Up in trees what seemed like 100 ft that was probably only 15 or 20 ft. We dug an underground bunker, too. We'd have bonfires on the weekends, rain or shine. Smaller fires for the weekdays. The neighborhood had great wooded sections throughout the town and territories were driven by schools. We were the wild children. Now that I think about it, none of us played sports for the schools, but we played sportingly. We'd rather our after school hours be spent in the woods only missing adventures due to employment as we got older. Bonus, we never caused a wildfire.
Aging gen-x, 80's suburban street punk. Had multiple wooded locations with forts. Had a fucking tree mansion that my buddies dad tore down when he found the cigarette butts and beer bottles littering the general area underneath, so we grabbed the scrap, sourced more and went another 1/4 mile deeper into the woods and built another one. This one was a little far out off the beaten path and didn't get used as much. Mostly hung out at a spot on a path between the bowling alley (had pin ball, video games) and the department store / fast food joint. The schools were close by so kids always came up and hung out. We were generally up to no good, all from broken homes, no money - all started trade work as high school dropouts about the same time. I still can call up anyone of my buddies from jr. high school to this day and meet up, but I live out of state now. A few of them are dead. We didn't have it easy, but we had each other. We were cruel to each other, but we had each others backs. edit: there was a local guy, around 30, still lived at home, couldn't work because he was an epileptic. We would pool our change together and send him walking to the local package store for a case of carlins black label beer, it was our Friday night routine between 13 and say 15 or so, by that time we had graduated to parties, had older friends that drove. The 80's formed us
We built all kinds of forts both indoors and out. Had some unused planking that fit just right between some trees on a slope, made for an awesome "defensive wall".
My dad helped us cut up old bike tires and soda cans to make powerful slingshots on the ramparts to defend ourselves from oncoming marauders... I will never forget how cool that was.
That's awesome! You're a great parent! As I reflect back on my childhood, there was a lot of bad times, but the good times made up for it. We had our imagination and attitudes to propel us, today's children have no idea what it was like to be young and free... I mean, we had to be the easiest kids to raise, we pretty much raised ourselves...
Absolutely they do... We used to take the couch cushions, plus the cushions off of the matching chairs, along with chairs from the kitchen table, and make forts with a blanket over it as the ceiling, and then we'd zing tennis balls at each other... That was until we broke something, or, Mom got big on us...
Totally, we used to steal our grandpa's tools, scrapes of wood, and all the nails we could find to build tree forts. Some how managed to never get severely injured and had a blast.
Many years later he was cleaning up the woods and found our projects and a fair chunk of tooling we'd lose or forget to bring back.
Back in the 90s I lived near a country club that would plow all the snow from its parking lot into one giant bank at least 8-10' tall. My friend and I would get a group together and we'd build a complex cave within them. Using cold water where needed to freeze things we needed to be solid. It was a ton of fun.
We had two groups of friends the we lived across town from each other. One group built “the bungalow” in one of our friends wooded yard. The other group had “the shit shack” as it was way less sophisticated than our bungalow, which had a second floor and a rooftop hangout. Im amazed this thing never collapsed on us lol. We had no clue what the fuck we were doing in hindsight.
We had a lot of space in our attic and a lot of old storage including furniture. So we would build elaborate manors using cardboard for walls and routing under tables. The air hockey table made for a second floor. We made ramps and makeshift stairs to climb to higher floors.
I had brothers growing up . I don’t think I could have had that kind of fun without them. Only Childs always turn out to be a fuck-head. My cousin was a fatherless only children and was such a shit-eating dipshit growing up. Liberal faggot moved to commifornia and I haven’t seen him in 20 years. Fuck him and his stupid face.
We always had a bar counter no matter what. My brother would ride his bike to the convenient store and purchase snacks and drinks. He would resell them to us at a markup which helped keep his bar stocked. We were very industrious little kids.
My boy, just last night, discovered the endless fun of big cardboard boxes. All I had to do was put the box on it's side on the floor, point at it, and say "cave", and he played in it for 2 hours straight, with no other toys. Just a boy and his box, giggling and squealing with joy :)
That used to be my whole life as a kid. If I got paid today to go in the woods and cut trees and build forts, I would be the happiest man in the world.
I remember building forts in the woods by a creek across from my house. A fallen tree with three trunks was the framework covered with branches and turf. Even now I see in my memory that it was a good defensible position. Left flank was the massive root ball and beyond that was the creek. The right flank was covered by all the branches of the fallen tree. The front was protected by the triple trunks and many big branches and we would throw spears, grenades were like 2&1/2" by 12-16 inch pieces of branch/firewood. And also base of cornstalks pulled out of the ground with the root ball and all the dirt. We were absolutely trying to kill each other. Spears were the most dangerous. Everyone had their head on a swivel for the spears. I remember getting hit a few times by the corn stump grenades. Our war would last for hours.
We would also go out in the harvested corn fields and pull up stumps and have grenade wars. Maybe 5-6 guys against 5-6. This was in maybe 7th grade, 1972
You reminded me that around the 4th of July every year for a few years, one of our friends lived by a ravine, a giant bowl carved into the Earth, with trees spread in it. We'd have bottle rocket wars across the ravine! It was a blast, literally. We'd fire salvos of bottle rockets at each other, with nothing to shield us but what we could find in their garage. Usually, metal trash can lids...
We'd build them inside the house using furniture and furniture parts, and we'd build them outside with whatever we could get our hands on, plywood, a metal slide, tarps, whatever else was in the Garage...
Yeah, good times, We'd shoot at each other with BB guns/rifles. Oh, to be able to do that again!
