What's the most extreme thing you've done outdoors, or tried to? \ stacker news ~Ask

What's the most extreme thing you've done outdoors, or tried to?

3637 sats \ 85 comments \ @Fabs 7 Jan Ask_SN

The question is simple, yet the possible outcome of said question may very well blow our wildest expectations of each other!

I'll give one simple example; I've survived out in the wild for 15 days straight and took down a wild boar, all with my titanium spork.

That's the stuff we need! Heroism!

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1403 sats \ 22 replies \ @Turnspit_Dog 7 Jan

Without doxxing myself, I've demonstrated all my skills for a worldwide TV audience numerous times.

I've taught and consulted on various preparedness and survival topics for most of my life. I've even lived off the grid in a few disaster events for weeks on end.

I jokingly tell all my friends that I teach rich people how to live like poor people, and they pay me for it.

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @roytheholographicuniverse 8 Jan

How do I sign up for your wilderness survival class!?

21 sats \ 18 replies \ @Fabs OP 7 Jan

See, Stackers?! I know how to lure them out!

Alrighty, you've gotta tell us more about it, can't let us hanging here all teased-up!

What specific skills do you teach, and what disasters have you lived through?

1420 sats \ 17 replies \ @Turnspit_Dog 7 Jan

Dammnit... I took the bait huh?

I have taught wilderness survival starting back before it was cool to do so on social media. But it is typically split between people wanting to be more secure in their daily lives, whether that is in their homes or in other environments. I have also worked with training various emergency services, training their trainers on building emergency preparedness plans. (I know, not that specific.) And yes, I take small groups of people out to do wilderness survival since they watch that on TV.

As for me specifically, I used to live on the coast, and have been through a few disasterous hurricanes. I can tell you this, cigarettes and alcohol are superb bartering items. I cannot tell you how good these things are to have.

Some tips to get anyone started in their own emergency plans:

Prepare for what you see on the first 5 minutes of your local news. This is the situation you will most likely find yourself in. Not a plane crash, not stranded on some island, and not naked with the member of the opposite sex for 21 days.
Since you spend the majority of your time at home or near it, take one Friday night before dark and turn off all your power and water. See what works for you or not until the sun comes up the next morning. Then try this again the next month for 48 hours. Rinse and repeat until you feel comfortable going 72 hours hunkered down in your home with everything you need.
Have 3 different ways to make coffee without power. Super important.
Understand that there is broadcast TV and radio still available. Do you have anyway to get news without the internet.
Practice being bored. In today's society where dopamine hits are the norm, practice doing nothing. It's amazing when I take people's phones away from them when starting a class. Some folks cannot do without them and it really puts additional stressors on their learning.
Make sure you are in shape.
Lastly, read One Second After by William R. Forstchen. That is probably the most ac curate situation of a true survival scenario.

Just some random rambling to get you thinking.

100 sats \ 15 replies \ @Fabs OP 7 Jan

Cool, thanks for sharing!

How are people during classes?

Do they see the course as a "fun experience", or are they serious about upping their skills?

I've been thinking about booking a survival / bushcraft class, too.

121 sats \ 14 replies \ @Turnspit_Dog 7 Jan

Good question.

It used to be art imitates life, but now life imitates art. And what I mean by that, is most people today want to do what they see on TV, versus learn skills that could potentially save their lives or those around them.

Secondly, it used to be knowledge based survival skills, but today it is more gear based survival skills. Just remember, you can carry knowledge with you everywhere, and gear will supplement your knowledge. That way if you lose your gear, you are still in good shape. But with gear based survival, no gear in the world will supplant knowledge should you lose your gear. I think it is from our consumer based society today and social media influences.

So if you are thinking of taking a class, just know that there isn't an official survival association of accredited instructors. It can be hit or miss. Research the classes you are taking, trying to see how much "stuff" they are trying to sell you versus if they truly have an interest in education. And remember, these are skills to save your life. Treat it as such.

