Good idea, or angry backlash?

[Gonz]

If you place yourself in an unusual situation, expect to wait or take care of yourself.

 

[SouthernN'Proud]

Yes. You can. Your pack will be close to 80 pounds, but you can take everything you need....



No need for an extinguisher if you've got a folding shovel and enough sense not to light a bonfire for warmth and/or cooking. No need for a snakebite kit if you have proper footwear and avoid obvious lairs (piles of wood/rotting vegetation). This also includes a tent with a floor, mosquito netting, and a good sidearm in case you piss off the wrong carnivore. Most things tend to avoid you (as prey) or run from you. The ones that don't have no choice (cornered/injured).

Remind me not to go hiking with you. Anybody and I do mean anybody that takes a firearm with them hiking is a liability not worth shouldering. And mind, I'm one of them "gun nuts".

Obviously, our definitions of "outdoors time" differ greatly. You are welcome to yours. I just hope you take yours miles from where I happen to be.

 

[MrBishop]

Yes. You can. Your pack will be close to 80 pounds, but you can take everything you need....



No need for an extinguisher if you've got a folding shovel and enough sense not to light a bonfire for warmth and/or cooking. No need for a snakebite kit if you have proper footwear and avoid obvious lairs (piles of wood/rotting vegetation). This also includes a tent with a floor, mosquito netting, and a good sidearm in case you piss off the wrong carnivore. Most things tend to avoid you (as prey) or run from you. The ones that don't have no choice (cornered/injured).

I have a trench shovel (army surplus)...and I'm careful with fires, but I'm not the only person in the woods. I've got a decent kit, and use MRE's and a fishing rod to get along...but 80lb sacks, plus a canoe for 5k hikes..umh, no thanks.

I take precautions and know what I'm doing...but shit will still happen. If it's small or medium shit, I can deal. If it's a shitstorm, I'm with a buddy when I hike and one of us can usually deal with it while the other one recovers. If it's bad enough that neither one of us can deal...we sit tight and wait.

 

[Starya]

Hm, not sure about the rules here, but I know people risk having to pay for rescue operations if they are a result of sheer stupidity - like going for a swim when drunk.

 

[BB]

Why, BB? If you have almost any other type of accident or miscalculation, you are expected to have insurance or take financial responsibility for it. Yes, these folks were reasonably well prepared. It's the reason they aren't dead. They miscalculated the risks though. You're saying they shouldn't be held financially responsible? I have to disagree. You should consider the risks and make plans for every eventuality, shouldn't you?

NO.

Fullstop.

 

[BB]

Yes. You can. Your pack will be close to 80 pounds, but you can take everything you need....



No need for an extinguisher if you've got a folding shovel and enough sense not to light a bonfire for warmth and/or cooking. No need for a snakebite kit if you have proper footwear and avoid obvious lairs (piles of wood/rotting vegetation). This also includes a tent with a floor, mosquito netting, and a good sidearm in case you piss off the wrong carnivore. Most things tend to avoid you (as prey) or run from you. The ones that don't have no choice (cornered/injured).

I agree with SnP - no way in hell am i going fell-walking or hiking with you sunny-jim.

 

[Gonz]

What's wrong with a sidearm on a hike?

 

[Gato_Solo]

I have a trench shovel (army surplus)...and I'm careful with fires, but I'm not the only person in the woods. I've got a decent kit, and use MRE's and a fishing rod to get along...but 80lb sacks, plus a canoe for 5k hikes..umh, no thanks.

You're only 'hiking' 5 K. Thats only 3 miles. I was thinking more of a day-long trek. Different needs. BTW...if it takes you more than 2 hours to hike 3 miles, you don't need to be out hiking anyway, regardless of terrain. 3 miles.

I take precautions and know what I'm doing...but shit will still happen. If it's small or medium shit, I can deal. If it's a shitstorm, I'm with a buddy when I hike and one of us can usually deal with it while the other one recovers. If it's bad enough that neither one of us can deal...we sit tight and wait.

According to your previous statement, you should only be out around two hours. Most weather reports are accurate enough for that little walk-in-the-park. 3 miles.....

Remind me not to go hiking with you. Anybody and I do mean anybody that takes a firearm with them hiking is a liability not worth shouldering. And mind, I'm one of them "gun nuts".

Sorry. But most of my 'hiking' is done with at least 30 other people...and everybody is armed.

 

[Leslie]

I've been thinking about his for years, watching all the rescues/deaths of people sledding on the lake after the thin ice warnings year after year.

 

[SouthernN'Proud]

Sorry. But most of my 'hiking' is done with at least 30 other people...and everybody is armed.

And yours isn't exactly recreational either. Again, different worlds. You are there because someone told you to be there. I am there by choice and for a different type experience. Not too many Islamofascists roaming these hills.

 

[Gato_Solo]

And yours isn't exactly recreational either. Again, different worlds. You are there because someone told you to be there. I am there by choice and for a different type experience. Not too many Islamofascists roaming these hills.

Well....at least none you know about.

