Top ten survival lies

[Koda]

In bad weather your better off conserving your warmth and wrapping up in a space blanket than wasting your time trying to start a fire 8n the cold rain even with a bic...

 

[Certaindeaf]

In bad weather your better off conserving your warmth and wrapping up in a space blanket than wasting your time trying to start a fire 8n the cold rain even with a bic...

If there's cedar trees and maybe birch, you've got a very good chance. Don't "waste" anything.. know in advance.

 

[Koda]

Well, its not just about starting a fire... Its about keeping it going. In order to do that you have to expose yourself to the rain to collect enough wood to last all night. If you can find any dry enough wood at all.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Well, its not just about starting a fire... Its about keeping it going. In order to do that you have to expose yourself to the rain to collect enough wood to last all night. If you can find any dry enough wood at all.

Absolutely. In some situations you'll die if you get too cold though. let's all try to not die
lol

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Agreed, I've had BIC's fail and I've worked in cold, wet climates that hindered their ability to do the job! Even kept next to my skin. In my various packs and kits I have some variation of the following!
BIC's
Mag rod and ferro strip
Flint and steel
Kitchen matches/storm matches in a waterproof container
An IMCO Junior trench lighter/ fluid lighter
My old Army Zippo/fluid lighter
A powerful butane twin flame cigar lighter

Vaseline cotton balls
Cube fire starters
Fat wood slivers
Egg carton/sawdust/wick/paraffin fire starters
Butane
Lighter fluid
Char cloth (just a bit left, it's so old)
And I don't remember what all!

There are always three or four in each pack and if I'm in the woods or driving far from civilization, one in my pocket/PU. Usually my IMCO Austrian trench lighter. Because it's so cool! LOL!!!

Also, I taught my son and grand kids to use a fire steel, as well as most of the others on the list, with natural tinder. There's what we need to know!

 

[Camelfilter]

Put your bic in a ziplock inside a tin with some fire-starter in its own ziplock. Keeps the bic valve from accidentally being depressed & going empty, as has happened to a few just thrown in pack pockets.

I smoke cigarettes, so I have bics "all over the place" anyways, but also carry 2 in a tin as mentioned above. Hiking/biking in the foul, or working up a sweat, cigarettes go in zip-locks as well. Zip locks are handy for the butts and other small trash as well.

Flints & strikers I clip to zipper pulls/straps.

 

[The Heretic]

Absolutely. In some situations you'll die if you get too cold though. let's all try to not die
lol

That's the general goal yes.

Last time I got that cold and was out in the wilderness (literally) I had been hiking and the weather turned from a nice 70* to below freezing with light wet snow inside 4 hours. I was stupid and had not checked the weather forecast.

I had raingear but it halfway failed (the goretex pants partially delaminated) and I was wet and cold and the wind was blowing good.

Fortunately I had a good tent and sleeping bag. Even though the bag got partially wet, it was synthetic and thick. I got the tent up and crawled inside the bag and within an hour I was warm because the synthetic bag insulated me even though it was wet - it did not lose its loft.

The next morning I turned around and hiked out instead of risking more snow. It was September 1982 and I was hiking up to the north Sister for one last trip before starting a new year at college.

I did not start a fire - there was no firewood handy there and I had a way to stay warm anyway. It is hard to start a fire with wet wood - even inside my house with no wind inside my woodstove.

Up here on the mountain, I get 50% to 100% more rainfall than in the valley and once the rains start most everything gets soaked.

A few months into the rainy season, all wood outside that isn't under some kind of cover is soaked all the way through and it takes weeks of being inside a low humidity house for it to dry out. You can throw a gallon of gas on it and it won't stay burning once the gas has burnt off.

Looking at my weather station I setup last week, the humidity outside has been 99% since it was setup. Inside it is 40%

 

[Oathkeeper1775]

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.

Peeled and dried Cherry bark makes a citrus-type reaction; resembling a sparkler or when a lighted match is held near an orange peel when squeezing. A gallon ziplock-full weighs next to nothing; each piece lasts for 40 seconds or so.

 

[JRuby]

I learned this in the service. Your mind can be your best friend or your worse enemy. You need to be able to keep your mind together and not lose it or freak out because that is wasting resources that you will need. You need to focus on the problem and not be over come by it. The choices you will make will greatly determine the outcome so you need to think clearly. This is easier said than done.

 

[Koda]

A few months into the rainy season, all wood outside that isn't under some kind of cover is soaked all the way through and it takes weeks of being inside a low humidity house for it to dry out. You can throw a gallon of gas on it and it won't stay burning once the gas has burnt off.

