Let's try Outerloper

[fauxjargon]

Day 37 was boring and involved carrying moose meat and cooking moose meat.  I notice I can carry 6 cooked moose meats with only one stink bar.
Day 38 - Mystery Lake Bear Hunt - 66% condition.  Weather keeps me in the cave, occasionally gathering sticks, until late evening.  I don't make it that far - I am cold and being followed by a wolf before I make the open cave to the north of the bear's cave.  I want a wolf coat.  I have three wolf pelts.  That wolf has a pelt.  I light a defensive fire with a torch and a match (the weather would become sunny enough for a mag lens minutes later).  I critical hit the wolf on the first try and move the fire to its corpse.

I deposit the pelt and guts in the cave, and gather sticks for the rest of the day.

[fauxjargon]

Day 39 - Mystery Lake Bear Hunt Part 2 - I make the journey from the Muskeg cave to the Milton cave without too much incident.  I warm myself up, organize and take stock a bit and then go bear hunting.

I find the bear and go to the safe rocks conveniently located right by its cave.  I don't get the neck shot - like I said I am awful at shooting - I do have level 2 archery from reading a book and crafting.  I ponder shooting rabbits to raise it, even though rocks are considerably easier to craft than bows and arrows - with the limited metal in this game, I will run out of arrowheads from losing arrows to the void long before I run out of birch or maple and rabbit shots - where the arrow always bounces off - won't cost me any arrowheads.

I make a campfire on the ledge I shot from and boil water.  I know that Hinterland fixed the longstanding glitch where if you went through a loading screen the bear's bleeding would stop, but it is sunny enough for a mag lens fire.  I boil water, and yes, I use the journal to check when the bear died.  I go searching for it and find it - I was on my second to last torch and down to only a few sticks when I found it.  I don't bother making a fire, I just take the hide - it is only -2 out and I make it back to the warmth of the Milton cave without running out of heat.  I have six liters of water from boiling water waiting for the bear to bleed.  I only have one moose steak left to sustain me on the journey back to Marsh ridge - and preferring to harvest bunny guts in the comfort of a cave rather than in the outdoors, go stone a bunny and set my two snares.
Day 40 - Mad Max:  Freezy Road - 91% condition - I wake before dawn and harvest the bunny entirely by hand.  I step out of the cave an hour or so past dawn - horrible weather - I make my way down to the snares and find a bunny that isn't frozen yet, and stone its friend.  A full blizzard rolls in and my temperature bar turns red a few seconds before the cave.  No biggie.  Tear 2 bunnies limb from limb, by hand, like my grandfather did every day on his way to school, uphill, in a blizzard, in deadman mode.  Still a blizzard.  I lose 80% of my heat bar checking my snares behind Trapper's and getting back.  It's cold.  I have decided that I don't want to fix my cloth clothing until it gets low enough to get the full percentage gain from fixing it - a few pieces are close, but none is there yet.  I carry/wear three wool toques and socks - I won't find any more this game.  A weight penalty, but well worth it in my opinion - especially because I have not found a second pair of thermal underwear.
I want to kill wolves - I know that  I will, incidentally, kill wolves, and know that I even if I get my fourth wolf pelt today, the much more important satchel will be ready to craft the same day as the jacket.  I'm 9 days away from potentially crafting the bedroll.  I could make deerskin boots though.  Combat pants and jeans are great, and I have my rabbit mitts.  I decide to craft deerskin boots to replace my trail boots in the PV-CH mine.  I lose some condition on the way to Forestry outlook.  I drink a herbal tea and eat cattails to get a good night's sleep.

Day 41 - 94% - It's cold out and I have nothing productive to do.  Eventually it becomes bright enough to use the mag lens and I boil some water, thaw out the rabbits, harvest and eat them.  I narrowly avoid the wolves at the derailment and go over the hill to the trailers by Carter hydro.  There's a wolf hanging out by the trailers.  I start a fire - which promptly gets almost blown out by a change in the wind - but I keep it going.  I bait the wolf with some rabbit and kill it - luckily an instakill.  I sleep in the cave after drinking a tea, fortunately not needing a fire.

Day 42 - It's Monday again - ~80%? - I wake before dawn.  I plan to burn another match and start a fire in the next cave so I can start a bit closer to my destination.  I shoot two bunnies with my bow - I'll be crafting another one soon - I am 99% sure that I left some maple in the mine.  I left a bunch of food behind in the milton cave and at marsh ridge - I just have too much crap to haul these days.  I arrive at the mine at 40%.  My plan was to spend a few days here crafting - I have enough fuel for days of fire stored up in the mine plus whatever respawned since I was last here.  It turns out I did not leave any maple in the mine.  I have no food - I'm down to my last salty crackers.  Very poor planning.  I eat a quarter of my crackers, rest for 2 hours and head out into Pleasant Valley to find food.  I kill two rabbits - one with the bow - the arrow breaks - can't waste time finding stones - use my torch to start a fire in the cave, get the bunny cooking and go stone the other one.  I cook the second rabbit.  I eat both of them before heading out, warmed - I have plenty of coal on me - I want to kill a deer.  My bow only has 44% on it and I have three arrows remaining.  I won't be able to get another bow unless I hang out here long enough to cure a maple.  I could check Mystic River and Mountaneer's hut to see if I left one there.  I eat a kg of rabbit meat and move on.  I'll be fine.

I sprain my wrist and ankle on the way to the next cave - the one where I got my second bedroll - but I find three maple saplings that I couldn't cut when I was here last.  I stone three bunnies - I've killed four bunnies with this one stone so far.  I harvest them all, just their meat - I will harvest their guts and maybe their hides tomorrow if I am stuck in the cave due to the weather.  I drink a herbal tea - I have only six left, I find it much more useful than coffee.  I still need more food - it will be dicey carrying a whole deer back to the mine but once I'm there, I'm golden.

Note:  I've decided my next challenge is meaterloper:  Interloper, but no plant foods allowed - I can still use cattails as tinder of course - the only exception being that I can use reishi or rose hip tea to fix conditions.  The only man-made foods which spawn in Interloper that are permitted are beef jerky and dog food, and of course, coffee and tea are both plants.

