View Full Version : Begging On The Trail
Mother Natures Son
05-17-2016, 19:06
I saw a hiker today, (Near the truck stop outside of Duncannon, PA) with a sign begging for money. What got me is the guy had a great gear (Read $$$) but was out of money. Has anyone on this list begged for money (On the trail.) or thought about it?
Lone Wolf
05-17-2016, 19:14
saw quite a few panhandlin' hikers in damascus the past coupla weeks. bums
saltysack
05-17-2016, 19:15
Word of the day.........JOB......
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Greenlight
05-17-2016, 19:36
Was the truck stop near the trail? Just because he had great gear doesn't mean he didn't buy it months ago, so he could have legit money problems. If he was a t a truck stop, he'd be better off hitching a ride home, though, instead of panhandling. I've never heard of a hiker panhandling before. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen. YOou more often hear of hikers yogi'ing, raiding hiker boxes, hiring themselves out work for food/lodging.
I saw a hiker today, (Near the truck stop outside of Duncannon, PA) with a sign begging for money. What got me is the guy had a great gear (Read $$$) but was out of money. Has anyone on this list begged for money (On the trail.) or thought about it?
jbbweeks
05-17-2016, 20:11
Most would be surprised to see how much the pro-panhandlers rake in! Gave $3 to a woman @ Bland Kangaroo - clerk told me she was a pro that worked their parking lot on a regular basis - she had a car full of kids and said they were stranded - when she pointed to the car the kids waved & smiled at me - last time I was in there I ask if she had gotten my $3 back for me - she said the police had arrested her and found 2k on her! I don't think I will ever get my $3 back! The kids were cute!
Tapatalk
I don't give money to the panhandler on the corner. There are many other ways my money can him and others but, I don't begrudge him/her for trying. I have given food or beverages.
The panhandler I despise; the person collecting signatures and eventually contributions door to door for "Clean Water Action" or "Anti-toxic this", or other public-good sounding organization. I learned from an ex-employee of one such group that 1/3 of the collected cash is commission, most of the rest is "administrative costs" with a small percentage eventually being spent on "the cause".
saltysack
05-17-2016, 20:45
https://vimeo.com/167051193
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Hikingjim
05-17-2016, 21:19
i've seen a bunch of hikers whose supply plan is to raid the hiker box at all the hostels, etc
Plunder the whole box.
Not as bad as begging, but not much better
rocketsocks
05-17-2016, 21:52
I hear some panhandlers in the big city's take plastic, they use the "square" on there cell phone.
...you have got to be ****ing kidding me! Crazy world.
LittleRock
05-18-2016, 07:50
I saw a hiker today, (Near the truck stop outside of Duncannon, PA) with a sign begging for money. What got me is the guy had a great gear (Read $$$) but was out of money. Has anyone on this list begged for money (On the trail.) or thought about it?
Are you sure he was a hiker? He could've just parked his car at the truck stop, pulled his gear out, and started holding up the sign.
Gambit McCrae
05-18-2016, 08:48
It is embarrassing for me to read this, I know the trail is far from story book, book I doubt ol' Myron or Benton ever begged for anything, other than a trail to walk :)
chknfngrs
05-18-2016, 09:09
I wouldn't dare ask for $$ but figure a way to generate it myself. I was taught to be industrious and would figure something out (singing for supper, washing dishes, peeling potatoes).
peakbagger
05-18-2016, 09:18
I have talked to a few older thruhikers when I give them car rides and apparently one of the newer challenges is to beg ones way north. A few of them speculated that the folks doing the begging had spent their funds on weed or partying in town. Its too bad that generally the folks who need it the most are the ones least likely to be begging and the worst at it. As Gorham is along a major east west highway we get a fair share of itinerants who swing through town on their way east or west and they sometimes will set up shop in town but soon figure out there is better begging elsewhere (like VT).
I know of some folks who have time on their hands and when they see someone at road intersection with sign for "work for food" or "need a job" they offer to go buy them some food or give them a ride to the local unemployment office as currently there are numerous businesses in the area looking for employees. Inevitably the folks with the signs ask for cash instead.
My feeling is that budgeting and paying for a thru hike is part of a thru hike, begging to continue a thru hike to me is the equivalent of blueblazing the AT and claiming they thru-hiked the trail. I have done trail magic in the past and will continue to do occasional trail magic but generally its something I initiate and is unexpected by the hiker. I can generally figure out "yogi ing" pretty quick and there is definitely a fine line between it and outright begging.
