Survival Skills
Any “serious” outdoor enthusiast (myself included) spends countless hours learning and practicing survival skills that could potentially save his or her life in an emergency situation. There are several obvious benefits to this practice: it provides hours of cheap, fun, relatively safe entertainment; encourages “outside of the box” thinking and problem solving skills; and (at least in my case) is a source of friendly competition between family members and friends.
There is however, another less understood and often overlooked benefit to learning these skills and the practices needed to become proficient in each. When a skill such as fire-building, knot tying, or wilderness navigation is practiced again and again, it increases personal confidence in your ability to handle an emergency situation, which is absolutely crucial to ensure your personal survival.
The Will to Survive
Learning and practicing wilderness skills (building shelters, finding food and water, making fires, navigation etc.) is extremely valuable, and in effect, improves another key factor in any survival situation; the mental attitude of the person involved. Having the will to survive is absolutely essential.
When a person encounters a survival situation, they will face many mental stresses that impact his or her mind in addition to the physical challenges that will present themselves. These stresses can produce thoughts and emotions that if misunderstood can make any highly skilled adventure-seeker question his or her ability to survive. Because of this, you must be aware of, and be able to cope with, the stresses associated with survival, as well as your personal reactions.
As the “ins and outs” of these specific stresses cannot be fully explored and analyzed in the confines of this article, it is by no means presented as a “complete guide” to stress management in a survival situation. However, the following is aimed at helping you take the first steps in preparation for the mental challenges that can and will present themselves.
Stress in a Survival Situation
In the pursuit to prepare yourself for your reactions in a survival setting, it is helpful to know a little bit about stress in general.
Stress is not an ailment that you can discover and cure. Instead, it is a condition that we all experience at one point or another. Stress is a natural reaction to pressure. It can also (I believe more accurately) be described as the psychological experience a person has as they respond to life’s challenges.
As strange as it sounds, stress can have many positive benefits when handled correctly. Stressful situations give us a chance to learn about our strengths and weaknesses. Stressful situations can spotlight our adaptability, and can stimulate us to do more than we thought possible. More than anything else, stress is a key indicator on an instinctive level of how serious a situation is.
The objective of any survival situation is simple; stay alive. The complicated portion of a survival situation is that when you come to terms with what the consequence of failure is, you are going to experience a wide assortment of thoughts and emotions. These thoughts and emotions can serve as motivation to continue on regardless of the circumstance, or they can be the cause of your downfall.
It is important to understand that fear, anxiety, anger and frustration are all possible emotions a person can experience due to the stresses of a survival situation. Having personal confidence and survival skills will not eliminate these stresses altogether, but will help you to use these stresses as a motivational factor rather than an inhibitor. These reactions, when understood and controlled in the proper way, can exponentially increase your chances of survival. They can help you to pay closer attention to your surroundings, to take actions to ensure safety and security, and to strive against massive odds.
What Can You Do to Prepare?
Preparation for a survival situation is, at its core, an extremely personal matter. Due to the mental aspect that has to be taken into account, many techniques that work for some will not work for all. There is no “one size fits all” list of things you must do or skills you must possess to survive an emergency. This is why learning a wide range of skills, then practicing and perfecting those you feel most valid is the best way to increase preparedness. The more value you see in a skill, the more motivated you will be to practice the skill to perfection.
Where to Start
While the way you prepare must fit your specific needs and abilities, the following are a few generalized points that may help to steer you in the right direction and give you the confidence to handle any given situation.
- Try to anticipate your fears by thinking about what would scare you the most if faced with a survive situation. Make an honest assessment of your skills in relation to these fears and develop those areas you find lacking.
- Keep in mind what is at stake. This will help you to commit to improving the strengths and abilities you have, and help you to focus when learning new skills. Failure to prepare for survival properly can have dire consequences.
- Stay positive. Even when preparing for the worst, always hope for the best. There is no more valuable tool in any emergency situation than your own mind.
- Practice your skills. More importantly, practice several variations of the same skill, use different materials, different methods, and different tools in different environments. Not only will this make each skill more entertaining, it will ensure that the skill being practiced can be used even in unfavorable circumstances.
- Keep it real. The more realistic and practical the preparation is, the less overwhelming an actual emergency will be.
In addition, focus on continuous training. The best training practices are repetitious, in which a skill is learned, practiced, perfected, confidence is built, and then the process is repeated with another skill or variation of the same skill. Following this process not only means that your skills will continuously improve, but will also increase your overall confidence in your ability.
Yes, You Can
Keep in mind that survival is a primal instinct that everyone possesses. The mentality needed to overcome when being unexpectedly faced with an emergency situation is ingrained into each and every human being. These “primal instincts” can be magnified with the proper preparation, skills and practice. Don’t be afraid of your natural reactions to un-natural situations, instead, capitalize on these reactions to sharpen your focus on the key objective; survival.
