Survival Skills

“We are all backpackers, and as a backpacker I find that many skills are needed to backpack but how many make their own cordage or make fire without anything with wood only. i am curious i met a man this past year who has become a mentor to me. got me into this Primitive skills but we are within a small community of backpackers. i am just curious among the larger community.”

“Ok... I guess I'm confused... This is like you go out hike and it gets to be suppertime. You process the bushes nearby to make cordage to snare a rabbit, which you will clean and dress with a freshly knapped flint blade the last bit of which you use to light the fire with tinder you have very carefully whittled down from wood you during your trapping runs to check your handmade cordage? Bully for you!!! Knock yourself out.”

“that's cool stuf weaponbb7. Definitely not for the girly man type who wouldn't get it.

Any tricks you're willing to share?”

“You are not a true outdoorsman/woman if you can't build a shelter, start a fire, hunt and gather. You are only a nature lover hoping nothing goes wrong with your supply line.

Try opening up a rabbits mouth, pouring in a cup of hot water, waiting five minutes and see how that goes! Oh wait you don't know where to buy a rabbit on the trail!

Just kidding! But primitive skills are fun to learn and they should be taught and handed to the next generation.
Like making home made bread, if you have never had hot yeast bread straight from the oven you are truly missing out. Try some and you will realize how nasty store bought sliced bread is.
last edited: 7/19/08 8:47:16 PM”

“Bradford Angier.....How to to stay alive in the woods woth a knife and this (his) book.

Done it and perfected it and with technology the way it is, I haven't ever used it in a survival situation. I thought it would be nice to know all about primitive skills iffin we went to war and our way of life was turned up side down. That was when I was in the military, and now that I'm a tad bit older and never used those skills to actually promote my life, I realized it was nice to know i could do it.

Dr F Joseph Wayland who wrote How to survive a Nuclear Blast for the Home, Condo and Apartment dweller changed my mind about primitive skills iffin we went to war.

Primitive skills are excellent for you to master and FUN if it's your fancy. But if your caught in a struggle to survive in a city, then survuval skills change dramatically.

The best thing about learning such skills is that it gives you confidence in your travels through life and hightens your awareness to your surroundings.

Primitive skills are needed for those who need it and for those who don't......well...I hope you never have a situation you need it.”

“Primitive skills are good to have especially if you go to remote areas, kinda like an insurance policy. Same reason it's good to have first aid / first responder training, being prepared is the responsible thing to do.
Maybe you don't need to learn this stuff if your just a blaze zombie.”

“oh gawsh... you guys are so 'leet with your mad outdoors skilz! give me warez!”

“primitive skills do not always require primitive means. Perhaps if you are going out without some rope or cord you need to rethink where you are going and how long you will be gone. Some primitive means do not lend themselves well to impromptu trail side manufacturing and are best prepared ahead of time. How does using purchased cord reduce the viability to know how to snare a rabbit? And since when does one need to manufacture all your own knife blades to be able to survive if you are properly equipped to start with. If you buy into primitive elistism, knock yourself out.”

“well put”

“Boot lace and belt can be use to make a snare for small game and fish.
ifin you get covered in an avalanche,cover yer head, with yer arms, to create air space. spit to see which way is up.Dig whilst praying. Surrival skill yo bear!
last edited: 7/20/08 1:48:18 PM”

“primitive skills do not always require primitive means.....

Yeah, it's better to have a hobby like sitting around watching your 18 year old television and eating potato chips, just 6 months away from the fire department having to separate your skin from the couch fibers.

*rolls eyes at troll*”

“Username: cookiemonster
State of residence:
Member since: 7/17/08

*rolls eyes at troll*”
cookiemonster
5:12:57 PM
7/20/08


must be looking in the mirror.......”

“Primitive Skills does not mean running around in a loin cloth all dirty gathering obsidian and willow. It means learning how to make do with what you have on hand, for most people.
There are hundreds of tips and tricks you can learn that makes even trail hiking more comfortable. It also makes me sad to look around at all the people who can't even cook anymore. Can biscuits? NASTY!!”

“I'm not 100% sure, ramblinrev, but I'm pretty certain that being critical of people who want to discuss and read about survival skills, ON A BACKPACKING FORUM, is called trolling. Being a newby is called 'being a newby'. Go to the 'Get up!' thread if you don't like discussing survival skills, you troll. My guess is you know you can't survive without your remote control and folding walker.”

“More than once I have had young guys ask if they can use my stove to boil some water cause they ran out of fuel. I do not mind helping people at all, I enjoy it. So I do the right thing and give them some matches and make sure they know how to start a fire properly.
Some people only think they know how to cook over a fire cause they read it in a book, or watched a video on YouTube, or cause they can light tinder with a match. It takes some practise
Actually cooking over a fire is a misnomer, you cook over coals, not fire.
I do not think it is necessary for everyone to learn how to survive Rambo style, that would be ridiculous, but if you can't feed yourself without a Jetboil and some Mountain House Chili Mac, God help you!
last edited: 7/20/08 3:55:18 PM”

“The other night on my float trip, I started a fire with a stricker/magnesium thing and a tampon. It lit on the first good spark. We just wanted to try it, to see how hard it was. it was cool! Well, hot really....”

“Cool.”

“Not a big fan of the magnesium sticks. I like the Swedish Fire Steel and the Blastmatch-type strikers accompanied by some Wetfire tinder.

Never tried a tampon but a vaseline laced cotton ball works great.”

“We made a batch of fire starters from tampons and parafin before. The string makes a great fuse...”

“"The other night on my float trip, I started a fire with a stricker/magnesium thing and a tampon."


Ahem. I'm just gonna leave that one alone.


lol!!”

“Lighting tampons is way smarter than pissing on each other.”

“Some hikers carry them without adding weight to their packs. I wonder how they do that?”

“groan”

“"“Lighting tampons is way smarter than pissing on each other.”"

Perhaps; but at least pissing is not manufactured from fossil fuels and doesn't release greenhouse gases when light. Burning a tampon is just as bad as burning plastic in a campfire.


Give a Hoot!”

“Whoops!
last edited: 5/10/12 2:27:29 PM”

“I must have some. I'm still here at almost 80!”

“Ah nowslimmer good to see you around. Crazy Mike and I were wondering about you just yesterday and I thought I'd check in to see if you were still posting.”

“Perhaps; but at least pissing is not manufactured from fossil fuels and doesn't release greenhouse gases when light. Burning a tampon is just as bad as burning plastic in a campfire.

If we're talking actual survival I'll burn every piece of plastic, styrofoam, rubber, or nuclear waste I can find as long as it keeps me warm and alive.”

“We have all fallen short of the Glory of "Leave no Trace".....If you want absolution, KILL YOURSELF...for that is the ONLY way to avoid leaving a trace, and THEN, your body and the very casket you are buried in will decompose and foul the earth........”

“The noble Native Americans had excellent survival skills, but didn't practice LNT.”

“No, the tampon brand I used is OB(I think) they are tiny, the size of a thimble. It's 100% cotton, packed rock hard. It took some doing just to pull it apart. There's no plastic aT all”

“"If we're talking actual survival I'll burn every piece of plastic, styrofoam, rubber, or nuclear waste I can find as long as it keeps me warm and alive."

Absolutely; but my response was toward a post about burning a tampon not for survival.

“The noble Native Americans had excellent survival skills, but didn't practice LNT.”


Thankfully; that is one reason we know what we know about their cultural practices, substance patterning and lifeways.”