[ + ] jfroybees
[ - ] jfroybees 3 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 15:00:30 ago (+3/-0)
[ + ] clymer
[ - ] clymer 2 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 18:56:28 ago (+2/-0)*
[ + ] iSnark
[ - ] iSnark [op] 0 points 4 monthsJan 30, 2025 01:40:15 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] uvulectomy
[ - ] uvulectomy 2 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 17:11:42 ago (+2/-0)
[ + ] Master_Foo
[ - ] Master_Foo 2 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 16:44:42 ago (+2/-0)
I still have forts.
But grown ups call them "Bug Out Caches".
I have a really sweet one in a canyon way the fuck out in the middle of nowhere.
The shelter is a couple of giant-ass boulders next to the cliff wall.
You can't see it unless you are right on it, and you really have to go out of your way, so nobody is doing that.
Also, I dug a hole in the wash and placed a giant tarp and reburied it with sand to catch water when it rains and floods.
Also, it is a known migration route for wild goats
/deer/etc. So food is go.
It's better than anything I had as a kid.
[ + ] Trope
[ - ] Trope 1 point 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 17:28:17 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] BoraxTheFungarian
[ - ] BoraxTheFungarian 2 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 14:53:45 ago (+2/-0)
[ + ] paul_neri
[ - ] paul_neri -1 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 16:27:22 ago (+0/-1)
[ + ] Her0n
[ - ] Her0n 2 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 14:10:52 ago (+2/-0)
The kids loved it
[ + ] iSnark
[ - ] iSnark [op] -1 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 14:22:44 ago (+0/-1)*
[ + ] Lost_In_The_Thinking
[ - ] Lost_In_The_Thinking 2 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 13:39:01 ago (+2/-0)
[ + ] xmasskull
[ - ] xmasskull 1 point 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 14:21:57 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] iSnark
[ - ] iSnark [op] 0 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 13:54:56 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] texasblood
[ - ] texasblood 1 point 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 19:34:51 ago (+1/-0)
We were GAAAAWWDSS!
[ + ] mannerbund
[ - ] mannerbund 1 point 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 15:08:40 ago (+1/-0)
Many years later he was cleaning up the woods and found our projects and a fair chunk of tooling we'd lose or forget to bring back.
[ + ] Spaceman84
[ - ] Spaceman84 1 point 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 13:16:26 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] Ragnar
[ - ] Ragnar 0 points 4 monthsJan 30, 2025 00:26:39 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] __47__
[ - ] __47__ 0 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 19:58:09 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] JudyStroyer
[ - ] JudyStroyer 0 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 19:17:04 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] PotatoWhisperer2
[ - ] PotatoWhisperer2 0 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 17:58:52 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] TALKLOL
[ - ] TALKLOL 0 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 17:31:19 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] Trope
[ - ] Trope 0 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 17:24:27 ago (+0/-0)*
We had a lot of space in our attic and a lot of old storage including furniture. So we would build elaborate manors using cardboard for walls and routing under tables. The air hockey table made for a second floor. We made ramps and makeshift stairs to climb to higher floors.
I had brothers growing up . I don’t think I could have had that kind of fun without them. Only Childs always turn out to be a fuck-head. My cousin was a fatherless only children and was such a shit-eating dipshit growing up. Liberal faggot moved to commifornia and I haven’t seen him in 20 years. Fuck him and his stupid face.
We always had a bar counter no matter what. My brother would ride his bike to the convenient store and purchase snacks and drinks. He would resell them to us at a markup which helped keep his bar stocked. We were very industrious little kids.
[ + ] Nosferatjew
[ - ] Nosferatjew 0 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 16:40:47 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] DoughGoy
[ - ] DoughGoy 0 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 16:06:35 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] Smedleys_Butler
[ - ] Smedleys_Butler 0 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 15:49:45 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] paul_neri
[ - ] paul_neri 0 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 15:49:09 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] zongongo
[ - ] zongongo 0 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 15:09:19 ago (+0/-0)
Even now I see in my memory that it was a good defensible position. Left flank was the massive root ball and beyond that was the creek. The right flank was covered by all the branches of the fallen tree. The front was protected by the triple trunks and many big branches and we would throw spears, grenades were like 2&1/2" by 12-16 inch pieces of branch/firewood. And also base of cornstalks pulled out of the ground with the root ball and all the dirt.
We were absolutely trying to kill each other. Spears were the most dangerous. Everyone had their head on a swivel for the spears.
I remember getting hit a few times by the corn stump grenades.
Our war would last for hours.
We would also go out in the harvested corn fields and pull up stumps and have grenade wars.
Maybe 5-6 guys against 5-6.
This was in maybe 7th grade, 1972
[ + ] iSnark
[ - ] iSnark [op] 0 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 15:20:54 ago (+0/-0)
You reminded me that around the 4th of July every year for a few years, one of our friends lived by a ravine, a giant bowl carved into the Earth, with trees spread in it. We'd have bottle rocket wars across the ravine! It was a blast, literally. We'd fire salvos of bottle rockets at each other, with nothing to shield us but what we could find in their garage. Usually, metal trash can lids...
[ + ] bobdole9
[ - ] bobdole9 0 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 13:58:49 ago (+0/-0)
My progeny usually request help...I'd rather not see their plans collapse like African scaffolding.
[ + ] iSnark
[ - ] iSnark [op] 0 points 4 monthsJan 29, 2025 14:03:19 ago (+0/-0)
Yeah, good times, We'd shoot at each other with BB guns/rifles. Oh, to be able to do that again!