Survival

As many of you may know, I absolutely love the outdoors. Ever since I was a kid I loved camping, hiking, and backpacking. One of the things that one must always keep in mind when doing these activities is that there is the possibility of things turning south, and quickly. You can get lost, the weather can change, equipment can get damaged or fail, etc. This is a risk we all take especially when out in the wilderness.

Just last winter the Seminary community and the whole nation was following the story of the three stranded climbers on Mount Hood in Oregon. The Seminary community was involved because the President of Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando, Frank James, had a brother, Kelly, who was one of those climbers who died on the mountain. Things can happen fast and a quick ascent can turn into a life and death struggle

One of the things that anybody going out into the wilderness needs to have some concept of is how to survive when something does happen. To that end there are many books on that subject, but two television shows have come out recently that I absolutely love - they are Surviorman and Man vs. Wild. Both are on the Discovery Channel and both put a man into a popular wilderness destination with minimal supplies, if any, and he has to not only survive for a week, but attempt at finding a way out as well! Their expertise and knowledge are not only told to us, but they are actually shown in a real-life survival situation. Allow me to comment a little on each show

Surviorman is hosted and filmed by Les Stroud. One thing that sets this show off from the other is that Les does all his own camera work, therefore he is totally alone. Not only does he have to survive he has to film and carry 50 pounds of camera gear! So far it seems that Les has limited himself to the North American Continent, which is nice because these are the places and environments I will most likely be visiting myself as well. Les also tries to put himself in a real-life situation - snowmobile breaks down, airplane crashes, bike breaks, etc. and because of this he has some limited materials with which to work off of. He shows how to scavange and use as much as possible from what you do have.

Man vs. Wild is hosted by Bear Grylls. Now the one big difference with this show is that there is a camera crew following Bear. They are not able to help him in any way except in a life or death situation. I am pretty sure they are not able to talk to him either. Even those this isn't "pure" survival, one advantage is that you can see Bear do some things that Les would have a hard time shooting himself doing. Maybe to kind of balance out the presence of a camera crew, Bear usually has less supplies than Les does. Most often Bear has only a knife, water bottle, and the clothes on his back. I have seen him on a number of occasions parachute into his location which means he can't carry too much. Not that Les has a bunch of stuff, but usually a bit more than Bear. Bear also might get into some more situations that are a little more extreme because he can parachute into them. although Les too has been into some remote and forsaken lands.

Overall for somebody who loves the outdoors and has an interest in survival techniques anyway, these shows have been most informative and fun to watch. Thankfully, I have not had to experience anything close to what these guys have, but I just might someday and need to be prepared.

One thing that I have learned from these guys, especially from Les because he doesn't parachute into his locations, is how a knowledge of the surrounding areas is so vital. I have yet to see either guy consult a map during the show - and because of that they are always having to make certain guess as to which direction they need to travel. They usually have some idea, but nothing concrete. I guess that is where my infatuation with maps and the need to know as much as I can about the area will help me. I rarely go anywhere outdoors without a map, and because of my research I usually know the different ways to get in and out of a location and where the roads/towns are. I also always carry a compass with me and usually practice using it every chance I can get.

Thankfully, I have only really been lost once in my many years of hiking. It was actually about a year ago up in Daley Ranch just a couple of miles from my house. This was the first time ever I had to take a bearing on a landmark and figure out where I was on a map! The problem arose with a road/trail that wasn't on my maps which I thought would lead me to a certain place, but didn't. Now I was only maybe half a mile from the trail I wanted to be on and at no point was I worried, I actually chuckled that I had to take out my compass to find my way back at a place I had been to dozens of times! But things happen fast and without a map and compass it would have taken me a lot longer to figure out where I was and how to get back.

One other thing that I think will help me in a survial situation is that I always bring more than I need and usually try to think of the worst case scenario. Even while just hiking near my house, I have a first aid kit, multi-tool, plenty of water, and map and compass. Just before the news broke about the Mt. Hood climbers being missing I was watching a show called "I Shouldn't Be Alive" (another survial show recounting the stories of real people in survival situations) about three climbers on Mt. Denali (McKinley in Alaska). In that story the climbers were camped near the summit, and saw a break in the weather and decided to bee-line it to the summit with minimal gear. However, the weather quickly shifted on them (as it can on Denali) and they were trapped without a lot of their stuff. Something similar could have happened to the Mt. Hood climbers as well. Thankfully in that show, however, all the men were rescued in what is the highest helicopter rescue in North America, above 19,000 feet, but they were all severly frost-bitten and lost a lot of fingers and toes. Therefore, I am now am always going to be thinking to myself when I attempy at making a summit or a goal, can I survive here if something were to happen, and not leave essential gear behind.

Sorry for the length of this post. Get me talking about some subjects and I can go on and on!