What’s stopping you?

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Wayne

Mod
Mod
Dec 7, 2003
3,750
642
51
West Sussex
www.forestknights.co.uk
I know we are all busy work life balance seems to be a fading dream for many. Then there’s worry and strife over our finances with the likes of Brexit etc.

Our partners sometimes call time on our adventures then complain they have hooked up with s miserable old fart.

So if you haven’t had a dose of outdoor therapy recently. Why?

What issues are holding you back?

I’d love to better understand why folk claim to be avid outdoors people the. When you delve further you discover it’s mid September and they have not slept under the stars in 2019.

I’m hoping a better understanding of what’s holding folk back will enable me to tailor activities that help breakdown some of those mental barriers.
 
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Wayland

Hárbarðr
The nature of my outdoor time has changed a bit. I'm far less likely to go off hiking about than I used to. I'm less fit than I once was but I do not think that is my reason for changing.

Now I'm just happy to pitch up somewhere with friends. Do a bit of cooking or craft work and then pack up again. The last few camps I went on I hardly left the encampment at all.

Camping used to be a means to an end I suppose, it used to facilitate me doing something else, mostly photography, but now it seems to have become the end in itself.

I do not regret that or celebrate it either, it is just what I feel like doing these days.

The-Steam-Tent-Co-operative---Gold-Rush-I.jpg
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
Age. Or maybe I should say - premature age?

Old damages caught with me a couple of years ago. Arthritis in a previously accident compressed vertebrae, and arthritis in right knee, combined with damaged ligaments and kneecap. Operation did not much.
Can not carry more than around 10 kilos. So one night and two day maximum, instead of those lovely, liberating weeks.

I am spending more time doing my 'projects', which means changing handles on reshaped blades, restoring stuff.
 
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Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
Sorry posting twice.... not able to Edit.

I can see a market for organized trekking for older/less able people. Area well chosen ( no ravines to climb :) ), slow progress, sleeping areas already prepared and stocked. Maybe 20 km walking per day.

I know it is Utopia, an expensive Utopia.....
 

saxonaxe

Nomad
Sep 29, 2018
481
1,131
79
SW Wales
When it comes to free time, commitments and responsibilities I must rate as one of the lucky ones, I suppose. Long time widowed, grown kids, retired and fairly fit for a wrinkly. Until recently i spent quite a lot of time in the woods, anywhere between 5 and 7 nights a month,if that's considered 'quite a lot'.
Recently I've been in the process of moving home, from a large 2 bedroom static caravan to a mid 1700's cottage.
Suddenly I've become a furniture, carpet hunter...:D

I had reached the stage where posting on yet another night on the Sussex Downs...

or nights in the woodland...

Might bore members to tears and cause mass desertion of the forum...:D

Now, I am within an hours drive of the Brecon Beacons, live very close to a wild and beautiful coastline and acres of woodland ( and I've just been given permission to practice with my bows on private land )..:thumbsup: and future exploration of the area looks absolutely intriguing with lots of possibilities for nights under the light pollution free skies..

In the meantime...what do you think, does that beige carpet look a bit iffy with the dark furniture??.....:p
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
When I lived in cities, the urge to get away from all the sights and sounds was an effort to accomplish.
I found myself (and friends) returning eventually to the same camp sites, time and again.
Why? No surprises. Easy to anticipate the circumstances and the weather.

It appeared that we all became more interested in poking around in our environment than leaping about to rush from 'A' to 'B'.
I'd like to make a very short walk to the encampment to be shown my accommodations and told the meal times.
The rest of my days to be spent in largely self indulgent pursuits.

I just about did it = a home in a small village with wilderness 20 minutes from the door.
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
I just ached too much :sigh: and it wasn't just the actual outside bit, it was all the packing and then putting away of kit afterwards.
Most stuff is packed into airtight barrels in the loft. It's Scotland, we have damp issues if we're not careful with things, so I'm careful, but it takes time and effort and when going up or down stairs filled me with as much dread as if I were going to climb everest, then it just all becomes too much.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a miserable damned thing, it really is.

