DAYZ – My adventures in an online parallel reality

Online games are getting closer to being complete alternate realities. Many people choose to live their lives in the digital world, especially because of the global pandemic and lockdowns. It’s both a form of escapism and a means of socializing during prolonged isolation. It’s also an amazing experience. In this video I share my experiences with Bohemia Interactive’s DAYZ and the many servers which support its play. I went in without any prior knowledge of MMPORGs or other online games, and it was a long hard struggle to get to grips with the basic skill set and mechanics in order to be able to survive among players with thousands of hours under their belts.
I never thought I would feel such emotions, both positive and negative, nor adrenaline, which I experienced in the online DAYZ universe. I met some amazing people from around the world and explored most of the major maps – Chernarus, Livonia, Namalsk, Esseker, Chiemsee, Rostow, Takistan, Barnov and a tiny, tiny bit of Pripyat. I played both PVP (player versus player) and PVE (player versus environment. I played in a crew and also alone.

Having currently stopped playing due to unforeseen circumstances, I thought I would summarize my experience for those wanting to play and perhaps also for those who’ve been playing for a longer time who want a fresh view on the DAYZ universe. DAYZ is addictive to say the least and I can understand how easy it is to basically move into the online world. With experience come benefits and the gameplay changes.

Filmed with a Panasonic Lumix FZ300/FZ330 with a Polaroid UV lens.
On location in the Carpathian Mountains of Slovakia.

Bushcraft Minimalism – outdoor adventure in the forest with the minimal kit

What are the essential basic items you need to ensure your survival in a forest environment? Excluding knowledge, skills and experience, there are a few simple bits of kit which can make your life much easier when out in the bush. While it’s tempting to invest in bagloads of expensive gear, bushcraft equipment can be boiled down to just a handful of necessary tools. In this video I explain my choices, which I always carry into the forest. I also give some tips for survival navigation and timekeeping.

Filmed with a Panasonic Lumix FZ300/FZ330 with a Polaroid UV lens.
On location in the Carpathian Mountains of Slovakia.

Why Are We Here? – 3 Scary and Strange Theories for Our Existence

Have you ever wondered what’s the point in existence? Were we created or did we evolve? Schools and churches give different opinions on the meaning of life, and we’re supposed to follow those ideas – or perhaps reject both and state that there is no point.
BUT. What if the real reason for our existence was something completely different entirely? Something so strange, or so terrifying, that we’d instantly reject the idea, even laugh at it. But what if those theories couldn’t be disproven?
In this video I discuss some very peculiar beliefs regarding why we are here and the reason behind them. Prepare to be shocked – and perhaps have a sleepless night or two afterwards.

Filmed with a Panasonic Lumix FZ300/FZ330 with a Polaroid UV lens.
On location in the Carpathian Mountains of Slovakia.

https://edwardotoole.com
https://www.youtube.com/c/carpathianadventure

Survival Shovels, Folding Shovels and Entrenching Tools

They dig. They defend. They chop. They saw – well, theoretically at least. They can even be used to open bottles. Survival shovels and entrenching tool have been a military staple for centuries now, whether for digging fox holes or for close quarter combat in trenches. For the survivalist, prepper, bushcrafter and outdoor person, they fill a number of useful functions which not only make camp life more liveable but can also save your life when things go bad. Survival shovels and folding shovels mean you can dig your way out of blizzards, chop branches to cover your shelter, keep predators (of both the two and four legged varieties) at bay, and are a general all-purpose tool which you should have in your kit.
For any SHTF scenario, military shovels and their civilian counterparts would be an essential item to possess, especially when it comes to long-term camp living, sanitation or defense. Definitely an item for your bug out bag. In this video I show several different types and explain their pros and cons.

ATOMZ Deer Isle DayZ server

Bearded Tiny’s horror game playthrough Youtube channel – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxw-JLIz9gHiVWza1ghYotw

Filmed with a Panasonic Lumix FZ300/FZ330 with a Polaroid UV lens

https://edwardotoole.com

https://www.youtube.com/c/carpathianadventure

WTF Weather, Climate Change & Lockdowns – what’s really going on?

