A man live in the forest for 30 years with no human contact

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

www.gq.com...

a reply to: starwarsisreal

I have to say his feats are amazing. I mean living alone on the woods for almost 30 years is impressive. Most people if they were alone would probably go insane.

Dad?

Although 30 years is stretching it a bit, I heartily recommend living in the forest for a week or two. It changes you. When I got back from over a week in very deep forests I was climbing the furniture like it was boulders and rocks (and yes, I stopped doing that).

a reply to: Aleister

In a shtf scenario, living in the woods alone for will be only option for some people. I'm pretty sure some here in ATS are wiling to do this since there are times when there are no other choice.

Living in the woods in your home country for 30 years is pretty cool and all.

But...

This dude hid in a foreign country and refused to surrender until personally ordered by his former commanding officer. Dude legit continued fighting world war 2 until 1974.

And he wasn't even the last holdout, either.

en.m.wikipedia.org...

a reply to: starwarsisreal

I'm sorry a week with no plumming and you can roll me up and send
my ass to county. Shower, three hots and a cot and release date.

a reply to: starwarsisreal

This is not the first I have heard of this man, nor I believe, the first time I have read this account, or one very much like it, of his life in the woods. Mr Knight, for all the vulnerabilities that come with the sort of mental condition he was in when he went into the woods, and indeed compounded by his time there no doubt, seems to me to be an example of total commitment and hardihood. True enough, many people in his situation might have made a life out there without stealing, using hunting methods, and cooking sparingly during quiet months, using a near smokeless fire, or setting a fire in a deep pit, with a damp cloth of loose weave over the top to capture particulates which might give them away. For all that he could have done differently, what he did to get by, get by he did.

He is also a figure of no small tragedy. There have been many times in my life, where I wanted nothing more than to just up and go, just get out of town, all towns, everywhere, abandon the concrete, the bustle, and the forms of insanity which do not gel correctly with my own, those insanities which are everywhere, and unavoidable in daily, social life. This man actually found that life, for all that it clearly had its extreme hardships, and that makes him amongst the luckiest human beings that has ever lived upon this earth. I say that because there are no many people living on this planet who ever find the sort of comfort he found. I wonder, having been in that place, in that woodland home, whether he believes he would have been better off not knowing peace of the sort he had out there, given what he will now endure as a "free" man in society.

Pity him not, for he was closer than many of us will ever get to his ideal life. Fear him not, for he is not a monster. Have sympathy for him, and no small matter of envy too.

What an outstanding man!

a reply to: starwarsisreal

Thanks for posting this, S&F.

Incredible story. I wonder how he's doing now.

a reply to: randyvs

Might end up with a whole sleeper cell in there with you..
The depth they can program people is amazing.

Even 4 months in jail, I think is a bit too harsh on him, especially if he was a first offender and nobody was pressing charges.

I've read his story before. I think he was a little messed up in the head.

He was so paranoid he refused to light a fire at night for fear of getting spotted by someone. He would get up at around 3a in the winter and move around to stay warm.

He passed his time reading books and listening to conservative radio.

He didn't talk much once he went to prison, but when he did the other prisoners said he talked like a book reads.

Crazy story. But it's an awesome read for those who have time!

A man who hasn't seen "us" in almost 30 years, summed up the truth of our society in a few words -

"Sitting here in jail, I don’t like what I see in the society I’m about to enter. I don’t think I’m going to fit in. It’s too loud. Too colorful. The lack of aesthetics. The crudeness. The inanities. The trivia."

How long will it take us to see it?

Wow what a great read. Just read the link you gave. Poor guy stuck in jail. Glad he is out now. Wow is all I can add for now. Thanks for sharing.

a reply to: Cauliflower

Might end up with a whole sleeper cell in there with you..
The depth they can program people is amazing.

One a.m. blanket party and they won't sleep in that cell for a week!

a reply to: starwarsisreal

Read the whole article. The man is amazing. To be ripped from the only peace you've ever known and thrown into a loud and bright confinement is just horrendous.

He explained why he didn't keep a journal but, if he had, he would be a rich man today. The book rights to his story must be worth a ton and I hope he can gain some money from it. Maybe he can buy his solitude someday and retire back into obscurity where he obviously belongs. Hopefully he'll write a journal this time.

The hermits I used to know did not break into people's houses or steal anything. They just did not want to partake in society. We would buy food for a guy who never went out when I was a kid. He lived next to our farm. I bet he didn't go anywhere for twenty years. My dad would get him a bunch of food occasionally, once in the spring and once in the fall usually.

We found him in the spring one year in his bed. Boy did that stink. He was probably in his eighties when he died. Layed down and never got up, healthy as an ox even at his age up to the end.

That guy in the thread is not a hermit, he is a thief that chose to live out in the woods. .

a reply to: rickymouse

You sir are an idiot.

A hermit is someone who lives in seclusion from society, as this guy did. I fail to see how him ripping off cabins is any different then your Pa buying some old fart all his groceries twice a year.

a reply to: Cuervo

He explained why he didn't keep a journal but, if he had, he would be a rich man today. The book rights to his story must be worth a ton and I hope he can gain some money from it. Maybe he can buy his solitude someday and retire back into obscurity where he obviously belongs. Hopefully he'll write a journal this time.

Yah! Dude can you go back and do all that #### again
and this time keep a journal?

a reply to: rickymouse

I have to disagree with you.

The people you knew were not hermits.

Hermits live in solitude and the guy in this story lived in solitude. He simply wanted to live and die alone.

He was a thief and admits it was wrong, but if that is all he truly did then .........

amazing story, every last word of it.