Thrift Store Survival Challenge

This was such a fun video to prepare for and make. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed filming and experiencing it! Some of you have asked that I make longer videos and I know that many of you like overnighters, so here it is. Thank you so much for watching and please make sure and give this video a thumbs up, share it and don't forget to subscribe and press the bell button to be notified of all our upcoming videos!

Little ole lady camper here with a few additional tips: 1) pick a spot uphill of the creek or river. They can flashflood quickly! That spot is flat likely because of previous floods. Look for debris caught on tree trunks which will show flood height. 2) Always put a drop cloth under your tent -It should be smaller than your tent by about 3” on each side. This will keep ground moisture out of your tent. Do not let edges hang out or they collect dew which will roll under your tent. 3) dig a tiny drain ditch to channel water around and away from tent. 4) I like to put grass mats down on the floor of the tent for additional cleanliness and moisture barriers. 5) Air mattresses only last a few days at best-a yoga mat will do ya better. 6) I’d pick a small hatchet over a saw. 7) glass jars will break and are heavier so for water a plastic milk jug. 7.5) Buy the smaller tents even if 2 + people as they stay warmer from body heat 8) Always go to bed dry-dry. If you are wet-dry off-sleep naked dry rather than clothed wet/damp. Sleep in dry socks! 9) polyester yarn is good for rope-just braid it or do make a twist rope. It will be strong as hell then. 10) Get a good sleeping bag but if it isn’t thermally rated-get the fluffy acrylic blankets to put in there with you. 11) take a smoke bath if skeeters are a problem! 12) Always use yhe smallest tinder when starting a fire-then go with tiny pieces, then twigs, then sticks. 13) don’t waste energy sawing firewood when you can stomp/break pieces. large logs can be burned from the end and then shoved over more as the burn. 14) What is the rule about the tent door? Always stay closed! 15) What is the rule about the tent windows? Close in late afternoon BEFORE dusk! 16) Vaseline is fuel. Wax cups/wax paper are fuel. Candle wax is fuel. Cotton balls are highly flammable. 17) Make a small cookfire-with a big log on one or two sides to protect from wind gusts-no need to waste wood on a bonfire. Before bed -break the fire down most of the way Leave 3-5 good chunks of coals. . Cover the few small coals left at night with an upside down cast iron skillet but leave a bit of air. In the morning-you should still have a tiny coal left to restart fire. 18) It’s good to have one of those tiny army can openers that are just two pieces of metal. small and lightweight! 19) make sure you have and keep a towel dry in bag. 20) If you have a pillow-during the day-tuck it into your sleeping bag so it stays very dry! So fresh when you pull it out! 21) If it’s been raining a ton with no chance to dry out- put tomorrow’s clothes down inside your sleeping bag with you to stay warm and dry! When you get up-fresh and dry! 22) Do NOT pee or poo within 60 feet of your tent. Cover poo. Bury feminine products 23) If you are homeless, You have a great day! Pack out your trash every single day! And ask for help when you need it. Please ask. Yes there are people who love to help! If it’s below zero- Go to civilization. We all need help. Humans are social animals. We care about you!

I appreciate the fact that you respect the low income individuals, shows character. That's why I subscribed. Good job!

Awesome episode! I'm low income myself and had to survive with my ex husband for many months by camping when we were homeless and unable to find housing here in Ontario Canada. It gets quite cold. We are both inexperienced but learned alot by watching videos like these and trial and error. I enjoy survival and bushcraft. Now even though i have a beautiful condo in Toronto I still miss those days and get nostalgia watching your videos. Thank you 😊

As someone who is really new to prepping/survival, I have a tendency to just start buying higher end stuff based off videos on YouTube, without having the requisite skills ot even philosophy behind why certain gear is used in specific situations. Videos like this are really helpful because it stops me wasting money and helps me aquire and hone skills without wasting money on gear I don't really need

The fleece sheet/pocket on the sleeping bag is to hold a sleeping pad inside the bag. Yeah, this is almost 2 years ago, but youtube suggested this video to me today and since you shared your adventure, I thought I'd share that tidbit.

