Editorial: Survival Experts are people too

[KuRUpTD]

this thread was in response to a certain soldier survival trainer who took 59 minutes to get a fire going in the sopping wet jungle.

fyi

I kinda figured that :thumbup:

 

[moonwilson]

Q: What's a "survival expert"?
A: Anyone who's not dead.

 

[warrigal]

I consider ( tongue in cheek) that as a survival instructor ( I use that term pretty loosely) the fact that I have had any students die on course means I must be doing something right. ( in reality because of who I run the courses for the risk is very very low)
It is the whole instant gratification concept in our modern society. Every thing must be as easy and perfect as it appears on tv and the movies.
Remember in "Six days seven nights " Having only ever been outside when walking from the house to the car Anne Heche asks Harrison Ford aren't you one of those men with "skills"? Assuming he can turn a crashed Beaver into a five star hotel room with a spa and room service. ( I guess you might have had to see the movie but if you have I think you will get my point.)
I guess if the expert is having problems the rest of us mere mortals have no chance.
Carl

 

[Bushman5]

i consider ( tongue in cheek) that as a survival instructor ( i use that term pretty loosely) the fact that i have had any students die on course means i must be doing something right. ( in reality because of who i run the courses for the risk is very very low)
it is the whole instant gratification concept in our modern society. Every thing must be as easy and perfect as it appears on tv and the movies.
remember in "six days seven nights " having only ever been outside when walking from the house to the car anne heche asks harrison ford aren't you one of those men with "skills"? Assuming he can turn a crashed beaver into a five star hotel room with a spa and room service. ( i guess you might have had to see the movie but if you have i think you will get my point.)
i guess if the expert is having problems the rest of us mere mortals have no chance.
Carl

bingo!

 

[chopchop]

I consider ( tongue in cheek) that as a survival instructor ( I use that term pretty loosely) the fact that I have had any students die on course means I must be doing something right. ( in reality because of who I run the courses for the risk is very very low)
It is the whole instant gratification concept in our modern society. Every thing must be as easy and perfect as it appears on tv and the movies.
Remember in "Six days seven nights " Having only ever been outside when walking from the house to the car Anne Heche asks Harrison Ford aren't you one of those men with "skills"? Assuming he can turn a crashed Beaver into a five star hotel room with a spa and room service. ( I guess you might have had to see the movie but if you have I think you will get my point.)
I guess if the expert is having problems the rest of us mere mortals have no chance.
Carl

I think you mean have NOT had any die on course?

Or are you saying it was literally a killer course, and you're a survival expert b/c at least some of them made it?

 

[cybrok]

Do you guys know who Stalking Wolf is?

You sure do.

He almost died in Costa Rica because the plant he did eat wasn't the one he tought it was. He made a mistake and without the locals, it would've been a fatal mistake.

 

[Moine]

Hi,

Some observations as of late:

We, as society, expect survival experts, bushcrafters, wilderness teachers etc to be infalliable./COLOR]

I'm what some people call a "survival expert" whatever that is... :jerkit:

I've been teaching survival to people since 2003. I've been teaching in the rain, in the mud, in 6 feet of snow and with temperatures going down past abyssal depths, and raising over the hundred and such... People look at me as an "expert", but hey guess what : I DON'T.

Problem is, with the survival courses market becoming more and more densely populated with "experts", each has to sell his stuff. As I started early in the business over here, I'm pretty much in front of everyone, but as it goes, some guys here claim things that would challenge even the most basic laws of physics.

They sell the Survival Secrets (tm) of the ancient masters of whatever, or claim to have ethnic origins that would kind of magicly give them instant competence for what comes to survival... and the teaching of it.

Much, much bullshit everywhere in the world with survival stuff.

If you allow me, I'll tell you one simple thing... one real secret about survival: THE REAL SECRET IS THAT THERE IS NO SECRET. Just like in Kung Fu Panda with that fucking secret ingredient. Yup

The only thing that will ever save your ass out there when you go hypothermic and need to start your fire under heavy, pouring, cold rain is nothing secret. What will save you out there is just being able to apply basic principles straight, efficiently, and correctly, even under duress.

This is where I strongly criticize people for looking at so called "experts" and believing they can bend the laws of physics. That is why I get mad when I see those self-proclaimed and marketing-prone experts nurturing lies and half-truths about their actual abilities.

Nobody ever became invisible. Nobody ever started a hand drill friction fire with wood and tinder found in the bush in september in Alaska after weeks of constant rain. Besides, even if someone veeeery good at it ever did it, WHO CARES ?

Survival is about getting YOUR ass out of trouble... or better yet keeping it AWAY from trouble. You can't levitate ? You can't float rocks or become invisible, or start friction fires with wet, green hardwood ? Well I can't either

God, please save me from ever becoming a Survival Expert

Cheers

David

 

[Mannlicher]

all this may be so. I know that athletes, some paid millions per year, turn in slip shod performances quite often.

Still, if you are saying you are "The Man", telling others how stupid they are for not emulating your every move, and getting paid for what you espouse, well........... well I expect pretty much perfect every time.

 

[dawsonbob]

There are very few people that I would consider true survival experts, although there are a lot of people whom I would consider highly knowledgeable. But, expert or just highly knowledgeable, I don't expect them to be perfect: who could possibly be perfect in all climates, terrains and situations every time?

I'm the least likely — in my own mind — of all to be considered an expert, even though I've studied and trained (okay, okay, it was really playing) for years... and still do. There are those, however, who would consider me a survival expert, simply because I know sightly more than they do. I feel like I still don't know jack, and look at some others who actually may only know slightly more as the "experts."

I'm not sure where the tendency to think that anyone we perceive as an "expert" is suddenly imbued with super-human powers comes from, but we see it day after day in all fields of endeavor. Personally, I realize that no one is that good, and they're all going to have times when they're, well, less than super-human.

 

[Joezilla]

My worst time in a sopping wet jungle was about eighteen seconds: C4 lights pretty quick. Now that I can no longer get C4, I avoid jungles.

LOL. YOU made me spill my coffee

 

[dawsonbob]

LOL. YOU made me spill my coffee

Sorry, Joe, but I just love doing that. I like to make people smile when I can.