Maybe not always. but likely most of the time. In this podcast I explore why this is true and how to correct the situation.
You don’t have to be cold outside, dress for the conditions
There are many shelter options available, we have a few that are multipurpose
For Simplifying Survival, this is Perry Peacock
The true story “Ada Blackjack- Survival in the Arctic” is interesting in itself, but what we can learn from a young woman stranded on a
desolate Arctic island for two years is perhaps more important. I have loved to read these types of stories all my life and it’s been a while since I last reviewed a book I had read. I really got into this one and wanted to share something about the story and some thoughts I have about it.
From the inside jacket we read the following introduction to the book.
Ada Blackjack was an unlikely hero – an unskilled 23 year old Inuit woman with no knowledge of the world outside Nome, Alaska. Divorced, impoverished, and despondent, she had one focus in her life – to care for her sickly son. In September 1921, in search of money and a husband, she signed on as a seamstress for a top-secret expedition into the unknown Arctic”
Vilhjalmur Stefansson
A little background will help to understand the tragic events that unfolded. The expedition Ada became part of was the brainchild of famous Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson, a Canadian who after years in the Arctic sought to claim Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean above Russia for Canada. He felt the island could be developed into a stop over point in the newly forming Airline industry. Stefansson was so confident of the ability to live in the Arctic that he commissioned a crew of relatively inexperienced men to explore and begin to settle the island. Adding to potential problems, they were to live there a year, but were only provisioned with six months of food, which he felt would be plenty as they should easily be able to provide most of their needs by hunting.
It seems Stefansson’s confidence due to his experience may have clouded his vision of what he felt others could do. A couple of his statements about life in the Arctic make it seem almost like child’s play to live continuously in the high Arctic.
“I think that anyone with good eyesight and a rifle can live anywhere in the Polar regions indefinitely”
“Given a healthy body and a cheerful disposition, a family can now live at the North Pole as comfortably as it can in Hawaii”
“It’s just as easy to live up here as it is down home if you know how”
Stefansson, who was able to disappear into the Arctic for a couple years at at time, had become so comfortable with that region, that to him it was no difficulty. This overconfidence would soon prove the doom of his plans on Wrangel Island. From the start there were problems funding the project, and unbelievably to him, Canada nor Britain wanted any part of claiming an island off the Arctic coast of Russia. nor of funding it. Eventually through persistence he got the money together to get his crew to Nome, Alaska, where they began the process of outfitting, getting supplies etc. They were supposed to get an Umiak or seal skin boat to hunt from, also they were supposed to take along an Eskimo family to help with hunting, making things and repairing clothing and such,
which unfortunately they were unable to satisfactorily obtain. Ada went along very reluctantly as a seamstress due to pressure from the town Sheriff. It was even difficult to get a ship to take them to the island and drop them off, no one wanted to get frozen into the ice. The place was foreboding and remote.
Stefansson chose four young men for the expedition, two of them Fred Maurer and Loren Knight he would later compare to the famous Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton, though they were certainly not anywhere near them in experience or stature. The other two men were Allan Crawford, an academic, and Milton Galle who worked for Stefansson on his speaking tours running a projector. Maurer and Knight at least had some experience in the Polar regions. Ada though an Eskimo, had little experience in traditional ways, certainly nothing that would be lifesaving.
The crew dressed for the occasion
One of the first things the party found out once set up on the island, the game was not always plentiful and much of the time nearly non-existent, consequently they used much of the food they brought with them feeding the sled dogs. They did not seem to worry too much about the food as they figured they could get by till the one year mark when a resupply ship would arrive. Conditions at times were grim. They explored the island looking for game and other resources. The summer came and went with no ship arriving, the ice had hardly melted before it came back again. No ship could get to them. Stefansson unrealistically did not show much concern, as he figured they were thriving. Not making contact that summer however put the group in dire circumstances as they had little remaining of their food supplies, certainly not enough to make it another year. Game seemed to be scarce. Finally during the dead of winter an attempt was made to send two men with a dog sled and supplies to try to reach the mainland across the ice, a trek experienced men said was difficult in the best of times and they could not imagine doing it in January. The first attempt failed mostly due to Knight suffering from the onset of scurvy and he and Crawford returned to camp after nearly three weeks on the ice. Another was put forth with Crawford, Maurer and Galle going, leaving Ada to care for the declining Knight and herself.
