Your gear is all gone.........

R

Robbie Roberson

Joined
Dec 27, 2003
Messages
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Survival gear, bobs, kits, etc., these are all great and very much needed.

But what happens when we run out of fire starting stuff, water filters/tabs etc.

I am saying if something terrible happened to cause us to have to use most all our gear.

It should be fairly simple even if our supplies run out, water, fire, shelter and food, right ?

Any ideas to help make it simple ? Plan B ?



Robbie Roberson;)
 
This is the scenario to avoid, is it not? This is why I carry my PSK on my knife sheath, strapped to my belt, strapped to my body. I figure that I'd have to be stripped naked for some reason to loose my kit. I'm not saying that it couldn't happen, I just take serious steps to avoid this scenario. My BK-7 kit is on my belt and my NRGS kit is around my neck and both cover the essentials.

Total loss of gear and supplies has been the start of many survival stories due to various reasons, boats overturn, river crossings go bad, planes go down, vehicles burn, etc. I know getting caught in an avalanche can strip a person naked in short order and even if they aren't left buried they can be in dire straights with their gear/external clothing buried who knows where.

My philosophy is to avoid this condition at all costs because I know that I'd be in deplorable condition in no time. Head knowledge doesn't cut it in this situation. If you don't have firsthand experience in the climate where this is most likely to happen then your are up the creek.

In dry season I'm fairly confident that I could build shelter and find water in my area. I could probably manage a fire with no tools making a cutter of some sort from the abundant quartz crystals we have here. I have made them on many occasions in the bush here. Dry tinder and fuel is abundant in dry season, which is good because nights at that time are very cold. You wouldn't think Brazil could get as cold as it does. In the mountains here at 6,500 feet in July we do get near freezing and skim ice/frost. Fortunately everything burns well at that time.

In the areas where I do my thing here here is an abundance of grass and sheltered areas in the rocks that can be improved with insulation and brush cover. Nights tend to fall into the 60's most of the year so with insulation and a fire you'd be OK.

Rainy season here is another matter. I seriously doubt that I could make a friction fire here from Nov to March due to nearly constant rains. At the height of rainy season (Jan) it will rain almost non-stop for a month straight. Without a fire and a sheltered location you'd be wet and miserable. It is hard for me to imagine being in such a situation witout being the victim of some sort of crime. Mac
 
Study Primitive Survival :D

Man lived on this world for a long time with only things found in nature.
 
tom brown rarely carries anything but the clothes on his back when he goes into the forest. sometimes he admits to carrying a knife.
hes been in much more survival type situations than any of us i bet. hes still alive, yes?
of course his whole life has been devoted to primitive living and tracking, but anyone serious about survival can probably learn the basics of this in a few years.
 
When I go out into the wilderness I carry either a GAK (German Army Knife) or a one handed Tracker with a BSA hot spark on 550 cord around my neck. I also carry another piece of cord with a 4 in 1 whistle (whistle, thermometer, compass and magnifying glass), chapstick, and photon light.

I need to get in the habit of taking my trashbags, and PSK out of my pack and carrying them in my pockets.

But at least with a knife, saw and hotspark I should be able to make a fire.

Chad
 
Around here I doubt you could ever get more than a days walk from Walmart so if I ran out of supplies I guess I would find the nearest Walmart and restock.
 
I would say drink the water and get the sh1ts. Learn to make stone tools. Not even fancy ones it is very easy to get a simple blade out of a piece of stone. Learn to make fire by friction or with pyrite or flint. Life was auctually much easier during the prehistoric past. You only have to spend on average 4 hours a day working to survive in relative ease. With our modern conveniences surrounding us many people would be completely lost and probably just die in such a situation. So either learn how to survive or be careful and don't let yourself get in a position like that.
 
Most of our gear is used up.....we now need water, fire, food, and shelter.

I think we all would agree that water is probably the most important thing to think about first.

I think if we break all these things down and try to have a plan B for them, then we surely can survive.

Example, no water filtration means,

A. find water source.
B. figure means to filter/boil.

Am I correct in saying this problem would be solved for the time being ?

Survival of course means we would need to do this one task every day.......pretty serious stuff we are talking about, and we have not even discussed food yet.

I don't mean to sound negative, It just hit me that in serious storms like we have seen recently, my survival methods would have to be refined, especially if most of my supplies are gone.

It's something worth thinking about in advance I think.

Robbie Roberson;)
 
I have always believed that “The Sacred Order” of survival is;

1. Shelter 2. Water 3. Fire 4. Food
 
Myakka, you may be right, I get thirsty pretty fast though........maybe just a sip or two before making my shelter.:(



Robbie Roberson.;)
 
Robbie Roberson said:
Myakka, you may be right, I get thirsty pretty fast though........maybe just a sip or two before making my shelter.:(



Robbie Roberson.;)
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Try fasting for 24+ hours (no food or water) I'll bet you can. After four days tho ya better have a sip or two.
 
Try to survive 24 hours in a freezing/snow storm with out shelter

I have fasted for several days with out food, and 24 hours with out water.
 
