Living 'Wild' for 2-3 months, ideas? tips? etc
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I would strongly advise you not to embark on this. Doing this requires years of planning, and preparation. It seems you have neither. Foraging is OK, IF you know exactly what your doing, and I would like to know what are you going to support this diet with? you mentioned Chickens, which I imagine would last no longer than the first month, if not properly cared for, thats if the local foxes don't get them on the first night, and then what are you going to do?
A hundred pounds, is not a lot of money, and would I imagine not be adequate to purchase even half of what you are likely to need to pull this off.
Take some time out... think it through...talk to people who have actually done something like this.....get more advice.....plan...prepare..be safe...have an escape route and plan.... have someone you trust keep,and eye on you...as Hamish (dreadhead) has already posted about the poor lad on the moor, he thought he could do it, and by all accounts he was a lot more prepared than you are..
Anyway thats my 50p worth..
A hundred pounds, is not a lot of money, and would I imagine not be adequate to purchase even half of what you are likely to need to pull this off.
Take some time out... think it through...talk to people who have actually done something like this.....get more advice.....plan...prepare..be safe...have an escape route and plan.... have someone you trust keep,and eye on you...as Hamish (dreadhead) has already posted about the poor lad on the moor, he thought he could do it, and by all accounts he was a lot more prepared than you are..
Anyway thats my 50p worth..
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Take a couple of acorns, so you have something to hang your hammock from.
Seriously, if it was possible to live the life you describe with no money, skills or experience, then there wouldn't be an empty field anywhere in Scotland!
Z
Without insulting you or taking the 'mick' at all.
Even in the summer time the area you're planning on living in is pretty inhospitable, I don't think Messrs Grylls & Mears would do well surviving there for 3 months on the equipment & supplies that you will be able to take, unless they could hunt the woodland and take the occasional bleaty and then, maybe?
If you absolutely have to do this (and there are always alternatives), then I would at least re-think your location seriously. I've never needed the company of other people either, could I go 3 months without speaking to anyone, definately, without seeing another person, most certainly, would I do it in a tent on an exposed piece of land on one of the Scottish Western Isles? Not a chance. I might not like people, but I like living.
I don't think water is going to be your main priority, as long as you have a spare tarp or sheet or heavy polythene, a decent filter, and the weather out there you'll be fine for water, as you say you also have a stream nearby. Shelter could be a problem no matter how good you think you are at building one, will your tent survive a gale for instance, can you repair it if it were damaged? If you were living in woodland or a cave with protection from the wind and rain to some extent, your chances would be much better, perhaps you do have a good tent and shelter can be ticked off the list.
Fire is a necessity not only for warmth and cooking/sterilising but for moral, if you can't make fire easily and in wet & windy conditions it won't be easy then you have a problem, not an impossible one, but a major one.
Food is what I think you really need to think about carefully, the plantlife up there is not enough to sustain you by any means, even with I dunno, tomato plants by the arm full, perpetual spinach, etc., they're not going to survive those conditions unless they themselves are sheltered, a poly tunnel of some sort, there is a reason it's so barren. You mention seeds, I assume these are for sprouting not actually growing? All of the Scottish seaweeds are edible but that's a long trek to forage it and the calories aren't there. I have serious doubts about vegetarian and vegan diets in any survival situation, you'll need the protein and fat that animals/fish can provide, your calorific intake will need to be significantly more because of the work you are doing, distances you are walking and to keep you warm and well nourished (and thinking straight).
Seriously, given the money you have available, the lack of any transport, the lack of skills/knowledge and the lack of preparation, your chances of survival in that situation are nil, you won't survive the experience, fantastic as it may seem.
OMG I forgot the dog, please don't take a dog with you it would be inhumane, dogs are NOT vegetarian in any form, if it gets to the point of starving, you say there are lots of sheep nearby... Nuff said?
Si
Even in the summer time the area you're planning on living in is pretty inhospitable, I don't think Messrs Grylls & Mears would do well surviving there for 3 months on the equipment & supplies that you will be able to take, unless they could hunt the woodland and take the occasional bleaty and then, maybe?
If you absolutely have to do this (and there are always alternatives), then I would at least re-think your location seriously. I've never needed the company of other people either, could I go 3 months without speaking to anyone, definately, without seeing another person, most certainly, would I do it in a tent on an exposed piece of land on one of the Scottish Western Isles? Not a chance. I might not like people, but I like living.
I don't think water is going to be your main priority, as long as you have a spare tarp or sheet or heavy polythene, a decent filter, and the weather out there you'll be fine for water, as you say you also have a stream nearby. Shelter could be a problem no matter how good you think you are at building one, will your tent survive a gale for instance, can you repair it if it were damaged? If you were living in woodland or a cave with protection from the wind and rain to some extent, your chances would be much better, perhaps you do have a good tent and shelter can be ticked off the list.
