pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Sept 4, 2016 14:40:48 GMT
What's snow? Hehe
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Sept 4, 2016 14:50:02 GMT
Oh, I doubt any elf or dwarf would give me a sword or an axe, either, but it'd still be nice to meet one. I never know what to say when I talk to anyone half-way famous or important anyway, even if I have to give them a ride across town, which I have had to do. And another thing, what do shoes have to do with it? Now, why are we out in the woods again? You know of course that if it's freezing, the woods won't be wet and among other things, it also means there won't be any mud in the usual places where it always stays wet and that's a good thing, sorta. Deep snow is probably the most difficult condition I've ever had experience with (say, about fifteen to twenty inches). Going anywhere when it's like that is exhausting, unless perhaps if you have snowshoes. Nobody here has snowshoes because we only have deep snows like that every two or three years at the most. The thread opener asked for a minimalistic survival-tool/weapon equipment for a broke-down-world without electricity but with well trained armed people (note down: three bottles! + increases the possibility of talking to a dwarf or elf). So I have to think about the surviving part of my salami milano as off-hand weapon and would change the CS Espada to a CS cutlass machete. I could have a real chance that approaching hard-fighters hire me as a jester and so I can survive.
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Post by MOK on Sept 4, 2016 15:04:38 GMT
Jester? I think you're seriously underestimating the importance of pack mules.
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Post by MOK on Sept 4, 2016 15:11:03 GMT
Everything is relative; this is the South, which itself is relative. In Florida, schools close when there are snow flurries. In Minnesota, they only close schools when the temperature is above 70, never because of snow. Or so they say. How deep is deep? How high is high? How sharp is sharp? And what are we doing running around in the woods again? The answer may be critical, although there is a danger of it resulting in more questions and so on and so forth. That's true, of course. For example, over here we don't bother faffing around with snowshoes because skis are a lot more efficient in every way possible, but in some mountainous place where you have to climb over broken terrain a lot snowshoes would be more appropriate...
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Sept 4, 2016 15:11:55 GMT
Note down: four bottles!
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Post by bluetrain on Sept 4, 2016 18:30:47 GMT
The world you describe actually exists in a lot of places and I somehow rather doubt they carry much in the way of survival gear beyond a good knife. A key phrase here is "minimalist" and that is where the difficulty comes in. And what is "essential" is another point of discussion. What is "best" becomes of secondary importance. If you have ever lived in an old log house with no running water and still using a wood-burning range for cooking and a coal-burning stove for heat, you will undetstand what I'm getting at.
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Sept 4, 2016 19:06:11 GMT
Compared to my first imagination this sounds cozy. I bring along the salami and the bourbon, got two bottles for each of us, you know! So we just would need two pipes and a barrel of old toby (wouldn't recommend to smoke the rope) . What do we have to make firewood, an axe?
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Sept 4, 2016 21:06:18 GMT
The world you describe actually exists in a lot of places and I somehow rather doubt they carry much in the way of survival gear beyond a good knife. A key phrase here is "minimalist" and that is where the difficulty comes in. And what is "essential" is another point of discussion. What is "best" becomes of secondary importance. If you have ever lived in an old log house with no running water and still using a wood-burning range for cooking and a coal-burning stove for heat, you will undetstand what I'm getting at. Well now Bluetrain, I think I know where you are coming from as I have lived as you described and when I read what people expect or will do to some degree it amuses me. In my over ¾ of a century I’ve lived in many places under many conditions. As a child I lived in Appalachia in the heart of coal mining country in the ‘40s. We had electricity. I remember the wood cook stove. No phone and had no idea where the nearest one was. No running water, it had to be carried in using buckets several times a day. We heated by coal which had to be carried up the mountain twice a day. I hated both jobs. We grew some of our food and for Sunday’s dinner we used my uncle’s .22 and stepped out on the porch and shot a couple of chickens and were never wanting for eggs. We raised a pig throughout the summer and butchered him in the fall. Later after grown in another area my house again had no running water. There was a brick lined well closer to the house than before that I could draw from. The river was in walking distance and I could bath there or stand under the roof’s eve and shower during a storm. No phone. Instead of making an outhouse as I had before I used an idea the army gave me and made a slit trench which was more to my liking, no stink no flies. I depended on my .357 for clearing out snakes and bagging squirrels. Life was simpler and happier in those days and lacked the crap that exists today. In the military I was in the field much living off of what I could pack in or find as when I was in SAR work. At present I find life simpler and easier than many do, I’m sure. I have no water heater, no air conditioner, no car, or all of the expense that goes with those. I don’t even have screens on the windows. I now have no firearms but use a blowpipe and machete which fills the bill, and am enjoying life to its fullest and miss none of the “necessities” that the vendors are continuously trying to convince me that need. I do have Internet though.
