Have you ever been in a survival situation?

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iandh

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Dec 8, 2010
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I've been in a real survival situation, but luckily due to good planning and some basic smarts, we made it out just fine. I don't really think it had reached the point of life threatening, but it easily could have. I was along on a week long canoe trip with a few friends. We had planned to cover about 15-20 miles a day, for a total trip length of about 80 miles.

We packed plenty of food, but had to pack light because (obviously) we wouldn't float if we got too carried away. During the last few days of the trip, the weather got bad, and we lost some of our food when a canoe tipped over. On the last day of the trip, we were to meet our pickup vehicle at a dock at the end of our planned route. The previous days, we had finished our daily travels of 15-20 miles in late afternoon, leaving plenty of time to set up camp, cook, and lounge around until it got dark.

This day, we were only expecting to travel around 10-12 miles to reach the dock. We had planned on being there by mid afternoon. We were traveling in heavy rain, but visibility was still decent. By late afternoon, we still hadn't reached the dock, and the weather was getting worse. We didn't really have any good sense of distance travelled, other than time. This was before GPS and cellphones.

We kept on until evening, and ended up stopping on the largest beach we could find in the rising water (due to the weather). Everything was soaked. We had no sources of heat other than backpacking stoves, and no way to stay dry other than our tents, which only kept us less soaked.

We all ended up huddling together in one tent to keep from going hypothermic, and waited the night out.

The next morning (thankfully sunny) we set out again, hopeful that after a couple hours of paddling, we'd be back in a dry, comfy van, listening to the radio while snoozing on the way home. Later in the day, the weather turned. Again, no dock. We were starting to get really worried. We were running out of food. We agreed to camp, spend one more day paddling, and then wait it out until help arrived if we weren't able to find a civilized landing. By this time, unbeknownst to us, we had traveled nearly 20 miles past our original pickup point.

The next day we paddled all day again, still no sign of civilization. At this point we were completely exhausted, and decided to find a visible, safe spot to wait it out. We spent two days there before being found by a ranger who was alerted by our pickup vehicle driver that we were missing. The last two days there, we had to drink unfiltered river water, and each had one pack of instant oatmeal per day.



It turns out the the one year old map we had purchased still showed a dock as food/shelter/gas that had closed almost ten years previously. The ranger told us that the ramps and dock access were completely overgrown, and difficult to see, even in good weather. It turns out we paddled right past the pickup without even seeing it. Unfortunately, we had passed the pickup point before our pickup vehicle reached it, or else he possibly would have been able to wave us down.

Once he realized what had happened, he notified the rangers, and after 24 hours, they started looking for us by driving up and down access roads. Evidently the day we were found, they were planning on starting air searches.

We were all a bit shaken, but none the worse for wear, so I don't claim that I went through some amazing survival situation. This is, however, the closest I've ever come to running out of food and water, and being out of contact with civilization.




If you have any stories, please share them!
 
iandh said:
If you have any stories, please share them!
Click to expand...


YES........... I took my Daughters & two of their friends to the MALL and.........:eek::eek::eek:

Lets just say it was touch and go for a while. ;)

No.... I never have. On a backpacking trip about 10 years ago we were supposed to reach a keystone point on the trip. We traveled for a day, and didn't reach it. I started second guessing my orienteering skills. We pressed on the same course the next day and found it. I was a little nervous that I may had lead us on a wrong trail, but stuck to my travel plan and it worked out. Just took longer than I planned. Thats about as close as it gets. :o It's funny how your mind will start playing tricks on you when you think there is even the possibility that your not on course.

Good storie BTW.
 
Dayhiking in early spring. Very dangerous when you go into the mountains expecting the same blooming flowers and sunshine you have back home. It's very easy to forget that it's still winter up there.

You don't really notice the snow gradually getting deeper as you ascend the mountain on the worn trail. That is, until you come out from the forest and enter a small sub alpine bowl, away from the protection of trees. Suddenly you find yourself asking "where did all this snow come from?"

But you're only a couple kilometers from the lake! Why turn back now? It's a nice day out, after all. So you press on through the knee high snow anyway, having a few laughs, sliding and tumbling around in the powder with your friends. Moods are high.

You make it to the glacial-melt lake, slow down, and enjoy the view for a little while. Someone comments that it's windy up here in this mountain valley. It's cold up here. Your clothing is wet from the snow play earlier. You're starting to feel it. It's time to turn back.

Then you hear it. A low rumble in the distance, followed by ominous, howling winds. There is a storm forming on the other side of the valley. The wind is picking up and carrying it directly to you.

