Keeping the Senior Bushcrafter Active

[BOD]

Recently, after rupturing 2 discs in my L4/5 and L5/S1, I have had to reassess how I "go bush".

Among other things I've realised that I need to keep my blades very sharp to minimise extra work for my back. In this area blade work is important.

Also critical to avoid further damage to a dodgy back is appropriate footwear, so jungle boots and a staff are standard now for all bush trips.

I have to shed some of my load - already light - and I am trying to keep the weight lower than the standard backpack position: I am thinking of going the Kifaru Scout route.

What modifications or changes have you, and especially the senior bushcrafters here, made to keep active in our hobby?

 

[Toddy]

Don't know how this will work for you, but I found that a jacket or waistcoat with pockets was awfully useful. I had a double whammy....two slipped discs, broken tailbone, nipped sciatic nerve, and, a torn right shoulder muscle. It meant that any load directly on my shoulder, as well as high on my back was not happening.
It meant splitting up things that would normally have been carried in one, and a very careful think about, "Do I actually 'need' this ?", and an awareness of items that would do double duty. A lightweight poncho for rainy weather was also a lightweight groundsheet or tarp, or just a dry sit-down place, kind of thing.
The walking staff, even one of the modern lightweight adjustable ones, is such a very good thing It provided me with a security of footstep that I couldn't get any other way. It also provided a much needed hold-on-a-minute while I waited for pain to recede

The only thing I would add is that there is hope. With care and no further damage done while it heals, your back will recover much of it's painfree flexibility. The liking for lightweight stays with you though

Best of luck with it all, and best wishes for a speedy recovery

cheers,
Mary

 

[Everything Mac]

A thick and good quality mattress?

All the best

Andy

 

[drewdunnrespect]

The floor with a good mattress and or a hammock

 

[Toddy]

Exped down mat

cheers,
M

 

[ged]

Paracetamol.

 

[Husky]

I have a different kind of health problem but going lightweight and slowing down, doing less walking and more observing, has actually made me a better student of bushcraft.

 

[Toddy]

Paracetamol.

Kapake and 900mg ibuprofen

I tried finding natural pain relievers too, meadowsweet was the best of the lot. I also know now why goat willow is so called, it tastes sweet while the other willowbarks are bitter. It still works though

cheers,
M

 

[ged]

Kapake and 900mg ibuprofen

In about 2002 when my back first started giving serious problems I took my first and only dose of Ibuprofen. Unfortunately it was just as I was about to get off the ferry at Harwich with my motorbike. By the time I got to Ipswich I felt so ill couldn't drive any further so I stopped at a Little Chef for a cuppa. The staff there said I'd gone green. They were wonderful. They just sat me in a corner and kept bringing me tea until I was well enough to get on my way, which took all morning!

 

[Sniper]

Sorry to hear that buddy, my condition is permanent unfortunately so I've had to give up the walking side so I can no longer get to the more remote spots. The upside is though because I am much closer to the car I can take those luxury items that make things much easier on me. Fit or otherwise we can all still enjoy the wild, just at different distances and different levels.

 

[GordonM]

I am not yet a senior bushcrafter but I have had to make major changes in how I do things. The two biggest rear end kickers for me are complications with a severe foot deformity in both feet and arthritis. The arthritis plays hell on the joints and all the broken bones I've had in the past, ribs, vertebrae, sternum, hands, hip and the metatarsal bones. Like others have said, you find ways to adapt and still enjoy outdoor adventures. The biggest change for me was learning to put away my pride and make use of the help offered, especially when recovering big game (I can take comfort in the help I always provided my hunting buddies over the years). I have broken a foot (metatarsals) a couple of times recovering downed game. I have had to slow down quite a bit. I no longer wade the streams to fish but have become pretty good at fishing from the stream bank. Now, if I want to launch the canoe, I make sure someone is with me to help lift the craft from the truck to the water and vice versa. I no longer can do the backpacking, so, I gave all of my large packs to Scouts that could use them. My overnight outings are now close to my truck but I still enjoy them just as much. My wife and I shoot 3-D archery at the club level and action pistol and defensive multi-gun at the club level. We do not win any of the matches but show consistent improvement and have tremendous fun together. I have always lead an active outdoors life and have done just about every type of outing I have desired to do. I did not hold back on my pursuits and now can look back with satisfaction that I've accomplished my goals. As long as I can get out and enjoy some parts of nature, then I'll do it, just a bit slower and closer, enduring the pain. At this point in my life, if I wake up and there is not some type of pain, then something is wrong. Enjoy your outings!

Gordy

 

[salan]

This thread has given me some hope!
I damaged two disks a while ago ( callapsed them leading to saddle anesthesia).
I have had pain ever day since. But never had a day off work because of it ( after initial accident).
Recently how ever I have had more disks show signs of giving up and due to a chest infection pulled muscles in my chest.
The point being I have been feeling very low and was thinking of giving up bushcraft/camping. This thread has made me realise that its worth trying to carry on with it.
P.S. to anyone who hasnt had a severe back injury when my wife damaged her disks, she said the pain was as bad as giving birth! she now understands why I ask for help doing thing like putting socks on!
Alan

 

[sapper1]

I can't offer any advice on pain relief as I can't ease my own.The one thing I will say is to slow down,carry less and rest more often.I'll also echo the comments about a good sleepmat,I use an exped synmat.A good night sleep is essential.