 

[fauxjargon]

Day 43 - worse than Monday - the day goes badly.  I eat some of my rabbit and harvest 2 out of four rabbit's guts.  I spend the day fruitlessly hunting deer, gradually making my way towards the Winding River cave.  By the end of the day I am at 36% condition - stupid stupid stupid.  Thankfully, the deer carcass in the Winding River cave is edible - barely.  I eat it without incident, and boil water.  I make two rose hip teas, two coffees, get my water supply back up to 1.6 liters and finally 1 out of 6 of the last bags of herbal tea in the world, which I drink before sleeping.

Day 44 - Monday+2 - 70% condition - I decide to see what's in the Winding River.  I can't believe I came here.  I stone one bunny - the others are too far away and harvest its meat in the cave, where I find an archery book.  I decide to keep it along with the Sewing Primer I found yesterday - these books are actually useful - I might be able to get level 3 repairing this game - a lot of my gear is at the point where it could use a touch-up - but all my cloth is in Mystery Lake except for two fleece mittens I could harvest (I like leaving items that don't get lighter when harvested unharvested).  I shoot the wolf, breaking an arrow (down to 2) - I don't know if it dies or not - I couldn't find it.  It probably died somewhere inacessible.  Good thing the arrow broke, otherwise I would have lost an arrowhead.  I probably shouldn't have shot the wolf.  I harvest the plants on the shores of the river, then head up to the right hand cliff after warming up at a fire.  I hate using matches, but there are bunnies waiting for me to cook and I can't afford the condition loss from being cold.  I find matches at the campsite, and harvest a kg of safe meat off  the deer carcass.  The wind picks up and I decide to make a run for the Pleasant Valley cave.  I get there - stoning a bunny on the way - with no cold damage!  I have 1 kg of deer meat and 2.3 kg of bunny meat.  I'm not tired - I craft all of my reishi mushrooms and rose hips - I have 21 mushrooms prepared - too damn much.  I want to haul them back to the mine at least.  Still not tired, and well past midnight.  I dislike doing cheesy stuff, but I sprint around outside until I'm tired enough to sleep.  I still get up super late.
Day 45 - Monday+3 - 85% condition - I decide to go see if I can get a wolf hide or any more bunnies.  The wolf is, as I predicted, lying dead smack in the middle of the ice in front of the dam.  I start a fire, get its hide - I even zip up and grab 500g of meat from the deer on the cliff.  That done, I pull ~20 torches from the fire, drink a Reishi tea and make for the cave.  I didn't need the tea.  I travel through the cave - still plenty of time left, with a lit torch, too!  I wait until I am fully warmed and go up to the hilltop cave.  My bunny stoning game is off - these bunnies seem like they detect me from further away than normal.  Maybe the wildlife gets warier as it gets scarcer.  I only get one bunny - I don't harvest the hide or guts (does that hurt respawn time on bunnies, too?).  I cook 1 kg of its meat in the cave while I warm up and then cross back to the Winding River cave.  In an aurora, with raw meat and a bunny corpse I don't intend to harvest more on me.  Holding a torch, not a flare gun.

The breath really ruined that screenshot, but there's an aurora bear somewhere in there.  I cook the food, eating everything I don't want to carry (the safest place to hold meat is your stomach) - and not as late as last night, but late, sleep for 10 hours.

[Spakerman]

You're really rocking this run.  I'm impressed.  Your Outerloper run is going better than any of my Interloper runs.  I need to up my game.

[fauxjargon]

10 hours ago, Spakerman said:

You're really rocking this run.  I'm impressed.  Your Outerloper run is going better than any of my Interloper runs.  I need to up my game.

Thanks - this is one of my best Interloper runs, period.  I've never spawned in Hushed River Valley, not gotten the signal fire loot, and made it back so fast - partially this is because given the choice I would do the safer but slower Riken forging.  My very best run made it to HRV (started in Pleasant Valley) after hitting TWM before day 60 with a moose satchel, deer pants, boots, rabbit mitts and a wolf jacket and bear bedroll.  IIRC my route that time was PV -> TWM -> PV -> CH -> DP -> CH -> ML -> [run around ML killing woodland creatures and making things from their skins for ~25 days] -> Milton -> HRV.

I've gotten lucky - I have probably lost and regained 500% condition or so - there have been lots of occasions where a wolf fight would have killed me.

This almost makes me want to see how long it would take me in Voyageur to do a full tour of the world - I would do Broken Railroad ->Muskeg -> Milton -> HRV -> Mystery Lake -> Coastal Highway -> Desolation Point -> Pleasant Valley -> TWM.

I would define 'visiting' an area as visiting the really important locations, not going literally everywhere.

[Stone]

One pair of thermal underwear!! Me too! Have we found a secret game mode?! Whats up with that! 

Well done for checking the winding river. Shame it's was disappointing. But you never know! Maybe there really is a hatchet somewhere...

[fauxjargon]

Day 45 - boring is good - 100% condition - A blizzard keeps me in the cave most of the day.  I read A Sewing Primer and get 1/3 of the way to Mending 3.  I start on Stay On Target.  I move out at dusk -26 degrees, but I don't want to spend another night here.  I recover my can along the way and make a fire with all of my coal in the bedroll cave.  I finish Stay On Target and get Archery 3.