With the other men gone now, Ada had to do nearly everything as Knights bad health soon kept him in bed. He needed fresh meat, a lot of it, to get over the scurvy. Ada was having trouble getting much of anything. A turn in her character soon manifested itself, when she began to determine to live, to do whatever she needed to. She began running the traps the men had been taking care of before, but she began to keep track of what was more successful, she made changes as needed to try to obtain more food. She even started to observe the habits of what animals were around and soon devised methods of trapping them.One of the more important things she did, and which enabled her to survive was to overcome her terrible fear of the rifle. She finally decided she needed to use it if they were going to stay alive. At first it was just overcoming the fear of shooting it, the loud noise and the recoil, however, she determined to spend a certain amount of time practicing. Once she began hunting with it, she was able to bring in seals and some birds, which if she could have gotten enough of soon enough may have saved the life of her only companion, Knight. She knew she would need to be more accurate in shooting, in order to get enough food, so she practiced more.
Amazon books Ada Blackjack A True Story of Survival in the Arctic
When seals moved too far offshore and she was unable to get to them, she made her own sealskin boat. After using it only twice, a wind caught it and it was gone forever, though disheartened she cut up some tent canvas and sewed it onto a frame made of driftwood, making another boat, though not as good as the prior one. Ada did not let failure stop her, but tried again and again. She practiced laying low, being stealthy, getting close for a good shot. In many ways she began to thrive, sadly the continually diminishing health of Knight scared her because even though he was of no help, and was very verbally abusive to her as he faced death, still he was a person, any any person was better than none. She did not know if she could face things alone on this desolate island. The winter passed, spring passed and summer came, it was not until August 20 that a rescue boat finally came, two years had passed since she landed on Wrangel island. Now this part of her life had finally ended and a new though not necessarily better life began. Greed and strivings for notoriety propelled those who should have helped her after this ordeal to use her fame against her, stirring up all kinds of tales that made the news, and gained them popularity. Much of the balance of the book details these things.
The points I want to make here relating to survival in one of the most inhospitable regions of the world, is that Ada though young, inexperienced, full of all kinds of fears was able to do in six months what the more able bodied men were less successful in. Not to blame them, they were not that much better off than her, and perhaps they did not fear as much initially since they expected a rescue and may not have tried as desperately as Ada, who did not know what the future held, but wanted to live as long as she could. She tried new things, she was observant and made adjustments in order to be more effective, she overcame her fears. She did gain much internal strength by reading daily from Knight’s Bible, it seemed to give her hope when things seemed hopeless, it gave her someone to turn to, someone she felt connected to, she trusted that God could help her.
In each of us there are times we must survive, it may not be alone on a desolate Arctic island, but we all have our Wrangel islands in our lives, the example of Ada can help us to push forward, and to help us hope for a better day.
Until next time, this is Perry Peacock, “Simplifying Survival”
All pictures courtesy of the book, Ada Blackjack – A True Story of Survival in the Arctic, Author Jennifer Niven DD 915.7
Campfire Cookin Sticks give you a platform to cook on over a campfire, nearly any campfire.
For me a campfire is part of camping, I have one any time I can. If I’ve got a campfire I’m going to use it to cook on too. Over the years I have cooked on a campfire many different ways, whether it’s a pan straddling two rocks over a fire, or a pot resting on two logs with a fire between. There are lots of ways to use a campfire for cooking. Now campfire cooking just got easier.
What are Campfire Cookin Sticks?
Quite simply Campfire Cookin Sticks are rods with bends formed in one end that allows them to be connected, to form a “V” shape, which becomes a stable platform for a pot or pan. Campfire Cookin Sticks can be placed between rocks at a fire pit, so that flames from a fire or coals can easily be used to cook on. The “V” shape is stable since it uses three points of contact.
What is a Build-A-Grill Kit?
We take two or more sets of Campfire Cookin Sticks, add some connectors, and put them in a handy roll up bag. By combining more than one set of Campfire Cookin Sticks you can do much more than put a pot on a fire, you can build a custom grilling surface tailored exactly to your needs, enabling you to cook in up to six pots at a time over a regular campfire. There are two ready made sizes, or you can create your own.
What do the Connectors do?
Sometimes on a fire ring or fire pit you need a Campfire Cookin Stick to be longer, since the sets of sticks can be disconnected from each other a Connector can be used to make a long stick out of a set, you can even mix sizes to really customize your set up.
What sizes do the Campfire Cookin Sticks come in?
They come in three different lengths to meet any need, large or small and as mentioned above can be combined in a Build-A-Grill Kit.
What material are the Campfire Cookin Sticks made out of?
We offer three different metals and a special Ultralite version, here is a listing and some tips to help you choose which is best for you.
So if you like campfires like I do, now that it’s this easy, why not cook on the fire while enjoying it too? Campfire Cookin Sticks and Build-A-Grill Kits make cooking even multi pot complex meals easy over an ordinary campfire, get yours and get started today.
Till next time, This is Perry Peacock, “Simplifying Survival” and making things easier in the woods.
