Onward and Upward

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First of all we would like to thank everyone for the support over the past year. We were able to meet some significant benchmarks in 2010, and we could never have done that without everyone’s help.  We have some incredible plans and goals in store for this year and will continue to keep improving on the base that we have established.

On Youtube towards the end of the year our channel was upgraded and we are now able to easily do full length trainings with no time limit. We have plans for some incredible video trainings with our new survival system that we will be launching this month. We have started shooting our videos in HD which will give a higher quality option in our full length trainings as well as better videos in general. We crossed the 100,000 mark on our channel in total upload views in 2010, and have plans to triple that this year!

In 2010 we were able to add a few additional products to our line including the launch of our Personal Survival Tarp, which has had some significant interest across the survival community.  We have been testing and developing many products throughout the past year and will be adding them to our catalog this year. We have a few exciting changes that we will be making to our current products, and we will keep you up to date on the changes as they happen.

Our winter products will be added over the next couple of weeks, we have had many people inquiring about our FOAM (Fully Optimized Arctic Management) Gear, specifically the Mukluks which underwent some changes from the initial video that we created for those. We have plans to sell the Mukluks as well as sell the patterns with the materials to be able to make them yourself. We have some awesome plans for the FOAM gear line and will continue to grow that throughout the winter season.

We have planned out dates for our Quarterly Survival Rendezvous and have some fun things in store for each of the survival trainings. Make sure you check out those dates on our Calendar under the WI events page. We will continue to add additional Training dates and keep you posted on those as well.

As a company we are so excited to grow and continue working toward our goal of “Simplifying Survival” without your help we would not be able to meet those goals, so again we thank you for your continued support!

The Wilderness Innovation team!

Culture of Uniformity How Standardization Affects Us

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These days it seems that everything must be constrained to fit into its own little box…

… it all has to fit into certain parameters . Music is not analog anymore, except live performances, it’s digital; this means every sound must be assigned a value, it has to fit into some compartment, whereas analog, the way we’ve listened since the beginning, is infinite. A sound pitch can be variable, anywhere, as well as intensity etc. Now I know this may sound picky or that you cannot discern the differences. I maintain that the differences are discernible, perhaps not in such a measurable way, but in the atmosphere and ambiance. There is a difference and it must be felt in some way.

Many things now that they are digitized are also error checked and brought into compliance. Everything about modern society has begun to conform to the new uniformity. Now I’m not saying there is not some good in this, there is much that is positive. It allows for incredible repeatability, and duplication, for amazing productivity.

Here’s where I think things fall apart for uniformity and standardization. We have now come to desire to measure everything, and to use statistics to mold everything to what everyone wants. I think this leads to blandness. There is excitement in the newances of something fresh and different.

I know you think I’m off my rocker today on this little editorial blog, especially in why am I pursuing this topic, who cares about this stuff in relation to survival? Ah ha now if you are thinking in that way, that’s where you’re wrong, it has everything to do with survival.

Here’s one way to look at it. All of our foods these days are formulated, tested, evaluated, measured in every conceivable way, statistics are generated proving the likeability of a particular dish. So just what does all that research do? It generates compliant food. Not that someone is forced to make some certain menu item, but that we are trying to avoid failure by staying in the norm.

So now you are in a survival situation and have grown up in such a culture as we have just talked about. If you eat something wild, it’s flavors may be offensive to you, not that they are bad, but that culturally we have made our flavors fit into the appropriate boxes. Let’s take Chokecherries, or Wild Cherries as they are sometimes called. They are delicious, but there is an astringent sub flavor to them that some find undesirable. These berries are very healthy, and if you let yourself go a bit, you will adapt and find the taste is really almost addicting. It’s that little astringent taste, that no food manufacturer would risk having, that at first is a bit odd, even kind of a different mouth feel, but as you become accustomed to it, you soon find other foods seem rather boring.

So here’s the deal, if you need to eat wild foods, have an open mind, while eating it try to discern the vast flavor variety that is present, many flavors and smells you’ve never had the privilege of experiencing. Make it an adventure, not a mishap.

The same thing applies to discomforts we never really experience in our everyday lives, hunger, a bed on the ground, heat and cold, we can look at them as horrible things or we can learn from them. A big part of survival lies in our attitude, if we can try to make everything an adventure, we will get through it better, enjoy life more, and pile up a mountain of interesting experiences that we can share with family and friends.

