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[HellforLeather]

COVID struggles have obviously lead to an influx of people heading to the great outdoors for shit to do that doesnt involve being around other people. I went for a motorcycle ride up a very nice and normally sleepy mountain road and it was crazy the amount of traffic that I saw. Every trailhead, lake, and campground parking lot was full to the point of people parking on the side of the highway. Yes, its summer and its not uncommon to see more people in these places, but this year is crazy. All the camping groups I am a part of on social media are complaining about sites being full, "flatlanders" (yes, people unironically use this term) leaving their garbage everywhere and just the general spoiling of a lot of places due to crowds.

I started going camping last year so its not new from COVID. My GF has checked all the COVID bookmarks: Shes making homemade bread, Jam, and started a garden (not that I am complaining.

So what outdoorsy or homesteader crap have you guys gotten involved in since COVID that you will swear you were always interested in?

 

[triplestation]

ive always been into cooking fishing and gardening and outdoorsy shit

no change

 

[Gamerguy84]

Apparently everyone is canning food now. I grow tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, and herbs like sweet basil.

I cook and can enough for a years worth. All of a sudden I cant find canning lids and rings. You can only use lids one time.

 

[triplestation]

this is true some stuff has suddenly gone out of stock forever lmao

try looking for tomato cages anywhere that arent plastic bitch boy cages good fucken luck

so yeah i guess ive had to improvise with bamboo sticks and wax twine, which is actually kinda cooler anyway

 

[HellforLeather]

this is true some stuff has suddenly gone out of stock forever lmao

try looking for tomato cages anywhere that arent plastic bitch boy cages good fucken luck

so yeah i guess ive had to improvise with bamboo sticks and wax twine, which is actually kinda cooler anyway

My GF has been looking for seeds for the last few weeks and every store seems to be constantly sold out of everything here.

 

[Elektro Demon]

I've mostly been crusing around with my bike. I enjoy the open road.

 

[Mihos]

My GF has been looking for seeds for the last few weeks and every store seems to be constantly sold out of everything here.

I have some that just mysteriously showed up in the mail you can have.

 

[GAMETA]

I've been gaining weight, and I was fat already. That's pretty much it.

 

[manfestival]

Going to different public parks and defecating in bushes.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Outdoors time is important fresh air goes into dogs little brains and creates rushes of dopamine

 

[Tesseract]

i walk or jog every night

star gaze every other, been doing that since i was 19

cut grass, pull weeds, that sorta stuff

 

[Old Retro]

Before the lockdown in March, I thought the grid might go down and we'd be living in some Ubisoft dystopia. So I got into nuclear solar power. I bought a kit that has panels, a controller, got a battery, and it's nickle & dimed me like many other hobbies/platforms I've worked on. But, it's pretty cool to have.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I've been gaining weight, and I was fat already. That's pretty much it.

Many people I've spoken to have said the same thing. Too much sitting around.

For me, I've held steady. I'm sitting on my ass working at home on a laptop during the day and surfing the net, tv, games at night. But I don't eat out for lunch everyday like before. I still go grab take out every other day. But before it was 5 times a week for lunch and another 2-3 times a week as I'd grab something on the weekend or dinner on the way home.

I should be losing weight. But like some people making food at home, I pig out snacking as I'm online.

I'm not an active guy but do my share of walking to and from stores at 20-30 minutes each way. I'd do it more but the summer heat is death. Walk 10 minutes in Toronto humidity and you're sweating buckets.

 

[highrider]

When it first started I worked, then I got furloughed, then I worked, then I got furloughed again. During that time I smoked a lot of pot and played games, did some videos for my YouTube, some custom paint jobs. About a month and a half ago the basketball courts opened up and I’ve been enjoying getting out and playing again. I gained weight at the beginning, but I’ve gone full health dude now, I’m down to 180 which is pretty impressive for me. I can actually see kind of a two pack lol. A lot of the motivation was seeing myself in videos I’m doing now. I’ve always been relatively fit because of my job but I got downright portly at 210-215

 

[Dark Star]

Lots of hiking, skateboarding, longboarding, and bike riding. Love it. The weather has been hellishly hot down here in Texas, lots of rain too, but it doesn't stop me from having fun. I'm definitely planning a camping trip with a group of friends when it cools down a bit, maybe in October.

I've also noticed the local parks and forest trails and lake areas are a lot more crowded than usual these days. It's nice that more people have the free time to do outdoorsy stuff and spend time with friends and family, but it's most likely due to unemployment and work from home orders, which is kind of sad.

