Survival and Time Paradigms (viewpoints)

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How we view time may save our lives – Peacock

HISTORY
When I think of times past I am most recently reminded of my grandfathers life. His was one of great change, being born in the 1890’s life was dramatically different by the time of his death in the 1980’s. His father owned some small department stores in several outlying towns of the old West. Grandpa at an early age drove a wagon and team of horses to the city to get goods for the stores. It was a short distance in todays travel, but it took him 2 weeks to do the round trip. He had many survival experiences. Today we could do the same thing a couple times in one day.

I think of the polar explorers whose expeditions were measured in years. Marco Polo’s China trip was 24 years. Shackleton’s survival experience on the Antarctic ice was 1 1/2 years. Lewis and Clark’s trek across the early U.S. was 2 1/2 years.

THE PARADIGM
Why do I use the word Paradigm? A paradigm (pronounced para dime) is a frame of reference, it is how we view things, our perspective. It is something we can change at will.

In todays world we see things changing fast and even become worried if they don’t. Change in our time is so frequent and so common that if something is static, we look upon it as dead.

Now here’s where the paradigm comes in. The world is still the world, in other words nature is still nature. If we leave the modern world, venturing into the vast open wilderness, time somehow changes. Not time itself, it still ticks on as always. What changes are our perceptions. Things slow way down. We are not jet setting from place to place. Doing simple tasks takes longer. If the weather is cold things take even more time to accomplish.

How does this affect survival?

Well we are still in the same predicament regardless of our frame of reference of time, but if we do not shift our paradigm we may hasten our demise. How so? Early explorers in the Arctic regions thought of the Eskimo peoples as lazy, but eventually discovered there was a purpose in the slowness. They saved precious energy, they did not make hasty decisions, and it was simply not practicable to try to do things quickly under the extreme cold conditions.

Over the last 30 plus years I have collected and read countless stories of everyday people out in the sticks, something fouls up, and they go nuts because they have to be home by 7:00. So many in their haste have made horrible mistakes costing life and limb. To be ruled by the clock in such conditions can be tragic.

HOW TO DO IT
While it is recommended that trip plans be made known to loved ones. It should also be communicated that if problems should arise, safety will rule over the clock in dictating the return.

When you are out and your equipment breaks down, make an immediate paradigm shift, you are now viewing time in days, weeks and months, rather than the usual seconds, minutes and hours.

To help make this possible do the following. Obtain survival training, by book, video or real life. Practice what you have learned all the time and with your loved ones and friends around. This does 2 things, 1) it makes you better at it and 2) it lets your family and friends know that you are capable of dealing with tough situations. This provides relief to you and to others, creating an easy transition when you need to shift your perception of time to survive.

Until next time, Simplifying Survival – Perry Peacock

Book Review: Miracle in the Andes

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I’m constantly reading books about survival, preparedness, disaster, etc. to keep my mind honed in on the important factors involved in dealing with and ultimately surviving a variety of circumstances.

At first I didn’t really want to read this book, I knew the story, part of it is repulsive and grotesque. I felt this was not “true survival” that perhaps they had cheated to survive. But on the high recommendation of some fellow survival folks I determined to see it through.

I found the book irresistible, it was difficult to put down, I would start reading late when tired actually, and still read till 2am. The key to this book is that it is written not by a writer researching, but by a survivor himself, Nando Parrado, who describes to us his innermost thoughts and feelings, taking us into his thinking process. even revealing to us the demons that fought to discourage him.

First here let me deal with the unseemly, the cannibalism that occurred. While even after reading the book and discovering the dire circumstances, I am yet still repulsed by the thought, and in my own mind, feel to just let death take me rather than to partake. Certainly all would have died without eating of this flesh, they had to go 72 days, about 60 of those would have been devoid of any food. As it was they were all on the very precipice, many could taste death it was so close, these formerly muscular conditioned athletes were now but skin and bones.

