companion wanted & living of the Grid advice

[NWNWNWNWNWNWNW]

Hi every one what a fab site bush craft uk is with loads of info to be had. Iv picked up loads tips over the past two years hovering around. Im a scot, interests have always been nature, wildlife - fauna & flora , fishing & hunting & my long time dream to live off the grid ! Live a simple self-reliance life in beautiful nature where I adore being in the great outdoors.
Iv descided I would like to do an experiment by living in a tepee for a season or maybe more & would welcome a partner to live in camp with same ideas. Although iv hunted & camped a lot my bush craft skills are zero as only study it for 2 years from books , internet, & anywhere else I could gain knowledge off . Im rich in theory but not in pratical which to me is a good thing (plenty to try out & practice ).
I don’t have a clue how to go about this & its legalalities ! Ideally I would like permission from a farmer to sett up camp ideally with mixed forests , with a water source & Scotland ( argyleshire is beautiful, 3 rd least populated place in uk rich in wild life & sea life near for sea fishing ) I f I cant get permission im thinking to use scotlands every mans right to wild camp & just keep it quite untill found & move on but I really don’t want to move around - like a permanent base camp ! I don’t have cash to buy land , only enough for food supplies which living simple is not a lot I.e rice , flour & powdered milk can get sealed & large quantities so food is easy & the list goes - on. Can any one shed light on how to gain a camp base ? How to find people with like minded life styles / ideas ? Any posts about this style of living on here ?Any one interested in this life ? pm me be glad to talk about it.
Any advice be grateful that helps me know where to start , My plan to try out this experiment is end febuary & try last at least the four seasons, I have loads off primative skills to try out & my one favourite is to tan a deer hide into clothes.

 

[shaggystu]

welcome to BCUK and good luck with your plans

stuart

 

[Maggot]

Taransay is up for grabs.

Loads of room, a few buildings and a lovely beach if I remember. May take a few people getting together though

 

[Ed]

Taransay has already been bought
http://news.scotsman.com/inverness/Taransay-owners-bid-was-change.6815285.jp

Ed

 

[NWNWNWNWNWNWNW]

Thanks shaggystu for the welcome & the replies . yes i seen that programe , didnt seem to get on most & not nice atmospher at all. Any way not the kind of land i have in mind prefer inland & not a group like that sett-up lol

 

[Toddy]

Hello NorthernWilderness and welcome to the forum

Please don't advocate or encourage illegal activity, we try really, really hard not to cause problems for others looking for permission to camp. Scotland's open access rights come with responsibilities not to abuse.

Do we know sites and do we know people ? Yes, we do; but we don't know you.
Best advice would be to get yourself along to a few of the meet ups, say hello and join the company of folks, break the ice.

It's not that folk are being rude or ignorant, but they will not post details that you want on open forum, or to people they don't know.
The people who live as you say you wish to, are our friends, and we're not for landing a total stranger on them.

Hope it works out for you.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[ged]

Welcome to BCUK!

Mary (Toddy) is right.

I love camping. In the past half a century I've done hundreds and hundreds of camping breaks. But I wouldn't dream of living like that. It really isn't a going concern, at least not in the UK where it isn't even legal for all sorts of good reasons. And from your point of view rather than from that of everyone else, you need to know what you're letting yourself in for. If you haven't already, do a few weeks' serious camping in some bad weather before you think about living that way.

There have been a few threads on this forum where people have posted their experiences of camping for as much as several weeks at a time. Take a look at them, and maybe get in touch with them to ask for their views. Look at particular aspects like water supplies and treatment, food and its preparation, hygiene, keeping warm and dry, fuels, care of the environment, general camp 'admin', shelter maintenance, security, waste, vermin, insects, health and medical issues, backup plans and maybe discuss them in this thread or a separate one just for that subject. Some people whose experiences you read about might not see your posts, so you might want to drop them a Private Message (PM) to get their attention. But keep as much of the discussion as you can on the public forum, so that everyone can benefit from it.

Good luck!

 

[spartacus]

Hello and welcome to the forum. You and I have similar interests and background. I'm a native Scot, served an apprenticeship as a joiner too. You have had some sound advice from others already but here's my twopenceworth.

Scotland! Living the life you are thinking about would be highly impractical I think. The weather, apart from finding a place to begin with, is a huge dissadvantage and that is just a starting point.

I lived for a while in the Outer Hedrides on a croft and to me that is about as near the dream as is practical. A hard, difficult life but immensely rewarding.

I now live in Bulgaria which on a scale is much easier but still very hard work. At least here you are guaranteed the weather to grow your crops and as for opportunities to work with animals as in from birth to plate, that is an everyday event here as is in other countries.

You can if you like live outside and no-one will bother you. I actually know one guy who does exactly that and only moves indoors when his partner comes on holiday.

Working with skins? Deer, you would have to get your skin legally of course so that could be done in Scotland, I have a notion for making a rabbit skin blanket but here we have hares so it might turn out to be a hare skin blanket one of these days, lol.

Again it has been stated elsewhere but in the UK you will still come in view of the radar, ie, council tax or other then the hassle will begin and quite frankly destroy the pleasure you were hoping for.

From my point of view the prior commentators deserve attention. Go try camping somewhere for a bit, aye, in bad weather or good. See how you feel then try other options, there are loads of them. I know an absolute load of folk who live alternative lifestyles and whilst we love it, every lifestyle has it's drawbacks.

Don't give up on your dream though, just open up to alternative suggestions maybe.

Good luck with whatever you try. I have four years living alone with an alternative lifestyle. I still love it but it's not always a bed of roses and every day is a schoolday. Compromises often are the name of the day lol.