A fully catered, as in tents and beds set up and ready, etc., might tempt folks Wayne. Especially those who want to try it all, and don't have kit but know enough to know that Festival stuff won't cut the mustard.

I have the kit, but it's tidied away and unused mostly these days.
That said, I am not sore anymore, just kind of fragile. The joints work, but I daren't push them or I know I'm in for five or six days of misery. Did that at the end of last month. Salutary lesson learned :sigh:

I miss the company, especially the crafting stuff among good company. If Wayland's group or your's were nearer I'd love that :D....but I dread the packing up of all the kit.

When I was young and went off for the weekends with my girlfriends, we just packed a lightweight pack, and split up the three man tent among four of us. Four teenage girls in a small tent was warm enough for us to be happy right through into Winter. No mats, just a groundsheet and an old army sleeping bag each. One billy, one small frying pan, four plates, mugs, four spoons and knives. Local farmers wives always had eggs and bacon for sale, often milk, and frequently spuds and assorted veggies too. We got fairly good at the foraging, and we carried virtually no food at all. We never carried water, burns and lochs and occasionally farm taps, did us fine.
Funnily enough, though we endured the midges, not once did any of us get a tick.
Organophosphates in the sheep dips I suppose.
Got a few leeches when ploutering through some places, but they just got fat and dropped off leaving bloody streaks running down our ankles and calves.
Came home on the train sunburnt, stinking of campfire smoke and happy. Everyone knew we'd just been camping and no one batted an eye.

I'm not old, but I am getting older, and of the four of us, two are dead.

Enjoy being fit and young and able, and get out there :D or be like Woodygirl and do it anyway :D

M
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
For me, the worst is to wake up ( once in the mid night :) ) and getting up.

Then cook on the ground. I have had a stiff back since the accident when I was 21, but now my back is like a plank.
Plus the goddamn knee.

I look like a crab in the mornings.

When I was young, even after my two accidents, I could not even imagine how I would end up 35 years later.

Next step for me is having both ( maybe even three) vertebrae fused, plus replace the knee.
Not keen on operations, hospitals or even doctors......
 

Woody girl

Full Member
Mar 31, 2018
4,519
3,459
65
Exmoor
Oh Toddy i know how it is for sure.
This last weekend has cost me two days in bed! Well I got up this afternoon as I had to go and get milk.
All the kit apart from the tarp is still packed. But I will sort it tomorrow I promise!
I think this may be the last time this year.. at least as far as staying out overnight anyway.
I used to camp all year round but my poor old body won't allow me. I have to be with someone aswell in case I can't cope by myself. I've made that mistake this year. I know better now than to trust I will be fine without fail as in my youth.
I'd love a ready set up camp with tents I can stand up in and beds up off the floor at a suitable height. And my total bugbear is having to crouch down to unzip a tent door... my knees do not like it at all!!!!! Hence going onto hammock camping. I'm determined to keep going as long as I can. When I can no longer cope I don't know what I'll do.
I try to adapt... my monster bike is up for sale and I've got a much smaller and lighter one. Only 50 cc less in engine size but it keeps me riding tho not as often as I did even a couple of years ago. It's orrible gettin old.
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
Sounds like most of us (at least those of us bothering to comment) are all professing age related issues.

Regarding packing and carrying our gear, for me it’s a twofold issue:
1) I’m not as fit as when you get (obviously) and can The same weight effects me more now
2) Now that I’m older I have to pack more weight (meds, diabetic test meters and supplies, as well as more comfort items (sleeping mats, pillow, etc.)

Like Mary, I dread the packing and aftercare of the gear as much as anything else.
 

