Wild Camping - Questions I have.. (North of Scotland.)

originally posted by: cyberheater
Stop the drugs and alcohol. Stop partying. Save the cash to pay off your dept and slowly start to sort your life out.

This***** You are not ready for rough living.
If you do go leave the Gun in the House. you dont own land and getting permission to shoot will be next to zero and the police wont take to kindly to anyone living rough and armed.
Rabbits you can trap, but the use of snares is illegal. best bet for food would be fish. Plenty rivers, Lochs and Sea shores..Permits may be required on most rivers and Lochs though the small Lochans in the Mountains are generally free as is Sea fishing.
Chopping down trees is not a good idea. 1. the wood doesn't burn and 2. you are damaging someone's property, if someone sees you the Police will be called.

If you need firewood best place to look would be around the shores of a Loch for drift wood and in wooded areas of course. (take a piece of rope to carry a wood bundle) I have been up north many times wild camping, July this year was my latest venture and i know a lot of secluded spots where you dont see another person for days if not weeks, but one or two places i've been not one bit of wood was to be found. No Trees and no driftwood coming from the Sea.

And Finally, January....Are you Mental. ? If you plan on using a tent for shelter forget it, you will need fire at least 12 hours a day, Best bet would be to Build a shelter with a bench for sleeping on and have a Long Fire right in front of it. You would be spending most of your day Looking for Wood and food, fail on one and you are getting yourself into a heap of trouble.

Wait until May before you venture up north and Plan. That will give you time to clean yourself up and clear your head.

originally posted by: nonspecific
It's good to see your taking this seriously, another thing I would like to add if you choose to go alone as opposed to your partner coming with you is solitude can be an unusual sensation.

I spent around 3 weeks camping in solitude(although not in northern Scotland in January) about 5 years ago.

It is only when you are truly on your own that you realise how long a day is. With no tv, internet, phone or books then it does not take long to realise that there are many things you have found a way of avoided thinking about.

When it's dark and there is only you and several hours before daylight there is little else to do other than contemplate things. Although this can be benificial in the long term it can be quite disturbing.

Also badgers sound like grizzly bears at 1am.

Yeah I have never experienced being fully alone I guess and I imagine it may get uneasy but I will be sure to bring some books! And will hopefully find a way to bring my guitar also...

Bear sounding Badgers lol if anything would put me off it would be this


Nice 1 Oudo I will be sure to check it out.

I don't mean to rain on your parade, and I kinda admire what you're planning....I wish like hell I could just get off the grid somewhere remote up here.....BUT...

I've lived in Scotland all my life, and in some fairly remote places, which are tough enough with all mod cons, so please please take seriously what the people issuing warnings are saying. The Highlands are unforgiving even in summer, and very experienced people die in the hills every winter.

I would strongly suggest that you find a group of people to link up with who know what they're doing, and be prepared for a shock when you get here. As for safety, DO NOT rely on mobile phones, as signal can be sketchy to non existent in many rural places. In the last 4 places I lived in out of the cities, only 1 had any mobile signal at all, and that's maybe 30 miles from Aberdeen. In the Highlands...forget it.

Summers on the other hand, can be absolutely stunning, warm and with almost 24 hours daylight if you're far enough north (as opposed to maybe 3 in winter. ) Might be the best time to try it out up here.

This is worth a look...gorgeous lifestyle.

I think your realising january is not an option. Even if you took some books and a guitar with the additional weight and the fact the books will get damp and the guitar will warp I think your definatley looking at a summertime venture.

As others have said take small steps. Even hardcore dudes don't go up there in winter.

a reply to: Vaxellion

The Guitar would end up in the Fire. Though Guitar strings are Handy, if you know what i mean.

originally posted by: Soloprotocol
The Guitar would end up in the Fire. Though Guitar strings are Handy, if you know what i mean.

Guitars burn fast but that little metal string with the loophole can come in very handy.

They are also very good for cutting cheese neatly.

When people think of going to a 'much more simple' life (such as this)...they often times fail to realize that the 'simple' means:

Get wood or you'll freeze and die...simple!
Forage/grow/harvest/hunt or die...simple!
Have eyes in the back of your head or die...simple!

First try living in a box under a bridge in town. Preferably close to a public restroom, and to a large trash bin to rummage for food. When you get hypothermic there, salvation should only be a short crawl away.

The folks to whom you are in debt may wish to extract some punishment should you decide to return to normal living.

originally posted by: Tusks
First try living in a box under a bridge in town. Preferably close to a public restroom, and to a large trash bin to rummage for food. When you get hypothermic there, salvation should only be a short crawl away.