Fire is a necessity not only for warmth and cooking/sterilising but for moral, if you can't make fire easily and in wet & windy conditions it won't be easy then you have a problem, not an impossible one, but a major one.
Food is what I think you really need to think about carefully, the plantlife up there is not enough to sustain you by any means, even with I dunno, tomato plants by the arm full, perpetual spinach, etc., they're not going to survive those conditions unless they themselves are sheltered, a poly tunnel of some sort, there is a reason it's so barren. You mention seeds, I assume these are for sprouting not actually growing? All of the Scottish seaweeds are edible but that's a long trek to forage it and the calories aren't there. I have serious doubts about vegetarian and vegan diets in any survival situation, you'll need the protein and fat that animals/fish can provide, your calorific intake will need to be significantly more because of the work you are doing, distances you are walking and to keep you warm and well nourished (and thinking straight).
Seriously, given the money you have available, the lack of any transport, the lack of skills/knowledge and the lack of preparation, your chances of survival in that situation are nil, you won't survive the experience, fantastic as it may seem.
OMG I forgot the dog, please don't take a dog with you it would be inhumane, dogs are NOT vegetarian in any form, if it gets to the point of starving, you say there are lots of sheep nearby... Nuff said?
Si
I see it as a sliding scale. More kit = more comfortable. Less kit = less comfortable for extended periods. This is the reason we live in central heated brick houses.
Yes you can be happy for days at a time in a tent or bivi or natural shelter as i do often and love every minute BUT its only for short periods of time. When not there i have a clean dry place to sort out all my kit, clean it up and pack it away for next time i am out. If there is no breal from the wild then this becomes a lot more difficult and kit will start to fail and so will your health, especialy given the lack of shelter you describe for your chosen location.
I would want atleast! a stove and a bell tent or similar, Yurt would be even better and well secured to the ground at that. This would give you a living space and somewhere to dry and service you/your kit.
Could some of the very experienced peoples out there do this on just foraged stuff? Yes probably but i dont see it being a nice experience and i dont think any of them would choose the middle of a draughty field for their base.
Save up yer self a few quid and get a nice bell tent/yourt a stove and enjoy your time out there or i would expect you would get pretty sick of it in no time.
Good luck what ever you do.,
Yes you can be happy for days at a time in a tent or bivi or natural shelter as i do often and love every minute BUT its only for short periods of time. When not there i have a clean dry place to sort out all my kit, clean it up and pack it away for next time i am out. If there is no breal from the wild then this becomes a lot more difficult and kit will start to fail and so will your health, especialy given the lack of shelter you describe for your chosen location.
I would want atleast! a stove and a bell tent or similar, Yurt would be even better and well secured to the ground at that. This would give you a living space and somewhere to dry and service you/your kit.
Could some of the very experienced peoples out there do this on just foraged stuff? Yes probably but i dont see it being a nice experience and i dont think any of them would choose the middle of a draughty field for their base.
Save up yer self a few quid and get a nice bell tent/yourt a stove and enjoy your time out there or i would expect you would get pretty sick of it in no time.
Good luck what ever you do.,
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A Yurt, maybe a horse to help carry it in, maybe a few horses, some goats, sheep, more horses, more sheep, a family, geese, chickens, more sheep, more in-laws, some grand parents, more sheep. A tame eagle or two, more sheep.
That should should see you through the summer.
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is it just me, or is it that anyone who has seen a few episodes of our friends Ray Mears or Bear Grylls immediately thinks they can "live wild" without much preparation, training, research or even practice! just because the 2 people they've seen on TV Make it look so easy. Some people are seriously missing a few cogs! I love being outdoors! and practising my skills, I've been interested in the subject for atleast 6 years now, have reasonable knowledge, experience and kit, I spent 3 weeks "living wild" last summer with one of my friends and by the end of that 3 weeks I was definitely ready to go home! never mind 3 months. It was enjoyable though!
I think we all have that romantic idea of living off the land and returning to a more simple existance. Bushcrafft at first seems to make that idea a possability but the more we learn the more we realise that yes whilst it is possible its also bloody hard work and our cushy modern lives make it seem even more so.
On the flip side it is that romantic notion that helps us get out there in the first place and learn so you cant knock it too much
You are in for the adventure of your life.
I teach biology and wilderness skills. I am one of those who actually could do such a ting.
Foraging for foods isn't necessarily all that difficult; but your acrage is too small. *This* is my biggest worry regarding your plans, as it is a non-negotiable scientific fact. What you are planning, as I understand your plans, is biologically impossible. You will have completely depleted your ressources in that environment in a few days.