Tags: emergency, life and death, mental preperation, outdoor survival, preperation, stress, survival skills, tips on survival
Imagine you are on an airplane flying over the Pacific Ocean, when all of a sudden your plane starts to do a nose dive right into the ocean, and you black out. When you wake up you are laying on a beach. You need to build a shelter but you don’t have any rope to tie the sticks together. While this scenario may be one you’ll never encounter, knowing how to make rope may be a nice skill to have.
The knowledge of making rope has been around for thousands of years. Once people got past vines and other natural materials for binding objects, they discovered that fibers could be combined and twisted into great lengths by taking advantage of the tendency of materials to remember their natural condition.
As inquiry.net states:
The materials from which rope is made are found in distant lands around the world. However, cotton, of which the United States produces 60% of the world supply, is used extensively in the manufacture of cords and lines. Cotton is perhaps the most flexible of the commercial materials and is sufficiently strong for the smaller cordage. Common hemp is superior, possessing the combination of strength, flexibility, and durability.
The principal rope materials are: common hemp, Manila hemp, sisal hemp, Phormium hemp, Sunn hemp, Jubbulpore hemp, jute, coir, flax, agave fiber, and cotton, all of which are vegetable.
Custom among sailors has decreed that the term "rope" indicates that the diameter is one inch or more. Other authorities agree that the diameter may be one-half inch or more. However, we hear cords of one-quarter inch diameter called "rope."
A rope is composed of a certain number of strands, the strand itself being made up of a number of single threads of yarn or fiber. A laid rope of three strands is a right hand lay which is the most often encountered form of laid rope. Laid ropes with the opposite twist pattern are said to be left hand laid. The lay of a rope is determined by examining the twist. If you look down the length of a rope and the primary strands spiral in a clockwise direction, it is right hand laid. Thus the twist in each operation is in a different direction from that of the preceding one. The yield of rope from a given length of yarn is about three-fourths of the length of the yarn composing it.
The material from which you make your rope is, for the purpose of learning, of less importance than the method employed. Almost any available fibrous material will serve your purpose. The young, inner bark of most shrubs and trees is very adaptable.
Making professional grade rope without any special tools requires hand dexterity that a few people possess. While the rope you make yourself may not be factory quality stuff, it is good to practice to better understand the principles involved.
By doing a search on the internet on “How To Make Rope” you can find some great sites and information along with videos. You can easily practice making rope at home but if you would like to do some hands on learning, Clint Goodwin will be offering a class on making rope using a variety of materials and tools on March 19, 2011. The location for this will be announced at a later date.
Tags: cotton, hemp, making rope, outdoor skills, rope
February 12 was a beautiful day for a snowshoe trip. We met at the community center in the middle of Northport and headed for Flagstaff Mountain. Temperatures were in the upper 20’s as we headed up the mountain. The snow conditions were excellent with 16 inches of crusty snow.
We weren’t very far into our trip when we began to see wildlife. We saw several groups of deer, both mule deer and whitetail as well as turkeys as we progressed up the trail. A little after noon, we crowned over the saddle to enjoy a great view up the Columbia River valley. We settled into the hillside for lunch and enjoyed the view of Northport in the distance nestled against Silver Crown Mountain. After eating lunch at this vantage point and taking advantage of the photo-op, we heading back down the mountain.
On our way out we spotted some moose tracks and followed them down a different course than we had ascended. We were hoping to find some deer antlers on our way, but were unsuccessful in this endeavor. The whole trip covered about 3 miles and took about three hours. The trip was deemed a success and fun was had by all.
Tags: adventure, columbia river, flagstaff mountain, northport, snowshoeing, wildlife
On Saturday, February 12 a group of 20 or so people will be ascending the base of Flagstaff Mountain to enjoy the fresh air great views and wildlife. With any luck, the day will be filled with sunshine, fun, nature’s beauty and picturesque views of the Columbia River Valley. We will start the day at 10:00am by meeting at the Community Center in Northport across from Tony’s Market. This will give you a chance to buy any last minute snacks or all-important water for the trip. We will then carpool to the base of the mountain and begin our ascent.
The climb will be a gradual one initially, suitable even for beginners. In a mile or so the old road we shall follow will steepen to a grade more suitable to challenge someone of moderate skill. We will crown out at a saddle which should offer a great view of the river valley below so bring your camera. At this point, we will take a break, eat some snacks, maybe heat some water for hot chocolate or tea, and just enjoy the scenery. I will bring a small stove for heating your water if you will bring a cup and a tea bag or hot cocoa mix. After this, the strong of heart can proceed another mile or so to crest a small knoll, or we could turn back, returning in the tracks we made on our trip in. The trip is expected to take from 2 to 4 hours and cover 3 or 4 miles depending on the options we choose after our snacks.
Remember, this activity is limited to the first 20 people who sign-up for it on the Registration Page. You will need to provide your own snowshoes. Also remember to dress appropriately in layers. Ski poles, snacks and camera are optional. If you happen to have an extra pair of snowshoes, please bring them also, if you are willing to share them with others.
Hope to see you on February 12!
Tags: adventure, columbia river, flagstaff, flagstaff lookout, northport, SMOS, snowshoe, winter activities
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