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I love the videos and his story. Amazing man. But…how the heck could he do it?! It boggles my mind. No power tools - no chainsaw or drill, etc. It’s unfathomable how one 50 yr old man (albeit in great shape) could cut down trees, turn them into buildable materials and build an entire cabin in 2 seasons while also needing to survive.
I mean really. The vast majority of people would die of thirst or hunger or disease. Building a structure is like way more than an Army Ranger could come close to doing. But this guy not only survived but thrived. And filmed and journaled it! What?! How???
I think it's most amazing that he was able to record footage and safely store it for future viewing. I've watched and enjoyed many of his videos, and the narration reveals a lot of information about how he did things the way he did.
For those who don't know him, he lived self sufficiently in the Alaskan wilderness for thirty years, from around 1968-1998. Many videos for free on Youtube.
I love the videos and his story. Amazing man. But…how the heck could he do it?! It boggles my mind. No power tools - no chainsaw or drill, etc. It’s unfathomable how one 50 yr old man (albeit in great shape) could cut down trees, turn them into buildable materials and build an entire cabin in 2 seasons while also needing to survive.
I mean really. The vast majority of people would die of thirst or hunger or disease. Building a structure is like way more than an Army Ranger could come close to doing. But this guy not only survived but thrived. And filmed and journaled it! What?! How???
He didn't die of hunger because a local family brought the majority of his food to him.
I don't think he ever claimed to be living entirely off the land. That's a pretty tall order, as Alex Supertramp (Alaskan bus guy) found out the hard way.
In one of his videos he shows his pantry, which is up on stilts and accessed with a ladder to keep animals out, and where he keeps dry goods like oatmeal and raisins (his favorite breakfast). Obviously these foods are brought in.
He also says he doesn't hunt and kill wild game for meat because it's too much for one man. Most of his meat/protein comes from whatever fish he catches in the lake near his cabin.
Alaska is a tough environment to survive in if you don't have a meat heavy diet some areas in the more temperate areas grow fantastic gardens, but a lot of the state the ground has permafrost and short growing seasons.
Proenneke got regular shipments of food in by plane.
As for the cabin, he used materials he could move by himself and he took his time and did a great job. The cabin isn't very large so easier to heat.
I did enjoy his problem solving and inventiveness. Those hinges he made are pure art.
I know he did some small scale placer mining for gold, and sold his wildlife photography, but I don't know what other income streams he had to pay for food and air delivery.
Alaska is a tough environment to survive in if you don't have a meat heavy diet some areas in the more temperate areas grow fantastic gardens, but a lot of the state the ground has permafrost and short growing seasons.
Proenneke got regular shipments of food in by plane.
As for the cabin, he used materials he could move by himself and he took his time and did a great job. The cabin isn't very large so easier to heat.
I did enjoy his problem solving and inventiveness. Those hinges he made are pure art.
I know he did some small scale placer mining for gold, and sold his wildlife photography, but I don't know what other income streams he had to pay for food and air delivery.
Still, it was a pretty great lifestyle he had.
You can grow fantastic gardens IF you have the soil and a fence big and strong enough to hold off maurading moose and bears. All it takes is one big rainstorm, a rogue freeze in the middle of summer, one loose moose, and poof, there goes your garden. Anyone seriously wanting to "live off the land" would get a better ROI if they foraged for berries and other vitamin-bearing vegetation rather than taking their chances on a garden. Having enough meat isn't going to keep you alive through an Alaska winter; plenty of prospectors and other early arrivals had meat up to their ears, but that didn't stop them from dying of scurvy.
I have a nice little garden at my place in Alaska, but only after we imported a bunch of soil. Years ago, we planted some apple and cherry trees, but only the apples survived. About nine years ago, I decided to let a good portion of my land go to wild berries and also planted a patch of domestic raspberries. We're close enough to the beach that we can just walk down and get beach greens, which are highly preferable to what passes for produce in the local grocery store.
Proenneke built his cabin when he retired. Prior to that, he worked as a commercial salmon fishermen and as a mechanic.
Last edited by Metlakatla; 03-23-2024 at 02:02 PM..
I love the videos and his story. Amazing man. But…how the heck could he do it?! It boggles my mind. No power tools - no chainsaw or drill, etc. It’s unfathomable how one 50 yr old man (albeit in great shape) could cut down trees, turn them into buildable materials and build an entire cabin in 2 seasons while also needing to survive.
I mean really. The vast majority of people would die of thirst or hunger or disease. Building a structure is like way more than an Army Ranger could come close to doing. But this guy not only survived but thrived. And filmed and journaled it! What?! How???
Army Rangers don’t set the bar for survival skills, and cabin building is not part of their skill set.
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