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Sept 4, 2016 21:32:09 GMT
Yeah pgandy, me the same! I'll buy two more bottles and order a pizza too. Can we smoke your arrow-poison (wouldn't recommend to smoke the rope)? Do you have a spear? (Trying to stay on topic)
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Post by howler on Sept 4, 2016 21:38:33 GMT
Oh, I doubt any elf or dwarf would give me a sword or an axe, either, but it'd still be nice to meet one. I never know what to say when I talk to anyone half-way famous or important anyway, even if I have to give them a ride across town, which I have had to do. And another thing, what do shoes have to do with it? Now, why are we out in the woods again? You know of course that if it's freezing, the woods won't be wet and among other things, it also means there won't be any mud in the usual places where it always stays wet and that's a good thing, sorta. Deep snow is probably the most difficult condition I've ever had experience with (say, about fifteen to twenty inches). Going anywhere when it's like that is exhausting, unless perhaps if you have snowshoes. Nobody here has snowshoes because we only have deep snows like that every two or three years at the most. I've met a few dwarves, but would think you would need to drink quite a bit of alcohol to meet an elf, and you would probably only receive a hangover, rather than a sword (which you would use to kill yourself because of the hangover). I think the Hobbits were shoeless (big hairy feet), though they did not seem to mind. There can be wet snow (like a horrible sleet) that melts, or cold rain (right around freezing level). My point is that an axe in these conditions would/could be invaluable, and that you don't want to mess with bush craft minimalism, as some people try to play around with shaving weight to the point of detriment (like gutting a fish with a an exacto-blade without a handle...because they can).
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Sept 4, 2016 22:28:46 GMT
Yeah pgandy, me the same! I'll buy two more bottles and order a pizza too. Can we smoke your arrow-poison (wouldn't recommend to smoke the rope)? Do you have a spear? (Trying to stay on topic) I'll drink to that. Have three spears. Actually four if you count my primitive spear which is no more than sharpened bamboo that I keep handy just in case.
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Post by howler on Sept 5, 2016 2:50:42 GMT
Yeah pgandy, me the same! I'll buy two more bottles and order a pizza too. Can we smoke your arrow-poison (wouldn't recommend to smoke the rope)? Do you have a spear? (Trying to stay on topic) I'll drink to that. Have three spears. Actually four if you count my primitive spear which is no more than sharpened bamboo that I keep handy just in case. I've been on a bit of a spear/polearm kick, as of late. You really do get a lot of ability for the price you pay, depending on what you buy. Got a CS English Bill (under $90), MAA Lance Point spear (under $40), and both short ($33) and long shaft ($36) Assegai spears. These will go with my Sargent's Halberd and Boar Spear (both polearms). Hell, all I need is a few oily rags attached to sticks, some pitchforks, booze and intoxicated people in my home...instant medieval mob to attack any monster (or accidently burn down my house...gulp) . Now, where do I hide these things?