Minutes later, the previously pristine skies above are black and malevolent. Freezing rain and hail starts falling around you. There is lightning above and thunder booming around you.

The icy rain quickly turns to thick sheets of snow, being blown back up the mountain and into your face by the gale winds. It's hard to keep your eyes open. You are still above the tree line with little protection. The snow has effectively blinded your group. Finding the trail out again will be impossible.

You're cold, you're wet, and you're trapped.

-

This happened to myself, my girlfriend, and a hiking buddy of mine last spring. We managed to make it back down to the forest, but there was no way we were hiking out. We were cold, wet, and disoriented. Luckily, we all know to pack our day bags as if we are spending the night. It only took us a couple hours to have our tarps rigged up and a fire going. None of us got much sleep that night, but we dried out and survived. It was cold without sleeping bags, and I quickly learned that those space blankets we all carry are basically useless in any kind of wind. They were shredded before we even had them unfolded.

Moral of the story? Carry a tarp, fire making gear, and warm clothing with you on dayhikes. It will keep you alive.
 
Many years ago on a scout canoe trip in British Columbia, we were back in about 70 miles when I developed a serious infection. I was one of three adults (12 boys). My life was saved when a trail crew made a wrong turn in their jet boat and ran into us. They ran me out to my car where I drove to the local hospital. The ER said I had 24 hours max to be operated on. They wanted $10,000 cash. I chartered a plane to Vancouver BC, caught a scheduled jet to Portalnd Oregon. My doctor operated 30 minutes after I arrived at the hospital without any pre-notice of my coming. They left the 6 inch opening in my body for 1 year to drain. My doctor confirmed I made it by just a few hours. I took my troop 72 hours to "get out" back to the cars and two more days to drive home. If the trail crew had gone where they were supposed too, I would probably not have made it.
 
I have recited others incidents in previous threads of this nature, so I will not repeat myself. This is one of my lesser ones.

It was either 22 or 23 December 1976, and I was living in New Hampshire. It was an odd year in that there was no snow on the ground and we were looking at the possibility of not having a white Christmas.

I had decided to hike several miles into a remote area in order to pick wild cranberries to be used for Christmas dinner. This was an area I knew very well with the exception of where I was going on this trip. I had arranged to depart from a friends home which was a two mile walk from mine. The reason for starting from my friends home was due to the fact it was one of the highest in the area, and from their balcony we could see the large meadow where the cranberries grew.

I started out early in the morning and was outfitted with a small amount of food, mini survival kit, bowie knife, a plug tobacco tin with 100 matches, and a .22 pistol. The temp was below freezing but with a clear and sunny sky. I had an easy trip due to the lack of snow cover and arrived at the meadow near lunch time. I found my way blocked by a deep and fast moving stream. After checking 1/2 a mile in either direction I was unable to find a place in which to cross the stream. I called it quits and decided to head back.

Starting back just after lunch I watched as the sky quickly became heavily overcast and a strong wind picked up. The temperature began to fall and the wind was becoming intolerable as I passed thru small clearings. At about 2 pm it began to snow lightly, but soon began to really come down. Within two hours I was slogging through more than a foot of snow and it was not showing any signs of slowing. I was soon encapsulated in a blizzard. Becoming disoriented I consoled myself with the fact that I could retrace my trail in the snow should I need to. Turning around an looking at my trail I was shocked to see that my steps not more than 50 feet behind me were already half filled in.

I continued walking for two to three hours, and was exhausted from fighting the knee deep snow. Between the darkness and the blizzard conditions, visibility was a few yards. I found a natural tree fall that had also served as a snag for a large quantity of leaves and branches. I told my self I would give it five more minutes walking before returning to this spot for the night. By this time it was nearing 8 pm. I continued walking and just as I was going to quit I stumbled out onto a paved road. I had come out less than 300 yards from where I started.

From here I had a grueling 2 1/2 mile walk home. I had spent nearly 18 hours walking. No cranberries, but had a snowy Christmas. I remember this trip as if it happened yesterday.
 
Not really a survrival situation but could have been if a person were alone. A friend and I were mushroom hunting, when he fell down a hill pretty hard. He must have cracked a sinus cavity as blood and mucous was flowing profusely through his nose. It took a long time to get the flow stopped. We used a Tshirt to apply pressure. It ended up wringing wet with blood. Then a two mile hike up and down steep hills back to the vehicle.

Fast forward exactly one week. The same friend and I were mushroom hunting again. He went into a violent grama seizure, I think triggered by the fall the previous week. He fell to the ground not breathing. I opened his airway and he started breathing again. When he came to he was confused and uncoordinated. Once again it was about a two mile awkward stumbling hike back to the vehicle.
 