There is always Fire Starting Gear of some kind to be had, whether it is made of naturally occurring elements or it is purchased, made by someone else. In ancient historic writings we read of “smiting two stones together” to make fire, we know of the Romans and on up into our times using flint and steel. There are the natives of the South Pacific using compression in a fire piston. Using bamboo in a fire saw is popular in many places. All over the world are found various drill methods of creating a fire. All of these and more have been used through the centuries by man to kindle fire.
In the more modern era came matches, fluid lighters, butane lighters, mish metal and Ferro rods, magnesium bars and rods, various sparkers and prepared tinder’s, magnifiers, and numerous combinations of the above. The gear for fire starting is seemingly endless when you consider the items for initializing the fire process, an exothermic reaction really, combined with the tinder and kindling items.
With the myriad gear items available to assist in creating fire what is the very best to have?
I don’t think there is actually a best answer here as there are many other questions to consider relating to a person’s skill, preferences, locale, available resources, and a person’s physical condition. Offhand I would say for reliability, easiness of use, and cost, it is hard to beat a quality butane lighter. Many would curse at that being the choice however since a butane lighter has no manly gritty romanticism inherent with it. As with many things in bushcraft, survival, and preparedness there seems to be no end to the reasoning of one fire starting method over another, it seems a case can be made in some way for any one of them. The question really comes down to, what do you want to do? What you want to do then has to be qualified by what can you do? Or rather what can you do reliably?
I like to look at the whole survival picture by dividing things into three parts: Knowledge, Skills, and Gear.
Knowledge-this is the brain learning or book work part of the equation. Discovering the how, why, where, when of each subject, in this case fire starting. This takes us to how fire works. What are the natural rules or laws governing fire? Then knowing these taking of our resources and manipulating them to create fire. This is how so many methods have been developed. Now knowledge is only a portion of the equation and it alone will not give success in starting fire.
Skills-fire cannot be created without a certain amount of skill, there is needed a degree of dexterity, the ability manipulate various items properly. Included with skills is stamina, as some methods require more lengthy periods of time to produce results. With some of the ways listed to produce fire certain tools need to be fashioned, which involves combining knowledge of materials needed with the ability to manufacture the tool. Finesse is developed with practice that eases and hones the technique into a smooth simple looking process. When a given method is refined to a point that it happens with ease, it can then be said, a new skill has been acquired.
Gear-this is what the beginner starts with, then wonders why he is not successful. Without knowledge and skills, it is only pure luck that a person produces and maintains fire. Having gained knowledge about fire and the choices available in how to create it a person can then choose the method they would like to pursue, they then obtain the gear needed, and work on developing the skill necessary to reliably succeed.
Perhaps it would be helpful to group fire starting methods into categories
Easiest for anyone
Moderate
More difficult
We could also sort the methods into levels of reliability, assuming a person has the skill for each method
Most reliable
Usually reliable
Difficult at times
The above lists are quite general, and depending on the person, the arrangement could vary tremendously, my effort is to list them as might be common in the population. For reliability part of the consideration is tendency to breakage, the need to manufacture with proper materials the tools needed, and the level of skill needed. One thing not covered in this post, that is every bit as significant, is the ability to start a fire that endures with the above methods. Most can get a flame from a lighter, but far fewer are effective at starting a fire in challenging conditions.
Green Willow shavings fire by flint and steel
In the end the gear chosen for starting a fire should meet whatever goals you have set. If you are looking to sock something away for use should things come crashing down that is one thing, if you want to master a primitive skill or some other alternative method then that is something different. As I’ve said in many blogs before, you must define your purpose before you can really know the direction to move in. All the various methods have merit in some way. Personally I like to have a Doan Magnesium in my possession, to me it’s easy to use and will start a fire if one is possible, it’s practically indestructible, and is very inexpensive. A good lighter is also nice to have, I prefer the BIC mini’s in bright colors. We use them in our business cleaning up threads and ends as needed, never has one not work till it ran out of fuel. The important thing is to have several methods that you are skilled at, carry a couple backups. Perhaps the most important thing is NEVER be afraid to use a simple modern method to start a fire when needed. Some people are too proud, and think someone may think less of them. When times are tough and a fire is needed, use whatever you can. Finally if you can start a fire with a split paper match, or the equivalent, you have mastered it.
Choose the methods you like and become proficient at them, then add others as you can. Learning is lots of fun and provides a great confidence booster when you become successful. Until next time this is Perry Peacock, for Simplifying Survival.
