Ever been in a survival situation?

[OzarkCreekWalker]

If this has been asked before please link me to the thread. But has anyone here ever actually been in a situation in the wilderness where they were required to use their tools and knowledge in order to survive? I imagine that people in this forum are incredible knowledgeable of compasses, maps, and their surroundings. I've always thought it would be difficult for anyone to get in this situation if they had the proper knowledge and preparation, with military guys as the exception considering they are dropped in foreign places in dangerous situations. Thanks

 

[OzarkCreekWalker]

apparently those who have been in a survival situation are still lost

 

[Woods Walker]

I was hiking with a now EX girl friend about 5 years ago and it started to rain. We joked if anyone fell on the slippery rocks the other couldn’t carry him or her out. Maybe I shouldn’t have talk about the topic because ½ hour later she slipped on a rock and her foot went to wrong way and I mean WRONG way. It was late in the day and called 911. The cell phone was worth its weight in gold. Help didn’t arrive until 11 pm. The EMS people were slipping in the dark and thankful for their help. The break was a bad one and have no clue how she took it so well. Maybe women have a higher pain tolerance because I would have cried like a….women. All she did was let out a string of curses and complained when the EMS people had to cut her new pants.

I have taken my share of winter stream crossing dunks not that any resulted in an “I shouldn’t be alive” survival situation but actual captured one mess up on camera.

The backdrop.

I was doing up a thread in a survival site for deep snow foraging and hiking methodologies. Everything is harder on fluffy powder. I showed the usual snow base skills.

The floating stove/fire platform out of green wood.

Floating a camp.

Hemlock tea.

Locating deer beds under the Hemlocks.

What better way to end this outing than a brookie over maple coals. I had my camera ready for some trout action as it happens and suddenly the snow gave way. I knew full well the dangers of snow and ice undercut by moving water but had fishing on the brain and a desire for action photos. This was the only fishing photo of that trip.

Took some effort to drag myself out and in the end got wet. On the flip side made a nice hole.

A cold and wet hike though deep powder sucked but nothing bad unlike a broken leg. I think anyone who has spent "dirt time" has gotten cut, cold, hot, stung, beat on, blood sucked etc etc. Somehow TV has made this stuff almost glamorous. There is nothing fun about watching someone get hurt or being subjected to exposure or injures. Betting lots of people here have been turned around even if for a short time and that also sucks.

 

[blademaster01]

i`m constantly in a survival situation,my plus is i dont drink or do drugs,i know the streets pretty good,i live in a rough neighborhood,mostly hardcore boozers,my 2004 grand-am got burnt to a crisp, my neighbors had 2 vehicles burnt at the same time,pictures available if your interested

 

[ICEAGE]

As much as I enjoy wilderness survival/primitive bushcraft, in my mind it is more of a hobby then a necessary skill-set. My chances of 'getting lost' are minimal due to my hunting style/locations, and I don't do any rural wilderness hiking (not an option where I live), so that only leaves getting stranded via boat/atv engine problems.

While this type of situation is fairly likely, I will definitely have a gun, knife, fishing gear, emergency space blanket/rain gear, food + water, a fire tool, etc. so it would be more of like a primitive camping trip then a life and death survival situation.




When I was a kid me and my dad had engine problems in a boat, we paddled for hours until we signaled another boat (right at dusk) and they towed us in. Even if it would have been a 'survival situation' we had everything necessary for it not to be life threatening.




The bottom line is a few precautions/forethought can save a lot of headache. If you are well prepared, let someone know what area you will be going in and when you'll be back, etc. chances of being in a serious survival situation are minimal.

 

[OzarkCreekWalker]

i`m constantly in a survival situation,my plus is i dont drink or do drugs,i know the streets pretty good,i live in a rough neighborhood,mostly hardcore boozers,my 2004 grand-am got burnt to a crisp, my neighbors had 2 vehicles burnt at the same time,pictures available if your interested

Looks like you got it bad man, once I got lost in a park in Chicago, didn't know where the hell I was.

