Fail

S

siguy

Joined
Aug 26, 2006
Messages
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as i was preparing to participate in TFin's thread on spending a night out with a survival kit, i got a basic kit together that i felt would probably take care of me based on my experiences so far camping and being in the woods.

once i actually tried to use it though, i ran into a few problems. some of these were based on the kit, some were based on this individual situation and the way i set it up.

i kept track of everything with video diary, but here is a pic of the fire until i get it edited together and uploaded to youtube:

IMG_0299.jpg


so just how long did i last? 4 hours :(:foot:

i got out there a bit later than i would have liked, about 3:45. i found a spot and started pulling together a shelter. my shelter consisted of a frame made from large pieces of wood i found on the ground, filled with dead leaves off the ground. i set up my space blanket over the bed as a sort of tarp.

i made a small fire ring and got a fire going. then i sat around and took care of the fire...

the way i set up the bed and the fire, there wasn't really a good place for me to sit unless i was laying in my leaf bed, which wasn't that great for sitting and enjoying the fire. mistake 1.

after a while of sitting around feeding the fire on smaller sticks and things, i realized i was running very low on wood. even though i had a small fire and a pretty good pile of sticks ready, i was running out fast, not too long after the sun set. mistake 2.

i found a deadstanding cedar that i was able to harvest in the dark, to keep feeding the fire. more sitting around being bored.

i took the ridgepole that was holding my space blanket up down and used it to feed the fire (deadstanding birch-great firewood). somehow in the process i ripped my space blanket almost in half. mistake 3.

after that, i decided that even though i wasn't cold and was decently comfortable, that i had already shown all the weaknesses of my kit and that if i spent the night out i would be pretty miserable.

so i came back, a failure :(

i'll get up the videos as soon as i can...

edited to add: got up some vid clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jYN4vkd-38
 
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Dude! You didn't fail... you learned! Next time you will be better prepared. We all learn to walk one... step... at... a... time. Before you know it you will be up and running.

Codger :thumbup:
 
noit too late to go out and try again for the contest!

hopefully i'll be heading out Sat!
 
Not a failure since you tried Siguy! :thumbup::thumbup: I look forward to your vid. Timing probably had a great deal to do with it, it's too bad you weren't able to make it out earlier to utilize more daylight; you probably would have been able to harvest more wood to help you last the night. Still got time for round two!
 
Siguy that was a great learning curve you just had... It would be intresting how your kit would change for next time...

Sasha
 
i suppose i might make it out next weekend, since there is time left.

this just highlights what i had a feeling about before-that shelter is really one of the most important aspects of a survival kit, at least in my area. food and water can be suffered without for a couple of days, but if you die of exposure then you are dead...

thanks for the words of encouragement though. next time i think i might bring a book along...
 
Simon you fail to let everyone know that our overnite temp over here has been about 20 degrees! That said, do you feel you would have survived? If so, than your survival kit may not have failed as bad as you think. Yeah you would have been miserable, but alive.
 
i would have lived, i was pretty warm sitting in front of the fire, but given the torn up space blanket and my wood running out, i figured i would have been miserable within about 2-3 hours...
 
Agreed with the others, it's not a failure if you came back from a test with new knowledge. Lots of good things learned there. Plus, very few had to do with your kit, they were about your actions taken.

One good thought you bring up is that it's worth putting in something that's just 'fun', something to occupy your mind and stave off boredom. Deck of cards maybe?
 
siguy said:
... next time i think i might bring a book along...
Click to expand...

Consider a harmonica instead. They are great for tuning up the songdogs (yotes), and there are few places you can practice without irritating the neighbors. Books are hard to read in the light of a campfire and take your attention off of the world around you. If you just miss having something to do while sitting around the fire, craft something. Sand and shape a knife handle.

Actually, you learned quite a lot for one brief outing. Shelter is job one, yes. Don't scrimp on a good winter bag just to feel like Natty Bumppo. I'd be willing to be that you learned more than you've already told us too.

Winter canoe camping taught me to always stop and set up a comfortable camp long before I thought I needed to. Dark comes early in the winter and sometimes drops like a curtain, especially if you aren't finished setting camp and arranging for sufficient fuel for the fire. With good preparation and a bit of practice, you'll get the routine down to a certain order or economical motions and be ready to settle back with a hot cup of tea and enjoy watching the approaching night.

Yeah, get out and try it again. And again.

Codger
 
because of my distaste for the harmonica, i usually bring a mouth-harp for entertainment. so if you are looking into somthing to stae off the bordom rather than a book, i would reccomend a mouth harp or a harmonica if you are into those.
 
I appreciate your post, in that I was planning on starting after work, but I might need to take off earlier so I can have some day light to help me out.
 
Codger_64 said:
Dude! You didn't fail... you learned! Next time you will be better prepared. We all learn to walk one... step... at... a... time. Before you know it you will be up and running.

Codger :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Totally agree!! It was actually a success. :thumbup::thumbup:

You came back by decision, not because you were in jeopardy of hypothermia, or lost the will. You also did many things correctly. You got fire and weren't freezing, by your own admission.

3:45pm was pretty late, considering it's dark by, what?
5pm on a clear day? Given that little bit of daylight left, you did as good as most anyone could do, quickly losing the daylight.

Great try, and it only makes you that much wiser. and maybe makes all us that much wiser also.

My hat goes off to you for doing it, while I sit inside feeding logs into my woodstove.

Nothing replaces the real thing.
 
You can liven up the evening with a predator call too. You might be surprised at the critters that will come in to a rabbit squealer.
 
Siguy. Dude, IMHO I think your skills and equipment were fine, i.e. more than adequate for the situation. I wonder if the problem was not mental. Just talking out of my butt here, I think you were irritated with yourself with getting a "late" start. You might be a wee bit of a perfectionist, based on how people rave about you knife sharpening service, which would explain why you were still vexed with yourself hours later. Plus you're a normal fairly well-adjusted human animal, so the loneliness was probably weighing you down more than the limits of your skill. Maybe you need to go take a survival hike with a couple of friends. Alternatively, I wonder too if you maybe weren't a bit bored. I gather you go on walkabouts fairly frequently, so maybe next time you need a bit more challenge to make the exercise a bit less "routine", e.g. not taking a knife with you or going so far out that you can't hoof it back to town in less than a couple of days, if you get my meaning. I can't see where any of your mistakes were all that bad...Just the butt talking, mind you. :)
 
your butt doesn't sound so dumb...

i get what you are saying. i've been trying to get my scout buddy from school to come with me...he's all for it, but he is always hunting with his grandpa or out on other trips with family or the scouts... sadly i'm pretty much stuck on my own around here...

though i am notorious for "that's good enough", so i don't really think i'm a perfectionist so much.
 
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