Walking as a survival skill?

H

hollowdweller

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Sep 22, 2003
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Does walking count as a survival skill?

I was just thinking about this lately as when it snows alll the heavy set ladies I work with call in sick because they are afraid they will get stranded on the road and have to walk some where.

I was also thinking about it because in the last two weeks I #1 didn't look down at the gas gauge and ran out of gas and had to walk almost 3 miles to a gas station and #2 Sunday my truck conked out and my wife and I had to walk almost 3 miles back to our house to get our other car:D.

When I first started getting into backpacking again in 2000 on our first trip we only hiked 12 miles. 1 the first night to a camping space I knew, 8 the next day and 3 the last day to our car. The next day I was so stoved up I could barely get around.

This summer the wife and I walked 14 miles with packs one day and the only thing I had was some non painful ankle swelling and 1 blister because I walked it in Keen Sandals instead of boots with ankle support:rolleyes:

But anyway we were talking in the other thread about your mind as the most important thing surely your body has got to be next. Now I'm a fat office worker cubicle guy and I'd love to drop about 40 lbs to lighten my load but still IMO getting outside, climbing hills, walking a few miles might be considered practicing survival skills too right??:confused:

The funny part about last Sunday was rather than being upset about our truck breaking down as we walked along the wife and I went into our hiking backpacking mode, walking along, commenting on various trees and aspects of the "trail" cracking jokes. We were home and on our way in the other car before we knew it!
 
walking is definitely an important thing to be able to do. it is important to have a body that can do what you need it to do in a survival situation.

i just got back from a little walk up to the top of the mountain out back, it wasn't far in terms of distance but there was a pretty high degree of incline, up to the point where i was climbing up rocks in a couple of spots.

the last time i did 12 miles was last spring, up to the top of bear mountain. by the time we got home i was sore, and i was sore the next day, but nothing too too bad. i guess i have youth on my side for now.

keeping fit is an important part of survival preparation as well as your mindset and your toolset.
 
That's all mindset. We as a group here enjoy being outside, even if the weather isn't the greatest. But sadly more and more Americans won't even take the stairs up one floor let alone walk from a stranded car.
 
LOL Great stories.:)

I think you have a Good point in being in good enough shape to walk a ways for help or to find your way out of the Woods.:thumbup:

My neighbor is 70 and still can walk for miles in the woods.
He and I agree that you have to keep moving, because if you stop, it's really hard to get back in the shape that you were once in.




BTW that isn't Fat, those are part of my Weight Set that I workout with everyday.:eek::D:D:D:D:D:D
(just had to joke in that post somewhere):)
 
I think it is important....I had a good chuckle this past weekend when I visited the Bass Pro shop,See I take the stairs but you should have seen the line of folks waiting on the elevator,to go up or down,freaking funny to a sicken degree.. Modern society is just plain Lazy....modern convience is great but also handicaps you as well !
 
I get this a lot at work.I hike quite a bit and everybody I work with thinks I'm nuts."why would you walk so far with all that stuff on your back?"The answer...Because I can.
 
Being physically fit is at least as important and arguably more so than any survival "tool" or "skill".
 
Its sure true that once you get out of the habit or out of shape, it's hard to regain. This is really true as you get older. I was recently in a wheel chair for six months and walking again was just right there next to imposable.

About 8 years ago I had a surgery that left me in a coma for two months. When I came out of it, I could not walk without a walker even though the surgery had nothing to do with my legs or feet. Three months now out of the wheel chair, I can walk almost normal but nowhere near as far as I could before and I still have trouble with my balance. I doubt that I could walk around the block without stopping for a rest.

Guys and Gals, while you are young and able, get in shape and stay in shape. If you don't, you will pay a big price later. And that, I didn't learn from a book.:(
 
It's a skill, i mean technique, practice and reflection. A survival skill? Certainly yes, when nothing works (car, phone or anything you usually depend on), when help can't be expected, when you have to manage your own to flee a disaster, yes, you have to walk. As for any skill you need discipline in practice but if you don't get pleasure in that discipline it's a waste of time and effort. Every working day i walk 5 miles to go to my job and back home. It's a nice moment for me, i just walk, i don't worry about speed or time, i let my feet and my legs work, slacken my shoulders and look at far. It's my walk training. It's very important for my health and thus for my survival. Walking is a passion for me but, enough said, thanks for this thread HD.

dantzk.
 
dantzk8 said:
Every working day i walk 5 miles to go to my job and back home. It's a nice moment for me, i just walk, i don't worry about speed or time, i let my feet and my legs work, slacken my shoulders and look at far. It's my walk training. It's very important for my health and thus for my survival. Walking is a passion for me but, enough said, thanks for this thread HD.

dantzk.
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That is totally cool you can find the time to do that:thumbup:
 
dantzk8 said:
I'm a train driver and work six hours and an half per day. And it's long enough, believe me.

dantzk.
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I'd love to work 6.5 hours! I work 9:00am to 5:30pm with an hour for lunch. Then I have to drive almost 30 miles both ways to work.

Six hours of work and 5 miles of walking a day sounds like a plan to live to 100 to me:thumbup:

My friend just got back from France and he was saying that it was really cool that people had more free time than in the US and you could get almost anywhere without a car.
 
It it easily taken for granted...I sprained my left ankle Friday night playing basketball at the YMCA. Funny thing is it was almost a year to the date from when I dislocated my right foot last year playing basketball:thumbdn::thumbdn::thumbdn: The dislocation was far more severe, and will cause me problems for the rest of my life, such as "early onset artheritis" which I have now been diagnosed with:thumbdn: This new recent injury is more of an aggravation than anything. It's already a lot better, I can walk around and it doesn't really hurt anymore either:thumbup:

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Hey, it's not fat, it's "survival muscle"!
What better way to carry food and water than nicely distributed around your body to give added warmth and boyancy?

I just recently changed my routine and no longer walk 3-4 miles per day, now when I walk I am a wimp. It only took about a month. Funny thing is, I lost weight (BMI~23). It must be muscle weight.
 
Udtjim, you hang in there and just keep plugging along. I, for one, understand your struggles. :thumbup:
 
WVHILLS said:
It it easily taken for granted...I sprained my left ankle Friday night playing basketball at the YMCA. Funny thing is it was almost a year to the date from when I dislocated my right foot last year playing basketball:thumbdn::thumbdn::thumbdn: The dislocation was far more severe, and will cause me problems for the rest of my life, such as "early onset artheritis" which I have now been diagnosed with:thumbdn: This new recent injury is more of an aggravation than anything. It's already a lot better, I can walk around and it doesn't really hurt anymore either:thumbup:

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Ouch Hills! That's bad! And you are a younger fellow if I'm not mistaken:confused: Be sure to take care of it so it doesn't really act up when you get older:thumbup:
 
great post HD...:thumbup:

walking is a great survival skill.... just think, "rabbit proof fence"...

we walk almost everyday.... we have 2 awesome state parks within walking distance...
 
Yes, I think walking is a survival "skill", and one of the most important ones. In fact, the number one solution to almost any wilderness survival scenario around here has historically been "just walk out." And it does work, as long as you haven't injured yourself to the point where you simply can't walk.
 
I usualy walk up to a local lake that gets stocked with trout several times in the spring, it is 2.5 up there with a few smal hils the hardest part is getting across the highway with out geting run over . My back pack is a litle heavt with stol , 2 break down spining rigs and lunch and stuff like that and then 2.5 miles back It is not bad but I started making my dog cary his own stuff in a doggie pack.
 
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