jungle living

[nenook]

ruger .22 scoped , with folding stock and several hundred rounds,rifle cleaning kit, compound bow with hunting heads, fire steel, knife , crooked knife, med and lge, , loads of oil,parang, water containers, mozzie nets, , hammock, tarps . fishing kit, a good pair of sandals, iodine , and sterile sewing kit,,cut throat razor and scissors, pot , anti malaria tabs, general antibiotics( until body becomes used to being in that enviroment) salt. books especially about local nasties, some spare blades and bits to barter with indigenous peoples, SWMBO , my canoe would be nice ( i know one can be made but in the first instance I would have enough to sort out) a bottle of single 12 year old malt, not that ive thought of this MUCH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

but given the choice Id go to northen Canada , now thats a whole different packing list,

nenook

 

[Shewie]

THAT would be in my experience worse then a one-way-ticket straight to hell!
AVOID-THAT-AIRPORT-AT-ALL-COSTS!!!

Why's that ? We had a smooth pass through both times, it sounds like you've had a bad one ?

 

[Oblio13]

Read a fascinating book once, can't remember the name. It was about some British families in Sumatra, I think, in the path of the Japanese army as it advanced through the Pacific. They threw away all their weapons and surrendered, because, as one of them put it, "What were we going to do, live in the jungle like Robinson Crusoe?"

They had two years to prepare, and they did exactly the opposite of what most of us here would do.

I've fantasized ever since about how I would have prepared and behaved in similar circumstances.

 

[iotarho]

Token malsyian on his way! Well, half...but it's close enough. Spent a little time in the jungle in Sarawak with the forestry commission doing all sorts of ecological thingymajigs and from my time there I would get a local machete (or just bring a parang, but the vegetation is different in the Amazon so may be slightly more unsuited) and bring a small belt knife, a hammock with two 'holes' either side, through which you can put wooden poles - far more stable for sorting out your life and a ferro rod. Or I could just stick with the traditional way of making fire, a can of petrol and some matches...

Edit: Oh, and a .22 rifle - far easier to hunt the wild pigs and larger game in the jungle. Using a blowpipe just makes me miserable.

 

[forrestdweller]

Why's that ? We had a smooth pass through both times, it sounds like you've had a bad one ?

worst i EVER had on any airport and i heard likewise storys from many other people since then. with the way i got (UNJUSTLY! unless you call travelling 5years crime)treated* makes me avoiding this country for the rest of my days(no offense intended to canadian forum members and the nice canadians i met travelling!)


* i got much more politely treated in denpasar(bali) when i caused quite a bit of a stir-up as my wallet (worn around the neck and full of coins)got mistaken for a bomb (google for "bali bombings)...

 

[BOD]

Antibiotics for sure but also fabrics of different weights, wire, paracord. nets, fire steels and blades.

Making Shelter, cooking utensils, fire, water purification, carbohydrate food, etc are easy enough to improvise but the above are beyond the ability of most people to manufacture substitutes.

 

[WeThePeoplexfbm]

just petrol? or diesel? ,

 

[Beardy]

I would have to take a big axe, a massive bow saw, some electric fencing supplies, a small waterwheel or solar panels and small wind turbine and the climbing kit to get up to the top of a tree and fix them up there, a LOT of seeds, seedling potatoes and so on, the ability to harvest, store and mill grains, the ability to preserve foods for long times, the ability to produce alcohol as an alternative fuel source (I'd need to research just how beforehand!), a lot of fishing kit and perhaps even netting (float it with bamboo sections?) to make my own enclosed 'fish farm', about 20 hens (eggs and meat), 10 sheep (wool and meat), 5 cows (milk and meat) and a few llamas (transporting stuff). Plus cockerels and bulls to keep the hen and cow population going. Come on, you know that living from only a firesteel, wire saw and puuko is going to get a bit tiresome around the '20 to 25 years in' point

Oh, and a ruddy big sailing ship (lets call it an Ark? ) to get over there in the first place, plus the maritime training I'd need to sail it, since I won't be able to afford a flight over there, can you imagine how the price would shoot up if the public knew there was only 12 months worth of hydrocarbons left in the world?