Videos like yours are incredibly helpful for those of us who have a lower income, but still want to enjoy the outdoors.

Though I definitely like high end gear, as a kid I just carried a suitcase miles and miles into the sticks with a bunch of stuff I scrounged from wherever I could. I had a great time even though my stuff was lousy. Don't need to spend much at all to be safe in the sticks.

I always pick up candles at thrift stores. Candle wax is the cheapest fire starter ever! I found a volley ball net for $2 and transformed it into a useful fish capture net. Drop cloth on the tent floor.. a must.

Tip for the knife sheath...stuff some dry grass or such at the bottom, this will make it easier to remove the knife and as an added bonus help store some emergency dry tinder :)

I love these budget type vids. Reminds me of when I first started out. Most of my gear came from thrift stores and yard sales.

The trick is having the necessary skills before hand then you can easily seek out what items you need and be able to modify others to serve a required purpose (except, possibly the fire kit lol) This is, perhaps, one of the most important "survival" skills. Thanks for doing this challenge with second hand gear as many of us are on a budget.

Love this challenge. What a cool way to have fun, help the community & show ourselves we don’t need the best or latest. Big hype on recycling-no better way. New to your channel & now to bing on a few older videos.😊

90% of my clothing, fishing, camping gear and tools comes from thrift stores, yard sales, and estate sales. Have couple of 2-3 person tents for less than &10, a really neat sleeping mat that can be folded into a semi sitting/reclining position. Super easy on my bad back. Even got a $250 W-M kayak for $100, because it had a hole in it that waterproof tape easily mended. My problem is having time to take off to use it. I won't camp or kayak alone, as I'm old, but I still love getting away. A shout out to you for your frugal camping video. Yea!

Yarn, seperate it out and then hard twist it to make fishing line. Use it to help start a fire. And worried about the lack of nutrients in that can of chunky soup? A bit of wood ash is a good source of potassium. Love that pan! I would have scouted out a forked green stick to make a point on it to shove in the ground to rest that long handle on while you're sitting on that camp stool. But, way to go! Got good goods! BTW, thinking about that inflatable mattress, if it were to spring a leak, all of that tall grass would have made a great stuffing so cut one end and stuff it where the air would have gone. Just the fact you stopped to get tinder and even before knowing you had the air mattress, I was thinking, hey, gather up a huge pile and bind it and bring it along. It is dry so does not weigh much and can be used for more fires and or bedding. Thanks for posting this, really cool! Hope it stirs some innovative brain cells of folks out there watching this! Oh yeah, be careful of bow saws. I cut my left index finger down to the bone because that saw jumped off the wood and onto my finger of the hand holding the wood being cut. It happened so dang fast!

Great idea for a challenge,.i have got some great fines at thrift shops. Quality wool blankets, sleeping bags, pads ,,pots, pans,water containers and outer wear. The hardest to find would be cover and wood cutting tools. I use about 50 percent of recycled things in my kit all thr time. Thanks for the vid.

Many of my best camping / prepping / survival items came from thrift stores and flea markets. The older, the better. Great video! Cheers

Congratulations on episode 100!! It looked like a very fun outing! I also love thrift stores and have gotten some prized items from them. I have been lucky to get some great cookware, wool blankets and clothing that were "steals." I like this challenge and your approach to it. Second hand shops, flea markets and yard sales are definitely worthwhile to frequent and every so often they will pay off. I look forward to many more episodes James! Keep up the great work and I wish you much success brother.

I used to live in a house that had wild onions growing in the backyard. We, of course, cooked with them. Thanks for the video.

Nice job James. Several lessons were taught in this adventure. An important one like you emphasized camping does not need to cost a kings ransom. The desire to camp is an important factor. Thanks for sharing