CoolBobby
05-18-2016, 11:33
It is embarrassing for me to read this, I know the trail is far from story book, book I doubt ol' Myron or Benton ever begged for anything, other than a trail to walk :)
Agree 100%.
It is embarrassing for me to read this, I know the trail is far from story book, book I doubt ol' Myron or Benton ever begged for anything, other than a trail to walk :)
this is nothing new - granny Gatewood was not shy about asking for handouts
Having sufficient funds to hike the AT for 5-6 months is part of the planning process. I see no reason for anyone to beg especially given all the trail magic and hiker feeds. If you don't have 4-5 grand stashed away (at the very least) you should not be hiking the trail. End of story.
Odd Man Out
05-19-2016, 00:31
I met a guy who was hiking GA to HF with no money. He had crap gear, cooked over wood fire. Slept on the ground and would pull a Tarp over himself if it rained, which didn't work so well as he was drying his gear at a parking lot when i met him. When he needed food he would call a friend and say he ran out of money and asked him to mail a box of food to the next PO. He said he had enough friends to get to HF without having to ask the same person twice. He was a bit down because all his stuff was wet and wasn't able to hitch a ride to the PO before noon when it closed on Saturday. Now he was stuck with no food until the PO opened on Monday. I made his day by telling him it was actually Friday. I gave him some extra coffee which made him even happier.
Yogiing, or however you spell it, is just a fancy word for begging in my opinion.
If the ultimate end result is to get something for free, then what's the real difference.
The use of the word ' yogi' is just a feel good factor to lessen the blow.
Hey, if you're going to scrounge something off me, at least have the China's to be upfront about it!
(spellcheck changed Cahunas to China's ! Ha!)
If I am wrong, someone please enlighten me...
chknfngrs
05-19-2016, 06:50
China's the new cahunas
The Solemates
05-19-2016, 08:33
What got me is the guy had a great gear (Read $$$) but was out of money.
most people without money today in America actually make 6 figures...but somehow also manage six figure debt
The proper yogi is to acquire bbq food instead of hiker food without asking for anything. The only thing cool to bum is a ride to town. It's a time honored tradition with a long and glorious history. Perfect example. 4th of July weekend we desperately tried to order pizza from a state park but no one was open. I was able to yogi food from a party to feed 7or 8 people. They had way too much and we're happy to listen to hikers stories etc. no one was broke and no one ever asked for anything. I simply used Jedi mind tricks. After a thousand miles variations on noodles are slim town food is the only thing that matters.
Well I guess that makes you a jegger....enjoy your pozza!
For me the real kick I get from backpacking is going my own way, with my shelter, stove, sleeping bag, food, everything I need in my pack to be independent. Standing on a corner with my hand out is the opposite of that.
jbbweeks
05-19-2016, 20:12
Just depends on whether you have the 'China's' to beg!
Tapatalk
If one runs out of money it is time to go home. Your not prepared.
I did a three-month section once with my retriever. He begged the whole way. Never had to say a word or hold up his paw. He just showed up with sad eyes and people fed him. I don't think he ever felt any shame and he never shared his handouts with me. I must admit however a few times the charitable giving to my dog resulted in some charitable giving to me too.
i've seen a bunch of hikers whose supply plan is to raid the hiker box at all the hostels, etc
Plunder the whole box.
Not as bad as begging, but not much betterYou'd be amazed at how much of the stuff in hiker boxes ends up being thrown away...and its mostly stuff you wouldn't want to eat anyway. If someone can use it, good. At least its not going to waste. The hiker box is the equivalent of someone saying "if nobody wants this I'm going to throw it away." This counterbalances people whose resupply plan is to pick up their maildrop and decide they don't like what is in there and go to the grocery store.
Uncle Joe
05-21-2016, 11:56
I think it's prudent to be cautious when giving but ultimately giving is for the giver.
pilgrimskywheel
05-21-2016, 12:44
The AT has become a magnet for the free lunch crowd, in part due to the wide spread availability of free lunch. However, if panhandling hikers on trail surprises you check out the interwebs. Go Fund Me and similar sites are alive with touching hard luck tails, tragic back stories, and appeals to fund through hikes for dubious causes. Oddly, a pastime of rugged self-reliance has become one of almost complete social dependence. It's embarrassing to put a pack on and have folks in the towns - especially on the AT - think: "Oh! Somebody should help that poor struggling feller!" I got news for ya, that poor struggling hiker is on an 8 month long dream vacation in the most beautiful place on earth. If he or she is broke then they either came unprepared, or blew their money on Pabst Blue Ribbon talls. Either way, eliminating hike "failure" has fostered an atmosphere of codependence on the AT. I'm going to get a Go Fund Me site to finance an awareness raising snorkel trip to the Virgin Islands. People should know the truth about the dangers of rum infused fruit drinks with tiny umbrellas in them! That's where I come in.
