Im confused

[evbouret]

I have been enjoying the good threads in this forum but I'm a little confused. What do you guys do to put yourself into survival situations? It seems like you keep saying you have something to hide and try to 'blend in' with the sheeple. 'under the radar' is another term used in the 'survival look' thread.

Ive hunted every weekend of my life since I waas 15 years old and have never once had to spend the night in the woods. Most of our hunts we're 5+ miles from the trucks chasing hogs. I have been stuck out without a light, but managed to make it about a mile by watch light (really shitty) to a pasture and followed the pasture to the highway by moonlight. Another time we got spun around and didn't get out until about 11pm.

The best survivalist is one that doesn't put themselves in these positions that you may need to actually survive. If you use your brain 95% of these survival situations can be avoided completely. This doesn't mean I dont carry anything with me, I usually have a stack of waterproof matches, 2 lighters, machete, fixed blade, space blanket if I'm going somewhere it may be cold, small first aid kit, headlamp and a rainjacket. This should allow me to stay dry and warm.

Back to the question, why do you guys feel like you're seperate from the rest of the hikers/hunters/climbers out there or have someting to hide?

 

[psy-ops]

Frankly, I do have something to hide. Usually a knife or 2 and a number of survival items, that I don't want my peers to know I carry on my person, in their presence. People freak when I pull my first aid kit out when someone has a cut.

I travel often, I am in CA sometimes, NYC others, I been around the globe, in some 3rd world countries, I find appearances important especially when dealing with different people in different parts of the country or world.


Do you walk around an urban town with a knife or do you dress like you are going hunting? Do you travel much?


I think it is great that you have been a seasoned outdoors guy for a long time and you are in a place where you can do it 24/7 with no odd looks but most places in the world don't like when you looklike a hunter or survivalist when out of that context.

 

[Tim the Slugman]

Look at the Katrina situation, people were fighting each other for water & other survival supplies. If something bad happens & you are prepared & your neighbor or others are not they will try to take yours. so be prepared but dont let everyone else know. earthquakes & hurricanes & other things can put you in a survival situation, not just getting lost while hunting or hiking!

 

[msiley]

No one is putting themselves in survival situations (I hope).
No one really wants to be in one. Because there is great risk involved
that could result in one's demise regardless of skill. Many on these forums practice
bushcraft which in turn allows one to hone skills that are survival related.
This is different from being in a survival situation.

Survival situations vary widely. Victims of the Katrina Hurricane were in
a populous city but for many it was a survival situation. I'm sure
Steve Fossett didn't want to put himself in a survival situation by crashing his plane.

As far as the terms 'blend in', 'under the radar', and 'survival look' are
concerned I have no idea. I don't use them and I personally haven't noticed
them used in these forums, so they must be rare since I'm on here daily.

I'm not exactly sure what to make of your hunting experience paragraph
other then I'm glad you were never in a survival situation.

I myself have never been in a survival situation and I've been an
avid hiker and camper all my life. That doesn't mean it won't ever happen.

It's all about being prepared not tempting fate.

 

[Coldwood]

The best survivalist is one that doesn't put themselves in these positions that you may need to actually survive. If you use your brain 95% of these survival situations can be avoided completely.

I agree, and I think most people who post here would agree. However some here are hunters who go out into the woods on a regular basis; some are light-weight campers who like to challenge themselves; some are car-campers who like to do that with family; some are people who like to investigate and experiment with traditional ways of doing things in the woods.

I think most of us agree that the world is not a safe place to live in (not to get paranoid) and that it has gotten more dangerous in recent years. There can be personal threats of bodily harm, identity-theft threats, financial threats, etc., that we must avoid and prepare and educate ourselves against.

"Staying under the radar," to me, means being the "grey man" so that if I choose to carry a side-arm for self defense that I will do so in the least conspicuous way possible. Avoid trouble and don't get hurt until I have to take decisive action to survive. It also means avoiding governmental action from law enforcement or the IRS. I avoid anything that will get me in jail, the worst possible scenario.

Surviving means a lot of different things to different people here, depending on our circumstances and environment. I think you've brought up a very good topic.

 

[runningboar]

Back to the question, why do you guys feel like you're seperate from the rest of the hikers/hunters/climbers out there or have someting to hide?

It's not a matter of having anything to hide, it is all about not being singled out.