Until next time, “Simplifying Survival” this is Perry Peacock

Real Life Long Term Survival

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When we attend to the five survival essentials, we can survive through all four seasons as evidenced by a man I recently met.

The other day I was on a hike going from the mouth of a canyon near my house  with the objective of getting up into the fresh snow falling high in the mountains. My journey started at the trail head putting my pack on, stuffing the patch pockets of my tactical pants with trail snacks, attaching my camera to my front harness and the tripod on the side. Besides the snow I was after, I wanted to shoot some various footage for upcoming YouTube videos.

I started up the trail, it was a cool morning, I had on my NorthFace polyester long sleeved tee and Wilderness Innovation polo over top. The temperatures were just around freezing and there was a brisk cold breeze in my face, as the cold air from high above flowed down the canyon like an invisible stream. What a great day to be out and hiking in the canyons. The trail up the canyon was quite steep for a good ways, gaining lots of altitude quickly. The canyon walls are steep on both sides, the North side being extremely rugged with sharp rock faces and jagged canyons that extended up into the clouds. Staring up high into the trees  I could see that they were frosted with snow, I love that sight, to me it is one of the most beautiful things about snowfall.

I followed the trail as it wound up the the canyon, I was soon seeing some snow along the South side of the trail, with little patches on the trail.  Up ahead a small spring still flowing out of the hillside and across the trail, there is frost on it’s edges with paper thin transparent ice forming in spots. A little farther up the trail another familiar spring, much larger flowed creating a little oasis of much different plant life than found most other places along the trail.

It was just after I passed this second spring that I saw up ahead on the trail, a man who appeared to be dragging something, perhaps a deer I thought, until I got closer.  He was dragging two logs with ropes tied to them and up over his shoulder. Getting even closer I could see his ragged profile. Here was a man who obviously lived in the canyon.

His face was weathered, yet clean, he had a long grey beard with white streaks in it. He was wearing some ragged but solid clothing. I could see places where the clothing had torn and he had carefully taken a needle and thread, and making a sort of zigzag stitch had closed it all in again, nice and sturdy.

Being curious as I am and always enjoying people no matter their circumstances, I smiled and said to him, it’s a beautiful day in the canyon isn’t it? A slight grin came over his cracking lips as he replied that it was indeed.  I then asked him about the wood he was dragging, “are you stocking up on firewood?” “I am,”  said he. Then being a little bolder I said to him, “do you live here, in this canyon?” To which the man replied almost proudly, “yes I do, I’m trying to gather my firewood before winter. I built a little cabin near here out of stones. Last year I put a roof on it, got it done just before snowfall.” “Wow that’s great I replied, it’s probably a lot more comfortable now isn’t it?” “Yes, ” he said, “it is much better now.” Then seeing an urgency in his eyes, I excused myself and said, “nice to meet you, I better let you get back to work so you can get ready for winter, I’m heading up to the top, into the snow, I’ll see you later perhaps.” Then he told me all kinds of details about the trail and the area and what I would find at the top, and about some workers he had seen recently up there. We parted and I continued on my way, and he on his, dragging his logs down the trail.

Me on the trail

My first reaction, the outdoor adventure man in me was pretty excited, think about it, this man lives in the canyon, and he built a small rock cabin, oh all the adventure is overwhelming. The euphoria, soon subsides as reality sets in. I have always taught the 5 essentials of survival;  shelter, fire, water, food and medical, to which while writing my book on survival, I had realized that I missed one, social. The company of another person is generally always better, and in long term survival, essential for proper mental conditioning, and for labor sharing. This man was lacking the social aspect, well I don’t know for sure if there is anyone else, he only talked of himself.

I know from my testing and training episodes, which have nearly always been solo events for me, that the evenings are lonely, night comes quickly and there is no one to talk to, I have generally busied myself with with writing notes, and thoughts details about the experience.

So this guy has somehow provided himself with Shelter, fire, water, to a degree food, I don’t know about medical, and finally social seems to be lacking. Perhaps he is there to avoid social interactions, I don’t know. He seems to have made the best of the situation and has lived in this condition for at least two years. On my way down the trail I searched to see his cabin. I was able to just see it through the trees, stone walls, and a wood and tar paper roof. There were two clotheslines with clothes hanging on them. He seemed elevated a little more than many of the hobo’s I’ve seen before, not just existing, but actually trying steadily to make improvements.