Tornadoes, droughts, floods, fires, record freezes – don’t tell me you haven’t noticed that something really odd is going on. Then again, if you’ve been locked inside your home for the last year you may have missed it. But with the coming global food shortages you’ll definitely feel the effects of the multitude of weather catastrophes that have been sprouting all over the world for the last several years.
In this video I look into both the catastrophes and what may be behind them. Yes, we’re all pretty aware of climate change, but what does that actually mean? And are cow farts actually to blame, as we’ve officially been told, or could there be other reasons for what’s happening? Man has definitely messed up Planet Earth, that goes without saying, but could there be something else happening – and perhaps not just to our planet – we may be quite a bit scarier?
Let’s put the official propaganda to one side for a moment and actually look at what other independent scientists and researchers have come up with – before their opinions are crushed by the mainstream. And could last year’s global lockdown be in some way connected?

Filmed with a Panasonic Lumix FZ300/FZ330 with a Polaroid UV lens

Mushroom Picking – Experience Nature and Understand Who You Are

Back in the forests of the Carpathian Mountains of East Slovakia, this time looking for birch bolete and cep (porcini) mushrooms. After seeing the prices of cep (and we’re not going to even mention black or white truffles) in the Italian speaking Istria region of Croatia, and how much visitors are charged to spend a few hours looking for them in the forest with a guide (we were offered a 3 hour tripe for 250 Euros!), we decided to spend a sunny Sunday morning in the forests close to the house, looking for them ourselves. As we do every year.
Mushroom hunting is a major activity among slavic peoples, and they can get very competitive about it, especially when it comes to the rarer species such as ram’s head. The forest was incredibly dark and humid today because of the dense canopy, and the ground was slippery because of the constant rainfall. But it was stunning. It felt so good to be back among the trees, listening to the birds and the wind rustling the leaves. I can’t imagine living in a place with a view of just concrete, brick and tarmac. Hopefully this video will encourage those who do to spend some time away from the urban environment and to get out into nature to experience it as it really is, not as TV shows it as.

Filmed with a Panasonic Lumix FZ300/FZ330 with a Polaroid UV lens

https://edwardotoole.com
https://www.carpathianadventure.com
https://www.youtube.com/c/carpathianadventure

Underwater Therapy – 1 Hour of relaxing aquatic film from snorkelling in the Adriatic Sea, fish

A living aquarium. Join me under the waves in the Adriatic Sea as I snorkel and observe the marine life off the coast of Cesarica, Croatia. There is so much life on this planet, on land, in the air and in the sea. Escape from the grind of urban life for one hour and just follow the fish in the beautiful clear blue water of the Adriatic. The only sounds you’ll hear are from the snorkel, the water and the crackling of the tempered glass of my mask from the water pressure.
It’s difficult now for people to get away due to the pandemic, so this video is a means of being there without having to travel, for whatever reason or restrictions. Every year we set ourselves the goal of swimming in the sea as we live in a beautiful but landlocked country, Slovakia. Croatia, with its rocky shoreline, provides an excellent destination for those who like to fish or swim with fish.
Being alone in the sea and, if but for a short time, being a part of such a diverse biosphere, is an incredible, mesmerizing experience. Normal life and daily routines just melt away and it’s easy to become transfixed just watching the every day lives of sea creatures. This year the fish were plentiful. Two years ago there were very few fish. It’s possible that last year’s travel restrictions, along with very few tourists and boats, allowed the various fish species to recover somewhat. I certainly hope so. The Adriatic has been massively overfished to keep the restaurants stocked for tourists, and much of the catch is eventually discarded because it isn’t sold. Industrial fishing is wiping out sea life all over the planet, for humanity’s greed and gluttony. Physically being there and snorkelling makes such a state much more real than just reading about it.
Last time I was in Croatia, a Mako shark had just been filmed in shallow water exactly where we were staying. The water gets very deep very quickly so it’s always good to keep an eye on the deep blue when you’re distracted with the denizens of rock faces. The hug pod of dolphins which passed through were likely a good deterrent, though.