Without the disgusting cannibalism there would be no story, 18 people would not have later married and had their own families. They only managed to do the deed by imagining that those whose bodies were now food, had passed away, that the body was dead and would soon decompose anyway, and that perhaps those who died would have wanted it this way, giving of their body much like an organ donor, to sustain the lives of their friends.

This plane load of rugby players from Uruguay for the most part had never seen snow before, and now here they were trapped in a high mountain valley 12000 feet up, in late winter. There was no way out by walking down, only by climbing up and steeply at that. Nando and one other finally were able to make it over the top and out to get rescue after climbing a peak of 17000 feet with no ropes, no climbing boots, no coats really, no gloves, then a difficult trek of some 45 miles. It was a desperate situation, no one was coming to look for them, they were assumed to all be dead somewhere in the vast Andes. Nando and Roberto had to make it or all would be lost.

For survival they had broken glass for cutting, tin sheets on which to place snow to melt in the sun, the fuselage of the plane for shelter (although the windows were broken out and the back was open), they fashioned blankets the best they could from the seat covers, they made snowshoes from the seats. They tried to improve their clothing by stuffing whatever they could find into it for added insulation. They really had little to work with, no experience, and bitter cold at night. They were seldom able to really sleep due to the extreme shivering from the penetrating cold that invaded the fuselage each night.

In the end Nando’s drive to survive was the closeness and love he had for his father, he could not bear to leave his father so alone, having already lost his wife and daughter in the crash. As is so often the case in nearly all the stories I have read, love seems always able to conquer the unconquerable, to make impossibility flee and to vanquish death that would seem so inevitable.

This book is absolutely worth reading, truly there was a Miracle in the Andes, each survivor had their own mental and physical battle to win. Every survivor had to somehow scrape up the will to live, they each many times came to deaths door and managed to turn away. Some survived due to God, for some it was the desire to see a loved one. They all had to find that one irresistible reason to live on another hour, another day, another week. They had little hope of survival, but by resolving upon a reason to live, they were able to do anything that needed to be done to make it.

Until next time – Perry Peacock, have a great day!!

Survival vs Preparedness

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Too many times we think of survival as; an accident or unfortunate event has happened, now we’ve gotta make it through. So what’s wrong with that kind of thinking? Or is there anything wrong with it?

I think it has more to do with the attitude than the process. If we do nothing to prepare for the unexpected, the unexpected will certainly catch us unprepared to deal with it.

We’ve all experienced “Murphy’s Law” in our lives, it preys unmercifully on those who are not ready. It quickly makes a tragedy out of a hardship.

I tend to take issue with those who view survival and preparedness as static issues, something where we can do x and y and we are eternally ready. That is just not at all the case. We become complacent when we gather together a few things, read a book or two, dabble with a few things and then declare I am now ready, no need to think anymore about it.

Both survival and preparedness properly done demand constant updates , consistent practice, and regular evaluation. It’s like the saying goes about luck, the harder a person works at something the “luckier” he becomes. If I were to venture into the vast unknown with nothing but my shirt and jeans then fall into a bad way, I may well survive, but the amount of work and struggle could be enormous. If, however, I take with me a kit, like our Off Road Survival kit, my time may be tough, but I would be capable dealing with it much easier, so we see where the puzzle piece of “preparedness” fits.

Being prepared is the oxygen that keeps survival alive.

An example of what I mean by saying preparedness is an ongoing project follows. Tonight I was repacking things from a snowshoe hike over the weekend. I checked the mantles on lanterns, I fully fueled the white gas stoves and lanterns, I organized my food in my pack. Now having all that done, I am ready at a moments notice to go.

I try to integrate the survival mentality into all I do. Whenever I am “out in the sticks” I like to practice something, or try out some item from my pack or survival kit. This practice not only hones my skills, but lets me know that perhaps some item I was counting on is not sufficient, allowing me to upgrade before I’m caught in a situation.

I use my First Aid kit items, I use my FireStarter Kit, I use my Swiss Army Knife, my 550 parachute cord, my whistle. A survival kit in todays world is looked at as something you buy and stash away, waiting for “the big crash” this is a tragic mistake, use it, then replace things as you use them up.

