Overseas Meeting with total strangers in the wilderness who you met online?

[GGTBod]

Personally over the years I have met some really great people doing this, sadly I've also met a lot of total idiots, so now every time I first think about meeting new folks for the first time in the wilderness I worry I might be setting myself up for a night with alcohol fuelled heavily armed nutters, thankfully over here in the UK the worst potential weapon could be an oversized blade or seven, when I met with folks over in the USA up in the Adirondacks loads of folks brought all manner of guns, thankfully they were all very cool and level headed with them and I learnt a lot about guns.

When I was planning my USA wilderness adventures I spoke with many Americans during the process mostly on the forum Bushcraft USA, many thought I was mad or full of crap but they were pleasant about it either way, some thought what i was doing sounded like a good plan and asked if I would be willing to meet up with them, so we made some rough plans and dates around when i was in the US and i paddled back out of the wilderness to meet them all, then we all paddled back to my temporary home from home in the 5 Ponds Wilderness deep in the Adirondack Mountains Upstate New York, only criteria was you needed a canoe or a kayak or a seat in one to join us and to get you in and out of the area as there was no other way in or out unless you got a chopper.

I made a video

So then what is everyone's thoughts here about meeting up with total strangers in the wilderness who you've met online?

 

[Janne]

Depends for which purpose you meet total strangers in the wilderness?

 

[Janne]

Sorry, I just had to write that......

Edit: and you can not edit that dodgy sounding headline either, I learned from Tony the Man recently!

 

[GGTBod]

Sorry, I just had to write that......

Edit: and you can not edit that dodgy sounding headline either, I learned from Tony the Man recently!

I was purposefully dodgy regarding title as i am sure there are people meet who folks off the internet in nature for totally different reasons click-bait

 

[Fadcode]

Well we all meet strangers all the time, and mostly we come away unscathed, but we all have to be aware that things can go wrong, a lot depends I think on how much they know about you, for instance if my hobby was collecting Rolex watches, and the person I was meeting was aware of that, I think I would be very cautious, so sometimes it doesn't pay to tell all, until you know the person better.
Always air on the side of caution, terrible thing to say really, but we are living in troubled times.

 

[Janne]

I have never met any nasty people while in the wild. I have met them in cities though.

Or I should say that the people I have met ( and meet) in the wild are on averge much nicer that what I meet othervise. We share, help and so on.

Carrying a gun makes for more relaxed and safer people. They feel safer, which makes them less agressive. I am talking about people in the wild that carry.

 

[bopdude]

Met most of my 'camp mates' through Bushcraft forums, never had a problem really, a few strange looks from SWMBO when I say I'm off to the woods to meet someone

 

[Barney Rubble]

Funnily enough, I've just published a blog post about my recent experience of meeting some folks that I met on small bushcraft group on facebook. I called it "camping in a wood with strangers!" I threw in a silly twist as the camp was also just before haloween.

Link to that post is here:
https://barneysbimbles.blogspot.com/2018/11/october-2018-wildcamp-camping-in-wood.html

I get your point about how you could potentially meet one or two idiots. But in my circumstance, I really enjoyed it. I had a rough idea of what to expect as most of the folks that I met had a presence on social media. All in all though we had a great time, had loads to talk about and am looking forward to meeting them again soon.

 

[Paul_B]

A friend doing mlt night navigation training slept in a remote Lakeland bothy with a couple of guys (none knew each other) of which the least strange / worrying individual admitted he was on heavy duty drugs for a psychosis or some other serious mental condition and he had recently stopped his medication without his doctor's knowledge. The second guy made the first seem normal and safe.

The mate slept with one eye open. Well be didn't sleep until he saw them both leave in the middle of the night I believe.

My point is you can just as likely meet complete nutters randomly without meeting online. At least online you can try to get to know them. The worry is they're not like their online persona.

Personally I've only met up with online groups in commercial accommodation like bunkhouses and climbing club huts. Always with a group that was established online for such meets. Ended up meeting some really nice people. But it was different to meeting up in the middle if nowhere without anyone else around.

Keep safe is a phrase that springs to mind. How that's done I don't know.

 

[BJJJ]

The strangers that I have met at various meets in the woods share similar interests and are not strangers for very long. I have met many genuine, friendly people.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Great video. They say a stranger is just a friend you haven't met.
I met a lot of good people when I was travelling around the US 30 years ago, it's not all "Deliverance".
Shared interests will always bring strangers together in the woods or elsewhere, and friendships will form.

 

[GGTBod]

If i heard banjos whilst paddling i'd stop for a chinwag and a brew

 

[Paul_B]

Met some Scottish members of this site after reading about a meet near Stirling. I stopped a night at the campsite with them on the way up to Knoydart for a week of solitude.

A great bunch of guys. One guy had a portable forge going (well a fire and an anvil on a log iirc) another did bannock and we all drank alcohol into the early hours. It was a quiet end of the campsite away from most of the punters and even then a few disappeared into the woods next to the site with their bivvy bag.

Outdoor people are usually just normal people with a love of being out and about. There's probably less chance of meeting a nutter in the wilds than about town. Eccentricity isn't a rare in the wilds though but that's usually harmless.

 

[SCOMAN]

I remember at the closing moments of a security interview being asked what I was doing for my leave. This was in my house the guy was packing his bag and had his back to me. He stopped when I replied that I was heading up on Dartmoor walking. ‘On your own he asked?’, ‘yes’ I replied. He withdrew his books and sat down again for another hour or so grilling my motivation. Only when I had convinced him my motive was to enjoy the outdoors did he relax. I queried him what was so wrong going walking on my own in remote areas. Apparently it was a common MO of people passing material to the Russians. An American in a similar job to me had passed so much material they reverse engineered the equipment with ease. Oops

 

[Janne]

If i heard banjos whilst paddling i'd stop for a chinwag and a brew

One of those "bring your piggy" parties?



That was an excellent, excellent movie.

 

[GGTBod]

One of those "bring your piggy" parties?



That was an excellent, excellent movie.

Only if he's a really good squealer making bacon

 

[Janne]

I hope they never get the idea to do a remake of that movie.


People going into the wild have one thing in common: They like the wild. That is our bond.
A very strong bond.

On several occasions (in Norway) I have met people while in nature, and invited them to our house to shower and clean up, for a coffee and something easy to eat.

 

[Joe tahkahikew]

Those who guide folk from the south or europe talk to people like here by phone or email,although mostly my partners daughter does most of that for us. 1st chance we hafe to meet is them is when we take them on the river in the bush (our forests we call bush in English), our only worry is making sure they stay alive, uninjured and satisfied until we bring them back. Mostly really nice folks especially those from europe.

 

[Janne]

The Brits are ok too?

 

[BJJJ]

The Brits are ok too?

Last I heard Britain (united kingdom) is still considered geographically to be in the continent of Europe. When did this change ?