Customloper Diaries Day Five: Moose-terious Happenings

Customloper Diaries – Day 5: Moose Standoff, Bullet Disappointment, and Frostbite Gordon Ramsay

Weather: Overcast → blizzard remnants → cold, tense calm
Loot Highlights: 32 revolver bullets (without the revolver), coffee, stew ingredients
Mood: Caffeine-fueled paranoia

◀ Missed Day 4? Read it here |
What is Customloper?

Moose-terious Happenings and Bullet Mockery

I wake up cold, hypothermic, and shivering in a shelter that feels like it’s holding back winter by sheer stubbornness. Outside, the air is still heavy with yesterday’s storm. I light a torch—not for light, but for morale—and step outside to grab sticks for a fire.

That’s when I hear it. A low, deliberate snort. Snow crunching under something big. My brain takes about two seconds to put it together: the Moose is still here. Still patrolling. Still grumpy. All I’ve got is a flare gun, three flares, and zero confidence this will be anything but moose-poking practice.

Later research confirmed flare guns actually can scare or even injure moose. At the time, though, I pictured wasting all three shots and ending up as hoof-print art in the snow.

Sidebar: Flare Guns vs Wildlife

Wolves: Scared of everything, including your hesitation. Flare gun = instant retreat.
Bears: Works if you’re quick and accurate. Miss, and you’ve just upgraded it to “angry bear.”
Moose: Vulnerable, but charging moose leave little margin for error. Pray your aim is better than your panic management.

Fire, Coffee, and False Confidence

I retreat inside, break down a couple of stools, and get a fire going. Coffee brews while my temperature climbs from “freezer aisle” to “slightly uncomfortable.” Caffeine courage in place, I decide to make another break for it.

I crack the door. Two cautious steps outside—then I hear it again. This time I actually see the moose, casually stomping away from me like it owns the place. Which, frankly, it does.

I seize the chance to sneak toward the picnic area, hoping I’ll finally find a revolver or rifle. Spoiler: no. Just more snow, more silence, and the nagging sense I’m on borrowed time.

Panic Sprint to Orca

Plan B forms in my head: head to Orca Gas Station and regroup. The snow crunches under my boots, the wind whistles between the trees—and then I hear a noise behind me. Could be the wind. Could be antlers. I don’t check. I just run. Full panic sprint, torch flaring wildly, straight to Orca’s door.

Inside, adrenaline still in overdrive, I make a silent vow: if I live through this, I’ll cook everything I can get my hands on. Meals will be my legacy.

Bullets Without a Gun

The walk back to Grey Mother’s is uneventful, which feels like winning the lottery. I throw myself into cooking: rabbit stew, venison stew, boiling water—anything to nudge my Cooking skill higher. Somewhere in the process, I drop off 32 revolver bullets into storage. The universe clearly thinks this is funny.

Three separate attempts to repair my climbing socks all fail. Morale drops. I sweep Grey Mother’s house again just in case a revolver is hiding in the corner. It’s not.

I end the day reading a book to boost my harvesting skill, the flickering lantern light casting long shadows. Outside, the moose is probably still wandering. Inside, I’m still stubborn, still alive, still armed with only a flare gun and misplaced optimism.

Day 5 Summary

Location: Milton Region
Finds: 32 revolver bullets, coffee, stew ingredients
Wildlife Watch: Persistent moose
Conditions: Cold and tense
Status: Warm, fed, moose-adjacent

Continue the Journey

◀ Customloper Diaries – Day 4: Prybars, Pancake Plans, and the Blizzard Lock-In
Customloper Diaries – Day 6 ▶

More from The Long Dark

30th Jul 2025 2

Customloper Diaries Day Four: Locked Trunks, Blizzards, and Pancake Promises

Customloper Diaries – Day 4: Prybars, Pancake Plans, and the Blizzard Lock-In

Weather: Clear morning, moose-level tension, full blizzard finale
Loot Highlights: Prybar, Storm Lantern, memento cache hint, acorns
Mood: Energised → cautious → “nope, not stepping outside”

Missed Day 3? Read it here. |
What is Customloper?

Moose Tracks and Memory Trunks

Morning at Paradise Meadows Farm is deceptively calm—blue skies, crisp air, and the kind of silence that makes you think “safe.” Which, as I’ve learned, is usually the universe setting you up for trouble. My goal is simple: get back to Grey Mother’s without freezing, starving, or becoming wildlife entertainment.

Before I even make it to the main road, I spot circling birds. If you’ve read my blog before, you know this usually means a corpse. And corpses mean loot. Sure enough, today’s offering is a prybar lying beside the unlucky owner. I take a respectful moment—then take the prybar. Survival first, sentiment later.

