Are you really prepared? What you may have forgot

[Mitch]

As I read about all the suggestions on survival items, sometimes I get tickled. Gathering up all these things just is not enough. Survival takes place in the mind first and formost. It is what you know, not what you have.

If I came to your door and asked, are you prepared to survive? Some of you would say, yes absolutely! But I might then say, turn in a 360 degree circle and point to the directions and give me the distance to the nearest 5 springs where I may find potable water. I might ask, where is the nearest pecan, apple, peach, and pear tree? Where can I find Kudzu, gound nut, squaw root, wild yam, camomile, ginseng, yellow dock, and cattail?

Even more important, have you conquered your primal fears? If not you won't last long. Can you walk deep into the mountains in the night without giving it a thought? Have you mastered how to move in the dark like a predator? Or are you just prey?

All the supplies in the world will do you no good until your mind is fitted for survival first. I would like to hear from those of you who actually are skilled and educated give advice to those who are struggling to become ready on a mental level.

Eric Rudolph walked into the mountains and stayed 5 years with 150 Feds hunting him! Now that is a survivalist! Where do you rate on the "Rudolph" scale?

Mitch

[AlchemyAcres]

As I read about all the suggestions on survival items, sometimes I get tickled. Gathering up all these things just is not enough. Survival takes place in the mind first and formost. It is what you know, not what you have.

If I came to your door and asked, are you prepared to survive? Some of you would say, yes absolutely! But I might then say, turn in a 360 degree circle and point to the directions and give me the distance to the nearest 5 springs where I may find potable water. I might ask, where is the nearest pecan, apple, peach, and pear tree? Where can I find Kudzu, gound nut, squaw root, wild yam, camomile, ginseng, yellow dock, and cattail?

Even more important, have you conquered your primal fears? If not you won't last long. Can you walk deep into the mountains in the night without giving it a thought? Have you mastered how to move in the dark like a predator? Or are you just prey?

All the supplies in the world will do you no good until your mind is fitted for survival first. I would like to hear from those of you who actually are skilled and educated give advice to those who are struggling to become ready on a mental level.

Eric Rudolph walked into the mountains and stayed 5 years with 150 Feds hunting him! Now that is a survivalist! Where do you rate on the "Rudolph" scale?

Mitch


You go first!!!!!!!

[CapeCMom]

We all know that saying and doing are two very different things. Having no Electricity will be a massive inconvenience nothing more. It is people I fear more. If you say you are not afraid-You lie. Are you a leader or a follower? The latter will get you killed.
Even people who say they are ready, when the SHTF, will completely shut down or fall to pieces. We can all have bravado-but Alchemy is right-what is YOUR rating? I do not kid myself. I will be fine after a day or two or grief over what is happening, but that is because I have a great family who are all here with me. Other people will not be so lucky.
As long as you have a side arm you should be fine if you are in the Wilderness as long as you have done it before. It helps to have others with you. Being alone (remember the Tom Hanks movie) will do more to frighten or depress you than the sound of a few screaming coyotes.
And that will be the least of your worries. I personally do not think many people will just lay down and die. Some will-but others will not-and it is those people you have to be afraid of.
You don't have to be Grizzly Adams to survive, but you do have to have a heaping amount of common sense. This alone is more valuable that a bunch or survival supplies.

And yes, I can answer all of your questions.

[GoodDaughter]

Eric Rudolph? Are you serious? Is this the best example you can come up with? I can sure as HELL come up with better examples than that, and citing people I know personally.

This post from the same person who mocked people who prepare by canning food...

But yes, by all means, you go first.

[AlchemyAcres]

Eric Rudolph? Are you serious? Is this the best example you can come up with? I can sure as HELL come up with better examples than that, and citing people I know personally.

This post from the same person who mocked people who prepare by canning food...

But yes, by all means, you go first.


:D



~Martin

[patience]

Yeah, I've done a fair amount of the wild food/hunter-gatherer stuff, and I could make it for a while out there, assuming of course that it is an area that I'm familiar with.

However. I think it's a foolish thing to try. There are enough resources in the US that there is no point to living outdoors. Why be uncomfortable, cold/hot, hungry, and all the rest, when there are many ways to live otherwise?