The folks to whom you are in debt may wish to extract some punishment should you decide to return to normal living.

I find your comment both harsh and pointless, but it's not my thread.

Do you have any more information to give to the OP in his venture?

Yeah I may go when its warmer then as I quite like my guitar lol

Just recently starting using the strings for snare and some other useful things. Very handy indeed!

Yeah thanks for the advice trunks... very helpful mate.

a reply to: Vaxellion

This going to sound harsh.........From the way it sounds you are not mentally fit enough to go off grid and make it. Many steps need to be put in place to survive outdoors long term. Exposure will get you in 3 hours if you are not prepared.



To be honest it sounds a like a pipe dream. Wishful thinking of someone who has no idea what it would take. Only you can change this.....Fact. Putting the cart in front of the horse is not a good idea.

a reply to: Vaxellion

Your fitness levels sound ok, I'm no angel myself, the hardest part you'll find is the cold and the mental effects of isolation - you WILL reach a stage where you're entire body and mind is screaming to give up and you have to keep digging to keep going - There's a great documentary where a BBC cameraman went into North Scotland to rough it for a year and pretty much went mental to the point where he could no longer tell what was real or not (I'll try and find the name). Be aware that as a body builder you will need a lot of extra calories and build up some fat for insulation.

Kit wise you'll at least need.

Two very good winter tents.
A sleeping bag with 'dry bag' or survival/bivvy bag to keep it dry
Thermal everything
A stove and washing up kit
As many protein bars and emergency ration packs as you can carry
At least 8 litres of water a day (in case of emergency) with clean water and water purification tablets to be safe.
Two first aid kits
Two swiss army knives
Kindling, flint and lighter
A stove with extra cylinders and pots and pans.
80l Bergen
Sowing kit
Three pairs of clothes with soap to wash them - cotton kills, far better with thermals quick dry underlayers,
Excellent water proofs (I use Berghaus Glacier Peak which is excellent to keep warmth in and wind and rain out)
Spare dry bags for (one for wet one for dry clothes)
Excellent walking boots gaters/waders and tough calluses on your feet through training and rubbing surgical spirit in daily.
Maps
Compass (must be able to reach three trig points in a row and be less than 5m out from the last one)
Torches and candles
Books to help maintain sanity (trust me roughing it is very mentally challenging and any old deaemons come crawling out the wood work after a spell of isolation)
Any meds or painkillers
Emergency sugar packets for if you're struggling for food
Satellite phone for emergencies
Spare everything until it weighs 60kg to be on the safe side.

I also advise against winter - there's little food, up to 100mph winds with snow and hail up there, not to sound patronising but mother nature is tougher than any of us and one slip on ice or flash flood can kill. I've been stuck on hills where it's gone from beautiful day to hailing so hard I couldn't see the luminous orange gloves I was wearing and having to navigate between two cliff edges practically blind - I only survived it because my Dad was a mountain rescuer so had read the clouds 30 mins before it happened giving us chance to turn back and he knew the landscape by heart. To say I needed to change my pants when we got back to the car is putting it mildly.

The National Trust and Mountain Rescue are currently hiring - you'd be very wise to go on a training course with them (or one of the SAS Survival challenges) before embarking on a solitary one. However hard you think it is, multiply is by 100 and on the worst comedown/hangover of your life and you'll get a sense of how tough it really is. Waking up everyday knowing you'll die from one simple mistake or tripping over a rock/tree trunk is very mentally and physically draining.

Summer means better weather, more food (i.e lots of edible plants and young, easier to catch animals), more sunlight and saving a couple of thousand calories a day.


On the positive side, if you do do it and survive to tell the tale, you'll realise how easy normal life is and not take anything for granted for at least a few months after (not to be offensive, I found out the same way in a similar situation).

a reply to: bastion

Thanks for the very informative post I will definitely take everything you mentioned on board thanks.

originally posted by: ArnoldNonymous
Not to sound too negative, but if you don't have any experience with bushcraft or surviving I would highly suggest you DO NOT DO THIS.

A good backpacking trip for a week or so would be a better idea. There is no reason to put your life in danger if you do not have experience. Internet "knowledge" is not going to do you much good.

I agree.

Your asking for trouble or death unless you have better wilderness skills.

I've spent a lot of time in the woods.. it's a good experience.

It's really no big deal; just have to have the right clothes etc. Wool, or skins.. Gortex shell, tarp.. A magnesium or similar starter is good.. some wax candles, gun powder. Understanding how to start a fire; even in a damp forest.