 

[suburban bushwacker]

BOD

The kifaru scout is appealing, have a look at the hunting version: a bit lighter due to the (still super strong) thinner cordura and with less MOLLE a lot less absorbant. Let us know what you end up buying
SBW

 

[BOD]

Wow. Quite a number of similar injuries. My commiserations to you (interesting word that "co-misery")

Most of what you have done Toddy (and others) I have done too. SBW's suggestion to look at the Scouts' Hunting equivalent is good too. Anything to avoid looking like a soldier on patrol!

Some time ago I got a 5.11 Operator belt, the one that can be used as a swami belt to abseil or be lifted out to save me the hassle of improvising a harness or even worse carrying one.

http://www.511tactical.com/All-Products/Accessories/Belts/Operator-Belt-1-34-Wide.html

Besides keeping the trousers up, it has helped me brace the old back which helps if I really have to lift something, a bit like like a weighlifter's belt or a back brace.

Still curious to find out what else the seniors here have done for their various ailments and limitations

 

[ged]

... Still curious to find out what else the seniors here have done for their various ailments and limitations

Some will have more easily manageable conditions than others, and not all treatments are equal even if on the face of it you'd think they should be.

I've been a judo player for over 40 years. When my back problems made things so bad that there was really no point in doing it any more I bit the bullet and went to see the doctor. He said, "Hello, we don't see much of you!" Anyway he recommended physiotherapy and exercise. He sent me to a physiotherapist at a National Health Service hospital (NHS=free), and given my mobility problems suggested swimming for the exercise. So I tried both, for several months. They were both useless but I don't think that was the doctor's fault. He said because of the cost he couldn't send me for a NMR scan, so I had one done privately. At that stage I'd have bought the bloomin' scanner if it would have fixed my back. http://www.jubileegroup.co.uk/JOS/misc/Spine/

The consultant surgeon looked at the scans with me. He pointed to the various bits and said what they were and what he was looking for. One of my discs seemed to me to be a different colour from all the others, and I said, "Oh, is that the bad one?" "No," he said, "that's the good one!"

The consultant said that he could operate, to kill nerves, which would ease the pain, but on close questioning it turned out that although there was a 100% chance of killing the nerve, there was only about a 30% chance of providing permanent pain relief. Some people apparently get no relief at all and for others it's only temporary. There was also a small chance of dying. Very small, but given that I'm allergic to a fairly common bug I said I'd give it a miss for now, thanks, but reconsider if I couldn't find another way to manage. So the consultant recommended another physiotherapist, this time not on the NHS, and so expensive. All the money I had wouldn't have been too expensive.

The private physiotherapist was very much better than the NHS one. She did a lot of investigation by observing me while I exercised, she gave me literally dozens of different exercises to do at home and they started to have an effect. Sometimes the effect was so startlingly effective that I thought she might just have come up with a permanent fix, but it would always relapse to some extent. As I said, occasionally I feel the need to use chemical help, and sometimes the exercises left me needing help. Paracetamol is about as good as it gets for me without going to the doctor for something stronger (anti-inflammatory drugs were ruled out because of the problems they cause). We tried stronger painkillers (basically morphine). I hadn't known until that time that opiates affect the gut, and in my case it practically stopped my gut from doing anything at all, so they had to go.

That left me doing the exercises and taking paracetamol more or less continuously.

Still thinking along the exercise idea my wife suggested going out for longer walks with the dogs. I honestly didn't think that it would help at all, but at that stage anything was worth a shot. For some reason it seemed to help, and I even found myself breaking out into a trot now and again. Maybe it's because the're fit young dogs and they pull so hard on the leads and it's quite hard work to control them just with the leads. I could tell them not to, but I deliberately let them pull for the extra exercise for me. To cut a long story short I kept it up, and after a few months I was running again and I felt it was worth trying to get back on the mat. That was a real trial and I did have some setbacks, but I persevered and now I'm back to the stage where I can wear out a reasonably fit, twenty year old brown belt. At the club they think I'm incredibly fit, but admittedly I don't tell them how much it sometimes costs me after a session and they really haven't a clue what proper fitness is -- I'm using more guile than fitness, and I'm avoiding moves which years ago would have been some of my favourites. Basically I'm tailoring my exercise to what I've found will keep me going and not give me too much grief later on.

The moral of this boring story is this: keep looking. If I hadn't kept on looking for ways to manage it then by now I think the pain would have been beyond endurance and I'd have jacked it in. There were times when I was thinking that way.

Keep looking for ways to deal with it. You might find one.

Have to run now, the dogs are telling me we're very late for their walk.