The first time I took my girlfriend on an overnight backpacking trip she got pretty sick.

We made it to the spot where I intended for us to camp, and we set up our hammocks and played in the creek for a bit, then started gathering fire wood. I wandered off to try to find some more substantial downed wood while she gathered smaller stuff close to camp, and when I came back she had laid down in her hammock and said she wasn't feeling well. She had a sore throat and a fever.

It was too late to think about hiking back out, so I got our fire going and kept her warm and comfortable, gave her ibuprofen to help with the fever, and made her tea and got her to eat a bit of dinner. The next morning she wasn't doing any better. I thought she might be able to walk out, but not with a pack on her back. I mulled it over a bit and decided to pack as much as I could into my pack, and hike it the 2 or 3 miles back to the car while she stayed in camp and rested, then hike back, pack the rest of the gear into her pack and carry that while we both hiked out.

It worked out fine, but I was prepared to call for help on my cell if it turned out that she couldn't make it even without the pack. We also had enough extra food to stay out another night if I would have thought that would have been a better option. When we got back into town she went to the doc-in-a-box and got checked out. . . She had a fever of about 102, and ended up with a course of antibiotics, and was sick for most of the rest of the week.

I'm not sure what I'd do if I got suddenly sick like that on a solo trip. I probably wouldn't have much choice but to hunker down somewhere and hope that I could reach someone on my cell phone, or that someone would come along that could fetch help.
 
kinda , almost :)
mostly its just stuff that happened when we were travelling

the distributor on my car died , but it wasnt a suvival situation really , we had about a month worth of food and about 60 litres of water with us in the car and trailer .. luckily it was just before we got into the desert propper , so it was only 30 odd km walk each way to get parts from town , I fitted the " new" distrubitor and we were good to go

It was 45 deg c according to my thermometor at around 930 am , and I reckon I spent most the dam day walking ... we were prepared kinda ( car parts not included ) and it wasnt a drama . if we hadnt have had the water in the car tho for the crew that waited .....

another trip we were looking for a quiet camp spot to spend a few days , found one on a hill that looked good to me , that night tho , it rained , like serioulsy rained and we spent a few days kinda stranded , flooded in ,the gully we drove thru earlier was now a river that was runing with serious force . We spent an extra couple days waiting for the water to go down enough I was comfortable driving thru it to get out , the good part of it was we had plenty of bush food available and were living like kings for free , the not so good part was we were out of contact with everyone back home ... not that they were worried about us tho

the single scariest situation I have been in tho , I was camped on the common maybe 15 km out of town , at the time I was unemployed and planned on letting the dole cheques build up in my bank so I could head off to where I had better prospect of work .
I had my ute , my 22 , my swag and my dog we were camped in patch of trees a little way off the side of the track that screened us off the track and gave us some shade and break off the wind

Id been camped there a couple days and was loving the quiet , till I heard a diesel pull up on the track , a lotta door slamming and some talking , beer can being opened ....
I told the dog to be quiet , thinking they were there maybe for a boozey picnic , they were far enough away that they wouldnt be a problem to me I hoped ....... and then gunfire ... it was just a bunch of people come out to the common for some illegal shooting up whatever they could find ( as opposed to my poachin some meat when I was hungry )

what scared me was they were shooting into the trees I was camped in , and there was richocets going off not far from me ... I yelled slammed the door on my car as hard as I could , and the gunfire stopped , there was some " oh man there was someone in there , they could be hurt ... get outa here quick , we not allowed to be shooting here " , door slammed and the dieel roared off ...

I wasnt hurt , scared for sure tho , my tarp had a hole in it from their fun tho , that annoyed me a lot , and I still wonder at them running away when they thought theyd shot someone .... it wasnt a survival situation a such ... really but it coud very easily have been one , I learned then that it kind of easy to prepare for what trouble you may get into yourself but planning to deal with other people stupidity is a totally different ballgame alltogether
 
No survival situations, but I've had quite a few unplanned bivouacing or camping opportunities. Sometimes we just called it remaining in the field or extending patrolling. Or getting weathered in. Or a sled (snowmobile) failure. Whatever.

Breakdowns in in Michigan or Arizona don't get you news time unless you're silly enough to be traveling around with NO water (in desert) or no winter supplies up in Michigan. Any time I'm out I dress like I'm gonna stay out for the night. If I can't (courtroom attire) I have appropriate clothing stashed in my vehicle anyway.