Day 46 - Cannot Start Fire Indoors - 100% condition - I awake in the cave with 20 minutes of fire left and little fuel.  It is -42 outside.  The maple is mostly done and the guts need 24 hours.  I have enough guts for boots and a bow - but if I want to make another snare or fishing tackle I need more.  I want to reach the mines with lots of condition - I didn't get a deer and don't want to spend any more time in Pleasant Valley than I have to.  I can craft for days on 13 cattails and 1.75 boxes of crackers - but because I will be starving all day won't have any net condition recovery.  My clothing is awful due to my attempts to save cloth by only repairing when it is maximally beneficial - only +13.  It might be better to use my two bear hides to make a jacket rather than a bedroll.  The trip back to get the bear and moose pelt in Marsh Ridge is going to be grueling.  There might be edible moose meat waiting for me though!
I start a solar powered fire outside the mine after warming up enough to do so, and I walk through the mine, laden with coal.  Then I discover that the inside of the mine counts as indoors - even though you can start a fire near the entrances, I can't make a campfire by the crafting table for light.  You have to be within sight of the doors of the mine to light a campfire here.  What could go wrong with having a campfire deep in a coal mine?  Come on, Hinterland.
Thankfully, uh, light finds a way.  A 50% torch - the best you can get from a fire, lasts 45 game minutes.  I return to the mine entrance, light a fire with my torch that allows 360 degree access for careful torch extraction, and pull out more torches than I've ever had at one time - to craft the boots a half hour at a time, I will need 24 torches.  More for the bow.  I'll probably screw up a few times and need matches to restart the torches.  I torch chain until there is 2 hours left on the boots.  It's near dawn and I'm exhausted.  I decide to sleep through the day - I am SO getting cabin fever.  I patch my rabbit mittens back to 100% with the last of the light.  I decide to wait for an aurora rather than wasting more matches.

I decide to finish the boots anyway by building a fire that will last more than 2 hours, then running lit torches down until they crap out and I get the "needs light to craft" message.  Ugh.  Then it occurs to me that I can just cancel the last 2 hour chunk partway through.  I thought it was a gameplay restriction, meant to represent the final, crucial steps of construction or something, but in reality it is just a UI glitch.  ERRGH.  I wasted a match and a day over this.  I am SO getting cabin fever - I have lots of coal though, and cannot craft arrows using torch chaining, so my next stop is the fishing camp.

I have the fatigue debuff from not eating - not necessarily a bad thing, as it will let me normalize my sleep cycle somewhat.  I start crafting a bow.  I run out of torches, and with a red fatigue bar, decide it is bedtime.  I eat my crackers - the last packaged food this character is likely to eat other than tea and coffee.  I'm somewhat attached to this run, and decide that if I get this guy to 100 days I will consider going into buildings to secure additional cloth and metal.

@Stone I've had interloper runs where I never got a second thermal underwear despite visiting just about every good loot spot other than the Broken Railroad hunter's lodge - I would consider myself absurdly lucky to get one in Outerloper.

[fauxjargon]

Day 50 - The second bow -  I head down towards the fishing camp with 30 coal - 14 left in the mine.  15% cabin fever risk.  I harvest my spare fleece mittens and repair one of my ear wraps that was in rough shape - I then fail twice fixing my socks.  I think the developers must have changed something - I literally just spent 4 days in a coal mine - out of the last week, I have only slept outside twice.  I have a few cattails.  I really am counting on killing a deer.  When I get there, I'm greeted by the sight of the only wolf feeding on the only deer.  I consider scaring it off, but before I even get close enough to think about a bowshot, the wolf wanders off - he ate all the meat :(.  I set up shop and craft through the night - I finish my bow, a bunch of shafts and one arrow before retiring to a fishing hut for the night.  I find fleece mittens, a sewing kit and a hook in the hut closest to the camp, and a heavy hammer by the crafting table along with a whetstone and another hook.  The heavy hammer is huge - better wolf defense and it barely suffers condition breaking holes in ice.  I did look at the loot tables at one point, but I started this run more than a week ago - I have been kicking myself since Ravine for not bringing the prybar from the Forestry Outlook in ML.  I am so glad I risked carrying those two stinky guts into the mine from PV - they fixed my mittens and made me a fishing line to go with my new hooks!

Day 51 - Gone fishing - I am stuck in the hut.  Even though the one I am sleeping in (the one between the bridge and jackrabbit) has no door, wolves don't seem to notice you inside.  I consider taking a potshot at one, but if I miss, my arrow will end up in the Pacific, and they will maul me.  I accidentally lose a bunch of health breaking the ice - I thought the fire would rise above 0 and I didn't.  Terrible luck fishing.

Day 52 - Also Gone Fishing - I decide to burn even more fuel fishing.  The weather still isn't great and there are two wolves outside.  Some luck, but not enough calories to sustain me.

Day 53 - We're never fishing again - Let's burn some coal - I am running out of fuel here.  I go stone some bunnies under the bridge.  I get some cattails.  I am exhausted and have to take a few naps outside by my fire - a bear could end this run at any moment.  I take a catnap once the fishing hut is warm with a can of water on the fire - I wake up, put more snow in the can, fix my socks successfully with my only cloth, drink the water and sleep 10 hours.

Day 54 - Maybe fishing isn't so bad -  88% -  I awake before dawn after 10 hours of sleep, my stomach full of herbal tea, rabbits and cattails.  I am out of fuel and food entirely.  Not even a stick or a cattail.  My fire has 4 hours left and I fish a bit.  I catch a coho salmon that was [[[================================================================THIS================================================================]]] big.  Almost 1600 calories.  I still need to go back to the mine so I can get more coal, so I can craft some more arrows - I only have three.  I'd like to kill the bear that sometimes walks past the fishing camp - that bear ruined my first good interloper run while crafting at the table to ward off the cabin fever.  I ponder the fact that being on 50-60% condition for most of the last few days - so I have been trying to keep my stomach full like a DEADMAN would - and fishing - at only level 2 (you can get level 2 reading a single Frozen Angler IIRC) has not been sufficient.  It seemed like I got about 90% of the calories needed for fishing from fishing - during especially bad spots, I drank 2 coffees and 2 reishi teas to provide calories for sleep or to ward off a red fatigue bar for another hour for a chance at a meal.  I drop the salmon outside and decide to use up the rest of my fire fishing - the weather sucks - at feels like -35 it can't get much worse, so I might as well try and fill my belly.  I can find my way to the cave in a blizzard.
I catch a diminutive Rainbow Trout and then - jackpot - another salmon, even bigger than the first one.  I cook both salmon and eat the rainbow trout - and then - yep, a blizzard.  With two torches to my name, I have no choice but to make for the mine.  At least I can carry all the fish without worrying about wolves.  I have to get out of here - there are lots of cattails left on the stream, I only got 7 or 8 - but I don't want to get into the 'break down pallets at the fishing camp so you can break down more pallets to stay warm while you break down pallets' trap at the fishing camp.  I might be able to get some respawned coal in the mine.  I want to craft at least six more arrows, which will require a lot of my coal - and I will need a bit for a campout in the Ravine.  