Edited to add: Probably (and unfortunately) I would also need some cunning plan to remain hidden/protected/defended/secure when several million other people all come into the jungle, either to plunder it wholesale for themselves, or to plunder my livelihood from me.

I'm not really sure it's a viable plan.

 

[munster]

Totally agree with a local parang. Mine was made from old car springs by the locals in Brunei. Comes with a wooden scabbard!
Travel light cos the humidity rots/rusts the sh*t out of everything anyway. Wet kit for the day (cos thats all you're going to be anyway. Either sweat or rain!)
Dry kit for sleeping in.
American poncho liner for sleeping in, lovely.
A metal mug and 3 6" nails as a quick and easy tripod for the mug to boil up the water etc.
All this remembering is making me nostalgic.

 

[Emdiesse]

nekkid, with offerings to local tribes.

 

[santaman2000]

You can tell we're all English here, no fire arms.. 22 cal semi auto hi power rifle with dusk scopes and silencer and 200 rounds, gun oil and maintenance kit, mossie box net, hammock, ultralight sleeping bag, machette, boot knife, locally prepared Malarial prophylactic, medium size medi kit with alcohol, iodine (for wounds and water and tropicalised Sycatrine powder and a mix of dressings sizes and the usual other stuff in a medikit, Danner jungle boots, saddle soap for boots, flint and steel though would be more likely to rely bow drill or continuous fire management. Jungle survival is easier if practiced as a co-operative group so it makes sense to go in a group or find and live with a local tribe.. When the sh** is hitting the fan getting to the Amazon might be nigh on impossible.. It makes more sense to develop the wilderness around where you live through guerrilla conservation gardening (planting wild food plants) in places people don't frequent..

Did you mean a 22 caliber semi-automatic rifle or a high powered rifle? You stated it as if one rifle could be both.

 

[santaman2000]

I would have to take a big axe, a massive bow saw, some electric fencing supplies, a small waterwheel or solar panels and small wind turbine and the climbing kit to get up to the top of a tree and fix them up there, a LOT of seeds, seedling potatoes and so on, the ability to harvest, store and mill grains, the ability to preserve foods for long times, the ability to produce alcohol as an alternative fuel source (I'd need to research just how beforehand!), a lot of fishing kit and perhaps even netting (float it with bamboo sections?) to make my own enclosed 'fish farm', about 20 hens (eggs and meat), 10 sheep (wool and meat), 5 cows (milk and meat) and a few llamas (transporting stuff). Plus cockerels and bulls to keep the hen and cow population going. Come on, you know that living from only a firesteel, wire saw and puuko is going to get a bit tiresome around the '20 to 25 years in' point

Oh, and a ruddy big sailing ship (lets call it an Ark? ) to get over there in the first place, plus the maritime training I'd need to sail it, since I won't be able to afford a flight over there, can you imagine how the price would shoot up if the public knew there was only 12 months worth of hydrocarbons left in the world?

Edited to add: Probably (and unfortunately) I would also need some cunning plan to remain hidden/protected/defended/secure when several million other people all come into the jungle, either to plunder it wholesale for themselves, or to plunder my livelihood from me.

I'm not really sure it's a viable plan.

Sounds as though you mean to start a subsistence farm. I agree it's the best idea but would trade the cows and llamas for goats (poor man's cows). They're smaller, cheaper, hardier and way, way more adaptable and they're not considered sacred or unclean by any culture in the world. They're also good for milk, meat, wool and beasts of burden. Best of all. you don't need to take them but can probably trade for them there (almost anywhere in the world).

 

[santaman2000]

I'd take a machete, bushy knife, basha and hammocl and water purification kit. maybe a billy can as a luxury but other that that bamboo can be used for most things or at least so ive read

Dave

A billy's good for short term but if you're gonn asurvive long term the comfort of a heavy duty (and heavy) cast iron dutch oven is a must. I'm assuming the idea is to settle in and homestead, not move around a lot

 

[santaman2000]

Change the Dutch oven to a Sherpard's pot lighter[3 inch deep by 12 inches.. fry broil boil Bake] or WOK with cover..Axe

The WOK sounds good but why does lighter matter. We're talking about long term I believe. That more likely means homesteading than nomadic.

