Here is my two cents on the issues of field-craft as it relates to wilderness survival.
I'm not concerned with zombie end of the world situations. I'll leave that to others.
The most important issue with regards to surviving in the wilderness is controlling body temperature. To keep it from getting too hot and too cold. Either will kill you. Cold within minutes, i.e. -40 below in street clothes. As long as you can keep your body and your extremities within a reasonable temperature range in most cases you'll be fine.
In most cases a extra fleece(or wool/poly) jacket, fleece pants, goretex(or similar breathable)shell jacket & pants, balaclava, gloves. Will take you down to -20 safely overnight and longer if the temperatures are moderate. If you have a sleeping bag and a tarp, or better yet a tent. You can be warm almost indefinitely.
Almost all of my jackets have a bic lighter(wrapped in duck tape), swiss army knife(with the wood saw),fleece balaclava and fox 40 whistle.I have never had a bic lighter fail to light when it had lighter fluid in it. Hey it keeps a couple billion nicotine addicted smokers hitting it without delay.
Fire. <span style="font-weight: bold">You don't need it</span>. The longest I've personally been wet continuously was a week. That was when I was bowhunting moose. It had been raining for a week prior to the hunt and either rained or drizzled for the 10 days I was hunting. After three days everything I owned was wet. However I never got cold, even though its the shits sleeping in wet sleeping bags day after day. Being wet continuously was however mentally draining. I had a campstove for cooking and hot drinks. It was not possible to light a open fire.
I concede a open fire is a morale booster. However unless you're in the 2'-3' range from a fire it will not keep you warm. Fire can turn a fleece/nylon and/or polyester clad person into a big candle in a hurry. Be careful.
Water. I hear again and again that you can survive two days without water. To that I say <span style="font-weight: bold">try it</span>. Most people(say 165lbs) drink a gallon of fluids a day, or 128 ounces/8lbs. If the average person looses 2% of bodymass water they will begin to feel the effects of dehydration. Two percent is 52 ounces of water for a 165 lb. person.
"Exercise performance is impaired when an individual is dehydrated by as little as 2% of body weight. <span style="font-weight: bold">Losses in excess of 5% of body weight can decrease the capacity for work by about 30%"</span>
http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/dehydration-and-its-effects-on-performance
Severe dehydration starts at 10% so a loss of two gallons. Severe dehydration means that your legs will cramp at any effort. You WILL not be able to walk uphill for any distance. If you start vomiting you will be in real trouble.
"When the body's fluid supply is severely depleted, hypovolemic shock is likely to occur. This condition, which is also called physical collapse, is characterized by pale, cool, clammy skin; rapid heartbeat; and shallow breathing."
http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/dehydration
Don't plan on finding or traveling to water if your dehydration is over 10%. Your mobility will be severely limited. At 15% I personally would likely be on the floor in the hurt. Think UFC fighters after their weight cuts. They are beat. At 15% You will be almost immobile.
Food. Its nice, but generally you don't need it especially if you carry a pinch or two of fat.
99 per cent is mental. Learn how to read a map and use a compass. Learn how to find a route on a map, i.e. the easiest way from point "a" to point "b" depending on the terrain. Go out into the bush(think 10 miles or more from the nearest road and/or person or anything manmade-better 30 miles), by yourself, without a gun, for a couple days. For a week. For longer.
You won't get attacked by bears, wolves,etc. You might feel lonely ,scared, cold, tired, hungry, etc. If you feel the need, take a GPS, but don't use it. If you get lost don't reach for the GPS!! Figure it out for yourself!
Getting lost is merely the state of heading in the wrong direction till you find yourself. You would be well served to get so lost such that you feel the sensation of panic. The first three(or so) times I've been lost thats what I felt. Where you think you are really screwed. That signal fires for aircraft are the only option. As long as you have a direction to a major physical feature/road you can figure it out. That will start to give you the confidence to go further.
The mental comes in when you need to travel to "X" and can say I need water-no I don't need water. I need to stay where I am but I can figure on a week for rescue. The hell with rescue I have the clothes and means to navigate the 20 or more miles through solid bush to where I need to be. Knowing that that the solid bush has deadfall every 10' and that I'll have to take a 5 mile detour to avoid steep terrain. That I can cross that river but can't cross that creek.
The mental and the experience comes into play when you can say I need water so I'll stay exactly where I am. I can do this but its too risky to do that. To say to someone else that nobody is going to cross that convex open slope because it snowed 12" two days ago.
Shelter. I see lots of elaborate shelters. Constructed of spruce branches, cut up logs, etc. In simple "A" frame, to lean-to, to open C shaped affairs encircling a fire. Most are not waterproof unless the branches are a foot thick, with lots of slope to the branches in the same direction. I've only built three. But spending 2-3 hours building one, getting covered with pine sap either building it or overnight when the sap drips on your sleeping bag. Is the shits. It will not keep you warmer, unless its windy in the exact location where you are sleeping.. There is no insulation value in 6" or even a foot of tree branches- its all psychological. It's like the old idea that a tent is warmer. It will keep the wind off you.
Go backpacking, snowshoeing,canoeing,x-country skiing, etc. Get out in the bush and move. Staying in one campsite or taking hikes on defined trails will not teach you navigation. It will not develop your confidence.You need to travel across country on routes you define in advance using a map, ideally more than 10 miles. Then a 100 mile canoe trip with unmarked portages.