I leave the hut in a blizzard - with an empty stomach, I sprint in giant bursts - 75% of the bar at a time.  My temperature bulb hits zero as I pass the car in between Fishing Camp and the trailer by log sort.  I make a wrong turn - so much for knowing the way - and get to the mine with 48% condition.  I eat an entire salmon and store the other one outside.  1880 calories.  Delicious.  I sleep.

[fauxjargon]

Day 55 - Made in Canada - I make my way down from the cave.  I eat my other salmon at the fishing hut and start crafting.  I make 9 arrows - I have a whole dozen now!  I carry fire to the fishing hut nearest the bridge and start the fire that will protect me through the night - I only have four coal for the night in the Ravine, unfortunately, but I left nothing other than the wolf pelt (which is only needed to repair the wolf jacket) in the mine.  I decide to fish for a bit so I can get a good 10 hours sleep in, even if it costs fuel -  I catch a decent size coho salmon - it was all worth it.  I eat the whole thing before bed.  I'm going to need every scrap of condition I can get to make it to the Forestry Outlook - I plan on getting ALL the cattails from the stream leading up towards the Ravine.
 

Day 55 - If the wolves don't find you handsome, they'll at least find you tasty - I wake to a blizzard and 5 hours left on the fire.  Oh well - I guess I have to fish.  I forget how late I woke up and fish till dusk - it is a blizzard anyway - but I am running out of fuel.  Not good.  I don't catch anything more.  I sleep enough to travel fast the next day.
 

Day 56 - Let's get Hypothermia -  95% condition - my fire only has an hour left and there is a blizzard.  No fuel.   I have no food and my hunger bar runs out soon.  On the plus side, I have 12 arrows and 130% total bow condition.  On the minus side, I could very easily die today.  I catch a rainbow trout and a coho salmon as my fire dies.  Time to move.  I have 2000 calories worth of delicious seafood.  It is -45 out.  I make it to the first cave in Ravine after using two emergency stims to keep moving and maintain condition.  SWEAR WORDS.  I cook and eat both my fish, but I will be out of fuel after that.  I can't believe the blizzard is still going - this might be the end of this run.  I notice I have hypothermia.  RIP.  Still, I have an emergency stim and cattails - maybe I can get to the Forestry Lookout.  For some reason I can't use stim #3 - maybe there is a limit?  Either way, the cave by Mystery Lake is warm - I sleep.  I take short catnaps - optimistically - so that I can light up my hour of fuel to warm up if a blizzard rolls in.  I break down my two snares in preparation for a fire once the back of the cave becomes too cold for me.  Of course, once I'm done that, it's warm enough again.  I sleep.  I spend the day sleeping - my belly is still full of fish.

Day 58 - I spend the day in the cave munching cattails and recovering from hypothermia.
Day 59 - More of the same.  Bad weather, bad condition, lots of cattails.   We are still burning through nonrenewables way later than a normal Interloper would.

[fauxjargon]

Note that I mistakenly said I had 12 arrows - I have 11 - I lost one of my 12 arrowheads to the void.  I might be slightly off on day numbers.

Day 59 - I wake up - I need to make the Forestry Outlook tonight.  I have no food, no fuel, one stim, and little resources.  My clothes are in rough shape and I have no cloth.  I make for the Forestry Outlook - I plan to warm up at the ruined cabin with a woodstove.  I gather sticks along the way, and even dip down under the bridge for cattails.  I'm not going to die with 9 flare gun rounds on me, dangit.  I only find a few cattails and am freezing when I reach the wood stove.  I light up a fire, using lamp oil as accelerant.  I have no idea where I left my lantern and don't care right now.  I throw all my sticks on the fire, and it's not warm enough -but the two Reishi teas I throw on there heat me up - I gather more sticks and get it hot enough.  There is a light snow - feels like -30 out.  I desperately need to get back to the Milton cave and my cache of cloth to fix up my gear.

My condition is dangerously low and I only have a few cattails and some tea.  I make more teas, drinking them for the calories and to get my heat up faster.  I'm glad I harvested so many Reishi mushrooms on my trip to Winding River - they saved this run.  I pass time and break down the remaining furniture and sleep.

Day 60 - ~45% condition - The weather is brutal all day.  I go down the stairs in the cold wind in the morning to get a mag lens fire - feels like -54.  I take a little bit of cold damage on the last two flights of stairs.  Boil water, make the last of my tea, drink all I can to stave off some condition loss.  The cold, sunny morning becomes a blizzard.  Critically low on resources, I have to leave for the Milton cave tonight.  I leave after dark in a light fog.  I shoot a bunny with a bow and arrow on the way - I have only a few herbal tea and coffee left.  One rose hip tea, one dose of painkillers - I have to use those medicinally.  I hit the cave with 9% condition without using my stim - I sprain my ankle just before arriving after midnight.  I drink the rose hips, sleep an hour (bedroll at 15%...), shoot another bunny down by trappers.  Manage to get back to the cave without getting chilled.  Harvest the meat, start a fire and cook it.  For some reason I do this outside, but I can duck into the cave to stay warm.  Eat rabbits, walk through cave to get some cattails on the Milton side.  I get seven before I have to turn back.  I sleep by the Mystery Lake end.

Day 61 - I wake in the afternoon.  43% condition.  I start a mag lens fire outside the cave and shoot a deer.  I don't get a great hit, and my fire isn't warm enough to stay outside and watch it run around the Trapper's cabin region.  I go into the cave, nap and go back out - success!  My arrow is gone, but there is a conveniently located deer carcass.

I manage to harvest and cook about 6 kg of meat.  Success!  I lost a bit of condition searching for the deer, but I should be healthy enough to leave to recover my bear and moose pelts - as well as a large cache of cattails - from the Marsh Ridge cave tomorrow.

