Survivor TV?

[pokerfan]

Anyone watching it? Not just Survivorman but the others. I'm an outdoors kind of guy and these shows fascinate me. I was a scout so I try to be always prepared, but sometimes life tosses you a curveball.

I've climbed all five volcanos in my state (Washington) and, knock on wood, have never been in a survival situation. I've seen people seriously injured, but never a real survival situation.

First off, food is overrated. Remember the rule of threes: without shelter a human can die in three hours from hypothermia. It takess three days withought water water to die and three weeks withought food. YMMV

Fire.

Is there anything more prehistoric, primordial, more exilirating than making fire from scratch? I did it when I was in the scouts, but have never had to do when a life was on the line. Nice to know that I can do it.

Fire is so key: It wards off predators. provides warmth, purifies water, cooks meat, and perhaps most importantly, provides a signal.

I saw one guy (not survivorman, with whom I have issues) start a fire by busting a camcorder and using its lenses! In the scouts, we had to use sticks.

Instead of Homo Sapiens, I suggest that we should be called Homo Aduro. Fire-making people.

[pokerfan]

1. Bump

Anyone?

[Crazy Dave]

2. Mrs. DTW and I

We watch the shows, read the books and practice being self reliant with the exception of trapping and killing wild game. I've made traps and made sure they were functional but have not killed any critters. We know how to fish and I've made effective fish traps before.
It's good stuff to know as anyone and everyone that has been in a survival situation always thought "it will never happen to me" until it happened. An attitude like, "I know what I need to do in order to stay alive and I need to look for ways to be rescued" will have a much better outcome than an attitude like, "if somebody doesn't find me I'm going to die".

[pokerfan]

3. Having the positive mental attitude is key

Some people just give up. On one of the shows, they interviewed one of the survivors of a sailboat sinking who had spent seven days in a raft -- and not the nicely outfitted rescue raft which they had lost in the storm but the little inflatable dinghy they had been towing. No food, no drinkable water and no way to make water. I think there were five of them. One of them drank seawater, went nuts and jumped in the ocean and quickly became shark food.

Anyways, one of the survivors was asked what kept him going, mentally. He said that he was in the middle of a difficult divorce and didn't want his wife to get everything.

Whatever works, I guess.

[Duer 157099]

4. I love those shows

I recall seeing the fire made from a busted camera, but I thought it was Survivorman... maybe it was that other guy who had a similar show that I only saw a couple episodes of.

What are your issues with Survivorman?

I would think that anyone trying out for the Survivor show would watch all these shows -- amazing how many of them apparently don't.

[pokerfan]

5. Now that I think about it

you're right, it was Les (Survivorman) Stroud who busted the camera to make fire. I carry a small plastic fresnel magnifying lens in my wallet cause ever since I turned forty, they are printing things smaller these days. :) I will have to see if that can start a fire in a pinch. I think it's unlikely, but you never know.

One of my issues with Stroud concerns mushrooms. Food is usually pretty far down on the essential list anyway. Shelter, water, fire, signaling are all more urgent.

Mushrooms provide very little nutrition, though they are tasty, a lot of them can kill you. You have to know more than what Les can convey in a short tv program. I think it's a little irresponsible for him to even be talking about shrooms. Better off eating insects. Remember to remove the wings and legs first cause they scratch on the way down. And everything tastes better (and is safer) cooked. Another reason for fire.

I do respect the dude's stamina. He has no film crew with him so he has to hump all the camera gear.

There was another guy on a different show who was pretty amazing. I think he was special forces. He really stressed the taste tests for unfamiliar potential food. Rub it on your skin and wait an hour. If everything's ok, touch it to your lips and wait an hour. Still ok? Put a tiny bit in your mouth, chew it and spit it out. Wait an hour. If still ok, ingest a small amount, and wait an hour. In other words, go slow.

He also showed an amazing thing regarding the Agave (tequila) plant. There are spines on the tips of the leaves. If you very carefully put a spine in your mouth and chew around the base being careful to not chew all the way though, you can remove the spine. Attached to the spine will be a foot or two of strong fiber. Nature's needle and thread! You can use it to repair gear and, in a pinch, even as a suture!

Anyone trying out for Survivor should probably invest in a survivalism course or at least pick up a book or two. I have the USAF Survival Training manual, AF Regulations 64-4. I believe they allow contestants to bring a single luxury item. that would be mine.

Those guys on that show should be thriving, not just surviving. They are always placed in lush environments with plenty of wood and water. Fire should not be a problem. I've done it with sticks. It's not exactly rocket science. It's just a pain in the ass.

Food? If you can't catch fish or game, then aside from edible plants, it's bugs and grubs . Keep it to six legs or fewer. Roast them if you have fire. Keep improving the shelter each day. Get yourselves off the ground by making sleeping platforms to keep away from the creepy crawly things. Then sit around and figure out who to stab in the back next.