The Secret Naturist Handbook

[jbeegoode]

The coverage is cherry picked. Many remote areas, especially remote areas with canyon walls are not covered. Even my living room sucks. If I'm struck by a rattler, or sprain, or break something, scurrying up a mountain to get reception may not be a reasonable option. It is okay, if I have a partner with me for that emergency. Getting the GPS points for medivac retrieval makes a GPS make sense.

Are you recording the maps on the apt and then using it with satellite GPS? Some GPS have a honing devise to track people by satellite last time I went shopping for one (several years ago).

Jbee

[John P]

JBG, I'm really not sure what you mean in your most recent message. Do you mean some areas don't get GPS coverage, or some areas aren't mapped at all? It's true that GPS doesn't work reliably indoors, which isn't surprising considering that it's all based on a hand-held unit receiving signals from satellites. It's amazing stuff.

I think what you mean by "recording the maps on the apt" is that you download maps off the internet, and store them on your phone. That is right, although there are some apps that get the maps as you need them using a cell phone connection, which costs money and isn't usable in remote areas. That's not much use for hiking.

I'm not sure what you mean by "tracking people by satellite", but perhaps you're talking about an emergency beacon, which does send a signal to a satellite receiver, and I was ready to say it doesn't track the user all the time, only when you activate it. But then I looked it up, and found this very informative page:
https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/personal-locator-beacons.html

There it says (in response to a reader's question) "If you are using an inReach, without the device being activated or the tracking feature turned on, your family members will have no way to obtain your most recent position. If you are concerned about a loss of consciousness, we advise using a plan with the tracking feature and keeping the device turned on constantly while you are adventuring." So evidently there are devices which can track you all the time. But they're services you have to subscribe to, and I bet the cost is significant.

Edited to say I couldn't resist looking up a review of that inReach unit. The device itself costs a few hundred dollars, and then you have to pay a subscription fee for connecting it, which you can do for a month at a time, or for an entire year. The total description of things it can do is pretty complex. For people with cash to spend, it probably is a tempting thing to get.
https://hikingguy.com/hiking-gear/in-depth-garmin-inreach-explorer-review/

[BlueTrain]

And to think there are some of us, like me, who don't even have a cell phone like grade school kids have these days.

While I can see the utility of such devices, I also think they might tend to make people less careful about their own safety and less self-reliant. If someone gets in trouble in the backwoods, they can just call for help. I'm not sure it would matter if you had a really serious mishap or not. Either way, someone will have to go to a lot of trouble to help you. Thinking about the possibility of serious injury when hiking or camping made me change the composition of my 1st aid kit, at least a little. Most of what I used to carry (and never had the occasion to use) was useless for a serious injury, like a bad fall, and unnecessary for what it was good for. I don't carry an axe and never seem to use a knife, so I worry most about falling. If I had a stroke or heart attack, I don't think I'd be able to contact anyone anyhow and I don't want anyone keeping track of me. I've long since quit going places where I need a permit or have to pay a fee.

[Greenbare Woods]

Some GPS have a honing devise to track people by satellite last time I went shopping for one (several years ago).
Jbee

The main reason cell phones have built in GPS is so that Apple and Google can track your location 24/7.  They use the information to find out what stores you shop, and feed you advertising that is configured for your shopping preferences.  They also track your on-line shopping and interests for the same reasons. 

[jbeegoode]

John P., you got the translation correct. Thank-you for the info. I heard that those apts are pretty cheap that download the maps.

Bob, I get that creepy sense when I think about carrying my cell phone. The government is accumulating the same info, which is not only creepy, but threatening to me. I could see some bureaucratic tribunal gathering info from way back to build a case in a time of hysteria. The privacy issue is huge. We're supposed to be safe in all of our papers and correspondence by Constitution going back to the revolution, because of having soldiers busting into houses and go through "evidence."

Imagine coming out of the mountains and having someone waiting with questions about "a flasher", who was seen where you were. Or waiting at home.

It has gone way too far, when private entities participate in these practices. I don't call it "enhanced". I call it pigeonholed, channeled and nobody's bizness but ma own. The people who are instigating this spying need to be hung from telephone poles like fascist.
Jbee

[BlueTrain]

The Department of Justice wants to suspend the constitution, you may have heard, and to be allowed to jail people indefinitely for no reason (except their own). Apparently there are a lot of people who are in favor of something like that, assuming that it wouldn't affect them.