"Normal" people don't carry knives and guns, normal people don't stock pile food, water and ammuniton, normal people don't carry PSKs, I do all of those things. I don't feel like a nutcase and don't want the neighbors to think I'm one. I dress and act just like everyone else yet I have a razor sharp tatical folder and a 357 magnum on my person almost everywhere I go and nobody has any idea, which is just the way I want to keep it. Chris

 

[ashtxsniper]

It is called being prepared for whatever might happen. It is your choice if you want to be unprepared or ignorant.

 

[MG_Saldivar]

Thanks to evbouret for asking a question so fundamental that it inspires us all to think about what we're all doing here! :thumbup:

People freak when I pull my first aid kit out when someone has a cut.

If something bad happens & you are prepared & your neighbor or others are not they will try to take yours.

chrisaloia and Tim the S. point out the fundamental contradiction that has led many of us here -- in moments of quiet reflection, you can get a person to agree to the importance of preparedness (even if carrying a knife and flashlight and such is still "kind of weird"), but in a SHTF scenario, people who aren't prepared immediately act as if your carefully devised and stocked PSK (or evac route, or supply stash, or firearms training, or...) is theirs to "share."

(Of course, such people are either inclined to expect 'someone' to take care of them in the first place and/or are cheerfully optimistic that disaster will never befall them, or both, which adds to their feeling of panic).

However some here are hunters... some are light-weight campers... some are car-campers... some are people who like to investigate and experiment with traditional ways...

Also, some of us (me) live in an area where one wrong turn, unnoticed for 30 minutes, could land you in a life-or-death situation twenty miles from the nearest member of your species.

I think most of us agree that the world is not a safe place to live in... There can be personal threats.... that we must avoid and prepare and educate ourselves against....

"Staying under the radar," to me, means being the "grey man" so that if I choose to carry a side-arm for self defense that I will do so in the least conspicable way possible. Avoid trouble and don't get hurt until I have to take decisive action to survive...

Coldwood hits the nail on the head. Plenty of people keep certain hobbies and not-hurting-other-people-activities private; if somehow revealed, these activities are met with an amused smile before moving on to another topic (or are met with a blush and a muttered "too much information")...

Yet if someone whom we consider to be otherwise rational and trustworthy learns you keep a two-week stock of food handy (and rotate it regularly), and keep "x" number of rounds at the back of the closet ("I'll use it up at the range within a year anyhow"), or whatever, suddenly, you're looked at as if you should be living on top of a mountain in Montana wearing fatigues and carrying a sawed-off shotgun with a copy of "Left Behind" in your rear pocket next to the "Final Notice: Foreclosure" and "Your presence required: Municipal Civil Court" letters.

 

[sams]

What is the point of this post realy?

 

[riddleofsteel]

I am one of the ones on this board that muddies the water between a prepared person in a survival situation, a bushcrafter and a survivalist.

I am of the school of thought that one of the best ways to prepare for 'Survival" is to be comfortable in a variety of wilderness environments and weather conditions by regular practice.

I have been a hiker, fisherman, hunter, and outdoorsman for the past 40 years. I have never HAD TO spend a night out doors that I had not planned to except once. My cousin broke his ankle up on the Grandfather Mountain trail and instead of getting back around 4:30 PM we got off the mountain closer to 3:30 AM. The entire time we were focused on getting a 250+ lb. cripple off of one of the roughest mountains in NC, not shelters, food gathering ect. That was in summer and dry weather to boot. Drop the temperature 45 degrees and toss in some rain, ice or snow, and we would have been in deeper do-do.

It's been the long way around the barn but;

"What do you guys do to put yourself into survival situations? "

In answer to your question. My son and I regularly spend days and nights in the woods with minimum gear and supplies to test equipment and hone our skills. It doesn't really matter if you are 100 yards from your back door or 10 miles from a road if you agree use only what you have and can find to make it. I have a nice track of land in the foothills near our home that is large enough to allow us to forage for food and shelter without too much damage to the area. The bushcrafting weekends we spend there, year round, are the schoolhouse for any forced survival we may have to endure.
We know the minimum equipment we need to make out in a variety of weather conditions. We also know what to put in a bug out bag or long term pack because we have tested it. Likewise the blades and tools that best suit our purpose do not have much chance to rust. Use takes care of that.
I guess the main difference between the mock "Survival" conditions we put ourselves in and actual survival situations is the difference between bushcrafting and true survival. Bushcrafting is fun. Survival is whatever you have to do to make it home alive and and in reasonable health.

