Should I go "camping" alone or with a friend?

[Bushman]

Take your friend and learn together.
Dont give him a gun but try to camp in a place you can practice/teach him shooting.

Good idea.
The last time I went shooting with somebody I didn't know he blew his brains out with my gun. It was most embarassing and inconvenient.
Now I don't go shooting with anybody I don't know real well.

Just an observation: when somebody smokes himself with a .44 Mag the results are spectacular in a real ugly way.

He recently lost his job and is going through an UGLY divorce....hmmmmmmmm....

 

[turbo_vanner]

lol, I suppose there is an abundance of time.. maybe I'll give that stuff a go next time I'm out.

 

[DB is Here]

The fact that the title said "camping" sent a chill up my spine.

 

[Martini_Up]

Had one, too much energy, had to take it back. Plus the cats didn't like it and attacked it despite it being waaaay bigger. She was just confused as to why they didn't like her. I have a fenced in back yard but would feel bad about leaving it outside all the time in bad weather, even on a covered deck in a heated dog house. Or is that OK?

A dog would certainly foot the bill and be good backup and companionship.

There are many different breeds which have different characteristics. I have a beagle mix who when left alone will sleep 20 hours a day. But when camping / hiking will go for 12 hours. That dog is invaluable in the woods. Can hear and smell things I can't and tells me what is happening long before I would have known if I would have learned at all. And excellent guard dog, though not much for attacking but that is my call as should be.

I would send the cat outside and get a dog inside with you

 

[Mikej]

Yeah he has ZERO experience and get's cold easily. Had a BBQ in my back yard one time and he had to come inside and warm up. I dunno. Maybe I should go alone. It will be better training for me maybe?

The above tells me that a camping trip during warm weather is the way to start. NOT during winter, at altitude.

I am way past camping, let alone winter camping. (Did snow camping, igloo building, wilderness area in summer, as a Boy Scout Explorer.)

 

[Bushman]

Make sure he can read a map. Your trip might turn into S&R to recover him.

One I regularly violate. Found out once in the Jeff Wilderness that I had to register at the ranger station before heading in. "um, I came in at night, and Detroit Ranger Station was closed."
Good advice, and from experience, I can say it's also a good idea to deliberately leave behind some stuff you regard as essential - you have to learn to make due *without* the stuff you have relied on so much. Camping becomes hard once you have run out of food, cannot light a fire due to rain, and don't have a stove to speak of. Yep, BTDT.
Absolute truth there.

Some are naturals, some can learn, and some are best left alone.
I've had one GF who was a natural outdoors. The rest were better dropped off at the entrance to Nordstrom's. Up in the Bridger Wilderness in WY, a fellow camper (noob) proceeds to pick up my rod while I'm cooking, whips back as if to cast and hooks me. MF'er! Still have the scar. Reminds me, cooking at 10,000 feet presents its own set of issues.

I regularly violate that as well.

When I was 24 I was out with LBE, an AK and 10 magazines, butt pack, etc on what I later found out was an Experts Hike in rough terrain. There was only a trail for the first mile, it was 12 miles round trip from near sea level to about 7-8K elevation. They called it a scramble I found out later. SO here I was, 1 AM, thinking it was a 3 mile hike (the info I got was wrong, even today the info from forest service is wrong, they say 8 miles others say their GPS said 12).

Used my training. Looked around with my flash light, I had lost the trail. I didn't register at the trail head. I sit down and size up my situation. If I keep going, I could get injured and more lost. If I head back, same deal. Decide to roll up in my mylar blanket and evaluate in better lighting conditions in the morning. It kept me alive. First light I wake up cold from the top and bottom of the mylar roll where air is getting in. I look ahead and see a little bit of a trail. Ditched the LBE and AK in the woods, took my hydration bladder and pistol with 2 spare mags in thigh rig setup (terrible, floppy and loose throughout hike but it worked) and keep going. I ate those chalk like coast guard rations. Made me thirsty. Drank water, made me feel sick lol. It was what I had in my butt pack.

Long story short, I made it to the top (there is snow up there even in summer) and back down. Legs were sore for 2 weeks like never before. I could barely walk. It was a great, confidence building experience and now I know I can do it. I plan on doing it again now in my late thirties but with more skills, better gear and better knowledge. And yes I picked up the gear on the way down. I knew where I left it.

Some tactical mistakes made:

-Leaving kit behind. My entire survival kit was in the LBE....
-Armed only with a handgun at that point...
-Bring better food like nuts, jerky, etc.
-There are better setups than thigh holsters.

Now it's chest rig, assault pack and much lighter equipment....with NV goggles and infra red lasers. This trail requires climbing over huge boulders, it's a good obstacle course as well.

 

[MannyGlocks]

B,

How much military training have you?

 

[Geardo]

Leave your friend, take me instead. Lol.

 

[Bushman]

Both have pros. If you take pride in teaching or even learning it'd be better to take someoneout and possibly implement SHTF preps you (or he) havent used or tried or perhaps teach him some essential skills.

