Heading into the bush on foot to live with nothing but a backpack and tent.

[Halcyon Daze]

Fresh meat and fresh ASS!

Sorry, had to slam dunk that one.

[glimpse]

I'm vegetarian, well I try to be, so unless It's absolutely necessary no animal will be harmed by me

I've been making jerky in my unused hydro grow-box, chicken just sucks, but would be fine rehydrated in soup or whatever, well as beef and pork.

Beef is really the superior meat as far as dried "snack" meat goes, I'll assume that's the blood content gives it so much more "chew-life" in your mouth. But thepork's not bad, just loses flavour faster. All of these meats are far lighter dry of course, and although I've used marinades on the pork and beef for testing purposes (Hickory-Smoked BBQ), any I dry out to actually take with me would only have salt, and as little as possible, of course.

[Halcyon Daze]

Us vegetarians are a bit like that sometimes.

One minute we're card-carrying vegans, the next we're manufacturing illicit Donkey Jerky and howling at the moon.

Hey Riley, Why not grab swag and do a single night somewhere with just a bottle of water.

Start off on short trips and work your way up to fully-blown black belt Hermit-ism.

Edited February 27, 2014 by Halcyon Daze

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

Scrap the water, get some donkey jerky and do two nights feasting in it in isolation.

[Jox]

LOL, so my theory about vegetarians being the same as people with split personality disorder is true .

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

Oh it's the greatest when your out with ya meat eater friends havin a good feed ;) I went to a "ribs and rumps" recently and watched grown ups eat with bibs and get sauce everywhere including the hair... Evolution right there folks! God the wedges were yummy and my sauce managed to stay in the container or in my mouth...

[Psychaesthetic]

Yeah I have to pack as much nutrition into a limited space as possible, so vegetarian beliefs go on hold. ;)

Outside of "survival-mode" situations, I eat vegetarian friendly iron supplements instead of meat. Oh wait, fish and bird meat, that doesn't count right? Fish don't have feelings and birds are just feathered dinosaur leftovers so I'll happily scoff them down.

But mammals, I'm a mammal, dogs are mammals, and mammals have feelings, so I refuse to support fat, lazy redneck beef farmers who make their living in a chopper trading in animal misery! No no don't start my inner animal-lover, I'll start thinking about all those poor cows lined-up being prodded in the arse while they watch their whole family get butchered.

Society's great for glossy human convenience, but scratch the surface and it's all sad, sick and ugly.

Edited February 28, 2014 by Riley

[Distracted]

This may be a bit of useful information for you.

Daniel Dudzisz spent nearly three weeks missing in the remote Queensland outback. When he finally had the chance to sleep in the comforts of a hotel, he picked up his tent and backpack and camped in a park.

For a man who has travelled 2000 kilometres across Australia - nearly all on foot - it was hardly a surprise. He has told police he will continue walking, and it is believed he wants to reach Uluru, another 2000 kilometres away.

On February 24, an extensive air and land search began in the western Queensland channel country when nobody had spotted the 26-year-old German backpacker in a week.

He had planned to walk the 100 kilometre journey from Windorah to Jundah but got lost when he stopped following the road.

While traversing the wilderness, Dudzisz spent 10 days trapped on a patch of grass between two river channels that had filled with water. Then his supply of baked beans and cereal ran out, so he survived by eating flies and bugs.

When the water subsided he flagged down a motorist and was taken back to Windorah, where he refused medical treatment and was seemingly oblivious to all the fuss.

Dudzisz politely turned down a request for an interview when he spoke to Fairfax Media on Friday evening.

Instead, he said he would exclusively share his survival story with a local paper who interviewed him last month in Queensland's southwest.

“I'm serious about this. I have turned down offers from Channel 10, I have turned down offers from (German company) RTL,” he said.

“They have so much money and there's nothing in it for me.”

