who's really done it?

R

ranger88

Joined
Feb 15, 2006
Messages
276
I see a lot of great PSK's, WSK's, and other great gear displayed on this forum. And I read lots of great lists of what folks keep in their kits. So I was just wondering, how many have ever been in a situation where they had to depend on their (stuff)

It doesn't have to have happened in the wilderness. An urban survival story will do, as long as the altoid's tin or the BK 7 came into play.
 
Luckily, I've not really 'needed' mine so far. I've also never 'needed' the gun I carry on my hip, but it's sure going to stay there.

The closest to a serious situation that I've come was one winter when we went backpacking and my sleeping bag got soaked (the sack ripped). Of course, there was also very little dry wood. We managed to find a very large cliff overhang, and I made fuzz sticks trying to warm myself up. My Bic failed for whatever reason, so I used my magnesium bar. I had to wait for my sleeping bag to dry out by the fire, and had to use one of those mylar emergency blankets to keep warm.

It was actually a really fun night, but I was glad that I had the extra fire making material, and the emergency blanket.
 
a situation where they had to depend on their (stuff)

It doesn't have to have happened in the wilderness. An urban survival story will do, as long as the altoid's tin or the BK 7 came into play.
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Pulled my buddy out of a river after he tipped his canoe. I had a fire blazing in 3 min. He said that it was good practice, I reminded him that it was the real deal.:rolleyes:
Got a buddy off a cliff he was stuck on too.Same guy.:confused:
Never needed an Altoids tin or knife, sorry.:o Most of my stuff is in my head.
 
I've been in a situation, when I was tweleve. That is when I decided I needed a kit, and when I decided to take many more precautions.
 
I won't quibble with symantics, but a PSK, at least my PSK, which could be called a WWK, or EDC, or any number of names, is designed to be used on a daily basis. When I walk in the woods, which is amost daily, I use my kit in one form or another. When I hit the sport shop and throw down the plastic, I get my Pilot G-2 pen out to sign on the dotted line. When a tourist asks where the ocean is, I get out the compass (Yeah, I really know where it is without the compass) :D, anyways, I whip out the match safe, peel the top off the compass so that they can see where west is and then I point in that direction. I've whipped out the 55gal drum liner and filled it with garbage after the 4th of July fireworks display and I made an emergency poncho out of one of the drum liners and gave it to a little girl who was out walking in the woods with her grandfather. I have fun with it and I use it.:D

But, to answer your question, yes I have used my kit in a couple of different scenarios. Neither were life threatening, because I had the cool and calm to just do what I had to do to make myself comfortable and wait out the weather that caused me to use it. One time was in Idaho when I was chasing Elk on a Ridge a few miles from where I was staying. I had walked to the area on a cold and cloudy day and it started to snow, then it turned blizzardy and I had the good sense to put up a shelter with GI poncho and built a fire to heat up some coffee. No biggie, really. Just making myself comfortable to enjoy a hot cupper and watch it snow.
 
ranger88 said:
I see a lot of great PSK's, WSK's, and other great gear displayed on this forum. And I read lots of great lists of what folks keep in their kits. So I was just wondering, how many have ever been in a situation where they had to depend on their (stuff)

It doesn't have to have happened in the wilderness. An urban survival story will do, as long as the altoid's tin or the BK 7 came into play.
Click to expand...

Hey Ranger88, i think most persons on BladeForums may naver need the kit thay have, i look around on the forums and see alot of people with what i call great to good outdoor skills, most people that stay ready, will be ready in the mind and know what to do, and have the tools to stay on top for 1 to 3 days. Lets face it, if you tell friends or family you are going backpacking and don't come home on time, thay will call for some one to look for you and now its to easy to find a person when thay are looking for you in the woods or towns. I know some may be looking in to survival skills, for at one time in there life, some one thay know may have needed it and did not have the skills at the time, some people where in the Army, some from outdoor skill schools, and the list go's on. I think, and i may be wrong, but i think about 98% of the people on this list can hang with some of the best, as skills go. Your friend at the post Donald S.
 
Hey everytime I go out.....
MtWork035-1.jpg


Any Ex-English guy would die without his cuppa !!!
Saanichinlet013-1.jpg
 
Only situation that comes to mind was a dayhike that turned unexpectedly into an extended stay. I always carry firemaking equipment, food, and some type of shelter even when just dayhiking. I was hiking along a trail a few miles off the road when a downpour starts. I get out my giant (6' wide by 10' long when spread out on the ground) poncho, and crawl under it. After thirty minutes of no let up, I made the poncho a little more shelter like with trekking poles and tie offs. When the rain finally let up, I built a fire, ate some food, put on my head lamp, and hiked out. Nothing life threatening, but more fun than if I hadn't had the stuff with me that I did.
 
Sure, used to do it on a regular basis. I did some mountaineering where the absolute minimum was carried. It wasn't in a tin, and the Buck 422 and Craftsman stockman did not save the day but most of the load had to be an Outdoor Research bivy bag and climbing gear. My take on things was to have the stuff needed to avoid being at risk from the elements. I slept in my layers rather than carry a sleeping bag. I carried a water filter, oatmeal, dried fruit, dehydrated soup, jerky, cocoa, Paydays (don't melt:D), hard candy, map & compasses (two), folding stick stove, bics, and a few other little goodies.

