Could YOU survive?

D

[digidude]

Joined
Aug 21, 2005
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If you were stranded somewhere in the wilderness do you think you would be able to survive?

And if you could only bring ONE item with you what would it be?

I feel confident that I could survive for atleast a few days. My one item would either be (depending on the area) a HUGE jug of fresh water OR a good multi-tool.



-[digidude]
 
A Magnesium flintblock no question. A sharp edged iron rich rock takes care of the rest.

Wait for the lack of imagination answers like cell phone and BOB cuz its one item etc...

Skam
 
A full Bic lighter.
I can improvise the rest.

The mag-block works too, but the Bic is just easier to use.

Good luck,
Allen.
 
it is interesting that this one thing question is often asked, but when do you have only one thing? you always have the contents of your pockets, your clothing, items in a backpack or fanny pack or shopping bag. so you never start out naked and get to pick one thing. glasses, watch, belt, etc.

given that i get to pick out one thing, i would pick out a cabela's outlet.

seriously, i think that this question is asked for the questioner to see if there are "one things" he did not take into consideration when selecting his one thing.

alex
 
The clothes on my back (i.e. shelter), and a knife for making traps, skinning, etc and to make a fire kit. With a lighter I could make fire which provides warmth, shelter (if you make a fire bed) and will purify most water.
 
If an experienced person had just a knife, couldn't they do just about anything else (food, shelter, fire, defense). I am definitely a novice but couldn't you make fire with one of those bow drills. I've been wanting to try and figure if those kids on Brat Camp could do it I could with some practice. I would assume that the experienced people here could make one. I guess though the question was what would I take and I still think that it would be a good knife.
 
I made a mistake. What exactly will I use to put the water into to use the
purification tablets? Oooops...
 
Was wonderin that myself...

I think I'd opt for a good knife, 6"-8" blade, 1/4". Most likely my Busse Steel Heart or the newer SF Natural Outlaw.

2nd choice would be,as Longbow50 stated, some for of fire starter.
 
cucharadedragon said:
If an experienced person had just a knife, couldn't they do just about anything else (food, shelter, fire, defense). I am definitely a novice but couldn't you make fire with one of those bow drills. I've been wanting to try and figure if those kids on Brat Camp could do it I could with some practice. I would assume that the experienced people here could make one. I guess though the question was what would I take and I still think that it would be a good knife.
Click to expand...

There's no problem having "just a knife", unless it's cold, wet and you are verging on hypothermia. Then having the ability to make fire will save your life, allowing you to live another day, so that you could bust a rock, find a can lid, or pick up a piece of glass, all of which can be a makeshift cutting tool.
 
allenC said:
the mag-block works too, but the Bic is just easier to use.
Click to expand...

In wind, wet or extreme cold, magnesium can be many times over more productive and matches and other sources of direct open flame very difficult to use unless they are windproof.

-Cliff
 
Carbon steel multi-purpose knife such as my old go-to Randall 14. A good knife is always the first tool in any of my kits. All I need to find is something for tinder (dry wood to shave, etc) and something to use as flint (maybe/probably a rock) ;) That's fire and I've still got a knife to help build stuff like shelter. Hope there's a source of water, else I'm SOL.
 
The theory of minimal kit is an interesting exercise that forces you to prioritize.

I like firestarting as the one only item, as purifying water and creating warmth is key to living. While not having a blade is troublesome it is not 100% needed to get through it. It does make it easier however.

I also like the mag block and require students to have one for many reasons not including:

Its durable and all one piece, you cant loose a part.
It sparks
It provides a guranteed flame like no other sparking tool can without separate tinder.
It lasts forever.
Is cheap

I own a strike force and like it but find its down fall of needing a separate tinder is a deal breaker. Its also very heavy.

The mag block is not easy to use for tenderfeet as it takes soem skill and testing and experience. However once it is mastered it can be counted on for hundreds of fires.

My primary method of course is a bic lichter but the tinder in it butane runs out. I have failed to get a fire going with empty bics and numerous sparking tools in wet weather with wet tinder, but never ever failed with the mag block. Yes I know the vaseline cotton ball trick etc.. but it is still a separate item that needs to be managed and thus open to murphy's law.

This is and will always be me go to survival fire starting method, unless somemthing better comes along which hasn't happened in 20 yrs so far.

My 2 cents as always.

Skam
 
What are these magnesium blocks? Where do you get them? Are there certain brands or types? How do they work? Not trying to redirect the thread but I see this mentioned in most threads on survival it seems.
 
skammer said:
A Magnesium flintblock no question. A sharp edged iron rich rock takes care of the rest.

Wait for the lack of imagination answers like cell phone and BOB cuz its one item etc...

Skam
Click to expand...

The wilderness is the desert. I imagine you're dead.
 
The "wilderness" could be nothing but ice, nothing but sand and blazing sun, or Skammer's Canadian turf. The original poster did not specify.

What we experience guides our beliefs. Cody Lunden illustrates a Mora in his book 98.6 as his main survival tool. His "turf" is the desert Southwest. He doesn't have to deal with really severe cold or rainforest -- very little large timber at all. If he came from where Skammer (or Cliff) operates, I suspect that he would write a different book in some respects.
 
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