SHTF Woodland area needed per person

[rik_uk3]

There was a lovely 17 acre woodland campsite in South Wales, a few bushcrafters started using it and within a year there was not a matchsticks worth of dead wood left and this was only a small amount of weekend campers. You would be amazed how much wood a group will use in a year even using wood burners and group living.

If a small group occupied woodland post fall you would soon strip it of dead wood and wildlife and then you'd need to move on...as hunter gatherers did. Woodland is as much use as a chocolate teapot really in terms of providing food, you need the mix of woods and growing space. If you think you can live off the (wood)land in winter give it a try for a week, weigh yourself at the start and end to see how much weight you have lost.

[lonewolf]

dead wood is only any good as a "use it immediately" fuel, its no good for storing-it will rot the rest of your woodpile. if I owned a woodland I would be "coppicing" it.

[lincsprepper]

I think it would be safer to bug in for a few months before trying to live off the woods. By that point there shouldn't be as many people left to compete for the limited resources.

[cpslashm]

Bear in mind living in the woods in windy weather can be dangerous. Firewood doesn't magically appear on the ground, it falls from high up and flattens your tent. Ash used to be called the widow maker for it's propensity to shatter when it falls.

[J23]

also taking about gathering in forests - it is not easy as I've been doing it in the past.
picking blueberries is horrible - to gather just 1 cup takes a long time - you pick them one by one, separate from leafs (there are devices that allow to gather faster but they rip and damage bushes) - you can eat them and you will never be full.
same thing with wild strawberries, same with raspberries, plus they don't grow whole year.
wild mushrooms? you need to know which is edible which is not and sometimes edible and poisonous look so similar it is easy to confuse them. also no calories.

about animals - if you want to hunt you have to wait for it for hours and you may come back empty handed (personally never tried but my uncle was hunter). if you want to catch it it will not be easy as well (never tried but have relatives who lived in a forest and they preferred to catch fish rather than forest animals). forest may provide you firewood and shelter from wind and rain, but rather won't provide with much food - maybe a single person will handle in woodland as in survival situation but that's it. you have to plant plants and breed animals to survive.
once shtf and it will happen internationally when every country suffers - population will shrink really bad. somehow I cannot imagine survival of a person who spends all days posting some shite on facebook, neved made poo outside, never picked an apple or a pear from a tree - people got used to luxury and are soft.

I spoke with my wife and she said - living in shtf situation will have no sense - I'd rather to die than live like savage

[rik_uk3]

dead wood is only any good as a "use it immediately" fuel, its no good for storing-it will rot the rest of your woodpile. if I owned a woodland I would be "coppicing" it.

I'd best get the dead wood/ seasoned wood out of my woodpile then. Have you tried burning 'fresh' wood?

[lonewolf]

"seasoned wood" is ok, DEAD wood is not. wood is usually CUT from a tree during the winter months and then seasoned(stacked and allowed to dry) for 12 months. Dead wood normally falls off a tree because it is rotten, rotten wood is normally used immediately on a fire not stacked for later use.

[FEISTY]

also taking about gathering in forests - it is not easy as I've been doing it in the past.
picking blueberries is horrible - to gather just 1 cup takes a long time - you pick them one by one, separate from leafs (there are devices that allow to gather faster but they rip and damage bushes) - you can eat them and you will never be full.
same thing with wild strawberries, same with raspberries, plus they don't grow whole year.
wild mushrooms? you need to know which is edible which is not and sometimes edible and poisonous look so similar it is easy to confuse them. also no calories.

about animals - if you want to hunt you have to wait for it for hours and you may come back empty handed (personally never tried but my uncle was hunter). if you want to catch it it will not be easy as well (never tried but have relatives who lived in a forest and they preferred to catch fish rather than forest animals). forest may provide you firewood and shelter from wind and rain, but rather won't provide with much food - maybe a single person will handle in woodland as in survival situation but that's it. you have to plant plants and breed animals to survive.
once shtf and it will happen internationally when every country suffers - population will shrink really bad. somehow I cannot imagine survival of a person who spends all days posting some shite on facebook, neved made poo outside, never picked an apple or a pear from a tree - people got used to luxury and are soft.

I spoke with my wife and she said - living in shtf situation will have no sense - I'd rather to die than live like savage

Agree about the fruit - we have wild strawberries in our garden and the thought of using them as an actual food source is just laughable. No intention of picking wild mushrooms, even though we have them growing in our lawn and in the piles of woodchip. What about some guerrilla gardening each year in your chosen location and plant some rhubarb, artichokes, chard, turnips, onions, carrots, potatoes, etc. Most people won't recognise them and the rhubarb will grow for years with no attention at all and will bulk out your blueberries and wild strawberries nicely - raw is better, but cooked lightly with a wee bit of sugar if you have it would be lovely - anything to keep the rickets at bay. A artichokes probably need a bit more attention, but with the turnips, onions and carrots, plus some lentils and a stock cube, you have soup - good soup - that will fill you up. Add a rabbit or two and you have stew. Personally, I have no intention of hitting the woods. Instant misery (especially with kids) or death - not sure which is worse. Would rather bug in with stores and, hopefully, aquaponics - fruit, veg, greens and fish. Maybe chickens. I think you're wife's survival instinct would kick in, so I think she'd rise to whatever the occasion calls for. I can't think what life would be like without my hairdryer , but that's the point - things would most definitely not be normal for us to be doing what we're planning for. I have both a set of ordinary rollers (not sure what I'll do with them as I have a shoulder length bob at the moment) and a balaclava on my list :0. My fitness for living in the woods could be described as negligible.

[rik_uk3]

"seasoned wood" is ok, DEAD wood is not. wood is usually CUT from a tree during the winter months and then seasoned(stacked and allowed to dry) for 12 months. Dead wood normally falls off a tree because it is rotten, rotten wood is normally used immediately on a fire not stacked for later use.

I see, you confused rotten wood with dead wood / seasoned wood (I season mine for two years). Not all standing or fallen 'dead' wood is rotten by any means. Do you have much actual experience of woodland, coppicing etc.

[lonewolf]

"seasoned wood" is ok, DEAD wood is not. wood is usually CUT from a tree during the winter months and then seasoned(stacked and allowed to dry) for 12 months. Dead wood normally falls off a tree because it is rotten, rotten wood is normally used immediately on a fire not stacked for later use.

I see, you confused rotten wood with dead wood / seasoned wood (I season mine for two years). Not all standing or fallen 'dead' wood is rotten by any means. Do you have much actual experience of woodland, coppicing etc.

dead wood is usually rotten that why it falls off the tree, as opposed to a healthy tree blown down in the storms. and yes, I do have experience of woodland/coppicing, I spent a lot of time in this environment when we lived in Somerset, I am currently looking to buy my own woodland in this area.