0 sats \ 13 replies \ @Fabs OP 7 Jan

Yeah, well put. I also see them (the classes) issue "packing lists" often times, is that a yay or a nay in your eyes?

Of course, people wanna imitate "Naked Survival", Ed Stafford's adventures or "Dual Survival"- which I get, it's cool, and thus are looking for those "skills" while booking a course.

What are the main things you're teaching, what gear is "necessary", how has the above changed your way of teaching and is a knife really the survival tool?

0 sats \ 12 replies \ @Turnspit_Dog 7 Jan

"My good reason to carry a knife is that God gave me rather weak teeth and rudimentary claws in an evolutionary trade-off. The hairy-armed person who figured out how to put an edge on a suitable rock made it possible for us to be recognizably human in the first place. I wear a wristwatch whether or not I have an appointment to keep, and I carry a pen and/or pencil because I am a literate person whether or not I have a specific writing task ahead of me, and I carry a knife because I am a human and not an ape.

A knife comes in handy for all sorts of random tasks that involve separating matter. Like cutting a string, or making a sandwich, or opening a package. It can also come in handy in an emergency, which need not involve a human assailant, and emergencies are by their nature unforseen, so one should carry a knife all the time.

And in a perfect world where nobody needed a weapon, I'd probably carry a slightly larger knife, because it wouldn't scare people." - James Mattis

A knife and a Bic lighter are the bare minimum pieces of gear I consider one should have. We could get into the ferro rod argument about what is the best way to make a fire, but if you were to look at any office building by the entry door, when it is freezing cold with winds blowing at 40 MPH, you will see a group of people smoking. If there were a better way to light a cigarette, these folks would use it. Just carry a Bic lighter. Plus if you are incapacitated someone else in your party will know how to use a Bic lighter, hell, even a child. They will not know how to use the latest and greatest fire making doo-dad.

But you should know how to make a fire and a suitable edged cutting tool in the event that you are separated form your gear, or know how to get by without. Knowledge based survival.

10 sats \ 8 replies \ @Public_N_M_E 7 Jan

Just carry a Bic lighter. Plus if you are incapacitated someone else in your party will know how to use a Bic lighter,

Couldn't agree more. Multiple lighters aswell. Whenever I was in the field I'd have two on my person, and 1 in each pocket of my bag, so I'm never (or someone else) searching hard for a lighter.

Tampons aswell. Carry tampons and condoms. Condom can hold about a litre of water. And tampons make great kindling when you shred it. Small lightweight items can be such huge difference makers.

If you're out with someone, ensure they know exactly where your first aid kit is. (Make sure you know where there's is too), if it's needed use there's on them and they use yours on you. I'm not saying something like yeah they know it's in my bag, or in the top pocket of my bag, I want their hands to go straight to it when they need to, I want them to know by touch that it's in the top on the right in a waterproof sealed plastic wallet.

Got a touch carried away... But yeah... Multiple lighters, tampons and condoms, some on your person and some in your bag.

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0 sats \ 2 replies \ @Fabs OP 7 Jan

That's a solid statement about the knife-part, what about the others?

What knife would you pick for outdoors? I'm thinking about a Seax.. :)

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10 sats \ 0 replies \ @Coyote_Cosmico 8 Jan

Lastly, read One Second After by William R. Forstchen. That is probably the most ac curate situation of a true survival scenario.

Thanks for this recommendation, I got this book yesterday after seeing your comment, and stayed up until 3 a.m. last night reading it. Finished almost half the book on one sitting - really cool book on many levels! Thanks 🙏

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @gd 8 Jan

That is awesome!

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @TNStacker 7 Jan

Cool

580 sats \ 7 replies \ @benthecarman 7 Jan

I've been skydiving twice. Once I have free time I'd love to get certified

0 sats \ 6 replies \ @Fabs OP 7 Jan

They say it's peaceful once you're falling, I can't imagine it to be anything near peaceful.