[fauxjargon]

Day 62 - I harvest the rest of the deer, critically, the 2x1.0 kg steaks I will take with me on my way.  I only have 10% left on my bedroll, and I would have to break down my third pair of wool socks for a chance at repairing it.  I know there is a bedroll in Alan's cave - which might be usable or at least harvestable - but Alan's cave is a long, frosty and wolfy trip from where I am.  Maybe at 100% condition I could do it.

Instead, I go to Milton - just the shelf in between the rope climbs.  I leave all of my 'safety' equipment at the top - flare gun and shells, knife, hatchet, flare.  I am hoping for some coal and some ruined clothing in the cave or on a body - I get four coal, a granola bar that I pass on, and 2 cedar firewood.  I rest up a bit in the cave, and am surprised by a wolf.  I thought this area was totally safe - I have never encountered a wolf here before.  I decide to kill it, and being unarmed other than a bow, decide to start a defensive fire at the base of the rope back to Mystery Lake.  While I make the fire with my mag lens, I hear the wolf kill a bunny.  One of MY bunnies.  I throw some sticks on the fire and shoot the wolf - instakill.  Surprisingly, the rabbit still has 0.8 kg of meat, its guts and its hide - I didn't think that was possible.  I shoot the other rabbit and cook them by the fire.  I make about half the wolf into wolf sliders for cooking practice, and go home.   I have 66% condition - I will go get the bedroll from Alan's cave tomorrow.  I spend some time organizing my loot after paring down my equipment to 17 kg for the trip to Alan's cave and possibly the lake overlook.

The bumpy floor leads to an interesting appearance...
I make my way to the cave at the corner of a map, shooting a bunny on the way.  I nap 2 hours in my bedroll, then go down the rope, nap 2 hours (to warm up) in the second cave.  I check around the lake cabins - sometimes there's firewood - and aside from sticks, there is not.  I search two fishing cabins, securing two cloth!  With my bedroll at 7% - I'm not sure if bedrolls can suddenly 'break' if you use them on low condition - I decide to fix it anyway - thankfully, I succeed.  I cook the bunny, leaving its body out on the ice - a blizzard rolls in and Alan's cave is off limits for the day.  I make my way back to the cave behind the lake cabins and sleep in shifts to avoid a fire - although while I am passing time after I have rested, my temperature bar does fluctuate. 

Day 63 - I travel from the cabin cave across the lake at midday.  I fail at sneaking past the wolves and end up with one on my tail.  I decide to go to Lake Overlook first to escape the wolf - if there is a wolf in the area with the Hunter's blind I could get trapped between them.  I stone the bunny up there, and find an edible deer!  On the way back, with three stink bars, a wolf surprises me - I thought that Lake Overlook was safe too - I'm forced to fire my flare gun.  Sadly, I miss.  Oh well - I've shot it four times despite getting it fairly early.  I have 2 rounds on me and 6 back at the cave.  No good loot other than firewood in the cave.  I cook the deer and bunny in tiny increments - I am 40% of the way to carcass harvesting and cooking 5.  I eat all of the meat - I sacrifice all my fuel except 4 coals to the fire and sleep for 10 hours.  Down to 2 herbal teas.

Day 64 - that' rabbit's dynamite! - 78% -  I wake to see a bunny walking into the cave - weird.  I have 1100 calories and a handful of cattails.  My goal is to make Alan's cave and get back to the Milton cave in one day - I might not be able to do so.  At this point, with temperatures stable and basically all loot decayed - I am in no rush.  I climb down the ropes in midafternoon and risk killing a bunny.  I arrive to find the wolf in the opposite end of the clearing feeding on a rabbit - I shoot the wolf, one shotting it.  The bunny has no meat left - but that's fine, I just wanted the wolf dead.

The deer has usable meat, which I gorge myself on along with the bunny I killed earlier.  I'm too fatigued to make it back up to the overlook, and the lake/river area is too dangerous to consider, but the Forestry Outlook is doable if wolfy.  When the decision comes - I decide to press on for the cave.  It just takes too damn long to climb up to the outlook.  I make a fire to warm up, and shoot a bunny once I have some warmth.  I eat the bunny on the spot, following the "It's better to store it in your stomach" tactics of a DEADMAN.  I sleep 2 hours in the open.  When I leave, I accidentally put my last coal on the fire - d'oh.  There's a wolf in the clearing with me - but I have an offering!  I reach the cave cold, but without incident.  My stomach is still pretty full and I have 2000 calories of deer meat still.  I lost 2 cloth (the superfluous repair on my old bedroll) and a flare round, but still a pretty good run!

Day 65 - Chop Wood, Carry Water - 68% - I wake to a blizzard.  I have a whole lot of nothing to do, so I sleep as much as I can then pass time.  I gather some sticks - not many, boil 5 liters of water with a mag lens fire, and find eight coals inside.  With the coals from  the Hat Creek Cave I should be able to craft - but with my bedroll back up to 56%.  I stay fed for the first half of the day - bringing my condition to 70% - then, during the more active second half, starve, dropping back to 68%.  I eat one of my venison steaks and sleep.

Day 66 - On the Road again - 96% - wait out some bad weather, break down the old bedroll after one more night in it for old times sakes, head to Marsh Ridge.  I make one aborted attempt due to a wolf - I warm up, try again - I eat the last kg of my venison to eliminate any smells and barely lose any condition - it is -11.  I warm in the cave north of the poacher's camp and discover that I left a cache of deer and wolf skins and guts.  I take them all with me - along with the coal I found - I don't remember what's left in the main cache.  I make the cave without incident and sleep.

Day 67 - Canada Moose Luxury Handbags - 100%.  I take stock of the situation.  I have 14 coal and lots of sticks.  Three wolf pelts (3 at the milton cave), four deer skins (2 in the milton cave), 2 black bear hides, a rabbit pelt and of course, a moose hide.  I have 30 cured guts.  30 cured guts.  More in Milton.  The plan is to make the moose bag before I make anything else.  With the moose bag, we can haul all of our other hides to the PV-CH mine and do some more extreme torch chaining.  I guess I didn't need to bring my other bear hide.  I lose 20% condition on the way to the forge.

I burn surprisingly little fuel doing this.  Also, I have 18 liters of water - granted, they are in a pretty useless space, but leaving most of my fuel here, I can haul a lot back to my marsh ridge base with my snazzy new moose bag!

