Roughing it.....

[RidgeHunter]

I've done a lot of camping, and some pretty primitive camping, but I always pack a tent. I guess I'm not that hardcore. Our deer camp is tents, a lean-to cookshack, and an outhouse. I spend roughly 25-30 nights a year there, and another 6-10 nights in various places around the Ozarks every year. I don't think there has been a year since I was an infant where I've spent less than 30 nights in a tent.

Fairly recently I've been refining the art canoe/kayak camping. The gear carrying ability of a boat means you can sleep/eat well (much better than backpacking) yet still get way the hell out there.

More serious backpacking will probably be the next endeavor, but I'm dang sure bringing a tent. More power to you who don't.

 

[ez bake]

If you want my advice, I'd do some serious hiking first, then a 2-3 day backpacking trip (try doing it as minimalistic as possible), and then try the survival thing.

A good water-filter is always a take-along no matter how bad I'm trying to rough it (and a GPS/Cell-phone - even if turned off the entire time and just for emergency). Oklahoma weather has a way of sneaking up on you despite what the forecast says. Watch most water sources in OK where there are any signs of Cattle or Horses - viruses will put you in the hospital quickly (and you can't filter out viruses). If you are planning on building a shelter, I'd go in the cooler months - spiders, several different types of bugs, and snakes can make for a bad-time under a pancho-shelter.

I've done the overnight thing while roughing it, but it just didn't do much for me since I regularly backpack - making fire with a fire-bow is pretty cool. Making animal traps is extremely tedious and not nearly as easy as most "survivalists" believe (think Les Stroud and not Bear Grylls). Also, if you do catch an animal, your day didn't get better necessarily - gutting and cleaning an animal creates all sorts of sanitation issues and cooking one over a fire with little to no cooking tools is a pain.

You'll find that if you don't spend most if not all your day putting together a shelter, getting food, or finding water/fire-wood, you're in sad shape at the end of the day (and without a proper shelter, often times the night's sleep isn't going to go well and the next day is going to be even harder).

You learn a lot along the way. I've got tons of backpacking gear (I stocked up back when I had plans for the whole family to start doing some serious hiking - we're lucky if we make it out twice a year now with football, baseball, basketball, etc.) and I enjoy backpacking, but for me, the survival thing is just one of those things you can say you did.

Good spots right here in OK (or right next door) are:

Robber's cave - its a good 1-day hike to get around the big loop around the entire park if you start from the low-water bridge at the south end and end up back there. You can do a 2-3 day hike if you head to the land north of the caves - its pretty much all open to hiking/camping.

Ouchita National Forest - Start out anywhere along the long-trail (Winding Stair Campground is my favorite spot - right next door to the primitive campsite is a backpacker's camping spot so you have an emergency stop if you need it). Be careful of going there when the bears are around - they're just small black bears, but the momma-bear and babies rule is always in effect. There's over 100 miles of trail to pick from, but be careful as the equestrian trails cross/join the hiking trails and can confuse you.

Honobia / 3-Rivers WMA - you have to get a land-access permit and watch out for the meth-makers/addicts and poachers, but its a crapload of open wilderness that you can try out survival for as long as you want (its very easy to get lost out there and there is not a lot of anything in every direction from the middle of either of these places).

Wichita Mountains - there are lots of free-hiking and trails here, but its not very big (and there are plenty of areas that you can't hike or backpack/survival camp overnight). Its definitely cool, but I almost always want to go to Quartz Mountain State Park if I'm heading out that far west.

Gloss Mountain and Red Rock Canyon are cool smaller spots to wet your appetite on hiking with neat scenery (and there is a very cool waterfall at Natural Falls State Park, but its really the only thing there worth looking at in that park).

Devil's Den, Arkansas - lots to pick from and do here - look it up and you'll find plenty of fun for hiking, roughing it, etc.

Mt. Magazine, Arkansas - You can stray off the beaten path here - there is a lot of hiking to do in the wilderness surrounding the mountain and a lot of trails away from the park headquarters and lodge.

Petite Jean State Park, Arkansas - lots of stuff away from the typical car-camper trails here as well.

