If you had to pick one !!!

There is a slim chance I will be in the jungle. Other than maybe driving through the heart of the Florida swampland, I will not come close. I would like to travel by boat to Europe/central America etc, but I don't see much chance of that happening. Maybe the most that would happen to me would be on a charter boat off the coast of MD/DE/VA/NJ.

With jungle and ocean out of the way, I don't see much more than desert or snow/ice. I want to see as much of the USA as I can, and don't really have any inclination to go outside the US. Maybe Novia Scotia or British Columbia.

I'd like to travel to the Navajo and Hopi reservations in the southwest, I collect a few kachinas and the like. Big fan of Tony Hillerman's novels. Anyway, I would like to take a long vacation out there, and the mesa is not a place to play around in. On the other shoe, maybe Montana or north western Maine in the middle of winter. Not exactly the barren wastes of Siberia, but still a nasty predicament to be caught outdoors in. Out of both of those, it would be a tough choice. I'm guessing residents of the southwest, and those northern states along the Canadian border are laughing their asses off right now. Well, I'm from MD, and in the 100 degree plus temps, you can always get water and shade pretty readily. Our winter was bad this year, but not as bad as say Montana or Maine.

I always say that in the winter, you can always add more layers, crank up the fire (camp fire, or at home the woodstove/thermostat etc), and in the summer, once you get to the skin, you're done. However, I think that if you prepare as the locals do in the southwest, with light clothing that covers the body, that is loose and "airy", and don't over exert yourself, and FIND SOME SHADE ;), you'll be okay. However, even though you could easily survive with some firewood and food in the cold north, if you're in a survival situation, as the OP said, your fingers might become useless before you could get a fire going. See the scene in Jeremiah Johnson, when the snow pack falls off the pine tree and puts out his camp fire (yeah, I know, no fires directly under trees covered in snow).

Out of all of the trouble I could get myself into, I think being caught unprepared in a snowstorm would be the worst.

Guess I have some skills to start working on, huh?
 
The life raft option seems pretty crappy, but I really do dislike being really cold so probably some place with a lot of snow/ice and few trees.
 
1] As many suggest, I think the jungle would be the most trying and scary, but it also provides a lot of the survival basics quite easily: lots of water, food, easy to build/find shelter.

2] The desert or ocean [with little or no equipment], would probably kill you the fastest. Dehydration will make quick work of humans. Cold, barren locales devoid of fuel for fires and easily accessible food and shelter would also be tough.

So, IMHO: desert, ocean, and barren arctic landscapes would be the toughest to survive in and the jungle would without question be the scariest, but also one of the easiest [in terms of the survival basics].
 
Allen Newberry said:
The life raft option seems pretty crappy, but I really do dislike being really cold so probably some place with a lot of snow/ice and few trees.
Click to expand...

Speaking of liferafts, check-out the book 'Adrift' - about how a man survived 76 days 'adrift' at sea in a liferaft ... interesting read.

EDIT: haha - just saw DOC-CANADA's 'Adrift' recommendation. So that now makes two of us!
 
I have either lived, worked, or trained in all of the possible environments with the exception of open ocean. So that would be the worst for me, since I would be dealing with an unknown.
 
No jungle for me -too many of the large snakes for this old man! This old Navy vet would take the ocean!
 
Last edited:
I think that being thrown into any survival situation in an environment that I'm not used to, would probably be way worse than I can imagine. Facing the prospect of dying an agonizing death by exposure to the blazing hot sun in a life raft on the ocean, or baking to death in the desert...I don't think I could choose, so I think they both tie for top spot on my "worst place to attempt survival" list. The jungle would be #2 for the heat and humidity factor, however, the fact there would be more materials to work with would be a plus, vs. the barren desert or ocean environments. -Matt-
 
76 days! That had to suck!

redpoint said:
Speaking of liferafts, check-out the book 'Adrift' - about how a man survived 76 days 'adrift' at sea in a liferaft ... interesting read.

EDIT: haha - just saw DOC-CANADA's 'Adrift' recommendation. So that now makes two of us!
Click to expand...
 
I'd have to say desert or ocean as( to me at least) it would be the fastest draining mentally which would drastically reduce your will to survive

And as for the arctic... At least you could build snowmen to keep you company :D

But I've also never been in a desperate survival situation so I can't speak out of experience
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top