# I'm scared as hell, and I can't take it anymore! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 24, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-scared-as-hell-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/341425 "2006-01-24T18:59:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-scared-as-hell-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/341425/1 "2006-01-24T18:59:02Z")
Ok, maybe it’s not as bad as all that, but let’s pretend for a moment that I was a reasonably intelligent and capable individual who quite simply believes the best thing to do for the rest of my life is to drop off the radar and fend for myself in the wilderness. Is there a compendium of useful general knowledge, apart from the internet, that would be useful, durable and portable that I could take with me? Kinda like, “The Book That Tells How” should such a text actually exist. And when cosidering an answer, pretend that the chief concern leading to the evacuation is paranoia, so internet-based or any other kind of trackable research is out of the question. Just an exercise, you understand. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-scared-as-hell-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/341425/2 "2006-01-24T19:04:11Z")
There are survival guides a-plenty, but it would be helpful to know what kind of wilderness this hypothetical paranoid person would be escaping into. Temperate forest? Grassland? Desert? Jungle? Mountains? Ocean? Lake? River? Wilderness survival courses also about, from Outward Bound to REI trips to more hardcore tours. Sign up for one of those under a pseudonym, and pay cash. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-scared-as-hell-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/341425/3 "2006-01-24T19:05:38Z")
What you need is [this book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060578793/everythingshak06/103-7388551-1063832?dev-t=D2CWDETWPWDMNQ%26camp=2025%26link_code=xm2). The best wilderness survival book on the planet, hands down. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-scared-as-hell-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/341425/4 "2006-01-24T19:24:04Z")
I’d say you should go to a public library or other anonymous place and download like crazy from [here](http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/) and [here](http://www.again.net/~steve/page7c.htm). Alternatively, go to a gunshow and buy hardcopy versions. Living in the wilderness has a lot in common with being homeless. Read this [essay.](http://donrearic.com/homeless.htm) ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-scared-as-hell-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/341425/5 "2006-01-24T19:26:24Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > Ok, maybe it’s not as bad as all that, but let’s pretend for a moment that I was a reasonably intelligent and capable individual who quite simply believes the best thing to do for the rest of my life is to drop off the radar and fend for myself in the wilderness. > > Is there a compendium of useful general knowledge, apart from the internet, that would be useful, durable and portable that I could take with me? Kinda like, “The Book That Tells How” should such a text actually exist. > > And when cosidering an answer, pretend that the chief concern leading to the evacuation is paranoia, so internet-based or any other kind of trackable research is out of the question. Just an exercise, you understand. Get a copy of The U.S. Army Survival Manual(FM 21-76). Out of curiousity, how many bodies will the authorities find? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-scared-as-hell-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/341425/6 "2006-01-24T19:36:01Z")
You might read Jon Krakhauer’s _Into The Wild_ if for nothing else plenty of motivation to rethink such a quest. ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-scared-as-hell-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/341425/7 "2006-01-24T20:04:11Z")
There are many books which could be useful for this sort of thing. I fancy myself an outdoorsman and have a collection of books on tracking and wilderness survival. Also most Military Surplus shops have some military training handbooks for sale, might consider checking them out. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-scared-as-hell-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/341425/8 "2006-01-24T21:23:10Z")
Get a copy of “Tappan On Survival” at your local used book store. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-scared-as-hell-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/341425/9 "2006-01-24T21:24:21Z")
Oh, and pay cash. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-scared-as-hell-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/341425/10 "2006-01-24T21:50:56Z")
Try the [LSR Bookstore.](http://www.libertymls.com/book1.html) My Dad liked the Foxfire series a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-scared-as-hell-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/341425/11 "2006-01-24T22:02:36Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > You might read Jon Krakhauer’s _Into The Wild_ if for nothing else plenty of motivation to rethink such a quest. Seconded. Perhaps if you had gone through a military survival school you may be able to hack it, but most of these are concerned with short term survival (survival being the optimal word here). Not with an out and out lifestyle change. These techniques are developed so you don’t die, _before they come and bring you back._ Sadly, I think that Tom Hanks movies aside, most of us wouldn’t fair much better than Krakhauer’s antagonist mentioned in **Leiu’s** post. Less Swiss Family Robinson and more Swiss Cheese Looking Skeleton. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-scared-as-hell-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/341425/12 "2006-01-24T22:05:00Z")
Whoops…try “protagonist”. I don’t think that young McCandless was doing this just to irk Jon Krakauer. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-scared-as-hell-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/341425/13 "2006-01-24T22:07:21Z")
What about those “Worst Case Scenario” books? They seem to cover alot of contigencies, from dates to crocodiles. ---
**Author:** ![Alma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alma)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-scared-as-hell-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/341425/14 "2006-01-24T22:10:56Z")
I found [this](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400049628/qid=1138140567/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-4906759-3874411?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) book to be particularly helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Kyyrewyyoae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Kyyrewyyoae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyyrewyyoae)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-scared-as-hell-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/341425/15 "2006-01-24T22:47:15Z")
[This](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0895779390/qid=1138142165/sr=8-2/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-0866235-0169641?n=507846&s=books&v=glance) book isn’t exactly a survival book, but it has a lot of useful information. I’ll also second **lieu** ’s suggestion of Jon Krakhauer’s _Into The Wild_ as a cautionary tale. Great book. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-scared-as-hell-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/341425/16 "2006-01-24T22:49:07Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Oh, and pay cash. I’m with you, mate. I satisfy my “Catcher In The Rye” fix with cash only. I just get a bad feeling when I buy the book with a debit card. **lieu** & **Cluricaun** , trust me, I have no sense of romance about any of this…OK, maybe a little. But certainly days go by that, were I were offered the choice of spending one more day in my current soul-crushing lifestyle or one good day in the elements culminating in a sound bear-mauling, well, I think someone else would have to work my files from there on out. As a touche’ let me suggest reading _The Patriot Act_ as a tonic for those who would reconsider NOT heading for the hills. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-scared-as-hell-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/341425/17 "2006-01-24T23:03:30Z")
Ye gods man. The _Patriot Act_? What do you do that raises such concern, wholesale copies of Mein Kampf and the Turner Diaries? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-scared-as-hell-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/341425/18 "2006-01-24T23:11:11Z")
he he he…_Mein Kampf_? _Turner diaries_? These days I’d be wary of trying to find an old _Song of the South_ LP! But I didn’t mean for this to turn into this kind of a thread. Mostly I was curious about indispensable repositories of info for “gettin’ out there and makin’ it work” and maybe a little bit of insight into “what usually kills off the greenhorns in their first year.” And to that extent, thank you and **lieu** for _Into The Wild_. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-scared-as-hell-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/341425/19 "2006-01-24T23:15:32Z")
The [SAS survival guide](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0004723023/sr=1-3/qid=1138144387/ref=pd_bbs_3/002-2397802-4300056?%5Fencoding=UTF8) is available in pocket book size. Which I see is pretty much the same one [B[Dorjan\*\* linked to. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-scared-as-hell-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/341425/20 "2006-01-24T23:24:54Z")
Well, I’ll post this, with the caveat that I whole heartedly do not recommend following through with your Wolverines scenario (and I’d miss your posts here), …but there is actually a magazine dedicated to this kind of thing. Granted, it’s got it’s whacko elements (I guess you have to know your audience), but it does speak at length to your ideas. Although I don’t know why you would publish a magazine that most of your target audience wouldn’t be able to access if they followed through. :dubious: [Here you go.](http://www.backwoodshome.com/) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-scared-as-hell-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/341425.md?page=2)