Mt. Nebo, Arkansas - not a long way to get around the mountain, but lots of up/down elevation trails and cool out-of-the-way spots. They hang-glide off the south-east bluff - there's a little park-bench you can sit on and watch them go - its pretty cool.


I'm sure that I'm missing a few of the spots I frequent, but those are the ones that jump to the front of my mind when looking back over the last few years.

 

[Beerzerker]

My most "roughing it" for me has been ski touring in the rockies. Super nice terrain, but a bit cold (-25 was the coldest ski day I have done), and a bit dicey with avalanche chute crossings. Very tiring if you are carrying multiple days supply and climbing hills.

The nice part is when you end up in a hut where someone has already build a nice fire, and the sucky is when you have to dig down in the snow and put up a tent or even just dig a snow cave.

Maybe not exactly what you were thinking of, but definitely some of my fondest memories!

Is it fun? Totally!
Is it easy? Heck no!

 

[Glock 'em down]

I used to do this damn near every weekend when I was a kid. I grew up back in the woods and my folks owned about 80 acres or so. Hell, it wasn't nuthin' for me to get home from school on Friday, grab my gear, some grub (usually Vienna Sausages, crackers and a can or two or Pork & Breans) my dad's Marlin .22 rifle, don my camo fatigues and be gone until sometime Sunday.

Mom and dad never worried about me. They knew exactly where I was the entire time.

Damn, I miss the good ol' days.

 

[Vamoose]

Do a disciplined equipment try-out in your own back yard over a weekend before you make a committed jump into the wilderness. Unless you're headed for Alaska there's really not much need for carrying a .44 Magnum. I've backpacked for more than 30 years all through the Rocky Mountain states and have never experienced a genuine need for a firearm. I've carried one a few times but inevitably ended up regretting the added weight every time.

There's not much you can do with your family that's more rewarding than being in the wilderness together with only each other to rely on. Have fun and good luck!

 

[SgtMojo67]

Do a disciplined equipment try-out in your own back yard over a weekend before you make a committed jump into the wilderness. Unless you're headed for Alaska there's really not much need for carrying a .44 Magnum. I've backpacked for more than 30 years all through the Rocky Mountain states and have never experienced a genuine need for a firearm. I've carried one a few times but inevitably ended up regretting the added weight every time.

There's not much you can do with your family that's more rewarding than being in the wilderness together with only each other to rely on. Have fun and good luck!

I don't leave the house WITHOUT a firearm of some kind period.....It's the cop in me.



Thanks for all of the ideas and locations. Now I just need to round up the gear.....

 

[Phat Mike]

I think that green-leaf lake by Braggs has some area like what your wanting to do. might check it out on the puter and see.

 

[dennishoddy]

So does anyone actually rough it? Meaning go on overnight hikes with just a backpack, a little food, and water. Having to make your own shelter, primitive means of making fire, etc....Like Dual Survival, or Man Woman Wild.

Just curious. My oldest son and I are wanting to give it a whirl. I've been really looking at getting a .44 magnum or .357 before hand though.

If any of you do, where do you go?

The winnebago, RV, camper type of camping is not for me. My kids were brought up in a tent, cooking over an open fire, making slit trenches to crap into, and covering them up, etc and so on.
When we left our campsites, it was spotless. Down to the cig butts that the inconsiderate slobs left before us.
We camped in the high country in Colo. and NM. at times. They learned how to make water with solar means, trap fish in beaver ponds, and general survival in the wilderness. They are city kids now, but if SHTF scenerio ever happens, they are ready.

 

[dennishoddy]

More serious backpacking will probably be the next endeavor, but I'm dang sure bringing a tent. More power to you who don't.

spent a lots of nights in a little hole in the ground, mostly full of water. But thats another thread.

 

[sesh]

I don't leave the house WITHOUT a firearm of some kind period.....It's the cop in me.



Thanks for all of the ideas and locations. Now I just need to round up the gear.....

Slip in to Backwoods in Tulsa and get an idea of what you need/want, a lot of their stuff is pretty high dollar but you'd at least be able see a good selection of what's out there. Sierra Trading Post or Campmor online are a couple of good spots to buy on the internet. I also hear there's a pretty good website called PlanB outfitters where a guy might find a good deal Good luck, sounds like you're brewing up some good fun