Homeless Gear

[S Long]

I want to start a hypothetical gear discussion here. If you knew you were going to be homeless indefinitely and had to choose gear to suit that scenario, what would you choose and why? Let’s say for the sake of the discussion that you are given an unlimited budget to prepare for your impending homelessness but you can only spend it on gear (not a house or RV or whatever). My first thought was to just choose the usual thru-hiking gear. Then I wondered if you might opt for heavier duty options knowing you might not be able to easily afford or access replacement gear if something went wrong? What would you choose for your big three, your clothing, etc.?

[Anonymous]

I’ve given this very topic A LOT of thought–partly because I think a collapse is possible. I don’t currently have the time or energy to sit down and write out a long, holistic, detailed post about it, but at some point after the next couple weeks might.

Just briefly for now, yes, a bit heavier duty over all for durability. Personally I like the concept of blends and laminates a lot, where different materials complement each others strengths and weaknesses.

Something I’ve thought about recently for shelter, is a combo of a light weight tent, combined with an outer skeleton made out of Spectra or Dyneema type cord (in sort of a net type configuration) combined with /ROBIC backpack fabric.  I like pyramid tents for a few reasons, and you would use some ROBIC backpack fabric for the peak and some ROBIC strips to connect to the bottom (along with the tent peg loops that connect to the ROBIC). Make it basically the same height, but a tad longer/wider than the inner tent.

Purpose of same?  You could put branches etc directly on the skeleton for increased insulation, camouflage, increased water resistance, and/or protection for the inner tent. Would be kind of pointless for folks living in woodless or near woodless areas though.

As to clothes, just briefly, a lot of nylon primarily (with some blends). Longest lasting and toughest “regular” clothing there is, and for a synthetic, the least odorous.

[Ralph Burgess]

So is this where the two markets for Mountain House dinners converge?   Backpacker preppers.

[Justin Barrett]

Okay so my thought process is purely hobo lifestyle for the rest of your life.

Pack – something that has 500d or 1000d cordura fabric as the main body. Mystery Ranch/Dana Design comes to mind. Absolutely not UL, but my dad’s Dana pack is older than me and it looks just fine after some 20+ years.

Shelter – this would be a tough one, and would depend on where you’d end up. Is ita city or more forest? If it is city, then freestanding probably won’t work, concrete and all that. Forest, freestanding would be fine. I think I’d want a s simple pole design for city to allow freestanding and placement anywhere. I would be fine with a large tarp-bivy combo for forest. Either situation, I’d want more durable materials for the shelter. Probably think 50-100d for floor and idk what for the fly. Something that wouldn’t wet out or delaminate.

Sleep – CCF foam and I think a down bag/quilt with a higher denure fabric. Can’t really change this up to the best of my knowledge.

 

[Edward John M]

I’ve been homeless. You can’t plan for it and no matter what you might like to think nothing prepares you for it. Gear is cheap, clothes are cheap Keeping dry and warm isn’t really hard to do these days. Security is what is hard. Comfort [ the lack of it] is hard. Not knowing where you will sleep is hard. Nothing helps really

I had a job, a secure job but I was living and sleeping in my car for several months while I found accommodation. The next best substitute would be a big van with good insulation and somewhere safe to park. There is no substitute for a home really but comfortable bed surrounded by 4 walls and a roof is good start. Everything else is just playing make believe

[Mina Loomis]

+1 moondog55

And if there is a general collapse and you have good gear for it then someone meaner than you or more desperate than you is going to come steal it.  Best to focus on building skills, relationships, community, emotional resilience, ability to roll with circumstances, rather than one or another sort of manufactured items.

Backpacking experience and skills might definitely still come into play.  And luck.

[Tipi Walter]

I spent 7 years homeless in Boone NC from 1980 to 1987 (and from ’87 to 2001—I lived in a ridgetop tipi)—and the answers to your questions hinges GREATLY on where you plan to be homeless.

I chose the Boone area because Watauga County NC at the time was a vast forest containing the small college town of Boone—and ample places to stealth camp all around the town.

Now I’d probably be shot by homeland security but back then it was the best of times . . .

Boone winters were always tough and so the top priority item for living outdoors was the best down bag I could find—a $300 North Face Ibex bag rated to -10F.  Thing is, I wasn’t sleeping under bridges or behind dumpsters or on sidewalks—I required THE WOODS for my homelessness—a place I could set up my tent and places I could bushwack to thru the forest—and along little creeks.