One thing I love to watch is the old Warren Miller skiing movies of guys skiing unbelievable powder snow in exotic locations, they just flow down the mountain as easy as can be, it’s beautiful to watch. Now if I tried that, it would not look so graceful, I haven’t trained nor had the experience to do it like they do. The same is true with your survival kit, and your survival abilities. If the “big situation” happens to you, would you like to gracefully and confidently take care of all that needs to be done? If so practice, use what you have.

Till next time – Perry Peacock

The Jacket Bivy

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Jacket Bivy shotIf you have read as many survival stories as I have, if you follow rescues in the paper, there are plenty of people who get out on snow machines, ATV’s, bikes or hiking and either try to go too far or run into some difficulty. Then it’s decision time, “do I still try to get home or do I button up and spend the night?”

All to often those who forge on are the ones who don’t make it, they get lost or in more trouble due to darkness. Tiredness and the onset of hypothermia can make proper judgement difficult or even impossible.

Search parties don’t generally run at night, so your chances of being seen moving about are eliminated. It’s so easy to get into more serious trouble by pushing on after dark.

The best course of action in most cases is to work out some kind of shelter. Get out of the wind, rain or snow. Insulate yourself the best you can. Avoid working too hard on this, you cannot allow yourself to get sweaty before settling in to bed.

Perhaps we should envoke the KISS principle here, Keep It Safely Simple. Utilize your machine to block wind. Find trees, brush, rocks, snowbanks, etc. for sheltering you from the elements. If you are in snow, try to find something to insulate you from the snow while laying down.

An effective way to keep warm is to use your coat as a bivy, check out our video. If it has a hood pull it over your head to add more insulation. Now get situated for how you are going to lay, pull your arms out of the sleeves and into the chest area. Cross your forearms over your chest.

Doing the jacket bivy has a couple of advantages. One, by pulling your arms in against your chest, you are able to keep them warmer than they would be out in the sleeves. Two, by crossing them over your chest you are able to share the warmth of blood circulation between your bodies core and the arms.

Hopefully your coat is large enough for this. I always try to buy coats a bit over-sized, as this allows for better layering and also makes the jacket bivy easy to pull off. If the sleeves are cut too tight, many times you can take the jacket off zip it up, and pull it over your head like a sweater.

So if you ever get stranded, keep your wits, shelter up and use the jacket bivy to keep yourself cozy till morning.

Stay safe and enjoy to outdoors – till next time – Perry Peacock

Old Stuff and New – I’m Torn

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It’s interesting, the evolution of things. I have spent a lot of time this past year looking back at equipment I used to use, and reading about what was used in the 1800’s to the 1930’s. At first glance it makes me think, “how did they ever survive with that stuff?” However, on further analysis much of that gear was simple in a cleaver sort of way.

Today money is the only thing separating us from all the so called “top of the line” equipment. I say so called for a reason, when we look at what the early explorers did without solar heat absorbing fabric and sophisticated insulations, without titanium cookware, and freeze dried food, no polycarbonate utensils, without GPS navigation, exotic butane powered stoves and cooking systems, and tents made of super-light synthetic materials; we are left to wonder how they did it.

We just need to go back to the essentials of survival; shelter, fire, water, food, and medical care, take care of these and it doesn’t really matter what materials we use. Granted the new materials and gear can be much more effective, weight saving, and efficient.

I guess I can say I’m in a phase right now where I am testing the old and trying to integrate it with the modern. In our haste for materials perhaps we have bypassed some of the old methods, discarding them before evaluating their usefulness.

I was reviewing some new gear the other day, here are some examples: Inflatable sleeping pad that is extremely light, $150 and somewhat fragile. It’s great technology, but can’t I make myself comfortable without that? How about the specialized stove-cook set combos that can boil water faster than you can imagine, nice, but you can’t interchange anything, want a bigger pot, sure $150 will get you one. There is something to be said for a tin can pot set in the coals, takes a little longer to boil water, but what am I in a hurry for, will I miss the bus?

