Equipped To Survive Equipped To Survive® Presents
The Survival Forum
Where do you want to go on ETS?

Topic Options
#291201 - 11/25/18 07:39 PM Raise Your Hand If You’re a Minimalist
Ors Offline
Namu (Giant Tree)
Addict

Registered: 09/16/05
Posts: 664
Loc: Florida, USA
The old adage “The more you know, the less you carry” is almost universally agreed on by prep minded people.

But what about your daily life?

In the past two and a half years, my family moved from the Midwest, to the West Coast, and recently to the East Coast.

This process made me realize how much STUFF we have!

I’m working on getting down to what’s really important to me, and it’s a process.

Besides what we have in our apartment (looking to buy a house soon) we have a storage unit here and two storage units in another state chocked full.

Some of it is sentimental, some antique furniture from my parents, including some pieces my grandfather made with hand tools. My wife and I love books, so we have lots of those, but most of the stuff is just that...stuff.

I’m curious about the philosophy of others in this forum.

Are you loaded with stuff like me, or have you stripped down to mostly essentials?
_________________________
Ors, MAE, MT-BC
Memento mori
Vulnerant omnes, ultima necat (They all wound, the last kills)

Top
#291202 - 11/25/18 08:03 PM Re: Raise Your Hand If You’re a Minimalist [Re: Ors]
M_a_x Offline
Veteran

Registered: 08/16/02
Posts: 1203
Loc: Germany
I may be somewhere between loaded and stripped down to essentials.
I go through my stuff twice a year and decide what has to go. I discovered that I still own a book about Windows 3.1 APIs and some manuals for devices I don´t own anymore. That stuff may have to go in the next wave.
_________________________
If it isn´t broken, it doesn´t have enough features yet.

Top
#291203 - 11/25/18 09:37 PM Re: Raise Your Hand If You’re a Minimalist [Re: Ors]
Tjin Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 04/08/02
Posts: 1821
More minimalist then loaded with stuff. Not super minimalist like some people, but certainly have a lot less than the average joe. I believe in less is more. I not only want to travel light, but also travel through life light. You just feel more free, when you are not tight down with stuff.
_________________________


Top
#291204 - 11/25/18 10:33 PM Re: Raise Your Hand If You’re a Minimalist [Re: Ors]
Jeanette_Isabelle Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 11/13/06
Posts: 2946
Loc: Nacogdoches, Texas
This is why I posted a similar thread in "Natural Disasters & Large-Scale Emergencies." I need to know how to strip down to mostly essentials.

Originally Posted By: Ors
I’m working on getting down to what’s really important to me, and it’s a process.

Some of it is sentimental, some antique furniture from my parents, including some pieces my grandfather made with hand tools.

As Mom studies genealogy, I'm learning why it is important to save items that meant so much to our ancestors. I have one ancestor in particular who fought in the Civil War. He gave his daughter a nickel. That nickel was her prized possession and it remains in our family. Mom has it.

I can only imagine how my ancestor would feel if I spent, traded or just left her prized possession behind.

For something so meaningful and yet so small, there is no question. It needs to be passed down to the last living family member.

Jeanette Isabelle


Edited by Jeanette_Isabelle (11/26/18 01:43 PM)
_________________________
I'm not sure whose twisted idea it was to put hundreds of adolescents in underfunded schools run by people whose dreams were crushed years ago, but I admire the sadism. -- Wednesday Adams, Wednesday

Top
#291206 - 11/26/18 03:32 AM Re: Raise Your Hand If You’re a Minimalist [Re: Ors]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
Interesting question - with possessions in general, i tend to hang on to stuff, although I have begun to give away books in my library. I turn more and more to sources on the internet. If I have not cracked a volume in twenty years, out it goes.

in my hiking and outdoor gear, I am definitely a minimalist - I a always looking for something a bit more versatile or significantly lighter, especially if it is on my back.
_________________________
Geezer in Chief

Top
#291214 - 11/28/18 08:47 PM Re: Raise Your Hand If You’re a Minimalist [Re: Ors]
clearwater Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 03/19/05
Posts: 1177
Loc: Channeled Scablands
I have heard that moving twice is the same as having a fire.

I certainly got rid of a lot of stuff on the second move in 3 years. Just enough time after the first move to get everything out of boxes and then turn around and have to pack again? No thanks. We had some huge yard sales. And give aways.

Top
#291215 - 11/28/18 09:17 PM Re: Raise Your Hand If You’re a Minimalist [Re: Ors]
Phaedrus Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 04/28/10
Posts: 3148
Loc: Big Sky Country
I sadly am not a minimalist at all!
_________________________
“I'd rather have questions that cannot be answered than answers that can't be questioned.” —Richard Feynman

Top
#291216 - 11/28/18 10:17 PM Re: Raise Your Hand If You’re a Minimalist [Re: Phaedrus]
Russ Offline
Geezer

Registered: 06/02/06
Posts: 5357
Loc: SOCAL
Not a minimalist and not sad at all. That said, if I were to pare down to just what would fit in my truck... like I said, not a minimalist.

Top
#291218 - 11/29/18 02:39 PM Re: Raise Your Hand If You’re a Minimalist [Re: Ors]
wileycoyote Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: 03/01/11
Posts: 309
Loc: north central west TX
minimalist. makes life simple and easy. less is more!

Top
#291224 - 11/29/18 07:33 PM Re: Raise Your Hand If You’re a Minimalist [Re: Ors]
chaosmagnet Offline
Sheriff
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/03/09
Posts: 3819
Loc: USA
I keep moving between redundancy and minimalism. But since I enjoy building and rebuilding kits and modules, it doesn't bother me.

Top



Moderator:  Alan_Romania, Blast, chaosmagnet, cliff 
March
Su M Tu W Th F Sa
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
Who's Online
0 registered (), 182 Guests and 8 Spiders online.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newest Members
GallenR, Jeebo, NicholasMarshall, Yadav, BenFoakes
5367 Registered Users
Newest Posts
What did you do today to prepare?
by dougwalkabout
Yesterday at 11:21 PM
Zippo Butane Inserts
by dougwalkabout
Yesterday at 11:11 PM
Question about a "Backyard Mutitool"
by Ren
03/17/24 01:00 AM
Problem in my WhatsApp configuration
by Chisel
03/09/24 01:55 PM
New Madrid Seismic Zone
by Jeanette_Isabelle
03/04/24 02:44 PM
EDC Reduction
by EchoingLaugh
03/02/24 04:12 PM
Using a Compass Without a Map
by KenK
02/28/24 12:22 AM
Newest Images
Tiny knife / wrench
Handmade knives
2"x2" Glass Signal Mirror, Retroreflective Mesh
Trade School Tool Kit
My Pocket Kit
Glossary
Test

WARNING & DISCLAIMER: SELECT AND USE OUTDOORS AND SURVIVAL EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES AND TECHNIQUES AT YOUR OWN RISK. Information posted on this forum is not reviewed for accuracy and may not be reliable, use at your own risk. Please review the full WARNING & DISCLAIMER about information on this site.