Help with homework!

FLIX said:
The only reason Brian had the hatchet is because it was a gift and he was flying general aviation, so there were no security prohibitions.
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People fly general aviation without at least 3 cutting instruments, 3 ways of making fire, a full PSK, and a weeks worth of grub?? :confused:

:D

But seriously, I have a friend who flies small aircraft (Pipercubs, etc) and I'm always bugging her to put together a survival kit. I've at least gotten her to start carrying two cutting tools (but no fire-making tools) around with her.

BTW, my answer to the original question is firesteel too.
 
bulgron said:
People fly general aviation without at least 3 cutting instruments, 3 ways of making fire, a full PSK, and a weeks worth of grub?? :confused:

:D

But seriously, I have a friend who flies small aircraft (Pipercubs, etc) and I'm always bugging her to put together a survival kit. I've at least gotten her to start carrying two cutting tools (but no fire-making tools) around with her.

BTW, my answer to the original question is firesteel too.
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In the book, the plane and all of its contents are lost under the surface of a lake.

--FLIX
 
Hey cool, I found this book (Brian's Winter) as an ebook. $4.00. I guess I've got something else to add to my digital bookshelf. :D

Might as well find out how it all works out for the lad. :thumbup:
 
bulgron said:
Hey cool, I found this book (Brian's Winter) as an ebook. $4.00. I guess I've got something else to add to my digital bookshelf. :D

Might as well find out how it all works out for the lad. :thumbup:
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Hey, good news, I checked that book out today from my university and I can't wait to get to it. I'm going to start off with the Hatchet book first, as the book Brian's Winter is more of an alternate ending (it says so on wikepidia:hatchet).

I also found out that there are a total of 4~5 books and all of them containt the same character, Brian. It is going to be a good series to read so I'll probably be on here a little less over the next week or so :o.

If it helps anyone remember, there are the movies which coincide with all of the books, they just have different names. You can find those if you search on wikepidia: A cry in the wild. This was the first installment which covers the hatchet book. Hope this helps you guys out, J.

ps. I still vote on the fire steel as I am not supposed to know what happens :).
 
batosai117 said:
Hey, good news, I checked that book out today from my university and I can't wait to get to it. I'm going to start off with the Hatchet book first, as the book Brian's Winter is more of an alternate ending (it says so on wikepidia:hatchet).

I also found out that there are a total of 4~5 books and all of them containt the same character, Brian. It is going to be a good series to read so I'll probably be on here a little less over the next week or so :o.

If it helps anyone remember, there are the movies which coincide with all of the books, they just have different names. You can find those if you search on wikepidia: A cry in the wild. This was the first installment which covers the hatchet book. Hope this helps you guys out, J.

ps. I still vote on the fire steel as I am not supposed to know what happens :).
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bato, I think you're mistaken about the movies. "A Cry in the Wild" is based off of Hatchet, but I do not think they made any of the others into movies. There is a supposed sequel to "A Cry in the Wild," but it is a completely different storyline.

The DVD is really hard to find, and people want an outrageous amount for a used one. If anybody has a copy of the DVD they'll part with for cheap (or take a trade), my subscribers will thank you.

-- FLIX
 
Oh yes, that is kind of what I meant. They are sequels to A Cry in the Wild, but more or less deal with different characters and different story lines, but still made by same people I think :confused:. Just thought I'd throw those other books and movies out there for everyones entertainment, J.

Oh yeah, I know what you mean about the price that people are requesting. About 30 bucks usd for a used vhs copy :mad:.
 
Well, if the boy has his hatchet, and he's been able to make fire using that and some flint (or chert?), and he's arranged for some shelter, and we can presume he's still near water, then I think the most important single item that's not with him would be some way to signal for help. If we rule out sat phones and locater beacons, then that leaves a signal mirror, which can attract attention many miles off, especially if used from a hilltop to sweep the horizon regularly. A mirror can also signal planes so far away that you can't even hear them, too. At least in the US, all planes are required to have locater beacons, though I'm not sure what condition it might be in after being submerged, even if he could recover it.
 