Well I’m not against all this modern gear, I’m seeking to learn some of the old stuff, to get acquainted with a slower pace of life, to relax. I don’t want to be timing my boiling water to see if I set a new record. This new stuff is cool, so cool, it’s amazing and I love it.

But what really turns me, is the thought of taking my Wilderness Innovation Off Road Survival Kit, and the Personal Survival Tarp, some oats, ramen, jerky, chocolate mix, rice and flour in some ziplock baggies and wander off for a few days to make the best of it. I don’t really want to go primitive, I did that years ago. I guess a little bit of minimalism kinda rocks my world.

Whatever you are into for survival items, camping gear and cooking, make yourself comfortable and settle into the wilderness, learn to enjoy the challenge of making yourself comfortable with whatever you have. Breathe deep the clean fresh air and get into loving the outdoors.

Until next time – Perry Peacock signing off, have a great day!!

Survival – Circles of Priority – Targeting

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When I think of survival, or even emergency preparedness, I tend to divide it up into categories. It’s hard for us to do everything at once, and if we try we may become discouraged. The old saying still holds, “How do you eat an elephant? A bite at a time.” So lets break it all down and get organized, visualize a target with a bulls-eye at the center, and rings expanding out from that.

Step 1 – The Center or Bulls-Eye: EDC or as the survivalist world knows it Every Day Carry

Another blog on Every Day Carry will follow this one, with a post by Beau, detailing his experience with what he likes to carry, and his interviews with others about what they have with them. This is usually personal, and it should be, some items people don’t want to disclose, and that’s fine as well.

The only other thing I will say on this, leaving the rest to Beau, is I try to be a realist, a lot of what I see people saying is EDC is not; it is only EDC when out in the bush. I want to know what people carry ALWAYS, to me that’s the true EDC. I always have a knife and a fire starter for example, that’s my bare minimum.

Step 2 – First Ring: Personal Essentials – What most would call a Survival Kit

To survive all of us need the same things: Shelter, Fire, Water, Food, and Medical Care are some general categories. The amount of each we need varies according to our circumstances and our personal condition, but regardless, all of us will perish without these things. When I’m talking of the First Ring – Personal Essentials I’m thinking of what an individual needs to live out a couple of days to perhaps a couple of weeks, truly surviving the ordeal, not necessarily in comfort.

Based on these factors we developed our Real Survival Kit and the it’s enhanced brother the Off Road Survival Kit, both of these providing the tools needed to help a person get through difficult times. The kits contain items such as: Victorinox Swiss Army Knife, Doan Magnesium Fire Starter, 550 Parachute Cord, Compass, Whistle, First Aid Kit, Flashlight, Poncho, Space Blanket, Fish Hooks and leader, etc…

Step 3 – Second Ring: Personal Efficiency Survival Items – For Effective use of Time and Energy

Although our Wilderness Innovation survival kits, or kits you may have providing the same functionality, will generally get us through the tough spots; something of consideration, especially if the conditions are exceptionally rough or the amount of time we must stay out is extended, is conservation of energy and good use of time. To the onlooker, a person in a survival situation has nothing but time to kill, and that is most certainly not true. In our modern society the amount of time we spend procuring food, shelter, fire and water, is relatively small. When conditions force us to survive, those things are now life and death matters, with not much leeway in there, 3 days max without water and depending on conditions, perhaps not even a day without fire or shelter. Time is critical to manage effectively.

Why the emphasis on energy conservation? The human body requires a lot of energy (calories obtained from food) just to stay operational. When a person doesn’t know when he will eat again or in what quantity, it becomes imperative that all energy used is metered doing only that which is essential.

So in light of what we’ve just discussed what items would be key to saving energy and time?

Folding Saw – We may hack away with a folding knife or just try breaking branches for fire or shelter, but with a folding saw of 10 – 16 inches, we can do perhaps ten times the work for the same energy, and the time savings is proportional to that as well.

