Afternoon of Winter Survival Practice

messer454

messer454

Joined
Oct 2, 2006
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I have learned a lot from W&S but I don’t post a lot. Yesterday I got off work early and had a few hours to kill. I decided to kick around the range and woods and pretend for the sake of argument that I had somehow gotten stranded and could only use what I had in the cab of my truck. I had three goals: 1. Make a fire from fallen wood I could find. 2. Try to purify water by boiling it inside a water bottle like I saw them do on Dual Survivor. 3. See how my shooting would be on game with the 2 long guns I might normally have in the truck.

Now I have a full pack of “survival” or “get home” gear but I wanted to start a fire with just a knife, steel, and a piece of fatwood. I also decided not to use the little striker but some part of my knife instead. The two guns I am likely to have are a folding stock Ruger 10/22 or a Remington 12 ga. 870 with an 18” bead sighted cylinder choke barrel. These both fit well under the seat and are my knock around, not necessarily hunting guns. I carry CCI hollowpoints for the Ruger and #6 shot, and slugs for the 12 ga. I am by no means saying these would be the best guns/ ammo for survival or even what I would prefer. They are just what I would likely have on hand in an emergency I did not see coming. The knife I decided to use for everything is the Scrapyard Scrapper 6 which I keep in my truck.

Fire steel, Way to pristine looking Scrapper 6, Guns
 
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There was snow on the ground which I am sure covered some wood. The woods is also fairly young with few old trees. Nonetheless, I was surprised at how far I had to range to find wood. I finally gathered what I thought was enough to prove my point but I would have needed a LOT more if I was spending the night. I had a baton fashioned and the wood split in no time. Time on site was about 45 minutes.

I then struck the fire steel with the edge of my knife closest to the choil since the rest of the knife is coated black. It took several strikes but I finally got my aim. I was so concerned about feeding it I forgot to get a pick of the fuzz sticks going .


Wood pile, kindling, fire lay, fire
 
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I then tried my water boiling. I was able to get it to boil but only for about 2 minutes and then the fire would die down. I also could only do about half the bottle because it kept shrinking from the heat. I was able to accomplish this task though so I was pleased. I did not drink it even though it was clear. Thinking maybe this would work better on coals than flames? I put another water bottle half full on coals. It never boiled.

Bottle hanging, Bottle melted, Boiling
 
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Feeling pretty good about myself I set about to tackle task #3. I tried my hand a squirrel from 25 yards and deer at 50 yards. My first shot with the .22 from a kneeling position landed at what looks like a spine shot. The second one was also good. The first 12 gauge shot was with 1 1/8 ounce of #6. It might have anchored the squirrel enough that I could have got it but I’m not sure. I then tried a 1 ¼ ounce load and had two pellets in the vitals. 18” cylindrical choke didn’t do quite as good as I would have liked with shot.

Squirrel with .22, Squirrel with 1 1/8 oz #6 shot, Squirrel with 1 1/4 oz #6 shot
 
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I then tried the deer target at 50 yards, kneeling. The .22 landed just left of the heart in the lungs. The first slug took out a front leg. I then raised the bead post up a little higher and made 2 good killing shots. I have no idea how quick a .22 will kill a deer with a lung shot. In reality if I had to do that I would have fired several times as quick as I could to increase the wound area. Just trying out ideas, I have no experience in killing a deer with a .22 but if I was hungry enough I know I would try.

As I was leaving I decided to shoot my already riddled deer with 00 Bucksot at 25 yards. I definitely think this would have brought the deer down as well.

My deer target, Deer with .22, Deer with a Slug, Deer with Buckshot
 
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Well there you have it. I learned a lot about my abilities and my own gear. Some quick lessons learned:
1. I need to keep a longer sling on .22, the one on there was bairly long enough over winter gear 2. I need a belt in my pack to wear my knife outside of my winter coveralls 3. I need to slow down if this was for real! I was starting to sweat, a bad idea if I was out there all night. 4. Make sure I always have some metal utensil to boil water in when I leave walking distance from civilization. I was able to get it to boil but a metal cup would have been a lot easier. 4. Scrapper 6 can still make fuzz sticks on the same part of the knife that is "dull" from scraping the firesteel.

Thanks for reading.

"dull" Scrapper 6 fuzz stick (This is about average for me even with a sharp knife, HaHa)
 
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Good stuff, love the Scrapper 6, awesome knife. That 10/22 is a great shooter..I always loved those.
Remington 870 is a solid shotgun..less moving parts then most, and well put together. I like that you tried to figure out if you could hunt with it.
I would hunt with the 22, 22 will take a deer.....and use the shotgun for personal protection. YMMV. Gene
 
Sounds like a solid day of learning. No better way to figure out what works for you than to hit the bush and test it out. Thanks for the post :thumbup:
 
time well spent , and really the only way to learn stuff like that is by doing it

an old guy who really knew his stuff explained to me once that you have to do it a few times , the more the better , so your hands remember what to do , because it may happen that in an emergecy , your bran will be distracted , and your hands need to know how to do what they got to do .

I know there is a lot better more scientific way of explaining it , but its as best as I can do now :)
 
Good practice and a bit of fun in the process. Although you have a tool attached to the firesteel for scraping, you might consider removing a small patch of coating on the knife spine to use in a pinch and save your edge. Good post.
 
dialton said:
Good practice and a bit of fun in the process. Although you have a tool attached to the firesteel for scraping, you might consider removing a small patch of coating on the knife spine to use in a pinch and save your edge. Good post.
Click to expand...

I did think about that, thanks!

Thanks for all the comments guys.
 
Nicely done! This kind of testing and evaluation is inspiring. I need to get out and do likewise. :thumbup:
 
Nice job!!!
Great to test yourself and see what you CAN do and maybe discover some limitations.
That Scapper is SEXY!!!!!
I hope Dan can bring some more for '11!!
 
Now THAT is quality time alone.

I can't remember the last time I did something fun like that for myself.

Thanks for sharing and reminding me that it's ok to have "Me" time.

Peace.
 
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