Offshore
05-21-2016, 14:40
What's with all the preachy self-righteousness all over this thread? Being asked for a handout is not exactly like being robbed at gunpoint. It's simple. if you don't want to give, then don't. If the very existence of people asking for a hand out on the trail, or having a GoFundMe page, or even asking you personally for a hand out has that much of a deleterious effect on your sensibilities, you've got bigger issues than they do. Personally, I think people should fund their own vacations, so I don't give a cent or a lecture, or a second thought. Lighten up, people and be careful when shaking that trekking pole in indignation out on the trail.
magic_game03
05-21-2016, 16:04
If asking for food makes you beggar, does the same go for hitching?
P.S. Retired at 40, 6-figgure income, 7-figgure house, and yes I still hitch and yogi food.
Lone Wolf
05-21-2016, 16:12
i asked a lady in a winnebago at a lookout in the shenandoahs if i could buy a couple slices of bread. next thing ya know she fed the heck outa me. damn right i yogied
magic_game03
05-21-2016, 16:33
You forgot to mention that she was also yelling, "Shoo, go away vermin!"
Easy enough without outright begging - seeking something for nothing expended by yourself - how about FIRST outright asking for a handout to a job?… offering value to someone in return for things like money or goods or shelter to continue hiking? I've seen others do it on LD hikes and I've personally done it several times myself. Painted a hostel, weeded a perennial garden, volunteered 2 wks at an outfitter but was later paid and was put up in a guest house the entire 2 wks), swept floors and took out trash at a Health Food Store, worked for a wk at a coffee shop, painted a garage, did paid trail maintenance, washed Police Patrol Cars(wasn't community service!, cops paid me, they were awesome even bought me lunch and gave me a ride back to the TH), worked at a hostel for a wk, refinished a cracked sidewalk, cleaned AMC Huts, washed dishes, chopped firewood, and best of all, spent 5 days on a farm milking goats in Seiad Valley Cali and mowing the fields in a big Deere tractor. C'mon, if Supertramp can find his way learning how to operate a combine from Vince Vaughn others can do it too without looking for downright handouts offering nothing in return. Don't be a bum!
If asking for food makes you beggar, does the same go for hitching?
P.S. Retired at 40, 6-figgure income, 7-figgure house, and yes I still hitch and yogi food.
Depends on the situation. LW gave a good example. He approached a person in S NP FIRST offering to pay. He was providing something of value he had in what could better be defined as an exchange not an outright handout. The person saw that willingness he had and it turned into a handout. That's not begging or yogiing in the sense of looking for something in exchange for nothing. Depending on circumstances when someone offers a ride displaying some conscientious of other's expenditure of resources I find it polite to offer some gas money. Most refuse the money but at least I offered and wasn't being a total douchbag mooch as some are. Again, much of this topic relates to one's behavior and character. How do you represent yourself and your community?
Now, I ask, after these experiences with hikers as depicted what impression of the hiking community was left in the minds of these people who lended assistance?
Part of the art of yogiing, selling, inspiring, affecting a change in behavior in others, etc is getting others to offer without outright asking for anything…while you're conscience, your heart isn't condemning you.
You might want to read I Hike by Lawton "Disco" Grinter about how his hiking partner and wife Felicia P.O.D., short for Princess of Darkness, got her trail name.
pilgrimskywheel
05-22-2016, 00:17
Fact is - people who don't come out to the trail, be it without a sleeping bag or cash, are unprepared. They have a negative impact on people who do come prepared. If hikers are by and large increasingly needy then they become a repellent population. This retards the ability of hikers who need real help in getting it. If every time you pick up a hitchhiker they try and get some cash off you with a bear-ate-my-food-bag sob story, are you going to keep picking up hikers and lending a hand? Nah. Learned helplessness is a real thing. If you can't afford to go on vacation then please, don't join me on mine. That's where the preachy self righteousness comes from. It comes from experience. You wouldn't go to Disney World or get on a cruise ship with empty pockets then expect strangers to carry you. Why presume you can climb into the mountains for free? There is always work to be done. You can hike - you can work. And if you know what you're doing - you can work all the way to Maine.
Well if a guy with really nice gear is asking for money, it sounds like a good opportunity to buy or trade for his nice used gear really cheap!
gracebowen
07-16-2016, 18:24
Well I admit part of my resupply plan is to utilize hiker boxes but I wont plunder them or take food I deem too questionable.
