This is my Hermit Chow laboratory. I create optimal nutrition here for around 2 dollars a day. I don’t ever have to go to town now; I just order my supplies online. I took inventory yesterday; I have at least 3 months of supplies in my lab.
I started out with Soylent and then got into the DIY Soylent site. There is a video to teach you how to use the site. There are tons of people’s recipes. This one is 1.69 a day for food. This person did a minimal price version for .62 cents a day.
The basics you will need to build your own Soylent are: A source of carbs, a protein source, a source of fat, a multivitamin/multi-mineral tablet, Calcium with added D+K, Potassium, some source of Choline ( I chose soy lecithin) and a source of sodium (either salt or baking soda). Depending on whose nutritional guidance you may be following (there are many to choose from) you may also want to add some extra biotin, some MSM powder, and some chromium. I bought those extra things but after researching it, I think they may not be necessary.
Most people mix many days of their dry mix concoctions–(some a whole month)– at once so it’s convenient. Tip: You can mix the oil in with the dry flour and it keeps fine.
When I got tired of drinking my sustenance, I used less water and made it into a cookie dough. Currently I’m using 10 grain cereal as my carb so I make it in to porridge. To change things up I have another recipe of curried red lentils and TVP.
I’ve been interested in making a backpacking version and maybe trying it out on a 600 mile test hike.
For some reason, this is so interesting and fun to me.
On a related note, I found this Hermicity site where you can live alone and a drone will deliver Soylent and water to your hermitage. A hermit colony ran as a decentralized autonomous organization on the ethereum blockchain.
Very, very interesting. Glad to see you are still posting, I was getting worried you had gone into retirement again.
In an unrelated but relevant matter, do you have any comments on this poor woman who died 3000 meters off the Appalachian trail?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36389383
She was apparently alive for 26 days. As an experienced through hiker what would you have done differently in her situation? Other than not wander off the trail in the first place…
Hi Dave,
That was an interesting story. Good thing she brought her pack with her; I often drop my pack at the side of the trail and head out into the bushes and there have been enough times when I’ve had a moment of worry when I couldn’t find my pack right away that I don’t usually do that anymore.
I know I guy who dropped his pack and headed to the bushes and couldn’t find his way back to his pack for over an hour.
I have the Gaia GPS app on my phone now and a solar panel and/or a auxiliary battery to recharge it, so easy to find my way back to the trail. It works offline.
I’ve heard the forest service say something like don’t poo within 1000 ft of the trail and I have always thought, “Well you better take a compass bearing or have a gps then because you wander 1000 ft from the trail in brush and the trail disappears.”
So I guess she starved to death? Seemed like she could have found something to eat like cambium or grubs. That’s what I plan on eating if the food supply is cut off—cambium.
So I guess the lesson here is have a gps, or a map and compass. When I hiked the Appalachian trail, I didn’t carry any of those things, either, because its so well marked. EDIT: Actually I remembered I was carrying a compass/altimeter watch on the AT.
So weird that the east coast forests could swallow up a person so quickly. It’s so heavily populated and the trail is so well used.
There is another recent story about a guy named Otter disappearing on the CDT in November in New Mexico. They just found his body a week or two ago. http://www.scdailypress.com/site/2016/05/17/missing-hiker-found-dead/
I was swallowed up in Maine. Walked a few hundred feet off trail to relieve myself, then couldn’t find the trail again. Can’t hear other hikers because the dense vegetation middle sounds so much. Problem was walking in circles to avoid obstacles. Finally got back to the trail by walking a straight line regardless of obstacles. Was careful thereafter to look back as I wandered off trail, to remember my way back.
We, your loyal readers miss you Crow, hope you are out having a blast hiking the trails. Please post again soon.
Dave,
I haven’t hiked since last year’s Oregon Coast Trail hike. It was a lovely summer here with lots of wildflowers and not too hot, so even though I have 5 pairs of new shoes and my pack all packed, I was content to stay here for the summer.
I’m really loving have Internet. I abuse it but still I’m loving it.
I’m learning how to paint with acrylics by watching YouTube videos. That’s it.
I’m still eating DIY Soylent and I’m planning to get enough supplies to last all winter.
Well, lone woman survives a winter in an off grid cabin on DIY Soylent would be one hell of a youtube video series, in case you feel like sharing your adventure with the world.
Anyway glad to hear you are good, enjoy your painting!