# Living in the woods for a year or two



## Whathappenedto1stwarning (Aug 25, 2018)

I was wondering if anybody had thought of going to live in the woods for a year or two. See if you can survive the old way just off of what you can and have learned extreme cold climates somewhere were nobody can find you if you don't want them to.


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## KittyCosmos (Aug 25, 2018)

I think about this often. I love back country camping, and building my own shelters. Lived in north western Montana for a few years and did a lot off backpacking and winter camping. I'm always thinking about places off in the wilderness that would be nice to get away from society for a while. Build your own cabin/shelter, live off the land, and get back in tune with nature.


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## Tengu91 (Aug 25, 2018)

I've thought about it, but it requires A LOT of training. Not knowledge gleaned from books and documentaries; hands on training with practical application. Living off the land is no small feat, and once you're out in the wild you're going to be competing with other animals for resources; some of those animals will view YOU as a resource. We might be the dominant species, but only because there's safety in numbers. While it's true that most animals are more afraid of us than we are of them, there's still news stories about hikers and backpackers being mauled by bears or mountain lions. Extensive knowledge of your equipment is a must as well, depending on what you plan to bring with you. If your equipment breaks, you need to know how to repair it for yourself. If you're planning on really roughing it and just bringing along a knife and a few other low-tech pieces of gear, you need to be EXTRA knowledgable about the environment. Filtering water, skinning game, bronze-age hunting, trapping, building a shelter, constant improvements TO said shelter; knowing what plants are edible and which will hurt or kill you, medical knowledge (if you get hurt, can you heal yourself? If you get laid up for an extended period of time, do you have enough resources either close at hand or stockpiled while you heal?). It's not impossible of course; our ancestors did it for time out of mind. But you also need to take into consideration the fact that they were raised doing that very thing, and you also have to bear in mind that they didn't live nearly as long as we do now due to their lack of technology. You also have to decide how far out you're going. And, above all else, LEARN HOW TO READ TOPOGRAPHICAL MAPS AND BRING ONE WITH YOU. I admire the Christopher McCandless "Into the Wild" story as much as anyone, but remember that if he'd done more research he would've known there was a river crossing less than 5 miles from where he initially tried to cross and if he'd had a map and better knowledge of the area he would've survived. 

I don't want to dissuade you from the attempt and I sincerely wish you the best of luck in your travels, but I also DON'T want you to go into this without first covering every single base. Get as much knowledge and training as you can; that's the only way to really boost your odds of success. If there's nobody near you who can teach you wilderness survival and books and videos are your only way of learning, do a few trial runs lasting only a day or so at first (with adequate supplies should something bad happen), then gradually lengthen the amount of time you spend in the woods bit by bit until you've made it a full month. Also, remember that seasons will drastically effect how you survive as well. What will you do when winter arrives and most animals are burrowed in their dens because food is scarce? A simple change of seasons turns the environment into an entirely different sort of beast. Now you'll need WINTER wilderness survival training and knowledge.

I vote you go for it because I personally think it'd be awesome, but ensure you've covered all your bases and checked and double checked and triple checked all the boxes. Ask questions, learn as much as you can, then go boldly forward whilst exercising the proper amount of caution. Good luck!


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## backpacker420 (Oct 11, 2018)

Yeah i would love to try this out


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