[jbeegoode]

"Department of Justice" sounds like some Orwellian double talk in that sentence.

I saw fear run into extremes and support for ending legal protections, and manipulate the jump into stupid useless wars after 911. Now, I'm seeing the same reactions to fear on my grocery and gun shelves. All it takes is a catalyst for these fear based hysterical ignorant children to look to a leader, or demigod, and the purges begin. Fear makes people stupid, control of information creates fear and controls those in fear.

NSA and those stealing the internet have already laid out the groundwork for a high tech oppression. The CIA has been honing the manipulations into oligarchic control and ownership in countries all over South America for decades. The two together...well, back on track, need to make sure everybody has a cell phone to collect a history of evidence and to let us be used to everything we do being known and recorded.

The "Secret Naturist" in the woods eating strawberries with a girlfiend as the helicopters come over to arrest us, may may be all that is left of our body rights someday

All we need to fear is fear itself.
Jbee

[jbeegoode]

Sundry Items: From "The Secret Naturist Handbook."

Over the years I've gathered and used a number of items of equipment for a variety of purposes but do not generally carry them around all the time. The following all have a place in my secret naturist kit and have been used at one time or another.

1. Swiss army knife - used for footpath maintenance i.e. trimming branches, also survival practice, removing splinters, fighting off alien big cats, and so on.

2. Stuff sacks - various sizes, all dark colours, mostly used for protecting clothing when hidden for later collection. Note that they are rarely totally waterproof but will provide some protection. Use poly bags for total protection.

3. Water bottle - for carrying water when none available on location. Sigg, 600ml capacity. Watch the colour you choose as you might be hiding it along with your clothing. Bright yellow might not be a good idea!

4. Key fob thermometer - used to find out temperature and to calculate windchill (using chart on rear). Also fun to use for checking the temperature in different places e.g. in sunshine and shade, at ground level and above, inside clothing and outside and so on.

5. Keys, house & car - Not really a sundry item but important none the less. Keep them secure in the bottom of your bag, in a zipped pocket or attached to a key clip. All my bumbags have both zipped pockets and clips, and are used at all times to secure keys. Keep car keys with electronic gadgets inside dry inside a poly bag.

6. Button compass - various types, one built into key fob thermometer, the other used as a zip puller, otherwise similar in design. Used for very basic navigation, i.e. general direction only and not as good as a proper Silva compass. For general informational and fun use only.

[BlueTrain]

Oh, I don't think fear makes people stupid. They're already that way. But fear and ignorance makes them do crazy things.

[John P]

JBG said "I heard that those apps are pretty cheap that download the maps." I mentioned the Osmand app for Android or iOS, and with that program, each map that you load on the phone covers a single U.S. state, and you get up to 7 of them for free (Texas and Alaska may be broken up into regions). European countries are usually several regions each. Or you can get the paid version of the program for $6.49, and then you can have all the maps your phone can hold, and the same fee covers you on multiple devices. You also have to pay a few dollars extra (only once) to get the feature that shows contour lines. I'm saying all this not to sell the product, but to point out that these things can do a lot, and don't cost much!

Conspiracy theories aren't nearly as much fun. Let's not go there.

[ric]

in my part of uk we have pretty universal cell phone coverage,   so it makes sense to carry one whilst alone in the "wilds".    if i get paranoid about tracking i can allways turn it off and take the battery out  until i want to use it.
in the media at the moment is the idea of tracking cellphones to see if people are ignoring the 2m separation guidlines when out and about.... doesnt take account of leaving the thing at home , only one of a couple carrying one, or in my daughters case carrying her phone and the work one .

big brother is confusable if you try hard enough.... tie a couple to the cat/dog and wait for the helicopter to arrive?......a lot of it is trying to frighten the masses into submission.

[BlueTrain]

Can big brother be any worse than a bad next-door neighbor? Much depends on who you are and your point of view.

[jbeegoode]

Bad next door neighbor doesn't throw you in prison. You may be probation for punching him in the nose.

Can you imaging a next door neighbor following you around everywhere and taking notes? Nobody would put up with that, but BB can, today.
Jbee

[BlueTrain]

You don't know what a bad neighbor is.

[jbeegoode]

One that makes it so that you can't make a move without the neighbor getting into your business, following you around and...How's about Dennis the Menace?

I probably don't know what you meant

Can big brother be any worse than a bad next-door neighbor? Much depends on who you are and your point of view.

Jbee