In order to be properly prepared for cold/cool wet weather an outdoorsman should be able to live in it with no external assets. In other words ideally no need for fire to warm you or dry things, perhaps that’s a bit idealistic but a worthy goal that is somewhat attainable with simple gear like what we offer. Reputable survival instructors’ stress that the most important asset a person carries with them is the clothing they have. Certainly we can train to do without much of anything, reality though is very tough, unpredictable, and unforgiving. Not that the world itself is against man, nature just is, and man is not naturally equipped to survive in it, but man is a thinking reasoning being and very capable of adapting by ingenuity. The fault in depending on being able to make it in difficult circumstances without proper clothing is the unknown nature of situations, perhaps you may be injured, or there may be some with you unable to adapt and persevere. That being the case, if a person is at least minimally prepared with proper clothing and/or shelter, it will take much less effort to make up the difference it takes to get to the point of survivability.
As I have mentioned before, I have collected survival news stories and books for decades, it is sometimes astounding how easily people can die, even healthy folks. The temperature does not need to be freezing to be dangerous, in fact I contend that to the average person, 50° – 60° F, rainy and breezy are more likely to be more life threatening than cold and snow. Part of that reason is the perception that not much protective clothing is needed, and so they start out in a deficit in survivability score.
To me it is a thrill to get myself prepared in a way that rain, cold and wind are not factors to my comfort. From when I was a young man, I always wanted to be like the animals, able to be out in most any condition and be fine. To go about your camp in a most normal manner, all the while the rain is pouring down, the wind blowing, and perhaps some occasional snowflakes, is quite a good feeling to have. An example from a camp this spring, temperatures in the 30° F range and rain mixed with snow, no tent and no heating fire, windy at times.
Here is what I was wearing
In that set up I was self-sustaining, I kept dry enough and warm enough that I was not cold while working about camp and while sitting in my camp chair relaxing.
There are three key factors to safely living in those conditions on a continual basis.
Our bodies can tolerate less than ten degrees differential internal temperature, before getting into fatally dangerous territory of heat or cold. We have to adapt ourselves to hot weather or cold wet weather by means mostly of clothing. I first started studying the subject of Hypothermia (cold body core temperature) in the mid 1980’s, starting with the book by Dr William Forgey Hypothermia: Death by Exposure. A great modern book that is very well detailed and easy to read is Cody Lundin’s “98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive” So deadly is the combination of cold, wet and windy, that a person can be dead in less than an hour in certain circumstances, far more deadly than most of the other things we worry about in the outdoors. Dressing improperly can kill you so fast it is stunning, a sudden rain and wind can catch an unprepared person so quickly they don’t even realize what is happening to them, till it’s too late.
So that’s enough bad news, I’m not usually one to harp on the “XX” will kill you line, but I needed to at least get it out there, if for no other reason than to emphasize the serious nature of this subject, it cannot be trifled with. The great news is that it doesn’t have to be that way, it is very possible to virtually eliminate the threat these conditions present. One of the books of real life experience I read early on was of Ernest Shackleton’s voyage of The Endurance, stranded near Antarctica in sea ice, the ship was crushed and the crew spent the next 18 months crossing the ice in bitter cold, rigging a boat to sail the icy seas, traversing a desolate mountain range. Remarkably not one of the crew perished.
Let me return to the list I posted above and detail it out for you, showing how you can easily prepare yourself against most of the hazards of cold, wet, windy conditions.
Of all the insulations known to man probably one of the foremost is wool, it kept Shackleton’s crew alive, and also the crew of the Grafton who were marooned on Auckland Island located between New Zealand and Antarctica for nearly two years, as detailed in the book “Island of the Lost” For centuries woolen clothing was not only durable, but extremely protective of the people who wore it. Wool is unique in its ability to be warm even when wet.
One of the modern materials that is truly remarkable is Fleece. It is warm when damp, easy to dry, durable, compressible, soft and drapeable. There is wide variation in fleece quality, in our products we sell only authentic Polartec® is used. It is the highest quality product of its kind available anywhere in the world, and it is made in the U.S.A. It makes a nice blanket in both cool and warmer weather, we use it under our poncho as a liner, making essentially a long winter coat. I am constantly amazed at how well it works. I have stood in a light rain for hours without the poncho on, and have been amazed at how warm I stayed. Water does not like to stay in this fabric, but runs out the bottom.
Shirts and pants should be wool or poly, or poly cotton, the same goes for underclothing. Socks should be wool, or synthetic, never cotton in conditions like we are discussing. Wool or fleece gloves can help keep your hands warm, which is important in cool weather, as hands become clumsy when muscles become chilled.
I should point out one thing here, wool nor fleece nor any other fabric are as warm wet as they are dry, the cooling effect of water cannot be overcome by this clothing, if water can contact the skin, it will draw heat from the body. So while wool, fleece, poly and other fabrics can be good when damp or wet, it is still better to be dry.