Just today I was thinking about him again, and I thought that perhaps I would load up my backpack with canned food and hike it up there to him, surely he could use it. We have a couple bags of goods that were to be picked up for the needy, and ours were missed, so now I’m going to take them to him. Perhaps we could all be mindful of those in need around us and lend a hand. Meeting this man has aroused a reminder in me to do these things, and so I shall. I may have some additional things to write in future blogs, if I get to know this man and his story.

Until next time, Perry Peacock, all about “Simplifying Survival”

Wilderness Holiday Special

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As you all know the holidays are quickly rolling around the corner! We are offering a Holiday Special on the item that we feel should be with every outdoor enthusiast! The Mini Every Day Carry kit or Mini EDC kit has the CORE essentials for any survival situation.

The kit includes a top notch lifetime guaranteed Swiss Army knife, that will give you many options for harvesting and building what you need. You are also getting a Doan magnesium fire starter that will allow you to start 1000+ fires in most any situation! The kit contents are secured in a Wilderness Innovation Carry kit that comes in various different colors and has MOLLE capabilities to attach to belts or a pack.

The Mini Every Day Carry Kit is a perfect gift for any outdoor enthusiast. The average hiker, camper, or mountain biker should have these core essentials with them at all times. The Mini EDC Kit was developed for anyone to have what they need if they find themselves in a survival situation, it is small and compact enough that it can be easily carried on their person at all times.

You can get the Mini EDC Kit from now until Christmas for $34.95 which is $5 off of the original price, by using the Holiday coupon code of XMAS during your checkout process.

You can checkout the Mini EDC kit by clicking here

Survival Do You have Fear of Failure?

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Without Failure, there is no Learning

photo Edison Institute

Thomas Edison was relentless in his quest to find a way to produce a good light bulb or rather a reliable filament. Light bulbs had been around for years, but they were not practical, since they were expensive and did not last long or give good light.  At one point he had thoroughly documented over 1000 experiments on finding a filament that would work. A reporter once asked him how he felt after a thousand failures. Edison promptly responded that there were no failures, and that what had occurred was that he now knew 1000 filaments that did not work. Eventually he said he tried over 6000 plant fibers from all over the world.

Even when he finally did get a good light bulb, with a lasting filament, there were many hurdles we don’t think about that were necessary before his light bulb was truly a success. At the time there was not an efficient generation system, no power lines to distribute that power, no socket for the bulb to screw into, there were no electrical switches, electrical voltages needed to be regulated somehow within a narrow range, there needed to be fuses and insulators and many other things.

Edison did not have a failure bone in his body, to him nothing was failure, it was only a part of the learning process. We live in a society today that seems to concentrate itself on failure. We look for failure in others and we dread failure in ourselves, we have become obsessed. We now have some sports with no scores, schools that don’t want to grade students.

I’m afraid that perhaps some of that culture has spilled over into things like survival learning as well. Many want to watch videos, but not practice, they want to review for others products they have not tried, they want to read about others experiences but not risk having their own.

People feel like they should be able to start a fire anytime with never a failure, and they are afraid to try out their skills in front of anyone, they cannot confront the possibility of a botched attempt, so real consistant practice never happens.

I practice all the time, I fail sometimes in my first attempt, and it doesn’t bother me a bit, I don’t even miss a beat, but move ahead to the next try. Most of the time when fire doesn’t take right off, it’s because I’ve got into a hurry and not properly prepared like I know I should, other times, I’m just trying something to see how it goes. In any event it is always an opportunity to learn, it makes me better every time I fail. In fact I welcome failure, it is the process of my education, it has taught me most of what I’ve really learned in life.

If you want to be good at survival, be prepared to fail. If you want to strive to be the best, be ready to take your lumps. Striving to overcome obstacles and difficulty, is the fuel that lights the innovative mind.

Pretend in your own way to be an Edison, at least to yourself. Have you researched, practiced extensively, and noted what survival fire starting tool is best for you? What have you evaluated is the best way to provide safe sufficient water? Do you know how to set a camp in all weather conditions, I mean have you actually done it enough to really know? Have you selected a knife and used it enough times that it has become like a part of your body?

In all the above examples and in many more I could cite, the tool or the skill, is to you, like the filament was to Mr. Edison. It is trial and error until perfected. Just remember that in this process, failure is not failure as society thinks of it these days, failure is learning, it can be the process of elimination on the way to finding the best tools and gear, and the honing of physical skills.  The whole process simplified is like a scientist proposing some hypothesis, then embarking to prove it, if it does not work, he makes a variation and tries again. Without failure, there is no learning.

