Alone in the wildernessRichard Proenneke, Bob Swerer
Alone in the wilderness
by Richard Proenneke, Bob Swerer · first published 2011
9mentions
7recommended by
9HN commenters
2011–2021first – last mentioned
78% recommend22% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A documentary-style account of a man who built his own cabin in the Alaskan wilderness largely by hand. The narration is dry and observant, and the story offers an example of self-reliant, handmade building.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
This follow-up to "Alone in the wilderness" continues the account of the day-to-day explorations and activities of Dick Proenneke in his 30-year adventure in the remote Alaskan wilderness.
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
> And yet there are people who have built cabins in Alaska with nothing but some metal and a lot of ingenuity and muscle. You're forgetting time. Not sure if you've seen "Dick Proenneke in Alone in the Wilderness" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG3fUIoXQ5A). It's a great watch, and a good example of what I think you're referring to overall...that said it looked like an extremely hard way to build and from personal…
on “We quit our jobs to build a cabin” ↗If you enjoy this stuff, do check out "Alone in the Wilderness" with Dick Proenneke Here's a clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYJKd0rkKss
on “One Year Alone in Forest of Sweden Building a Log Cabin” ↗Your sample size is one. Let me double it for you, I highly recommend Dick Proenneke's story, Alone in the Wilderness. https://youtu.be/iYJKd0rkKss
on “There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone” ↗This reminds me of some awesome documentary footage of a man who built a cabin in the Alaskan wilderness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYJKd0rkKss Alone in the Wilderness - Dick Proenneke The same dry commentary made riveting by insightful and sometimes whimsical observations, the same hardship usually effortlessly overcome, and of course the same solitary strength of…
on “An Island to Oneself” ↗I'm reminded of Dick Proenneke http://bit.ly/s2VFdu. Here's a start to "Alone In the Wilderness": http://bit.ly/uAcBsD , documenting his work and time spent building a life in Alaska, very much "handmade".
on “The Knife Maker” ↗…won't be practical or directly applicable, but only for the most indifferent will it fail to be inspirational. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Proenneke https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYJKd0rkKss Alone In The Wilderness, Part I
on “Beginning Woodworking” ↗Check out Alone in the Wilderness by Dick Proenneke. In the late 1960s he filmed himself building a cabin in Alaska and wrote a journal, which his brother later made into a film. Most or all of the film is on YouTube. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Proenneke
on “Impressive backyard engineering on an obscure YouTube channel” ↗…McCandless went to Alaska in the first place. I'll give you a clue, it wasn't because of it's bustling social scene. What about Dick Proenneke [0], another notable 'Alaska Loner'. He spent 30 years living 'Alone in the Wilderness'. Albeit in the relative safety of a cabin he'd built and he did have semi-frequency supply drops. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Proenneke
on “How Chris McCandless Died” ↗Davy Crockett wasn't "alone in the wilderness"; he ultimately led militia and,eventually, regulars. A better example would be Dick Proenneke. Lots of Engineering leaders started from the garage level, e.g. Gates, Jobs (or Woz), Hewlett and Packard,…
on “Ask HN: Need an engineering analogy for my book.” ↗