For a normal human beeing (statistically normal weight, height and metabolism) you would need a area of land beeing some ten kilometers in diameter to sustain yourself without depleting the ressources. This can all be calculated - a certain amount of sunshine, water, plant nutrients, CO2, etc all translates into a certain amount of biomass. Furthermore the human digestive system is not able to digest cellulose, which further limits which parts of this biomass we can convert to energy. Give me some more precise indication of your intented camp site location, and I can be a lot more specific in my calculations.
Please be aware that this is a basic fact, which is not negotiable by any means of skills or equipment. It is scientifically impossible to live that long on a foraged diet on such a small acrage at the relevant climatic environment.
Foraging from the coast would be possible, and increase your chances of success. But with a 2-5 mile one way trip, this could be a hindrance. Our stone-age ancestors, who in some cases (Ertebølle-culture in Denmark as a prime example) more or less subsisted on costal foraged food always located their camps close to the beach, as to avoid wasting precious energy on non-important transport.
To actually succed you will therefore need to:
A: Rethink your location, prefereably to some location which has ample foraging oppurtunities close by.
B: Incorporate in your planning that you will need to relocate camp several times, as the ressources in the current area are depleted. Do not underestimate the acrage needed. Denmark is 43.094 square kilometers - in the stoneage (hunter-gatherer) there were only between 500 and 1000 people in the whole contry.
C: Rethink your approch, by bringing a suitable amount of non-perisable foods with you. Prime candidates for this food would be rice and oatmeal. This would be the *only* wise choice.
Just as an example:
If you are a young and atletic female your energy consumption on a active day will almost never fall under 2000kcal/day. (If you are interested, and provide a few other parameters, I can do all the relevant calculations in order to achieve a more specific result, incorporating the level of planned physical activity relevant for the journey)
But, working from the basis of 2000kcal/day you would - as a few examples - need to forage:
Cattails "Typha latifolia": The roots contain some 20% carbohydrates, mostly in the form of polysaccharides. That means that 1 kg of roots contains about 200 g carbohydrates. As one gram of carbohydrates contain 4 kcal, you would need to forage 2,5 kg of cattail roots to achive the 2000kcal/day. Note (1): You will quickly be running out of cattails if you stay in one location. Note (2): Cattails are one of a select few of plants who are really good at filtering out toxins, heavy metals and other undesirables from our streams. As such, one need to be careful as the the environment where one is harvesting these plants.
You should also have a grass named Elytriga repens, which roots are edible. These roots also contains about 18% carbohydrates. But as the roots are very small you will need a lot of time to collect any greater amount. 1 kg will give 180 grams of carbohydrates (equalling 720kcal), meaning that you need to collect (and eat) 2,7 kgs of roots per day.
If you are working with digging sticks (stone age tools) you would need about 3-4 hours of hard work to produce this amount, meaning it will hardly be relevant.
You have not stated your exact location; but the Arctium tomentosum or some other member of the burdock family should be able to grow at the lattitude of scotland. (I have never been to scotland, as I am from Denmark, and mostly travels north to the swedish forrests). The roots of Arctium tomentosum are also edible - but again you would need some 2 kgs of roots per day to achive 2000kcal.
Regarding trapping and fishing: Read up on proteine poisoning. A human metabolic system needs either fat or carbohydrates to metabolize protein. A diet of purely protein is deadly dangerrous.
Regarding equipment:
For 100£ you will not be able to aqquire a tent which can last the amout of time specified. By cheap plastic tarps and replace when needed. Learn the tarp knot, which is vastly stronger than the tie-out holes provided.
Other that that my equipment list for such a jorney would list:
Equipment:
Knife: Not a bushcraft type knife, but a sturdy solid working knife with a blade length of about 5 inch and a thickness of about 1/4 inch. This is MY choice - your choice might be different, but the knife is your most valuable tool in such an situation.
Pocket knife: Sturdy and sharp
Axe: The best you can afford.
Stainless steel canteen
Stainless steel pot: Any cheap steel pot with lid. Bring two or three.
Ferro rod, one on the knife sheath, one in the pocket
In your case, where you probably do not have sufficient training with the ferro rod, a dozen or so of cheap ligthers might be a better alternative.
Tarps
String / rope
Several pairs of leather working gloves
Wood stove - for making fullest use of collected firewood
Sharping device - for the knives and the axe
Entrencing tool
Some kind of fine netting - to keep the mosquitoes from my sleeping area.
Saw
3/4inch auger bit - fashion the t-handle out of wood locally
File - fine and coarse
Pliers / vice grips
Possibly a small and very sharp carving knife.