For Wilderness Innovation, this is Perry Peacock, “Simplifying Survival”

Cold and Snow are they a good thing?

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Some years ago I worked as an engineer for a major sporting goods manufacturer. I was responsible for mountain products. I had to maintain the integrity of existing products as well as work on R&D for new products. The R&D was what I really loved to do, it was like Christmas every day, always something new. One thing I really learned from that experience was about trade offs. When we sought an improvement in something and we pushed in a certain direction to achieve that, we had to analyze what effects and side effects occurred as a result.

For example in some of our aluminum products we pushed hard for super strong, light weight tubing, as we achieved that, the tubing became more brittle. To a point that was fine because it still took a lot to break it, but when it did break it was almost explosive due to the extreme forces needed to break it, such that when it did give way all that energy was released violently. What we sought to do was find a point that maximized the strength, but limited the effects of violent breakage.

What’s the point of this in relation to cold and snow?

We find in all things that there are trade offs and the trick is to make the most of the advantages to us, while restricting any undesirable effects. Let’s start off with looking into snow and it’s influence on our activities.

In the summertime in many places, like where I live in the Desert Southwest United States, water is a very big concern. It can be quite difficult to find enough water, however in the winter there is snow providing us an almost unlimited supply. Snow and cold are conditions that can easily become deadly to us, but with the increased threat they bring, there is also a huge advantage, in fact an advantage that may completely offset, the threat they present. Think about this, hypothermia is the greatest killer in cold conditions, but very few people get it without first being dehydrated, so isn’t it amazing that the dangerous cold gives us abundant snow that can easily be melted into water we can drink and help prevent hypothermia. If snow and cold provide the remedy for the threat they issue, can you still say they are a bad thing?

Here’s another example. Some years ago I was on an outing with our Boy Scouts, where pleasant weather quickly turned to quite a snow storm. The boys got to their tents as the leaders buttoned things up. The boys were concerned about me as I had not yet set up a tent, indeed I didn’t bring one. What I had was a revolutionary sleeping system. I slid into a plastic tube that was sealed shut on the foot end. I quickly fell into a deep sleep. Before I knew it I could hear the boys awake, it was already morning and they were trying to figure out where I was. I was so comfortable that I didn’t want to get up yet, so I listened to them for a bit as they talked and explored around looking for me. Finally not wanting to stress them too much I crawled from my sleeping set up and popped up through the snow into the wind and chilly air. It had snowed a fair amount during the night making it impossible to find me by looking.

What happened was that the cold air turned rain into snow which fell on me while sleeping, to a depth of nearly two feet. All that fresh snow was very light due to the cold dry air, so it was light because quite a bit of air was in it. That trapped air became an insulator, similar to a down sleeping bag, keeping me very warm and comfortable. So here is another situation where the deadly cold and snow provided again a remedy protecting my body from heat loss while I slept through the night. Again I ask are snow and cold bad things?

I could go on and on with examples, in fact when I teach classes I always like to take a little time to list the positive effects of snow and cold. If we are inclined to find the advantages presented to us in winter conditions, we will find ways to not only survive it, but to also enjoy our time in it.

Here’s a little quick list of positives for being in the cold and snow:

  • It’s not hot
  • Solitude, not crowded with people
  • Challenging
  • No mosquitoes, bugs
  • Plenty of water
  • Lots of sheltering possibilities
  • Furniture, you can carve your own out of snow
  • Healthy clean environment
  • Physical activity
  • It’s absolutely beautiful
  • Travel can be easier, much of the brush is under the snow and you can walk right over it
  • Experience in it builds confidence resulting in more pleasure

So that’s it for now, the bottom line is to look for the remedies cold and snow give us to neutralize their threat. Most of all get out in it, learn to make the most of winter, gain all the experience you can, you will then have the confidence to really enjoy your time, and your safety will be greatly enhanced.

Until next time, “Simplifying Survival,” this is Perry Peacock for Wilderness Innovation.

