KE8PRB isn’t just an amateur radio call sign. It’s an aspiration. What does KE8PRB aspire to be? While “touching grass with radios” is an adequate tagline, I have big dreams. But they start small.
I dream not of hiding from the onslaught of modern life by hiding in the woods. I dream of healing from the onslaught by finding quiet and joy in the woods. Dreams of getting into better shape, getting more time in nature, and more time on the air. COVID really shook me up, phsically and psychologically. I dream of building the pieces of equipment that make it more convenient and enjoyable, but also accessible. Starting small, but starting now.
In my youth, I studied Shaolin Kung Fu. I was fascinated by the travels of Bodhidharma through China, and his arrival at the Shaolin Temple. The story, as it was told to me, goes that the monks at the temple would get robbed by bandits, and being mostly sedentary scholars, they couldn’t put up much of a fight. Damo (the Chinese name of Bodhidharma) taught the monks yoga and boxing in order to get the monks into shape. He encouraged the monks to meditate in the woods, and there the monks observed the animals hunting and fighting, which led to the development of the Five Animal Styles. Boxing (kung fu), the monks found, could harden the mind, body, and spirit by building hard chi, external, or negative chi. Yoga and meditation (qigong) in nature, especially among tall trees, mountains, and waterfalls, healed the mind, body, and spirit by building soft chi, internal, or positive chi. These practices (hard style and soft style) formed the roots of the various forms of external kung fu (Shaolin) and internal kung fu (Wutang) practice. In 21st century China, “energy work” (quigon/chi kung) has been regulated heavily by the Chinese Communist Party. Travel is a source of learning, relaxation is a form of quiet resistance.
When I talk about rest, healing, or relaxation, I don’t mean sitting at home doing nothing. Or worse, sitting at home, doom-scrolling. Rest is something intentional. Relaxation takes energy. For me, living isn’t something that just happens; it’s something that I have to do. I still have to go to work every day, I only get so many vacation days, and I only have so much money to spend on gear. So I’m going to start small, but I’m starting now.
Right now, my radio gear is just a backpack with some FRS radios, a dual-band HT, a first aid kit, a smartphone, and a USB-C battery bank. I want to add in a nice backpacking tarp, for a “carry anywhere” pack that I can grab when I hit the road, or the trail. The bag doesn’t take up much space so on a road trip, if I don’t use any of the gear, it’s no big deal.
When I think about outdoor activities, I put them into three categories: hiking, camping, and backpacking. Hiking can be anything from a walk in the park to a gnarly trail hike with water crossings, but it doesn’t involve fire, cooking, or sleeping. I usually have a tarp and some para cord with me just in case, but putting up a shelter or making a fire on a hike generally means that something has gone horribly wrong.
Camping is more about food and shelter and less about movement. Yes, it is possible to go on hikes while camping, but to me, a campsite is a stationary base of operations where you prepare food, wash, and sleep. Backpacking is the combination of hiking and camping: a longer range hike with overnight stays.
The difference between a hike and a backpacking trip is food and shelter. Hiking is water, snacks, and possibly rain gear, while backpacking is all of that plus breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a bivouac. The difference between camping and backpacking is that camp is the lack of movement and the presence of amenities like coolers, cots, and tables. Modes of transportation (bike, boat, truck, etc.) just add to the distance and duration of the activity. Kayaking is just wet hiking, off-roading is just hiking with a truck, and RVing is just camping in style.
Regardless of the activity, I like to be able to do 3 distinct things: power, compute, and communicate. There can be no computing or communicating (or lighting, or music) without power. The equipment might be as light as a smartphone app, or simple as a two-way radio. It might be as involved as an HF rig with digital capability. But in general, if I am out in the world, I need those 3 things. I want to build field gear that provides steadily more power, computing, and communications, depending on my mode of transportation.
On foot, power is probably just a USB battery bank, computing is probably mobile apps for navigation and music or audiobooks, and communication is either a mobile phone or an FRS radio. I have a big frame backpack for overnights with a hammock and a tarp, and I have a bulky, but portable cook stove.