Tarp – A personal size tarp is light weight and very effective for creating all or part of a shelter. A lean-to of branches and boughs may take half a day to make, a debris hut may take a day to several days to make, a shelter formed with a tarp may be constructed in 15 to 30 minutes.

Fixed Blade Knife – A person may choose to insert a 4” to 6” heavy duty fixed blade knife here and forgo the Folding saw, placing it in the items of the Third Ring. A knife of this type is useful in chopping with a baton, carving, cutting, splitting and many other functions. A saw is certainly much more effective at cutting, but the knife is the only option for splitting.

Reserve Food Items – Carrying of extra dried or packaged food, will easily extend the time a person can hold out, as well as providing comfort and consolation in a difficult time. Ramen noodles are light, flavored, quick and easy to prepare, and they are convenient to combine with whatever a person may find locally. These should still be limited, light, and easy to prepare. Jerky, dried fruits and vegetables, rolled oats, nuts, etc.

Step 4 – Third Ring: Personal Comfort and Safety Items

At this point I would consider that we have broken somewhat from surviving to living, and this involves a good deal more in preparedness than simply survival items. This is where more thinking is involved and much more personalization, and customizing. In fact these items in the Third Ring will usually vary with the trip or adventure

Stove – This is a nice addition, it saves always having a fire, particularly if one is not needed for warmth, or is difficult to start or maintain due to current conditions. Food preparation time is greatly reduced, as is boiling water for purification.

Larger Tarp or bivy – For extra comfort a bivy or larger size tarp can offer more protection. I prefer the tarp because it can be configured so many different ways, where the bivy has a single method of deployment. Our new Survival Tarp Series are tabbed out in a way that they can be set up more than 12 ways.

Extra Food Items – Adding some MRE’s or Freeze Dried meals can really take the edge off of a very tough situation. Include some food items you have tested and tried to give some welcome comfort while awaiting rescue.

Expanded First Aid – Include some personal items that you may need due to a condition. Triangle bandages, more gauze and cremes and lotions, perhaps a suture kit. Add plenty of extra pain relievers, etc.

Water Filtration – The addition of a quality water filter set up can save lots of fuel or time in the fire which makes moving about easier if you need to. Use the filter to stock up your water bottles

Ax – Finally as mentioned earlier an ax can really be a blessing. It can effectively split wood and even chop in a reasonable manner, you can use an ax to pound in stakes. It is unparalleled in prepping a pile of wood for the fire. You can get the job done and then relax a bit.

In closing, this list is not at all totally inclusive and should be in many cases customized for each person. More information and details will be discussed in future blogs.

Have a great day – Perry Peacock

Being Prepared – Lessons from Haiti

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My thinking on this post came from today when I read a comment in a St. Louis paper about the relief efforts in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti. I have a number of scans on subjects I’m interested in, and this one popped up.

Photo taken from fox news

Photo taken from fox newsthis one popped up.

The guy making the comment, told how he thought the U.S. effort was too little, too late, and was run in an antiquated manner. I happen to think that the U.S, and all the other countries involved, as well as the incredible efforts of private citizens and charitable organizations from around the world are doing an astounding job.

If you consider the massive damage to buildings, roads, communications, and general society, it would be hard to conceive that there would not be great difficulty getting things underway and flowing smoothly. To add to the difficulty, the government there was not one fostering free enterprise, and it inhibited the country from prospering as many of the neighboring countries. Structures were not built as strongly as they should have been, and this has been costly to the loss of thousands of lives, perhaps unnecessarily. Is this the fault of the rest of the world? No it is not.

Each country has to do what it can to build safely and to encourage a prosperous society, which innovates and improves the lives of all. Of course as part of the human family we all try to help each other in times of need, like what is now going on in Haiti. We feel compassion on those who have been killed in the quake, and an ongoing sorrow for those who now suffer and die as a result of the disruption of the communities and nation.

This should give us all reason to pause and to think, what if this happened where I live? What would I do? How would my family survive? We have been urged throughout our lives by religious leaders, by wise parents and civic leaders to prepare ourselves. Do we really take preparedness seriously? Do we tell ourselves we have enough, we’ll be alright? Do we say, I have my 72 hour kit and that’s good enough?