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Ifrit
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More edgy than a double edge sword
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Post by Ifrit on Sept 5, 2016 2:57:55 GMT
I'm intixicated. Can I join your mob? Please? I'll bring my own booze
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Post by howler on Sept 5, 2016 4:24:57 GMT
I'm intixicated. Can I join your mob? Please? I'll bring my own booze Venus...by your spelling of intoxicated...yer already drunk...and therefore...WILL FIT RIGHT IN (WELLCOME)! Check your polearm at the door, you know, ceilings and all. Question is, is there a monster in any particular village to skewer (this being political season and all, I probably should not have asked that question). What is you favorite polearm and sword for such endeavors (and what booze would you bring)?
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Sept 5, 2016 7:59:01 GMT
Welcome aboard! Halberds lack of tool function (shovel?), but with spears we can roast marshmallows! "The pen is mightier than the sword" it is said, but in geman instead "pen" is said "feder"= feather. And a boar-spear is called "saufeder", so after all this makes sense.
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Post by bluetrain on Sept 5, 2016 12:52:53 GMT
Mr. pgandy, I lived in Mercer and Wyoming County, West Virginia. I left West Virginia when I finished college. Oddly enough, that's where my daughter lives now, after having lived three years in Germany. No reflection on Germany. I spent two years there myself and both my son and my father spend a year there, although my father was a P.O.W. and my son went to Iraq after his time in Germany.
One's ideas and opinions about necessary gear, or "kit," as the British like to say, is formed based on both one's experiences, one's expectations as well as where one lives. In all the places I've lived, which have mostly been in the Mid-Atlantic region, winters have never been too severe (so far). Heavy snow we have every two or three years and below zero temperatures have been rare. But that is for exactly where I lived, not fifty miles away which might have heavier snowfalls and lower temperatures. Summer conditions vary, too, and heat can be an issue for some. The most critical thing for survival anywhere is water.
I still think that probably the handiest single thing might be a hunting knife, although I confess to virtually never using one when in the woods, in spite of always having one along, just in case. Likewise, I always carry a 1st aid kit, even on short walks. It's something I think about frequently, possibly because I do always bring it along and, in theory, it's important. But, again based on my own experiences, bad experiences in this case, I doubt that it is indispensable. What I've always carried is mostly inadequate for very serious injuries, like a puncture wound or a broken bone, and mostly unnecessary for what it is otherwise adequate for. Still, I take it everywhere and duplicate its contents to some degree in my lunch bag (an insulated six-pack container), which functions as a catch-all carry-all. There are even four knives in it, more than carry in the woods. After all, I only have to carry it from the car to across the parking lot to where I work. I generally shy away from multi-function tools, however, in spite of the fact that such things have been around for well over a hundred years, even longer if you count the little tools that came with muskets and other military small arms.
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Post by howler on Sept 5, 2016 20:25:56 GMT
Welcome aboard! Halberds lack of tool function (shovel?), but with spears we can roast marshmallows! "The pen is mightier than the sword" it is said, but in geman instead "pen" is said "feder"= feather. And a boar-spear is called "saufeder", so after all this makes sense. Some Halberds have multiple pointy ends...meaning more marshmallows to roast simultaneously . Of course, that would be the excuse in bringing a polearm on a backpacking expedition, which would probably be the most insane thing one could bring, short of a pair of 10lb dumbbells (just add weight to increase level of lunacy). If your not packing far, the Boar spear (really a polearm) would be great for...well...Boar (wild pig) hunts, and maaaybeeee brown bear.
