Ever needed your Survival Skills?

In two years as a member of a SAR team, only once did we search for a guy I would call "prepared." Turns out, he would have made it back. Chopping his own knee just slowed him down some. He had bandaged the wound, cut a hiking stick, and was limping back -- just slowly.

The others were all unprepared to one extent or another - right up to no gear at all and light summer clothes because it was a "nice day" when they wandered away from their car and got lost --- at 7000+ feet in the mountains. (Then the temp fell to 40's, it rained, and they had no idea where the car had "gone.")

My favorite "totally clueless" story: a group of two adults and nine Scouts gets lost in New Mexico. Over objections of the Scouts [as the adults admitted], the adults decided they should stack their packs (food, stoves, tents, reserve water, etc.) and walk outwards like spokes in a wheel until the trail was located. Not one of them found the trail -- or the packs. But someone was watching. They were all found alive. The critters were doubtless amused at this example of human superiority.
 
the adults decided they should stack their packs (food, stoves, tents, reserve water, etc.) and walk outwards like spokes in a wheel until the trail was located. Not one of them found the trail -- or the packs.
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Talk about irresponsible. I hope they aren't still "leading" any Scouts outside a controlled camp setting.
 
ras said:
Talk about irresponsible. I hope they aren't still "leading" any Scouts outside a controlled camp setting.
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Most Troops in my experience have requirements that Scouts demonstrate certain levels of knowledge to go on "high adventure" trips. None of those Troops had/have formal requirements for the adults who are there for "safety" reasons. It's as if age alone = good knowledge and judgment. Scouting should adopt mandatory training and certification for adults who lead Scouts in the outdoors. As it is, the training is optional and poorly attended.
 
like all here have echoed, it is not starting a fire with a fire bow, it is having multiple methods to start a fire on your person, if i have a firesteel, a couple of lighters in a ziplok bag, vaseline soaked cotton balls, a couple small candles and some lifeboat matches, i really dont care if i get the fire bow thing going or not, i wont need it.

if i have a couple of space blankets or a tube tent, i wont have to build a shelter from scratch, if i have a knife/axe then i dont have to know how to make a flint knife by flaking.

i have spent considerable amount of time in desolate places, i realized i needed to know more about survival, so i came to several forums and learned from those with experience, bought and read the books, watched ron hoods tapes, during the summer i tried the various techniques and refined my "kit". practiced until i could teach my 8 year old daughter to do some of the techniques. i have practiced the firebow, practiced flaking glass, built shelters, started fires with steel wool and a battery and firesteel, i carry multiple forms of fire, shelter, food and water purification. if i get stranded it is an inconvenience not life threateng event. when i am out and about i have the basics with me, i will get by with my basic tools and knowledge.

most here try to be prepared, thats why you dont get a whole lot of stories.

alex
 
Yes, but they're really boring stories Mostly urban too, because I've found myself without a roof in places like Toronto, Montreal, and NYC.
 
I was at a dead stop on the highway during a traffic accident, driving in the desert heat, in the summer. I mean like record-breaking heat waves and people dropping dead, which was okay with the windows rolled down while I was moving. Oh yeah, I have no AC in my car. I really wanted to get out as my car was even hotter than outside was. But intuitively knew not to leave, esp. since I was near the accident, there were still people there and the scene had not been secured. I'm glad I didn't get out because moments later there was a whole entourage of motorcycle cops and regular cop cars going at the speed of light to my left. (I was in the left lane.) I think if I hadn't had my emergency water in my car, I'd be in bad shape from dehydration. I drank two whole gallons while waiting. Thank G-d for my car survival kit...

There are others but that is the most recent.
 
crawfordew said:
I think that the "be prepared mindset" keeps most of us from getting into bad situations to begin with. As for me, no, I've never HAD to use my survival skills but I do practice them.
Gene :D
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This statement is so true. Proper planning, the right equipmment, and practiced skills make all the difference. Ususally what would be a really bad situation for others, translates to an inconvenience for you. Two months ago while 4 wheelin I had two GPS's fail because of batteries(my fault). I was lost for the total time it took me to get out my compass. The ride went on and everything went fine, but I still learnded from the experience. :thumbup:
 
Never been lost in the wilderness, but it is the 'survivalist' attitude that I use most often.
 