There has been some criticism that 5 or more days passed without much of any relief. Knowing that, how do you feel about your 72 hour kit, is it good enough? At some point we need to get serious about survival, about personal and family preparedness, it could save the lives of our families.

Each of us needs to know, to be trained in survival skills, wilderness training. We need to know how to do the basic things that sustain life. Shelter, Fire, Water, Food, First Aid, Rescue. Just because we live in the city doesn’t mean we can do without knowing these things. We should teach these skills to our families, we should practice

Part of our mission at Wilderness Innovation is stated in our motto:  “Simplifying Survival.”  We are teaching the skills to survive, we have in our schedule many items to help in becoming self-sufficient, and prepared.

Now here is a Quick-Tip: Keep some camping gear in sturdy Rubbermaid type containers in a place near your cars. I keep non-perishable food items in these containers as well as stoves, fuel, cooking accessories, rope, shelter, water, etc. In case of an evacuation, in just a few minutes we can load these items as well as our 72 hour kits in a vehicle and be on our way. It can also be valuable to have these survival items outside the house in a separate structure, so if the house becomes dangerous to enter, there are some items still available.

Well that’s my thoughts on the matter. Till next time – Perry Peacock

Keeping Dry in Mild Winter Weather

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Believe it or not, but it has been my experience that mild weather is more dangerous to the outdoorsman than cold bitter weather. The reason is due to the thinking of the human mind. You see we all do it, even I do it, and I should know better; we are all less cautious as the weather warms after a cold spell. We have become accustomed to the biting cold and to the chilling wind, a day comes that is above freezing, no wind and some warm sunshine…we forget it’s winter!!

Even with our winter survival training our minds play tricks with us and lull us into complacency, we talk ourselves into being less prepared, thinking we don’t need the extra jacket or hat, or we don’t need the survival kit, since it’s so warm and comfortable.

You know what always happens with me is that I am out there, and some clouds come by, a little wind kicks up and in 30 minutes, it’s downright cold again. I am learning (I still mess up sometimes) to just be prepared always. I reward myself by the good feeling I have when nice weather turns foul, and I simply add the jacket or hat I brought along or dive into the survival kit to start a fire and heat up a cup of noodles or chocolate, and sit back watching the storm blow in, in comfort, now that’s the best feeling of all.

The other area of concern in this mild type of winter weather is staying dry. When the snow is a bit soggy it can be tough to stay dry. A taboo is wearing cotton clothing, once it starts to get damp, it’s like a sponge and if the weather turns you can be in real trouble. Synthetic materials are better. Most clothing you find will be waterproof, which also is not the best. This type of clothing is fine for skiing or snowmobiling, but can be a real problem if you are snowshoeing or camping out in the snow.

Getting wet is the problem, it doesn’t matter what the source is. As your body functions, like all living things it gives off moisture, if your clothing is waterproof, where is that moisture going to go to? It is trapped inside the clothing, unless it is well ventilated. So you see that wetness is a danger and it can come from the outside or from the inside, it’s just as bad either way.

Have you seen a blacksmith at work? He heats the steel up till it’s red hot and pounds it and shapes it, and when done he dips it in a bucket of water and in 30 seconds it’s cool enough to hold in your hand. Well the same thing happens with your body, it is warm, nearly 100 degrees F, wet clothing will drain away the bodies heat just like the bucket of water cools the hot steel.

Be carefull not to get wet from the outside, this really is more easily done than keeping dry on the inside. The best thing to do when you notice you are beginning to get warm is, remove your hat, unzip your coat, remove your gloves, whatever it takes to cool down. Some times you will find you need to stop and rest for 5 minutes. Do whatever it takes, but try your best to stay dry, and you will be safer and much more comfortable outside in the winter.

