[boogiemonstor]

I live in Maryland and would really appreciate knowing where I can go to practice survival training. I could go to Catoctin state park but I don't know the rules of where you can set up camp. This may be a dumb question but can you just go into the woods once you are in the park and camp if you are far enough away from people? I'm new to this so any help would be appreciated.

-thanks

 

[bennettvm]

Head out to Skyline/Shenandoah national park. They have deep county camping available.

 

[AsteroidX]

Be prepared for bad weather this time of year.

 

[shotlady]

lol yer so funny asteriod,

im not sure if you have BLM up there and national forests, nat forests are great as you can carry. double check me to make sure. i know in ca we can carry in the nat forest.

 

[Lucky Jim]

And don't forget you can use computer wargames to learn navigation by map, compass and stars at home, then when you go into the field it'll be second nature.
You can turn combat 'off' so you can concentrate on navigation without interruption.
I like 'Armed Assault 2', here are some shots from it-

Oops the kink (white circle) is where I mistakenly went southeast instead of southwest

The north star

MORE SHOTS- http://www.prepperforums.net/forum/general-talk/1203-pc-wargames-navigation-training-tools.html

 

[AsteroidX]

What game is that Jim. I just been playing WoT lately. Got bored with some of my other "simulator games"

 

[punch]

Practice in your own back yard. Primitive camp, make fire (no matches) find edibles in the woods. Take a first aid/cpr class. Map out clean water. Then again impromptu camping will teach you real quick what to pack and what you forgot to pack. Bring lots of water...and matches. Tell a family member where you will be camping just in case.

punch

 

[Lucky Jim]

What game is that Jim. I just been playing WoT lately. Got bored with some of my other "simulator games"

It's Armed Assault 2 (Arma2 for short), this clip shows how you need to learn maps and compass and be able to read the landscape to get around, this mission is a zombie shoot that somebody's set up for a laugh, three human players have hooked up to play online and you can hear them talking to each other via PC microphones-

 

[GTGallop]

The best place is your own house. Cut the power at 3:00 AM on the circuit breaker and then see where you go from there. Can you last two, three days, totally indoors? Make it real. Pretend thee was a fire in some part of the house and now you aren't allowed to go in that part. Anything you had prepped in that room is toast. Try sealing up your house from biologicals. Ductape the doors and seal the vents. Rig for silent running. You'll be surprised how fast your brain goes soft. It is usually the first thing that wants to bail out on an exercise like this and it is the one thing you need until the very end.

 

[AquaHull]

You can play in my backyard anytime, I'm adjacent to the Manistee National Forest's 1000+ acres section

 

[LunaticFringeInc]

The best place is your own house. Cut the power at 3:00 AM on the circuit breaker and then see where you go from there. Can you last two, three days, totally indoors? Make it real. Pretend thee was a fire in some part of the house and now you aren't allowed to go in that part. Anything you had prepped in that room is toast. Try sealing up your house from biologicals. Ductape the doors and seal the vents. Rig for silent running. You'll be surprised how fast your brain goes soft. It is usually the first thing that wants to bail out on an exercise like this and it is the one thing you need until the very end.

While not exactly what the OP was getting at that is a fantasic idea! You will likely face such a simular scenario long before one that requires you to bug out possibly.

You dont have to go to some place thats Gods Country to practice bugging out. When I dont have time to go to my retreat I often go to local camp grounds on COE managed property and do little short over nighters. Gives me a chance to use most of the gear in my bag and gets me accustom to the out doors and lets me know what works and what doesnt and what I forgot to bring or dont need to bring. Dont need to be in Gods Country to figure that sorta stuff out although it would likely be more enjoyable and relaxing for a setting.

 

[9UC]

Practice in your own back yard. Primitive camp, make fire (no matches) find edibles in the woods. Take a first aid/cpr class. Map out clean water. Then again impromptu camping will teach you real quick what to pack and what you forgot to pack. Bring lots of water...and matches. Tell a family member where you will be camping just in case. punch

Excellent idea. Being that I have been into RV camping since '87, doing both hook up and occasional boon docking or dry camping, the advice given to new owners from pop-ups to multiple slide out mobile mansions is to start in your own driveway as your "break in" trip.

 

[GTGallop]

I find that the need to Bug In / Shelter in Place / Hunker Down is the primary survival M.O. before any bugging out takes place. Good to test both, but remembering that the most important thing in your BOB is actually between your ears makes testing that piece of gear paramount. If you get good at bugging in and can maintain focus and discipline of the mind, then you can branch out and try other forms of survival. The reality is that you will likely be trapped in a home, office, store, mall, sports arena or airport if there is a sudden SHTF moment.

Think about earth quakes and stuff - no warning and getting to your vehicle is 2nd to sustaining life where you are now. Hurricanes yuo get a little better warning on, but if you elect to stay and the Hurricane elects to remove half of your house, well - then you are in quite the pickle. Same with wild fires and roving hoards of zombies or what ever threat you may face.

Get good where you are right now - then get good somewhere else. Then after that - get good in a third and fourth place.

 

[Lucky Jim]

Apart from wargames, books like this make good 'Home Study Tools' so we can get inside the minds of the explorers to learn from their decision-making when things got rough in deserts, jungles, mountains, swamps etc.
Surprisingly a lot of them also made simple basic mistakes and we can learn from them too..

 

[SSGT]

You want REAL survival training right?

Go to select sections of Detroit and start yelling Obama's an A**HOLE every 4 minutes for 8 hours at night!...

Classes are..

Learn to run faster and hide from guys twice as fast as you!
Duck and Dodge Live Fire!
Camo and Concealment!
Fend of knife attacks and beatings from angry mobs!
Basic First Aid / Advanced wound care and most likely Advanced Surgical techniques on yourself!

RULES!

You start with a score of 300 and lose 30 points for every 1/4 cup of blood you lose
If you complete 3 blocks with no blood loss you get 30 points!

If your being chased by more than 5 people you can stop yelling until you get away or one of them drops from the chase! If one drops from the chase you have to resume yelling!

If you want an extra 100 points start the course wearing a pair of size 16 Nikes (The Florescent yellow glow in the dark 320$ pair) and keep em on your feet till your safe!

Survive this and your ready!

 

[boogiemonstor]

You must have a nice backyard then.

 

[SSGT]

Actually here's my BOL back yard looking over top of my house in Southeastern Ky....I live down under the the tree's next to a spring.

 

[boogiemonstor]

That would be one heck of a road trip, im 11 hrs from there

 

[TheBelgian]

Same question for NorCal?!

 

[Irish]

National forest land I dont know whats up i your area but here you can go out whenever you want!