Winter woods bumming

In Canada when you're land locked there's no going to the beach. In the city I'm in there's "nothing" around in terms of nature. Unless you call a farm, nature, which you can't go on anyway. so what I do is I go winter woods buming. It's a hobby I figured out. It's like going to the beach, without the surf the sand or the hot chics. Here's me winter woods buming:



Ya I built that fire with just a lighter, everything wet. That was before I knew how to build a fire when everything is wet.


Also, my other post got turfed so I'll just quickly post back the site I found on nuclear fall out shelters that you can buy for cheap. I thought that was really cool idea. A few people on dooms day preppers had bought ones for cheap. I would totally do that if I had a chance to. That would rock! It would be fun I think. A pet project to work on each day so to speak. Like if you're approaching retirement years lets say and you're bummed out and you want a pet project that would be the profect pet project. That or a small island to buy perhaps.

so what do you think of all this great stuff???? ha ha

here's some stuff i found:

www.missilebases.com...

Quick question...
If you are in the city and that little wooded area is behind where you live, are you sure you don't need a permit to have that open fire there? Who does that land belong to?

And geez...could you sound more Canadian.." Take off", eh? *laughs out loud.

spartacus you have a hideout what drugs are you taking do you still play hide and seek or go on the swings . i do .


you make me laugh sparty you are madder than me and that is saying something .

trying hard to type with lol [need toilet ]

Well done and why not!

If you need a nature fix, go get a nature fix.

I spent a lot of my childhood in wood dens, under trees, on trees, in trees, meadows and streams.

You could get all Ray Mears and make your time there even more worthwhile honing basic survival skills.

Even learning all the tree types from their bark / twigs / leaves etc is all valid information.

Trying very hard not to giggle like a child, and this post will very likely get removed in about 10 seconds, but winter woods bumming would have an entirely different meaning in the UK...

I used to disappear for days in Wisconsin in the dead of winter when I was young, my parents would get pretty frantic about it.

Now that I'm older and the cold hurts more, I do my winter woods bumming in Florida .

I was out in the Merritt Island Wildlife refuge most of the day yesterday on a bicycle, no need for a fire lest one needs to cook a fish or something, the only thing that scared me was a raccoon as big as my dog, only because I thought he was a dog. I saw an alligator bigger than me, but he was way more scared of me than I was of him.

I will try to rig my camera up waterproof somehow and post pics of my excursions, it rains a lot here.

In the process of rigging up a canoe with an outrigger, solar panels, battery and trolling motor for an aimless trip with no particular destination presently.

I'll probably head to Key West, just to find out that it is just another place with a bunch of dopey people running around putting on an act like they have it all figured out....

No destination, No expectations, No disappointments = Freedom.

I do refer to it as "meandering" or "galavanting", and understand the reason a brit would find the term "bumming" to be humorous....

Agreed about the title.

It is similar here in the UK, if in urban or suburban areas, even around most villages there are often very few places to take in nature that aren't privately owned and used for tourist purposes / farmland or just not for public use.

Unless very remote, like the Highlands, Lake District, rural north etc it isn't so easy to just set up for even a few hours, with a campfire, making a makeshift shelter etc sans looking like some sort of tramp / weirdo / perv in the imagination of the general public.

I guess a good way is to have purpose and finding somewhere for that solace that has all the necessary requirements for being a retreat of sorts.

I am an artist and would love to find places I can sit for a few hours of undisturbed painting far from prying eyes, so far finding such a place it has been elusive. Even sketching in public places brings plenty of attention or comments / self consciousness. I often just take photos of nature when I can for the purpose of photography and landscape painting.

Perhaps that is something you could do there, photograph nature / landscape or even try sketching.

Standing dead wood is usually not wet inside. Birch bark has oils that make it able to be used when wet. I did a real lot of outdoor camping when I was young. I stayed out in the woods for many nights by myself, nestled in a small tent with a nice warm sleeping bag. In the summer the waterproof canvas bag I had contained a flap that you could make a cover tent over your head.opening so if it was raining the water was deflected from the opening. The bag cost forty some bucks back in the sixties. I was a working kid, I had money to buy some nice camping and fishing equipment.

