Good job buddy

As a retired hobo with 50 years of the rail. Again you are spot on. Here's some other tips for cold weather that were common in the 1930s. You often wore 2 full sets of clothes. This had a duel propose, warmth, and when you hopped off took the outer layer off. The inner layer was cleaner and made work hunting easier. Tossed newspaper were pure gold. You wrapped your feet with it, put socks over it, and then your shoes. As often your shoes were second hand and a size or so too big, and this would prevent frostbite. Tucking your pant legs in your socks and filling your pants with crumpled newspaper helped a whole bunch to stay warm. Many freight yards had a sand house. Steam engines would carry a small load of sand to drop on slick track in case the wheels started spinning for traction. The sand house was heated as cold sand would clump badly with a little moisture and cold weather. If you were quiet you could sleep overnight on that warm sand and dream of a topical beach.

😢As a young boy, I was visiting my grandparents in upstate New York helping my grandmother outside. I looked up at one point and saw a man coming toward us. His clothing was worn, he was wearing suit jacket and slacks. "Oh look grandma, a bum" I said. Grandma looked at him, and popped me on the back. She said "Daniel! He's not a bum. He's hobo". She saw my confused look, and explained: "A bum wants something for nothing; a hobo offers to work for what he needs". And so I learned a lesson once upon a time in the early 1960's...

I'm 57 years old and about 10 years ago I found out my Grandfather on my Mothers side was a Hobo, he was an acoholic and would catch a train out of Guin Alabama and stay gone for months, come back with just enough money sometimes to pay the bills until the next trip. I also found out he was tramping down to Florida and working as a laborer for AT&T installing telephone lines to rural areas.

I remember my grandmother telling me that her mother would build a fire outside and have a big pot of hot water boiling. People would jump off the train and come up to their house to get hot water, broth or tea which ever she had. This was in Canada during the winter. She said other farmers would do the same and it was known with people frequenting the trains.

I used to live near Cynthiana, Ohio. At the end of our road was a very nice large red brick house[not a mansion]. The original owner built it in the 20s and had $3 million dollars in the bank and several thousand acres. One day in the 30s, after an argument with his family he disappeared. After seven years, he suddenly appeared in time to prevent his family from declaring him dead. He had been hoboing to see America.

In the late 1970s I actually did the hobo scene on the west coast. Picking fruit while making my way to Washington state. Met a real life hobo named Jack Fry who showed me how to make hobo stew with only the finest remnants of food in opened cans. One thing I noticed was alcoholism was very prevalent in their lives. All the travelers I met seemed keen on it choosing wine over everything else, including food. Eventually I made it to Alaska working on a fishing boat. Things got lonely though. All in all it was a good experience.

My grandpa and his brother had to hobo their way from Oklahoma to Grand Coulee in WA state for work on the Roosevelt project. Somewhere along the way they hopped on the wrong train and ended up in Montana. They nearly froze to death. But they eventually made it to Grand Coulee and found out they were no longer hiring so they became ranchers instead. Oddly, neither of them said anything about this until they were old. My mother (his daughter) thinks he was probably afraid his sons (who were a bit wild) would try to copy him and take off.

I love this hobo series. I would love to see a video on what a hobo resupply looks like once he gets to a town and can shop for goods.

I hoboed in the early 70's when they were transitioning to all metal boxcars, but sometimes you could find an older and warmer wooden floored type boxcar during a cold day.

A few years back a German bushcraft channel (I think it was Waldhandwerk) did a thing where the guy wore a thirftstore wool overcoat wild camping. He said it was warm, well made, inexpensive, and environmentally conscious. That convinced me and I have been doing that ever since. With a wool blanket, you have an extra layer, and, if you're wearing your coat, your arms don't get as cold if they stick out the blanket. I really enjoy your hobo series!

Here in Finland there wasn't a big hobo culture as such but there were plenty of outdoors workers and also some migrant workers, especially during depression. Lumberjacks, railroad builders, farmworkers, etc. And we do have quite a cold climate. One common affordable aid to stay warm was old newspapers. One could use them as an extra layer between one's clothing, or shred them and stuff them into boots, line hat with them etc. They were cheap and plentiful.