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Post by howler on Sept 5, 2016 20:38:50 GMT
Mr. pgandy, I lived in Mercer and Wyoming County, West Virginia. I left West Virginia when I finished college. Oddly enough, that's where my daughter lives now, after having lived three years in Germany. No reflection on Germany. I spent two years there myself and both my son and my father spend a year there, although my father was a P.O.W. and my son went to Iraq after his time in Germany. One's ideas and opinions about necessary gear, or "kit," as the British like to say, is formed based on both one's experiences, one's expectations as well as where one lives. In all the places I've lived, which have mostly been in the Mid-Atlantic region, winters have never been too severe (so far). Heavy snow we have every two or three years and below zero temperatures have been rare. But that is for exactly where I lived, not fifty miles away which might have heavier snowfalls and lower temperatures. Summer conditions vary, too, and heat can be an issue for some. The most critical thing for survival anywhere is water. I still think that probably the handiest single thing might be a hunting knife, although I confess to virtually never using one when in the woods, in spite of always having one along, just in case. Likewise, I always carry a 1st aid kit, even on short walks. It's something I think about frequently, possibly because I do always bring it along and, in theory, it's important. But, again based on my own experiences, bad experiences in this case, I doubt that it is indispensable. What I've always carried is mostly inadequate for very serious injuries, like a puncture wound or a broken bone, and mostly unnecessary for what it is otherwise adequate for. Still, I take it everywhere and duplicate its contents to some degree in my lunch bag (an insulated six-pack container), which functions as a catch-all carry-all. There are even four knives in it, more than carry in the woods. After all, I only have to carry it from the car to across the parking lot to where I work. I generally shy away from multi-function tools, however, in spite of the fact that such things have been around for well over a hundred years, even longer if you count the little tools that came with muskets and other military small arms. So true on the hunting knife. The CS Roach Belly fixed blade weighs 3oz. and has a 4 1/2" blade. Why in Gods name would a person not bring something like that along because they are trying to get weight down further?
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Post by Adventurer'sBlade on Sept 20, 2016 13:57:25 GMT
The world you describe actually exists in a lot of places and I somehow rather doubt they carry much in the way of survival gear beyond a good knife. A key phrase here is "minimalist" and that is where the difficulty comes in. And what is "essential" is another point of discussion. What is "best" becomes of secondary importance. If you have ever lived in an old log house with no running water and still using a wood-burning range for cooking and a coal-burning stove for heat, you will undetstand what I'm getting at. Well now Bluetrain, I think I know where you are coming from as I have lived as you described and when I read what people expect or will do to some degree it amuses me. In my over ¾ of a century I’ve lived in many places under many conditions. As a child I lived in Appalachia in the heart of coal mining country in the ‘40s. We had electricity. I remember the wood cook stove. No phone and had no idea where the nearest one was. No running water, it had to be carried in using buckets several times a day. We heated by coal which had to be carried up the mountain twice a day. I hated both jobs. We grew some of our food and for Sunday’s dinner we used my uncle’s .22 and stepped out on the porch and shot a couple of chickens and were never wanting for eggs. We raised a pig throughout the summer and butchered him in the fall. Later after grown in another area my house again had no running water. There was a brick lined well closer to the house than before that I could draw from. The river was in walking distance and I could bath there or stand under the roof’s eve and shower during a storm. No phone. Instead of making an outhouse as I had before I used an idea the army gave me and made a slit trench which was more to my liking, no stink no flies. I depended on my .357 for clearing out snakes and bagging squirrels. Life was simpler and happier in those days and lacked the crap that exists today. In the military I was in the field much living off of what I could pack in or find as when I was in SAR work. At present I find life simpler and easier than many do, I’m sure. I have no water heater, no air conditioner, no car, or all of the expense that goes with those. I don’t even have screens on the windows. I now have no firearms but use a blowpipe and machete which fills the bill, and am enjoying life to its fullest and miss none of the “necessities” that the vendors are continuously trying to convince me that need. I do have Internet though. I think most of us, spoiled as we may be now, can quickly adapt to and enjoy such an austere existence. The internet, though, that's essential. Hard to go back after having the world at your fingertips.
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Post by bluetrain on Sept 20, 2016 14:43:36 GMT
Never said I enjoyed it. It was interesting for a while but that was about as far as I'd go. We do the best we can and don't worry about the difference.
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