I miss that, I am going to get with my grandchildren and snowshoe into the back of my property this winter and teach them to start a fire and survive out there. I have all sorts of rocks that can be used to start a fire here, thanks to the ancient inhabitants that lived here once. Rub two rocks together with some fuzz between and you get fire. Strange how some quartzite works. I also have flint and high carbon steel springs to make them work.

Teaching the young the things needed to survive a situation and how to grow food should be a mandatory subject in school. Teachers who use risky behavior in their teaching should be banned though. Novice winter campers should not be far from the road in case something happens. Don't take them far into the woods where it takes half an hour of hiking to get in. Kids can poke out an eye easy in the woods. They can break an ankle. They can fall into the fire. If hiking is desired, hike but still camp close to an access road. If you get the runs from eating the camping foods, it is sometimes better if you go home. I always camped within five minutes jog or an hour crawl to the road or someone who could call for help.

I gotta give you a star and flag. It makes me want to winter camp, but I would need to buy a good sleeping bag and I bet that a good one like I had is not forty bucks anymore.


This time of year around here, you need to wear orange when camping. It is still blackpowder deer season and also archery deer season so pay attention before going out.

reply to post by spartacus699


Practice makes perfect, Spartacus699. The more you practice any type of technique, be it making fire in winter or building shelter in trees, the better you will adapt to any circumstance. A skill we all need to practice in order to keep sharp and have a better advantage.

You have the right idea as far as finding shelter. Don't let the fire get too big and I bet you didn't realize the one good thing about where you were "winter woods bumming"...your natural shelter also broke up the smoke coming off that fire. Which is an excellent way to hide from prying eyes.

I give you many kudos. As long as you leave the land the way you found it, you shouldn't cause any problems no matter where you travel. Be respectful towards the land and the surrounding property owners. Make sure not to anger the locals. Wouldn't want to get kicked out of there, now would you?

Good job!

*S&F*

Definitely good for you for connecting with nature! Especially now when it is hard to be motivated to get out into the cold.

One of my regular winter hobbies/exercise routines is animal tracking, usually in the city green spaces. I go for hikes in the ravines and practice identifying tracks of the different animals in the snow. Last winter I recorded raccoon which is practically unheard of here. This year and the year before last I recorded cougar, right in the middle of town in a preserved natural area. Winter is great for tracking the majority of mammals because their sign stands out so much better in the snow, especially for species like cougar who rarely lay down a print in non packed areas.

Practicing tracking really makes you pay attention and learn what is going on in nature around you. It's a mental game that re-wires the mind to be aware of the complex way that many things interact and play out in the wilderness.

Tracking in the city has its special challenges, especially with canidae. That's because the diagnostics between many domestic dogs, coyote, fox and wolf can be very subtle.

Anyway, it gives me something to do while I'm out there burning calories and actually now I'm often torn between having my head down looking at tracks or head up and looking for birds and other animals.

AccessDenied
Quick question...
If you are in the city and that little wooded area is behind where you live, are you sure you don't need a permit to have that open fire there? Who does that land belong to?

And geez...could you sound more Canadian.." Take off", eh? *laughs out loud.

well we have a river valley, not much of anything. Really sucks, but it's only about a 15 minute drive to get there so that's where people go.

reply to post by AccessDenied

Hell, I do the woods bumming thing on weekends, off a little park district trail that's seldom used in the winter months.
I'm in the midwest, but it can still be done if you're stealthy and keep your fires small and smokeless.
The area in which I stealth camp, there a trail which vehicles can't drive down so DNR and cops won't even bother with until spring and summer months.

Well done on finding an outlet and making a fire with just a lighter with wet or damp wood . I love to get out in the forests , I live at the foothills of Cumbria UK and try to get in them as often as I can . Everyone should connect or try to connect with nature . Good post thanks for making me feel I'm not the only one If you can't get out to the forest or local woods , go to the park take of your shoes and socks and connect you'll love it , I guaranty