Learning from Cold Conditions

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“Cold makes us more Creative” – Krzysztof  Wielicki

Ice Warriors, National Geographic, Jan 2008

In the process of writing my book “Simplifying Survival” I have been doing some research, and with winter coming I am focused on cold weather living and survival.  So I got in a file box of articles and stories I had saved for future reference, and the future is now for one particular story in the National Geographic. I had marked a story, “Ice Warriors,” as one of interest. Rereading it again now I see things I had not noted back then. We are never standing in the same place twice in our lives, this we cannot do, for experience changes us, it moves us, it alters our perspective. I have found myself so many times reading a book or article again and then later again, each time improving my harvest of information.

Krzysztof Wielicki is one of the worlds most successful Himalayan climbers. According to the article he was the fifth person in the world to summit all fourteen of the 8000 meter (~26,000 feet) peaks and was with first climbers to summit Everest in the winter, a very tough feat, such that in past 30 years since he did it, only 7 others have. He made the top of two others in winter as well, of which one, Lhotse,  he did solo. He was also the first man to summit an 8000 meter peak in one day, Broad Peak, up and back in 22 continuous hours. He is an incredible man with unbelievable achievements, check it out and see (link at end of blog).  So why do I tell all this about Wielicki? Because he teaches us some important things, knowledge we can use in our own lives. You see we all have our own Everest’s, we have our own solo climbs, we each have our own winters with the accompanying biting cold to get through.

At the head of this blog I quoted something striking Wielicki said, “Cold makes us more creative.”  So when you go outside in the winter how do you look at the snow and the cold? Do you see it as a roadblock? Does something in you tell you to go back inside and wait for spring? When I contemplate his statement, what I understand is that cold is a positive thing, since as he says, it “makes us more creative.” In other words cold teaches us to be better, it challenges us. Cold is something we cannot change, we must adapt to survive, and that makes us try new things, it forces us to improve.

Since he retired from climbing himself, Wielicki tries to inspire other Polish climbers as he talks about, “the joy of positive suffering – because if something is easy, you will not enjoy it, really.” Positive suffering, are you kidding me? It seems like an oxymoron. Another of the Poles, Jerzy Kukuczka, is described as a “psychological rhinoceros,” unequaled in his ability to suffer. His accomplishments are also astounding.

So do we need to suffer? Surely we do in some way if we want if we want to learn and grow. Certainly I know my challenge is to learn to be comfortable in winter, in the icy hurricane winds and blinding snow. Something else I know is that some of the memories that are most deeply ingrained in my mind are the times of struggling through harsh conditions.

There are many stories I could tell, but let me mention now some feelings of one experience. It was not in the fabled Himalaya, nothing says it has to be, it just needs to be a challenge to you. I was doing some minimalist camping, getting wet and and then icy, and without proper protective gear. As I sat leaned against a tree for hours, the freezing rain soon soaked my clothes, and the little blanket I was testing. I decided to try laying down covering myself the best I could. I was battling to keep my body from hypothermia, having studied it for decades I was all too aware of the symptoms of its onslaught. I lay still getting a degree of stability, then I would start shivering uncontrollably, I told myself, “don’t stop it, let it warm me.”  After about 10 minutes the shivering would stop, my body having warmed enough for it to cease. In about 15 or 20 minutes it would happen again, and for hours this continued. I was trying to monitor my condition, “are the periods between shivering staying about the same or getting shorter?”  As long as they weren’t coming on more frequently, I figured I was cold, but stable.

It’s amazing in these types of experiments how aware I became of everything in my body, and how I could learn to effectively monitor my condition.  I’m challenged to find a way to catch 15 minutes of sleep before the chill awakens, and learning to love the brief moments of sleep. There is a certain enjoyment as the minutes and hours tick by, the realization that I am maintaining myself, that I will make it till morning when the test is over and a fire can be kindled. Indeed there is a pleasure when it’s all over, realizing what I learned, and while drinking a cup of hot chocolate, knowing it was a successful night.

If a person really wants to be prepared he must subject himself to some discomfort, he must challenge the cold to become more creative. The learning comes from the test.

For Wilderness Innovation I’m Perry Peacock and I am “Simplifying Survival.”

Link to Weilicki’s acheivements: Everest News

Story about Wielicki and the Poles: Ice Warriors, by Mark Jenkins, National Geographic Magazine January 2008

Every Day Carry Survival Items

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There are many different views out there on what you should be carrying with you everyday for your personal survival items. I would say for this reason most things that you carry with are going to be a personal preference. There should be some core items that are standard that every pack should have.