As a kid, I spent ALL my free time in the woods. I got lost, wet & cold, dehydrated & hot, or injured far away from home pretty much weekly. Then I learned about survival, and this kinda crap stopped to happen to me.

Just don't automatically try to rush home. See what your real needs are (heat ? water ? rest ? visibility ?), and prioritize.

Cheers,

David
 
As for myself, no. About 11 years ago I was up in the Boundray Waters in N Minnesota S Canada on a week long canoe trip and I came across a guy who had been lost for two days. We was supposed to link up with another group that was already out there. They had given him a map and told him where they would be, it was only supposed to take him a few hours from where he put in, so they told him not to worry about bringing anything because they would have every thing he needed. It rained every day I was up there. So needless to say, he was lost for two days, no equipment, food, or shelter. He stumbled into my camp one morning, looking like death warmed over. I gave him a hot meal and looked at his map, the area that his "freinds" had circuled on the map was only a few miles from me, and I had already traveled. I sent him on his way and told what land marks to look for on his way to stay on track. I never read about him in the paper or heard about any one lost in the Boundary Waters when I got out, so I am assuming he made it to his group. Never assume anything will be an easy trip, always plan for the worst, with that in mind should save your life or keep you alive until you are found.
 
7 of us were jungle bound for 3 months in asia. we did get two supply drops, but were in effect enduring survival conditions. the single biggest factor in survival is mental attitude. if you believe your going to be ok, you stand every chance of surviving. if you let your spirits down, get too tired or depressed, your chances for survival plumit.we had one man die, we never determined what caused his passing. i think he just gave up.
 
onowa said:
I amazed at this one.

I have read so much from the survival experts here....about big,thick,prying knives etc. and this thread is pretty much dead because because nobody has actually had to put their skills to use, to survive. I was really hoping to gain from everyones experiences. :rolleyes:
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Are we reading different threads?!? What about the guy that spent 18 days snowed in the middle of nowhere? What about being shorted food for umteen people? I was pretty impressed by the sucking water out of the bromiaid story myself.

They made fires, ate wild animals, used compasses for navigation!
 
I think survival knowledge in the most part allows you to confidently go places you wouldnt otherwise, and to survive without incident. If you get into a bad scrape then a lot of the time you have either had bad luck or used bad judgement. A lot of 'amazing survival stories' you hear of are actually people who would have turned back and never got into that situation if they had been thinking with a survivalist mentality, or if they couldnt they would have survived the situation without incident, as several people here seem to have done...

A few relatively insignificant examples from my own experience

I was walking once, a full days walk about 15 - 20 miles over a 3000 ft peak. It was summer and the temperature was 30+ deg c with blazing sunshine. We got half way up the mountain after walking for several hours, sweating heavily, when the person I was with said 'I've run out of water, I only brought half a bottle full' fortunately I had noticed the weather had been hot the previous few days and brought two large bottles full. I gave them some water and we carried on. No incident, no survival story but it could have been a possible heatstroke / dehydration case.

Another time I was walking another 3000+ft peak. It was mid summer, quite warm, a nice day. This particular peak is very rocky and rugged and we climbed probably 2500ft over a smaller peak just before the main peak. At this point cloud closed in and it started raining. On went the wet weather clothes and we carried on...for about 2 minutes when I decided we should turn back just 500ft from the summit. We had summer hiking boots on and were slipping on the now wet rocky ridge with a 500ft drop on each side. Again no amazing survival/ rescue story, however had we carried on there could have been a broken ankle or 500ft fall or lightning strike on the main peak. As it was we carefully re traced our steps, dropped into the valley and had a long soggy walk out!
 
I was hiking alone in an area that had a forest fire, there were lots of dead pines fallen everywhere. I decided to hike off the main trail down to a spring. When I got there the spring was just a seep and it turned out, after I emptied my pack to get out my bladder that I still had most of my water.