Wool is a wonderful material Provides warmth even when wet, fast drying, abrasion and fire resistant

I love the hobo content, wholesome vibes and practical wisdom.

My grandpa worked on the railroad and he told me about a wealthy hobo who lived in a cave most of the time. He would come down once a month and make everyone in the train yard hobo stew. My grandpa said the hobo just liked living free.

The wonderful thing available was the army wool coat or the sailors pea coat. They wore like iron and lasted for years. By the time of the Depresion there was surplus available. My dad had his to use from WW2 into the 1970s when he passed away. I don't know what happened to it afterwards. They had wool sweaters which were fairly common as was wool underwear. If you get a chance read Louis L'Amour's Education of a Wandering Man. Some of his other short stories are also about living lean so to speak espeacially waiting for a job on a ship.

Wool sure was an important material.

I'm currently testing My lifestyle in central michigan it is −5° right now. I think we've got about 10 inches of snow I'm gonna do it all year. I started in July. Of course, it's in my yard. But I'm in a pop-up camper. So far, so good. Thanks for the tips.

One of my favorite movies with hoboes was the 1973 movie Emperor Of The North with Lee Marvin playing a hobo called A Number 1 trying to ride a train with Ernest Borgnine playing the role of a psychopathic conductor named Shack who hated hoboes.

Six months on the Appalachian Trail taught me the importance of wool. Even when it's damp, it's still warm. Synthetics and down are great, but have their limitations. I enjoy your videos immensely. Thank you..

Hi James! When I was a little feller, I enjoyed coming up with my own homemade costumes to dress like people I admired from TV, movies, or real life. That was a lot of fun. Whenever I see one of these style videos, I detect the fun you are having and suspect some of that same spirit is in you. Blessings to you!

You always put so much thought, effort and energy into your videos they are all a pleasure to watch.

Remember that many _homes_ were still heated with wood or coal stoves. Heck, even businesses had limited methods unless in a large industrial or commercial complex. Warm clothing was commonplace in the wintertime, even indoors.

My grandfather was born in 1899 in Western NC. He used to run shine and got into a physical altercation with the sheriff and knocked him unconscious. My papaw thought he killed him and since they were by the rails, he jumped on a train and rode north to Detroit. He hooked around, reportedly, until he found some work in the Detroit area. A few years later, he got word that the sheriff was alive and well and he came home. He died in the 60s so I never got to know him but, Lordy, I wish I could've gotten to know him. He was a shine runner, lumber mill owner, ended a Civil War family feud, ginseng hunter, and good Ole mountain boy by all accounts. He lived through these times you bring to life.

I learned to love wool when I was a young soldier in the Army. It is a superior fabric for winter.

You bring more enthusiasm to your channel than a discovery channel hero does. (I like them, too, im learning a lot from all you folks in Ohio and wish everyone well) (pro tip ...you cant go wrong cheerimg on the Michigan Wolverines!)

As a youngster and many, many years after I'd dream about hopping trains and riding the rails around the country. Seeing the countryside, camping out here and there, working where I could and then moving on. Was a wonderful dream!!! Back when I was a child boxcars we're typically opened and unlocked and once in a while you'd see someone stowing away in one as the train passed by. Things are much different now but I've been blessed to live in the country alongside a rr track who's only train is an old steam engine that runs a short trip for tourists.

Your hobo series never disappoints

I live in San Antonio, TX, and I worked at a large hospital here. Every winter, some poor soul would be found "down" when the weather got cold. They usually died. Now, every winter I pray for the poor people living on the street. It still makes me sad knowing that people live, or die, alone and cold. God bless and help them.

Hi James! I had just watched a few of your previous hobo videos that I had watched before a few hours ago. I love your presentations, creativity combined with history and survival. Great job!

My grandpa and his brother were hobos at ages 12 and 14, after the stepdad beat them with a singletree ( heavy wood and metal pole used to hitch horse to pull wagon). They had to hop a train and fought hard to keep from being thrown off by other hoboes. Rough life. Both made it to the next town and found work. Never went back home. Their Mom had died and stepdad was a mean SOB. Later grandpa let hoboes work on his farm, gramma fed them and they slept in the barn. Folks can be resilient!

Hoboing at least once builds character, it makes you feel more connected to the world around you. In my younger days I spent a few summers on the road.