Day 67 - The Derp Hunter - 98% - After a 10 hour sleep, I wake to find a forge that said 7hr 30m still has 2 hr 45 min on it.  I'm not complaining - I have fire master 4 and IIRC the cold has something to do with it?  I wake late in the afternoon - it is bright, clear and windy - if the wind stops and the sun stays, perfect weather!  I decide to craft one more piece of gear - I have 18 coals left.

I depart carrying 7 liters of water.  At the bend in the ridge by the cave I spot a deer rather than the usual wolf!  I have to do some interesting maneuvering - where the deer stands, if I miss (quite possible) the arrow will fly off the ridge and out onto the muskeg.  I chase it up to the narrow neck before the log bridge - and get a good hit in its side while it runs past me.  Cheesy, but actually not terribly different than what some Native American tribes did to hunt herds of various animals.

I got my arrow back too!  I quarter it where it fell - taking a condition hit in the process, then harvest by hand back in the cave.  I sleep in shifts to save fire - meaning I will start tomorrow with less condition - but this means that during my next trip to the forge, instead of boiling an impractical amount of water, I can gorge myself on meat while making deer pants and either a bear jacket or bedroll.  I've always gone bedroll first - and from a long-term perspective, the sooner I can stop having to repair my cloth one, the more cloth I will have to work with this game.  On the other hand, my jacket is just as expensive to repair in cloth.

[fauxjargon]

Day 68 - A fistful of derps - ~85% condition - I awake to a bright and cold morning.  I start a fire with the mag lens and  cook as much venison as I can with my stash of sticks.  I don't want to burn coal.  I end up filling my belly, cooking 2 1.0 kg steaks for the road, and leaving 0.5 kg of cooked deer behind.  For some reason I miss the rope up to Marsh Ridge and lose some condition going thru via hat creek.  I set my snares, stone a bunny and consider.  I have 67 sticks.  I drop some nonessentials like my bedroll and hatchet, then bring 67 sticks down the rope - I don't have enough energy to get back up,and I lose a bit more condition to cold taking the long way around through the cave.

Day 69 - 85% condition - It is fairly warm in the morning - enough that I can check my snares - nothing - and gather a few sticks without losing any  condition.  Later I start a mag lens fire and cook some rabbit.  I head out for the Spence Farm even though it's cold.  I might not get better weather today.  Strangely enough, once I pick up most of a deer at the cave, a wolf notices me - but unusually - Spence Farm is surrounded by deer, not wolves!

I start a fire and get to work.  I turn in late at night - no blizzard messes with us - I boil 15 liters of water and get nearly done with the deer pants.

Day 70 - 94% condition - I have nearly 3 hours left on the forge fire - I spend the morning organizing water bottles (critical) and dashing in between the crafting table and forge while that fire is still active, working on the deer pants.  I finish them and decide to do the bedroll first.  I probably could get enough bearskins to replace my cloth one AFTER crafting the bear coat, but I don't want to risk it, and I don't want to waste cloth fixing my bedroll.

Day 75 - after a few days of crafting, I wake up to 83% condition, the forge fire burning, no fuel or food.  On the other hand, I have a bear bedroll, lots of cloth and deer pants.  I return to Marsh Ridge for the night, feasting on cattails when I arrive.

[fauxjargon]

I'm shifting to a new format:  I'm going to be moving around the world for the next few weeks, spending a few days at each location while I do what it is I came there to do.

Day 76 - 80:  Min-maxing the moose:  I travel to the Milton cave.  I notice a moose on Marsh Ridge while collecting my empty snares, but I don't want to stay here.  I complete the final part of my journey under the Aurora, but have no issues with wolves.  I'm starving - I have three cattails for the night.  I forgot how thoroughly I had searched for cattails on the Signal Hill - Mystery Lake route.  I set out my snares behind Trapper's and sleep.  My intention is to see if the bear has re spawned - I want that coat!  Instead, I'm greeted by a moose.  This moose is actually useful...

Before the moose hunt, I inventory my arrows - I have one that will break on its next animal hit - I drop that one in the cave, saving it for the bear.  Bears are the worst culprit in terms of losing arrows to the void - so having the arrow break on impact is handy.
The moose hunt goes nicely - I hit it three times, losing one arrow to the void.   This is probably my biggest gripe about this game - it makes sense that big game would randomly break an arrow that wouldn't have broken if you shot a bunny - but where did the arrow go?  On the other hand, arrowheads don't last forever - I imagine they have to be kept razor-sharp to inflict a serious wound on an animal bigger than a rabbit.  I've lost 3 out of the 20 I made so far.  If I go for long term outerloper survival, my plan is to live mostly on bear and stoned rabbit - I can kill them with one arrow, limiting my losses. 

If I could make a suggestion, keep the current system for bunnies, but make the arrows you pumped into an animal lootable items that take time to extract.  If you do it by hand rather than with a tool, the arrow takes more of a condition hit.  If you quarter it, the arrows go into your inventory.  Then again, I've never run out of arrowheads...

I quarter the full moose - a blizzard blows in and costs me 3 hours of fire, but I don't take any cold damage.  I make some of the moose into 1 kg steaks and some into sliders to grind cooking and harvesting - I get level 5 harvesting and nearly level 5 cooking - but this corner of the world is not rich in sticks and fuel is a constant issue here.

I shoot the bear the next day.  Bear hunting is so easy now that you can just shoot it then go inside a loading screen cave or building.  My arrow breaks on impact - not an accident, I had been storing a low condition arrow for this purpose.  I go back to the cave, snack on moose sliders and head out later to find it.  I find it still unfrozen and take a condition hit taking its hide.  I leave the rest.

[fauxjargon]

Day 80-84:  Mystery Lake Bear hunt - I decide to head to the PV-CH mine for coal and crafting.  I want to make a wolfskin jacket.  My planned final gear is:
2 x Wool Toque

1 x Thin Wool Sweater (all I found) - I had a hoodie which I wore until it fell apart - I didn't want it.