Since water can move heat thirty times faster than air, getting wet or having on wet clothing can be deadly, as body temperatures can quickly plunge to dangerous levels. Although most of us do not do blacksmithing, most of us have at least seen him work the red hot metal with hammers and other implements, then thrust it into a bucket of water, in seconds it is cool enough to hold in the hands. The effect of moisture or water on our skin or clothing cannot be understated. Even if our clothing is damp tolerable, there is still a penalty for wet clothing, in cool weather it is never as warm as dry clothing. If the clothing becomes saturated, water comes in contact with the skin and body heat quickly transfers to the cooler water, over time this can decrease the core temperature of the body, inviting Hypothermia. Some kind of rain gear is best in these conditions if you are out in it working, hiking or doing camp chores. If you can wait it out, a tarp or tent may keep you dry until conditions change, many people have tried to push on through it, and risked their lives. With a good poncho a person is able to safely continue on in most situations. As an example our poncho snaps up the sides providing some venting to help prevent excessive moisture build up from body function or condensation from temperature differential. The poncho fabric prevents rain from soaking clothing, additionally I often like to add the fleece liner even if I don’t need it for temperature as it adds a tremendous amount of comfort by helping to keep internal moisture away from the body.
Water resistant boots help keep moisture out of socks, especially when walking through puddles and streams. A hat with a brim all around is useful in times when you don’t have a poncho hood on.
If you have lived in areas where it gets hot and dry, you may have used an Evaporative Air Conditioner. These devices are very effective in dramatically cooling the air temperature. Combining moisture (water) in absorbent pads and air drawn through them, the resulting air blown out can be in the 45° F temperature range while it may be 100° F outside, quite a change! The same effect can happen to you with wet clothing and a blowing wind, it could be 60 F and you getting wet, then add a wind, the chilling action can take what would otherwise be a reasonably safe situation and turn it critical in not many minutes. Even if you get wet, if you can keep the wind off of you, it can add a huge margin of safety. Many years ago I worked in electronic security and we once did a project in a large food manufacturing facility. As food came out of cooking it went into racks and into a freezer where fans blew furiously, the effect quickly froze the food items for storage. The wind from the fans made a huge difference in how fast the food froze. This is why some wind protection can be invaluable, in fact lifesaving to us. Here again for me our poncho has worked miracles, it is long so it covers most of the body. I have probably used it as much for wind protection as rain.
A few years ago a friend and I were camping in the winter at over 9000 feet, as we hiked to our camp spot we encountered winds so strong they were difficult to stand up in. We put on our ponchos (PSSL) with the snap in fleece liners, the effect was amazing, although we could feel the strength of the wind, the cold was kept at bay and we were comfortable. Whether you are out in the winter or in other times of the year, having some protection from the wind can be a lifesaver. Remember that any temperature below the 70’s combined with wind and especially moisture can lead to hypothermia, it’s not just cold winters that are dangerous.
With a little bit of preparation, and a bit willingness to take along the things we know we should, we all can be considerably safer in the outdoors. I’m amazed by how many rescues are in the news, just for an overnight encounter, and the people go to the hospital being such tough shape, so “Be Prepared” and take some clothing or shelter items with you. In spite of this I know most people won’t, they only think of a quick hike and then back home, that’s what creates survival stories.
Until next time, this is Perry Peacock, “Simplifying Survival”
So here’s the story playing all over the world Woman Survives Drinking Her Own Breast Milk – Really? I ask, are you serious? Now before you go crazy on me for being heartless, I am happy Susan O’Brien is OK, I’m glad she made it, it’s great to know she is safely back with her family. The thing I object to is the story line.
Susan was on what was stated as a grueling 12.5 mile race through the forest, when at some point she took a wrong turn and became lost. Night set in, it was cold and rainy, she feared for her life. I know that cold and rain are devastating to someone unprepared for it. She just had on her running clothing, so was not ready for any kind of stay in the forest in those conditions. The first question I asked when thinking about her life being saved by her own breast milk, “how long was she stranded?” The answer, a stunning 24 hours! Certainly I would be concerned about her situation, cold, rain and wind, but for goodness sakes she is not going to starve to death in 24 hours. I have lots more fat reserves on me than she does being an athlete, but certainly she could go a week or two.
I don’t want to take anything away from her, she tried to do all she could think of to stay alive, but all the press in the world is running the story that she was saved by her breast milk. I think she was saved by being in good physical condition, and by doing what she could to isolate herself from the effects of the elements, and by thinking positively about getting back to her family.
I guess I can’t blame the press, the story does make a great headline. I read through all the articles on her that I could find, no one seemed to bother to consider that other factors probably saved her. Readers are left with the understanding that she would have totally run out of energy and died had Susan not as she says, “had a bit of my milk.” Susan believes it helped her, and perhaps it did, mentally at least.