Woody girl

Full Member
Mar 31, 2018
4,519
3,459
65
Exmoor
Yes it's definitely age related issues. The older you get the more gear you need to be comfortable and the less you can carry. Especially over any distance. (I use a four wheel push along shopping trolly ) and the packing up is a nightmare, as Toddy said.
I need a table of some sort to cook on as I find bending painful and a comfy chair to sit in. I also chill easier than I did which makes my body even stiffer. I realy need to be able to stand up fully in a tent so backpacking tents are a complete nightmare for me as I have to crawl in and out of them and my knees are shot aswell. Walking uphill is a real struggle too.
Those are my issues.
Perhaps a trip to the vet will solve it all :) :) :)
 
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Tengu

Full Member
Jan 10, 2006
12,776
1,510
51
Wiltshire
Time motion studies.

Theres lots I would like/should do, but getting round to it.

Next month I am volunteering at a Fun Palace event at our Archives (Kresen Kernow)

Im doing Celtic art, some grids to work with, and some stuff just to colour in.

I aim to prepare at least ten sheets...

So, I am stuck in the Scriptorum today...

I keep on meaning to take a trip round the Fal, -I have a bus pass and if I pack a picnic all I will need is a couple of quid for the St Mawes ferry...no excuse....In fact its a fine activity if skint...

But, I am busy.
 

EffyGent

Member
Sep 6, 2019
21
9
43
Vorarlberg, Austria
Well, I'm not far off of 40 which is not an issue at all, but then two wee bairns, wife, job, house to keep up........those could be.

But the two biggest issues? I only just got in to this since about June or so, which meant I've been trying to source things cheaply or repurpose what we have to keep costs down, coupled with the fact that you can't wild camp anywhere here without the permission of the land owner. In the case of public land, that's the mayor of the area!

Through a friend I now have somewhere sorted to camp which sounds promising, so my first wild camp will be the last Friday in September. Even though it's likely to get cold soon (Austrian Alps!) I'll be looking to get camps in monthly from now on, even if it's just a Friday night

Sent from my HUAWEI VNS-L31 using Tapatalk
 

Dark Horse Dave

Full Member
Apr 5, 2007
1,739
71
Surrey / South West London
For me it boils down to a few, overlapping issues:
  • time: I've got a family & we like to do stuff together. Mrs DHD & I have little weekends away on a regular basis too:).
  • energy: after work and all the other stuff I do, I can't always summon up the energy to get ready for another overnight or weekend away (osteo arthritis doesn't help much here either :depressed:)
  • headspace: related to the above; sometimes (often!) I'll want to kick back at home, not have to think about anything else etc.
For a few years now I've set out with the intention of getting out once a month, but in practice I usually manage 2-3 weekends away per year - plus Bushmoot of course for the last dozen years or so. Mind you, I've sort of revised that down to including doing something 'bushcraft-related' regularly, so that might involve faffing around with kit at home, making something or whatever, so I get my fix that way instead.

Oh, and I'm off for a little birthday treat whittling course next month, so that counts too!
 

saxonaxe

Nomad
Sep 29, 2018
481
1,131
79
SW Wales
" I keep on meaning to take a trip round the Fal, "

You must try to accomplish that before the weather breaks, Tengu.
I spent a few contented winter months on the Fal River pontoons (cheap winter berthing rates.. ) Waiting to sail for the Caribbean in the Spring.

Up river in the dinghy on the flood tide to Tesco at Truro and back loaded with stores on the ebb..:D
The Roseland and surrounding area is beautiful, as I'm sure you know.
The only slight minus for a sunshine boy was that my old log book shows that rain fell on 89...that's 89.. consecutive days.
Not all day, sometimes just a brief shower, but rain did fall..
But as the late Terry Wogan used to say..."Ah, Cornwall!"

 

Laurentius

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 13, 2009
2,422
614
Knowhere
OMG Gary's posts are just Steampunk inspirational porn. What stops me is age, reliance on Shank's pony and public transport for the last couple of years and well nothing is actually stopping me, I just don't go so far afield as I used to. I have a piece of land where I can more or less do what I like.
 