Slo-go'en
07-16-2016, 19:16
Well I admit part of my resupply plan is to utilize hiker boxes but I wont plunder them or take food I deem too questionable.
That's not a very good resupply plan. Sure on rare occasions you can find something good, but in general, if the person putting something in the hiker box doesn't want it, you probably don't either. Although if you like oatmeal, you may never have to buy any. And just what is that mystery powder in the unlabeled baggie anyway?
gracebowen
07-16-2016, 19:43
Thats why it's only part of the plan. Chech the boxes before I buy anything. If its a mystery powder in an unlabeled bag or for any matter a baggie ill pass.
If its a granola bar in its original package yeah maybe. Someone bought bandaids and left half a box behind. Yes ill take a few.
Ill probably end up leaving a few things too. The dehydrated meals im planning on buying in bulk include some broccoli and cheddar flavored meals.
If I cant trade them or bring myself to eat them they will end up in a hiker box.
30 day bucket $90. A bit over 2000 calories a day equals about half the food ill need for a month.
kayak karl
07-16-2016, 20:06
30 day bucket $90. A bit over 2000 calories a day equals about half the food ill need for a month. ?????? What bucket??
gracebowen
07-16-2016, 20:35
Aargh i can't get the link to post. It's on eBay from Aauguson farms. 1800 calories a day. I was previously a bit off.
They also have it at my local Sam's club.
It might go up a bit before I get to hike. Plus I have to try it first.
gracebowen
07-16-2016, 20:42
It's on eBay from Aauguson farms. 1800 calories a day. I was previously a bit off.
http://m.ebay.com/itm/331899698494
They also have it at my local Sam's club.
It might go up a bit before I get to hike. Plus I have to try it first.
Tipi Walter
07-16-2016, 21:06
It is embarrassing for me to read this, I know the trail is far from story book, book I doubt ol' Myron or Benton ever begged for anything, other than a trail to walk :)
Every backpacker I know is a beggar---we're all begging to hike and camp on public land (or not so public), we're all begging Miss Nature to give us rain to survive---and even the food we buy is eaten with the teeth and digestive systems not really of our own making. Try humping up a mountain trail under load without oxygen (or lungs) and see how far you go.
In the many years I spent on and around the AT, I often times carried a clarinet and/or wooden recorder and hitched to various trail towns to play street music for cash money. Here's a pic of me pulling some street music for cash back in 1982. Begging? Sure, why not? (And check out the pack I lived out of for years---North Face external).
https://photos.smugmug.com/BooneYears/Tipi-Life/i-H64kQhn/1/O/scan0027smaller.jpgstree%20music%20%2081.jpg
In those years I always dumpster dived for food and thought it a major sin to let it get thrown away and left to rot.
rocketsocks
07-16-2016, 21:35
Love it Tipi!
cliffordbarnabus
07-16-2016, 22:04
hell yeah tipi!! i dumpster dive everyday. yes, everyday. i spend nothing on food. yes, nothing.
however, i play trombone, not clarinet.
gracebowen
07-16-2016, 22:05
I found $50 in a dumpster once.
People doing this gives hikers a bad name
gracebowen
07-16-2016, 22:23
I wasn't hiking when I found it.
OldNorth
07-16-2016, 22:29
It'd be great to hear back from Mother Natures Son. I wonder how he's doing and I love that song!
OldNorth
07-16-2016, 22:30
Ha, wrong thread!
It's on eBay from Aauguson farms. 1800 calories a day. I was previously a bit off.
http://m.ebay.com/itm/331899698494
They also have it at my local Sam's club.
It might go up a bit before I get to hike. Plus I have to try it first.
Pretty horrible stuff, we tried it to see if it would be something worth keeping around for the next hurricane. It wasn't.
Survival food has got to be a great business to be in...people buy your stuff and then store it away and never use it so they don't know how poor quality it is.
Tipi Walter
07-17-2016, 10:34
People doing this gives hikers a bad name
People doing what? Dumpster diving? Begging?
I've got a different approach. In my opinion backpackers who glom onto trail shelters or who carry minimal food and rush to trail towns give hikers a bad name.
rocketsocks
07-17-2016, 11:11
Survival food has got to be a great business to be in...people buy your stuff and then store it away and never use it so they don't know how poor quality it is....and in a perfect world they aren't repeat customers...what a buesiness plan.
squeezebox
07-17-2016, 17:02
If one runs out of money it is time to go home. Your not prepared.
Correction!
If your down to the price of a bus ticket home. Then it's time to head home.