Along his epic journey, others have shared stories about the German, who has reportedly fought a kangaroo with his bare hands and drank water from puddles to stay hydrated.

It is believed he arrived in Sydney last year, before catching a train to Goulburn in the NSW tablelands. It was there he began his walk to Uluru, via Queensland.

He often travels at night and goes off-road, and very rarely accepts lifts from passers-by.

The German told the Warrego Watchman last month that he had previously been homeless for two years, spent his childhood in a boys' home and travelled through southeast Asia.

“What I enjoy about the walking most is just how much closer nature feels when you cross and experience it like this,” he said.

But the journey almost came to an end when he was almost shot by a farmer who thought he was a kangaroo.

"I told him that it was no big deal and shit happens, and he seemed very surprised and relieved that I was not upset about it," Dudzsiz said.

So why the long solo walks? That's a question that nobody really seems to know. Other details about Dudzisz's past are also unclear.

Robert Tildsley remembers encountering Dudzisz about three months ago when he wandered through Eugowra, near Parkes in central west NSW.

“You wouldn't see a dead animal with so many flies on it,” Tildsley told Fairfax Media.

Tildsley was with his mate Grant Grogan and said it was a “red hot stinkin' day”, so the pair invited him to the pub for a drink.

Dudzisz sold Tildsley $700 worth of sapphires he was carrying and later Tildsley invited him to stay at his house.

“He hadn't eaten for three days. We showered him up, fed him up and he started telling us about his little journey,” Tildsley said.

“I took his boots off for him and his feet swelled up like footballs.”

The pair chatted late into the night, while Dudzsiz smoked German tobacco in a pipe.

“Christ it stunk the whole house out and it was as strong as buggery,” Tildsley said.

“His way of thinking was that he doesn't see enough countryside from the edge of the road so he'd get way off the road and follow the fence lines.

“He told me he wasn't frightened to die and knew he wouldn't. It wasn't God helping him or nothing, it was his determination.”

Dudzisz's glasses were being held together with tape, so Tildsley gave him a new pair, along with new underwear and socks. The next day Dudzisz was off.

“It's so good to hear he's ok,” Tildsley said on Friday morning, when the news broke that Dudzsiz had been found.

Andrew Plax from Yowah, about 320 kilometres from Charleville, tells a similar story when he shared a few meals with Dudzisz in February.

Plax was always confident the intrepid traveller would eventually turn up, even after he had been missing for two weeks.

"I don't think it's going to change him because it's what he wants to do. It's probably not the first time he's been stranded," he said.

Longreach police Inspector Mark Henderson said Dudzisz is risking his life by continuing the walk because he lacks knowledge of the channel country terrain.

Inspector Henderson points out that while Dudzisz's ability to survive in the wild is incredible, the German is “not a popular person out this way now”.

Dudzisz's choice to go off the beaten track meant others devoted days searching the region on horses, quad bikes and helicopters.

“It certainly hasn't amused the farmers and all those people who have given up their time and their money and assets in these tough fiscal times,” he said.

While many people have told Dudzisz to abandon his walk - or at least travel in a vehicle - his friend Robert Tildsley is certain the 26-year-old won't change his mind.

“He was just determined. It was his highway, and that's how he was going to travel,” he said.

“I think all he does is walk. I think it's his whole life.”

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/determined-german-daniel-dudzisz-continues-outback-pilgrimage-20140307-34d9c.html

[Psychaesthetic]

I saw that on the news last night

Echo's a similar potential scenario, but he's obviously a moron whilst I am not

All spitting on tourists aside, it's possible. Possible I could get lost, bitten by a brown snake, and eaten by feral dogs and dingos but there are - equally - threats related to suburban living: from house roofing collapses to cars flying into bedrooms in the middle of the night.

Truthfully, i have no idea how prep'ed he was for the QLD bush: he may have researched for months too. Event hen though, being 7th generation Australian I have a bunch of information about the country and it's dangers that a foreign tourist just doesn't get exposed to.

