Just finished teaching a ten day course in the mountains to the military. Seems like the wind never stopped blowing during that entire time as is often the case this time of year in the West. Some days we had fires, some days we went without as it was just too risky.
Each year, though, we hear about lost hikers who light up a signal fire to expedite their rescue and then ends up torching the forest instead. With much of the Western US a tinderbox, my advice is to carry a quality (glass) signal mirror and learn how to use it- something that takes a few minutes in your backyard.
A decent signal mirror will run you $10 and can shoot a flash for miles and miles and, most importantly, doesn't endanger the forest and the dozens of searchers on the ground headed your way.
Signal fires have their place; such as when the ground is covered with snow, it's the rainy season, it's a non-windy day, and you have exhausted other means.
Since survival is all about being prepared, carry a signal mirror and whistle, at the very least, and you'll have a much easier time drawing Search and Rescue personnel to you in the event you become stranded in the wilds.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
The Romanticism of Living Off the Land
Got a call today from a magazine writer who asked if I would provide some "tips" for helping the average person learn to live off the land during a crisis in the city or countryside. I said that it would take more than tips- more like a whole lot of practice, sweat, and time out on the land and even then it can be a dice-roll as to whether you fill your belly that day.
The area of food procurement in the wilderness is, by far, the most challenging area of study in the field of bushcraft and survival. In my opinion, it's an area that requires a few lifetimes to delve into and one that I have been pursuing for many years with no end in sight. Our ancestors spent their entire existence on an eternal food quest and it took the cooperative efforts of the whole tribe survive. Trying to acquire the skill set of our ancient hunter-gatherers during or after a disaster is like learning to sail a ship during a storm. Better to be prepared in the first place with some food supplies at home.
Food procurement, and being an effective modern hunter/gatherer, involves some of the following skills:
-Tracking and animal behavior.
-Ability to effectively use archery gear, atlatl, and throwing sticks along with proficiency with a rifle.
-Stalking and camoflauge skills.
-Fishing skills: both primitive and modern.
-Knowledge of the common edible plants for your region and how to harvest and use them.
-Ability to construct and properly use deadfalls and snares for trapping.
Just looking at the list you'll see that living off the land takes TIME and PRACTICE.
If you read the old accounts of mountain men like Jim Bridger, you'll quickly see that it wasn't anything like Dances With Wolves. Old Jim described one time that he was so famished due to lack of game, that he took off his deerskin moccasins and crisped them over the fire until they were crunchy and then ate 'em! And this coming from a veteran trapper/hunter who had spent over 4 decades in the wilderness. Living off the land is not romantic!
I've taught bushcraft courses where we are out in the wilds for a few weeks, hunting & gatheirng, where the acorns are dropping on our heads, the berries are abundant, and the fish are jumping into your lap. However, I've also had courses that saw us chowing on cattail roots and pine bark for three days because the drought, that season, left the landscape barren.
My advice, if you want to learn to be self-sufficient, is to learn as much as you can: spend time with experienced hunters, fishermen, edible plants instructors, trappers, and bushcraft folks and slowly integrate your skills into your lifestyle at home. My kids know how to pick and eat amaranth, cattails, dandelions and other wild edibles but it something that my wife and I have introduced them to over the years and build on with each trip out the back door.
My advice to those who simply want to be prepared for an emergency, and have no desire to go Jeremiah Johnson, is the same I gave the writer who called: Plan Ahead and Be Prepared. Stock up on basic food supplies at home, enough for a few weeks, to weather out a crisis and you will be way ahead of the game. You can bet our hunter-gatherer ancestors took the same precautions.
Tony
The area of food procurement in the wilderness is, by far, the most challenging area of study in the field of bushcraft and survival. In my opinion, it's an area that requires a few lifetimes to delve into and one that I have been pursuing for many years with no end in sight. Our ancestors spent their entire existence on an eternal food quest and it took the cooperative efforts of the whole tribe survive. Trying to acquire the skill set of our ancient hunter-gatherers during or after a disaster is like learning to sail a ship during a storm. Better to be prepared in the first place with some food supplies at home.
Food procurement, and being an effective modern hunter/gatherer, involves some of the following skills:
-Tracking and animal behavior.
-Ability to effectively use archery gear, atlatl, and throwing sticks along with proficiency with a rifle.
-Stalking and camoflauge skills.
-Fishing skills: both primitive and modern.
-Knowledge of the common edible plants for your region and how to harvest and use them.
-Ability to construct and properly use deadfalls and snares for trapping.
