Advice needed please- long-term survival diet

[Janne]

Talking about pubs.....


I miss a real pub. Serving proper beer, ale and bitters from tap. Serving some healthy nibbles type crisps, peanuts and other Vegan food!

My old local one, the Middle House, is legendary. Plus The Star in Old Heathfield - pure joy to go and have swagger with Mike the owner!

That is what I miss from UK!

 

[Laurentius]

Talking about pubs.....


I miss a real pub. Serving proper beer, ale and bitters from tap. Serving some healthy nibbles type crisps, peanuts and other Vegan food!

My old local one, the Middle House, is legendary. Plus The Star in Old Heathfield - pure joy to go and have swagger with Mike the owner!

That is what I miss from UK!

Well pubs are dying all around, and it is a wonder that some of them still exist and do trade. Not all that far from me is the Greyhound at Sutton Stop, on the Canal, and I reckon that would suit your requirements.

 

[Robson Valley]

Pubs were never neighborhood fixtures anywhere in western Canada.
High season here was mid winter for the snowmobile crowd.
I've watched the parking lot dwindle from 50 vehicles to 5 at the weekend.

Fantastic food variety made from scratch wasn't enough, pub closed 6 months ago and might be for sale.
Could have been the core to a long term survival diet, Yes? Yam chips with mayo nightly for 6 months!

 

[Janne]

Yams chips? Never had those.
Banana chips, green plantain, yellow (mature sweet plantain yes.

Even chips made from pork.
Chicharrones. A type of Pork Scratchings.

Yes, those were also nice together with a pint of Harvey’s !

Britain has the nicest ‘watering holes’ in the world.
Offsets the British cuisine somewhat.

 

[Broch]

Yams chips? Never had those.
Banana chips, green plantain, yellow (mature sweet plantain yes.

Even chips made from pork.
Chicharrones. A type of Pork Scratchings.

Yes, those were also nice together with a pint of Harvey’s !

Britain has the nicest ‘watering holes’ in the world.
Offsets the British cuisine somewhat.

I worry about where you ate or who cooked for you Janne - there's plenty of good eating in the UK

 

[Janne]

Well, I did have some good Indian style food!
To be frank, Britain has some great ingredients, but .....

Edit: the Banoffi Pie at The Hungry Monk was excellent. Superb dessert.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Back on track.
Can I suggest that the OP stocks his camp with supplies for say a fortnight in rodent proof containers, then spend the fortnight trying to survive without them. This will give the OP a chance to test out his skillset without coming to any harm, but more importantly to discover the difficulties of his ultimate aim.

 

[Nomad64]

We can make labrador tea also out of snowberry which I've seen in the UK and also hemlockspruce, leaves, rasberry twigs and cherry twigs, which I also see in England.

Great to hear from you Joe.

Thank you for the heads up on hemlock spruce tea - the leaves taste great and I have a pot stewing right now apparently a great source of vitamin C.

 

[Janne]

The new, soft tips are a great source of Vit C. Tasty too. Fantastic tea.
Old needles do not taste as nice though.

Warning: Hemlock Spruce is a coniferous tree, NOT to be confused with Hemlock plant.

 

[Broch]

Great to hear from you Joe.

plus 1 for that; I was a bit worried that we hadn't heard from Joe for a while

 

[Robson Valley]

Hemlock (Thuja canadensis in the east) tree smells like cat spray to me. Spruce (Picea sp.) bud tea is pretty good.

Joe was probably busy. He's probably OK for wild fire risk. We don't hear much from the east about it.
Seems to take more than 1/2 the summer to get ready for winter, smoking fish & game, etc.

Many hundreds of First Nations here in central BC have been totally displaced by the wild fires.
They aren't home for the salmon runs. The landscape has been torched for moose/elk/deer.
All the berries are gone, maybe even the rabbits and grouse are burned alive. Porcupines are slow, they would have been cooked.
Foraging is a noble thought but there is not a single thing to eat. Nothing but charcoal and smoke.

 

[Alan De Enfield]

Foraging is a noble thought but there is not a single thing to eat. Nothing but charcoal and smoke.