Every Day Carry BagWith this all of this in mind we have recently designed a kit that knocks 2 of these items off of the list. We know that two of the most important survival items are a fire starting source and a knife to start and help collect your tinder and fuel for the fire. In any situation a knife is by far the most handy Item to have because of the multi purpose it has, especially if you are carrying a swiss army knife or multi tool. We call our kit the Mini Every Day Carry kit or Mini EDC. In this kit are two items that we have researched and found to be the very BEST in a fire starting source and knife, which are the Doan Magnesium Fire Starter and the Swiss Army Camper knife.

At this point there is many additional items that you can carry with you. For instance I carry my Off road real survival kit which has most of the necessary items listed above. I also carry around a pair of Binoculars mostly for preference reasons, because I like to have them on me at all times. After you have the core items that are many additional things that you can add to your pack.

  • Fixed blade knife
  • Additional lengths of para cord (can never have to much of this stuff)
  • Water retention of some sort
  • Water purification system
  • Mini backpacking stove or Twig Stove
  • Firearms with necessary permit
  • Thumb drive with important documents that you may need
  • Quick shelter such as the Personal Survival Tarp
  • Food items from trail mix to Mountain House meals or MRE’s
  • Expanded First Aid Kit
  • Collapsible saw for for building permanent shelters and a fire
  • Basic Sewing kit
  • Additional Light sources like flashlights

With these things in mind some of the items may not be necessary things for you but would be for others. The Main thing to remember when you are choosing these survival items is priority.  Like I talked about with the core items earlier,  getting a fire started and a shelter built, you are well on your way to increasing your chances, at that point you need to start searching for a water source and food. With the fire you are going to be able to not only cook your food that you find but also boil your water to purify it so that you do not get sick from the harmful bacterias.

When you are deciding to add items to your every day carry pack you may want to start with items that are going to make things easier and more efficient for you. Starting with your water retention like a water bottle and a possible metal cup to boil the water with, then moving to a simple purification system that would take the boiling step out of the mix. Next would be a quick shelter option which will allow you to be mobile and not have to exhaust your much needed energy to survive.

Additions beyond these items are clearly up to you and I would say “Be Creative!” come up with items that you will get multiple functions out of. Think of things that are going to help not only you but others survive the harshest of conditions.  Like Perry talks about all the time, Survival is 90% a mental game, and if there are survival items that will put your mind at ease make sure that you pack them.

As always keep it and fun and keep it safe and we will keep “Simplifying Survival“

Fire Science – We Simplify It

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Fire has been around since the first man walked on planet Earth, so why do you need to know any science about it?

Tinder Shavings starting to flame

Technically you don’t need to know that much about it. Just like you don’t need to know how a lawn mower engine works, or how yeast works to raise bread dough, you don’t need to know to change a tire, and of course you have no need to know the aerodynamics of a spiraling football,  if you are a hunter you don’t need to know the parts of a gun and how it works, if you are a seamstress you don’t need to know how a sewing machine forms a locking stitch,

You don’t need to know any of these things, just point and shoot, or just let the machine do the work and don’t think about it, just throw the dang football, who cares how a nice perfect spiral is formed. No you don’t need to bother learning any of the details of the things you do in life, just go along like a robot, doing what you have seen others do, not learning or knowing anything beyond the basics.

Why go to the trouble of learning how a fire comes to be, when I can just fire up a lighter and get one going? If a person is smart, if an individual is intelligent, if someone wants to be properly prepared, then that person will learn how things work, what makes things happen, how else could he troubleshoot a problem?

Throughout time one man has just copied the success of another man without knowing why certain things were done or why a specific sequence was followed. That’s like blind faith, it’s apathetic really. Think of it this way, if a quarterback starts having trouble with his passes and has no idea whatsoever how aerodynamics come into play in effective passing, how can he correct his game? It will be hit and miss, more a matter of luck, or plain repetition. If he understands the why and how of it, he can watch what he is doing or what is happening and determine the problem and make corrections. If a person bakes bread and suddenly finds the bread doesn’t raise he may find that he may have killed the yeast with too hot water. See without knowledge and understanding if problems arise, the solutions are shots in the dark until something works.

So what are some facts about fire that are important?