2 x Wool Socks

1 x Ear Wrap, 1x Moose Satchel

Combat Pants and Deerskin pants

Wolf and Bear Jackets (currently have a 75% Mackinaw and a 25% Ski Jacket - I don't want to fix either of these ever again).

Deer Boots

Rabbit Gloves

I have 65 matches left.  One tea, three coffees.  One stim.  Never found a firestriker.  There might be some more goodies in the fishing huts at Coastal Highway.  I also haven't checked the fishing hut by camp office and the bear spawn.

Seven pieces of high repair-cost-to-warmth cloth should be doable for a long time.  I could even let some of them fall apart - maybe switch to double bear coats.  I have a spare pair of socks and ear wrap too - unfortunately my spare toque, which really is the most important spare, got ruined during the time I almost died coming from Coastal Highway.
I depart 6 kg overweight - all of it moose meat.  I get incredibly lucky and manage to pass the camp office, cross mystery lake and make it to the cabin cave (the fishing hut was empty).  I warm up, look for the bear a bit, then sleep without a fire!  I realize that the bear bedroll decays fast - so I will be spending the rest of the game travelling and killing bears.  Oh well.

I shoot the bear on day 81.  I harvest it on 82.  Get level 5 cooking.  Notice that if you right-click-move meat off a fire and onto the  ground next to it it gets ruined really fast.  What gives?

  I still gorge myself on bear meat - but run out of fuel at around 1500 calories.  Get a bit cold on the way to the Ravine - wolves required some careful maneuvers.  Sleep in the cave on the opposite side of the ravine - shoot three bunnies before nightfall, cook in the morning.  Fill my belly.

Shoot a bunny in CH on the way - a bit risky but I want bait to explore the Forestry Outlook in CH - it is not a great loot spot, but there is matches, and weather permitting, a chair to break down for cloth.  Eat the bunny after finding 42 coal in the mine and go to sleep.

[fauxjargon]

Day 84 - 90 - The Wolfskin Jacket and the Winter Cold -
I go out in the morning and bait the wolf with a rabbit - then one shot it.  I take its meat and return to the cave.  I hacksaw apart shelves, break down crates, and when I get some sun, start a fire and cook the wolf with it.  I eat and  then sleep.  I could make it down to the camp, but I would then need to sleep - wasting hours of precious fuel.  So, another night in the mine it is.  I decide not to do the cheesy torch chaining crafting because it is annoying - although more fuel efficient - you get 30 minutes of crafting from 10 minutes of fire - I want to kill the bear that patrols past the fishing huts.  These days are mostly uneventful.  The bear doesn't show.  I go find him one sunny afternoon, but with that side of the map lousy with wolves and bad sightlines, I decide against hunting him.  I get mixed luck with fishing - aside from one trip back up the mountain to get more coal, I fish only as needed to stretch my wolf steaks through the whole endeavor.
I make it back up the mountain on the night of day 90 in an aurora with a brand new wolfskin jacket.

[Ruruwawa]

Great read @fauxjargon.  Just wondering, why are you making torches to craft in the mine?  The game allows you to craft in the mine without light at the same times you can craft indoors elsewhere: daytime, aurora, etc.  (My apologies if you've already explained this, I'm still working my way through your posts.)

[fauxjargon]

27 minutes ago, Ruruwawa said:

Great read @fauxjargon.  Just wondering, why are you making torches to craft in the mine?  The game allows you to craft in the mine without light at the same times you can craft indoors elsewhere: daytime, aurora, etc.  (My apologies if you've already explained this, I'm still working my way through your posts.)

... 
I didn't know that.

[Ruruwawa]

2 hours ago, fauxjargon said:

... 
I didn't know that.

I thought maybe you were role playing... XD

TBH, crafting in the dark is not a lot of fun.  I put down a bedroll right next to the workbench before my transit torch goes out so I can easily find the workbench by mousing over them (bedroll is a bigger target).   'Cause the size of the room seems to grow to the average airport terminal in the pitch black.   Hopefully your eyes adjust and make it brighter.

[fauxjargon]

Day 90 - I'm hungry.  The closest thing I have resembling food is a maggoty rabbit and two cattails.  My new wolfskin jacket cost me a lot.  But - I have a plan.  I set off towards the Forestry Outlook.  I want to bait a wolf with the rabbit.  I make it to the forestry outlook without any issues - I find more matches - I break down the chair for the six cloth and whatever else.  I do the rest of the furniture too.  I eat my two cattails and sleep for four hours - I am extremely fatigued.  On the way back I get my wolf - but it is pretty far from both the outlook and the mine.  I manage to harvest the wolf without too much cold condition loss - I do it in three trips, sprinting both ways.  I waste a precious match lighting a fire, and cook the wolf on reclaimed wood and boil some water too.

Day 91-93:  A mysterious voice has told me, that even though I can't see anything, during the day, the Mysterious Geomagnetic Storm gives me psychic powers - I am the world's worst X-Man - I can craft in the dark... but only when the sun is out.  I craft more arrows and another bow.  My bearskin jacket isn't cured yet.  On the final night, I realize I am out of water.  I break down all the torches I used to make the deer boots months ago.  A bit cheesy, but whatever.  I have 51 sticks.  I make 10 liters of water at the cost of a match and 30 sticks.  It takes a long time with only two cans.  I think I have some more in TWM.

Day 94:  Pleasant Valley Bear Hunt - 100% -  I awake in late afternoon.  It feels like 10.  Minus 10.  Balmy.  I have a special bearkiller arrow:  It is at 4%.  I have one wolf steak waiting for me back at the mine.  I set off to where I was horribly inconvenienced by a bear on both my trips to and from TWM, months ago.  Warming in the cave by End of the Road, I consider my bearskin bedroll - the only bedroll in the game for me.  It is down to 74%.  Granted, it has seen some hard use - but damn.  I am going to shoot a lot of bears.  I find BEEF JERKY [46%]  at the End of the Road car - a bear cruelly prevented me from searching it sooner.  I will have to enjoy this celebratory meal once I have enough Reishi mushrooms.  I find my quarry:

I take my special bearkiller arrow and shoot the bear from here:

I collect my arrow, go to Mystic River, shoot two bunnies and harvest them in the cave.  I find some coal in the cave and leave it there - I want to bring it to my next destination - TWM.
Day 95:  I won't get off the bear's lawn because he's dead and what's he gonna do about it - 100% condition.  I wake, drop some extra stuff and move out.  The bear is easily found.