I am convinced that the run-to-the-hills idea is an outgrowth of some macho personal problem. It definitely is not a viable survival alternative IMHO. Humans learned several thousand years ago that being in a community is a great survival advantage, and that decent food, clothing, water, and shelter resources gave them a real advantage.

Bottom line is, we have to learn how to survive in the world we are faced with, which today is a much more complex situation than The simplistic one presented in the OP.

[momma_to_seven_chi]

I think people are more resilient than we give them credit for being. There was a young female (partially retarded) mental patient who walked away from her group home in the middle of Nov. They didn't find her until mid Jan even with all the police forces in city, county and adjoining county looking for her. She was fine. Thinner, very dirty, but fine. She was living in a hay bale in an old barn eating old crab-apples and other "found" foods. She had nothing but her clothing and coat, yet she survived in cold weather alone and even set up house. If a 30something female with little education and understanding can do that by sheer will, what can people who prepare for trouble do? It's the laziest of lazy who will have problems with survival, and the ill who cannot live without electricity or certain medications.

[CapeCMom]

That young girl may have been partially retarded, but she had common sense.
Not absorbed by her cel phone, TV, the latest fashions. She was/is probably a lot more normal than half the people out there. Plus I think someone upstairs was watching over her-
I think they are the Lord's Special people. JMO.

Thanks Goddaughter for your post. I had a little chuckle.

[NCLee]

Mitch, yes I can answer your questions and quite a few more, too. You left out hickory nuts, blackwalnuts, poke salit, wild strawberries, mulberries, just to mention a few. :wink:

Next, I have no intention of "bugging out". If our home is destroyed, we'll simply go to plan "B". If that doesn't work, there's plan "C". And before the end of this summer, there'll be a plan "D" in place that's in the design stage right now.

And to answer your thoughts posed in another thread about the lights going out, because electricity fails. No, I'm not afraid. Why should I be? I spent a portion of my childhood on a farm without electricity. Even after the house was wired for electricity, it wasn't all over the farm. During harvest season, work begins well before dawn and often ends well after dark. Been camping the woods many times where there wasn't any electricity.

Oh, almost forgot, when we first moved here, we didn't have electricity for a month, due to a contractor foul up. A bit inconvenient, but not a material problem. Could have easily gone on that way for another month, another 6 months, or more, if there was no choice in the matter.

So, when I give advice, here, to others, it's because I've been there and done that. Or, know someone who has. Or, have enough related experience that can be beneficial.

Can you say that?

Have you ever caught a catfish after midnight, skinned it, and fried it up over a campfire for breakfast? Ever boiled clothes in a washpot? Cleaned out a spring? Trimmed an oil lamp wick? Hulled blackwalnuts in a corn sheller? Milked a goat? Do you know how to build a spring-pole lathe? Make lye from wood ashes? Find fat wood in the woods? Set a trot-line? Actually utilize all parts of those cattails that you mentioned? Fix a busted faucet? Re-wire a lamp? Run a line, add the fittings, hook up a gas stove, and test for leaks? Ever make pork BBQ slow cooked over charcoal for 12-14 hrs? Smoked salt to season a pot of Boston Baked Beans baked in a crock in a smoker? Ever make a buddy burner? Cut glass? Drawn plans to scale and then built the subject of the plans? Can you turn a waterbath canner into a propane stove? Make your own starch? Turn a vinyl LP record album into a fruit bowl? Turn a grill into a solar cooker? Turn a grill into a mitre saw stand? Make butter from raw cows milk without electricity? Do you know the difference between posion oak and virginia creeper? Can you turn a clothes hanger into a frying pan?

If TSHTF, I'll be too busy to worry about "primal fears".

Lee

[debbie-bountiful]

Sometime after Y2K a severe ice storm hit our place and being way out in the country it was close to 3 weeks with no ultilities. I then learn that i wasn't prepare. Being on a well, guess what no water. Major problem!!! Well being 700 feet under an creek and a couple hundred feet deep make it difficult to figure out too.