0 sats \ 5 replies \ @benthecarman 7 Jan

Tbh you can't even tell you're falling besides the air going past you, you're so high up you can't really tell the ground is getting closer

0 sats \ 4 replies \ @Fabs OP 7 Jan

What are you feeling then?

0 sats \ 3 replies \ @benthecarman 7 Jan

Adrenaline and cold

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @Fabs OP 7 Jan

Just as expected, cold cold, or just cold?

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @benthecarman 7 Jan

It's not that bad like a cold fall day

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fabs OP 7 Jan

Hmm, I think you're focused on other things anyway, such as the parachute and if it's going to fail or not... :)

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100 sats \ 0 replies \ @nando 8 Jan

I have always been struggling in the face of adversity. Life has always put me in a tight spot since the womb. At 5-6 months gestation, I was born premature and was on the verge of death in an incubator for months.

I have no memory of that fact, but I am told that the doctors did not give a dime for me. Someone had decided to fight to live.

For those who do not know, I am my own story of struggle and overcoming:

A difficult gestation and a standing delivery, with with doctors who gave little hope of life. Someone had made the decision to live.
Outside, an absent father. According to what I am told, he denied me, a story that one day I must unravel. Consequently, an infancy, childhood and adolescence without that necessary support that is your father.
A context of upbringing with a lot of poverty mentality, including the country context, a ballast that I have been removing since I was 33, thanks to being self-taught. Someone had decided to be prosperous (in all the extension of the word) which is not the same as rich. It goes beyond that.

And so, at 45, I continue to struggle, but to positively influence my life (that does not stop) and that of my environment (including them). Finally, someone decided one day to give it his all and start leaving a mark.

So, when someone or something wants to come and defeat me, let them know that I already know the taste of defeat, and the taste of resilience as well.

121 sats \ 1 reply \ @roytheholographicuniverse 8 Jan

Climbing Huayna Picchu's "Stairs of Death" (a section of stone steps built by the Incas which lead to the top) during a rainstorm. No railings and totally-exposed drop offs. Would never do it again.

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fabs OP 8 Jan

Sounds like a pretty awesome way to die, though; "Yeah, Fred died while climbing the stairs to heaven"...

24 sats \ 3 replies \ @tomlaies 7 Jan

Going Canyoning in Corsica when I was around 15.

Back in the day the island wasn't overrun by tourists. So much so that in the mountains the locals (mostly old people since most people <40 moved to the mainland) would actively come to you to have smalltalk etc.

Anyways, back in the day the Canyoning wasn't even a tourist industry yet. A friend from a family we did our Corsica vacation together with and I followed some native teenagers straight through the woods (no trail) until we were at the creek. Followed the stream, natural slides and jumping down into trues.

Real Gopro stuff but back in the day we didn't think about that - we just lived in the moment. These canyons are mostly surrounded by fences or with "experience" businesses nowadays. It's over. It will never again like it once was.

8 sats \ 2 replies \ @Fabs OP 7 Jan

I can absolutely imagine what you're describing, the scenery as well as the "feel" you had.

It's a cruel joke that everything comes with a ticket nowadays, or a fine...

24 sats \ 1 reply \ @tomlaies 7 Jan

I was just looking through my old pictures how these natural canyons are. Unfortunately I had nothing on me in that year but I made a picture of a similar canyon a few years later with an ipod touch lol:

The one we descended was much less forested. But you can see the natural slides.

30 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fabs OP 7 Jan

Yeah, awesome dude.

24 sats \ 4 replies \ @TNStacker 7 Jan

Tried to hike/climb Mt. Shasta in a single push. Doable, but not by me at the time.

3 sats \ 3 replies \ @Fabs OP 7 Jan

There are many mysteries surrounding that place, ain't it?