This guy is a gentleman and a scholar.

Keep these coming. I love the mix of survival, bush craft, and history. Love the style too.

I'm not a hobo, but I am a huge fan of suspenders. Once I discovered how comfortable and functional they are, I never wore a belt again.

Thanks so much for watching! Please leave a comment and a section down below! Also, make sure and check out the website at www.waypointsurvival.com. See the various classes we teach, the class schedule, and the required gear list.

Longjohns made of cotton or wool (with the drop seats and saggy ways) were also available as a heat-holding underlayer.

Thanks so much for sharing your videos with us! You shed so much light on a lot of history that has been lost, and it’s a great service you are doing!

My uncle was a Hippie during the sixties. He would hitchhike and hop trains across the United States. He got caught in a snowstorm while hoppping a train. They almost froze to death he said. They lived, but quit hopping trains in bad weather.

The '30s era hobo life has always fascinated me. The freedom, the ingenuity, the sense of community. It's a far cry from what you see in cities of today with homelessness. Not traveling for work, but simply surviving wherever they can. Though even within that there are a lot of clever solutions people come up with. I'm sure a lot our image of hobo life is romanticized, but still, the independence was unparalleled.

Thank you for this video. Fascinating information. When I was a little boy ( I am soon 72.), hoboes would sometimes come through town seeking work. Often, a hobo would be given some pay in exchange for some chore. (There were many more rail lines in this area then than now, including some passenger lines. Hoboes nowadays are unknown in these parts. I have not seen one since my childhood.) He carried his belongings in a folded-up cloth made from what looked like a tan bedsheet. (I wonder now if it had perhaps been treated with linseed oil and/or beeswax, or if it was just patinaed by the grime of ten thousand miles.) This he tied to a frame made of sticks tied together with roots. I have often wondered what happened to him. He seemed like a nice fellow.

I really love your videos and this series is great! As someone who loves survivalism and prepping, which isn't a big thing here in the UK, I watch a lot of American channeks in UKposts who do it. I must say unfortunately since 2016 a lot of those channels have been political and paranoid to the point of being unhinged and I am so thankful you have not taken that route! You also don't do stupid paranoid click bait thumbnails which I hate, which a certain Canadian does so he can sell stuff to the uninformed. Thank you for staying true to your original intent of the channel, I know channels evolve but you're going in a great direction and not grifting from viewers which I respect.

I truly enjoy your hobo series James!! Thank you for sharing more amazing content with us my friend, and God bless!!

My great uncle was a hobo for 2 decades 20's and 30's he spent his winters with two widow ladies in Iowa. He said it was very warm. Well at least according to him.😊

James, this is my favourite channel recently! The content itself is great, but what really makes it for me is your attitude. Your excitement for the subject matter and positive demeanour leaves me with a smile every time I watch a video. Thanks for all you do - and hello from Canada!

The Dutch village where I am from, BRKLN, lived a wealthy man named Dudok de Wit. He traveled on foot from the Netherlands to the Dutch East Indies (Dutch colony). He also traveled on foot in your country.

That was really interesting! Thanks for keeping this history alive.

I have a wool field blanket that has been washed and treated. It's survived all these years. Keeps you warm and toasty!

One of the better video series I have seen on youtube. Great job thank you

Hope everyone is having a great year!

Very interesting history & survival information as always! Thank you.

Thanks so much for referencing the book you sourced it from. I'm really hooked on your hobo videos, and it really lit a fire under me to read more into it. It gives me something to chew on between your videos, and it adds so much validity and substance to your content. An American Hobo in Europe is now in my shopping cart.

After hitch-hiking from N.Y. City,to Los Angeles,Calif-I jumped my first freight train out of Phoenix Ariz.-Took me Northerly thru Flagstaff and into Colorado- Felt very safe(safer than hitch-hiking)-rode those "Nags" all thru Rockies,open doors at night,amazing views.Ended up at Mardi-Gras-1977- guess I rode for 3 months,All hobo's were perfect people,always willing to help me,when I needed it! An often ,overlooked,history of our country!

I need all the tips I can get. I gotta go work out in the cold this week😂

Really enjoying learning about the hobos. Keep them coming!

Love the Hobo stuff. Practical ways that could come in handy.