I think the stories that ran should at least have raised the possibility that other factors may have contributed to her survival, instead of leaving the false impression that the milk did it. We are not given much detail in what I could find, but she did say she kept covering herself in dirt (and debris I would suppose), most likely to get away from the wind.
Having followed survival stories for the better part of my life, I have heard of some amazing things. It seems to me that when I was younger, the press did this amazing thing called, “investigation” that seems to be lacking these days much of the time. It used to be a reporter would try to find a back story, find some additional detail, nowadays it’s just retyping whatever is put out. A reader should be educated in reading a story, otherwise what is the purpose in even writing it?
A reader for example could at least be given the information that in Susan’s predicament her most important thing to do for the night at least is to shelter herself the best she could to avoid hypothermia. Wet and cold are bad enough, but add a little wind and things turn deadly in a hurry. It could be mentioned perhaps some simple sheltering she could have done without any tools.
So anyway that’s my two bits on the story, have a great day, until next time this is Perry Peacock, “simplifying survival”
I wrote “Purpose in Survival” back in 2011 as part of a project I was working on. The concept is that we simply become human pinball’s bouncing off everything around us unless we establish a purpose for the actions we undertake. Why waste energy (calories) building a Lean-to or Debris Hut if we don’t need one for the conditions we are in? Hope you enjoy the article and that it may help you to effectively deal with situations you may encounter.
PURPOSE IN SURVIVAL
Those of us concerned with our futures, with survival, speak of many things, we assemble vast quantities food, water, fuel, tools, weapons, medical needs, various shelters, caches and the like, we study, we train, we evaluate, we plan and we act.
“Regardless of our skills and gear there is no point squandering resources.”
In some respects one has only to look to the founding and colonizing of North America to find many clues to the raw needs a group may have. Look at the explorers, the trappers, the military, look at those utilizing land grants, the gold rushers, the adventures and the pioneers. All suffered much in the proposition, some suffered all.
There are always the unknowns; plan and prepare as we will, yet we still cannot envision the varied and devious ways of man, nor can we begin to contemplate the disastrous effects of the natural world. The extremes to which we may find ourselves subjected seem as varied as the character of the human race.
In spite of all we know, and without regard to all our preparation, we will likely face at some time in the future a “beast” of a different form than we imagined in our minds as we planned for the adversity surely to come in the days and years ahead. Not so much a creature of flesh and blood, but an array of conditions consisting of people, weather, weapons, accident, war, famine, thirst, sickness and the like that combine to form that scenario by which our very nature is tested.
Purpose may well be the factor that determines our success or failure. It forms the broad expanse of our experience, leading us to examine ourselves, asking “what it the purpose of survival?” Is it for spouse and children, family; or is it for friends, for fame, or just the gut wrenching will to never give up.
Purpose also pecks it’s way into all the little details of our daily existence, like a hen scratching for food in the farmyard. Purpose is part of fire, and shelter, it is part of first aid and rescue, indeed it is part of all we do, that is, if we are looking for success.
AN EXAMPLE
“What is the Purpose of building the fire?”
A fire should never be built without taking a moment to ask yourself the question above. We spend so much time learning fire by bow drill, flint and steel, ferro rod, fire piston and so much more, but of what value is the fire if we don’t know it’s purpose?
A simple campfire may be one thing, where the fire is mainly for the benefit of socializing around with the group, yet still that is it’s purpose and should be considered as such. With the advent of difficult times, the question of purpose becomes ever more valuable, to preserve strength, to effectively use resources. Survival many times stretches people to the very limit, demanding far more out of them than ever seemed possible, many times the last breath is on it’s way as the rescue arrives. Any wasted effort may have tipped the scale just a bit too far, turning a rescue into a body retrieval; knowing purpose may make all the difference.
Consider this brief list of possibilities related to our example of fire
You look at your current situation and decide to build a fire, now before building it ask yourself this question, “what will be the purpose of the fire?”
These are just a few possible reasons for fire, by answering the purpose question it can be determined what type of fire should be built, or if it needs to be integrated into a shelter. We should ask the purpose question about all we do, it need not be an extensive laborious process, but enough to assure we are wise in our choices and that we don’t waste time, energy and resources.
Until next time this is Perry Peacock, “Simplifying Survival”
Last week my blog talked about Comfort Ratings of sleeping gear. The importance of it all is in reality comfort, and as I mentioned, if you are not sleeping, you are not comfortable. Over the years I have learned how to have a comfortable sleep, how did I learn this? From lots of uncomfortable nights trying to sleep. The problem is most people don’t give enough consideration to sleep, so it’s hit and miss. I have the gear to sleep well in virtually any condition, but lots of times I’m carrying minimal gear or testing something different. Since roughly a third of our lives are spent sleeping we should become very good at it. Quality sleep is especially important when away from home, such as out in the woods. Sleep is ultimately more important than anything else in a survival situation. That may seem like an odd statement to make, but it is nevertheless true. A couple years ago I did a blog on sleep deprivation, in my research I found that the effects of lack of sleep can be devastating, especially to the brain. Miss too much sleep and decision making can be impaired, reasoning nearly impossible, the effects can be deadly.
