Camp Like a Hobo! [ Unveiling the 1930s Railside Wilderness Adventure ]

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50 years a hobo. This is what I'm talking about. A story line while instructing. The first 20 years I was a hobo there were still hobo jungles. I rode lots of " granger " railroads back then. They service lots of co-op grain silos. Which made for some decent quick jungle site. You could find a jungle by a fry pan and mirror always hung up on a tree. You could heat water in the pan for a " spit bath " and shaving. There was a system among hobos then. You put something in the stew pot before you took something out of the pot. I carried a can or two of beans to leave for the next guy. Empty tin cans ( didn't have the lid completely removed ) I could make a tin can cup with a handle ( bent with pliers ) for a coffee/stew cup for other hobos. Of course you cleaned the fry pan, picked up any trash, and remove it to keep critters away.

My old neighbor rode the rails after serving in WW2. He talked about avoiding the R.R. "Bulls" who was the hired muscle for the R.R. to handle the free riding hobos. He said he never knew where he would end up but would try to grab trains that were heading towards whatever crops were needing workers. He might be working in potato fields one week and then travel across country to work in the cotton fields. He finally got tired of the difficult life and hopped a train to Minot N.D. and enlisted to go fight in Korea. He really struggled in his older years with PTSD and financial issues because his S.S. income was small because he was paid many years with cash. He died 30 minutes before his 94th birthday. 😢

That was so entertaining. I was raised along US route 40 near Hendrysburg in SE Ohio during the 50s, when there were still a handful of Hobos still traversing this main route. We allowed many of them to camp below our barn area where there was plenty of privacy, water, deadwood for fires and we even allowed the ones we became familiar with to bunk in the lower section of the barn. Mother said they had to have placed signs someplace nearby because we had many stop. She never let them spend the night without a couple of sandwiches and a jug of fresh milk. They always asked to help with chores but we declined their offer. They always kept the grounds pristinely clean where us kids, and neighbor kids, would sometimes play. We got to know a few by their handles, Tex, Top-Hat, and Roy are all I remember. We would gather around them as they waited for Mother to prepare their food. They shared wonderful stories of adventure. I looked forward to their visits. Shortly before Mother passed, she asked me if I remembered these men. And of course I did so we shared a lot of warm stories about this era and the wonderful characters we had been so very fortunate to meet. Thank you so very much.

I lived rough for over a year in various woodlands in England and Wales I loved the feeling of freedom and waking up in the morning surrounded by nature.

brings me back to my train hopping days in the mid-70's ........... there were still hobo camps even then !!

Really enjoyed the story format. The long coat, hat, and cane really add a layer of respectability to the life. At first I questioned the authenticity of such a well stocked camp, but it was a different time back then. Humanity had more respect for the multitude of men in the same boat. A very well done video!

Nowadays the contents of that trunk would be posted on eBay or Craigslist lickety split! The salt pork is intended to be soaked in water, to remove some of the salt. You can then boil some of that salty pork water into a hydrating broth. My grandmother, born in 1918, taught me this. I love this type of content!

Well, Mr. Bender, you make a great Hobo & play the part well! I would have used a flaming splinter from the fire and SAVED that match! Interestingly, I have identical or very similar camping gear in my accumulation of stuff, including a mirror very similar to the one which you used while shaving! Other than the trunk full of gear in the Hobo Camp, that style of camp grew out of the Age of Classic Camping & during the Great Depression. I have camped many nights under an old canvas tarp suspended from a ridge line or ridge pole. The Military canteen looked like it was WWI; I also have one of those! Other viewers will gather than I am Old School & OLD. In fact, since your last video, I had another birthday. At age 83, I especially enjoy your videes of the Good Old Days which take me down Memory Lane. May God bless you & yours!

Thank you for always pausing to pray before you eat. Such an important detail in these videos.

Watching this clip automatically brings me back to seeing the 1973 movie "Emperor of the North" with Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine and Keith Carradine. What great movie which sadly is never shown anymore. Thanks for your videos.

Hey James! Another home run, knocked out of the park. There was an elder guy, probably a boomer who remembered the Great Depression, in my state years ago, who fell on hard times, moved his wheelchair-bound wife in with family, and made a hobo-style tarp camp in the woods, just past the railroad tracks between some multi-generational rural villages. He was doing fine until one day a suspect unwittingly led police on a chase through his secret camp. After they finished with the suspect, the police came back and made him break down his camp and get signed up for government aid programs he hadn't wanted. Contrary to their intentions, I think he felt like the one who'd been robbed. Thanks for all you do, James. Bright blessings. 💖

THIS SHOULD BE AN EXERCISE IN GIVING THANKS FOR EVERY BREATH WE TAKE AND EVERY SPEC OF FOOD WE ARE BLESSED TO HAVE--CLOTHES ON OUR BACKS ---A WARM SAFE PLACE TO SLEEP AND SAFE WATER TO DRINK----------THANK YOU SIR!!!!!!

James, there's something very pleasant and soothing about videos like yours. Thank you and God bless you and all the Hobos past and present!

This is most definitely one of the best YouTube channels.

Latrine management is a rarely covered camping essential. Might you cover that too? Staying clean, managing odor. And drinking water. Sanitary and sanitation tips for hobos. I really enjoyed this for both content and atmosphere. A pleasant and productive watch. Thank you.

That' makes sence my cousin and me found a wood box full of Rusty junk along the rr tracks here in pa couldn't figure why it was there makes sence now

When I saw the sea bag and Gallia County. I was born at the old Holzer hospital in 55 & joined the Navy in 73. Thanks for the videos. God Bless you and your family.

Definitely one of the best channels on YouTube.

It’s very disappointing to me that people love today care nothing about the people that would come after them or who came before them Just look at some of the places that are just wrecked with garbage along the way This truly depicts a much better time and life of a hobo Thank you for sharing this with us