Yup - that sounds a lot like Pembroke (The OPs location)

The OP might find a day out "Foraging & Fishing" of interest (and its in his home town)

"A warm welcome awaits you here on the shoreline of Wales." A combination of saltwater lure angling for bass and other species, foraging, food and accommodation on the stunning Welsh coast. I want to show you what Wales has from the shoreline and further inland. You can do it all here with Fishing and Foraging Wales, the choice is yours"

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attra...aging_Wales-Pembroke_Pembrokeshire_Wales.html

 

[leon-1]

Yup - that sounds a lot like Pembroke (The OPs location)

The OP might find a day out "Foraging & Fishing" of interest (and its in his home town)

"A warm welcome awaits you here on the shoreline of Wales." A combination of saltwater lure angling for bass and other species, foraging, food and accommodation on the stunning Welsh coast. I want to show you what Wales has from the shoreline and further inland. You can do it all here with Fishing and Foraging Wales, the choice is yours"

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attra...aging_Wales-Pembroke_Pembrokeshire_Wales.html

Sound advice Alan.

My point was more that you need to find what each season has in store for you, you may be able to survive well enough in one or two seasons, but the others will be much more challenging. A "try before you buy" attitude to this is a good way of establishing what can be achieved in the different months of a year. It also allows you to plan what you need to achieve to cover you for the other times of year when resources are scarce.

One of the things that you would be wise to stock up on is going to be carbohydrates as finding a good sustainable source year round will be challenging unless you intend on cultivating a wild garden and growing your own. Even then it is wise to have stocks in case of crop failure or not being able to cultivate year round due to soil type / conditions, weather conditions and blight.

 

[Janne]

He can spend the £80 widely on food. Augment the food during a couple of months with foraging.

But living in a cold tent or shelter of some sort..... brrrrrr....

 

[Janne]

I am saying sorry for my early (highly negative) posts as I missed the fact that he could spend 80 pounds.
I assumed he would only survive on his foraging abilities, something which is obviously not possible.
'lost in translation' .......
If I my to continue on his original query:

The only way to keep comfortably warm during the cold season is by having a really, really good underlayer, water proof in case ground beneth it gets wet, then having a XXL sized sleeping bag and all this in a very small tent, preferably with several layers to keep all wind out.

This because you can not get enough firewood to keep a warming fire for several hours every day.
To collect that amount of wood takes a lot of energy.

 

[Robson Valley]

I've experienced many snowy, stormy winters in western North America.
I've always wondered how First Nations kept from freezing to death at -40C.
Maybe some of them did freeze to death, we will never know.
High calorie fatty foods for body heat.

Bison fur hides on the Plains, I can believe but there's nothing like that here.
That's the reverse = lots of dead wood trees here, you still have to bring it home. Lots of it.
Not much tree wood in the Grassland Biome which has been sustained by fire for thousands of years.
Buffalo chips? Very dry, they do burn well. We don't know for sure.

Lots of paleo villages was big pit houses, 20-30' in diameter and 3-6' deep.
The pit spoil covered the roof 2' deep. Ought to be fairly snug. Even a cold air fire channel in the floor.
Wanuskewin in SK was occupied for some 6,000 years. They must have got somethings right.

Look at my avatar. The forum software made it fuzzy. Those log rounds were about 16" thick.
There were 12 of those big rounds in a row, much you can't see. Smaller broken stuff stacked on top.
That entire wood pile, a single wood stove in an insulated building about 20' x 20', didn't last 2 months.

 

[Janne]

In the old days in Sweden, despite wood log houses ( a bit of insulation) the pastime on the farms once the farm work was done, was to chop firewood.
Together with the need to fuel the ironworks, the need for heating fuel almost deforested huge areas in Sweden. That was the reason they invented the multiflue ceramic stoves there in the 1700'.

It is better to keep the body heat than having to have a fire.

 

[Wild wandering woodsman]

I spend more than 6 months of my year living in the outdoors with my work. I work all year round. Ease yourself into this, don't just take the plunge. Although food is a worry health and hygiene can be a bigger problem.