Maybe he became disoriented looking up trees - paranoid the drop-bears would ambush him? Who knows? Of course, as that story plainly states: locals and emergency services get particularly annoyed with "foreigners" getting lost, which by implication also states that they wouldn't be so irritated having to look for an all Aussie lad like myself. :D

[-YT-]

bumpity bump

so whats the plan Riley? any updates

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

I saw that on the news last night

Echo's a similar potential scenario, but he's obviously a moron whilst I am not

All spitting on tourists aside, it's possible. Possible I could get lost, bitten by a brown snake, and eaten by feral dogs and dingos but there are - equally - threats related to suburban living: from house roofing collapses to cars flying into bedrooms in the middle of the night.

Truthfully, i have no idea how prep'ed he was for the QLD bush: he may have researched for months too. Event hen though, being 7th generation Australian I have a bunch of information about the country and it's dangers that a foreign tourist just doesn't get exposed to.

Maybe he became disoriented looking up trees - paranoid the drop-bears would ambush him? Who knows? Of course, as that story plainly states: locals and emergency services get particularly annoyed with "foreigners" getting lost, which by implication also states that they wouldn't be so irritated having to look for an all Aussie lad like myself. :D

are you taking the piss?

[Jox]

^^LOL, if your seventh generation you'll be fine.

That has to be the funniest I read in awhile, Hahahaha!!

[paradox]

that german bloke has no family by the sounds of it, why can't they just let the guy roam if thats what he wants to do? it seems he's perfectly justified in not being fussed about the fuss surrounding him. why do they bother wasting all that time & resources? if he dies, it's his own choice he doesn't seem to mind, he's living his truth.. why does anyone else feel the need to get involved? as long as he's not hurting anyone or any thing.. the only reason it's a problem is that the authorities made it their business to get involved.

riley, if you're gonna do this, isn't it about time you walk the walk? is starting to seem like just a drawn out fantasy that you'd like us to help you to imagine.

which is fine by the way.

[Halcyon Daze]

A wise man once told me "don't be a 'gunna-do-er', be an 'already-did-er' "

What's it gunna be Riley?

[Psychaesthetic]

Well yes, sure, but - to my mind at least - walking-the-walk doesn't involve wandering out un-prepared. If I had a deathwish, I'd find a more creative way to off myself than starving or freezing solid.

I told you all it wasn't happening for a few months geesh calm down ;)

I've got a 90L pack, 4-season tent and sleeping bag sorted, and am going to scrap a few things from the inventory as a result of this. The tent's only 3kg, back's 3, sleeping bag's 1kg, and they're all small enough to fit in the pack, so nothing has to be tied onto the outside. I haven't bothered to get a water bladder yet, because I know a 3ltr cap. bladder will weight 3 kgs, so we're up to about 10kgs for all the basics, reakon that gives me about another 15kgs before it gets too uncomfortable or tiring to carry.

I'm keen to know of a solar charger that'll charge at least my phone now, because the few I've read-up on just don't seem to have the juice to do it.

[Psychaesthetic]

Reakon I'll go out for a few days locally to road test everything too.

I'll arrange to be dropped off and picked-up five days later or something, and that'll give me a chance to iron-out any kinks in the plan, albeit not in the same environment.

[glimpse]

xylem water filters

this might be old news to most here but i just learned about them recently and thought it was really cool

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2014/need-a-water-filter-peel-a-tree-branch-0226.html

[paradox]

you'd need some pretty serious vacuum to draw water through that 'xylem filter'. they never seemed to mention that in those recent viral articles

[DELETED ACCOUNT]

When you do find a nice place, you can park your van permanently like this one.

tumblr_m99simkMjI1r8rntuo6_1280 (1).jpg

I was just thinking that Riley's story reminded me a bit of Christopher McCandless, although not quite that extreme! Watch what bush tucker you eat, dude...