 

[pict]

Here in Brazil it is not a good standard operating proceedure to be obviously alone or in too small a group in the wilds. This is a lawless place and even moreso out of the reach of the law. My daughter hikes in full camo. Not so she can look like a surviuvalist but so that she can look like her surroundings. It just makes sense for us to be able to be invisible. I have run into illegal loggers and another group of five guys that were stark naked. The loggers I could figure out, the others we didn't ask. So, no, I don't have anything to hide, other than me.

If you are happy with the margin of safety you provide for yourself in the places you go then go have fun. Here in my area of Brazil people get lost for up to a week at a time every year. Many others get lost and spend a night or two out there with no training or preparation whatsoever. The vast majority are so afraid of the wilderness here that they won't venture out of sight of their car. Mac

 

[Foilist]

I agree with the philosophy of preparing for the worst and hoping for the best, but I will also admit that I think survival/bushcraft skills and equipment are neat and fun, whether I "need" them or not.:thumbup:

 

[JD Mandrell]

I have been enjoying the good threads in this forum but I'm a little confused. What do you guys do to put yourself into survival situations? It seems like you keep saying you have something to hide and try to 'blend in' with the sheeple. 'under the radar' is another term used in the 'survival look' thread.

I can only speak for myself, but in the thread you mention, I draw a difference between regular outdoor activities, (which can turn into a survival situation) and a true survival/disaster situation.

The best survivalist is one that doesn't put themselves in these positions that you may need to actually survive. If you use your brain 95% of these survival situations can be avoided completely.

Sort of true, but that's what preparedness is all about, those ones that can't be avoided by choice. i.e. natural and manmade disasters that come with little or no warning. And their resulting infrastructure and social breakdown.

Look at what has happened after events like this, looting, riots and chaos. If you find yourself caught up in an area during one of these events, the last thing you want to do is standout as having essential supplies that others may not. If you walk around looking like a character from a Jerry Ahern novel, bristling with "survivalist gear", folks will notice.

And contrary to the "I'm a tough survival guy" mindset, that has convinced themselves that they are ready to handle anything that comes at them, nothing will prepare them for that scared, desperate person that just shoots them in the back for their supplies....that if you had been smart, they would never have known you had.

It's not about having anything to hide, it's about getting out alive.

 

[syrinx]

A man who has a wife and children that has made it through a natural disaster or man made disaster,and has no food,water or medical supplies. and no hope of help from Gov.agency for days or even weeks is a "Desperate Man" and that makes him the most dangerous of them all.

 

[hollowdweller]

I'm not a survivalist. I am more into the Wilderness aspect of the forum.

I'm not worried about the breakdown of society or a major disaster.

I'm always into hearing about new or cool knives or gear that would somehow make hiking easier.

I like to hunt and eat wild foods not because I'm preparing for some catastrophe but just cause it's fun and something difft.

 

[troutfisher13111]

I'm not a survivalist. I am more into the Wilderness aspect of the forum.

I'm not worried about the breakdown of society or a major disaster.

I'm always into hearing about new or cool knives or gear that would somehow make hiking easier.

I like to hunt and eat wild foods not because I'm preparing for some catastrophe but just cause it's fun and something difft.

Thats me to a point, but I am some what into being prepared for a disaster too.

 

[straitshot]

I believe you answered your own question: it's the remaining 5%. And there is nothing to hide, only things to not openly display. In many jurisdictions, weapons can be carried but not always openly. Nor can anyone reasonably assume others or nature will not cause you to be put in a survival circumstance. In the west, there are a lot of places walking in the wrong direction can last for days or lead to totally impassable terrain. The list is endless.

Many of us hunt and fish without incident for years at a time. Usually it's because we are prepared and act responsibly. Others do not and can contribute to that 5%.

One friend dropped an arrow off the rest-leg artery-survival. Another with two flats and stuck in hot desert sand-survival. Another lost in fog and snow at 9,000'-survival. All three are (still) avid outdoorsmen, and were prepared.

Lastly, I want to be independent of relying on someone else for the safety of me or my family. I can count on one hand the number of people I know personally that could be trusted to act with effectiveness in abnormal circumstances. Regards, ss.

 

[Thomas Linton]

I have been enjoying the good threads in this forum but I'm a little confused. What do you guys do to put yourself into survival situations?

