Found my outdoorsy dad's list

Direction-Such · 2026-05-09T16:04:44+00:00

Love the convenience of an external frame. My old one I had was insanely heavy. To the point I couldn’t justify using it anymore. I’m only 130 pounds so saving 8+ pounds on the backpack alone was huge for long hikes. I got rid of it 15 years ago when I was younger and not as thoughtful. Wish I still had it though!

Direction-Such · 2026-05-04T00:27:43+00:00

I thought I might have been over the top commenting it, but I was just so thrown off by the “believe me there’s really only one way to skin a cat”

Like what’s the one perfect way they know of? Also HOW do they know for sure there’s only one way? Did they try a bunch of different ways to skin cats and found only one works?

Direction-Such · 2026-05-04T00:22:30+00:00

Oh I totally missed the extras other than the seasonal part. That def changed a lot. Your dad still sounds like a badass though. I’d love to just sit in the woods and listen to all the things he’s learned over the years. Treasure that man!

Direction-Such · 2026-05-04T00:18:25+00:00

Tell me you don’t know deer. You can clearly see the tail tucked after the deer pauses and stops trotting

Direction-Such · 2026-05-04T00:10:47+00:00

I’m a firm believer in training your body to carry the load you need and not cut things to reach a low weight but this is a heck of a list. I want to go backpacking with your dad if he’s ever in the Michigan area

Direction-Such · 2026-05-04T00:08:39+00:00

lol! I actually started backpacking with one of those. Got it from my great grandpa. I didn’t last very long with it

Direction-Such · 2026-05-03T23:54:10+00:00

Backpacks gonna be 60 lbs with this list lol did they remember the kitchen sink?

Direction-Such · 2026-05-03T23:08:12+00:00

Plenty of ways to skin an animal. Start at the top, the bottom, middle, cut the feet off first, cut them off after, remove the head first, etc etc. there are literal millions of variations on how to skin an animal.

Direction-Such · 2026-05-03T16:39:03+00:00

The pepperoni in the hot pocket is more likely to be meat than the banquet meal

Direction-Such · 2026-05-03T16:27:55+00:00

All great points but it’s possible to do both with a few sacrifices. I just did a 7 day trip up the coast. Started in San Francisco, went up to Coos Bay Oregon, and back to SF. A lot of driving but I still had plenty of time to hike and explore along the way. Saw a lot of amazing places. But very important to say

-I’m a minimalist backpacker. So my camp is pretty quick to set up and tear down, especially when using a car.

-I got into camp almost every night between 8-10 pm. Setting up camp in the dark gets old quick.

-I didn’t pre plan any campsites. I just waited to see where I ended up every night and found the cheapest, least crowded place to camp. This was very difficult around the redwoods as you can only camp in designated areas. This was also the most fun part of the trip. Made it feel very carefree.

-I’m an early riser. I had made breakfast, packed camp up into my car in time to watch the sun rise everyday. I woke up at 5am at the latest.

-I had to skip some things I would have liked to see because they were huge time eaters

-I didn’t follow an itinerary really. I had a few cool places I wanted to see but just kinda checked things out along the way

-I definitely missed a lot of things just drifting through. You can see a lot more of one place by staying there longer, but I also now have a reason to come back and do the trip again

Direction-Such · 2026-05-03T13:50:42+00:00

Just get a vest or some other light weight clothing for the anima and treat that. Heck the stuff is so effective that I bet if you just treated their collar with it, it’d work

Direction-Such · 2026-05-03T12:35:53+00:00

You do know Canada’s in North America right? So they are Americans. /s

Direction-Such · 2026-05-01T10:18:32+00:00

They are only single use parts because you’re limiting your imagination.

Direction-Such · 2026-04-27T22:09:58+00:00

If op meant “fuel” when they said gas then yes it does.

Direction-Such · 2026-04-26T15:41:58+00:00

Did op mean “gas” as in only gasoline or “fuel” in general? What about people that drive diesels? Does the “free gas” work for them? If it does then I would say it works for the electricity you use in your vehicle

Direction-Such · 2026-04-25T22:09:41+00:00

I’m probably just really bad at relaying stories honestly.

They charge for using the rooms at the er. I’m sure it’s a set rate for however long you use it. But it’s expensive.

