Top ten survival lies

[Andy54Hawken]

Wait.... I think I'm missing something here....
Urban Dictionary: lanyarding

What do YOU mean by lanyarding? Please tell me not definition number 1!

We called it an "Idiot String" in the Army.
Not sure how many miles of 550 cord we went thru lashing things down or putting a lanyard on things so they wouldn't get lost.
Andy

 

[Libertas7]

Oh and wilderness survival for me just happened to be during a freak snow storm that moved in during the night.


Learned you can never have too much firewood amoungst other things when stranded.

Is there a story that goes with this?

 

[Doc In UPlace]

You really can't beat experience.
Developing the skills for navigation, shelter, food and water, getting through undeveloped country on foot.

All that stuff is in your head, takes up no space in the closet whatsoever.

Experience will show what being cold and hungry will do to your concentration. What is needed to keep those handy 'survival tools' from falling down an embankment or into a stream.

New methodology for doing (what used to be) simple things without injuring yourself, during times when you can't think clearly from fatigue.

Experience first. That is almost everything.

 

[coop44]

My mother sent me a box of my old c childhood stuff she had been hanging onto for years. Among the items were my old Tonka (1960 Ford step side) and my old boy scout handbook. Started flipping through, then stopped and REALLY read it, lots of common sense there. I would recommend it as a primer for anyone concerned with survival.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I know how to do the Stationary Modified Panic (of McManus fame) real good. so I got that going on
lol

 

[Koda]

the very top survival lie... starting a fire with one of these:
Amazon.com: Light My Fire Swedish FireSteel 2.0 Army 12,000 Strike Fire Starter with Emergency Whistle - Coco Shell: Sports & Outdoors

 

[Joe13]

Is there a story that goes with this?

Well this one time at band camp....


Not much of a story, it was for a merit badge when I was in scouts and the temps were supposed to stay in the mid 40's - ended up in the high 20's and snowing.

Learned a cold lesson in finding firewood at night the first night out.

 

[BlackRyder]

I know how to do the Stationary Modified Panic (of McManus fame) real good. so I got that going on
lol

gold star for the pat McManus reference! I read all his books when I was in 7th grade (my math teacher introduced me to him) and still think he is hilarious.

 

[Certaindeaf]

A corner of my bookshelf has all my

gold star for the pat McManus reference! I read all his books when I was in 7th grade (my math teacher introduced me to him) and still think he is hilarious.

He's awesome. I don't know if he codified/named how to get "un-lost" but as you know, just get nekid!

 

[Koda]

all I know is never strap a dead deer to your bicycle and Sneed is always watching.

 

[BlackRyder]

To this day, I refer to my black converse chuck Taylor's as "tenner shoes".

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Fire steels work very well, but the trick, when it's cold and wet and your hands are frozen, is "ya have to have done it before!"
So...experience!

 

[Camelfilter]

Fire steels work very well, but the trick, when it's cold and wet and your hands are frozen, is "ya have to have done it before!"
So...experience!

DING!

-plus a homemade tinder/starter really helps, especially in the wet. We like dryer lint soaked in melted paraffin.

 

[The Heretic]

DING!

-plus a homemade tinder/starter really helps, especially in the wet. We like dryer lint soaked in melted paraffin.

I prefer the drier lint to have the wax/vaseline/et. al. on the outside and not on the inside of the lint. This makes it easier to start with the plain lint (after you break it open) and then the covering helps it last longer.

 

[slimmer13]

Fire steels work very well, but the trick, when it's cold and wet and your hands are frozen, is "ya have to have done it before!"
So...experience!

I guess I don't really get the fire steel/flint/other alternative fire start techniques. If you can carry a fire steel, why not just a Bic? When I go in the back country, I carry about 5 in different waterproof containers spread throughout my gear, a couple in my pickup etc.

 

[Koda]

I guess I don't really get the fire steel/flint/other alternative fire start techniques. If you can carry a fire steel, why not just a Bic? When I go in the back country, I carry about 5 in different waterproof containers spread throughout my gear, a couple in my pickup etc.

Exactly.
Thats why those things are a survival lie.... Yes, it can be done but its the absolute most inefficient way compared to the weight of even 2 bic lighters. Even if you practice with them, if SHTF you dont want to be messing around with the most inefficient method most likely in the cold and rain.

 

[The Heretic]

OTOH - I've seen a lot of BIC lighters that have broken. I've seen no firesteels that have broken.

 

[Koda]

OTOH - I've seen a lot of BIC lighters that have broken. I've seen no firesteels that have broken.

True, thats why I mentioned 2 Bic lighters. Or sometimes I carry 1 with a wateroroof match container as backup.

 

[Certaindeaf]

It's true though.. there's plenty of outdoors people that can't get a fire going with a road flare. Practice, especially in bad weather, with various tools.
Note to self, master primitive methods to make fire. that'd be a nifty feather in the hat

 

[Certaindeaf]

Then there's Andy though. He'll just drop a birds nest on his pan and..