Into the Wild is one of my favourite films, not least of all because I'm a bit of a fan of Catherine Keener...

Edited March 14, 2014 by antoncan

[Psychaesthetic]

I'll grab a 3ltr "hydration system" - you know, a water bottle with a tube is all they are, marketting is so fulla shit - and for filtering I've got my eye on the family size lifestraw, which has a gravity-fes 2ltr bowl and filters 99.999% of pathogens etc from the water, but also filters up to 60,000 litres of water without any need at all for chemicals, changimg filters or any shit like that.

They're only $99, so long as there's any kind of water around, I'll be good for hydration.

The Sleeping bag is rated 0oC, and I thought a while about that: I originally wanted a -6oC bag, but I figure it's unlikely go get quite that cold, so 0oC seemed a good, generally cold-protective number.

The tent is a beastly 3-man, 4-season geodesic number that's won't have any issue with stability or warmth even in snow, and at 2.5m across and 2.5m long, it's not as light as the smaller 1-2 man tents, but for the extra kilo it weights, I've got a castle. My pack - being 90L is almost as big as a second person, so although I thought about going with a light, swaggish rectangular tent, I figured the surplus space will at least mean I'm not cramped if it's pissing rain for a week straight and I'm stuck inside.

So most the big ticket items are now sorted, it's just a matter of deciding how much weight I'm willing to carry and what can be tossed right now etc,.

[Psychaesthetic]

I've bought and started flicking through ibooks about bush tucker, orienteering, camping and survival, though I don't plan on eating bugs to stay alove, and I sure as hell won't be fillomg my bag(s) with tinned baked beans. I don't know what'd possessed him to carry such heavy tinned food, but if I do stuff beans in my food sack, they'll be dried then reconstituted when I need em, not wet in the can. :D

I also want to find some ebooks or other info on looking for gems and take a gold pan with me, since I'll be hovering around a water source there's likely creeks etc I can have a go at.

Plastic gold pans are very light, and they make them as small as cereal bowls too. Anyhow, I don't know much about prospecting other than it's usually done at a creek or stream. My uncles took me gold panning a few times as a kid, but that was a while ago now ;)

Edited March 14, 2014 by Riley

[Psychaesthetic]

I was just thinking that Riley's story reminded me a bit of Christopher McCandless, although not quite that extreme! Watch what bush tucker you eat, dude...

Into the Wild is one of my favourite films, not least of all because I'm a bit of a fan of Catherine Keener...

Yeah I don't expect i'll end up like him somehow

I also like carving wood, and there'll be no limit to the variety of gnarled crotchy figured wood I can choose from out there, just from fallen branches.

[Psychaesthetic]

Here's a ceremonial dagger I've started from a splinter that cracked off a log from a Jacaranda in the yard.

Just an example really, while I'm here. The finished carvings will be plenty light enough to carry so I should be able to carry plenty with me.

Mm can't see the teeth on the side properly from thr photo, and it looks dull because it's not been finished, but a few coats of french polish and it'll rub up beautiful.

Edited March 14, 2014 by Riley

[Psychaesthetic]

So tonight or tomorrow I'll set the tent up and confirm there's nothing missing or wrong with it, then stuff it in the pack and that's that taken care of.

[Jox]

Dry food means you need more water, 3ltr's water wont last more than a day. I figure you won't plan on walking more than a few kilometers from water or roads. This would mean you will be moved along by council, police, rangers pretty regularly. No offence but you don't seem to understand there is a HUGE difference to bush survival & camping, you seem to be getting organized for a camping trip not living in the wilderness. If you want to make a camp were you can stay long term you need to head deep into the wilderness. Do you know how to get water were there is no creek/river/rain? Were are you going to shit, how are you going to wipe your ass? Man your best bet would be to live in your tent at a camp ground (clean water, toilets, amenities etc), do this for a month or two & see if you still want to "live in the bush".

Edited March 14, 2014 by Jox