Composition of Wood

  • Fire is a chemical reaction, an exothermic reaction, in other words a reaction that produces excess heat
  • Wood is made of cellulose which burns at between 400°F and 500°F
  • Seasoned wood is still about 20% water
  • To burn 10 pounds of wood completely it takes 1,100 cubic feet of air
  • Water in wood can’t get much over 220°F, but cellulose has to be over 400° to burn, there is no fire until the water is gone
  • Cellulose is made of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. Each pound of hydrogen, when it burns  makes 9 pounds of water
  • A fire has 3 stages, 1st it burns off the water and CO2 (smoke), 2nd it burns superheated gases (blue flames), 3rd it burns carbon (coals glowing)
  • A pound of wood has 6000 to 7000 BTU’s and it only takes 187 BTU’s to take 1 pound (pint) of water from 35°F to boiling
  • The Fire Triangle is a diagram showing the 3 elements needed to have fire, namely heat, fuel, and oxygen

    The Fire Triangle - Essentials for Fire

To properly start a fire you need to start small and work into larger fuel, so in other words it’s like growing a plant, you start small with a seedling and nurse it along until it grows to full size. It requires more care and attention in the beginning, then as it takes hold you can ease off a bit and relax.

A small ember or flame cannot start a log on fire, that would be like a mouse pushing a locomotive. Match your starter fuel, known as tinder, to your heat source, the ember or flame.

Remember in the facts above that wood contains 20% water and the 3 stages of fire, your ember or flame works best when your tinder is small, fine and dry, only then can it easily burn off the water and CO2 then start the tinder burning. Add small twigs which you have previously gathered, slowly, don’t choke the tiny fire. Adding to much too soon does two things, it cuts off some of the oxygen supply (remember fire triangle) and absorbs some of the heat (again the fire triangle) possibly stopping the chemical reaction, killing the fire. That’s all there is to starting a fire, just pay attention to the essentials and it will work all the time.

Much more coming on fire from time to time in the future, and also in our training materials and Rendezvous.

For Wilderness Innovation, this is Perry Peacock, Simplifying Survival

Real World Conditions Training

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How many of you have purposely put  yourselves in tough weather? Why would you do it? Would you try it with minimal gear?
I would,  I do,  and will again.
Since I was in grade school I have relished the thought of being out in the blizzard. I used to watch the weather as a kid to see if it was going to be rough, if so my adreniline started pumping, excitement filled my mind. I would envison myself in my tent the wind trying to tear it apart. Would I be buried in snow? Would the fierce wind destroy my shelter?
One time I was up in the mountains sitting on a rock outcropping, the sky above me and behind me to the East was perfectly blue and  absolutely clear, but to the West an entirely different story. I saw a storm front like I’d never seen before. As far as I could see to the North and to the South an enormous black wall of dense clouds moving steadily towards me. It was as though it would take over the world. Directly to the West of me lay the Great Salt Lake with Antelope island in the midst of it and it’s peaks 2500 feet above the water. Already lightnings had struck many times, igniting a fire on the island. I waited intently watching the storm unleash it’s fury, a Western thunderstorm. As it drew closer to me I could feel a change in the air, breezes became winds, thunder shook the ground, I smelled the fresh ions in the air.  “I should go down soon, but the storm is captivating, how long can I wait?”  I asked myself.  Just a bit more and I’ll race down the trail at full speed, I’ll escape the storms danger, just in the nick of time.
It’s a thrill isn’t it?
It is the same in the bitter cold and deep snow of winter, a sure rush of excitement to challenge the elements.
Last spring I did a test out in the mixed rain and snow with just my  PSB (WI Personal Survival Blanket) and dressed in only in my street clothes. It was rain turning to snow around midnight. I went up the canyon, wrapped the PSB around me, and sat down leaning against a tree for several hours, I was getting wet, but still warm. Then I laid down on the ground with the PSB around me,  it snowed the rest of the night. Even soaking wet I was warm enough to sleep off and on, not comfortable, but survivable.
Doing these tests, are they cold, and miserable? Yes if done properly. But it’s also a learning experience, done in a somewhat controlled manner. I’m where I can go home if I just can’t deal with it. In these conditions you find out a lot about yourself, you learn to listen to your body, making small adjustments to make it feel just comfortable enough to get 30 minutes or perhaps an hour of sleep before doing it all again. A person can learn intensely in these situations about gear, what works and what doesn’t, about yourself, what your body can handle and what’s too much. Reading, watching videos and attending seminars are indeed valuable, but without some real world experience, practical learning is quite limited.
For Wilderness Innovation, Simplifying Survival, till next time  – Perry Peacock

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