Nature" Course.
Built our own shelters and stayed there for awhile.
He was a very knowledgeable person, a Professor of Neural Science there, knew quite a bit about the mental aspect of a human beings adaption to living/survival type situations out there in the wilderness primeval.
I hear that some of his students have kept his teachings alive but I've lost track of them though the years.
I know one of them has a website and sells different courses, mostly brain type stuff, I guess the wilderness living aspect is kinda hard to sell if no one comes.
I wonder what ever happened to the land, it was really a nice place to be.

Boulder seemed to be a good place/good people, but I have not been back there since then.
Really beautiful country around there.

That's my only experience with Boulder, just thought I'd share some memory's.
 
storl said:
I have seen several people lately ask where the "flints" are "that Bear Grylls uses." The end is nigh.

Man, now I am starting to sound like you guys. :P
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That's my buddy, the eagle scout.:rolleyes: Of course we went out that day and practiced fire lighting and you should have seen his eyes pop out when he put a spark to some cedar that I showed him how to prepare. Wemt i[ on the first shot like it was gasoline. Without knowing anything about tinder, a firesteel is only good as a back up lighter for your stove.:D
 
Shotgun said:
That's my buddy, the eagle scout.:rolleyes: Of course we went out that day and practiced fire lighting and you should have seen his eyes pop out when he put a spark to some cedar that I showed him how to prepare. Wemt i[ on the first shot like it was gasoline. Without knowing anything about tinder, a firesteel is only good as a back up lighter for your stove.:D
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Just curious, but how did you prepare it? Just small shavings?
 
Just tear it and rub it in between your hands until it's real fluffy. It's pretty easy actually.
 
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