1000 Days in the Dam: An exercise in inventory control

Drifter Man

By Drifter Man
in Survival Stories

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Pillock Pathfinder

Pillock

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Just now, Vhalkyrie said:

Ok, thanks.  I'll look through old containers.  I also haven't done the Summit climb yet with this character, so I bet there are some up there.

Yeah, and maybe some more can openers if you're really lucky.

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Vhalkyrie Pathfinder

Vhalkyrie

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Just now, Pillock said:

Yeah, and maybe some more can openers if you're really lucky.

:D:D Damn can openers...

Just now, Dinhammer said:

I lucked out.  The vast majority of my stims I got because the medical bunker spawned for me this time in ML.  8 total to work with.

And there's another thought.  I haven't found the bunker on ML or PV on this toon either.

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Drifter Man Pathfinder

Drifter Man

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Wow... this thread has never been so active, I guess :) Thanks for all the advice and words of caution. I only tested climbing on Pilgrim to see how it works mechanically. That's how I learned where exactly to find the ropes in ML. But I have zero experience in Voyageur.

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Vhalkyrie Pathfinder

Vhalkyrie

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14 minutes ago, Drifter Man said:

Wow... this thread has never been so active, I guess :) Thanks for all the advice and words of caution. I only tested climbing on Pilgrim to see how it works mechanically. That's how I learned where exactly to find the ropes in ML. But I have zero experience in Voyageur.

I might go scope it out on Pilgrim, too.  But I'm wondering if I should leave it a mystery for my current toon to discover?  Decisions, decisions.

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Drifter Man Pathfinder

Drifter Man

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Day 578 (535th Day in the Dam)

The first task is done - I have a mountaineering rope. I did that pretty well, to quote the in-game character. I set out along the railroad with the following items in my backpack:

  • 4 pills of antibiotics
  • 10 painkillers
  • 4 bandages (1 normal, 3 antiseptic)
  • 1 emergency stim
  • 20 cattail stalks (1 kg, 3000 Cal)
  • 4 doses of coffee (unbrewed - I don't carry any "cups of anything" in my backpack anymore)
  • 2 liters of water
  • 1 accelerant
  • 18 matches
  • 2 flares (will only bring one to the Ravine)
  • 2 torches (again, will only bring one to the Ravine)
  • 1 hunting knife (took a new, sharp one from the locker; not that it matters, but it feels right)
  • 1 bedroll
  • 3 pieces of birch bark
  • 1 piece of reclaimed wood

I left some clothes in a locker, discontinuing the decay test temporarily on these pieces, in order to save weight. I also found out that medical pills now slowly degrade in my backpack. In the 35 days since the update, they have lost 1%. I wanted to get the rope without actually climbing, but this load - 15 kg in total - is what I plan to carry tomorrow when I dive into the Ravine.

At the Train Loading Area I saw a wolf in the distance and avoided it by moving towards the river. Then I climbed into the hills between the river and the railroad. I don't like this place - it is far too easy to get lost between all those trees and rocks, and the terrain is hard to negotiate. But eventually, I reached the cave above the ropes. I searched the corpse at the entrance (another emergency stim and MRE at 28% - good enough for decay tests but little else) and slept for 2 hours to get rid of fatigue and a sprained wrist.

rope1.thumb.jpg.27ff40db3d3a9d27aa333a02

Then I took the rope and headed on my way back. I slipped through above Derailment and returned to the river near the Train Loading Area. I spotted a deer on the other bank, marking the place as safe, so I crossed the River and returned to the Dam. No wolf encounters, 4 hours of daylight left. It was overcast and moderately windy all day. One hour after I returned, a blizzard started.

rope2.thumb.jpg.4b10e65780183a883284e926

Tomorrow's the big day! But like Vhalkyrie, I have a busy weekend ahead, too. The Ravine will have to wait :)

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Drifter Man Pathfinder

Drifter Man

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12 minutes ago, Vhalkyrie said:

I might go scope it out on Pilgrim, too.  But I'm wondering if I should leave it a mystery for my current toon to discover?  Decisions, decisions.

Maybe if I do all right, you can try without a rehearsal. If the rabbit-eater makes it, it should be a piece of cake for a mountain girl :)

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Vhalkyrie Pathfinder

Vhalkyrie

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21 minutes ago, Drifter Man said:

The first task is done - I have a mountaineering rope. I did that pretty well, to quote the in-game character. I set out along the railroad with the following items in my backpack:

  • 4 pills of antibiotics
  • 10 painkillers
  • 4 bandages (1 normal, 3 antiseptic)
  • 1 emergency stim
  • 20 cattail stalks (1 kg, 3000 Cal)
  • 4 doses of coffee (unbrewed - I don't carry any "cups of anything" in my backpack anymore)
  • 2 liters of water
  • 1 accelerant
  • 18 matches
  • 2 flares (will only bring one to the Ravine)
  • 2 torches (again, will only bring one to the Ravine)
  • 1 hunting knife (took a new, sharp one from the locker; not that it matters, but it feels right)
  • 1 bedroll
  • 3 pieces of birch bark
  • 1 piece of reclaimed wood

Ok.  Most of the packing list makes sense to me.  But...what is the reclaimed wood for?