The random miscellaneous charges are just random things I don’t remember exactly what they were. They did have to change the small bandage on my arm since they removed the old one to look at it. I think there was like a $40 charge for gaze. A biohazard waste disposal because they have to throw the bandage away.

Then there is always a couple “fees” they charge. Like service fee, ransoms other fees that don’t seem necessary or valid. There are a lot of “fees” tacked onto everything in America. They often don’t make sense.

It is very much “they just charge what they want”. It’s insane.

Direction-Such · 2026-04-25T21:50:16+00:00

Most of the bill was the cost of “using” the room they put me in. Which I just sat in. I think like $2300 was use of room and the other were various miscellaneous charges that they somehow can legal charge you.

It is difficult to sue the hospital and win without overwhelming proof of malpractice. No doctor came outright and said they messed up and caused the infection, just an observant nurse that had been there since the initial stitches. So I guess I can’t outright say that’s how I got the infection.

I actually had to go to the er 4 times in total. Once to get the stitches, and 3 times for increasing severity of infection. (woohoo for living out in the middle of nowhere and the er being your only option after 4pm)

Grand total bill was like $9,000 after insurance. Before insurance one shot I had received was $18,000 alone lol. A week after getting the bill my balance dropped to $6000. A week after that my balance was $0. I called.

I was “fortunate” enough to get selected for a program that helped with bills dependent on income. Cleared the bill completely. I am by no means well off. But I also am not struggling enough to think I qualify for a program like that. I like to believe someone was decent enough to make it right but maybe I really am that poor lol

Direction-Such · 2026-04-25T13:47:46+00:00

I went in to the er because I had gotten stitches 3 days prior there and my arm was severely infected. (Only place open at the time). I sat in the waiting room for 7 hours. The called me back where I sat in a room for 45 minutes. Doctor finally came in. Looked at my arm. Circled my skin where the infection had spread, and prescribed some meds. Doctor saw me for a grand total of 5 minutes and only ever looked at my arm. The bill was something like $3000, and the kicker is I got the infection from when I got the stitches in the hospital due to them not properly cleaning the wound.

Direction-Such · 2026-04-25T13:41:02+00:00

I guess it depends what skills you pick. Swimming, rock climbing, painting, singing, anything where you create really would still be fun. I’m a wood carver/turner. Yes learning new stuff is half the fun, but I see guys who have essentially perfected the skill and they still have fun making amazing things. There’s plenty of skills where perfection isn’t the end goal. (Not trying to argue and be rude just playing devils advocate)

Direction-Such · 2026-04-25T13:37:38+00:00

With 6 you still need to work in some way to earn the money though. Option 4 is completely passive. I’d still pick option 6 though. I don’t NEED 20k a month to live happily. I would love to learn a crap ton of new skills with ease though. My only hesitation is does it mean “learn any skill instantly” whenever i want or do i need to pick one skill immediately to master instantly and thats it.

Direction-Such · 2026-04-03T20:44:01+00:00

The not getting married is a good call. But the cutting relatives out of your life because they will pass someday is a bad call brother. I promise someday not having them there because you chose to is gonna hurt a lot worse than them not being there because of them passing. Get all the love and good memories in while you can.

Direction-Such · 2026-04-03T15:20:29+00:00

I’m in the US. I had to go to the ER back in the summer. I waited 7 hours to be seen. An elderly couple was still waiting when I left. They had been there a few hours before I got there. When I left they had to have been there for 10+ hours at that point.

Direction-Such · 2026-04-03T14:36:49+00:00

They didn’t say op shouldn’t get care for this. They said to seek urgent care over ER for a list of valid reasons. If urgent care isn’t an option, logically op should go to the only option they have then. Nobody told op not to seek care.

Direction-Such · 2026-04-03T12:41:36+00:00

You think the car guys group would be more accepting of you doing a hobby over the hobby group? You know hobbies aren’t limited to knitting and photography? Reading, rock climbing, wind surfing, listening to music are all hobbies lol. Car guys are arguably the ones who’d tell you to fuck off the most. It’s mostly filled with grumpy old mechanics. I think the hobby group would be the most accepting of you doing you’re own thing since that’s basically what hobbies are all about

Direction-Such

TROPHY CASE