Then it isn't a "survival situation", it is just a change in plans or perhaps a bit of misfortune that detained you for a while.

People USED to live that way. My grandparents had water and wool blankets in their trunk. Food in the pantry. You were considered an idiot if you didn't have these things. They didn't have nearly as many "survival situations".

Now people think they have their cellphone, a triple AAA card and know where the nearest grocery store (with JUST IN TIME restocking) and they are set.
 
I have an almost survival situation...

This one reminded me of what NOT to do in the outdoors, and is hands down the dumbest thing I have ever done in the outdoors.

I was camping up in the Adirondacks at a state "park and camp" on Raquette Lake. My friends had to leave early and I decided to stay myself for a few more days.

I decided to head into the wilderness area south east of the camp which was about 80,000 acres. I drove in about two miles on the dirt roads. DIDNT SIGN IN AT THE TRAIL HEAD. Then I stopped and decided I would try a day hike on one of the less traveled trails. I headed about 1.5 miles in.

I tripped and got stuck in some mud near one of the ponds along the trail. I stopped and noticed a few things. The trail was poorly marked, I didn't sign in, and nobody knows I'm about 3.5 miles from nowhere. If I get lost or worse get injured nobody will even know I'm missing for another 3-4 days.

Moral of the story: Make sure somebody knows where you are going.
 
dipbait said:
Not really a survrival situation but could have been if a person were alone. A friend and I were mushroom hunting, when he fell down a hill pretty hard. He must have cracked a sinus cavity as blood and mucous was flowing profusely through his nose. It took a long time to get the flow stopped. We used a Tshirt to apply pressure. It ended up wringing wet with blood. Then a two mile hike up and down steep hills back to the vehicle.

Fast forward exactly one week. The same friend and I were mushroom hunting again. He went into a violent grama seizure, I think triggered by the fall the previous week. He fell to the ground not breathing. I opened his airway and he started breathing again. When he came to he was confused and uncoordinated. Once again it was about a two mile awkward stumbling hike back to the vehicle.
Click to expand...

It was probably from the mushrooms you were eating......:D
 
dipbait said:
Not really a survrival situation but could have been if a person were alone. A friend and I were mushroom hunting, when he fell down a hill pretty hard. He must have cracked a sinus cavity as blood and mucous was flowing profusely through his nose. It took a long time to get the flow stopped. We used a Tshirt to apply pressure. It ended up wringing wet with blood. Then a two mile hike up and down steep hills back to the vehicle.

Fast forward exactly one week. The same friend and I were mushroom hunting again. He went into a violent grama seizure, I think triggered by the fall the previous week. He fell to the ground not breathing. I opened his airway and he started breathing again. When he came to he was confused and uncoordinated. Once again it was about a two mile awkward stumbling hike back to the vehicle.
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Man - you need to find a different mushroom hunting buddy :D
 
I've been forced to spend a few unplanned nights out (well forced might not be the right term, I made a conscious decision that I would be at greater risk trying to get out in the dark), fortunately I was prepared enough, that while uncomfortable, I was in no danger of dying from exposure

I also had a terse situation canoeing on the Big Horn River in December (duck hunting- temps in the single digits) where we dumped the canoe- we were able to recover the canoe and paddled our wet behinds off for the next 3-4 miles to our truck (this after a failed attempt of starting a fire). This was an excellent learning experience for me- I found out what I thought was adequate fire starting bits were in fact not, that fire starter in your pack may not be available to you in the event of a dump, that your fine motor skills when wet and in single digits go away very quickly, that having a dry bag w/ a change of dry clothing isn't a luxury item.

We did do a couple of things right, our life vests helped w/ flotation and also added warmth to our cores, had a lot of heavier fleece on- wrung out (but still damp) it did provide some thermal benefit, we were in pretty good shape- that helped and we didn't panic
 
I have a bit of a survival story for ya mate, I posted this in the esee forum aswell

I was 15 years old at the time and decided to go hog hunting with my mates dogs, I left his house at about 0530 and drove for a few hours to a hunting spot I had heard was good but I hadnt hunted before,

I let the dogs out the cages at about 0830 and started walking in, after about three hours of walking the dogs had dissapeared so I stopped for a rest and a sneaky ciggy(mum would have killed me if she knew) and waited till about lunch time, no dogs, no barking, so I carried on and kept walking, at about 1400 hrs I stopped for a cup of tea and a couple of sammies and called the dogs back in. It that time of year it got dark at about 1800 hrs so I decided to head back to the truck and go home before it got dark.

after half an hour of walking and day dreaming I realized the dogs had all dissapeared, I didnt think anything of it and kept walking, it had been raining lightly all day and I was getting hungry and a bit tired from walking up steep ridges so I just wanted to go home. not long after I hear the my finder bailer barking like crazy so I drop off the ridge and start running/bush bashing to get to where she is bailing.

on the run down I didnt hear the pig screaming, all I could hear was the dogs so I knew it must be a big bastard, as I got closer the pig broke and the barking got further away, this kept happening for about two hours.

