IGX

Who has spent nights alone, in nature? I mean just you and minimal/improvised shelter and mama Earth? Not sitting in your remote cabin alone, whacking off to the big girls thread. My guess it is not a common experience, even here at IGx.

I do that shit for a living.

The big girls thread?

Been there, done that.

I'm sure this is no surprise, but primitive survival is no where as glamorous as Movies, TV or books would leave people to believe. It takes on an even uglier aspect when you are talking about a "naked" survival scenario with limited or no tools and supplies. Even primitive man had tools and supplies for dealing with everyday life. While they would be less "Fucked" than modern man, they'd still be fucked and in for a rough time.

I have done a good bit of it - and enjoy the odd "planned" bivy - some of the unplanned for ones can get pretty ugly though.

Once, I was leading a big game hunt in Africa...I had a real asshole for a client, a Brit. The local tribesmen approached us for a few small gifts in acknowledgment of our moving through their lands, but this jackass went and insulted one of their princes. Before you knew it we were captured, stripped, and tortured. Even now I can scarcely bare to think of it. Only I was spared instant death, because the tribesmen knew that I had quarreled with the Brit over the gifts. Anyway, at the last possible moment I managed to escape into the wilderness with nothing more than my hide. Over the course of many days I was pursued like a wild animal through the savannah, narrowly escaping death countless times. With a combination of luck, cunning, and desperation I eluded the warriors pursuing me, even managing to kill several. Along the way foraged for food and water, and after many days, made it back to basecamp just seconds ahead of my pursuers. It was a hell of a time, being naked prey for a pack of savages, and not one I wish to repeat.

Fat Cat wrote:Once, I was leading a big game hunt in Africa...I had a real asshole for a client, a Brit. The local tribesmen approached us for a few small gifts in acknowledgment of our moving through their lands, but this jackass went and insulted one of their princes. Before you knew it we were captured, stripped, and tortured. Even now I can scarcely bare to think of it. Only I was spared instant death, because the tribesmen knew that I had quarreled with the Brit over the gifts. Anyway, at the last possible moment I managed to escape into the wilderness with nothing more than my hide. Over the course of many days I was pursued like a wild animal through the savannah, narrowly escaping death countless times. With a combination of luck, cunning, and desperation I eluded the warriors pursuing me, even managing to kill several. Along the way foraged for food and water, and after many days, made it back to basecamp just seconds ahead of my pursuers. It was a hell of a time, being naked prey for a pack of savages, and not one I wish to repeat.

SERE course final 7-day FTX had the three center days alone in a hide site. There were some basic survival tasks to be accomplished over the three days like snares, basic shelter, etc., while the area was actively searched by aggressors. More than the hunger, the exposure to the elements and the insects, the most salient memory of the time was the intense boredom. Unbelievable how long three days can be. The course commander at the time was Col. Nick Rowe, a guy who spent 5 years as a POW in Vietnam and wrote a book about it, and he lectured on that aspect of extended captivity, as well.

These days, there's nothing more cathartic than spending 2 or 3 days alone in the desert. I take water, some food, basic shelter, map, compass, a handful of survival items. Rifle or handgun, too, at least for the coyotes, either the 2 legged or 4 legged kind. I spend the better part of the first day just humping out fast just because it feels so good to expend the energy and to get the stress out. Very little light pollution here and the nights are spectacular. The rest of the next day or two is just spent poking around, walking, checking out the flora and fauna, with the nights being what I most look forward to. These days I often bring the dog, too. She's grown up enough to handle herself and she's an excellent listener if there's something on my mind. When I get back, my world view is changed, with the ineffable sense that what I do out there is real and what I do back here is bullshit, albeit necessary bullshit. For reasons I cannot explain, it's impossible to hold on to that feeling for very long. I have no idea if I could live that way permanently or even for an extended period.

People who idolize nature have seldom spent much time in it for real. Nature fucking sucks, everything is trying to kill you, and there's a reason why the whole of human history has been an inexorable drive to get as far away from nature as fucking possible.

Sleeping alone in nature in Hawaii is no big deal. Shit is like 75 degrees and balmy, the moonlight may keep you up.

EDIT: In response to WGM

It sounds like Sua Sponte has idolized nature in a healthy, spiritually fulfilling way, and like he's spent his time in the wilderness.

Holy Cow wrote:EDIT: In response to WGM

It sounds like Sua Sponte has idolized nature in a healthy, spiritually fulfilling way, and like he's spent his time in the wilderness.

That's because he's well-trained, experienced, and not a dopey hippie.

I've backpacked alone, but normally sleep in a tent.

Haha! Fair enough.

It's a different experience summer v. winter. You obviously need more protective gear during the winter, but spending a night or three in a mini snow cave is surreal. My major rationale for going minimalist has always been weight, but the modern gear is so light I generally take more than the absolute minimum.

Fat Cat wrote:Sleeping alone in nature in Hawaii is no big deal. Shit is like 75 degrees and balmy, the moonlight may keep you up.

Hawaii is beautiful like that. However, if the ships stop showing up with SPAM and Top Ramen the locals are sure to slide back into eating each other.

The average American male is 196 pounds. If there are 3,500 calories per pound of body weight, then each male on the island is 686,000 calories of nutritional goodness.

I have.

I have.

If you are prepared, it's good. If you aren't...not so much.

I have.

I have done this many times, everyone should. Google up the Chihuahua desert if you're looking for a good spot. If you romanticize the old west as well as big earls, you'll especially love the place. I'd have to say it is the human-sparsest place I have been. I would drive until I got tired and pull off the road a ways and go to sleep. I have slept there in the bed of my truck, on the ground, and on picnic tables. It does get surprisingly cold at night but after a day of baking in the sun the dark and the cold are welcome. There is no light pollution so you see a lot more stars than other places. These days of course you'll want to stick to the US side.

Everyone knows that talking girls into skinnydipping when you're a kid and trying to get laid is one of the greatest things, but swimming naked at night alone is another one of the best things that everyone should try.

Oddly enough, hopping freight trains was the most "out there" experience. Just me, a backpack with clothes, a hand bag, and jug of water. The backside of a grain car was filthier than a dirt cave, and colder. Very alien place to be a 2:00 AM on a siding along a river in a narrow mountain valley in Idaho. But not really nature.

SERE school and unplanned bivys make up the rest. Otherwise, always have a tent.

Me and the kids love to watch Naked and Afraid.

I used to make a fairly regular occurrence of it. Now, not so much and I miss it. Again, being prepared and knowing what you are doing makes a huge difference. The solitude and quiet can be quite rewarding.

For nearly thirty years, a phantom haunted the woods of Central Maine. Unseen and unknown, he lived in secret, creeping into homes in the dead of night and surviving on what he could steal. To the spooked locals, he became a legend—or maybe a myth. They wondered how he could possibly be real. Until one day last year, the hermit came out of the forest

http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmak ... =longreads

WildGorillaMan wrote:People who idolize nature have seldom spent much time in it for real. Nature fucking sucks, everything is trying to kill you, and there's a reason why the whole of human history has been an inexorable drive to get as far away from nature as fucking possible.

This.

HOWEVER-

It is nice to go out night fishing though. Spend all night at your favorite spot, getting blazed, and fishing under the stars. Helps clear your head. It's nice to do an all-nighter like that. That's about as "alone in nature" as I like to get. In the morning I hop in my car and go home.