After about three trips it was pretty clear what was needed and what worked. The 422 shaved small sticks for the stove, stirred the soup and oatmeal (drank from the cup it was heated in), blazed limbs on the approach (pre GPS), cut boughs for a bed, and was carried on the shoulder strap. Blazing was needed only on 3 or 4 routes, though. A pocket knife or belt carry isn't very handy with a hip belt. The stockman was simply to have a second knife. It was minimalist living with heavy work for up to 6 or 7 days and not at all comfortable, but satisfying.

If not for the climbing gear, everything else would have fit in a lumbar pack. Using water tabs and without 10 days' food, a fanny pack would have been enough. Part of the "fun" was learning how to just get by when the objective was the summit(s) rather than comfort and a full belly. The only difference from several weeks would have been food and mental conditioning for the isolation. :) Regards, ss.
 
Used my Greco Hatchet (in my lumbar pack) to cut wood so it would fit into the back of my wife's car. I have a SAK with a saw in there now.

Zip-lock bags for dirty clothing when the kids were little and they've eaten lots of the hard candies, granola, and bars that are always in there. The water always gets drunk and have used the zip ties to fix LOTS of things.

The closest to an emergency was using the cord to secure a poncho when caught out in the woods during a downpour. We found out later it a tornado touched down a few miles a way.

Not really emergencies, but the family has gotten a lot of comfort out of the stuff in my bag.
 
I don't know if this counts.
We try to get out one or two times a year and spend a night or two using only what we carry in our SAR packs. It’s a great way to test new gear, shelter designs and practice/polish our skills. I highly recommend everyone that spends time in the outdoors practice with what they carry and be proficient with it.

A great example way one should carry reliable gear and knowing how to use it.
I was involved in a search for a missing hunter last year who was poorly equipped and unprepared to spend the night in the woods. He told us he was carrying cardboard to use as a fire starter. Might have worked except it rained something like 13 inches in three days and the air was saturated with moisture. Even my moisture wicking base layers and heavy Gore-Tex jacket could not keep up with the rain. Luckily it was a pineapple express and the air temperature was in the low to mid 50s. Despite the mild temperatures our subject was still mildly hypothermic after being exposed to the elements all night.
 
What is your definition of "depend"? I told this story before, and I don't think I would have died, but I was shaking cold.

Canoe trip in north Arkansas. Heavy storms all night. Rapids in the morning. I flipped and had only what was physically on me. USMC Ka-Bar, Bic lighter, and soggy pack of Winstons. I batoned to get to dry wood. Shavings and semi dry debris for tender. I was almost completely dry by the time the smart people in the group caught up with me a few hours later.


With tongue in cheek, I wish there was a MvW back then so I would have known to take off all my clothes and throw snow on my naked body. How did we all survive before Bear?
 
I have been stranded in BFE more times than I can count and my kit saved the day. I sewed up a ripped window in a humvee once with a needle I carry and dental floss, and used my homemade alcohol stove to heat it when it was bitter cold and I was supporting a 2/5 Cav TOC. We were not allowed to set up sleep tents and it was cold as hell especially without a window.

Too many stories to tell, tried to run a swollen river this spring in about 40 degree weather had to do 2 mid river rescues and built multiple fires to warm up and dry out, without a good fire kit hypothermia was a real concern.

Got stranded with a badly stuck truck in Nantahala National forest, temp got down to teens without a kit, it could have been real bad.

Got stranded with my wife in AZ, flash flood and the Gila river that I forded was to big to go back across, spent all night and some of the next day before we could get out.

I could keep going, but yeah I use the gear I carry. Chris
 
I was on a group pack trip and we got caught in a massive rainstorm with some nasty cold wind that only the mountains can produce. Nobody but me had waterproof matches. I had them inside my $19.95 survival knife handle. By the time we reached the camp at the top of the mountain three people had un-controlable shivering going on.

I was able to get a butt kicking fire viewable from space going within a few minutes. Thanks to an old dead cedar tree I was able to get some dry tinder by crawling underneath it where is was dry. I was only 14 or 15 at the time but I can rightfully say I saved everyones ass on that trip.

My dad was always grinding it in my head how to get fire going and keep it going. So I guess his harping paid off.
 
I don't know if this counts, but:

When I was about 12 years old we were flying into our cabin in Middle-of-nowhere-Alaska.

On our final approach the wind shifted and we nosed into the ground, breaking our landing gears.

We had very little supplies, aside from the survival kit I just made in Boy Scouts, but we were able to live off that for a day until we could get the parts in to fix our plane.

We had cabins to sleep in, and the clothes on our backs, but that was all we had.

We used my fishing hooks to catch some salmon, my flint/steel to light a fire, my space blanket to keep warm, and a signal mirror and the reflective side of the space blanket to signal the plane and show him where to land.

It wasn't really life and death, but it sure was nice having the kit to stay relatively comfortable.
 
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