I know this is a work of fiction and so we dont really have to worry about the kid in the book, in a sense this is more of game for those who haven't read the book, to try and guess what piece of advice would best fit the evolution of the story in the book. So there are no real stakes. BUT......by the same logic that says the kid could use his hatchet and rock to make a fire, we could conclude that the kid could signal a plane with his broken wrist watch.

In my opinion where reality comes into this , is that to assume some 13 year old kid could know, find and then start a fire with flint is dubious. I have no idea at all about trying to signal with a broken watch but Im thinking that wouldnt be very realistic either.

What does this kid need in addition to his Hatchet?...a fully stocked survival kit with easy to use gear that meets all his basic survival needs.
I know stories like this are meant to inspire self reliance and resoucefulness in young people but at the same time I feel it does a diservice in that it perpetuates the image of wilderness survival as being primarily a matter of skills and ingenuity. And skills and ingenuity are great if the survivor posseses them but the average person has none.

Starting a fire with flint is contingent upon being able to find the right rock and a high degree of sophistication in building a fire lay and fire making. Yes it is possible to make a spark with a piece of flint and a hatchet but that does not equal an unskilled person being able to carry that through to starting a fire.

There are amazing people in this forum, with a high degree of skill. But we need to remember that most of the time , its people with no skill or experience that find themselves in a survival crisis. Therefore we need to always be recomending adequate gear first and foremost. One of the things that I find time and again is how much skills are assumed to be present when in fact knowledge and skill is utterly lacking.

Thus I believe the most important thing a survival book and a thread commenting on survival should be the neccesity to carry gear items that expediently cover all basic survival needs without assuming skills that are unlikely to be present.
 
shipwreck said:
I know this is a work of fiction and so we dont really have to worry about the kid in the book, in a sense this is more of game for those who haven't read the book, to try and guess what piece of advice would best fit the evolution of the story in the book. So there are no real stakes. BUT......by the same logic that says the kid could use his hatchet and rock to make a fire, we could conclude that the kid could signal a plane with his broken wrist watch.

In my opinion where reality comes into this , is that to assume some 13 year old kid could know, find and then start a fire with flint is dubious. I have no idea at all about trying to signal with a broken watch but Im thinking that wouldnt be very realistic either.

What does this kid need in addition to his Hatchet?...a fully stocked survival kit with easy to use gear that meets all his basic survival needs.
I know stories like this are meant to inspire self reliance and resoucefulness in young people but at the same time I feel it does a diservice in that it perpetuates the image of wilderness survival as being primarily a matter of skills and ingenuity. And skills and ingenuity are great if the survivor posseses them but the average person has none.

Starting a fire with flint is contingent upon being able to find the right rock and a high degree of sophistication in building a fire lay and fire making. Yes it is possible to make a spark with a piece of flint and a hatchet but that does not equal an unskilled person being able to carry that through to starting a fire.

There are amazing people in this forum, with a high degree of skill. But we need to remember that most of the time , its people with no skill or experience that find themselves in a survival crisis. Therefore we need to always be recomending adequate gear first and foremost. One of the things that I find time and again is how much skills are assumed to be present when in fact knowledge and skill is utterly lacking.

Thus I believe the most important thing a survival book and a thread commenting on survival should be the neccesity to carry gear items that expediently cover all basic survival needs without assuming skills that are unlikely to be present.
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I agree with you on this. Kind of relates to the other thread, "the unskilled survival kit." This kid, Brian, has no bushcraft skill whatsoever, he just happens to have a hatchet on him when he crash lands into the lake. So, realistically we can't start suggesting items which only "we" can use. I would still suggest the fire steel, at least the general public has an idea of how to use one.
 
shipwreck said:
In my opinion where reality comes into this , is that to assume some 13 year old kid could know, find and then start a fire with flint is dubious. I have no idea at all about trying to signal with a broken watch but Im thinking that wouldnt be very realistic either.
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If you want to "get real," the kid probably wouldn't have survived the plane meeting the ground, since apparently the pilot dies of a heart attack and the kid has to land the plane himself :)

And since it came down in water in northern woods, he probably would have either drowned or, if having survived that, died of hypothermia within hours of getting out of the plane. 13-year-old kids are small and thin and tend not to hold their heat well. Unless he was a LOT more than a novice, he wouldn't have had any chance at all of surviving the set-up.