Rolls Kanardly
07-17-2016, 20:24
Yogiing, or however you spell it, is just a fancy word for begging in my opinion.
If the ultimate end result is to get something for free, then what's the real difference.
The use of the word ' yogi' is just a feel good factor to lessen the blow.
Hey, if you're going to scrounge something off me, at least have the China's to be upfront about it!
(spellcheck changed Cahunas to China's ! Ha!)
If I am wrong, someone please enlighten me...
cahonies - vulgar slang - Spanish in origin - spelling is English - usually always plural. You got the context right. he he he
JumpMaster Blaster
07-17-2016, 20:55
Well I admit part of my resupply plan is to utilize hiker boxes but I wont plunder them or take food I deem too questionable.
Why not just rely on your OWN resources to resupply? Hope is not a plan. If everyone relied on hiker boxes for food, how do you think the hostels W/ resupply would stay in business?
Hiking is a hobby, an option. If you're hiking as a career you'd better be prepared to WORK in exchange for your food money, not expect it.
gracebowen
07-17-2016, 21:13
Why not just rely on your OWN resources to resupply? Hope is not a plan. If everyone relied on hiker boxes for food, how do you think the hostels W/ resupply would stay in business?
Hiking is a hobby, an option. If you're hiking as a career you'd better be prepared to WORK in exchange for your food money, not expect it.
As I already explained it is PART OF not my whole plan. If I check the hiker box first and find something I need such as half a box of bandaids why buy a box if I only need a few. Whats wrong with me taking 3 or 4 and leaving the rest for someone else?
I also said im gonna buy and try some dehydrated food I found online. If I like it its almost half of my daily calories needed and its only $90.
Others have said its horrible but we all have different taste buds. My kids love mustard. I hate it.etc.
cliffordbarnabus
07-17-2016, 21:57
People doing what? Dumpster diving? Begging?
I've got a different approach. In my opinion backpackers who glom onto trail shelters or who carry minimal food and rush to trail towns give hikers a bad name.
hell yeah again tipi!! and it's not "dumpster diving," it's "food rescuing." and i rescued 11 bags of snickers minis, 3 pounds of grapes, bananas, apples, plums, wheat thins, triscuits, 4 boxes of raisin bran, a gallon of milk, a half gallon of OJ, and 3 pounds of yogurt just today!
rocketsocks
07-17-2016, 22:13
Trail name...
Humpty Dumpty :D
Trail name...
Humpty Dumpty :D
AKA Mr. E. Coli.
MtDoraDave
07-18-2016, 07:29
Slightly off topic, but I don't see performing on the street as begging. Holding a sign or simply asking for handouts is begging.
I, personally, won't attempt a thru-hike until I have saved enough money to do so. If I run out of money before I get there... well, I can't say for sure what I'd do until the time comes. It's my understanding that a thru-hike changes a person, and after several months on the trail will I have the same ideas I do now? Who can say?
Puddlefish
07-18-2016, 08:32
Slightly off topic, but I don't see performing on the street as begging. Holding a sign or simply asking for handouts is begging.
I, personally, won't attempt a thru-hike until I have saved enough money to do so. If I run out of money before I get there... well, I can't say for sure what I'd do until the time comes. It's my understanding that a thru-hike changes a person, and after several months on the trail will I have the same ideas I do now? Who can say?
Agreed.
One enterprising young man was preparing group meals at hostels earlier this hiking season. He'd buy the ingredients, and allow people to "buy in" to join the meal. It was kind of awesome actually, got a nice community vibe going, hikers from various age groups and such all came together for a nice evening. When asked how much it cost to buy in, he said $5 to $10 depending on what you can afford, but pay me after. $5 covered his costs exactly, $10 made him about a $100 profit. The meal was excellent, everyone was feeling great, I suspect most people gave him $10. I figured based on how much time he spent shopping and preparing the meal, he made about $25 an hour. Not a bad deal considering that people were pitching in to help with the prep and cleanup. A nice little way to fund your hike. Value for value.
The same can more or less be said for busking... as long as you're not busking at a captive audience.
Begging is just using guilt to take advantage of the generosity of suckers, then offering nothing in return.
saltysack
07-18-2016, 10:14
Every backpacker I know is a beggar---we're all begging to hike and camp on public land (or not so public), we're all begging Miss Nature to give us rain to survive---and even the food we buy is eaten with the teeth and digestive systems not really of our own making. Try humping up a mountain trail under load without oxygen (or lungs) and see how far you go.
