a month in the bush

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scpower

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Apr 14, 2006
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Found this on canadiangunnutz...check out the link www.barewilderness.com

sounds like fun:D


"2 men from southern Manitoba are busy learning primitive skills to prepare themselves for a 30 day adventure in the Manitoba wilderness.
Shaun Diamond of Rosenort and Brad Adrian of Roland will go into the bush October 5th with nothing but a knife and the clothes on their back. Adrian says they both enjoy the outdoors a lot and every couple of years he takes a trip that pushes his limits. They have been doing internet research and talking to people who've taught them things like braiding hair to make fishing line, starting a fire with a knife and rock and making pots out of Birch bark. He says a trek like this is not something for the inexperienced. Adrian adds his family is supportive of the idea but still a little nervous about it."

www.barewilderness.com
 
I saved that to my favorites. I remember hearing about a group of guys who intended to spend the entire summer out in the lower 48 (MI?) and live off the land. They didn't make it. It will be interesting to see how well these guys do. It sounds fairly brutal for people with experience to try it. For them the learning curve is going to be pretty steep with no prior experience. This should be interesting. Mac
 
Dr. Andre-Francois Bourbeau from the University of Quebec did this solo back in the 80's in northern Canada, but with only the clothes on his back (not even a knife if I remember correctly) for 31 days and survived, so it can definitely be done! He wrote a book about it "Surviethon au Gré de la Nature" but as far as I know it's only available in French (does anyone out there have a copy of this book). His video of another trip "Man of Wilderness" was very influential to me in my younger days, I haven't seen it for years though.
 
Looks like risky business to me. Untrained and unequipped together may spell disaster in that territory. Wouldn't want to try it with only a knife.

Wish them well.
 
Seems pretty stupid if they really have no prior survival training. I hope they make it, but if they don't, we will have two early leaders for the 2008 Darwin Awards.
 
"2 men, 2 knives, 1 wilderness" ... plus lots of bear poop and a body bag to put the scraps in. :D
 
I look forward to reading about it when (if) they come back! I do respect the effort for sure though and would like to be able to try it myself one day... in a warm month!
 
What would any of you think would make the diffrence for them in survival. If it were any of you what would you take with you at the min?? so you know you can make it. The only thing is you must carry it.
 
One of these guys were posting over on the Hoodlums forum. They gave him a pretty rough time over there because they were going to be attempting this with minimal supplies and training. When I first read about this I thought it was a pretty stupid way to die, but they are grown men so I wish them luck.

Chad
 
sasha said:
What would any of you think would make the diffrence for them in survival. If it were any of you what would you take with you at the min?? so you know you can make it. The only thing is you must carry it.
Click to expand...

If something goes wrong, my guess is that it happens if an early winter comes and drops the temperature, bringing snow and/or freezing rain. Are two guys with no training going to be able to get a fire going and make adequate shelter so that they stay dry and don't suffer hypothermia? Once they became hypothermic, with no training, my guess is things would snowball (no pun intended) and they would make more mistakes which would result in Darwin Award time. Even if they do get a shelter and a fire, they say they are going with the clothes on their back. Does that include a normal set of clothes, or are they going in wearing four or five layers? If they don't have the appropriate clothing for the winter, the shelter and fire may not save them anyway if winter comes early.

Of course there is also the whole thing about what are they going to eat. I remember from watching Survivorman that he said the time to gather wild edibles in Canada towards the end of summer was a six to eight week window. While I have never been to Canada outside of Vancouver, if that is true, they may be in trouble.

Edit: Even with the correct skills, it is still going to be incredibly tough to survive. You would need everything to go right. I am not too proud to admit that if I tried the same stunt with one of my friends, there is a 100 percent chance that I would end up being rescued or dead. I know a lot, but this is some extreme stuff even for someone like Tom Brown or the Hoods.
 
I talked through an email with Brad Adrian before they left. I had to ask what knife they had decided on. He said they decided to go with the kabar camp knife and then he was telling me why he had made the choice. I will see if I can get it out of my delete box. lol Just figured I would add that little bit of info for you guys.
 
I just noticed this from their website.

"Their goal is to not only to survive for 30 days but also be able to live relatively comfortably. In order to accomplish this they will need to learn a lot of skills they do not have prior to there departure."