Since I was living out of a backpack I purchased the best gear I could possibly find—and it lasted 20+ years of non-stop use—tent, bag, pack, various sleeping pads etc.  Clothing was goodwill wool sweaters and surplus Army BDU style pants etc.

I dumpster dived for food and played street music for cash—afterwhich I hiked to a place in the woods I could set up my tent.

Here I am playing music for cash in 1982.  Check out my massive North Face BackMagic pack . . . . and my excessive Chippewa Below Zero boots.

In order to deal with the harsh winters with deep snow I often—not always—built makeshift Tipis to use for sleeping and to save me from having to set up and take down my tent every day in the snow.  Here’s one from 1986.

Here’s another one from 1981 and covered with old chestnut bark.

 

[S Long]

I appreciate the responses so far. I also want to clarify that this is a HYPOTHETICAL thought exercise. I am in no way making light of the plight of the homeless person. In fact, it was because it was around Thanksgiving and it is starting to turn cold that I began thinking about this more. It is NOT fun or cool to be homeless. It is definitely a moral obligation to help out whatever way you can whenever you can. I personally give ten percent of every paycheck I make to charity. Is it a lot? No, but it’s something I think can help. Also, being someone who suffers from a bit of a gear obsession (nobody else on here is like that, right?) I end up passing on a lot of gear that is in no way close to being worn out. I volunteer with local youth (12-18 years old) and occasionally there will be one of them that doesn’t have a very good home situation. I have given away jackets, shoes, hats, headlamps, sleeping pads, etc. so that they can have a better experience outside. I just wanted to clarify that although I can’t empathize (never having been homeless) I can sympathize. Hearing real life experiences is awesome (thank you, Tipi). Hypotheticals from the people who have never been homeless are also welcome.

[Tipi Walter]

S Long—

“It is NOT fun or cool to be homeless.”

This might be true for the urban homeless hordes stuck in the concrete jungle—but not true for me. I would not have lived in primitive shelters and tipis for 21 years if it wasn’t fun.  I did it because I wanted to work minimally, live outdoors, and see how little money I needed and still be happy.

Plus, backpackers here on this forum who do long 2-3 week trips or longer are basically homeless.  Long trail thruhikers are definitely homeless for as long as they’re out.

I’m more in tune with the homeless type who travels in and around our National Forests—and periodically visiting nearby towns for resupplies and making a little cash.

[Ian]

For clothing, I’d likely stick with cotton/synthetic blends.   I prefer cotton/nylon for durability and for how quickly it dries compared to 100% cotton.   I’d hit the thrift shops and look for old suit pants and dress shirts with these properties and modify/repair them as needed with a basic sewing kit

I’d mostly stick with fleece for insulation and carry a poncho for rain protection and a quick shelter.

My primary shelter would be some sort of blue tarp 10’x10’ with rain gutter spikes as tent pegs and mason line for my guy line.  This puts me in a position of only being one visit to Lowe’s away from replacing any of my shelter components.

Sleeping bag would be some <$50 synthetic job from Walmart rated down to 32*f.  My plan would be to migrate to a location that rarely drops below freezing

Cook Kit would be a grease pot and fancy feast stove of course.

[Ralph Burgess]

Thanks for sharing that Tipi, that’s awesome.

[Edward John M]

OK I admire Walter; always have. There is a big difference between being nomadic/homeless by choice and being homeless through circumstance

[Tipi Walter]

Edward John says—

“There is a big difference between being nomadic/homeless by choice and being homeless through circumstance . . “

In one way homelessness by choice IS a circumstance of sorts—being that choosing is based on various outward circumstances.

But in my case I was in a house fire in 1979 (later determined to have been set by the landlord—in a court case—and speaking with previous tenants)—and this trauma opened up the opportunity for me to really connect to my love of nature—it was a sort of push to abandon the indoor life (and landlords!!) and get some gear and live outside.

Loosing a place and being “out on the streets” is gut-wrenching and dramatic—but turn the screw a little bit in the other direction and there’s an incredible world of freedom by living outdoors in the woods—with some decent gear.

