Bean

Stones are also handy for cairns, where you can store your gear. An OCD obsession with picking them up can lead to a nice new cairn once you’ve collected 50! Also stunning rabbits with stones is super easy. You just have to make sure the rabbit is going the right direction with respect to yourself, and use crouch to get close.

There is ALWAYS a hacksaw on the summit in the plane. It’s always lying out where you can get it, but often under or behind something. the secluded shelf/cave tunnel route is the best way up there. I usually sleep in that cave until rested fully before the final summit climb. on the way back down... my son actually discovered a better way down than retracing my steps and using all those ropes. Turns out you can stumble down the slope behind the tail section all the way to the climbers shack. Overloaded as you wish! Long as you can move, it works.

Yep. My longest IL game (235 days) started naked in a canyon in Hushed River Valley. I climbed out of there frozen and tired and hungry, but I made it to Milton and that sweet little trailer for a nap. From my experience, HRV is the absolute worst place to start in IL. Even TWM is far better, far more survivable. I don’t know if Ash Canyon is on the IL start list now, but I think that would also be easier if you know the zone. I got way better at Loper starts after finally completing “As the Dead Sleep.”

You can also create mini challenges for yourself. My latest self-created achievement was getting all the best gear including fishermen sweaters, woolen long underwear, twin expedition parkas, insulated boots, twin snow pants, with woolen ear muff, technical pack, crampons, AND moose hide bag, rifle with 47 ammo, revolver with 120 rounds, bow with 4 arrows and five arrowheads, magnifying glass, all tools, and two skills to level 3... before day 10. Did it with a day to spare. I guess you can get better crafted gear but that is going to take more time no getting around it.

The containers up on the hill overlooking the lake should have a few can openers which can be turned into scrap easily. other than that, not much except for the aforementioned lanterns and tool boxes on the summit.

Ok I’ll do one: Don’t make a nighttime trek across Bleak Inlet during an aurora. Them timberwolves are fierce! I lost a 200+ day survivor like that...

And I finished my challenge today! 9.5 days in and I had all the best gear minus cowichan sweater and mukluks (using better C° insulated boots) including technical backpack, moose hide bag, and crampons. That includes magnifying glass (2), fire starters, and all tools including flashlight, all weapons including bow and a few arrows, 120 rounds of revolver and 47 rounds of rifle shells. basically the survivor is set! only problem is now I’m bored with him. Oh well...

Well I believe it’s a makeshift bed not a bedroll, although that can be there too. But actually even if you are completely drained you could still stumble down the mountain with the slope behind the tail section and make it back to the mountaineers hut. You wouldn’t be in great shape and it would be slow going, but it’s possible! speaking of impossible things I’ve been trying to get all the best non crafted gear including moose satchel, crampons, and technical backpack by day 10 on a new survivor. So far, I have everything but a moose bag, and I’m at the trailer near HRV in Milton. But it’s day nine. At this point I’m just making up challenges for myself.

Well, you can. Coffee will get you up the first two ropes, and then you’ll be pretty tired. The third rope requires a stim, but one stim will get you to the summit. There’s actually a bed in the cave up there. So this is possible!

Loper games won’t have prepper’s cache bunkers, except for the abandoned one by the rope to TWM. All other settings will have bunkers! my latest game had the weapons bunker near the top of the rope to signal hill in pleasant valley. Serious score! most if not all bunkers will have a can of gun powder! So very worth finding. It can take some looking though! A couple games back, I searched every location in ML until I found the “firewood” cache in a last place possible.

1) If the aurora fails before you make it back to the elevator, just quit the game and reload the previous save. You’ll have to explore the place all over again but this time you know how much time you have! 2) There’s always a can of gun powder down there, as well as usually a rifle and some ammo, a skill book, and a bed roll. 3)You can get everything without walking in electrified water or hitting any power lines. Duck is your friend vs lines. 4)Aurora are freaking rare in CH. I like to wait for one in a car, taking cat naps and waking up to check if the aurora happened. If it starts in the second half of a night, forget it. Won’t last long enough to fully loot the place.

There are two or three in the work table drawer in the Angler’s Rest cabin.