 

[OzarkCreekWalker]

I was hiking with a now EX girl friend about 5 years ago and it started to rain. We joked if anyone fell on the slippery rocks the other couldn’t carry him or her out. Maybe I shouldn’t have talk about the topic because ½ hour later she slipped on a rock and her foot went to wrong way and I mean WRONG way. It was late in the day and called 911. The cell phone was worth its weight in gold. Help didn’t arrive until 11 pm. The EMS people were slipping in the dark and thankful for their help. The break was a bad one and have no clue how she took it so well. Maybe women have a higher pain tolerance because I would have cried like a….women. All she did was let out a string of curses and complained when the EMS people had to cut her new pants.

I have taken my share of winter stream crossing dunks not that any resulted in an “I shouldn’t be alive” survival situation but actual captured one mess up on camera.

The backdrop.

I was doing up a thread in a survival site for deep snow foraging and hiking methodologies. Everything is harder on fluffy powder. I showed the usual snow base skills.

The floating stove/fire platform out of green wood.

Floating a camp.

Hemlock tea.

Locating deer beds under the Hemlocks.

What better way to end this outing than a brookie over maple coals. I had my camera ready for some trout action as it happens and suddenly the snow gave way. I knew full well the dangers of snow and ice undercut by moving water but had fishing on the brain and a desire for action photos. This was the only fishing photo of that trip.

Took some effort to drag myself out and in the end got wet. On the flip side made a nice hole.

A cold and wet hike though deep powder sucked but nothing bad unlike a broken leg. I think anyone who has spent "dirt time" has gotten cut, cold, hot, stung, beat on, blood sucked etc etc. Somehow TV has made this stuff almost glamorous. There is nothing fun about watching someone get hurt or being subjected to exposure or injures. Betting lots of people here have been turned around even if for a short time and that also sucks.

Yeah they always make it look nice and cozy don't they? There is nothing cozy about constant mosquitoes, extreme temperatures, spending hours preparing a meal, and not to mention the constant uncomforts (is that a word?). Thanks for sharing!

 

[Starlight1967]

I'd suspect that the kind of person who frequents this forum is the kind of person who prepares him or herself so as not to place themselves in a "survival" situation unless by their own choice.

 

[gadgetgeek]

The survival situations do happen, just takes a while for folks to get around to writing them up enough to do them justice. Some are intentional skill testers, some are weather changes. A lot of the time though, looking back on things they don't seem as bad as maybe they were. I remember one trip where the guy leading mis-judged the approach hike, difficulty of the climb and cave, fitness level of the group, and length of the day. At one point, one of the girls took a bad fall, she was able to keep moving, but it could have turned very bad at that point, and that was the last incident on the way out! The cave was way more technical than predicted, and there could have been a major fall that no one would have been prepared for.
Since everyone survived, and I learned a lot, I figure now, it wasn't so bad, but had a few minor details changed, it could have been a news article picked apart on forums like this one.
Biggest skill on that trip, adapting, and knowing when to bail. Biggest learning? no level of preparation is enough if you have bad info.

 

[dogstar]

I have not ... The closest I came was camping out in the winter without enough shelter/insulation. So I spent an unpleasant night in the car. However, I'm a sea kayaker, so the danger is always there.

Short of a disaster, I find it takes a combination of 2 or 3 factors for you to really get in trouble. For example: you are driving in the desert, you make a wrong turn, your run out of fuel. For most of us, that never happens in a lifetime.

Nonetheless, I am drawn to learning these survival skills, because it makes me feel alive.

 

[Myal]

Not survival situations ... but they could well have been if we didnt carry supplies / spares / tools and have some basic know how ...

Ive helped people who have been seriously stuck tho , I think they would have been in a survival situation if we didnt .

 

[not2sharp]

We all face deadly survival situations everyday and we get through them the same way, by keeping our heads. You are not going to suddenly find a signpost nailed to a tree that reads "You are now in a Survival Situation!". People get themselves into problems, like the iconic cat that climbs too far up a tree. Running out of gas in your car can be a serious survival situation, as is, allowing your momentary frustrations move you into road rage; and you avoid the crisis in the same way, by taking the time to glance at a gas gage and cutting yourself enough slack so that you no longer feel the urge to kill because some jerk delayed you by a few milliseconds.