I then got in all the thiings that made life difficult and then a few years ago another ice storm no ultilities for about 11 days we did fine. Not too sure I wanted to go much longer because water is a problem for bathing but I made sure and still make sure that I have several 50 gallon water buckets filled and rotated so the water is never that old. I was able to flush a tolet that time!!!!!!!!!!

Between the two ice storms I changed my stove from electic to propane which sure helped in the second one. We heat with wood .

We were threaten with another ice storm this last year, didn't get and I kind of wanted the experience to see how much farther we have come.

[rice paddy daddy]

I was a Soldier, I am a Soldier, I will always be a Soldier. I have had to live like an animal. Serious men tried their best to kill me. I learned resourcefulness and perserverence. I AM a survivor. Your scenario does not make me doubt myself.

[GoodDaughter]

Oh, Lee, the last paragraph of your reply made me remember something wonderful my grandpa and uncle did with us when we were little--late night frog gigging! Tasty fried frog legs, or boiled in shrimp boil, are an incredibly good wild food, and they are still a treat for me to this day, even when bought from a restaurant.

Just off the top of my head--the water issue---why try to locate X number of springs? Why not also, or instead, catch rainfall or dew or make a solar still? Shallow seep box, lined with branches if necessary? Water from native plants? Foolish to depend on your water from only one source, you know, IF we are talking about some wild and wooly scenario.

Oh, back to the example given of the fugitive murderer.... didn't he have some folks in them thar hills helping him out? };^)

BTW, been watching the wild blackberries around here.... due to the unusually cold and long winter we had, the blackberries have more fruit on them than I have seen in years. Got me a nice quiet, undisturbed place to go pick when the time is right, and I'm going to CAN THEM, too!

[patience]

NCLee,

I've done most all the things you mentioned, but how do you turn a coat hanger into a frying pan? Maybe with some aluminum foil, or are you just using to hold meat to grill over the fire? (I like a green forked stick to roast with--my end of it doesn't get hot!)

Yeah, I grew up milking 6 cows the hard way, and making our own butter, buttermilk, cottage cheese, etc. We salt and smoke cured our pork, made sausage, butchered everything from frogs, squirrels, cottontails, and deer, to pigs, chickens, and beef cows. Raised an acre garden and put upwards of 6 bushels of potatoes in the root cellar and a couple bushels of onions in the barn loft to dry. We ate blackberry cobbler, fried mushrooms and punkin blossoms, gathered poke, purslane, lamb's quarter persimmons, hickory nuts and walnuts. I box trapped rabbits for meat and fur, and hunted squirrel with a worn out .22 when I got tired of what was for dinner.

Lived without electricity for a while after moving to the farm as a kid, and used a pitcher pump in the kitchen for water. Used an outhouse for a few years, and hand pumped water for stock. Later, on my own place, I hunted coyote and coy-dogs, deer and everything smaller. Gigged a few frogs with a cane pole and homemade point, and run a trot line for catfish.

But, I just can't see trying to do the Grizzly Adams thing. Abraham Lincoln's family lived in a "half-faced camp" their first winter in Indiana, but that was because they got here too late in the year to build a cabin. My ancestors built their homes close to creeks and springs so they didn't have to carry water so far.

[longshot]

potable water? yep

wild food sources? yep different ones for different times of year

where to hide? aint telling

military mind set? raised in a military house and have served over ten years and counting.


but indeed after you.

dean

[AlchemyAcres]

Oh, back to the example given of the fugitive murderer.... didn't he have some folks in them thar hills helping him out? };^)


Yeah, and probably living on cheap canned goods from the grocery!!!

That's cheaper and better than homegrown canned stuff ya know!!! :D




~Martin ;)

[Not2L8]

As I read about all the suggestions on survival items, sometimes I get tickled. Gathering up all these things just is not enough. Survival takes place in the mind first and formost. It is what you know, not what you have.

If I came to your door and asked, are you prepared to survive? Some of you would say, yes absolutely! But I might then say, turn in a 360 degree circle and point to the directions and give me the distance to the nearest 5 springs where I may find potable water. I might ask, where is the nearest pecan, apple, peach, and pear tree? Where can I find Kudzu, gound nut, squaw root, wild yam, camomile, ginseng, yellow dock, and cattail?