Of course, there's luck.

And a determination to live.

Both of which are probably way more important that all the gear in the world.

shrug

It's fiction. For kids. I say, if you read it, enjoy it for what it is.

Sadly, and most peevishly (because now I'm curious), I can't seem to find Hatchet anywhere in ebooks. I suppose I'll have to look for it the next time I make my way to the library.
 
bulgron, the other day I was talking about this korean department store clerk that had a building fall on her in Seoul. She lived for 14 days under the debris and was found only by accident. She survived and said she was never afraid in all that time. The will to live is a factor beyond estimation, but remember once your body core temp starts dropping past a certain point, the will to live becomes a moote point.

Skilled people can provide shelter and fire for themselves with hardly more than the will to survive, an unskilled person will die. That is why I stress gear so much. Ok Im getting off this soap box now. Im starting to bore myself.
 
Well the book states that the boy crash lands it in a lake during the beginning of summertime as he is going to visit his dad for the summer. The book says that the pilot lets the boy, Brian, take the controls for a little while as they are getting acquainted. Brian is in a small two seater plane so he is already sitting in the co-pilot seat. Having learned the hard way of pitching the plane up and down, he sets his sights for a lake, as it is the only clearing among all of the trees. He does struggle to get free after he is banged up pretty badly from the crash. He tears his jacket up and it is pretty much just sleeves with tattered cloth hanging from it after this. I don't know how cold it is at night in summertime canada, but it seems do-able.
 
shipwreck said:
The will to live is a factor beyond estimation, but remember once your body core temp starts dropping past a certain point, the will to live becomes a moote point.
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Oddly enough, just tonight I re-read Jack London's, To Build a Fire. And I couldn't agree with you more. :)
 
Dr. Mudd said:
I seriously doubt most who make up the general public even know such a thing exists, much less how to use one.
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I guess this just depends on where we are talking about, I should have been more specific :o. Down here in the Kingsville,Tx area, most people live on ranches and are more in touch with the outdoors, thus most of the 'general public' that I would be referring to would have an idea of what a fire steel is for.

As for city slickers that don't give a crap about the great outdoors, I could really see your point.
 
Pitdog Jr. (Pitpup?) :D was at the point in the story where Brian was already stranded and had taken stock of what he had on him. The teacher then asked what ONE thing would the students like to have with them in addition to the items Brian already had. (Brian soon discovers he has one additional item in his possession that he forgot to list, which makes all the difference! ;))

This The question appears designed to get kids thinking about what they would be facing in those circumstances. Answering this question with "a fully stocked survival kit" is missing the point. First of all, it isn't really one item, second of all, the fannypack based kit you are cobbling together in the other thread would likely be stowed in his luggage, not on his person. Maybe you could argue for a Altoids-sized PSK, attached to his belt or in his pockets, but that wouldn't really be one item either.

Maybe Pitdog will be invited in at some point to demonstrate firestarting and talk about survival skills with the students. Wouldn't that be cool?

-- FLIX
 
I read up to chapter 12 last night :D. The book is getting really interesting. I feel as though I've never read it :). Not knowing what happens, I would still go for a fire steel or maybe a bic. Since he is a kid with no experience, a bic might be a big easier to use or even a pack of matches. He does bring up wishing he had matches before his discovery later on in the book.

As for the altoid tin I was referring to, just a little joke. Nevertheless, it is always on my person and it is very useful at times.
 
One of my favourites as a kid- and still remains so. I would say the firesteel as well. The main character uses ingenuity and trial and error to the best of his abilities and I feel that it is a realistic version of what one would encounter in such a situation. After all, most true survival stories are equal parts luck and thinking outside the box.
 
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