   Since when did 'getting back to nature' include being in Cell phone range?
  So today I was talking with a group of people that loved 'extreme sports' and camping. Not being one for most extreme sports (sky diving sounds fun, but expensive for me right now, and I do plan to build my own aircraft sometime and fly that) the conversation moved towards camping, and gear they used.Anyway, these people who got 'way out there' for great 'adventures' and the like started going on about their gear, and how great it is. $400 ultra light sleeping bags, $1000 tents, GPS with built in satphone, solar panels for recharging gear. These 'extreme' guys were going out into the 'wilderness' to get back to nature,... One always had his Ipod with him, another carried some satilite phone with built in TV. They also went on about their great adventures and extreme camping conditions they went out in. Camping in late fall, with the nights getting down to -15C, and just how cold that was.*edit* they were a little silent after telling them I would camp out in winter without a tent, just shealters I would make myself. -40C windchill ftw!I go out camping, I have a $200 backpack, that is my single big ticket item. My sleeping bag is a $25 army surplus downfilled bag, and a few blankets. My tent isn't a tent. It is a pair of light weight, high quality tarps, either used for lean-tos, or as a cover for my sleeping bag. Camp stove is either a box of waterproof matches, flint and steel, or a string. (usually carry all of them. I like the string the most actually, save the others for when I need them) I have lots of other minor gear (biggest thing is a good first aid kit, never leave home without one) but those are the main things I take out with me, even on winter camping trips. Actually, I've gone for weekends with even less than that, just a waterbottle, beltknife, compass, a bit of dry food, waterfliter, and the clothes on my back (this is mid summer) as well as other odds and ends I can fit in my pockets. Just a small sack for the food over my shoulders. So, am I the only one that actually 'roughs' it when roughing it?[Edited by - Talroth on May 23, 2006 2:16:11 PM]
  Hmmm well...I never really cared about roughing it up, really.  Sleeping in a cheap sleeping bag at -15 in a lean-to is just not fun at all.  Carrying a cell phone is still a good idea.  Shit happens.  A broken leg alone in the woods is no fun.  As for the iPod, well, I guess if I tried to 'escape civilization' I wouldn't bring one.  Then again, I never cared about 'escaping civilization' (my door has a cool lock thing) and I don't own an iPod.I enjoy the outdoor, but I don't need either high-tech gadgets or primitive living conditions to feel manly I guess.   ;  These are city people, their idea of surviving is having an iPod and a TV with GPS . If you really want to rough it up and "getting back to nature", then you should probably learn how to catch fishes and hunt rabbits and start fire with wooden sticks.   ;  What's worse is the people who go 'camping' in RVs.  What the hell.  Might as well just stay home if you're bringing an RV.   ;Quote:Original post by GreenToadWhat's worse is the people who go 'camping' in RVs.  What the hell.  Might as well just stay home if you're bringing an RV.RVs are a little different, that is more like going on a trip and staying in a motel, only you bring the motel around with you.What I'll never understand is why people pay to go to a campground and sleep in a tent that they'll setup close to 50 or more other families. I can maybe see having to do that if you are in, say europe, but why people do it in Canada, where we have something like 3 or 4 people per KM^2 over all, and parts that are as low as 1 per 100km^2, why do people do that?   ;Quote:Original post by Talroth....Your nickname doesn't happen to be, "Survivor Man", does it? I think I've seen you before...like... on the Discovery Channel. [grin]As for me, I never go camping without my trusty teleporter.   ;  There are different levels of "roughing it."  If you're Chuck, you don't need sleeping bags, tents, socks, bug repellant, food, water or shoes.And while I can understand having gadgets around to pass idle time, I'd be disappointed in people who do that to entertain themselves while they are surrounded by nature.  I would always be itching to pick a random direction and start walking.   ;Quote:Original post by jfclavetteHmmm well...I never really cared about roughing it up, really.  Sleeping in a cheap sleeping bag at -15 in a lean-to is just not fun at all.  Carrying a cell phone is still a good idea.  Shit happens.  A broken leg alone in the woods is no fun.  As for the iPod, well, I guess if I tried to 'escape civilization' I wouldn't bring one.  Then again, I never cared about 'escaping civilization' (my door has a cool lock thing) and I don't own an iPod.I enjoy the outdoor, but I don't need either high-tech gadgets or primitive living conditions to feel manly I guess.+1 for a cell phone being a good idea.  Seriously, these things have off buttons.  Turn it off, carry it around in case something bad happens.Actually, this whole post is my idea of camping.  I don't go to "escape civilization" or to "get back to nature"; I camp to enjoy nature.  I actually think it's more fun camping with other families.  Like I say, I'm not trying to get away from people, I'm trying to enjoy nature, and I enjoy things more when I'm enjoying them with other people.Cheap tent, cheap sleeping bags, cheap matches from Wal-mart (gather or buy wood at the site), cooler (with at least water, hotdogs, BBQ sauce, and s'more ingredients).  Throw it in the back of the car, go camping.  I don't have an iPod, but I like to bring some CD's because quite often I can think of the perfect song to go with the scenery (of course, about as often, the perfect song is already being sung by the birds, rivers, and trees).Sure, some people are more hard core about it, but does that make my enjoyment wrong?  The again, I don't claim to be "roughing it" or brag about how sleeping outside in -15 degree whether makes my nuts retreat but adds six inches.;Quote:Original post by Programmer OneQuote:Original post by Talroth....Your nickname doesn't happen to be, "Survivor Man", does it? I think I've seen you before...like... on the Discovery Channel. [grin]ah, that guy is a bit of a whimp. Like he always just 'happens' to have an old bike, or the airplane he just crashed in with him. Actually, he does things I never would, swamps and hot deserts, and artic deserts. I'll stick to the save wilderness, places that don't have small things that can easily kill me, or large lizards and stuff.As for the cellphone and me not carrying one, few reasons why I don't. First is I simply don't own one. Second is most of the valleys I'm backpacking in can't get a signal in anyway, many can't even get Sat connections apparently. Third, I figure I should give Darwin his dues. If I do something stupid while I'm out backpacking, I deserve to have culled myself from the gene pool. (Not that I have much chance of passing anything like that on anyway)   ;  Meh, to me is not about getting closer to nature, that sounds hippie, to me, it would be more about getting away from all the people surrounding me.   