3 sats \ 2 replies \ @TNStacker 7 Jan

Indeed

3 sats \ 1 reply \ @Fabs OP 7 Jan

I'd like to hear about them from you, and so do others!

24 sats \ 0 replies \ @TNStacker 7 Jan

The mountain is a volcano, second to last in the Cascade Range. Not only is it a volcano, it is large enough to make its own weather. As you might imagine legends go back forever. The local Native American tribe,.the Klamath, (don't quote me) has their origin story there or the Great Chief landed on the summit or something like that, so it is sacred. People go there to do sweats in pelt tents.

Some say aliens, or someone, built a city inside it. There are weird metaphysical anomolies/phenomena that some have witnessed. And I think they saw Big Foot in those parts back in the 70s.

The town, Weed, is at. the foot before the town of Shasta City and it is the northern border of California Cannabis growing country. The world's premier.

There is plenty on Google.

Here's the Wikipedia:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legends_of_Mount_Shasta#:~:text=California's%20Mount%20Shasta%20has%20been,human%20beings%20or%20mythical%20creatures.

3 sats \ 5 replies \ @nicosey 7 Jan

I trained in Shaolin Temple China...

10 sats \ 2 replies \ @tomlaies 7 Jan

Wow, that's super cool. How come?

6 sats \ 1 reply \ @nicosey 8 Jan

No real reason. I was in a boring 9-5 job, it was around 2008 after the financial crises when I was questioning lots of stuff. I saw a documentary about shaolin and there was a westerner interviewed about needing an adventure.

It inspired me, so quit my job and went there for a couple of months. I was in good shape when I arrived, however the training was intense and I still dropped huge about of pounds.

You need adventures in life. School, job, retirement, is not the way to go...

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fabs OP 8 Jan

Yeah, totally feel you man, I don't see myself either OMG away in a 9-5 either... Still figuring it out though.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Fabs OP 7 Jan

If that's true than that's freakin' amazing!

You better get typing, that's the stuff we want to read about!

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @nicosey 8 Jan

More adventurous back packing.

3 sats \ 3 replies \ @Undisciplined 7 Jan

Probably going on a back-country skiing/snowboarding weekend without a tent. We dug out a snow shelter near the top of the mountain to sleep in. It's actually warmer than a tent in that environment, but it's a ton of work to make it.

282 sats \ 2 replies \ @Fabs OP 7 Jan

Cool, but did you take food and a way to prepare it?

2 sats \ 1 reply \ @Undisciplined 7 Jan

Yes. The point was to go skiing and snowboarding, not specifically to be as extreme as possible.

I have gone on other camping trips where we caught or foraged most of what we ate and cooked it over a camp fire, but honestly that's easier than digging out a snow shelter.

282 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fabs OP 7 Jan

Cool, you're officially "Extreme-approved", well done, Sir.

0 sats \ 3 replies \ @JustinGoldberg 19 Jan

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0 sats \ 2 replies \ @Fabs OP 19 Jan

I'm a bit puzzles as to what exactly you're trying to tell me.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @JustinGoldberg 19 Jan

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fabs OP 19 Jan

That's not cool, dude.

Level-up your pre frontal cortex!

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @BitcoinOutdoors 10 Jan

I did many extreme things but I will share one today that is a must on the bucket list.

Renting side by side machines and ripping up the desert in Arizona. Not only is it a thrill (if you drive fast and take fast turns and not drive slow like a toddler). I mean these things can hit 90+ The scenery and views is like no other. This is motors meet outdoors!

Here is a picture…..

100 sats \ 1 reply \ @Fabs OP 10 Jan

Yeah, that's what I call the "GTA-lifestyle".

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @BitcoinOutdoors 10 Jan

😂

0 sats \ 5 replies \ @DiracDelta 9 Jan

Descended down the wrong drainage after ascending a mountain in the Sierra Nevada. Was very sketchy and involved a glacier crossing with no snow gear. Prior party to go that way needed a rescue and was stuck there overnight. Looking it up just now, it seems a couple people got lost in that general area a couple years ago and were never found.