Keeping yourself clean when the temperature is below zero and you either have to have a strip wash or a shower isn't a pleasant experience and leaves you open to a number of elements. It's also keeping your clothing and equipment clean as they don't work as well when they are wet and dirty. How many changes of clothing will you have, how much clothing do you actually require when it comes to the layers system and seasonal requirement? How are you going to dry clothing in winter?

Human waste, where will you dispose of it?

If you have a shelter how are you going to heat it in late autumn, winter, early spring and what will be the cost? How are you going to cook? What pans and cooking equipment do you have and is it easily manpackable? Where are you getting your firewood and will you be able to get it in large enough quantities? You can only do so much on an open fire.

How good is your first aid? As you are going to be alone there is a chance that you may have to deal with not just minor but some quite serious issues. Would you be prepared to push a hyperdermic needle through your cheek into your jaw to draw the puss out of an abscess before flushing it out with a sterilising solution?

Where are you getting your water from? It's of far higher priority than food. If you can get enough water how will you clarify and then sterilise it?

How good are you with your own company? What equipment will you take to keep you occupied, especially when it's winter?

Do you intend on taking technology and if so how do you intend on powering it?

These are just some of the factors that will effect you. Have you got legal and viable solutions to them?

Hi Leon ,
Very good points you have listed, and I will answer the best I can.

Cleanliness in winter- wet wipes are a wonderful invention, and use smoke from the fire to cleanse the body( living outdoors will leave you susceptible to parasites)

Clothing, 3 of everything, two extra shirts, thermal underwear,wool jumper, wool smock and waterproofs. Use a 20 litre dry sack to wash clothes, as for drying them, hadn't thought of that

First aid is quite good, Saint John for 3 years, two courses basic and intermediate through an old job in past. The tooth bit, I will cross that bridge should it arrive.

Water is coming from drinking water certified Spring on site, 30 yds from camp

Spent first 30 years of my life on my own, having to amuse and live with myself. I may be ok on that one, but again time tested situ

Technology will be torch phone, camera and radio. Have solar panels, a dynamo charger on my bike,
And several power banks.

 

[Janne]

You seem to be quite well prepared!
As a professional Tooth Fairy, may I suggest you have a thorough check of your teeth, and fix all problems, including the small ones, while you work and have a better economy than later?
Tell your own TF that you are going on a long trip and need to have your gnashers in as good conditions as you can!

Toilet, will you make one type self composting outdoor loo over a deep trench?

Your clothes will dry nicely outdoors when not raining, under the canvas when it does.

What kind of shelter will you have?

 

[leon-1]

Cleanliness in winter- wet wipes are a wonderful invention, and use smoke from the fire to cleanse the body( living outdoors will leave you susceptible to parasites).

I use wet wipes myself, but you will need to take a shower at some stage. You'll also need to keep your hair clean so a dry shampoo would be useful on some occasions.

Clothing, 3 of everything, two extra shirts, thermal underwear,wool jumper, wool smock and waterproofs. Use a 20 litre dry sack to wash clothes, as for drying them, hadn't thought of that.

I would look at probably five pairs of trousers, 2 mid weight, 2 heavyweight and 1 lightweight. Socks, have a few different types and have a couple of different types of footwear as well as a lightweight set of sandals.

First aid is quite good, Saint John for 3 years, two courses basic and intermediate through an old job in past. The tooth bit, I will cross that bridge should it arrive.

Don't underestimate the dental side of life, I would look at having a thing of "Toofy Pegs" as a bare minimum and anti inflammatory type drugs (heavier than aspirin) if you are allowed to take them.

Water is coming from drinking water certified Spring on site, 30 yds from camp.

It would be worth checking to find out how frequently the spring is checked. It's not unheard of that a spring or borehole becomes contaminated.

Spent first 30 years of my life on my own, having to amuse and live with myself. I may be ok on that one, but again time tested situ.

You should be fine.

Technology will be torch phone, camera and radio. Have solar panels, a dynamo charger on my bike,
And several power banks.

I have a number of solar panels and the two main ones that I use are a 20 watt and a 60 watt. In winter the 60 watt is the mainstay so make sure that the panel is going to be man enough for the job.