Milton’s Got Loot

With my new tool in hand, I march into Milton like a one-person locksmith service. Every locked trunk and locker I’d previously ignored is now fair game. The results? A couple of sodas, some gloves, and various odds and ends. Not exactly jackpot material, but the sense of clearing my “to-open” list is its own reward.

My real prize comes at Orca Gas Station. Perched on top of a ladder, basking in the weak winter sunlight, is a Storm Lantern. I’d have climbed Mount Timberwolf itself for this. It’s not just light—it’s morale. No more groping around in the dark like an amateur escape artist.

Signs in the Snow

Lantern in my pack, I head toward Milton Park. That’s when I see it—moose rubbings etched into a tree. My mood shifts instantly from “pleasant stroll” to “scan every shadow for large, angry silhouettes.” I haven’t actually seen a moose yet this run, but I’m not eager to test my odds.

Nearby, I gather acorns. They’re a small thing, but they bring me one step closer to Lily’s Pancakes—my long-term culinary goal. The catch? I still need Cooking Level 4. Which means at least seventy cups of tea, or possibly cooking every edible thing on the island. Twice.

Before heading out, I also find a memento cache hint. A promise of future loot, assuming I make it that far. If past runs are anything to go by, the odds are… let’s call them “variable.”

Blizzard Becomes the Boss Fight

By the time I start for my shelter, the snow is falling thicker. A few minutes later, I’m in the middle of a full blizzard. Visibility drops to “couldn’t find your own footprints,” and the wind is howling like it’s trying to blow the entire town off the map. Somewhere out there, I think I hear movement—could be a wolf, could be my imagination. Either way, the door stays closed.

Inside, I get a fire going, boil water, and cook whatever’s left in my pack. The mattress here is old, musty, and about as supportive as a wet paper bag, but compared to freezing to death, it’s luxury. Outside, the storm rages. Inside, I’m dry, warm, and in possession of a prybar, a storm lantern, and a future pancake dream. Could be worse.

Day 4 Summary

Location: Milton Region
Finds: Prybar, Storm Lantern, memento cache hint, acorns
Wildlife Watch: Potential moose spawn
Conditions: Blizzard-bound
Status: Warm, fed, slightly paranoid—but alive

Continue the Journey

◀ Customloper Diaries – Day 3: Charcoal Maps, Rabbit Stew, and a Surprise Wolf Hug
Customloper Diaries – Day 5 ▶

Customloper Diaries Day Three: Charcoal Maps, Rabbit Stew, and a Surprise Wolf Hug

Customloper Diaries – Day 3: Charcoal Maps, Rabbit Stew, and a Surprise Wolf Hug

Weather: Cold start, blizzard pockets, clearing skies

Loot Highlights: Memento cache supplies, birch saplings (for later), Paradise Meadows key, rabbit + fish dinner

Mood: Cocky → practical → “why is that wolf sprinting?”

Missed Day 2? Read it here. |
What is Customloper?

Early Start, No Light, No Dignity

I wake up at an hour only owls respect. Rather than burn a match in Grey Mother’s house, I feel my way to the door like a bargain-bin escape room contestant. After negotiating with every chair leg in Milton, I finally make it outside to a slate-blue morning and a bitey wind.

Holy Cache, Batman!

The church memento cache pays out: matches, food, and an energy drink. With the essentials secured, I hop between cars toward Milton Bridge, using charcoal to sketch the town like a freezing Bob Ross. The map fills in; my fingers disagree with the artistic direction.

Gun Dreams, Birch Realities

Confidence high, I angle for Paradise Meadows Farm in the faint hope of finding a rifle. Birds circling drag me off-trail toward a body that contributes precisely nothing to my survival except the reminder that I will absolutely chase birds every time.

Nearby I spot birch saplings. Cue a hopeful bow-crafting fantasy… promptly crushed when I re-remember it’s maple I need. I leave the birch to cure anyway—Future Me loves having options.

Bunny Catch, Farm Key, and Yes, Wolves Exist

One clean stone throw nets a rabbit. Moments later—bingo—Paradise Meadows Farmhouse key. Also: my first wolf sighting of the run. So they do exist on Customloper; they were just waiting for dramatic timing.

Inside the farmhouse it’s open-season on usefulness:

Wool long johns
A fish stashed in the freezer
A skillet lounging atop the fridge
Two more cooking pots (apparently I run a wilderness diner now)

Dinner Is Served

I harvest the rabbit, spot the recipe, and make rabbit stew—with the freezer fish as a bonus course. Water boils, gear gets sorted, excess clothes hit the floor. Feeling very competent, I decide to haul the skillet back to Grey Mother’s. This hubris will be important later.