I sleep an hour in its cave [50m to the left] to warm up.  I need its hide most of all, its meat second and its guts third.  I probably should have brought some coal.  I have a rough time getting home to the mine.  I get home with 2 guts and 8 kg meat and 36% condition.  Doesn't matter, I'm going to be getting cabin fever crafting in the mine.  Minecrafting,  if you will.  I'll be able to heal up before rolling out for TWM.  My two bear hides are cured.  One is at 2%.  Close.  I sharpen my knife until dawn.  I get six hours of crafting in.

[fauxjargon]

I'm done with this run for a while.  I'm in good health and chilling in the TWM cabin - I got there after crafting my bear jacket in the mine on the night of day 100.  I got the 100 day achievement on day 101 - I have never played a character this long before.  I have 12 cloth and 2 scrap metal with me.  I have two fishing tackle and an extra hook if I want to fish to fight off cabin fever.  Lots of reclaimed wood if I want to make snares.  40% of my last whetstone left and a hatchet and knife remaining.  I thought I left a hacksaw here - I might have broken it down now that I think of it.  It would be nice to have one to save wear on my hatchet for when I chop saplings, but I have 14 arrows, 4 shafts and 2 cured maple.  I left a 100% survival bow in the PV-CH mine - mine is at 51%.  It doesn't matter - I am going to see how living on snared and stoned rabbits goes - but I need to bag a couple deer for repairs and of course, I am going to kill the bear.

I am going to play deadman for a bit - it is going to be a busy week for me IRL and I don't want to spend time on what is, at this point, a fairly grindy run.  I can spend a lot time here - eventually, I will wear out my knife and hatchet making new archery equipment, but with level 4 archery that is a long way away, especially if I get a bear.  I probably won't get to level 5 archery - I am only 15% of the way there.  The 12 cloth I have (plus a few more in the Milton cave, and possibly in the fishing huts in CH) left can last me a long time, especially if I leave almost all of my cloth gear in storage.  There's more metal to break down in the PV-CH mine ( 25-30 metal, which about what I have consumed this whole game), but cloth is going to run out.  I could stretch my cloth reserves a long time by letting my cloth clothing fall apart and only putting it into my bedroll.  I have 50-something matches.  3 coffee, six tea (I found more in Mystery Lake in the hut by the bear cave).

Thank you to everyone who has read and commented so far.   In "Season 2" of this run, we're going to kill a bear, check the secluded shelf cave for any goodies I may have dropped (I think that's where the hacksaw is) and return to the summit - mostly for fun, but also to break down the crates and see if I can't find some more matches.  I opened the crate with hides, but didn't take them - they are actually useful for patching up my gear now.  I didn't find the cache of matches and accelerant that I have found in other runs - maybe it is random, maybe it is in a box.  Then, we're going to check the fishing huts and travel to Desolation point to look for matches, cloth, metal and to see if Scruffy is home.  Then it is off to the forge on the Muskeg to make more knives (is it more efficient to make knives or hatchets for crafting bows and arrows?) and arrowheads if I need them.  I still have 16 or 17.

What a run - 101 days, the entire world except for Broken Railroad and Desolation point visited [In season 3, if it happens, we will be declaring the Hunting Lodge to be allowed to make Broken Railroad possible to visit].  Down to 9% condition.  No cabin fever.  Four flare gun shells fired.  Five bears and two moose downed.  I've officially shot more bears than deer this game.

[Drifter Man]

Congratulations on 100! That parting screenshot (and comments) reminded me of my own conclusion of Snowballs in Hell. The most exciting runs eventually become routine. I wish you many clear and windless days on deadman.

[Ruruwawa]

1 hour ago, fauxjargon said:

I'm in good health and chilling in the TWM cabin - I got there after crafting my bear bedroll in the mine on the night of day 100.  I got the 100 day achievement on day 101 - I have never played a character this long before. 

What a great ride, thanks!  Fantastic way to get your 100 day achievement.

1 hour ago, fauxjargon said:

I've officially shot more bears than deer this game.

I feel ya here.  While it's possible to stalk deer with archery in Interloper, the condition cost is ferocious.  My scoreboard often ends up this way too.

[fauxjargon]

Er, I meant to say bearskin jacket.  I made the bear bedroll at the forge.

[Ruruwawa]

1 minute ago, fauxjargon said:

Er, I meant to say bearskin jacket.  I made the bear bedroll at the forge.

Yep I figured.  Personally I love the bearskin jacket on Interloper.  The bedroll might actually be worth it for Outerloper, due to all the cave sleeping.  But it takes wear as fast as the normal bedroll whereas the jacket seems to last a decent time between repairs, barring struggles.

[fauxjargon]

32 minutes ago, Ruruwawa said:

Yep I figured.  Personally I love the bearskin jacket on Interloper.  The bedroll might actually be worth it for Outerloper, due to all the cave sleeping.  But it takes wear as fast as the normal bedroll whereas the jacket seems to last a decent time between repairs, barring struggles.

Yeah, my bedroll is down to 66% after crafting it on day 70 and sleeping in it almost every night.  IIRC the only beds in Outerloper are the TWM cabin, the outlook in mystery lake and coastal highway, the Spence forge and the cave bed by the plane crash and in the ravine.  If I was going to min-max for long term survival, TWM would definitely be the choice just because I don't need a bedroll.  There is no convenient cave for sleeping off cabin fever, but there is a very convenient fishing hut.  I'm not sure if it is safe from wolves, though.

50 minutes ago, Drifter Man said:

Congratulations on 100! That parting screenshot (and comments) reminded me of my own conclusion of Snowballs in Hell. The most exciting runs eventually become routine. I wish you many clear and windless days on deadman.

Thanks!

Yeah - I am going to let this one rest - the bear hunt in TWM will be dangerous - that little area north of the landing gear has nasty sightlines.  I've become wolf treats there before - actually the only place in TWM I've ever been killed by anything other than the weather.