I really really enjoy this old hobo content. Ive learned so much from your videos. Thanks so much

Keep the series going. Information like this will likely be useful to a lot of people in the near future….

Nice history lesson. Thanks for sharing 👍🏻

Thanks for getting into these important historical details. Good work

Awesome series, loving it! Thank You Sir.

I've been waiting on this one for a while now

I really enjoy your entire Hobo series, a lot of history and a lot of practical and useful travel and survival information and tips that anybody could use. Thanks for your great videos !

Thank you for another outstanding video. These videos give a great visual element in learning about this era.

Thanks James, you're looking sharp. It's obvious that you're enjoying making this series as much as we are watching it.

Dangit, this going to hurt. My grandad, Henry Clay McGuire, a little Irishman born in Missouri a carpenter by trade but also a farmer, just like everyone was. He was red headed and he had eyes so blue and clear they looked like chips of ice, even when he was 90. He was a deep thinker, even if he didn't understand the modern world around him. He said the first time he drove a car he was hauling but down main street pulling on that steering wheel screaming "WHOA thar! WHOA!" and he kept pulling and kept a whoain' all the way into the side of the bank building at the end of the street. Well, in his words he 'hoboed out to California from Oklahoma during the depression' but Okies also had the added incentive of the Dust Bowl. Henry Clay had 11 brothers, his mother and father, his wife and he had 4 new babies of his own to provide for. So he was off to California on his own to work the timber patch and the saw mills. In Oklahoma The Dust Bowl destroyed farm land, jobs, and lives. He rode the train as much as possible. He said he'd get atop a particular type of train car that had two rails running down the middle of the roof like a sidewalk what stood up on perches a few inches above the roof. He'd get that car because he could lay down, undo his pants belt and string it through the roof rails and in that way he'd be tied to the train and wouldn't get flung off if he fell asleep. He'd hop off and most towns were usually put off the tracks by about a mile or so. Something I didn't know was a thing considering today they seem to get train tracks tangled up in stoplights, power lines, and highways right in the middle of town. He'd walk to the town and buy a whole loaf of bread and however many eggs he had pockets for. Most stops he'd just buy raw eggs and eat them that way with a few pieces of bread. I doubt it was sliced. He'd wrap the bread in a gunnysack and wrap that around his belt and minding his eggs he'd lace his belt to the train for the next leg of his trek. He went to out to Northern California where he became a skilled lumberjack. He sent money home to Oklahoma and many years later he returned to Oklahoma to continue having a family, farming larger and larger parcels, and building most of the houses in Crescent Oklahoma...and most are still there. He also had a moonshine still in the side of a cliff down by the Cimarron River. Also one of his 11 brothers robbed a bank, Guthrie I think, and was shot down by a drunken posse. Henry's son followed in his footsteps farming except he had a more curious nature. He built his own glider back in the 50s or 60s, long before the had gliders for regular folks. The newspaper even came out for his test flight... and THAT is why there is an odd B&W photo of my uncle seemingly falling out of a clear blue sky, for no good reason. No glider to be seen or barn to jump off of, just him falling out the sky into a field of wheat. He had 'got skeered when it actually worked' and he jumped out. Broke a leg but back to farmin'. That's the McGuires of Logan County, Oklahoma (my mothers side). Now the story of the Chickasaw, McClure family of Logan County (My fathers side) is a lot less wholesome and much more rough and tumble. Some of their story was supposed to be in that book "Killers of the Flower Moon ' but I'm not sure what part exactly. California or BUST!

I was thinking of changing my look. I think you made up my mind 😁

This is so cool, thank you very much for this series!

Fascinating. Loved every moment. Well done. I learned a lot. Thank u, dear James

Somehow you keep coming up with aspects of American life that most people would never know about if you weren't doing this......i personally I'm great full

Looking rather dapper my friend! Love the history of it all. Thanks James...but stay warm out there! Take care...Robin

I adore your videos so much! Thank you for sharing

It's 12 degrees & 8 in. of snow ln Nashville Tn.