Even more important, have you conquered your primal fears? If not you won't last long. Can you walk deep into the mountains in the night without giving it a thought? Have you mastered how to move in the dark like a predator? Or are you just prey?

All the supplies in the world will do you no good until your mind is fitted for survival first. I would like to hear from those of you who actually are skilled and educated give advice to those who are struggling to become ready on a mental level.

Eric Rudolph walked into the mountains and stayed 5 years with 150 Feds hunting him! Now that is a survivalist! Where do you rate on the "Rudolph" scale?

Mitch

I'm glad you find these forums amusing.

I'm not sure where I rate on the "Rudolph scale" But I do know where he rates on mine.

[WileyCoyote]

It was my understanding that many locals knew Rudolph, and put out food in caches, helped him access whatever he could not readily find, helped shelter, transport, and even clothe him.

I think that some things depend on where you live; actually, peaches and pecans cannot survive these winters - but almonds and cherries can. As for where most foods are located - I put them around my property. As for where springs are located - the closest one is a mile straight back from the house - on someone else's property, right smack in the middle of their cow pasture. Water doesn't run here like it did in NC or TN; but it is underground and accessible, and we are sinking a well and putting in a windmill for it - aside from the current dependence on 'city water', the tower and pumps went in back in 1940 and have been cared for ever since, pumps replaced when necessary.

Since then, of course, the town has lost 1/3 of its population and is still losing; fewer people means less draw required. In another 10 years, the population may consist of about 10 families who remain; our biggest 'fear' is the empty houses and businesses that might be infested by squatters. But since there is little to attract them here, and even less to keep them, not to mention that we are so far off of the beaten track that it is unlikely we will be 'discovered', it is not that big a deal. We are one of the few families in the area that has a woodstove as well as propane, and when the power goes out for a few days, we are warm, fed, and dry and have lamps and candles. Mostly though we are not afraid of the dark or the loss of power; often we turn it all off just to look at the stars and wildlife without intrusion. Traveling over the back hills is a pleasure and a comfort; even with the yotes and other wildlife, the silence and aloneness is wonderful, stimulating, especially after or even during a blizzard.

Mitch, a lot of what you ask sounds like my citified friends who yack about being hermits, but whose most deadly fear is the silence of being alone. They all say how much they envy us, but not one has taken nor will take the same plunge; they think that they have plenty of time and everything will work out.

Too many folks think that they will be able to wait to flee right up until the last minute, then take off, hole up somewhere and make their lives as well as their children's lives not just survivable but comfortable. They count too much on roads and fuel being accessible, police and military ignoring them or permitting them to pass, or being able to find food not just at their destination but all along the way. By the time they find out they are wrong, it won't matter.

And I agree that many of the 'bug-out' plans that folk have posted all over the internet are inoperable at best, and mere macho grandstanding at least. Not all, but many... few take into account the thin veneer of civilization that washes away when fear, deprivation, and anger bubble to the surface. So I wouldn't suggest knocking on any door around here to ask about preparations, especially after dark. You could get shot. Just sayin'... ;)

[GoodDaughter]

Anyone near any reasonably large metro area can forget last-minute evacuation during SHTF scenarios. Remember the attempted exodus in/near/through Houston during Hurricane Rita? A quick drive down to the freeway for some first hand observation was proof positive what animals people can turn into when faced with no gas, no car, no food, no water, no shelter, no air conditioning, no nothing.

So bugging out at the last minute isn't a good idea if you live somewhere that lots of other people do, or your escape route is also the escape route of the several million people who live in the metroplex that is 100 miles from you. Yep, you'll be affected that far out, too.

[NCLee]

GoodDaughter, for some reason I've never been frog-gigging. Always wanted to, but the opportunity never presented itself over the years. Your post reminded me that it's about time to get some experience and some good eating, too. In recent years, 5 beaver dams have appeared literally next door. I know bullfrogs have moved in as I hear em singing. No mistaking those voices. :)

Patience, you got it with the clothes hanger frying pan. Just pull it open to form a round, diamond, or somewhat square shape. Cover with several layers of HD aluminum foil. Even better, cover with some aluminum flashing, if available. Just burn off any factory coating, before use. What's more important, IMHO, is the "concept". Thus, any suitable materials that may be available, can be adapted for use.