It really is a nice game. I find it both relaxing to play and sometimes thrilling when I’m on a hunt! Walking along on a long trek is nice as the scenery flows by. And then there’s the adrenaline spike when the wolf rushes in while you walk slowly back holding that last arrow ready to release. Or the smug satisfaction that comes from arrow sniping a whole pack of wolves one by one as they Yelp and fall over. The sense of accomplishment when that moose finally kneels into a snowbank. Or the rush of terror and horror as the bear catches you and mauls you within an inch of your life. There’s the “oh shit” moment when the lead timberwolf spots you and sticks his nose up to howl in the pack. And the savage glee of shooting him dead while he’s doing that, and watching the moral of the others tank. The quiet sense of greed as you line the shelf of your hideout with cans of pilfered food, bottles of water, and boxes of crackers. It’s kept me interested for a couple of years now.

It’s a girl who would enjoy camping and wilderness survival. That’s unusual and interesting in itself. Most of her advice was spot on. I do think she got a little hung up on eating people, but otherwise her commentary was entertaining and fairly knowledgeable!

Ok well since you mentioned hunting bears and avoiding mauling, here’s a tip that will change your life. When you’re about to shoot at a bear, just build a fire first between you. Charging bears will stop at a fire and wait. It’s weird, but it gives you a bit to line up a second shot. If your placement is good (aim for eye) you’ll kill it dead with the second shot. If not, it will run off. Either way, a fire is like a brick wall to a bear. At least if you’re on the other side of it. Moose are trickier, but several things will stop a charging moose. One is a shot from rifle or pistol that MISSES them. Another is a flare gun shot. Otherwise you’re back to using terrain to avoid the stomping. High unreachable places work for this as well. If you’re on a cliff face, with no pathing available for the moose it will run off instead. Same for bears.

Have you tried Timberwolf Mountain yet? That’s my favorite zone. Also it will help you fill in some holes in your gear like a second woolen underwear and climbers sox and woolen ear flap. Put the moose bag on the outside and wool flap inside. The bag is tough and can take some damage and is easily repaired with a piece of leather. my 210 day stalker file got corrupted somehow. So that’s another fun way to “lose” this game! I started a new one in Ash Canyon on Stalker. One day in and I’d got my technical backpack and crampons, rifle and pistol and an axe. Exited that zone to deer clearing and went up to the summit of TWM. It was kinda fun to have full gear on day two. Now my survivor is on day 11, got my hides almost cured and several large animals worth of meat cooked at the climbers shack. I have a bow and four arrows and six shots left on the rifle, 10 for the pistol. My rifle skill is 2 almost three, pistol at 2, cooking at 3. And I have about three months worth of food and gear. Crazy how bountiful this zone is! This might be my best start ever. I did a challenge last year to get full gear all tools, two skills to level 3, and level 3 in a weapon skill, as well as 30 rounds of ammo for that weapon and a months worth of food. Took 15 days

Have you considered making a snow shelter near the farmhouse? If you repair it every couple days you only need a couple sticks. And it sure cuts down on the commute. even on Loper, with a bear sleeping bag, you should be good to sleep through the night in any weather out in your snow shelter.

Welcome to two years ago, brah! Things have changed. Don’t try to scare a moose with a fire. You’ll get stomped for sure. Flare guns still work on both moose and bears. Fires only work on bears.

Sometimes there’s a frozen corpse on the hill beside the barn, and the key is there. Only happened one time in one game of many dozens.

Dumbest thing I’ve done (I think) was setting off from the BI cannery to the cabin along the river... in an aurora. The Timberwolf pack attacked me halfway there and they were amped up and super vicious. They attacked every few seconds taking a chunk out of me, moving fast and the game saved after every bite slowing down my reactions. I never got much chance to do anything but die... 211 days in on Stalker.

Whoops! I didn’t read your post Upupandaway before writing my own on the same exact subject. I do like that we are on the same page! The game needs more challenge and cougars would make it just that much more intense! I’ve been lobbying Hinterland for their addition to the game for half a year or so. Maybe they’re listening?

Since the tree swaying animation is already built into the game, and animals can climb the trees, this sets the stage for the best addition to the game ever: COUGARS! Wild cougars often climb a tree to lie in wait for unwary prey. Imagine plodding along with your survivor, trekking a pile of moose meat to your cabin. You pause for a small break near a stand of trees and suddenly a ravening giant cat pounces like death from above! or, a wary survivor might see a tree swaying slightly out of sync with the other trees and look up to see the big cat, draw a bead, and let that rifle shell take away all its nine lives!

Bleak Inlet, watch tower.