Getting to the heart of the subject, I want to list some of the factors that make sleep difficult, then some tips I have found that work for me to alleviate some of these. I touched on a couple things in last weeks blog, we’ll cover more in greater detail today. Here’s a list
Fear – fear of the unknown has caused many to lay awake all night, expecting the worst. Truth is, not much ever happens to most people, it’s the few we know about that put the fear into us. I think some of the TV programming adds to this unreasonable fear, with shows where everything that could go wrong does. What is there to fear, mostly people fear animals and creeping critters. Bears are one of the universal creatures that cause a lack of sleep. We should take the standard measures in dealing with food and such in bear populated areas, such as keeping food out of reach, eating in an area away from the sleeping area, beyond that don’t worry about it. People put a lot of faith in a tent which is no protection at all from a bear. I once camped with a group in which one of the members had never camped before in his life. We packed in to our camp spot high in the mountains. I helped some of the group get settled as we arrived at our camp after 10 pm. I was tired and just laid on the ground with a tarp over me. We were in a grove of large pine trees so the ground was thick with soft pine needles. I slept like a log. The new guy we found out the next morning hardly got any sleep at all. He lay in his new tent, fearing every noise, a small branch rubbing his tent became a bear. He finally got some sleep when he said to himself, Perry is out there just on the ground, if a bear comes around it will attack him first. Over the years I’ve slept in the desert, home to scorpions and snakes, in the southeast US with snakes and spiders and much more, never a problem. This is not to say something couldn’t happen, just that it usually doesn’t, most of our fears never come to pass. The more you camp the less fear you will have.
If you are cold, you will not sleep well, if at all. Most people who say they didn’t sleep well due to being too cold really have only one area that is cold, their feet. Solve that problem and you are good. Some things I’ve done for feet and the body in general over the years I’ll talk about next.
Keeping feet warm
Keeping the body warm
Sleeping when it’s hot and humid – In my years living in the Southeast US, I learned what for me was the most comfortable. I like to take a cotton bed sheet with me. When going to sleep strip down to underwear, then I take the sheet and drape over me. It seems to be more comfortable to me than just laying there with nothing over me.
Hammock sleeping-I don’t know if I even need to mention anything here as there is so much info out there.
Well that’s a start and a few of many tips I could offer on how to obtain a good nights rest. Until next time this is Perry Peacock for “Simplifying Survival”
I am often asked this question, “What is the Comfort Range?” This in reference to our nice fleece Poncho Liner or our cozy Survival Blanket. I generally just give my experience in how and where I have used these items and how I fared. As time goes by I realize that I’m always stating a fairly wide span of temperatures as the comfort range, which is not really a comfort range at all as most people want to know, “how cold can I use this?” Even for myself, when I’m talking about it, I realize that my low range for comfort can vary widely, there are reasons for this, which I’ll discuss today.
Who came up with this temperature comfort level?
A question as common as the number of people using sleeping gear, everyone wonders how in the world that sleeping bag is a 20° F bag, “I was freezing at 35°?” The answer has a couple of directions to it, one of those is that manufacturers of gear typically want to show the maximums of their product as it gives a higher perceived value, so in this case the stated cold temperature rating might be really pushing the limits of reality. The other direction this discussion takes us is comfort, which to be honest is not any kind of fixed number that we can pin things down to. Every person has different levels of cold tolerance from another person, and to take it a bit further our own comfort level can vary widely. In the end it is very difficult to say with any kind of certainty what a product’s cold comfort level really is. All we can do is use it as a reference.
I find that when a cold spell starts and I go out in it, my tolerance for the cold is low, however once I’m out in it a while, I don’t notice the cold as much, and in the case of winter, as the season wears on, cold can become less and less of an issue.
Other things affecting comfort range that may have nothing to do with your sleeping bag or blanket
How do all the above listed items impact the comfort rating of a sleeping bag or blanket?