The old lost in the woods story is just a popular survival tale, in part because people do tend to get into trouble when they find themselves out of their typical environment but also because it is a fun story to tell; a break from the usual things that haunt us from sunrise to sunset.

n2s

 

[Magnaminous_G]

Thankfully, I have not been in that kind of survival situation. I try very hard to avoid it!

 

[Codger_64]

One does not have to be lost or injured to find themselves in a survival situation in the great outdoors. IMHO, anyone who ventures far enough from cell phone towers and pavement often enough will find themselves facing a life threatening situation eventually, either personally or involving other people. I've been in a half dozen such situations over the years. But I am likely older than most of you. And I have taken calculated risks. SOmetimes calculations don't work out as we expect. This is the best reason I know of to be prepared (with knowledge and skills) when you venture beyond where the sidewalk ends. Learning a skillset can be an entertaining hobby/diversion until you or someone you come across out there needs those skills. Unless of course this forum is as far "out there" as you ever go.

 

[Myal]

It doesnt require bush or distance to be in a survival situation .

I heard on the news a day or two ago about a girl who had her neck slashed , and her handbag then stolen as she waited for her train to work ... she made it back home and her folks called her an ambulance .. to me , thats kinda a survival situation .

A couple nights ago , one of my Mums friends , a nurse , was getting fuel before she headed out to her place after knocking off work . The servo was shut , and she had to use her eftpos card but the guy was still in the shop locking up , he called her over and asked did she arrive alone , she had , but the guy had spotted someone enter her car while she was swiping the card ... they went into the shop and called the cops , who found a guy with a cloroform rag and a knife laying on the back floor of the car . I think that was a survival situation averted .

Just now , some idiots were shooting crap up in their yard with a semi auto .. near me ( illegal here ) and they just blew up what I suspect was a large garbage bag full of gas from their barbeque .... they broke some windows and there was a lot of screaming .. I suspect some kids are going to be in a survival situation if they are not allready , when their folks get home from the pub at least they have stopped shooting stuff tho for a while .

Trying to get roadside assist help when you are from interstate can be a drama ... having kids in a car who want out ... and being in a spot where they simply cannot be safely out of the car , hell the emergency lane you are parked in is more or less a overtaking lane anyway ...

having a blow out , then driving over a beer bottle as you try to pull up and having two flats when both the spares are allready US can be a drama when you simply cannot get a tyre joint to bother to come help regardless that youd not only pay their fee but sell your soul and give them both the first born and the next as well ....

I actually find the bush relaxing , hell it even looks out for you if you understand it , but the concrete jungle that is the city is got to be the loneliest most hostile place I ever wandered into . I advise not going there unless you are really prepared

 

[Codger_64]

But... generally, this is a Wilderness & Survival Skills forum, so I assume this is where the OP was talking obout facing survival situations. I tend to avoid dark streets in large cities and have chosen not to live in one for some of the reasons you mentioned and others. But I have always ventured into the wild places, mostly on my own when my health and safety relied on my own judgement and skills. I could die on my next river trip (tomorrow morning), but the odds are much in my favor because I know my skills, my equipment and the environment. I am more likely, in fact, to have to rescue someone else than my dog, adult daughter or two-year-old granddaughter. It has happened several times over the years.

 

[Brad "the butcher"]

My dad and I were checking one of his trapline strings 2hrs north of saskatoon in the winter, I was 11

We finished resetting the traps on snowshoe pulling plastic sleds for the frozen varmints and loaded up the vehicle.

It would not start even after an hour of dad tinkering and swearing, it was now 2 or 3 hours till sunset on a basically untravelled farmers road and 20 to 30 below celcius

We (mostly dad) dug a snowcave in a ditch and roughed it for night, with a coffee can and tealights, 1 burner coleman with a pot and 2 cups, tarp and sleeping bags and a full change of clothes . There was also a shovel,axe and saw plus all his little extra's.

Ate a snowshoe rabbit that night with a fire in a hubcap and lipton soup with crackers, I thought the whole experience was an adventure at that age.