Here’s a blurb in a newspaper someone gave me after the January 1979 fire—and scanned into my computer years ago—

 

[Ian]

I hope this isn’t too much drift, but I think it ties in some with the OP

Walter,

Your experiences are interesting.   I think a nomadic lifestyle is interesting but I’ve never lived one even though I’ve moved a lot.

As backpackers, we come from all walks of life, but I think most of us share a desire to explore and experience new things, and backpacking is just one outlet to satiate that need.

I’m mulling over the idea of building a camper van in the next couple years and have had opportunity to read and listen to the testimony of others who’ve already been down that figurative and literal road.

Anecdotally it seems that the lifelong rubber tramps are on the fringe and that many people tap out in the first five years.  Listening to one guy who lives out of his Jeep, he mentioned that he needs a fixed place to call home and expects to transition away from rubber tramping soon.

Was that ever a concern of yours or did your tipi become your home and fill that need?

[S Long]

I suppose it only takes a slight “twist of the screw” to change your perspective on virtually any circumstance. Semantics aside, I suppose any time I am backpacking I AM essentially homeless, albeit by conscious choice. I enjoy the freedom from the rat race. I enjoy having the focus that being outdoors can bring you. It can be humbling and immensely satisfying to have your life condensed down to the essentials of where you’re going to sleep tonight, what your next meal will be, etc. I’m a bit of a masochist, I suppose, and I have always enjoyed what I call “pain with a purpose.” Patrick McManus (one of my favorite authors) called it a “Fine and Pleasant Misery.” Back to the original topic of gear, For a pack, I was thinking something like a McHale or Seek Outside in heavier fabric would be good. Shelter is tricky, but it’s difficult to fault the easy to obtain blue tarp. Heavy duty it is not, but it is cheap and ubiquitous. Having the skills necessary to build a shelter out of natural materials would also come in extremely handy. Or, like I often do, just finding natural shelter can be fun. I can’t say how many caves, overhangs, fallen trees, etc. I’ve sheltered in or under. Best when Mother Nature provides! For clothing, synthetic is the way to go, I think. Wool is great for its stink-fighting abilities, but just doesn’t last as long as synthetics do. Fleece is great for a midlayer, and then a synthetic puffy for an outer layer would finish the ensemble. For rain, hail, sleet, or snow I think an umbrella is ideal. Umbrellas last longer than rain shells do, and can be used for shade and to supplement a marginal shelter. Ultimately I agree that skills and knowledge will trump gear, but it’s still fun to think about what gear you might want for a long stint of homelessness.

[Tipi Walter]

Ian—regarding whether my Tipi felt like home?  Supremely so!  By 1987 I found 40 acres 10 miles west of Boone NC and got permission to set up a more permanent tipi on the most remote part of the land so I cut in a one mile foot trail with a gain of about 1,000 feet to the top ridge of the land and set up there—where I stayed until June 2001.  All my belongings and crap were hauled up the mountain in my old North Face pack—as were all resupplies.

It felt like home because I had a woodstove and secure shelter from Boone winter storms (spent the Blizzard of ’93 there)—and had a post office box several miles away in Sugar Grove . . .  I think I have a pic of old Ridgetop University—

[Lowell Mills]

Walter, I find your situation fascinating and appreciate your insights into the OP’s question.  May I ask what led you to give up this lifestyle and where your pursuits have led you since?

Many thanks!

[Hanz B]

Re: Tipi Walter,

i hope some one here could help tell your story in a video format for the backpacker light festival sometime. It sounds like we could all learn so much from you if you were ever interested.

Hanz.

[Brett Peugh]

I was homeless for periods of time in urban areas where I would do stealth camping in addition to staying at shelters and hostels when I could.  Nobody really bother to steal my stuff because it either looked dorky or was in garish colors no one wanted.

I mainly used my lime green R2 jacket with a long tarp poncho, REI Sahara cargo pants, some 50/50 military t-shirts, EX Officio boxers and some Redhead wool socks along with the Chaco sandals. My backpack was just a used one from a Goodwill that you would see a student using because I did not have to carry too much.  I carried a cheap aluminum pot and an alcohol stove but mainly used a silicone bowl where I would go into convenience stores or other places and dump out a can or rehydrate something using their microwave.  I still use the old soft plastic Nalgene 1L wide mounted bottle.

 

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