"Neither of them have any survival training, the only thing they have is a love for the outdoors."

If they are truly that naive, they are definitely going to die. Hopefully they have a satellite phone and GPS in case of an emergency, because they are going to need it.
 
Okay, I went to the Hoodlums Forum and did a little more digging. Here is what I found out:

They are posting daily video from the bush on their website. To do that they are taking a laptop, solar panels to charge the battery and some cameras. If this is the case, all of this stuff can't sit out in the weather and be expected to survive, it will have to be covered in some sort of a tent. My guess is that there is some truth to what they are doing, but they are taking a lot more stuff and this is some sort of a money making venture to get people to pay to watch on their website. Sounds a lot like Bear Gryllis, who is probably responsible for them doing this. If he can do, I can to.


Upon further review, they now admit that they are having a cameraman with them. He is going to camp nearby with a fully supply of food, shelter, etc... but he is not going to interfere with their survival. Sure. Anyway, he is going to town everyday to load their video onto the internet. So much for being in the wilderness. In fact, I am now announcing that I will be pulling the same stunt in my own backyard. I promise that I won't walk in the house and eat anything, or watch football over the weekend or take showers. 30 days for me with only a knife. I look forward to all of you paying me big bucks to broadcast my stunt. Cheers.
 
I had never seen that they said they were doing this in extreme isolation. That truly would be nuts. The worst that will most likely come of it is that one or the other will have a nagging medical problem that will get aggrivated and they end up calling it off for medical safety.

It doesn't bother me that they are trying to make money at this either. Most of us will spend the same month doing something far easier and less creative to try and make money. They're big boys. I just think they've underestimated the challenge.

I've spent a long week of hard work and little to no food in the Canadian bush in summer. I lost 17 lbs (10 lbs of that was actual body weight, 7 lbs due to empty digestive system). At that rate I don't think I would have been too effective after a second week and a third would have been dangerously miserable. This was in summer.

The ordeal they are proposing could be done if they can manage a really well built shelter, dry, no drafts, contains the heat, comfortable bed. The survival type shelters we discuss here are things that will get you through a night or two but they are not really liveable for a month. It is one thing to ward off hypothermia for 48 hours and quite another to be able to live in a place. Yes you can make a shelter with a knife, but can you build a small cabin?

Setting dozens of traps/snares, and a trot line or three could provide enough food, but do they have that kind of skill? Killing a big game animal such as a Moose would make it doable, but can two guys with no prior experience pull that off? I just hope the cameraman isn't off hunting them animals with a .22.

I do know several people (I'm not one of them) who are fully capable of going into the woods with a knife and coming out with a bow killed big game animal, but they breathe bowhunting. Mac
 
"Dr. Andre-Francois Bourbeau from the University of Quebec did this solo back in the 80's in northern Canada, but with only the clothes on his back (not even a knife if I remember correctly) for 31 days and survived, so it can definitely be done!"

Dr. Bourbeau is a friend of mine! It was a fascinating experience, but remember that he is an absolute expert in this field with TONS of experience. Also, he was not alone, he had one other fellow with him. Also, they took a radio and checked in.

He lost weigt on the trip too, commenting that there was very little food to be found.
 
Horse said:
"Dr. Andre-Francois Bourbeau from the University of Quebec did this solo back in the 80's in northern Canada, but with only the clothes on his back (not even a knife if I remember correctly) for 31 days and survived, so it can definitely be done!"

Dr. Bourbeau is a friend of mine! It was a fascinating experience, but remember that he is an absolute expert in this field with TONS of experience. Also, he was not alone, he had one other fellow with him. Also, they took a radio and checked in.

He lost weigt on the trip too, commenting that there was very little food t
o be found.
Click to expand...

It has been probably 15+ years since I viewed the documentary so the details are a bit sketchy... if I rememeber correctly he picked the location with a dart thrown at the map...?

Do you know how to get in touch with Dr Bourbeau? I would like to get a copy of his book and video. I attempted to email him at the address from his Primitive Skills Group website and my email bounced. I also forwarded it to his family's catering business in Huntsville, it's only half an hour from Bracebridge where I grew up so maybe I'll drop in next time I am home if I don't hear back.




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