In the many years I spent on and around the AT, I often times carried a clarinet and/or wooden recorder and hitched to various trail towns to play street music for cash money. Here's a pic of me pulling some street music for cash back in 1982. Begging? Sure, why not? (And check out the pack I lived out of for years---North Face external).
https://photos.smugmug.com/BooneYears/Tipi-Life/i-H64kQhn/1/O/scan0027smaller.jpgstree%20music%20%2081.jpg
In those years I always dumpster dived for food and thought it a major sin to let it get thrown away and left to rot.
Classic!!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
saltysack
07-18-2016, 10:16
It's on eBay from Aauguson farms. 1800 calories a day. I was previously a bit off.
http://m.ebay.com/itm/331899698494
They also have it at my local Sam's club.
It might go up a bit before I get to hike. Plus I have to try it first.
I've bought dehydrated food in bulk...never again...I get sick of the same crap after 2 days....gave away new unopened #10 can of MH lasagna at MTR last year...rather starve than eat more if it!!!!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
cliffordbarnabus
07-18-2016, 22:33
today = 8 bags of chocolate chocolate chip chip's ahoy, 4 bags of megastuff oreo's, 5 pounds of apples, 5 pounds of potatoes, 2 pizzas still in their boxes, 3 boxes of wheat thins, and 8 boxes of nature valley granola bars.
keep wasting america!
and i'll keep eating.
Tipi Walter
07-19-2016, 00:25
today = 8 bags of chocolate chocolate chip chip's ahoy, 4 bags of megastuff oreo's, 5 pounds of apples, 5 pounds of potatoes, 2 pizzas still in their boxes, 3 boxes of wheat thins, and 8 boxes of nature valley granola bars.
keep wasting america!
and i'll keep eating.
Reminds me of the time, true story, when I dived behind a grocery store whose power went off and they threw out all their frozen foods---the dumpster must've had over $10,000 worth of food going to waste. Only in America would it be illegal to give this food away (insurance reasons or whatever).
But I was much more particular than cliffordbarnabus---No junk food, no ice cream (found plenty of it slowly melting), no cakes etc. And no meat since I'm a vegetarian. But beaucoup grapes and veggies and cheese and yogurt and bread and cantaloupes and all else.
Then the idiot-store owners started locking up their dumpsters and god only knows how many billions of dollars worth of food has gone to waste.
rocketsocks
07-19-2016, 10:07
Bolt cutterspaper clip
Traveler
07-19-2016, 10:15
After you pick up trash and garbage carelessly thrown out of a dumpster so "frugal clientele" can find culinary delights, sleep the night away, or use it to crap in, it doesn't require a degree to figure out locking out those who do that is not a bad idea.
Just sayin. Who are the idiots.
Tipi Walter
07-19-2016, 11:12
After you pick up trash and garbage carelessly thrown out of a dumpster so "frugal clientele" can find culinary delights, sleep the night away, or use it to crap in, it doesn't require a degree to figure out locking out those who do that is not a bad idea.
Just sayin. Who are the idiots.
Question---Have you ever dumpster dived? It sounds like you have never taken the time to recycle these food resources. I never carelessly threw out trash from a dumpster just so I could get to the food. Sleep the night away? What, inside a dumpster? That's just being way left-field. And taking a crap inside a dumpster? What kind of crowd do you run around with? Not one of my friends or myself has ever taken a crap inside a dumpster. That would be like s******* where you sleep.
It sounds like you're put off by the idea of scoring free food and/or disgusted by the thought of climbing into a smelly dumpster. But it's a time honored backpacking technique for those Elite Hobos on town visits who know the wisdom of getting food that would otherwise be destroyed. Once loaded up from a righteous dumpster haul I'd carry my heavier pack back out to the woods and keep hiking.
DUMPSTER STORIES
** I got a college degree in music and clarinet performance before I dropped out and starting living out of a pack in 1980. Then began my true dumpster-diving glory years. In 1986 I was scrounging thru a rural dumpster and yes found a wooden Hopf recorder (like a flute) in a case with a fingering chart and learned to play this recorder and ended up playing Bach on the thing in an Episcopal church during services. God wanted me to learn how to play the recorder.
** One time I scored a watermelon out of a dumpster and squatted next to my backpack eating it when a cop drove up and demanded to see my ID. I was sitting on the ground and remember his shining black gun belt with the bullets etc. He looked at the ID and I asked him, "Do you want some watermelon?" and he shot a mean glance and got in his patrol car and drove away. I guess I had no outstanding warrants.