 

[santaman2000]

Definitely a machete. It's pretty much the only thing some of the local indians own. After that I've already replied to some individual posts on this thread. I must add though that I would try to choose another part of the world. Even if I were deliberately looking for a primitive place I would prefer somewhere else because of the local indians. This is one of the few places in the world where the indigenous peoples are extremely hostile to anyone outside their own tribal group! That said, if you plan on relocating there firearms (military firearms), ammunition and intensive training would be an absolute neccesity. Also the mindset to be on your guard 24/7 for enemies who are in their home environment and be ready to kill. Does anyone really want this kind of lifestyle?

 

[Beardy]

Hi Santaman!

Nice thinking on the goats, I had realised they were usable for both dairy and meat, but hadn't realised their wool could be sheared and spun or that they were suited to carrying heavy loads. In that case, taking goats reduces the need for different types of livestock, which is great in the name of streamlining things - although I also think it can be a good thing to 'spread the risk' by having more than one type of livestock so one disease doesn't spread through all of your livelihood at once! I've also heard that goat's tendency to eat everything can make them terrible for erosion if in one area for any length of time. I've also never worked with goats before, so that's something I might need to get the knack of.

Have you ever tasted goat curry or goulash? I have on a few occasions and it wasn't exactly appetising (mostly bone and gristle!) so having some other livestock in there appeals to me But I'm sure you could survive from goat even so, or maybe I just got a bad cut of it, or a poor cook...

I have read of an animal with even more uses than the goat, the yak. Apparently in Tibet (in the 1950's at least, not so sure today) it provided milk, meat, wool, transport and even fuel via it's dung! Very useful for the semi nomadic herders of there and then, and to anyone wanting to do things small scale but still have many options. You could potentially just have a few of these and a few hens and some fishing kit and have all your bases covered (well, less your arable and vegetables). But I think that yaks must be even more difficult to come across than llamas in the rest of the world as I have never seen one, yet alone worked with them!

 

[santaman2000]

Hi Tenderfoot,
Yeah, I like the yak too but like you, I believe it's confined to Arctic or Himalayan environments. The Alaskans call them muskox. I agree about diversifying the livestock somewhat also but one of the advantages of goats is their almost global availability. That means that wherever you settle there is probably a local breed that's already immune to most local diseases. Not guaranteed but probably the best bet. I've had curried goat also and agree with your assessment (and I like most other Indian food). I do like BBQ goat however and a Mexican dish called "cabrito" (I think it is Spanish for "kid" as in a goat kid) but I'm not sure. Both the BBQ and the Cabrito were quite good. I think menu monotony would be a problem in a homesteading situation no matter what you took. As far as experience working with goats, I don't have a great deal either but I must admit I have NO experience with llamas. Chickens (or possibly ducks) are a definite yes but I think I would try to aquire them locally for the same reasons as the goats. Also chickens (and most fowl) have a much shorter lifespan and need to be replaced every 2 or 3 years when they quit laying and it would be good to have a local supply (and market for trade for that matter). I suspect that with llamas you would have to move them from pasture to pasture like the goats but in either case I don't think you'd have to move your base to do that. It's been a shepherd's lifestyle for centuries, high pasture in Summer and low pasture in Winter. I suppose a lot would depend on just what patch of the globe you settled on. Of course if we were to settle on the Andes Mountains I'd certainly want the llamas! AND I'd develop a taste for Quinoa. I could go on about that but you'd be better served to look it up on Wikipedia; It's actually quite a wonder crop/food.

 

[santaman2000]

We've bandied about what sort of kit and what sort of livestock but none of us have remembered our best companion. With few exceptions I think most anwhere I would go I would like to have a good dog first and foremost.

 

[trekkingnut]

We've bandied about what sort of kit and what sort of livestock but none of us have remembered our best companion. With few exceptions I think most anwhere I would go I would like to have a good dog first and foremost.

and a woman!

 

[santaman2000]

and a woman!

You can pick up a woman anywhere but after 3 years a good dog will still get excited when you come home.