Don't feel need to talk about anything that someone might classify as heroic though, I think that's just called being a man.

0 sats \ 4 replies \ @Fabs OP 9 Jan

Well, in your case it has nothing to do with being a man, it's called being lucky. Respect though, I'd probably have died there.

0 sats \ 3 replies \ @DiracDelta 9 Jan

I'm talking about the thing I didn't tell you about, and it's being a climber who can lightly free solo, not just luck.

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @Fabs OP 9 Jan

Free solo?.. Man, that's straight-up crazy. Crazy in terms of skill, but it's absolute lunacy to me why someone would do that.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @DiracDelta 9 Jan

It's a range, and I certainly don't look like what you'll see on YouTube. The only soloing I have ever done is on terrain that is borderline like a ladder to me, and I haven't done a tone of it.

The incredible thing about some free soloists is that they have free solo'd terrain only slightly less difficult than the hardest routes to ever be climbed in the world at that time.

Also, soloing is sort of like holding your own keys. Total freedom and responsibility for what happens.

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fabs OP 9 Jan

With the minor differences that a fuck-up means that you'll die.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @erict875 8 Jan

5k open water swimming in the Mediterranean. Pure bliss when you get into a flow and the mind just... stops.

I'll never forget!

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fabs OP 9 Jan

You know, some comments made me realize that there are things I'll gladly pass on. 🤫😆

0 sats \ 3 replies \ @needcreations_ 8 Jan

@BitcoinOutdoors

110 sats \ 2 replies \ @Fabs OP 9 Jan

Hey there "B'O"... 🤫

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @BitcoinOutdoors 9 Jan

Shhhhhhhh 👀

50 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fabs OP 9 Jan

...Wanna take another dive? This time I'll join you... 🤩

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @cleaningup12 7 Jan

I just came here for some hot air for my balloon 🔥🎈

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fabs OP 7 Jan

I don't know what you're after, but I'll take at as an insult anyways.

0 sats \ 10 replies \ @Public_N_M_E 7 Jan

CQB training inside a mountain, doors closed, no natural light. Couldn't see your own hand in front of your face. Now go flush out an enemy and don't get yourself or any of your section killed. That was crazy, but an incredible experience.

21 sats \ 9 replies \ @Fabs OP 7 Jan

Awesome, you're "Extreme-approved", too!

Sounds like I better don't poke you in the wrong places...

0 sats \ 8 replies \ @Public_N_M_E 7 Jan

😂 it is true what they say though. The rest of your senses get super heightened. Hearing, feeling, smell. You can almost feel the airflow around the place telling you where objects are. It's a really cool experience.

0 sats \ 7 replies \ @Fabs OP 7 Jan

Yeah, I'd really like to take a walk in the woods while it's dark, doesn't come close but works as a "sneaky peaky" :)

0 sats \ 6 replies \ @Public_N_M_E 7 Jan

That in itself is a special experience. When training it was almost eerie because well... You know that you are going to get contact, that's the point. But take that element away, you hear so much and sometimes it can feel unsettling but get comfortable in what makes you unsettled and you'll find yourself pretty well prepared for a lot of things you couldn't prepare for deliberately.

0 sats \ 5 replies \ @Fabs OP 7 Jan

Yeah, I'll combine that experience with a "first night's out" in the woods, only the thought of it makes my heart beat go up.

0 sats \ 4 replies \ @Public_N_M_E 7 Jan

The first time I ever "stood to" was intense, you're expecting at any moment for shots to start getting fired. Sometimes they did, sometimes not but it's a long long time to maintain that hyper awareness. It's an experience for sure.

0 sats \ 3 replies \ @Fabs OP 7 Jan

I imagine that a "hit" is much more painful too, since you simply don't see it coming, it's an even more unpleasant surprise:D

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