What is survival?

upnorth

upnorth

Joined
Nov 25, 2006
Messages
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This is a Wilderness& Survival Skills forum. Does this mean that urban survival skills are discussed also, or just bush craft? I don't know. I do however have diverse interests which include basic self defence and just about anything related to World War Two. Members please let me know if this type of site is 1. of any interest to you and...2. if it is appropriate to include a link such as this here. I'm not some tough guy "martialist" or whatever you call these types, but as I said, I do have a basic interest in self defence.

http://www.gutterfighting.org/Main.html
 
This type of survival is discussed in the Practical Tactical forum. The site you provided looks interesting, I'm always looking for other cool sites.
 
tknife said:
This type of survival is discussed in the Practical Tactical forum. The site you provided looks interesting, I'm always looking for other cool sites.
Click to expand...

Ok, wasn't sure were the line was drawn. Gotcha, thanks.
 
This forum is oriented toward how to stay alive and safe from nature's dangers, and how to effectively enjoy yourself in nature; it's not really about fighting people. Defence is a valid subject in its own right, just not the topic of this forum.
 
upnorth said:
This is a Wilderness& Survival Skills forum. Does this mean that urban survival skills are discussed also, or just bush craft? I don't know. I do however have diverse interests which include basic self defence and just about anything related to World War Two. Members please let me know if this type of site is 1. of any interest to you and...2. if it is appropriate to include a link such as this here. I'm not some tough guy "martialist" or whatever you call these types, but as I said, I do have a basic interest in self defence.

http://www.gutterfighting.org/Main.html
Click to expand...

Gutterfighting???:eek:

I hope urban survival skills are discussed here. I personally believe that we are way more likely to encounter a breakdown in society than we are to have a chance to use our wilderness survival skills. Because we actually have some control of the situation. IE getting lost or an accident in the wild. But on the other hand if society breaks down, we have zero control over it, unless of course we are fully prepared. So if you have something else I am all ears.

BTW thanks for the link.
 
I haven't been around long enough to make a definitive claim, but it seems to me there are two types of urban survival. One related to surviving walking down the street -- awareness, self defense -- in daily life would fit practical and tactical. On the other hand, surviving in an urban environment during a social breakdown, as the people in New Orleans experienced following Katrina, would be appropriate for this forum. Maybe the more senior members will weigh in on my distinction.
 
What XMP said makes perfect sense to me, but I'm a newbie here too.

Rick.
 
As the title of the forum states, it is about *wilderness & Survival skills*, not just wilderness skills. Although it seems that most of us concentrate on the wilderness aspect more than the survival, they are all linked anyways I think.

Urban emergencies bring special dangers and challenges that one may not face in the wilderness, but the basic needs of the individual don't change, so the skills required for one, will also cover most bases in the other.
 
I also think survival is the ability to adapt, Change with your suroundings as they change around you. If you cant get a grasp on things, you in for the long haul.
 
If you read very many posts, you will see that they
argue with each other; they get quite nasty and personal.

Some repeated themes are comments like these:

How many real fights have you been in lately?

If you ain't in shape and workin-out each day,
your opinion ain't ...

I also noticed them to be quite unhelpful to Kevin,
when he asked about stick fighting techniques.
 
Ive found in my personal expirience , dealing with martial artists who work out and do plenty of training fighting tend to take requests for advice as a challenge to their credibility / ability .
This is my personal feelings from what I have experienced

I have met some people that were willing to teach what worked for them , no fancy names for moves , just what worked , "do this , and then like that , but with all you got ..."

people who cannot use the correct terms for moves and know that its polite to bow before beginning the duel ... are just not worth fighting with it seems .

This is what I have found myself tho , others milage may well vary .
 
After studying martial arts for 12 years...I do not consider myself a martial artist...but a hobbyist and amature survivalist...self defense skills in my myind are just as valid as first aid skills, or cooking skills...just another tool in the utility belt. the problem is that there seems "in some cases anyway" to be a certain amount of unnecessary ego tied in to the whole thing...and people effectively become "karates snobs" which is very similar to "steel snobs" "if it's not BJJ or ats-34 than it's nothing" After someone has invested 5 or so years in a particular martial style and have invested thier sense of self security in it they have effectively drank the "magic Kool-aid" and are for the most part unwilling to acknowledge that another art might have something usefeul to offer...this of course only applies to some individuals.... every style regardless of its seemingly practical applications has something to offer, and while nothng can truly prepare you for actual combat. I feel like this type of training is like wearing a seatbelt, it doesn't guarantee that you'll survive a car accident, but it certainly improves your chances. I think that urban survival skills are a perfectly valid discussion topic within this venue..I for one live in an urban environment...and would be happy to doscuss and learn more about such topics. Well thanks for listening to another one of my crazy rants.
 
To go OT a little I like to go to forums and read the "Survival" forums, but I think most are really more about being outside than strictly survival, and most people that frequent them are more into just outdoors stuff.

While I think knowing how to survive is important, and primitive skills are cool to try, I think that they just use the word Survival in the forums to appeal to the macho element.

For instance KF has a Hiking and Camping forum and a Outdoor Survival Forum but really most of the posts in both are more about hiking and camping even though they are in the Survival forum.

Myself I want to know about stuff about orienteering, cooking in the woods, outdoor gear, plant and animal ID and cool trail reports from around the country but I wouldn't in any way say I was into survival.

The idea of eating wild food, cooking over a fire, and making a few simple things while I'm backpacking to help lighten up is really appealing, but going out unequipped to see how I can make it is not really in my agenda.
:thumbup:
 
fnc said:
If you read very many posts, you will see that they
argue with each other; they get quite nasty and personal.
.
Click to expand...

Filled...the InterNet is filled with the same types.
No matter what type of interest you have , no matter what other message forum or chatroom you visit, you run into such people as they.

I have no answer,,,sometimes I get the feeling that there are way too many teenagers on the internet.
But then I see posts, nasty personal attacking post, from guys I know are as old or older than myself, I just dont get it.

There are some forums where you do run into as nice guy once in a while, but mostly there is way too much anger
 
Survival is coming home reeking of perfume and booze and your old lady is asleep so you can shower before you get into bed..or so I have heard :)
 
Interesting posts, they vary as much as the personalities around us and that is good. I feel that it is healthy to have divergent and or similar views posed as open civil debate,this is generally productive. This forum right here is used to having civil discussion even when we differ, which makes this spot on BF a little bastion of friendly info transfer. Personally I feel that self defense, even if it goes extreme, is a repugnant but sadly necessary area to peruse. In a perfect world everything, everybody would act in a decent friendly manner etc. Unfortunately we all know that you can walk down such and such street at such and such time and have the distinct possibility of being assaulted. Obviously we try to avoid these places/scenarios and use common sense. I however want at least a little base knowledge to help protect Friends/family if it went bad in a street situation. I'm the stubborn kind of bugger that refuses to be a passive victim if there is no alternative. Hell, if I'm by myself and can't deal with it I'm perfectly willing to run. Call me chicken all you want. I do not wish to harm anyone and would go to normal lengths to avoid confrontation as it is ugly and harmful, but as I said, if out with the wife and they try to harm her............. I don't give a damn what I have to do to the offenders. With this said, I also feel that self defense is a peripheral topic in regard to this forum and I will not continue to add links such as those above. I thank the responding members for their input.
 
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