Re: Rudolph, I didn't follow the news on him that closely. However, I did feel that he spent very few nights in the woods sleeping in a brush shelter, if any at all.

For inspiration, when needed, I look back to those who settled this country. They didn't have all the modern ultra-light survival gear proclaimed by many to be must-have in order to bug-out. Often wonder how successful many self-proclaimed survivalists will be if they lose their "toys". Don't get me wrong, some of that stuff is nice to have, but without the skill and knowledge to do without those gadgets, IMHO it's a false sense of ____________ (fill in the blank).

WileyCoyote wrote:
Too many folks think that they will be able to wait to flee right up until the last minute, then take off, hole up somewhere and make their lives as well as their children's lives not just survivable but comfortable. They count too much on roads and fuel being accessible, police and military ignoring them or permitting them to pass, or being able to find food not just at their destination but all along the way. By the time they find out they are wrong, it won't matter.

And, they seem to forget that (at least in this part of the country) someone owns that food and shelter along their route and destination. It ain't free for the taking and probably isn't for sale either. Those wild plums in the thicket near my home are NOT free for the taking. My neighbor pays dearly in property taxes to allow that thicket to exist. He freely gives permission to pick, but will defend it with the force needed, if anyone trys to plunder that resource. Just as I will those crawfish that inhabit our back 40.

For over 30 years, we've maintained that habitat both by paying taxes on it and physical labor. If a "city slicker" does stumble on it (most won't recognize it when they see it) and through magic figure out how to catch em, they won't get to eat em, if I see them first. Fully intend to defend our homestead and the resources it contains, for as long as I can. This place isn't a "rest stop" nor a BOL. Nor, those of our neighbors.

Lee

[ktm rider]

What about electricity? do you have that? Everyone likes to look at the lack of electricity like the holy grail of survivalism. Almost as if you are not really in a survival situation if you do have electricity.

But what about say 2 yrs. after TEOTWAWKI ? Well after everyones meek battery supply is long gone. What a great asset a good ol' working electrical outlet would be. This is why my micro hydro system is #1 on my list. just imagine the advantage you would have being the only household for miles with electricity.( although i live so far back in the sticks I need a compass to get home from work) It could be used as barter, used to charge batteries, used for cooking, power tools, lighting, and most importantly used for communications and as a news outlet.
SO, while stocking up on band aids and water purifying tablets is important ( especially for short term emergency situations,) what if it turns into a permanent lifestyle change?

Micro hydro would be ideal for us country folks lucky enough to have agood running stream. It would supply a set supply of power for an indefinite amount of time. Not to mention it will also be useful right now. ( no more electric bills... )
But even if you don't have a stream you need to think about this. What about a wind turbine ? or even if you live in the city you could easily buy one those little portable solar panels. it would be better than nothing.
just my 2 cents

[rice paddy daddy]

potable water? yep

wild food sources? yep different ones for different times of year

where to hide? aint telling

military mind set? raised in a military house and have served over ten years and counting.


but indeed after you.

dean
***Ding! Ding!***
We have a winner! Absolutely correct. In a survival situation mindset and mental toughness will separate the winners from the losers.

[patience]

***Ding! Ding!***
We have a winner! Absolutely correct. In a survival situation mindset and mental toughness will separate the winners from the losers.

Right on target. A clear head, creative thinking, and the confidence that comes with a "can do" attitude is what counts, along with some foresight and training, of course.

[Mitch]

ROTFLMAO! Well that post seems to have struck a few nerves :) As for going first, I am already gone. I live in the mountains of Tennessee. Heck, you got to get in a car to go see a neighbor. I was in the sixth grade before we got electricity. I have hunted and trapped the deep mountains since I was a child.

As for old Eric, perhaps it is just because you don't know where he stepped off the world. Those mountains have ravines 1500 feet almost straight down. The Laurel and Rotodendrun there is so thick, on a clear day you can see 20 feet. They call that area "Natahala" or the land of the noon day sun. It comes up about 10 and goes down about 4 the place is so steep! I have been all over that area in my youth, it sure isn't exactly downtown. You don't want to loose it there.