Filmed with an Apeman 4k action camera.

https://edwardotoole.com
https://www.carpathianadventure.com
https://www.youtube.com/c/carpathianadventure

Filmed on location in Croatia.

Nikola Tesla – Origins of the Creator of the Modern World

A homage to one of the greatest minds which ever lived, Nikola Tesla. Inventor of the modern world, but not the one we live in sadly. His altruistic concepts for the good of humanity were taken and used by those with ulterior motives, mostly greed and power. I visited his birthplace as a sort of pilgrimage, and became even more amazed at a man who claimed his ideas were given or shown to him as visions. Even his name has been taken from him and used incorrectly. One day we can only hope that his visions for the world’s future are taken seriously, perhaps when we realise that what we’re doing is just destroying the planet and ourselves to fill the pockets and egos of a tiny few. But by then it may be too late.

Filmed with a Panasonic Lumix FZ300/FZ330 with a Polaroid UV lens

https://edwardotoole.com
https://www.carpathianadventure.com
https://www.youtube.com/c/carpathianadventure

Dolphins in Croatia – watching Bottleneck Dolphins from my terrace in Cesarica, Karlobag

We don’t always get to see them. Last time we were in the next village and we didn’t, but the time before that we actually encountered them whilst kayaking out on the sea near Karlobag in Croatia. These are Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursops truncatus), and sadly there are only about 220 left in Croatian waters. Seeing them is an amazing experience, much akin to seeing wolves. There is something extremely spiritual about dolphins, and they are a big reminder that mammals also live in the sea.
Bottlenose dolphins grow to about 4 metres (13 feet) in length and can weigh around 300 kilos (660 pounds). When you see these guys up close and personal it’s a shock as to just how large they really are – they’re over twice the length of a tall human. Dolphins are without question an extremely intelligent animal (the 3rd highest, apparently, with us being 1st), and they have an extremely complex social system and language. It makes me vomit when I see them slaughtered en masse by our friends in the East. Trust me, it’s something you can’t unwatch.
Croatia is a stunning country, a part of the Yugoslavia. For us it’s a long drive to get there (13 hours each way this time) but it’s well worth it for the scenery.
I would love to get a tattoo featuring a wolf and a dolphin, as both are very special animals for me. They show that living wild can also be fun…

Filmed with a Panasonic Lumix FZ300/FZ330 with a Polaroid UV lens

https://edwardotoole.com
https://www.carpathianadventure.com
https://www.youtube.com/c/carpathianadventure

Building Walls and Levelling Hills – reconstructing a country cottage and garden

Major reconstruction at the village house. I’m quite a laissez faire sort of person, and I do like having a wild garden, but when functionality ceases to function it’s time to make some changes. In this case it was some quite major and expensive changes to the front of the property. We also had to replace the old small septic tank as 5 people living 24 hours a day can fill it very quickly and there’s currently no real way of getting it emptied without using a bilge pump (probably one of the worst tasks I regularity have to do).
What started as merely wanting to change the gate – a job I have been putting off for several years – turned into an entire landscaping project because there was the issue of having to remove a hillock in order to get a new one in. The property has been in use for several hundred years and different buildings have come and gone all over it – there’s also the worry of finding unexploded mines and artillery shells from the first and second world wars.
Heavy snowfall crushed the hedges making them useless, and parasitic hop vines choked the life out of what was left. So we decided to bulldoze the lot and put in a solid wall as well. The end result is much more land available and some pretty cool historical parts which will make a nice terrace once I learn how to rebuild ancient stone walls and root cellars…

Filmed with a Panasonic Lumix FZ300/FZ330 with a Polaroid UV lens, and a Xiaomi Note 8 Pro phone

https://edwardotoole.com
https://www.carpathianadventure.com
https://www.youtube.com/c/carpathianadventure