Instead of climbing over the three dead trees I looked at my map and saw where the trail used to go and figured if I hiked up the hill I was at the base of that I would meet back up witht the main trail.

What's the saying about the lazy making more work for themselves? Instead of the three trees I had to hike up a steep hill skirting and climbing over hundreds of fallen trees with broken branches sticking up like punji sticks.

After falling and twisting my leg badly and realizing that if I were to injure myself that even though I had left an itinerary I was in a place that I might not get found I reached the top of the hill.

Of course the trail was no where to be seen. I started walking along the ridge of the hill looking at the map and for the trail. I thought that the trail must be lower and started down the other side of the hill over more dead trees but still no trail.

I thought that I probably should climb back up to the top of the hill to look for the trail but didn't want to make the effort. I even thought about leaving my pack but had enough sense to realize that I would just have to come back to get it if I found the trail.

I finally came to a wash with a trickle of water flowing down and found a nice big tree stump to lean against. As it was getting late in the afternoon I thought that this might be a good spot to camp out for the night.

I pulled out my map again to look to try and find out where I was and finally realized that I had a compass or two with me. I pulled out one out and figured that I had been holding the map about 14 degrees from north.

I found where I was, hiked twenty feet down the hill, found another trail and hiked up to the main trail and then to my campsite. My little short cut only added four hours to the trip.

Chad
 
It was twenty below for about a week staright and all the rivers wre froze over. January is like that in MN. We finally got the January thaw and figured the rivers opened up so a friend and I decided to go for a paddle. I asked him how long of a trip it was, " oh, bout an hour and a half." Cool. We set up the shuttle and put in at about 3:00(gets dark at five).When winter paddling we ALWAYS bring a change of clothes, food, blanket, and fire.... I came around a corner to find a large snag across the river so I pulled out to run back and warn my buddy. "Hey there is a strainer round the corner" just then he reached across and did a cross draw right onto an ice ridge. "NO" I shouted but it was too late.(ever get a canoe on a hard point?)over he went!(yes we wear our PFD'sall the time) Panic set into him as you might understand, I hollered,give me the T grip, he did and I pulled him in. Within about two min. the fire was blazing and he was standing there dripping in 5 degreeF chuckling! Shock I think.Got out the dry bags and told him to take off his clothes, he starts to crack jokes. GET YOUR CLOTHES OFF! I yelled. It is now DARK. Got him into dry clothes and as he starts to warm up I asked what the flamin hoodyhoo were you thinking? Well he says "at least this is good practice." " THIS IS THE REAL THING!" I said." A two mile hike out and great amount of fatigue later we got out but I keep my eye on him wherever we go since. I now call it The June River, and I keep reminding him what a bad situation it really was.
 
Hypothermia is no joking matter, but it will make you act strange. Your friend is lucky you were there.
 
In my experience having a survival kit and the knowledge of when and how to use it is a lot like CCW - once you've made the commitment you'll never need it! I say this becuse those of us who do this stuff are always aware of whats going on around us, where we are, how to get out and who's in our way...simpy said; non-victims. Not to say it never happens, but the chances become slimmer the more prepared you make yourself. :cool:
 
I was in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia driving away from the city and the sandtorms came. Man-oh-man! You can't see anything. So I stop. It was terrifying because you feel like in the middle of nowhere, and it'd be awful if I was like 50 miles away from the main cities (Dammam, Al-Khobar, Dhahran). Good thing, though, that visibility picked up a half-hour later and I hightailed it back to camp.

A sandstorm is like a snowstorm in the States in that visibility is poor and you can't see a couple feet in front of you. Except the gunk in the air is sand, which is unhealthy for your lungs and body. That's why those locals have those cloth on their heads -- so it can double up as a protection mask.

Good thing I wasn't out trekking in the dunes in the middle of nowhere because then, for sure, you'd better have some survival skills and supplies. When the sandstorms hit and you keep moving, that's when you lose your bearing and get lost. If you're unlucky, you could have to sit it out for days for the long-lasting ones.
 
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