As to my comments on canning, I can tell you now, change your thinking or perish! It is too labor intensive, and expensive, for too little gain. Fill your freezer with what you can and let the rest of your garden go with the frost. I have been there and done way too much of that. We canned on a wood stove in old water bath canners. Not fun. I built a 8 ft. X 4 ft. solar dryer long ago that has 3 chambers with 10 racks each. I wouldn't trade that dryer for all your canners. Some of you all are "playing" survival LOL! I still have my great grandmothers old batting combs for seperating and combing cotton to make quilts. Maybe you should take up "real" quilting :meeting:

Back to my original questions. Can you deal with the dark? Do you know where all the reachable sources of water are? Do you know where food is? Can you trap and hunt and track? These are basic people. You must be confident that you have these covered before anything else matters.

Mitch

[AlchemyAcres]

Folks...PLEASE don't feed a troll!!!!!!!!!




~Martin

[pcrowder]

I agree Martin. It's obvious that someone doesn't seem to see the irony in talking about being "basic" people and "playing survival" and "survival takes place in the mind first and formost" and "It is what you know, not what you have.", is he, himself gonna be in BIG TROUBLE when the first time his electricity goes off for an extended time. HE'S gonna be the one who's hurting when his food is sitting in the heat ROTTING, not the rest of us who have jars of dehydrated food and jars of home-canned food waiting at the ready, and will not be at the mercy of either the power company or the ability to get fuel for a generator. He might "know" what he needs, but he won't "have" what he needs for long-term survival.

Oh well, to each his own I guess. He'd just better not count on his big freezer to save his skin or the kindness of strangers. In a SHTF scenario, I think there'll be precious little "kindness".


jmho of course

[CapeCMom]

Quote - "Those mountains have ravines 1500 feet almost straight down. "

Hmmmmm.......Perhaps someone should lean over the edge just a little.....

Oooops-my evil twin is rearing her ugly head today.

[pcrowder]

Quote - "Those mountains have ravines 1500 feet almost straight down. "

Hmmmmm.......Perhaps someone should lean over the edge just a little.....

Oooops-my evil twin is rearing her ugly head today.

Nah..........you just know a good joke when you read one!

[GoodDaughter]

I thought the other day that this Troll smells suspiciously like another Troll of late who is no longer with us...

[CapeCMom]

OMG the same thought crossed my mind!!!!!!!!
I said-is it Buck? or is it Nightshade??????
Great minds think alike!

[Not2L8]

I guess I haven't been around here long enough to have read many post from Buck or Nightshade, but get the feeling theres not much worth reading anyway. As for the OP of this thread, I've met guys like him before even know a couple of them pretty good. They know it all... They've done it all... and if its not their idea, then its not a good idea.
If you go back and read all his posts you'll notice there are no questions (he knows all) and most comments are just to say your way is wrong (not his idea so, not a good idea).
I probably shouldn't comment at all when it involves a troll, but I just wanted to point out one more shining example of why I'm not a people person!

[patience]

Not2L8,

I can relate. I'm not a real people person, althugh I had to develope some people skills due to work, etc.. Then, after a series of traumatic events, I had to learn to evaluate people with absolute accuracy. That was no fun, but it did develope a real sensitivity for that.

Result is, I can "read" them pretty well, and get it right very close to 100% of the time. What I see around me now is that most people have so much baggage, that it interferes with their life to a great degree. I don't want to share their nightmares, either, so mostly I leave them alone, with superficial contact only.

That makes the good ones you find a real treasure! :D Mostly, though, I like people, warts and all. ;) I just have a limited tolerance for a good number of them.

[Not2L8]

Patience,
I seem to "read" folks pretty well too. I wonder if that is a common trait among people that are not real people persons?

I guess people do have a lot of "baggage" these days, but what I see with a lot of folks around here is arrogance, greed, a total lack of common sense and pure stupidity.
I do have to deal with the public some, and manage to get by, but my tolerance for the pure stupidity is between slim and none..