On a bike, canoe, or kayak, the load out is generally the same. I just got a used mountain bike, but I haven’t done any riding yet. I have been canoeing and kayaking before, but I haven’t been in a long time. That’s on my list of things to do. My dry bag is mostly used for trips to the pool, or to King’s Island.
In a car, I pack a lot more gear. This is where tents, cots, folding camp chairs, and a portable stove come into play. One of my favorite things about camping is cooking over a fire. Admittedly that’s mostly been ramen noodles and hot dogs, but I aspire to cook more elaborate dishes. I think a thanksgiving camp with a deep fried turkey would be the ultimate achievement.
In the future, when I have the space, the time, and the money, I would like to buy a truck and build a cargo trailer into a camper, and a mobile ham shack. Actually, I would rather have a cargo trailer than a proper ham shack. Imagine never forgetting anything for a field day or a Parks On The Air activation because your whole shack is right there with you.
When it comes to outdoor dreams, the holy grail for me is a cabin and a ham shack in Appalachia. The road there is long and winding. Because I don’t have the money to acquire property, nor the skill to build a structure, I am working my way up to it. Going back to the teachings of Shaolin kung fu, time and equipment are external energies, while patience and learning are internal energies. Starting small means imagining the thing that I want in the simplest terms: rest in nature, joy in travel, learning in the radio hobby, and preparation for disaster. Starting now means assessing what I have access to at the moment: hiking trails, tent camp sites, a bicycle, 10 days of vacation per year, a first-aid kit, a hand-held radio, and a roll-up J-Pole antenna. Rather than fight the circumstances that I find myself in, I need to move with them, to pass through them.
What can I do with that gear? What’s the first step? How do I build external chi (equipment) and internal chi (understanding) organically, like growing roots. The first step is to get the idea down on paper (well, out on the web) and try to make connections with like-minded adventurers to learn and grow with. The next step is to work with the things I have in order to grow my abilities. I am not confident in the water-proofing of my tent. My first camping trip, I would have gotten wet in the rain. I also underestimated the importance of shade on my first camping trip and almost got heat stroke. This past camping trip to North Carolina, I solved both problems with tarps and para-cord.
What are the steps between an H/T, a smartphone, a tarp and an off-grid homestead and comms center in the mountains? Well, some of it is equipment, but it really comes down to using power, computing, and communications while hiking, backpacking, and camping. Growing the backpack into a field-ready box with an HF rig will take wiring up a 12v battery, a charger, and fusing. Running digital modes will require additional computation with either a Raspberry Pi, laptop, or a low power portable server. Converting a van or cargo trailer into a camper or mobile ham shack also requires 12v wiring, which is really just a radio box with a desk. Building a folding kitchen or sink for car camping can grow into the gas and water system for a camper. A solar shower, or a composting toilet can grow into the skills to build a cabin. Each piece of equipment I build can expand into another piece of the dream. It starts with the backpack, and it ends with an Appalachian retreat. I’m thinking about calling it “Camp Kilo-Bravo”.
I have wasted a lot of time waiting for the situation, the equipment, the weather, or the people I am with, to be right to get started. It’s not ever going to be the right time. This is why so many folks sit at home doom-scrolling, or watching YouTube videos of people doing the things that they wish they could do for themselves. Too often there are able-bodied influencers out there telling people that they can have the life that they want, they just have to buy a kit, or say a prayer, or subscribe to a newsletter. I’ll be 52 this year. The path for me is going to be significantly harder than it will be for someone half my age.
The thing about being middle-aged is that I have been around long enough that I can make adult decisions for myself. No, I can’t quit my job and live in a van, or blow a month’s rent on a radio, but I also don’t have to ask anyone if it’s cool if I do things that are a bit less radical. I am fortunate to have people in my life that want to do things, but I don’t need anyone to do this myself. I can just go spend the night in the woods when I want to, I can hang out on a repeater any time I’d like. Admittedly, it would be easier to do this stuff with a camper van and a 50W dual-band mobile, but I’ll get there. And along the way I hope to learn, heal, have fun, and connect with others that want to do the same thing.