First things first you cut a fine winter hobo style,I wear a bowler hat and have a long black coat ,so we would look very cool together, also on being made homeless in two weeks and the uk isn't very warm this time of year, your teachings will bode me well, bless you James bender

4:26 Wool overcoats, absolutely. It cannot be overstated how much that will do to keep you warm. A well made video, sir 🍷

Good one. Staying warm is about your mindset also. Experience is key. As a bird hunter, I can say I've developed a clothing pattern/regime that suits walking behind a bird dog for miles in the cold. Wear things you can remove on the go. I've made countless wrist/arm gaiters from old sock, cut at the ankle. Worn in the early park of our walk, taken off as I become hot(yes you do, following a dog, its constant.) I also wear a neckerchief that can be removed. Walking, NO long underwear. Too hot and perspiration inducing. Wool socks are also paramount, as they remain warm when boots are soaked. My bird vest is several sizes larger than normal to accommodate clothing underneath. The game bag is a ready storage area for food and a thermos, if we drift far from the truck, which is always. Hope's this diatribe helps someone out there. Waypoint is an excellent channel. Thank you for your content.

Love these videos, been a long time watcher, can't wait for the next one!

James you are looking rather dapper in this one!!! Thank you for all the hard work you put in to educate and to entertain us!! As always...take care...Robin

Thanks James

Another great video. Thank you. Really liking the hobo series

Always a great video. You're spot on about wool. I tell my freezing friends about it, but most people are about style and trends. I'm about staying comfortably warm.

Thank you😊 these are great videos..bless you for your gift of teaching survival 😊

❤ This hobo series is fascinating. Europe loves you x 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

what a fantastic series, thank you sir

I have really enjoyed your channel. Keep up the amazing content

Of course, of course, of course. Good content.

“There’s no such this as bad weather, just the wrong clothes” - Something an old man from the Orkneys 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 once told me. 😊

Great video James, I agree with the comment on how newspaper was used as a insulation, riding a motorcycle in the winter I had newspapers under my coat to keep my chest warm.

Just told some of my friends about you they said they would watch love all the videos and telling everyone I know keep it up

Very interesting. My grandmother said rhe hobos had marked her house because she would feed anybody who came to her house. She lived a couple streets from the tracks, south of you, in Maysville.

3 of some of the finest men I've ever known all told me that one day I should ride the rails, one of them was a USMC drill srg. My father. I never have, but I think about the difference between hobos looking for work along the way and the homeless of today and realize how different they are.

I love the hobo series. Thank you very much for your efforts in these wonderful videos.

Another amazing video of bygone Era. Thanks James your the Best.

Thanks for sharing this with us, I love this all, the history left behind by our new generations, the freedom and the really hard times that are yet to come and just a few are ready to face.

We lived by the tracks when I was a small child in the 1960’s. Hobo’s occasionally came to our back door and asked my mama for food. She’d scramble eggs or re-warm leftovers and the men would sit on the ground and talk and eat. We kids thought they were interesting and riding on the train very exciting. We had no idea what their lives were like or what places they’d been. One day a man got out of a boxcar while the train was stopped to hook up carloads of pulpwood. He came to the door and, along with asking for something to eat he asked my mother if she would please read him a faded letter from his daughter that he had carried in his pocket for years. He told her that he couldn’t read, so if he met someone who was kind enough he’d ask them to read it to him. I couldn’t imagine not being able to read, or not seeing your family for years, and it made me sad. From then on I realized that the men who were hobo’s were not just having fun adventures on the trains that passed through our little town every day. I didn’t envy them anymore.

Truly fascinating content. Thank you much for doing these videos. God bless you greatly.

My grandfather on my fathers side road the rails and survived Montana, Minnesota and Wisconsin winters. My grandparents and great grandparents are from Finland, the land of Sisu. It is a natural born thinking for us to survive.

My grandpa lived next to the railroad tracks in Eureka ,mo in the early 1900's he worked for the Rail road. He would take in Hobos for a good night's rest or a warm meal . My grandpa had a farm raised hogs and chickens . Had a big Garden. He trapped and hunted . He raised 11 kids . While many people struggled my grandpa thrived . He wasn't rich but they never went hungry .

Your a nice old chap. Love your output to help others if needbe, keep it up and God bless you Brother.

THIS WAS REALLY GREAT. FUN , INTERESTING , AND VALUABLE IN KNOWLEDGE . THANKS MUCH ❤🙏