Henry Rifle Forums

Thanks for the kind words everyone! I'm glad that you enjoyed the report!
I enjoyed hearing about your scouting memories too CT.

That looks awesome. Good for you.

That must have been a great trip! Growing up in Canada on the shores of Lake Erie, we'd often go ice fishing. We'd walk to the lake pulling our sleds, and then put our skates on and skate out a couple of miles and set up shop. Nothing as fancy as what you had, and we didn't spend the night but it was a lot of fun nonetheless.

I got to do a 3 week all expenses paid winter camping trip courtesy of the US Air Force from the 4th of January to the 26th of January back in 1981. That was when I did my USAF Survival School training (now called SERE). The training was that you just bailed out of your aircraft, and all you have is the survival gear that came with you. We learned how to make shelters, backpacks, sleeping bags out of the parachute. That was my first exposure to winter camping. I did enjoy it, and a lot of those skills I've carried forward to today.

However, I now live in SW Florida - AND I AM DONE WITH SNOW!

tcpip95 wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 26, 2022 2:38 am

That must have been a great trip! Growing up in Canada on the shores of Lake Erie, we'd often go ice fishing. We'd walk to the lake pulling our sleds, and then put our skates on and skate out a couple of miles and set up shop. Nothing as fancy as what you had, and we didn't spend the night but it was a lot of fun nonetheless.

I got to do a 3 week all expenses paid winter camping trip courtesy of the US Air Force from the 4th of January to the 26th of January back in 1981. That was when I did my USAF Survival School training (now called SERE). The training was that you just bailed out of your aircraft, and all you have is the survival gear that came with you. We learned how to make shelters, backpacks, sleeping bags out of the parachute. That was my first exposure to winter camping. I did enjoy it, and a lot of those skills I've carried forward to today.

However, I now live in SW Florida - AND I AM DONE WITH SNOW!

Did you do your SERE training in Eastern Washington State up near Parker Lake? There’s a school run out of Fairchild AFB in Spokane that uses this area. I used to hunt up there quite a bit and we had to be careful to stay clear of the closure area where the training takes place. I often see the AF buses and trucks hauling the trainees and gear on the highway that runs between Spokane and the Parker Lake area. US Hwy 2 east.

That's what I want to do, hot tenting.

That is awesome! Good for you all. Looks like it could be fun. I would be doing good to camp out in 70F weather, in a camper. It seems like you all would be able to survive off the land. Maybe one day, I will try something like that. My wife has talked about putting up a tent in the backyard. We do have a tent. But, it has not came out of the box yet. Baby steps.

Hatchdog wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 26, 2022 9:50 am

tcpip95 wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 26, 2022 2:38 am

That must have been a great trip! Growing up in Canada on the shores of Lake Erie, we'd often go ice fishing. We'd walk to the lake pulling our sleds, and then put our skates on and skate out a couple of miles and set up shop. Nothing as fancy as what you had, and we didn't spend the night but it was a lot of fun nonetheless.

I got to do a 3 week all expenses paid winter camping trip courtesy of the US Air Force from the 4th of January to the 26th of January back in 1981. That was when I did my USAF Survival School training (now called SERE). The training was that you just bailed out of your aircraft, and all you have is the survival gear that came with you. We learned how to make shelters, backpacks, sleeping bags out of the parachute. That was my first exposure to winter camping. I did enjoy it, and a lot of those skills I've carried forward to today.

However, I now live in SW Florida - AND I AM DONE WITH SNOW!

Did you do your SERE training in Eastern Washington State up near Parker Lake? There’s a school run out of Fairchild AFB in Spokane that uses this area. I used to hunt up there quite a bit and we had to be careful to stay clear of the closure area where the training takes place. I often see the AF buses and trucks hauling the trainees and gear on the highway that runs between Spokane and the Parker Lake area. US Hwy 2 east.

I’m not familiar with the area so I don’t know where we were. What you described sounds about right. We went up on Air Fotce busses From Fairchild, dropped off, did our training and came back on the AF busses. It was about an hour or so bus ride.

tcpip95 wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 27, 2022 10:45 pm

Hatchdog wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 26, 2022 9:50 am

tcpip95 wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 26, 2022 2:38 am

That must have been a great trip! Growing up in Canada on the shores of Lake Erie, we'd often go ice fishing. We'd walk to the lake pulling our sleds, and then put our skates on and skate out a couple of miles and set up shop. Nothing as fancy as what you had, and we didn't spend the night but it was a lot of fun nonetheless.

I got to do a 3 week all expenses paid winter camping trip courtesy of the US Air Force from the 4th of January to the 26th of January back in 1981. That was when I did my USAF Survival School training (now called SERE). The training was that you just bailed out of your aircraft, and all you have is the survival gear that came with you. We learned how to make shelters, backpacks, sleeping bags out of the parachute. That was my first exposure to winter camping. I did enjoy it, and a lot of those skills I've carried forward to today.

However, I now live in SW Florida - AND I AM DONE WITH SNOW!

Did you do your SERE training in Eastern Washington State up near Parker Lake? There’s a school run out of Fairchild AFB in Spokane that uses this area. I used to hunt up there quite a bit and we had to be careful to stay clear of the closure area where the training takes place. I often see the AF buses and trucks hauling the trainees and gear on the highway that runs between Spokane and the Parker Lake area. US Hwy 2 east.

I’m not familiar with the area so I don’t know where we were. What you described sounds about right. We went up on Air Fotce busses From Fairchild, dropped off, did our training and came back on the AF busses. It was about an hour or so bus ride.

Yep, you were there. This area is also known as Tacoma Creek. Here’s a recent article in the local paper about the area.

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/ ... colville-/

Hatchdog wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 28, 2022 10:03 am

tcpip95 wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 27, 2022 10:45 pm

Hatchdog wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 26, 2022 9:50 am

Did you do your SERE training in Eastern Washington State up near Parker Lake? There’s a school run out of Fairchild AFB in Spokane that uses this area. I used to hunt up there quite a bit and we had to be careful to stay clear of the closure area where the training takes place. I often see the AF buses and trucks hauling the trainees and gear on the highway that runs between Spokane and the Parker Lake area. US Hwy 2 east.

I’m not familiar with the area so I don’t know where we were. What you described sounds about right. We went up on Air Fotce busses From Fairchild, dropped off, did our training and came back on the AF busses. It was about an hour or so bus ride.

Yep, you were there. This area is also known as Tacoma Creek. Here’s a recent article in the local paper about the area.

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/ ... colville-/

Yep, that's the one! Great article. Thanks for sharing.

Sidebar story.... When I went through, I was an E-5, and had been in the Air Force for about 4 years. Many of the other students were young 2nd Lt, 1st Lt, a some junior enlisted. We all stayed in barracks off to one separate part of FAFB. We were always running out of hot water. When we came back in from the field, everybody is trying to get showered and cleaned up after a week of being completely filthy and smelly. I knew that this was going to be a nightmare back at the barracks.

One of the guys in our group (young 1st lt) had a car. I told him "Wouldn't it be great to have all the hot water you want, hit a steam room, then a sauna? I know how we can do it if you're driving." He had no idea what I was talking about, but we jumped in the car.

"Now, drive to the Base Gym. They've got all of that there". We took three showers, hit the steam room and sauna twice, then showered for a fourth time and headed out for a pizza.

When we got back to the barracks, all the rest of the guys looked absolutely miserable - taking cold showers.

He asked me "How'd you know about the gym?" "Lt, I was born at night, but it wasn't LAST night!"