If it rains a lot, or if there is a lot of dew accumulating in the morning (especially in combination with cold weather) can make for a very difficult place to dwell; prob better to choose a friendlier environment.

Dressing small game can be a pain (not that I did); and making food every time from scratch - like gutting/scaling a fish you caught, or field dressing small game is not pragmatic (takes up too much time and also attracts predators). Prob easier to just buy it every now and then. You can actually go with little food, and have substantial meals further apart.

Lately was watching 'The Legend of Mick Dodge" ; great show. He does just that.. lives out in the wild. He seems to love it; but he still depends on friends every now and then.

I tried it for a little while (sort of). Put stuff in storage and ventured out for a few months with only a pack (but I cheated, I had a lot of money saved up and only pretended). In the end you realize you still depend on society to survive and need stuff, at least to some extent; so your never really independent. Shaving/cutting your hair; washing your clothes, carrying all your crap, bathing, cooking, outdoors can become a choir. You realize all that crap is a pain in the ass also.

I think the simplest life is of ascetics. They only carry a bowl, and have a robe they wear. They also depend on others - from time to time for various things; and every day for a little food to subsist, eating once a day.

a reply to: Vaxellion

btw.. 9-5 sucks but there are other options.

I finally got out of it into a job where I work when I like. It is not without its problems, but is much better for the time being.

You cannot avoid work, but maybe you can find a form of sustenance that is more flexible and enjoyable (or at least not too miserable).

Good luck.

Winter is definitely not the time to try this!

The days are short and the nights are very very long. Most of the time it will be wet & windy - unless it is snowing. Severe gales can be expected several times a week.

Spring or autumn would be better, and ideally you need a coastal location with some woodland so you can forage for seafood, nuts, berries etc. You can fish for brown trout in most hill lochans, but going for salmon in rivers and larger lochs is poaching, as is shooting anything. And if you do use a gun, the gamekeeper will find you!

btw, Someone tried this on Rannoch Moor a few winters ago .... it did not end well ....

www.scotsman.com...

a reply to: AndyMayhew

Huge Mistake..I just dont get some people...It's not a Game!!!

Mr Austin is thought to not even have taken a mobile phone with him.

so temperatures are generally lower than in the rest of the UK, with the coldest ever UK temperature of −27.2 °C (−17.0 °F) recorded at Braemar in the Grampian Mountains, on 10 January 1982 and also at Altnaharra, Highland, on 30 December 1995.[

BOLLACKS ?? i have been out in minus -55 in the highlands and was in Altnaharra on that day in 1995 working outside the records do lie sometimes

rain /

Rainfall totals vary widely across Scotland— the western highlands of Scotland is one of the wettest places in Europe with annual rainfall up to 4,577 mm (180.2 in)

Also, as a result of this the north-western coast has about 265 days with rain a year and this falls to the south east to a minimum of about 170 days along the coast to the east of high ground. Snowfall is normally common in the lowlands, but becomes more common with altitude. Parts of the Highlands have an average of 46 to 105 snow days per year,[5] while some western coastal areas have between 42 and 87 with snow a year.[5]

en.wikipedia.org...

115 mph winds hit Skye last week but 155 mph has been seen on the islands before

originally posted by: nonspecific

originally posted by: Tusks
First try living in a box under a bridge in town. Preferably close to a public restroom, and to a large trash bin to rummage for food. When you get hypothermic there, salvation should only be a short crawl away.

The folks to whom you are in debt may wish to extract some punishment should you decide to return to normal living.

I find your comment both harsh and pointless, but it's not my thread.

Do you have any more information to give to the OP in his venture?

Sure. The average daily minimum temp in the winter in northern Scotland is somewhere around freezing, with the average high of 9-10 C or 50 F. Averages about 1 hour of sunshine/day. There is nothing to use for fuel unless you've found some peat or are on the coast with driftwood. Wild game is scarce and chances of getting any at all without a rifle are slim. Exposure will kill a person quickly in cold and wet conditions.

My comment is not pointless. If my advice is followed, OP will realize how untenable his desires are with survival before it kills him.

I have spent weeks in tents in Canada and Alaska, but in August and September---and still was occasionally nearing hypothermia. And I started out with a load of supplies---more than I could carry on my back in one trip--brought in by float plane.

Ancient peoples--the Picts and those who followed-- were able to survive there because they had herds of sheep, built shelters in the summers, and stored provisions and fuel for the winter--and it was still a tough life. OP doesn't have any of those.