I can vouche to that with experience...

many here are hunters and maybe during deer season but come elk season here in the PNW everything is wet enough your best friend if SHTF overnight is a space blanket and hunker down till daylight or rescue. Yeah, I still carry firestarter in my pack cause there are always exceptions but generally it would be a waste of time even with a gallon of gas.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Yep. Fire is generally bad. Read it on the innermet. lol

 

[The Heretic]

Yep. Fire is generally bad. Read it on the innermet. lol

When you live on a mountain covered in trees, yes, fire is bad - at least during the summer. More than once a fire has gotten out of control up here. Fortunately we have a fire dept. that is quick to respond.

 

[Certaindeaf]

When you live on a mountain covered in trees, yes, fire is bad - at least during the summer. More than once a fire has gotten out of control up here. Fortunately we have a fire dept. that is quick to respond.

I hears ya. A shovel is nice and handy to dig a hole for yourself is what you're saying? lol

 

[Certaindeaf]

"Top ten lies.". Lol.
Well how 'bout the" one truth ".. do what you gotta/can do to keep yourself alive.
Not "ooh, but it might be raining and cold and you might not be able to make a fire so curl up in a ball and die!", "ooh, it's nice in a teepee in a sleeping bag with a survival blankie so curl up with a cup a cocoa"..
wtmff

 

[Koda]

Well how 'bout the" one truth ".. do what you gotta/can do to keep yourself alive.

but what does that mean?
when someone asks about survival, you just tell them to man up and do what ever you gotta do?

then they go out and SHTF and they spend all night getting soaked trying to keep a fire going they get exhausted and the fire goes out then they get hypothermia and die, even though they might have lived wrapped up like a burrito in a space blanket, or teepee (tent).

 

[Certaindeaf]

but what does that mean?.

What does that mean?
I think what I was trying to say is to try to have some skill and will. I was not saying that since it might be cold and rainy that there's no hope, as it seems some here are. pretty odd

 

[The Heretic]

I hears ya. A shovel is nice and handy to dig a hole for yourself is what you're saying? lol

What I am saying is that way too much emphasis is placed on being able to build a fire as a survival skill, and not enough on staying dry, dressing in layers and being able to carry/find shelter out of the elements. I.E., being prepared.

When I first moved to the mountain it was a very dry summer and we had zero rain until late October and then I felt safe from the city idiots who thought whenever they went out into the woods to get their deer that they just had to build a campfire even though the daytime temps were in the 60s and nights in the high 40s to 50s, and there was a high fire danger warning.

Those of us who have more than a few acres, each acre with about $10K to $20K worth of timber, and a decent house/shop on top of that, tend to worry about such things, even here on the wet-side (which gets drier every summer due to climate change).

We put blood sweat and tears into our properties and we don't want to come home to this:

 

[Certaindeaf]

but what does that mean?
when someone asks about survival, you just tell them to man up and do what ever you gotta do?

then they go out and SHTF and they spend all night getting soaked trying to keep a fire going they get exhausted and the fire goes out then they get hypothermia and die, even though they might have lived wrapped up like a burrito in a space blanket, or teepee (tent).

Did I ever say that people don't and won't die of hypothermia? Of course they do and will. I honestly don't think warmth caused someone to die of hypothermia.
what are you yammering on about?

 

[Certaindeaf]

What I am saying is that way too much emphasis is placed on being able to build a fire as a survival skill, and not enough on staying dry, dressing in layers and being able to carry/find shelter out of the elements. I.E., being prepared.

When I first moved to the mountain it was a very dry summer and we had zero rain until late October and then I felt safe from the city idiots who thought whenever they went out into the woods to get their deer that they just had to build a campfire even though the daytime temps were in the 60s and nights in the high 40s to 50s, and there was a high fire danger warning.

Those of us who have more than a few acres, each acre with about $10K to $20K worth of timber, and a decent house/shop on top of that, tend to worry about such things, even here on the wet-side (which gets drier every summer due to climate change).

We put blood sweat and tears into our properties and we don't want to come home to this:

View attachment 331142

I always think of the red herring too.

 

[The Heretic]

It is what it is.

I have had this pet peeve for decades because I have yet to be in a situation where a campfire was necessary - it was just something that was nice to have.

Once I moved back out into a rural area about 5 years ago, it became more than a pet peeve, it became something that I and my neighbors actively worry about every year once the woods dry out until the rains start again.

I remember a time when we would have to worry about too much rain for our crops (causes cherries to split, and can crush grain/grass based crops and/or make it very hard to harvest them when wet) - and when we would wonder whether it would rain on July 4th, that being a 50-50 bet.

Now we have little to no rain for months in the summer, with many farmers having to increasingly irrigate to keep crops from failing.

As I said, the importance and benefits of a campfire are way overblown, the ability to create a fire when one would be beneficial (when it is pouring down rain/snow and the temps are cold) overestimated.

A much better prep is to learn and know how to stay dry and warm - rather than how to build a fire to dry out.