 

[haxan7]

Does taking a ton of naps count?

 

[MaestroMike]

nothing, but I've been eyeing ford cargo vans. you can customize it with a high roof and I'd be able to stand in it which is pretty awesome. saw some videos of people customizing cargo vans and installing their own beds and solar roofs on the top etc so they can live out of it while traveling. Kinda just want to take a camera and drive to visit/see other states. Still working and saving money tho so I can't do nothing.

 

[Flying Toaster]

I have been walking my fat ass up and down mountains in my area. I also started clearing out a section of backyard for my daughter and I to build some planter boxes and garden. She is interested in growing vegetables and now wants to get bees. I don't know how I feel about the bees.

 

[Stiflers Mom]

Skateboarding, pool riding.

 

[DogofWar]

This is the first summer I have ever spent in it's entirety in the town I live. My relatives live in Finland and my wifes in Poland so we usually travel back and forth there instead. Which means we have grown vegetables, while this is no new interest we haven't been able to be home and take care of them previous years. So that is about it.
I have also seen how Sweden looks in July, that was a new experience haha!

 

[DESTROYA]

Outdoors time is important fresh air goes into dogs little brains and creates rushes of dopamine

Do you have a dog brain ?

Getting my dopamine fix by doing yard work and gardening and let me tell you the size of my tomatoes

 

[Aarbron]

Generally, baking own bread, sowing crops and maintaining a herb garden. We harvested over 80kgs of olives from two trees last year. Hoping for a bumper crop again. Citrus growing too. We have grown so much, we gave to a few bags full to neighbors.

Will start some beer home brewing too soon.

I have lost my job due to covid (education sector), so have tried to keep the mind active. Finished and published a academic book in June. I am also looking to publish some work on the space industry. Have started to resurrect my old Amiga computers - tinkering with Blitz Basic, a long lost but fun language.

Pre-curfew, would go on long walks in the evening but that has all been squashed now. Outdoor activity is now largely relegated to star gazing and astrophotography and lighting a little campfire in the backyard. It keeps me sane and takes me away from the current insanity .

 

[p_xavier]

Does turning over on the couch every 30 minutes counts?

 

[nush]

My lockdown has passed already, but it proved that my realistic prepping actually paid off. So I'm doubling down on the bulk buys and self sufficiency skills.

People that prepped back at the start of the year when we accurately predicted the virus was going to be a pandemic were mocked by some people even here on GAF. We can wipe our ass on paper and don't have to stand in long queues for the supermarket. Who's laughing now?

What I've got better at is water recycling, what I'm working on is raising some chickens for eggs.

 

[TheContact]

I was never in lockdown but I started a garden anyway. The tomatoes are almost ready and the cucumbers are getting pretty big. It was a lot of work preparing the area but once the plants are all set up and put the wood mulch down, it looks really good and it's pretty easy to maintain.

 

[Nealand Liquor]

Updated our back deck then banged the wife on the couch that transitions to a sunbed. The couch pulled out and so did I

 

[Slings and Arrows]

Dogging

 

[Punished Miku]

Renting out a cabin with a hot tub actually, this Wed through Sun. Should be fun and relaxing. Going to canoe on a lake, and hike a bunch.

 

[jufonuk]

Wanking but outside while screaming.

ok joking aside. Some of the housework we needed to do. Planted veg and fruit. Fixed up the outside areas

trying to workout more. But also been eating more.
TBH I’m pretty introverted in large groups so I don’t go to big gatherings. More one on one meet ups.
We are ok for now where we are so been travelling in the U.K. I’m in Scotland. But I think lockdown part two will arrive soon.

 

[TrainedRage]

Total Gym + Kayak

 

[Punished Miku]

The cabin was fun. First time really being out in the deep, deep woods. We were in Oklahoma, and Arkansas, which were surprisingly very pretty in lots of areas. Hot Springs, AR has a neat downtown area with some restaurants with balconies right up on the side of a rock wall.

The highlight of the trip was kayaking. First time we went with no issues. Second time, my girlfriend and I wiped out twice and flipped the boat, then had to dodge multiple other tourists flying past us. One little kid was by herself and seemed to get stranded and lose her boat. Felt bad, but couldn't stop at all really.