I don't. I practice skills that will stand me and mine in good stead IF a survival situation arises. Does the expression "Be Prepared" sound familiar?

It seems like you keep saying you have something to hide and try to 'blend in' with the sheeple. 'under the radar' is another term used in the 'survival look' thread.

You overgeneralize. I have made no such statement, as is true of many here.

Ive hunted every weekend of my life since I waas 15 years old and have never once had to spend the night in the woods. Most of our hunts we're 5+ miles from the trucks chasing hogs. I have been stuck out without a light, but managed to make it about a mile by watch light (really shitty) to a pasture and followed the pasture to the highway by moonlight. Another time we got spun around and didn't get out until about 11pm.

I would have had a map, compass, and flashlight.

The best survivalist is one that doesn't put themselves in these positions that you may need to actually survive.

Agreed. But, by definition, a sudden emergency is not a thing that you plan. You can only plan FOR such an emergency -- as best you can.

If you use your brain 95% of these survival situations can be avoided completely.

Dunno. How many have heart attacks? Auto accidents? Are robbed? In any case, the mind-set will apply to sudden emergencies that are not life-or-death.

Back to the question, why do you guys feel like you're seperate from the rest of the hikers/hunters/climbers out there or have someting to hide?

Two questions: a)I don't, except that I am probably more prepared for sudden emergencies; and b) I don't feel that I do, although I understand why some may feel otherwise.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

I lived in New York City. I saw no thrill in sitting by the sidewalk watching thousands of humans walk and drive past me. I would rather go sit in the woods and fields instead.

Backpack, hiking clothes, and off to Central Park or Van Cortlandt Park. Van Cortlandt has some etensive wild areas with occasional wild people:

On a ridge overlooking a familiar hollow one day I realized the hollow was filled with camo-uniformed youngsters, playing some military game. A HQ group of adults was behind them, directing their advance. I continued along the ridge, slowly, quietly, no one noticed me. But I give them credit for trying to learn the woods.

I prefer quietly watching the animals. Animals most New Yorkers don't believe live a few blocks from them. Survival? if you spend time, especially overnight, for a few days, out in the woods, living off minimal supplies packed in, you get to enjoy the surroundings, you blend in more in your own mind than in the complete oblivion of the loud hikers stomping through.

I think most of us do it for the pleasure of being in the natural world that we all used to be a part of. Nothing wrong with civilization supplying better equipment and backup, but it's more restful on my eyes to stare at trees across a lake than at buildings across the street.

Wherever you go, there are some things best left alone, and "survival" may often mean no more than doing that. Bringing minimal but potentially critical gear is just another way of assuring yourself that it would take a real disaster to ruin your walk in the woods!

Adventures are what happen to people who don't prepare before they go out.

 

[DOC-CANADA]

I have been enjoying the good threads in this forum but I'm a little confused. What do you guys do to put yourself into survival situations? It seems like you keep saying you have something to hide and try to 'blend in' with the sheeple. 'under the radar' is another term used in the 'survival look' thread.

Ive hunted every weekend of my life since I waas 15 years old and have never once had to spend the night in the woods. Most of our hunts we're 5+ miles from the trucks chasing hogs. I have been stuck out without a light, but managed to make it about a mile by watch light (really shitty) to a pasture and followed the pasture to the highway by moonlight. Another time we got spun around and didn't get out until about 11pm.

The best survivalist is one that doesn't put themselves in these positions that you may need to actually survive. If you use your brain 95% of these survival situations can be avoided completely. This doesn't mean I dont carry anything with me, I usually have a stack of waterproof matches, 2 lighters, machete, fixed blade, space blanket if I'm going somewhere it may be cold, small first aid kit, headlamp and a rainjacket. This should allow me to stay dry and warm.

Back to the question, why do you guys feel like you're seperate from the rest of the hikers/hunters/climbers out there or have someting to hide?

My first impression is that you're trolling, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

It seems to me that you answered your own question - "If you use your brain 95% of these survival situations can be avoided completely." I think most people here are preparing for the remaining 5%. And I am in no way defending my own position - I don't own guns or camo clothing, and am not concerned with when TSHTF. However, if something like that ever happens, I will be glad, indeed, that my interests are centred around primitive skills/wilderness survival.

As far as trying to hide anything, that would only apply to my age and my beer gut, especially if you're female.

Doc