** Winter time is the best time to go dumpster diving and so I was hiking to my stealth camp outside of Boone NC but first wanted to stop at a local grocery store dumpster. It was snowing hard and the dumpster was full of snow with the jewels below in refrigeration mode (good eating!) and my pack was on the ground and I was deep inside the dumpster gathering food. I slowly pulled myself out of the box wearing my pinhead-looking wool watch cap covered in snow just as a police Jeep suv went by with 3 cops inside. Our eyes met as they slowly drove past on the icy road and they couldn't believe the sight of me at 0F climbing out of a dumpster. Fun times.
Tipi Walter
07-19-2016, 11:24
Oops, forgot this great Dumpster story---
** Me and my backpacking buddy Robbie were headed up a creek trail but first stopped at a grocery store dumpster on the way. Robbie was seriously homophobic and expressed disgust at anything to do with the subject of homosexuality. Wouldn't you know it but once at the dumpster and standing on the side shelf looking in we found that someone dumped their entire porno collection into the box and it was all pornographic magazines depicting yes gay male sex. Such titles as "Young Meat" and "Black Inches" and hundreds more. Robbie's head turned beet-red and I thought it was going to explode.
JumpMaster Blaster
07-19-2016, 12:05
today = 8 bags of chocolate chocolate chip chip's ahoy, 4 bags of megastuff oreo's, 5 pounds of apples, 5 pounds of potatoes, 2 pizzas still in their boxes, 3 boxes of wheat thins, and 8 boxes of nature valley granola bars.
keep wasting america!
and i'll keep eating.
To each his own.
colorado_rob
07-19-2016, 12:10
today = 8 bags of chocolate chocolate chip chip's ahoy, 4 bags of megastuff oreo's, 5 pounds of apples, 5 pounds of potatoes, 2 pizzas still in their boxes, 3 boxes of wheat thins, and 8 boxes of nature valley granola bars.
keep wasting america!
and i'll keep eating.
To each his own. AND, to each his own imagination. amazing thing, the internet and public forums, people can make up whatever they want. some are a bit more subtle, others not so much.
Basically, a bum is a bum is a bum. Leaches on our productive society.
(for the record, IMHO, dumpster diving is not being a bum, begging is being a bum)
GoldenBear
07-19-2016, 12:26
About 30% of ALL food that enters grocery stores eventually gets thrown away.
And it has NOTHING to do with food safety, or lawsuits.
The expiration date on canned food, for example, is not for safety or nutrition -- canned food that is 110 years old has been opened and found to be COMPLETELY safe to eat, and still high in nutritional value.
http://outdoorselfreliance.com/100-year-old-canned-food-safe-to-eat/
The expiration date is related to how the food LOOKS.
Companies don't want customers opening their cans and seeing something that has less than optimal looks, texture, or taste.
Thus, grocery stores simply toss the cans.
Similarly, stores toss their fruits, vegetables, and baked good WAY before they go bad -- simply because food that is SLIGHTLY off-color or hardened will cause the customers to think the stores sell spoiled or moldy food.
Thus, it's not safety or lawsuits -- it's the fear of lost customers -- that causes stores to throw away so much.
How do I know this?
When you get involved in distributing surplus food to people who simply ask for it, for as many years as I have,
https://www.facebook.com/arthur.gunter.353/posts/517616938393263
you learn a few things.
rocketsocks
07-19-2016, 12:54
Oops, forgot this great Dumpster story---
** Me and my backpacking buddy Robbie were headed up a creek trail but first stopped at a grocery store dumpster on the way. Robbie was seriously homophobic and expressed disgust at anything to do with the subject of homosexuality. Wouldn't you know it but once at the dumpster and standing on the side shelf looking in we found that someone dumped their entire porno collection into the box and it was all pornographic magazines depicting yes gay male sex. Such titles as "Young Meat" and "Black Inches" and hundreds more. Robbie's head turned beet-red and I thought it was going to explode....and this is why I keep comin' back, always a pleasure to read the comings and going of Tipi Walter. You should write a book dude!
rocketsocks
07-19-2016, 12:56
ooh, almost forgot...:)
Traveler
07-19-2016, 13:01
Question---Have you ever dumpster dived? It sounds like you have never taken the time to recycle these food resources. I never carelessly threw out trash from a dumpster just so I could get to the food. Sleep the night away? What, inside a dumpster? That's just being way left-field. And taking a crap inside a dumpster? What kind of crowd do you run around with? Not one of my friends or myself has ever taken a crap inside a dumpster. That would be like s******* where you sleep.
It sounds like you're put off by the idea of scoring free food and/or disgusted by the thought of climbing into a smelly dumpster.