I'd recommend it to people for sure. It's pretty cheap. Was $50 for a rental of a two person kayak on a four mile course. Went two different days. I'll probably try a 10 mile one sometime down the line. Went twice on class 2+ rapids, which I'm sure is probably beginner level. But it was fun

• Class A - Lake water. Still. No perceptible movement. met. Even nor
• Class I - Easy. Smooth water; light riffles; clear passages, occasional sand banks and gentle curves. The most difficult problems might arise when paddling around bridges and other obvious obstructions. classification
• Class II - Moderate. Medium-quick water; rapids with regular waves; clear and open passages between rocks and ledges. Maneuvering required. Best handled by intermediates who can maneuver canoes and read water.
• Class III - Moderately difficult. Numerous high and irregular waves; rocks and eddies with passages clear but narrow and requiring experience to run. Visual inspection required if rapids are unknown. Open canoes without flotation bags will have difficulty. These rapids are best left to canoeists with expert skills.
• Class IV - Difficult. Long and powerful rapids and standing waves; souse holes and boiling eddies. Powerful and precise maneuvering required. Visual inspection mandatory. Cannot be run in canoes unless the craft is decked or properlyequipped with flotation bags. Advance preparations for possible rescue work important.
• Class V - Extremely difficult. Long and violent rapids that follow each other almost without interruption. River filled with obstructions. Big drops and violent currents. Extremely steep gradient. Even reconnoitering may be difficult. Rescue preparations mandatory. Can be run only by top experts in specially equipped whitewater canoes, decked craft, and kayaks.
• Class VI - Extraordinarily difficult. Paddlers face constant threat of death because of extreme danger. Navigable only when water levels and conditions are favorable. This violent whitewater should be left to paddlers of Olympic ability. Every safety precaution must be taken.

 

[Compsiox]

I've always biked so that's what I've been doing.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Biking, hiking and kayaking. Father in law bought a kayak and I bought one for our family a couple of xmas ago, we take turns fishing or kayaking with the extra numbers of bodies vs seats. During Covid we've been kayaking off the surf beach, near the heads in an estuary, down river, local flat beach and generally anywhere we can. My son took it upon himself to attempt fishing from his kayak, no luck yet but that's on the cards for us both next time. FIL bought a fibreglass one and we got a two seater inflatable for the family. It's surprisingly rugged and well made with canvas etc but we far prefer the fibreglass in terms of comfort and handling. Where the inflatable wins is just having it in the back of the Jeep to use whenever and wherever. Hiking we've always done but with Covid we had been finding some longer trails and newer places, trouble is everyone is flocking to them making them more crowded than get away type hikes. Biking we've always done and now my daugher has a BMX in place of a vintage bike we're able to get off sealed trails and roads into some bush bashing, wife/son/myself all ride mountain bikes though.

However at the moment in Victoria, Australia we're in full fucking lockdown for another 5 weeks still so it's literally stay at home, can exercise for 1 hour per day (within 5 kms of home) and a nightly curfew of not going out between 8pm-5AM. Also no camping allowed and basically all retail is closed too. Kids are mandated for homeschool at the moment too. Honestly it's like living in a bubble. I find myself standing in the backyard like a deer in headlights just to get some sun on purpose when it's out.

At home I've demo'd an old pergola area and purchased everything for a new set of vegie gardens. Slowly building it and fitting it out. It's rained like crazy recently so we've been procrastinating on that project. *I'll admit I've been procrastinating on that one, don't tell the misses.

 

[rykomatsu]

A lot of leisure driving (1500mi/mo) discovering Hill Country and rural vicinity of Austin.

Beyond that, we've picked up a few hunting collars and doing a lot of off leash hiking with our pups and relaxing on the river/lake fronts. Our favorite time is Sunday evenings when everyone has gone home for the weekend. We basically get the entire park to ourselves.

100lb dog in the middle of this one:

This kind of stuff has made our yearning for rural life versus suburban or urban life much stronger...

 

[Kev Kev]

i've just been jackin it more

 

[Tesseract]

i've been playing basketball

 

[jufonuk]

i've just been jackin it more

It’s the cure

 

[notseqi]

not much changed, always very active due to long ass doggy walks, signed up to a gym to not get fat as fatass during the pandemic, started biking further (60-100mile) to nearby cities avoiding public transport

got some tomatoes and peppers which are ripening right now, had stocked up in late february as I was seeing the months to come

apart from masks and signing in to restaurants it has returned to almost normal

 

[Threeshotgamer]

I was already a prepper but I've made huge improvements to my rain collection systems and remodeled the bunker I use to store food and supplies. Also been doing research into hydro power to add to my already existing solar and wind power systems since i have a fairly quick moving stream on my property.