camping the start of shtf skills?

[Balinor]

I have posted a couple of threads with questions and have recieved great answers. so now i post another. here is some of the background
I have a packbacking weekend planed with a couple of freinds that have "outdoor" skills. They are going to test their shtf equipement. I am going to learn camping and what ever elsei can learn.
I told another person that i plan on going to a big camping store this weekend to see what is available and buy some supplies and equipment.
He stated that a camping store is NOT a survival store. My statement back to him was "what kind of survival skills do you have if you dont have camping skills , So camping skill can be a start fo my survival of shtf."

my question is how far off am I?

 

[SemperFiUSMC]

Primitive camping is a very good start. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.

I say primitive because if all you do is go to a campground, hook up to the water and electricity, and turn on your battery-powered shaver, you are vacationing, not camping. If you have to boil your own water for consumption, fish, forage or hunt for food, are sleeping in the open elements with a mind toward building a weather-resistant, defensible position, then you're doing it right.

I have posted a couple of threads with questions and have recieved great answers. so now i post another. here is some of the background
I have a packbacking weekend planed with a couple of freinds that have "outdoor" skills. They are going to test their shtf equipement. I am going to learn camping and what ever elsei can learn.
I told another person that i plan on going to a big camping store this weekend to see what is available and buy some supplies and equipment.
He stated that a camping store is NOT a survival store. My statement back to him was "what kind of survival skills do you have if you dont have camping skills , So camping skill can be a start fo my survival of shtf."

my question is how far off am I?

 

[Cpt Caveman]

Well I'd have to say that camping certainly can be a SHTF skill, and is definitely a survival skill. Nothing wrong with having that experience and I think you are going into it with your eyes and ears open , ready to learn, that's a good thing.

 

[rhart]

I dont think your too far off. Getting out in the woods away from all the conveniences makes you aware of some key survival skills like:
fire building for warmth, cooking, smoking (preserving) boling water to drink (purification) finding, cutting and splitting wood and learning the best kinds of wood. How much wood do you need for a day?
Being in the woods is the best way also to learn about the plants and animals eatible and medicinal
Shelter
Water
Food- finding, cooking, preserving
Getting rid of human waste. This is huge
Develping your awareness of your surroundings, by being in the woods camping and or hunting, you develop "skills" like hearing and seeing movements in the woods. A sixth sense of feeling when people or game is around
Map reading, orientating and or the use of your GPS
You learn about flashlights, knives, candles, cook stoves, tarps, water purifiers, socks, your boots, rope and knots. These are important. How good is your sleeping bag? Go camping in it when its 5 degrees. You ll know then. Really want to test it. Get it wet.
Not to mention, its good excersise to go hiking, and you need to know what its like to battle the elements, heat, cold mosquitos.
Me and two buddies went backpaking yesterday. We hiked in about 2 miles, set up camp, made dinner, shared our failures and successes about our gear. We slept in the snow in single digit temps. Because we have the right gear, we not only stayed comfortable, we had a blast. I do this every winter at least once. I still make mistakes like last night, I forgot to bring some water into the tent under my sleeping bag so it wasnt frozen for coffee this am. I knew better. You have to do it to remember.
Oh by the way, bring your rifle and say 500 rounds and do some responsible plinking where its legal.
Good luck and have fun

 

[ar15_dude]

Rough camping is good stuff. Good chance to check your equipment.

Good experience, especially for city kids that don't get to experience nature first hand very office.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Learning to find and make shelter, find food and water, and find your way around is a good set of basic survival skills. It's not necessarily the start of SHTF skills, but it is an important addition to them.

SHTF can take many forms and it can encompass a wide array of skillsets. Going to prison would qualify as SHTF for most of us here, and all jokes aside, surviving prison requires a different skill set than does surviving out in the woods. Losing ones job is SHTF. Death of a close loved one is SHTF. Finding out one has a terminal illness. And so on and so on.

So by all means, learn good woodscraft and outdoor survival skills. But don't stop there. Even outdoors survival skills can be very different based on where you are since desert survival is different than woods is different from ocean is different from arctic...

Meantime, have fun going camping and hiking, it's a reward unto itself!

 

[Sailor]

All good advice. Just dont load up on car camping gear. You know that heavy stuff that you use when car camping but that you would never take hiking.

Most camping equipment is multi-use, Its good to have, makes it easier to get family into camping/hiking. If I told my wife we were going camping with a knife, tarp, and 10/22 for squirrel she would be like umm no thanks.

On the other hand camping and surviving skills are not really the same, but if it gets you outside learning something keep it up.

 

[caneman]

It's possible and perhaps even likely you'll buy and waste money on things that are heavier and more expensive than you want.

Spend some time on youtube checking things like mini get home bags and making a hobo stove or wood burning stove. After you get some ideas on absolute essentials check on BOB's and get me home bags. All the while you probably want to keep your pack weight down to 32-35 pounds. If you're not used to it, another five pounds gets very heavy very fast.

A little home made tin can stove with a tea light candle will melt snow if it's that time of year. In most places here in Indiana you can find water, you just have to boil it instead of carryong 2-3 gallons for a weekend backpack. Tin can stoves are amazingly efficient using twigs for fuel instead of carrying alcohol or gel fuel.

A little homework will save you a lot of money and a sore back.

Have fun and make a list of what you didn't use and what you needed and didn't have.