Answer: Being off-put is not really the issue, as I am one of those who cleaned up after people engage in their dumpster diving hobby.
Early in my working life I worked at a grocery store in a small city. One of my chores was to keep the area around the dumpsters in the back neat and clean, which there was usually trash strewn about. I quickly learned about dumpster denizens and their habits. Suffice to say, I saw a lot that year.
Near the end of my tenure, a fellow who looked like Moses after his 40 years in the desert came boiling out of the dumpster one morning when we threw a mess of meat scraps from the butchers waste pan. It got real ugly after that, which at about 17 years old was very impressionable. The owner found a padlock (I guess God didn't want people in the dumpster), got some chain and locked the lids down, ending the problem.
My point being, for a business to lock up a dumpster someone has to cause a problem. While it may not be you, it was someone with the same hobby but not interested in replacing what they pulled out to make their discoveries. I'm sure the DD Society feels differently, but the idiot is not the person who decides to lock up the dumpster as opposed to paying someone to clean up around it routinely. The lesson being, don't make a mess of things and few people would even know you have been around.
today = 8 bags of chocolate chocolate chip chip's ahoy, 4 bags of megastuff oreo's, 5 pounds of apples, 5 pounds of potatoes, 2 pizzas still in their boxes, 3 boxes of wheat thins, and 8 boxes of nature valley granola bars.
keep wasting america!
and i'll keep eating.
Where in the world are you getting this stuff??!!
SWODaddy
07-19-2016, 20:48
Reminds me of the time, true story, when I dived behind a grocery store whose power went off and they threw out all their frozen foods---the dumpster must've had over $10,000 worth of food going to waste. Only in America would it be illegal to give this food away (insurance reasons or whatever).
But I was much more particular than cliffordbarnabus---No junk food, no ice cream (found plenty of it slowly melting), no cakes etc. And no meat since I'm a vegetarian. But beaucoup grapes and veggies and cheese and yogurt and bread and cantaloupes and all else.
Then the idiot-store owners started locking up their dumpsters and god only knows how many billions of dollars worth of food has gone to waste.
They had to throw out fruits and vegetables because they lost power?
cliffordbarnabus
07-19-2016, 22:12
today = 8 packs of spinach, vanilla oreo thins, ricola cough drops, sunscreen, fiber fudge brownies (90 calories each!), 22 100 calorie greek yogurts, gallons of skim milk, 2 quarts OJ, ginger snaps, a case of be-vita blueberry bars, 2 pounds of celery, cantaloupes, tomatoes, and peach favored crystal light drink mix.
on the porn front, no gay or straight porn...
cliffordbarnabus
07-19-2016, 22:14
AND, to each his own imagination. amazing thing, the internet and public forums, people can make up whatever they want. some are a bit more subtle, others not so much.
Basically, a bum is a bum is a bum. Leaches on our productive society.
(for the record, IMHO, dumpster diving is not being a bum, begging is being a bum)
yep, the internet is for tall taler's. and i'm paul bunyan. but as i type, i'm eating those fiber fudge brownies....and soon enough, i'll be on the toilet!!
cliffordbarnabus
07-21-2016, 22:09
and today was 32 pay day bars (a pay day!), 8 snickers king size pb bars, 18 king size hershey with almonds, 3 bananas, apples, oranges, 3 bags vanilla wafers, 1 bag scooby snacks (~not~ dog treats), 10 ice cubes gum cups, 10 cool mints packs, yogurt parfaits, ritz pb cracker packs, 2 cans of applesauce, and a pizza from a "little" man of roman times that said, "et tu, brute?"
Puddlefish
07-22-2016, 07:19
and today was 32 pay day bars (a pay day!), 8 snickers king size pb bars, 18 king size hershey with almonds, 3 bananas, apples, oranges, 3 bags vanilla wafers, 1 bag scooby snacks (~not~ dog treats), 10 ice cubes gum cups, 10 cool mints packs, yogurt parfaits, ritz pb cracker packs, 2 cans of applesauce, and a pizza from a "little" man of roman times that said, "et tu, brute?"
That's a lot of crap processed food.
Tipi Walter
07-22-2016, 10:32
That's a lot of crap processed food.
Or more likely it's just a lot of crap.
cliffordbarnabus
07-22-2016, 22:13
and today was 18 boxes of be-vita breakfast biscuits in blueberry or golden oat flavor. chocolate graham crackers. ginger snaps. 4 bananas, red bell peppers, potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, werther's original candies, pencils, a glue stick, and 4 boxes of "think thin" granola bars.
is it a lot of crap? only if crap is truth!