Wolf Attack Outta Nowhere

Cutting back through Milton, I take one curious corner too many and—bam—wolf sprint. I backpedal for a door, take a hit, and tumble inside with the grace of a sack of sticks. Painkillers down, bandage on, dignity postponed.

I repair what I can until the fatigue meter taps out, then finish the day with rabbit stew and the kind of silence that says “we’ll try that route again tomorrow… smarter.”

End of Day 3.

Continue the Journey

◀ Customloper Diaries – Day 2: Blizzards, Boots, and Baseball Cap Confusion

Customloper Diaries – Day 4: Locked Trunks, Blizzards, and Pancake Promises ▶

Here’s What You Missed This Week – June 1st Week Recap

Catch up on this week’s survival chaos: bears, zombies, Customloper runs, permadeath hubs, and one very questionable Interloper experience.

This Week in Review

Another week of survival, panic, and the occasional questionable decision. Here’s what went live across the blog:

🐻 Monday: Bear Meets Panic Rifle

Sometimes you bring a rifle to a bear encounter. Sometimes the rifle just brings panic. This week kicked off with a new Survivor’s Shorts entry where I learned that even with a firearm, bears remain terrifying.

The One-Shot Wonder: Bear Meets Panic Rifle

🌊 Tuesday: Dark Waters: A Dredge Survival – Day One

The boat launched, the paranoia began. My permadeath Dredge run officially set sail with the start of Dark Waters. The ocean may look calm, but we both know it isn’t.

Dark Waters: A Dredge Survival – Day 1

❄️ Wednesday: Customloper – Day One

The Customloper experiment is underway. A bit Interloper, a bit Voyageur, a lot of me desperately hoping I don’t freeze to death before leaving Mountain Town. So far, so… technically alive.

Customloper Diaries Day 1: A Woollen Windy Welcome to Milton

Side note, The Cold Chronicles and Customloper Diaries will be alternating weeks for the foreseeable. Until one of them ends of course. So next week will be the next entry The Cold Chronicles

🗡 Thursday: Skyrim Survival – Sneak, Snipe, Repeat – Day Six

The Argonian saga continues. Day Six saw more stealth, more arrows, and the usual healthy amount of questionable life choices while wandering Skyrim’s frozen wilderness.

Sneak, Snipe, Repeat: Skyrim Suvival Day Six

🪓 Friday: Grounded Permadeath Hub Goes Live

The hub page for The Backyard Trials: Grounded Permadeath is officially up and running! Rules, info, and upcoming entries are all ready for you.
I also teased what’s coming next Friday: a special Day One Diary for Zombie Army Trilogy—fittingly set for Friday the 13th.

The Backyard Trials: Grounded Permadeath

Zombie Army Trilogy – Day One Diary Coming This Friday the 13th

💀 Saturday: The Desolation Point Debacle

Today’s Survivor’s Shorts took us into Desolation Point on Interloper. It didn’t go well. (Shocking, I know.)

Survivor’s Shorts: Interloper — The Desolation Point Debacle

What’s Coming Next

The backlog grows stronger. Next week, expect more from Dark Waters, Customloper, Skyrim Survival, and our first look at Zombie Army Trilogy. More danger, more chaos, more very avoidable mistakes.

7th Jun 2025 0

Survivor’s Shorts: Interloper — The Desolation Point Debacle

Sometimes Interloper doesn’t kill you with cold or wolves — sometimes the moose does the honors. A short-lived but memorable run in Desolation Point.

I decided to try Interloper. To make it fair, I went full Interloper difficulty. Since the spawn is random (and a few regions are excluded), I let fate decide my starting point. I kept the Cougar on, but let’s be honest — I wasn’t going to live long enough for it to matter.

My spawn?
Desolation Point.

More specifically, right below the lighthouse. Under normal Interloper circumstances, I’d actually be thrilled — the forge is nearby, and this could have been a solid starting run. But today’s goal was simple: survive one single day.

And that’s where the brain fog set in.
Instead of going straight for the lighthouse like a sensible person, I somehow forgot the route entirely. So I did the only logical thing: head to the Riken for the forge.

Then I heard it.
The unmistakable sound of antlers and doom.

Please have sound on for this video

—

With nowhere to run and no cover in sight, I accepted my fate.

—

By the time the dust settled, I had broken ribs, my condition was down to half, and I was racking up frostbite risk and hypothermia risk like they were achievements. At that point, I decided to officially end the attempt.

—

If you enjoyed this one, please check out my other Survivor’s Shorts

7th Jun 2025 1