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

originally posted by: Soloprotocol

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.

If you can stand the midges, Cleggs, Tic bites.?..They all will find you if you are wild camping!! to put up with the Sottish weather and its pets....you would have to put up with the deer...they attack known to attack humans!!..I wish the OP good luck with his adventure !!lol....it rains up here...all sorts of rain!!

And I agree with all the above lol

I reckon a long stay wild camping is not for the faint hearted !

Also there are some wild places the army trains with live ammunition....
Be safer staying at home I reckon lol

originally posted by: shuck
Be safer staying at home I reckon lol

Hence the reason why chose not to live rough in caves and thatched stone cottages nowadays. Modern living is oh so much easier.

Awesome guys thanks for all the input. I am here to listen and learn after all! Lots of valuable info cheers.


The main thing I have realised is not to go in the winter lol


But I will be doing this


I do appreciate the concern though guys.

If you have a great partner and family why would you want solitude, ive lived alone for years and im great in life

Hey if you want to go try it for a week give me a PM next June/July, I'll go with you, show you around some of my Favourite out of the way places.

I've read most of the first page of replies mate, and what they saying to you about caution is very good advice indeed, but you knew that already.

I expect you've already made up your mind, and will go regardless..i probably would have too if i'd been mulling this sort of thing over for a while (I was planning to do something similar in Canada about 20 years ago, but settled for travelling all over instead), so my advice is this; Go for it, if it's what you want to do, at least for a while.

Sure, you could have a fall, eat a dodgy plant or fungi, contract an illness and all the rest of the potential pitfalls, which could all happen here in regular society granted, (but help is closer and faster of course), but then again, you might not either.

If you go in with your eyes open and rose tinted specs lowered, why the hell not?

Good luck to you.

Look online for resources about common land in the areas you think you'll be going to, then search local council regs on hunting, what weapons are allowed and so on...but honestly, if you are using a 22 air rifle, you really ought to be fine pretty much anywhere.

I would leave the big game alone though, stick to small game if i were you. Learn about snares and trapping (if you lose your pellets and can't hunt with what's at hand, you'll be buggered)

You could always watch back episodes of Ray Mears...think he camped out for a couple of weeks in the Highlands during Winter if i remember...might learn a few tips from watching it.

I hear you OP your situations sounds very familiar, this forced structured society gets you down with all the conformation that is expected of you.

However the reason we got to the state we are in now is because eventually humans learned to work TOGETHER for the benefit of all , I think the underlying principals apply still even now.

my suggestions ( be they good or bad i am no professional prepper)

Find like minded people , not too many just a small band with roles and abilities needed to benefit the whole group, I cannot state more strongly the benefit of working together its the reason you are able to make these decisions rather than the only decision you care about is what u get to eat next to stay alive. although in modern society evil massive corporations whose reward is massive profit control this now.

Why throw yourself into the wilderness at first? humans are soft now , why not lock the door for three months and attempt to survive without using a plug socket or turning the Tap/faucet on? plan , get supplies ... see if your up to the task before plunging yourself into a dangerous situation and if your not you will still learn something invaluable for your next attempt.

Start small its Ok taking all the latest equipment with you, water purification systems that can produced 7000 liters of clean water from a muddy puddle and the latest stoves and all weather clothing but you have to remember that modern society provided these items for you and will not be around if the shtf proper.

Start small , start local , teach yourself first.

and remember despite what you might think deep down, we ARE stronger together, its just this all collapses when individuals within a group use it solely for personal need/greed.

Good luck m8

Q

a reply to: Vaxellion

The simple answer is that Scotland is not a large country (unlike Canada/North America) that you can go into some vast wilderness to hide from the world, so any land you choose to flop down and make your extended visit upon will be either public or private property. Do not mistake the two and do not make the mistake of being on either without consent. In the case of public (camping/hunting) land, merely find the proper authorities that hold that land and get their full-content rules and regulations and follow them.

Anything done outside of those rules (cutting of live trees, fires in an unauthorized area, eating of the wildlife habitat) are to be avoided due to consequences (large fines or imprisonment or worse).

You truly must be city-folk (hehe) if you do not know this 'law of the land' was created in the UK, Ireland, Scotland to being with and is now used in North America (and elsewhere). Living 'on the land' is all fine and dandy until you wake up one morning with a gun to your temple. lol

I'd do what others have suggested if I were new to this. Go with a group, an experienced group and keep it light at first (a few days). Those few days might make you change your mind about a full-out longterm outing.

Where I am from *and many other places*, we (some not all) are taught how to camp at a young age and if we were were 'plopped' in the middle of nowhere could survive no problem. Others, not so easily.

a suggested video because it is not a place as easy to find nor as easy to survive as you might think, you need a LARGE, FREE area (which is almost impossible to find nowadays) to have the most fun:

I am now beginning to think maybe a group would be better to go off on my travels for this venture.

Especially if it was with like minded people. Could anyone suggest where 1 could find these types of survival camping groups? Do they charge money or is it with others just like me looking to do the same kind of thing by connecting on forums anf whatnot?

The last few replies there have been great cheers for them.

Solo if you where up for the same kind of trip for a week or so it's something I would definitely look into with you. Maybe even find others who would be up for a survival trip.

Again, cheers lads.

p.s

that video did not work buddy?

a reply to: Vaxellion

Merely a google search in your general area for groups like camping enthusiasts, camping in Scotland blogs, etc would be a good start. Most likely you would meet with then join the group to discuss plans of the next outing and as far as cost goes, you would all chip in for the ride there, the camping lot rental (some places only allow 4 persons or 1 family per site), bring your own food, chip in for the cost of firewood.

Also give a few extra bucks for use of their tent/sleeping bags, cooking utensils etc before investing hundreds of dollars buying your own (in case the first trip turns you off of this whole idea).

If you were here, I'd take you. Camping and fishing are one of my favorite things to do, but I do enjoy doing them alone for the most part (nothing worse than taking someone fishing that makes a lot of noise lol).

When you go, let me make it clear that your FIRST trip will not be all roses.

It is the little things that you pick up as you return time and time again to camp that make an eventual glitch-free event. *ie: forgetting toilet paper, having no little pot or coffee kettle for tea/coffee in the morning, wet shoes and none extra. etc etc. Comforts that you don't realize that matter, but do. These things are not essentially live or die items but they sure make the day run smoother lol.

Yet, I have to say that after many years of being an experienced camper....that sometimes I look back at the days when something was amiss and I really had to 'rough it' and suffer a bit and wish it were like that again. Now that I can live out there if necessary and all would go too well...is kinda BORING sometimes.

So, keep your enthusiasm ALWAYS, and have fun.

I found this: www.wildernessscotland.com... * do read many sites and the reviews of actual customers to get as much info on a place and what you are up for.


*ps, I fixed the video