Just looking at the list you'll see that living off the land takes TIME and PRACTICE.
If you read the old accounts of mountain men like Jim Bridger, you'll quickly see that it wasn't anything like Dances With Wolves. Old Jim described one time that he was so famished due to lack of game, that he took off his deerskin moccasins and crisped them over the fire until they were crunchy and then ate 'em! And this coming from a veteran trapper/hunter who had spent over 4 decades in the wilderness. Living off the land is not romantic!
I've taught bushcraft courses where we are out in the wilds for a few weeks, hunting & gatheirng, where the acorns are dropping on our heads, the berries are abundant, and the fish are jumping into your lap. However, I've also had courses that saw us chowing on cattail roots and pine bark for three days because the drought, that season, left the landscape barren.
My advice, if you want to learn to be self-sufficient, is to learn as much as you can: spend time with experienced hunters, fishermen, edible plants instructors, trappers, and bushcraft folks and slowly integrate your skills into your lifestyle at home. My kids know how to pick and eat amaranth, cattails, dandelions and other wild edibles but it something that my wife and I have introduced them to over the years and build on with each trip out the back door.
My advice to those who simply want to be prepared for an emergency, and have no desire to go Jeremiah Johnson, is the same I gave the writer who called: Plan Ahead and Be Prepared. Stock up on basic food supplies at home, enough for a few weeks, to weather out a crisis and you will be way ahead of the game. You can bet our hunter-gatherer ancestors took the same precautions.
Tony
Monday, March 24, 2008
From the Oven to the Freezer: Spring Travel in the Desert
Just finished another glorious trip in the desert. What a spring we are having in Arizona- perhaps the best in ten years due to the heavy precipitation this winter in both the high-country and lower desert. An amazing array of wildflowers that are a sight to see and probably won't come again until the next productive winter which seem to be few and far between.
We actually saw waterfalls cascading over canyon edges in the Superstition Mountains a few weeks back and many of the "dry" washes were flowing.
Typical of the desert, though, we were hiking in t-shirts and shorts during the day with temps in the 70's and then donning wool hats and down jackets around the evening campfire where the temp plummetted to 20 degrees, only an hour after sunset. The "Land of Little Water" is indeed a land of extremes. The city of Yuma holds the record for most drastic temperature change when it went from 120 degrees during the day to 39 degrees at night!
I remember one spring dayhike I was leading in the Western Grand Canyon on Hualapai tribal lands. We were hiking in 80+ degree weather and soaking our shirts in the nearby stream to help us cool off. My shirt would be bone-dry in 30 minutes. After finishing lunch in an a remote gorge, we headed back to the vans which were a few miles downstream. The wind kicked up and ominous clouds began rolling in. By the time we started our drive out of the Canyon, it was raining and by the time we finished atop the Rim, it was actually snowing. When I arrived home in Flagstaff a few hours later, there were white-out conditions and a storm upon us that would dump up to two feet of snow. So, in a short period of time, we went for the potential for heat-exhaustion to hypothermia and frostbite! Ah, welcome to the desert.
Along with my trusty survival kit and water, I always bring some fleece or wool layers on those balmy spring hikes in the sun. You never know what the coming night and weather will bring.
We actually saw waterfalls cascading over canyon edges in the Superstition Mountains a few weeks back and many of the "dry" washes were flowing.
Typical of the desert, though, we were hiking in t-shirts and shorts during the day with temps in the 70's and then donning wool hats and down jackets around the evening campfire where the temp plummetted to 20 degrees, only an hour after sunset. The "Land of Little Water" is indeed a land of extremes. The city of Yuma holds the record for most drastic temperature change when it went from 120 degrees during the day to 39 degrees at night!
I remember one spring dayhike I was leading in the Western Grand Canyon on Hualapai tribal lands. We were hiking in 80+ degree weather and soaking our shirts in the nearby stream to help us cool off. My shirt would be bone-dry in 30 minutes. After finishing lunch in an a remote gorge, we headed back to the vans which were a few miles downstream. The wind kicked up and ominous clouds began rolling in. By the time we started our drive out of the Canyon, it was raining and by the time we finished atop the Rim, it was actually snowing. When I arrived home in Flagstaff a few hours later, there were white-out conditions and a storm upon us that would dump up to two feet of snow. So, in a short period of time, we went for the potential for heat-exhaustion to hypothermia and frostbite! Ah, welcome to the desert.
Along with my trusty survival kit and water, I always bring some fleece or wool layers on those balmy spring hikes in the sun. You never know what the coming night and weather will bring.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