Myakka said:
Try to survive 24 hours in a freezing/snow storm with out shelter

I have fasted for several days with out food, and 24 hours with out water.
Click to expand...
been there.
 
mewolf1 said:
Try fasting for 24+ hours (no food or water) I'll bet you can. After four days tho ya better have a sip or two.
Click to expand...
only making reference to finding out how far your body can actually go without, and, killing the fear of going without. After you've done it, it won't scare you til about four days pass and you know time is running out. chances are tho you'll figure out where to get water before then. Obviously a desert situation is more critical.:thumbup:
 
In other words, conditioning myself ? It does make sense, but of course it would be a little hard to do.

Having no water scares me much more than no food, fire or shelter for several days.

Of course I can't say which would cause me the most pain, I hope I never get to find out.:rolleyes:

This survival stuff makes me a little nervous..........:o

Robbie Roberson;)
 
Robbie Roberson said:
In other words, conditioning myself ? It does make sense, but of course it would be a little hard to do.

Having no water scares me much more than no food, fire or shelter for several days.

Of course I can't say which would cause me the most pain, I hope I never get to find out.:rolleyes:

This survival stuff makes me a little nervous..........:o

Robbie Roberson;)
Click to expand...
I mean try it IN the house and around the yard, practice where it is safe and beat the fear.IMO:) It's not really conditioning it is expanding the knowlege of your limitations. It is a strange feeling looking at scuzzy water and thinking to yourself,, I'd drink that right now. Your mind is your biggest enemy, or friend,control it and you'll live.
 
I whole heartedly agree with Myakka's "sacred order". The first two, shelter and water may trade positions depending on conditions.

As far as threats go hypothermia will reduce your physical conditon beyond the ability to help yourself quicker than dehydration. If dehydration is going to be the main concern, such as in desert conditons, then it will be fairly obvious.

I heard recently of a soaked ice fisherman in Europe that was found in his hastily built snow shelter frozen to death. In his case a roaring fire would have been a better strategy, maybe he wasn't prepared to make one or his matches were soaked. The point being that hypothermia is the killer, not lack of shelter. Sometimes a fire is the thing and has to be made right away.

In extreme heat I have gone through as much as 8 liters of water in a day. Hypothermia wasn't even a consideration.

The last trip I made to the mountains was a real toss-up between the need for water and the need for shelter. We had to find water but it was getting dark and needed to set up camp as well. In our case we had bags, bivy sacks, and ponchos so it wasn't a matter of using natural materials, but it did make us think a bit. We were able to collect one liter of water and decided that would have to do until morning.

I've done two trips where food became an issue. One was a planned 8 day trip with almost no food, we forced ourselves to live off the land. Day four we killed a small deer and we also caught some fish, blueberries, wild grapes, etc. You can deal with hunger and anything nature provides just makes it easier.

The other trip was a 10 day canoe trip in Canada. Due to an outfitters error and some mishandling by members of the group we were reduced to starvation rations for the duration. We were able to catch fish, crayfish, freshwater clams, etc. We were all working off the fat reserves but after a few days a new "normal" took over and we had a great time.

I devote very little space in my PSK to food gathering, it's just not that important to me anymore. Several times I have spent the nigth in bad shelter and that is absolute misery such that I don't want to repeat the exercise. So far I have never been caught without the means to make a fire or have not been able to light one when needed. I aim to keep it that way. Mac
 
I completly agree to pict. Nothing will take away your moral faster than beeing cold.Nor hunger nor thirst will kill you as fast as hypothermia.
 
I agree with Pict.

It would depend upon the weather, my physical condition, and my location that would determine my odds for survival.

Are we talking about a day hike in the state and county that I live in?
Or a week long deep wilderness adventure?
Or a sailing trip that goes wrong and becomes a "Castaway" situation?

If it was summertime here in the Carolinas, and I was uninjured and in good health, I would'nt really need any gear to hike to "civilization".
I'm sure that I could make it out of the "wilderness" with only a few bruises, briar-thorn scratches, and skeeter bites.
My greatest fear would probably be some farmer's dog getting after me, or getting bit by a cotton-mouth.

It would be a totally different story if I were stranded, without gear, in Death Valley.
Or if I were caught, without gear, in a blizzard in Montana.
Or lost at sea.
Or if I had a broken femur or some other serious injury.

The sad truth of the matter is that in the lower 48 states here in the USA, it is nearly impossible to walk five miles in one direction without reaching a settlement, river, road, train-tracks, or trail.
So, I would'nt fear being "lost forever" and starving to death or dying of thirst (so long as I was uninjured).

A very real concern is that heat-exhaustion or hypothermia could take me out before I could hike back to "civilization" or before help could arrive.

In any event, I have quite a few primitive skills under my belt:
Shelter building
Firestarting
Direction finding
Tool making
Water procurement

But it would'nt be fun.

And for what it's worth, I would consider being lost at sea to be the very worst situation.

Good luck,
Allen.
 
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