Get aquainted with professionals and volunteers of various
agencies and organizations (SAR, Game Wardens, Scouts,
Sheriff Dept., volunteer fire or police dept etc.)
that do the kind of activities that you wish to learn or
practice. They are often looking for help and then you can
try those activities on the up and up, learn the laws,
make new friends, gain more opportunities to help others.

For example, I have a friend who is a game warden and I have learned
tons about hunting and fishing and gained access to some nice areas to hunt and fish too.

Maybe you should consider moving to a state that comes closer to meeting your requirements, or start a movement to have some of those laws changed...

I am moderating this thread. For the record I am not an armchair survivalist. I in fact moderate ETS atop a #10 can of dehydrated lima beans. My cat Piewacket has the armchair. I am usually not a morning coffee drinker, my anglo irish kosher background prefering tea with bagels. I was so hungry this AM I just took the entire Philadelphia Creme cheese block and stuck it between a big, fat cinnamon and raison one with a big spoonfull of strawberry jam.
I used a spoon, lest I violate some onerous knife law.

Chris, where I come from (Utah and Indiana) it's perfectly acceptable to use a knife to get jelly out of a jar! I do
P.S. Nothing beats a bagel w/cream cheese (excepting Lox)

Mike

I love Loxs! Problem is, I broke my SAK tryng to break into one. It was probably hte excessive play. So I set out a line. I woke up to police 'DO NOT CROSS' tape surrounding the sidewalk and gutter with grim faced F&G officers taking photos and pouring plaster casts of footprints. Luckily, our illegal immigrant landscapers obliterated everything mowing the lawn before taking off, thinking immiigration was conducting a raid.They adiosed out of here and left a HUGE pile of leafs on my doorstep. I figured I would practise debri hut building until I found some guy was already sleeping inside it.
So I made us both a late brunch, figuring to expand my networking skills, and remembering my grandfather's advise "' Be nice to people going up the ladder, you may meet htem coming back down.'
About then I remembered I had 3 tins of Baltic anchovies in olive oil.I gave him one, opened a second and discvered a note inside ' Nice estonian girl, good manners and teeth seeks american husband" with her AIM and YAHOO IM enclosed.
It smelled fishy to me.

Chris, if still have it, can you pm me her YIM and AIM? I'm single again *laughs*

Y'know, that's quite an assertion, given you have no idea where I actually do my camping. Or that you've never camped with me. Or that you know me.

Heck, I actually enjoyed the other discussions on networking and interpersonal skills for being prepared. -shrug-

You can only get sentence multipliers on relevant charges...
There is no jaywalking with a deadly weapon to use your witty comeback as an example. Your nephew (or whatever, don't care) commited a crime. He got nailed for it. He's paying for it. I'm fine with that.
As far as a death sentence for stealing quarters? No. Punishment is disapportionate to the crime.
It it illegal to have your Ritter knife? No. Just to carry it in public.
You want to practice trap building? Fine. Build them. Then use a a stick or something and trip the trigger to see if it works. You don't need to actually trap an animal to see if the design works as planned.
In a true survival situation I would use traps, reguardless of their legality. If it comes down to my life or a fine, or jail time...I'll pay the fees or serve the sentence if justice is "blind" to the laws of competeing and necessary evils. Ilm ok with that. Because I'm not a corpse in the woods somewhere.
Check your attitude bro, its 95% of the reason why you are getting so much flak

-Bill Liptak

There are some bad apples out there as LEO's.
Most have a passion for their job, a few have a passion
for the power it gives them.

I have friends who have had extreme charges brought against
them just so the correct charges would stick or so they
would plea to the lesser charge. Ain't right and it happens.

That said, you are right, the attitude is the issue here.
I was trying to say earlier, make friends, don't start fights, if you truly are wanting to learn stuff.

Do ride alongs with the law agencies. Volunteer with
emergency services. Make aquaintences with a park ranger
or warden. Join a hunting or fishing club. Volunteer with
4-H. There are tons of ways to get involved and learn.

As a teen I got to undertake responsibilites all out of
proportion to my age when I hooked up with
a Explorer Scouts search and rescue post. Adults volunteers are always needed too.