The answer to that question in a way is quite simple, if you are not sleeping, you are not comfortable. Now the lack of comfort may at times be blamed on an inadequate sleeping bag or blanket, when in reality the ground you are laying on has a couple small bumps that are just irritating enough to prevent good sleep. I find that if I’m laying there and anything is bothering me, I’m just killing time while trying to go to sleep, I notice every other bothersome thing, i.e. my feet feel cold, there’s a draft, maybe if I lay on my side, all these fidgety things just multiply. Many times in the very same temperatures, I sleep like a log, why? I took the time to prepare the foundation for my sleep. I either brought along a nice sleeping pad, or in the remote woods, I made a nice thick bed of boughs to lay on. Also a persistent wind can sometimes play havoc with sleep if it can get at me, often just a lean-to wall, or a tarp laid over top of me is all that’s needed to offset that wind and allow me a sound sleep.
As a rule of thumb I have found that when I first lay down, if there is anything that I’m noticing as bothersome, if I don’t get up and fix it, I’ll have a fitful sleep. Some of my best sleeps have been on the ground on a thick layer of pine boughs, even with a bag or blanket that is actually lacking a bit. If I lie down and it’s all cozy, I can drift right off to sleep. When in my hammock made out of my poncho, if I’ve hung it properly, I can leave the fleece liner snapped in and just a little blanket over me and be cozy at 30°, at other times if I don’t do things right 50° might be the limit. A hammock sometimes needs a tarp for wind protection as well, this can often make a huge difference in comfort level.
The best course of action for a great nights sleep is to find out what you require individually for a great nights rest, and then prepare things to allow that. For me, one of the things I have to address is my feet, they get cold easily, even at home sometimes. If I have a fresh thick pair of socks for sleeping in, or some insulated booties, or even a sweatshirt wrapped around them, I’m good. Usually for me if my feet are good, so am I. Figure out what your most limiting factors to a good sleep are and address them, that’s how to ensure a great nights sleep most every time.
Until next time, this is Perry Peacock, “Simplifying Survival”
I read and studied this book, “Wilderness Survival Handbook by Michael Pewtherer” two or three years ago and found it a good read chock full of important information. If a person has studied survival topics much they will always find repeated information, however it is still valuable as it reinforces what has already been learned, also at times things are presented in a different way which helps ones understanding.
If there was one word to describe this book it would be “details” Michael gives lots of information that others do not include. Let me now take you into the book so you can get the flavor of it.
The author divides the book into two main sections 1) Seven Day Survival, 2) Beyond Survival – Primitive Skills for Wilderness Living. This is handy for the reader and student as most of the time a person would only need about three days before rescue, since the first part of the book deals with that, it lays a good foundation. Many survival books deal with a list of skills, many of which may not be needed in the typical three day scenario, nothing wrong with knowing more, but the layout in this book gets a person off to a good start, then adds much more in the last section.
The chapter headings indicate the subject matter thoroughly covered in this part of the book
You will notice the proper priority of these subjects generally and also note that he does not involve food in any way, as obtaining food is not at all necessary in a seven day survival scenario, nor even for two weeks as I have noted here in past blogs and videos, yet it is the primary item first covered by many authors who write about survival.
The author gives plenty of detail in explaining things, that detail generally includes stories of his own experience learning and doing the things he is teaching. The Squirrel Nest and Debris Hut shelters are two examples. I remember many years ago when I was trying out leaf shelters, which are what he calls a Squirrel Nest. I built a back wall out of sticks and a foot and head wall, then I piled in leaves till I was tired of it. The leaf pile was nearly four feet thick. My thinking at the time was to just burrow in from the side. I quickly found out that one or two movements left me with no leaf cover. Later I built a debris hut with a thick layer on top and then I filled the inside with leaves as well. I had a cozy sleep inside, and the rain that night did not penetrate to me. Michael relates his learning experience as he tells how to build these shelters. He spends eight pages on debris huts alone and includes illustrations.
Examples of detail shared pertaining to Debris Hut Shelter
He offers many other details and tips. Any person should be able to construct a debris hut from the directions given.
Water – the section on water is ten pages long, the following are examples of details he offers that many others do not know or simply leave out.
There is so much more in the book, I have not even touched the surface of that which is covered in such an easy to read and understand method of writing. The above selections are taken from the first part of the book.
The chapter headings in this section are well worth noting to indicate the extensive subject matter the author deals with in the second part of the book. Without being too wordy he explains thoroughly many details in these chapters that are simply not even touched on by many other authors. In many books a technique or skill is mentioned but not enough information is given for a person to accomplish it.
Again for this section I will choose a few highlight comments so you can get an idea of what is talked about. It is worth noting that Chapter 9 Food and Drink does not deal with obtaining food and drink, but rather with preparing, cooking, storing and preserving food. There are four chapters that deal with obtaining food.
I could go on and on about this book, but it’s best for you to just get it and study it for yourself. Notice I didn’t say read it, but rather study it. If you intend to get anything useful from a book, you must study it!
Until next time, this is Perry Peacock, “Simplifying Survival”