woodland FTX advice

M

mounteveriss

Joined
Feb 20, 2003
Messages
49
Hey all,

This coming weekend I will be participating in an FTX that will take place in the George Washington National Forest in the Sheandoah Valley of VA. This will be from Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon. We are divided up into random groups of 8 or 9. Each group is furnished with a few sheets of plastic, a length of rope, a compass, and a map. Each individual is authorized a full set of BDU's to include a field jacket with hood, along with a web belt, 2qt canteen, pocket knife, and small flashlight. I plan on bringing my Leatherman Juice accompanied by either my Buck 110 or my Spyderco Endura. I am also going to try and bring my magnesium/flint and iodine water tablets. I would like any advice that anyone could offer about any aspect of this trip. We will be dropped off and are expected to cover 12 miles to reach our pick-up point. Once again, any advice is welcome advice.

Jonathan
 
Warm, dry socks :) Especially if you foresee any chance of rain or snow. Gloves would also make life a little easier. I could suggest 1000 items but they would merely add weight and if you're moving 12 miles through the woods you won't need axes,fancy pocket saws, or big camp knives. I would suggest reading up on cold weather survival for some comfort tips(dry socks,gloves,hat). Also see what you can find on field expediant shelters using your carried and available materials. Have fun either way cause a good attitude make any field exercise a little more fun. Let us know how it goes :)
 
At what point is what you bring considered unauthorized?
Since you have stated that the objective is to reach a pickup point, I assume that the groups are to 1) use the maps to determine the best possible route (which is not always a straight line) and 2) to reach that point as soon as possible.

My suggestions... travel light, bring change of clothing...
Stop only to dry your gear and bring food to be eaten while marching. You can stuff about 4 or 5 Burger King Hamburgers in an ammo pouch, and cold fries are horrible. A few rolls of life savers candy will give energy as well as stave off the desire to drink.

Bring cigs and a lighter... even if they don't let you smoke, it's a way of sneaking a lighter onto the exercise with you. Dry off using that method described on Ranger Rick's website keeping a plastic sheet or poncho over you, and burning a candle or some trioxane (don't inhale trioxane fumes).

Rope means rappelling is an option, yet is dangerous. Have a good map reader and rappell only as a last resort.

12 miles can easily be covered in a day, so if you keep on moving and get to your objective before nightfall, or shortly thereafter, it may save you the trouble of having to make shelter for the night.

Best of all, have fun. Remember that you're gonna be home in a few hours or days and at least this ain't happening for real. A positive mental attitude will make the exercise go much better and motivate those around you.
 
Plastic trash bags can be used as a poncho, ground cloth or rain fly. Hard candy keeps your mouth wet. A bandana is handy. Call me a wimp, but I'm a big fan of toilet paper. A partial roll in a Ziploc bag doesn't weigh much and may make you very popular with your mates if they didn't think of it.
 
Thanks for all the advice so far guys. Let me make some clarifications. First of all, I am a 4th classman (freshman) at the Virginia Military Institute (a tough, little college in VA, also where the movie Brother Rat is based on, for those that didnt know). So this is kind of a quasi-FTX since this is organized through the school. But in addition to the gear i mentioned we may also take extra socks and extra BDU shirts. With regard to the food/other items issue, the way i understand this, we are not allowed to bring anything other than what i have listed. They will supply each person with 2 granola bars and a stick of beef jerky also. Apparently this is supposed to simulate being a downed pilot or escaping from POW camp. Something where we would have minimal gear and resources. That is why there are restrictions on what may be brought along. Also i found out that it will be 2 full days and 1 night. Thanks for all the advice so far. It is great to have people sharing their knowledge with me, even though this should be an almost literal walk in the park.
Jonathan
 
Honorable cheating...
Things to think about
Talk to someone who did the FTX last year and find out where the exercise is taking place.
sneaking smokes will give you a lighter or matches.
Leave stuff in the Area of Operations you can scrounge up. Make it pseudo-nasty... like packing some sandwiches and taking a few bites out of everything and then stashing it somewhere easy to find.

Again, the two most important elements in this exercise is 1) reading your map well, and 2) keep moving unless an emergency dictates for you to stop... stop only to dry off or tend to injury. Everything else is comfort, and too much stuff will slow you down.
 
Well I will be heading out tomorrow for my little excursion. Thanks for all of the advice. If anything particularly interesting happens I will be sure to post it. Thanks again guys.
Jonathan
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top