tenting it in scotland for a year

slambo69 said:
I know, living in scotland - he would be safer winging it in somalia.

Why am I still taking the OP's idea seriously...:(
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If living out of a tent for a year and hunting for your food were an easy endeavour then everyone would be doing it. However it isn't and is the subject of several lengthy and non-exhaustive survival courses that can be undertaken both in the military and civilian worlds.

However if the OP has a bottomless pit o' gold then I'm sure living on camp sites in Scotland for a year would be easy enough, if a little stinky.

Do something more interesting like 'travelling' in the more traditional sense. Just try to leave the over-inflated sense of self enlightenment that it tends to give people in whatever far flung corner of the world it is that you go to visit.
 
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Jingo... said:
If you have no commitments and fancy something potentially very different, then go for it :)

if this is purely drunken post-pub talk then boo-urns to you :(
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Oh man, Ive been reading sickipedia all day plus other jokes but that gets me every time.

Smithers are they booing me?

No sir, they are saying boo-urns!
 
Windle said:
It's not unfeasible at all. Providing he doesn't need to work, can get himself to Scotland in the first place and has money to feed himself. There are plenty of "proper" campsites which offer shower/wash facilities if he's feeling stinky and he can cook his own food.
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I see it as going out into some remote part of Northern scotland and hunting/gathering for food.

Although not completely unfeasable, take a look at "Alone in the wild" or whatever it was on Channel 4, although the guy is really annoying, he only lasted a month and a half or something before having to give up because of lack of food :)

Campsites and buying ingredients from the local super-market to cook on a campfire would be fun, for a few weeks imo. A year would be horrible!
 
You should probably watch the film Into the Wild, it didn't end too well for that guy if I remember :p

That being said i think it's a pretty amazing idea, something I'd love to do. but as people have said I think it's going to be very hard to pull off, I think you're going to need to do a lot more research than just asking on a computing forum... You're going to need a small woodburning stove for starters, and lots of other fairly expensive gear. And you're going to have to plan very specifically where you intend to camp, near to the coast within close proximity to a river would be best I would think, going on some survival courses and such would be a must-do also.
 
Is expensive survival gear necessary? Only in the last century or two has camping been recgnised as a past time. Great armies conquered empires with just some cloth for a tent and basic hunting skills (of course the bread makers and auxilliary staff can easily be replaced by grocery stores).
 
Besides the obvious "are you nuts?" response,

I would also advise doing a first aid course, and make sure that you have proper survival equipment, including first aid kit, corn plasters, space blanket, flares, ideally an epirb of sorts, make sure that you are well aquainted with the law with regards to where you go and what you intend to do/hunt/eat, make sure that you plan your routes in advance and keep in regular contact with someone so that they know roughly where you are when you inevitably fall and break something.

Oh, solar charger for your phone too, pretty important (assuming you can get coverage).

And don't forget a spade
 
slambo69 said:
Is expensive survival gear necessary? Only in the last century or two has camping been recgnised as a past time. Great armies conquered empires with just some cloth for a tent and basic hunting skills (of course the bread makers and auxilliary staff can easily be replaced by grocery stores).
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Armies did well throughout history, because they also had large support networks, look towards the rear of many columns and you would find vast luggage trains and kitchens. The smaller the group, the more self reliant they are, the better equipped they need to be, in a modern sense, it would be reckless to walk into the wilds with almost nothing, even experienced survival experts would tell you that.
 
Ceryndrion said:
Armies did well throughout history, because they also had large support networks, look towards the rear of many columns and you would find vast luggage trains and kitchens. The smaller the group, the more self reliant they are, the better equipped they need to be, in a modern sense, it would be reckless to walk into the wilds with almost nothing, even experienced survival experts would tell you that.
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Yes, but what I meant was that instead of having a baker at your disposal, modern technology and improved food technology means sufficient energy can be carried which can last a long time. I am sure it is possible to survive between food shops even in the remotest parts of scotland without starving.
 
Is anyone else slightly concerned that someone planning on spending 12 months living in the wild isn't sure what kit he would need?
 
If you're planning on shooting stuff to feed yourself, then make sure you have permission on the land. I'd be very careful about this one if I were you.
 
i think its a good idea. i'd like to see a thread where he made a weekly update on his status, where he is, and what he's been doing for the week. if he's broken any bones, or gotten sick etc. it would be interesting to read.

i'd say go for it op. just follow your gut instinct, head down an out doors shop and get a few little bits of gear in prep.
 
I have to admit its something i would love to do, but somewhere like the Canadain forest areas, not Scotland... I remember watching a very interesting documentary about a man who built his own log cabin there one day and just ended up living there alone off the land.

I would think very seriously about doing it. My advice would be to try it out for two weeks, and bring lots of food with you. Just because you have all the snares/traps and a fishing rod doesnt guarantee a meal.

Edit - I also remember watching a show on channel 4 not that long ago, about the guy who tried to do what you are proposing (possibly in canada) and he lost a ridiculous amount of weight and basically went crazy and had to come home after 5 months.
 
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A Video Camera
A Diary


Video camera to document your year, once the year is up flog the footage to discovery channel :D

Diary to keep track of what you have done and something for you to do while in the tent ni the nights, also you can then make a boot about your past year ;)

unless you have past experience in such things it would be very unwise to attempt to try what you are suggesting even while in the UK, scotland has some of the coldest & harshest weather in the UK.
 
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