I have a t-shirt that says on the back "CAUTION Does not play well with others" I think that fits me pretty well..:D

[patience]

Quote: "...what I see with a lot of folks around here is arrogance, greed, a total lack of common sense and pure stupidity."

Yeah! Lots of that going around these days. I once had a T-shirt that said, NO! I don't want to play in YOUR nightmare! :lol:

It is amazing what some folks assume about others online, though. No one knows what experience another has, so it is the height of presumption to infer, or say, that any given person can or cannot accomplish something.

I've spent a fair amount of time in the great outdoors in all seasons. The thing that I find surprising sometimes is that not many young people have done that, as a % of the population. Many never had the chance, due to where they live. To that degree, I agree with the OP that few people have very much useful experience. And that applies to many facets of life that could be a problem for them.

[Not2L8]

Quote: "...what I see with a lot of folks around here is arrogance, greed, a total lack of common sense and pure stupidity."

Yeah! Lots of that going around these days. I once had a T-shirt that said, NO! I don't want to play in YOUR nightmare! :lol:

It is amazing what some folks assume about others online, though. No one knows what experience another has, so it is the height of presumption to infer, or say, that any given person can or cannot accomplish something.

I've spent a fair amount of time in the great outdoors in all seasons. The thing that I find surprising sometimes is that not many young people have done that, as a % of the population. Many never had the chance, due to where they live. To that degree, I agree with the OP that few people have very much useful experience. And that applies to many facets of life that could be a problem for them.

LOL, Haven't seen that t-shirt.. maybe I should start a collection.:)

I agree, it is amazing what some folks assume about others online. I probably assumed more about the OP than I should and I apologize for stating my thoughts as fact. They are after all, JMO. I can't help it, its just the way I "read" him. As for the OP's statements I take them as his opionions.

Some young folks that did have the chance to get outdoors still didn't gain much useful knowledge. My son was raised mostly by his mother (my ex) and while I tried to spend our weekends fishing or shooting or just doing anything outdoors, she mostly allowed the video games to handle the child care. He is grown now and lives the city life. I can only hope he retained some of what I taught him.

[pcrowder]

LOL, Haven't seen that t-shirt.. maybe I should start a collection.:)

.

I saw one a number of years back that said "Don't piss me off - I'm running out of places to bury the bodies". I LOVED that one! I've got to find one!

I just had one printed up especially for myself (for those I'm so tired, everybody hates me, "poor pitiful me" days that we all have from time to time) that says "They Work Me Like A Rented Mule"....

[Not2L8]

"They Work Me Like A Rented Mule":lol: I definitely have days like that..

There is a local kid here I know pretty well, that came by today wearing a shirt that said " You can't fix Stupid" I almost lost it when I saw that because this kid is (God bless him) one of the dumbest kid I know..

[pcrowder]

"They Work Me Like A Rented Mule":lol: I definitely have days like that..

There is a local kid here I know pretty well, that came by today wearing a shirt that said " You can't fix Stupid" I almost lost it when I saw that because this kid is (God bless him) one of the dumbest kid I know..

Yup...........I can hear that commedienne now...."here's your sign"!

[WileyCoyote]

Gotta say that I don't like most people. Seriously. While my BF says he is a hermit type, he LIKES people. I am a true hermit - most people want me to tell them how to overcome their lil personal problems, feed them physically, spiritually, and emotionally, and coddle them, placate them, and solve all of their little horrors - as well as put up with them saying, "I can't do that - it's too HARD" after they DON'T get the soft answer of "It's not your fault" they so desperately need to hear. <yawn> Don't want to know my opinion, don't ask, because I sure as HELL will give it to you. Otherwise, I prefer to be left alone. I have enough stuff to do without troubling myself about other peoples' problems - most of which they caused themselves and won't admit to. I don't need public approbation or approval - all I need is to know that I've overcome something myself; don't need or want an audience. At least most people on THIS forum are all heading the same direction, doing the same things, and share with others so that we can all better ourselves and define more specifically what we are doing and where we are going. On other forums, I rate as the irascible mean old unsympathetic lady. :D
Blunt
Irascible
Terrifying
Caustic (or Cruel)
Heartless

What I "really feel" is no one's business but my own.