The mental will not come from reading and talking about this. You have to field test your brain.
I'm not concerned with zombie end of the world situations. I'll leave that to others.
The most important issue with regards to surviving in the wilderness is controlling body temperature. To keep it from getting too hot and too cold. Either will kill you. Cold within minutes, i.e. -40 below in street clothes. As long as you can keep your body and your extremities within a reasonable temperature range in most cases you'll be fine.
In most cases a extra fleece(or wool/poly) jacket, fleece pants, goretex(or similar breathable)shell jacket & pants, balaclava, gloves. Will take you down to -20 safely overnight and longer if the temperatures are moderate. If you have a sleeping bag and a tarp, or better yet a tent. You can be warm almost indefinitely.
Almost all of my jackets have a bic lighter(wrapped in duck tape), swiss army knife(with the wood saw),fleece balaclava and fox 40 whistle.I have never had a bic lighter fail to light when it had lighter fluid in it. Hey it keeps a couple billion nicotine addicted smokers hitting it without delay.
Fire. <span style="font-weight: bold">You don't need it</span>. The longest I've personally been wet continuously was a week. That was when I was bowhunting moose. It had been raining for a week prior to the hunt and either rained or drizzled for the 10 days I was hunting. After three days everything I owned was wet. However I never got cold, even though its the shits sleeping in wet sleeping bags day after day. Being wet continuously was however mentally draining. I had a campstove for cooking and hot drinks. It was not possible to light a open fire.
I concede a open fire is a morale booster. However unless you're in the 2'-3' range from a fire it will not keep you warm. Fire can turn a fleece/nylon and/or polyester clad person into a big candle in a hurry. Be careful.
Water. I hear again and again that you can survive two days without water. To that I say <span style="font-weight: bold">try it</span>. Most people(say 165lbs) drink a gallon of fluids a day, or 128 ounces/8lbs. If the average person looses 2% of bodymass water they will begin to feel the effects of dehydration. Two percent is 52 ounces of water for a 165 lb. person.
"Exercise performance is impaired when an individual is dehydrated by as little as 2% of body weight. <span style="font-weight: bold">Losses in excess of 5% of body weight can decrease the capacity for work by about 30%"</span>
http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/dehydration-and-its-effects-on-performance
Severe dehydration starts at 10% so a loss of two gallons. Severe dehydration means that your legs will cramp at any effort. You WILL not be able to walk uphill for any distance. If you start vomiting you will be in real trouble.
"When the body's fluid supply is severely depleted, hypovolemic shock is likely to occur. This condition, which is also called physical collapse, is characterized by pale, cool, clammy skin; rapid heartbeat; and shallow breathing."
http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/dehydration
Don't plan on finding or traveling to water if your dehydration is over 10%. Your mobility will be severely limited. At 15% I personally would likely be on the floor in the hurt. Think UFC fighters after their weight cuts. They are beat. At 15% You will be almost immobile.
Food. Its nice, but generally you don't need it especially if you carry a pinch or two of fat.
99 per cent is mental. Learn how to read a map and use a compass. Learn how to find a route on a map, i.e. the easiest way from point "a" to point "b" depending on the terrain. Go out into the bush(think 10 miles or more from the nearest road and/or person or anything manmade-better 30 miles), by yourself, without a gun, for a couple days. For a week. For longer.
You won't get attacked by bears, wolves,etc. You might feel lonely ,scared, cold, tired, hungry, etc. If you feel the need, take a GPS, but don't use it. If you get lost don't reach for the GPS!! Figure it out for yourself!
Getting lost is merely the state of heading in the wrong direction till you find yourself. You would be well served to get so lost such that you feel the sensation of panic. The first three(or so) times I've been lost thats what I felt. Where you think you are really screwed. That signal fires for aircraft are the only option. As long as you have a direction to a major physical feature/road you can figure it out. That will start to give you the confidence to go further.
The mental comes in when you need to travel to "X" and can say I need water-no I don't need water. I need to stay where I am but I can figure on a week for rescue. The hell with rescue I have the clothes and means to navigate the 20 or more miles through solid bush to where I need to be. Knowing that that the solid bush has deadfall every 10' and that I'll have to take a 5 mile detour to avoid steep terrain. That I can cross that river but can't cross that creek.
The mental and the experience comes into play when you can say I need water so I'll stay exactly where I am. I can do this but its too risky to do that. To say to someone else that nobody is going to cross that convex open slope because it snowed 12" two days ago.
Shelter. I see lots of elaborate shelters. Constructed of spruce branches, cut up logs, etc. In simple "A" frame, to lean-to, to open C shaped affairs encircling a fire. Most are not waterproof unless the branches are a foot thick, with lots of slope to the branches in the same direction. I've only built three. But spending 2-3 hours building one, getting covered with pine sap either building it or overnight when the sap drips on your sleeping bag. Is the shits. It will not keep you warmer, unless its windy in the exact location where you are sleeping.. There is no insulation value in 6" or even a foot of tree branches- its all psychological. It's like the old idea that a tent is warmer. It will keep the wind off you.
Go backpacking, snowshoeing,canoeing,x-country skiing, etc. Get out in the bush and move. Staying in one campsite or taking hikes on defined trails will not teach you navigation. It will not develop your confidence.You need to travel across country on routes you define in advance using a map, ideally more than 10 miles. Then a 100 mile canoe trip with unmarked portages.
The mental will not come from reading and talking about this. You have to field test your brain.