My whole family was taught to carry all these supplies in the vehicles, summer or winter. Northern Saskatchewan can be a rough place

Dad was a butcher, taught first aid and was a serious outdoorsman, the scouts used to have him spend one or 2 weekends a year to teach wannabe scout masters in outdoors skills, first aid and campcrafts to keep the kids occupied

I count myself lucky to be mentored by him and my grandpa. Honourable mention to Teddy who was an elderly blackfoot indian who worked for my grandpa and hunted and fished with us, man was he a patient and skilled hunter/outdoorsman.

I have spent 3 or 4 impromptu nights out in the bush, usually due to good fishing and bad time management, not really survival based.

 

[Lazydog1]

We (my wife, son and I) have been in the UK for almost 4 years now. Originally we’re from South Africa where the outdoors is virtually a lifestyle for most people. Back in SA we hunted, hiked, camped and travelled widely through bush country and cityscapes. Africa is known for its predators, both 4 and 2 legged. We spent many nights sleeping in a tent in the bush listening to lions roaring or hyenas chuckling in the distance. Where possible I’d have my 44 mag next to me, but most neighbouring countries do not allow visitors to bring firearms for protection so we travelled with a couple of Masai lion spears which probably provided mere mental security only. Speaking of 2 legged problems, on one of our last journeys before leaving I had a blowout in the country right at sunset. My son held the flashlight while I changed the tyre and my wife kept watch with loaded 9mm pistol held under her zipped top and maglite in the other hand. Locals seemed attracted by our light and kept streaming out of the bush to saunter slowly past the vehicle while trying to peer into the windows to see the contents. Perhaps it was the Masai lion spear in my sons free hand that deterred predators that night. From where I was (on my back getting the spare from under the truck) he certainly looked menacing enough.

But here in the UK where farmers trim the hedges on their fields and the landscapes are all pretty and twee and where nobody dreams of changing their own tyres when RAC is only a mobile phone call away, one would not expect to get into trouble, now would you?

Well, one Sunday my wife and I were out walking through De La Mere forest which is close to Chester in North West England. We had a lovely time and were heading back to the parking area. We had walked in a wide circle and were crossing a farmer’s field (quite legal – it was marked as a public way). There was about 30 minutes of light left and we had about half a mile to go. I could see the tops of the fir trees where our car was parked. Then, there before us was a chest-high wire-strung fence. It stretched right and left as far as we could see. On the other side of the fence was a stream, about 3 yards across and with slow running water about knee deep. It was cold, too cold to wade. Neither of us are young anymore. My wife has knee problems. We could return the way we had come and walk through a dark forest (even with a trusty flashlight in hand) for 2 hours and probably lose our way or we could return and walk back along a country road but the English secondary roads are narrow and drivers try to fly their cars along these roads. Both the return options were not attractive. There was an old log across the stream but it was narrow, barkless and pitched at an awkward angle. The stream was too wide to jump. Survival situation? Certainly, if one of us was injured and the other had to go for help that help could take an hour or more to get there and another hour to hospital. And it was cold out. Cold, in shock, alone with the pain of a broken leg…not worth thinking about.

But we made it out of there OK. It took a bit of fairy dancing over that log and I’m glad nobody was there to capture it for Yootoob. Dignity is hard at my age.

Moral of the story – Don’t assume that you can’t get hurt when you’re right there in the middle of civilisation.

I have often wondered what I would have done if I’d been alone in that situation. Hmm…

 

[Mannlicher]

Can't say I have ever been in a 'survival' situation. I have been in some fixes that were uncomfortable, but nothing that was life threatening.

Hope that is the result of good planning, good gear, and common sense, but it may be just serendipity.

 

[OzarkCreekWalker]

Can't say I have ever been in a 'survival' situation. I have been in some fixes that were uncomfortable, but nothing that was life threatening.

Hope that is the result of good planning, good gear, and common sense, but it may be just serendipity.

Serendipity is a must.

Interesting stuff. We can learn all the bowdrill techniques, fuss stick methods, ways to cook, and everything. But from what i have observed, even the slightest bit of first aid knowledge and some perseverance can be gold for someone stuck in a bad situation. Good points that shady areas and cities can easily pose a more threatening situation than in the wilderness.