PM me if you want anything more detailed such as contacts for other organisations or just for a chat.

Cheers for now.

 

[NWNWNWNWNWNWNW]

Fair enough comment toddy as i understand where you are coming from so il make a start with a proper introduction sorry. I guess im just the norm from a caring respectful family with parents off hard working stock, my old man a foreman off scaffolding firm, muther a nurse. myself brought up in village surounded with amazing wild country. I myself earned a few certificates along the way from best apprentice off a large firm , a B.I.OS certificate (feeding info into computers & basically bringing them alive) . 2 x national scot certificates . i always found exams & hard things easy. I used to have a shot gun certificate at the age of 17 yrs, made the papers for winning fishing copetition & had a true love for the outdoors (in my blood) . I moved to a large town due to job commitments & family who are now up & independant , my daughter came out with highest honours at oxford uni & now a nurse in london married to a doc. Iv had a good life now fed up with town life done it wore the T-shirt & feel now iv got my time back iv got a huge pulling power wanting me back to my roots with still that urge more than ever to live where i love the woods & wilderness.
So see im no hippy or strange just a normal guy with true love for nature , where i feel fit & healthy when out their . Iv maybe misled a wee bit as iv got more experience than iv stated , iv camped in all weather in this soden country lol , i know how to treat water in differnet ways , hygene is every thing to keeping hands clean to camp site (no parasites/germs) , can make all different types off fire from tinders & bow drill but have failed with bow drill in damp weather why i always carry a flint. i can carve spoons n stuff , make bow & arrow alot i knowbut more i dont know or tried to do yet. so hope this lets every one know me a little better & trusted.

 

[Barn Owl]

Hello and welcome.

 

[Toddy]

Come and chill out round a campfire sometime
Lots of interesting folks, and at the end of the day it's as much who you know, who knows you, that counts in these things.

How close are you to any of the towns ? Usually folks who live as you say you would like to, have contact with friends in the towns and visits go both ways. In Winter we might not see them for two or three months as they kind of coorie doon, but they're not totally off in the ulu with no contact with other folks at all.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[NWNWNWNWNWNWNW]

Thank you ged as i said just looking for information to open doors to find a way closer to nature & i will enjoy reading those experiences , this is the stuff im interested in nothing ilegall , infact why i am here to prevent such things where i put my hands up totally inexpereinced on how to go about it !!! towni too long
yip moisture is the memises keeping dry is the most important issue out doors & quickest way to hypothermia as it takes the heat from one 25 times quicker or sumthing like that but i plan to build my own tepee & know how to measure & cut the tarps as well as ring them so il be nice in cosy

 

[Toddy]

Would you be prepared to give your labour for free for a site where you could build and live in your tepee ?
General woodland/ camping grounds stuff ?

cheers,
Toddy

 

[blacktimberwolf]

Hi, welcome to the forum..............Hope you don't mind me asking, but how old are you ?

 

[NWNWNWNWNWNWNW]

spartacus i enjoyed reading your post , we got few things in common right enough scot , ex joiners lol , true love & respect for nature - what nxt ! The weather i could deal with in scotland because the advantages out way the disadvantages . wild camping acceptable, more wild life than the rest off the uk & true wild area`s but then theirs the problems like you say the rules rules rules no permanent life style is acceptable to live off the grid & be a free spirite here in the uk . Its the reason im here to see what the options are but it doesn`t look good & i would imigrate to secure this life as its the way i want to live my life , its where im content & healthy . i would consider scandinavia countries like sweden but dont know if they allow this type off free living off the land ?
Hey thanks for your permission to contact appreciate it .

 

[NWNWNWNWNWNWNW]

Yes Toddy i would definitely consider that as an option as humans we need food & water , we also need human company ! Dont want cabin fever being alone do we I think that would be amazing to have such an existing community . I d be glad to offer my labour why do you know off such a place ? maybe pm me on that one ! As said im looking for options taking me back to living in nature rather than town life. anything considered that way off life as im prepared to sell the house contents to help finance this . just seeking adventure out that only nature provides i guess. As said got nothing to hold me back now & to be where my highest limit of pleasure & euphoria comes from - the cuds

 

[NWNWNWNWNWNWNW]

[/IMG]
blacktimberwolf very few things i keep private , my age is one Aha so you`l just have to guess before i take it back off hansum bugga aint i ! As said its just an experiment id like to give a go , i did say just a year , nothing decided yet - would i last dam right i would its in me to live outdoors this i know for sure.

 

[Andy T]

You could always try googling tipi valley and/or brithdir mawr and see what you think.

 

[NWNWNWNWNWNWNW]

yup il have a look at that andy thanks

 

[NWNWNWNWNWNWNW]

Well i guess i owe the forum something back which il post from time to time on the proper threads, which may be of some value to certain members . il start with this -Any one looking to save a few hundred quid on map & compass navigation which costs this just for a wk-end . i recommend they teach them selves by the most easiest understanding book on the market & highest recommended. The author is a teacher & guide in the field , it covers everything from basics to ensureing you are where you should be , covers back bearing, resection & finding where you are if lost, no visible markers , poor visibility , mist darkness etc etc - (The Art Of Navigation) author pete hawkins hope its some help to thos who cant afford the courses. next one il give on the proper threads for amateure bow makers on how to take a 30lb bow upto 50-60lb , the native indians used sinew to strengthen & make more powerful . Theirs an alternative to this a cheap , quick easy way involving a piece of kit from a plasterer. If bow is carved & shaped properly so any one interested look out for the thread.