Jul 24, 2017
1,163
444
somerset
Nothing! this year has been epic, I have managed to hike the moors and brecon's , lots of free climbs of Hound tor and Hay and more, simple truth is your running out life young or old, so your life has to matter to you and have meaning, that drive is selfish and it has to be, sacrifice other thing, go and be awesome or at peace, no point be moments from death wishing you had done more, you are for the moment, always in the now don't waste it.
 

Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,151
1,544
Cumbria
This year we talked of great plans as a family. Plenty of camping at sites but our first family wild camp in the lakes. Our son was 6 and a half this summer so perhaps late in that. Blame the mother and her over protective habit. I'd have had us up there when small enough to carry him and our kit but you have to give way for peace at times.

Anyway, back to this year, we've had too much on and we're not the most efficient. We were looking for a van to convert to a camper, then planning/ booking places for a cycling tour, then planning work on the house, then my partner had time away on business (that took some planning since she's the main carer for our son in holidays due to work flexibility and no parental cover) and no doubt other goings on that stopped us getting out there.

I'm sure there's a few mindsets over families and strategies for getting out. Personally I made Tue choice that I see so little of my son during the week I prefer to spend my weekends completely with my family. That means family activities and no slipping out for a weekend overnighter on my own.

Getting out now involves planning and putting a date into our schedules. We pick a free weekend and hope for the weather. If it's not nice we'll probably not go. Anyone with a young child will probably understand why that is (the mother worries the child will get bored/won't want to go/ will get cold). Truth is our son will get bored, will want to go until boredom hits and will not get cold because he never feels the cold ever (he pushes his sleeping bag off in the night that ice formed inside the tent).

So here's hoping for a late blast of warm, sunny weather before autumn storms and winter hits. I'm still hoping for our first wildcamp together.
 

Broch

Life Member
Jan 18, 2009
7,981
7,755
Mid Wales
www.mont-hmg.co.uk
I think the real problem is you're preaching to the converted Wayne - this bunch (myself included) are either doing stuff or have done it and now no longer want the wet, cold, pain etc.

I am told by the younger ones that forums are dead and social media is the only way to reach them. I'm also surprised to frequently come across younger people (under 30 and some nearer 20) that would really like to get into this stuff but can't find an avenue. From a business perspective it's no different to any other marketing problem: what do the prospective customers want, do we have products that satisfy, are we in a place that can deliver, can we meet the pricing expectations? When I was in business (in a formal way as opposed toe the ad-hoc stuff I do now) we had weekly review sessions where those and other important marketing questions were discussed and actioned.

I will now confess, that having just come off a trip canoeing down the Spey, I realise my days doing what I really enjoy are limited (I cannot kneel anymore which makes rapids 'interesting') - I have to accept that maybe sitting around the campfire talking about past exploits may be the best I will be able to do soon - but I'll still be lighting fires, chopping wood, cooking in the open - even hunting and fishing etc.
 
Last edited:
Apr 8, 2009
1,165
144
Ashdown Forest
For me the decrease in outdoor time is purely down to a work/life balance shifting in the wrong direction - I'm self employed, and what with the mortgage etc, i'm having to put in a reasonable amount of time at work (not helped by the 4 hour daily round trip to commute to my place of work!). So when i perhaps seek to disappear off to a wood etc - which eats into the little time that does leave me with the wife and kids (who i don't really get to see during the week - this understandably leads to some degree of resentment from them!

I would strongly suspect that i am not alone in this situation!

Wayne - perhaps it might be worth you looking to tap into the modern concept of 'micro adventures'. The odd night grabbed out under the stars, or a night time downland walk with like minded folks finishing with a beer and banter around a camp fire in the early hours of the morning, before turning in for a few hours kip in a ready made natural shelter/hammock/tarp. Then back home to the family for a late breakfast/back into the office for a 10am start before anyone notices you aren't there etc....

Or perhaps consider (if you don't already) running 'parent and kid' bushcraft adventures - i would imagine it would be a much easier sell to get a 'pass' off your other half if you can take the kids with you...
 

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