Anyway. The point I was making was that you can effectively hike with everything you need for survival if you are willing to carry the load. (lose the rifle and the ammo and you can save 16 lbs, BTW). The basic pack, sans weaponry, also has a first-aid kit. If you're only going 5K, then you need only a good pair of boots, an optional stout walking stick, a firm grasp of the weather, and terrain you'll be hiking.

 

[BB]

3 miles WITH a canoe and a back pack is plenty!

anyway - here's where i would like to be - fell walking:

http://www.mymountains.co.uk/Images/Blea Tarn from Standing Crag lge.JPG

as you look over Blea Tarn in the foreground, if you nosey on up towards Ulswater (the lake above and to the right) on your way as the supersonic perspective crow (and the RAF, occasionally - tho' it's normally the valley back towards Thirlmere ... ) fly - you'll go over a ridge - the next ridge on the left just nippling up above the lake is where the malt and my dad's ashes are.

if you are ever there, feel free to dig for a dram.

(as you go over the next ridge and down rather steeply into Watendleth, there is a homely cafe with roaring fire and scones and wotnot.

Carry on over into the next valley and you come down to a good pub!

 

[MrBishop]

You're only 'hiking' 5 K. Thats only 3 miles. I was thinking more of a day-long trek. Different needs. BTW...if it takes you more than 2 hours to hike 3 miles, you don't need to be out hiking anyway, regardless of terrain. 3 miles.



According to your previous statement, you should only be out around two hours. Most weather reports are accurate enough for that little walk-in-the-park. 3 miles.....



Sorry. But most of my 'hiking' is done with at least 30 other people...and everybody is armed.

Hikes - plural. I tend to go out for either a weekend or longer. 3 miles on unestablished trails with a 2 man canoe over your head ain't no picnic...especially when you have to do several to get to your site. On average, we leave after breakfast (8am) and other than a stop for supper and to set up the tent before nightfall...we keep going.

Oh..and hiking with 30 armed people isn't hiking. Looks more like a minor invasion

 

[MrBishop]

Here was my last trip (in pink)

My bro in law and his wife was nice enough to drive our van from our start point to our end point.

We saw, during our 5 night trip, 3 other people from a distance, and that was it.

The black lines indicate Expert level portages with a number in meters. The red ones are High difficulty, orange are moderate and green beginner.

Our trip was mostly expert level portages with one short red (500 meters)...not counting the impromptu portages thanks to the drought.

 

[Gato_Solo]

Hikes - plural. I tend to go out for either a weekend or longer. 3 miles on unestablished trails with a 2 man canoe over your head ain't no picnic...especially when you have to do several to get to your site. On average, we leave after breakfast (8am) and other than a stop for supper and to set up the tent before nightfall...we keep going.

Oh..and hiking with 30 armed people isn't hiking. Looks more like a minor invasion

An invasion involves an army, not a bunch of AF people doing 'Ground Base Defense' class. Still...a weekend is still fairly accurate when dealing with weather reports, and a fiberglass canoe is only about 70 pounds (I carried one solo for about 100 yards every other weekend for a summer when I was young). If you're hiking virgin territory with the canoe and the backpack, you are the type of person Leslie is talking about. Mark your trail first, make sure it's reasonably safe, and then you can bring your buddy, and the canoe, at a later date.

 

[MrBishop]

We had an aluminum canoe I hated carrying the damn thing, but it held out far better than a fiberglass one would've.

It's not exactly virgin territory per se. There are trail flags

 

[chcr]

An invasion involves an army, not a bunch of AF people doing 'Ground Base Defense' class. Still...a weekend is still fairly accurate when dealing with weather reports, and a fiberglass canoe is only about 70 pounds (I carried one solo for about 100 yards every other weekend for a summer when I was young). If you're hiking virgin territory with the canoe and the backpack, you are the type of person Leslie is talking about. Mark your trail first, make sure it's reasonably safe, and then you can bring your buddy, and the canoe, at a later date.

Now see, I think maybe that's a bit overcautious. I wouldn't (well, when I was a bit younger) hesitate to hike virgin territory with a canoe and another experienced hiker. If you reach questionable terrain, you set the canoe down and pre-walk the questionable area, then go back for the canoe. If you're paying attention new territory is no problem.

 

[Gato_Solo]

We had an aluminum canoe I hated carrying the damn thing, but it held out far better than a fiberglass one would've.

It's not exactly virgin territory per se. There are trail flags

Not my fault you didn't embrace modern technology. The weight difference is about, what...30 pounds? So you're looking at 50 pounds a piece plus packs.

Now see, I think maybe that's a bit overcautious. I wouldn't (well, when I was a bit younger) hesitate to hike virgin territory with a canoe and another experienced hiker. If you reach questionable terrain, you set the canoe down and pre-walk the questionable area, then go back for the canoe. If you're paying attention new territory is no problem.

Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.

 

[chcr]

Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.

Quite so. I always assume I'm responsible for my own safety and for those I'm with in any such endeavor.

 

[A.B.Normal]

Quite so. I always assume I'm responsible for my own safety and for those I'm with in any such endeavor.

The only time I could see a need for a gun when out in the wild would be if your in Grizzly bear country,but then that would come under situational preparedness IMO.