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Dinhammer Prepper

Dinhammer

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I'm back up at the top.  The devs aren't nearly the sadists I had built them up in my mind to be.  Carry a bedroll and you will be fine with almost any loadout.  Mine was 79 lbs. Just don't take it all in one shot.  Pulling off at the rest stop is not optional.  It is a long rope.  I counted 84 "steps," give or take. (84!)

 

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Drifter Man Pathfinder

Drifter Man

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15 hours ago, Vhalkyrie said:

Don't get any stuck bears or anything! :D 

Sometimes I wonder whether I am more likely to succumb to an alpha wolf or an alpha bug :D

15 hours ago, Vhalkyrie said:

Ok.  Most of the packing list makes sense to me.  But...what is the reclaimed wood for?

To be able to start fire and make coffee even if there are no sticks at the bottom. I have no cedar right now at the Dam. 1 reclaimed wood and 1 coal could actually be better than cedar.

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Drifter Man Pathfinder

Drifter Man

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10 hours ago, Dinhammer said:

I'm back up at the top.  The devs aren't nearly the sadists I had built them up in my mind to be.  Carry a bedroll and you will be fine with almost any loadout.  Mine was 79 lbs. Just don't take it all in one shot.  Pulling off at the rest stop is not optional.  It is a long rope.  I counted 84 "steps," give or take. (84!)

 

That's reassuring, thanks. I only carry 79 lbs when I go the the fire barrell to cook. And for the walking tests I did a while ago. I wouldn't go climbing with more than 50.

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Vhalkyrie Pathfinder

Vhalkyrie

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13 minutes ago, Drifter Man said:

To be able to start fire and make coffee even if there are no sticks at the bottom. I have no cedar right now at the Dam. 1 reclaimed wood and 1 coal could actually be better than cedar.

I was going to suggest coal.  That's what I have my coal stash in TWM for the summit climb.  But yeah, you need stick starters. Let me know if you find sticks at the bottom of the Ravine.

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Dinhammer Prepper

Dinhammer

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If curiosity gets the better of you (as it did me) and you decide to play anyway, make sure to move all meat to outside storage.  Even dumping it on the ground is now preferable to any place inside that I've seen, save the hatch at the Mountaineer's Hut.

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Drifter Man Pathfinder

Drifter Man

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Day 578 (535th Day in the Dam), second entry

So, there are some important conclusions:

  1. Since any indoor storage of meat (and possibly other food items) is not an option anymore, the first step will be to throw all meat outside at the entrance to the Dam and monitor its decay rate regularly. Right now a blizzard is raging outside but this is something I can manage even in these conditions.
  2. There are 50 kg of external container storage in the Ravine - two corpses, one backpack and one metal container. I will see if there is any advantage in using them.
  3. Based on the reports by @Vhalkyrie, I assume that decay was applied retroactively to food items that I haven't touched since the start of the sandbox. Which basically makes my sandbox devoid of any food with the possible exception of the food I left in my supply points in Coastal Highway. I must go to Coastal Highway to check the status.
  4. Regular bedrolls may also have started decaying. I will check the only spare bedroll I have in the Cave system in the Winding River.
  5. Until all these matters are clarified and settled down, Ravine bottom will wait.
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Dinhammer Prepper

Dinhammer

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I am still trying to verify whether there is accelerated decay on *all* perishable undiscovered items.  I have come across an awful lot of items which have decayed to 0% in a game which is only 60 days old. This includes non-meat food and clothing.  At least the clothing is still harvestable.  But it seems my dreams of woolen underwear may have to remain dreams, since I haven't found them yet.

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Vhalkyrie Pathfinder

Vhalkyrie

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When I searched containers in Coastal Highway I know I didn't touch, everything was 0% ruined.  The granola bars and soda I left out in the open at Hibernia were also 0%.  The only thing that seemed to have survived were a box of crackers.  Those things must last forever without accelerated decay. ;) They're like Twinkies.

I don't know if this is due to retroactive decay on my 288 day game, or if they were already in poor condition, and just finished off the decay in the 30 or so in game days I was playing.

I'm pretty certain that all perishables in the TWM containers are dust.  The canned goods loss shouldn't give me too much hardship.  However, I would have liked the clothing for cloth.  The tools and ammo shouldn't have decayed, and that's all that's really important in my game.

Edit: It seems you can still harvest clothing that is 0% ruined, so that should be ok.

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Drifter Man Pathfinder

Drifter Man

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Day 580 (537th Day in the Dam)

I put all my meat outdoors - hopefully wolves don't find out, although in reality I can't see how I could prevent having a wolf pack at my doorstep next morning. 14 kg of cooked venison is now stored in a container lying in the Ravine. So far it seems that the decay rate is about 1% per day for cooked meat and 2-3% per day for raw meat if it is lying in the open. I will check the container on my way to the Coastal Highway today.

These are my "test specimens":

specimens.thumb.jpg.da9678a271b56899b281

The bedroll left in the Winding River (never moved from its initial place) has lost 6% since last time I checked it about 15 days ago (post-v.321). I brought it to the Dam. I'm worried that all bedrolls will start losing condition now. I miss the one I lost in the cave-in. Bedrolls are rare and quite irreplaceable.

I'm headed to the Coastal Townsite and the Misanthrope's Island, the only locations I haven't visited in the Coastal Highway.

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