Check out our Quick-Tip survival video on the subject click here

Till next time – Perry Peacock

Eating Snow to get fluids? Sure do it my way

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In all the winter survival classes I have taken and in the many dozens of books I have read, eating snow to replace vital body fluids is frowned upon, discouraged, warned against, and even made a “taboo.” I certainly don’t recommend it as an ideal method, but it sure beats the dangers posed by becoming dehydrated in cold weather.

Did you know that becoming  only 10% dehydrated can cause you to lose as much as 25% of your ability to perform work? That is only about 1-2 cups short in a day! Up to 90 percent of our body weight comes from water. Up to 60 percent of the human body is water, the brain is composed of 70 percent water, and the lungs are nearly 90 percent water. About 83 percent of our blood is water, which helps digest our food, transport waste, and control body temperature, etc. (usgs – edu)

As you can see from the above information, any time our bodies start getting short on water, essential body functions will deteriorate. It has been found that the most common cause of hypothermia is dehydration. When you see that the brain is 70% water it is no wonder that the ability to think clearly is greatly impaired when there is a water shortage in the body.

Each day adults must replace about 2 1/2 litres of water, some through drinking and the rest taken by the body from the foods eaten. Because of this I maintain that it is worth trying whatever you can to get fluids into the body, it may be a matter of life and death.

You can watch our video on how to do this on YouTube. After reading this post, click the link at the bottom.

Here are the key points. You don’t just fill your mouth with snow and chew it up and swallow, that will cause headache, chills,bleeding lips and tongue. Take a comfortable lump of snow the size of an Oreo cookie or a little larger, whatever is comfortable. Place it in your mouth, as you breathe, inhale through your nose as usual and exhale through your mouth, the warm air will quickly melt it and warm it. It is easy to do and with a little practice you will hardly notice any discomfort.

If you are healthy and you have energy, it is no problem at all to get a good portion of the water needed by eating snow, but it must be done cautiously. If your mouth is becoming uncomfortably cold, slow down your intake, and make sure you are exhaling to melt the snow not chewing or eating the snow.

Now let me state again, this is not the preferred method, you should carry water with you at all times, and you should drink every 20 to 30 minutes of exertion. If however, you have no other means and are out of water, use the above method to stay hydrated to the best of your ability, until you can get to a water source or melt some over a fire or on a stove.

Stay hydrated and have a fun and safe winter!!

Now follow this link to watch the video

– Perry Peacock

Wilderness Quick-Tips

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Hope you have been watching YouTube this past week. We have posted some great videos covering eveShelter viewn some ideas on home preparedness. We will be starting some additional winter videos possibly this week; however, my son is getting married, so I’m not sure how much I’ll get done. I have been working on some material for DIY on winter clothing and that will be coming out next week.

Here’s the BIG news, and hence the title of today’s post, “Wilderness Quick-Tips.” What are they you may rightly ask? I figured as busy as people are these days, many times just a quick little info video might hit the spot, then folks can catch up on the other things later. The idea hit me while out snowshoeing one morning, there are a lot of little ideas I would like to share, but they don’t all need their own 10 minute video. At first the idea was to do 30 second spots, but I blab too much for that, I could never do it, so I wound up settling for a time range, 30 seconds to 60 seconds, no more!!  And it was fun, a real challenge to get in all I could in 60 seconds or less, now I’m really geared up for it, you’ll see a bunch of them. Eventually most of them will only be available on our website, we will build a search friendly archive for you.

I will be posting a couple new Quick-Tips this week, so watch for them on YouTube. Our views per week has been steadily climbing and hope to see more and more people excited about the videos we produce. We do thank you for watching, please tell your friends as well.

As for Beau, he has been busy nailing down odds and ends on the website, cleaning up things, and working on getting the site more user friendly.

We will be adding to our list of survival items for sale soon as well as some offerings of Wilderness Training, both on video and in person. We have had some requests for the DIY gear items to be made available as finished items, rather than kits and patterns, we are working on that.

So I guess that’s it for today, I just wanted to keep you posted on the status of things here. Be sure to keep checking for the Wilderness Quick-Tips, and feel free to let us know if you have any requests.

For now, Perry signing off–

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