In my excitement I forgot about the time and it was starting to get dark and the rain was setting in. My plan was to hoofe it to the truck and get out of the bush as quickly as possible.

as darkness set it I became very disorientated and couldnt get a sense of direction, the rain was coming down and It dawned on me I was going to have to spend the night in here. I kept calling the dogs, and finally the three of them came back, my two holders both had rips on there head and necks, nothing to major tho.

all I had on me was the following,

a swanni wool jacket, good boots,socks etc(warm gear)
emergency blanket,
two cubes of hexemine,
a bic lighter,
a packet of 20 paul mall ciggies,
a 6 inch sticking knife,
brew gears/cups canteen,
water bottle.

as soon as I decided I was going to stay the night I quickly built a crappy lean to shelter, I tried to get a fire going but with the rain pissing down from heaven and not enough light to build a fire shelter I was stuffed,

I ended up in my lean to freezing my arse off wrapped in a survival blanket spooning my dogs, it was miserable, I used to two hexemine tabs to get one brew in at about midnight and I smoked the whole pack of ciggies.

I was cold soaked and miserable but as it does morning came and as soon as it was light I walked back up to the ridge and followed it out to the truck,

my mate who lent me the dogs was there waiting and wen he saw me all he said was you look like death warmed up mate, I glared at him, loaded up the dogs and we drove back to my house, funny thing was knowone even realized I was missing.

after that debacle, I always carry a proper PSK, with a torch, road flare and GPS and all the other fancy stuff, most importantly Im much more clever now and Ive never been in that sort of situation again, I have been lost and spent longer than expected time in the bush hunting but with the proper gear its more like camping than surviving.

If I didnt have that emergency blanket or my swanni I would have been stuffed, but hey I wasnt and it ended with bacon and eggs for breakfast.

a bit of food for thought for you guys anyway,

regards,

Stew
 
I posted this on another forum, but it fits here as well.


Man, I was lost bad once. In my youth I did some really stupid things (but then again, who among us has not?! Right?). I grew up loving the outdoors, spending a lot of time in the woods, and was VERY arrogant. I once as a teenager went off trail, with a buddy of mine, into the wilderness, in the dark, with nothing but our crappy (at the time) knives, and the moonlight. After trekking all night and the next day we easily made it back to civilization, adding to our arrogance. We thought we were survival masters. Boy were we wrong.
A while later, three friends and I went spelunking in a local cave. Not the tourist traps mind you, but the deadly, no one knows about it, you get injured, your on your own, type of cave.
After a long trek through the cave we came upon a small underground stream. We waded in it for a while until another friend of mine and I stupidly started racing through it. Well, after about 15 yards it drops off from two feet, to eight feet, and me and my buddy go under. My other two friends jump in after us, and the four of us swim back to safety. Soaking wet, the four of us climb back out of the cave, to head back home.
Now, only one of us was smart enough to put dry clothes in a plastic bag in his pack, so he was fine. The rest of us, where screwed.
The four of us emerged from the cave, three of us soaking wet, into the sub freezing temps of winter in east Tennessee. I instantly was miserable. We had hiked at least two miles from our truck to get to the cave, so we knew that we needed to get back to it quick. Well, long story short (too late) we got lost. We where in the wilderness, in the dark, in the SNOW, three of us were wet, and we were lost. We tried to make a fire, but in the snow with NO LIGHTER, our arrogant asses failed. I honestly thought I was going to die. My wet clothes had become crunchy with frost and I was beginning to hallucinate. So unable to make a fire, we walked, and walked, until we came across some power lines. We figured that it was our only hope so we followed those lines until we found a road. Then we walked that road until we found a house, then (even though it was like 1:00 in the morning) we pounded on that door.
Thank God for the kindness of strangers. The man who opened the door took pity on us. He didn't let us into his house (honestly I cant blame him), but he put us in his work truck and turned on the heater full blast. He then drove us around until we found our truck and the rest is history.
That was twenty years ago. Because of that situation (and honestly other stupid choices I made as a youth), I have forced my self to learn as much as possible about survival/bushcraft that I am now passing on to my sons. So I guess you could say...lesson learned.
 
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