Various things could include: Actually using a life straw, perhaps water purification (collection/boiling), Starting a small fire with minimal tools, natural shelter building (where allowed) and if not building then perhaps timing tent set up, using/testing certain prep tools we all own but many never use. If he or you think SHTF will happen you could time your bug out (as seen on different tv shows) and see how practical a possible bug out would be and what stuff gets left behind due to time restraints...

Tons of things to do and ways to do it. If you're fmailiar with all those types of things and feel the friend should learn, there is nothing like having a mentor cover some essential survival tips first hand. He'll learn better that way.

I mentioned water procurement, fire building and natural shelter finding/building earlier. All my equipment is already tested. I go out for this all the time. One of the things I told him after I helped him put together a real pack with a bag I gave him (compared to the $50 walmart "survival kit" special his parents gave him with a couple mylar blankets a book of matches and a huge D cell flash light that would break as soon as you looked at it) is that he MUST now go out and train with it to learn the limitations of his equipment.

Put in a head lamp instead of giant flash light so he could be hands free, fat wood, water filter, pot to boil and tablets (taught him about redundancy for critical things). Now he has a real kit.

He could end up being a Bug Out Buddy. Or even a Bug In Buddy. Much better security when you can sleep in shifts....

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

I mentioned water procurement, fire building and natural shelter finding/building earlier. All my equipment is already tested. I go out for this all the time. One of the things I told him after I helped him put together a real pack with a bag I gave him (compared to the $50 walmart "survival kit" special his parents gave him with a couple mylar blankets a book of matches and a huge D cell flash light that would break as soon as you looked at it) is that he MUST now go out and train with it to learn the limitations of his equipment.

Put in a head lamp instead of giant flash light so he could be hands free, fat wood, water filter, pot to boil and tablets (taught him about redundancy for critical things). Now he has a real kit.

He could end up being a Bug Out Buddy. Or even a Bug In Buddy. Much better security when you can sleep in shifts....

Nice, sounds like you already got this hammered out.

 

[Bushman]

B,

How much military training have you?

"I'm just a cook..."

 

[Stomper]

Take lotsa lube, and both of you sign a mutual NDA to protect y'all's street cred.

 

[tac]

Just an observation: when somebody smokes himself with a .44 Mag the results are spectacular in a real ugly way.

He**, he could have use a chipper. I'm told that's a mite messier.

 

[Powderman]

All good points. I did tell him he'd have to come over Friday night first so we can go over safety protocols, immediate action drills, patrolling techniques, hand signals and look at the map for rally points in case we get separated. Also told him we'd do a check of our gear before we go, lay it all out and make sure we have everything we need then do an after action upon return to see what we needed but didn't have, and what we carried but didn't really need. I do this myself usually.

Um...Safety protocols?

Immediate action drills?

Patrolling techniques?

Hand signals?

Dude. If you're going camping, then go CAMPING.

Minimal stuff.
Lunch and dinner pre-packaged for cooking, or take a line and a pole.
Get yourself a small tent or shelterhalf.

Pick your site, cook dinner. Fresh fish over some hardwood coals is always a good thing.

Then, you and your friend sit back and enjoy each other's company.

THAT'S camping. You're talking about training.

Which one is it?

 

[Bushman]

Um...Safety protocols?

Immediate action drills?

Patrolling techniques?

Hand signals?

Dude. If you're going camping, then go CAMPING.

Minimal stuff.
Lunch and dinner pre-packaged for cooking, or take a line and a pole.
Get yourself a small tent or shelterhalf.

Pick your site, cook dinner. Fresh fish over some hardwood coals is always a good thing.

Then, you and your friend sit back and enjoy each other's company.

THAT'S camping. You're talking about training.

Which one is it?

Read my OP again and you'll note I said camping and training...

 

[Powderman]

Fair enough.

If you're talking about camping, go and have fun.

If you're talking about training then head out with minimal gear. Forget the NVG's and the prepackaged food. Maybe take a shelter half if you want the life of luxury.

Travel by compass and built your shelters out of available materials. Practice firestarting WITHOUT using anything that generates a flame.

Build and use snares for small game, deadfalls and swing traps for larger stuff.

There are a ton of other things you can train on without carrying a bunch of unnecessary gear on you that you will never use.

If you're going to teach and train, draw up your master training plan, course and syllabus. Have an MOI laid out with specific course objectives.

You can't do all three at once and do any one of them well.

 

[Joe13]

Take your friend unless his name is Ben Dover

 

[Unicykle]

Take your friend unless his name is Ben Dover

Or Stu Pidasle

 

[MannyGlocks]

Broke Back Camping - Mayor Peter may have a tip for you...

 

[Cavedweller]

Taking a tenderfoot camping in the middle of winter and expecting him to tag along while you play G.I. Joe, along with the threat to ditch him if he "slows you down" sounds like a recipe for disaster and a great way to end a friendship.