Very comprehensive sewing kit, with large amont of strong sewing thread
Hand-cleaning fluid: Beyond the obvious uses it is an excellent fire starting accelerant.
Salt
Beyond the equipment you will need some tough and durable clothes. Cheap working clothes might be a good alternative. Boots should be the very best you can afford. These are probably - beyond the knife and steel pot - your most precious pieces of equipment.
I would STRONGLY advise you to bring a suitable amount of foodstuffs - a bag of rice and a bag of oatmeal will make all the difference. You could even bring a bottle of vitamin pills, to ensure you get the nessary wide range of micronutridients. You will still be able to live the journey of your dreams, but you will be doing it without sacrificing your health. As you probably know, starvation for a young female is quite hard on the reproductive organs.
What you are planning doing is quite difficult, even for trained people, but if you rethink the approch according to above advice, it is certainly in the domain of the doable. As demonstrated above it will be necessary for you to either move camp a lot as you deplete the ressources in one area, or bring a certain amount of food with you.
I would like to point out, that none of the mountain men or other such pioneers would actually venture out in the wild without provisions in the form of food supplies. Even for natives of such environments it would usually be seen as a kind of death sentence to do what you are planning. It is therefor certainly not to be viewed as a sign of inadequacy to actually bring suitable provisions - on the contraty it would (and certainly in a native/ pioneer context too) be viewed as prudent.
If you have further questions post them here, by PB or even by email (kim@horsevad.dk). I will try to answer to the best of my abilities and knowledge.
The world is full of old people telling young people that they cannot live by their dreams. My experience of teaching wilderness skills is that some young people have an extraordinary determined mind - and are sometimes able to accomplish (by sheer willpower and determination) what usually takes vast experience. But as a caution to the OP, please heed the cautions described above - no matter what amount willpower you have within you will not be able to transverse the physical limitations of biomass production. For the chosen environment pre-bought (non-foraged) supplies are nessary.
//Kim Horsevad
Thanks, that is sad
And I see the similarites of lack of food. But I have slept outdoors april throughout summer before, the main thing im worried weather wise is staying dry and nothing blowing away.I am not a troll, so that person who said they were going to go to China with their thumbs up their **** get trotting!
I read back and I guess I was quite brief in my explaination of things or the way I strung the words together made it seem worse than Im viewing it. I am not going to let myself die, I will be living in an area like I say that is populated by people right up onto the beach. I will take money for emergencies and would get a bus or go to the post office if I was desperate.
Nobody lives on the land as of yet due to waiting for planning permission, planning for another building has already been passed by the previous owners so it is legal for people to live on the land, the main concerns are human waste and waste water, those are the types of things neighbours would be able to complain about.
I will take note of what you guys have all said though, I realise it would be foolish to go out with nothing, I will be taking things just didnt want to use them unless I had to do.
Thinking about it though that article did make me think I guess my brain wasnt making the connections(I will blame that on being half asleep) deforestation and the majority of land being grazing, there is a slim chance of me even living off weeds. All the other places I have lived have had alot of edible wild plants just eating that with abit of potato or oats like i said has been fine, im not huge but im not tiny or underweight either for my height BMI readings im at the top end of normal. I think my best bet would be costal food. I will re-think what I want to do and make it safer, I guess going to someplace with more food supplies would make more sense.
When I said seeds, I thought I also said that I have plants already that I would take, I mean I would keep replanting.
You can live 100% off of raw food and if you have enough you feel very healthy and only miss the taste factor of cooked food, I have spoken to and met people who do this and I have done for long periods. But to have a balanced diet a part of that food needs to be imported for most people who follow raw diets. Vegans, vegetarians and more paleo raw diets and all of them looked healthy, infact alot of people do the diets to cure diseases and health problems, ones that are usually looked at as incurable.
What people should or shouldnt be eating or how much is debatable, some people do long periods of fast and still remain active and feel well, others will rapidly lose weight and become sick or die.
I will adjust it to make it more safe, the main thing that has changed my mind is realising that the type of barren landscape the food is limited.
http://www.shazzie.com/
http://www.rawliving.eu/kate-magic
Just two women one who has been following a raw diet for 20years, I could find many more people. Unless you were meaning 100% wild raw food with no other supplementations then I also dont think I have read of anybody doing that, maybe some tribes.
A great post
Indeed. I propose that you make this thread sticky, or whatever you call it..
Better still would be for an article based on that post to be placed in the site somewhere readily accessible, for the next time that somebody asks the same damned silly questions, but I wouldn't want to presume on Horsevad.
In any case, thank you very much, Horsevad, for that outstanding post.
