Survival Food Procurement- US Army Style

Here is a US Army video that shows how to procure food in a survival situation. Learning wilderness survival skills is very important should you ever have to bug out of an urban area, or for some other unforeseen reasons.

~Urban Man

Reggie Bennett, Survival Instructor and High Tech Survival Tools

In my mind's eye I see a person surviving in the wilderness as a short term venture. A person spending all day working on survival tasks such as repairing or improving a lean to or dug out shelter; procuring fire wood; checking and setting traps and snares; maybe laying in fishing lines; repiaring gear or clothing; procuring edible or medicinal plants; constructing hunting weapons and tools.

Again, all of this is short range survival - very few people can do this for even weeks on end, let alone year in and year out, through all sesons and weather conditions. But this does not mean that the well prepared Survivor should discount these wilderness survival skills. Perhaps the main objective of these skills is to give a person confidence for all situations and to orient the survival mindset or what Reggie Bennett calls the positive mental attitude.

I stumbled across this article on Reggie Bennett, Virginia based wilderness survival instructor, from a Yahoo! article by Marc Istook:

If you want to learn survival skills, be it low or high tech, Reggie Bennett is the man. Friendly and unassuming, at first glance you may not realize that he is the quintessential survivalist. But with U.S. military training that taught him how to brave some of the globe's harshest conditions, and his time spent instructing Air Force pilots on how to survive, he is uniquely equipped to teach others at his Mountain Shepherd Wilderness Survival School in Catawba, Virginia.

On a sprawling 100 acres, Reggie and his wife Dina host everyone from housewives to schoolkids, CEOs to active-duty armed forces, and one lucky Yahoo! News host — yours truly. You don't mess around with Reggie.

The open spaces in Virginia make a great location for this kind of training. It's close enough to Roanoke that it's easy for guests to fly in. But it's remote enough that you feel at one with nature — even if that does mean I spent hours searching in vain for a cell phone signal. To sum up Reggie's vast knowledge in one training session would be impossible. So he makes his survival tips simple, boiling them down to seven key priorities. They involve the basics, like finding food, water and shelter.

A bit more complicated — starting a fire, signaling for help and providing first aid. But the most important aspect according to Reggie: maintaining a positive mental attitude. It's a perspective that's accessible to anyone braving the elements. And without it, he says, surviving becomes significantly more difficult. Reggie's training taught him how to make it out of the wilderness with nothing but the most primitive tools.

But with the help of a little technology, we can increase our odds of survival in almost any situation. Modern water purifiers use advanced filtration methods to keep us hydrated. Cell phone and GPS technology can help us find our way, or help rescuers locate us more quickly than ever. Today's compact, efficient batteries and solar power units keep our gadgets charged, long after the power — and cell phone signal - has gone out.

Don't forget to keep a positive mental attitude! Low tech or high tech, Reggie has found a way to make the idea of surviving fun. His school takes all comers, from those wanting to learn simple camping tips to mountain men looking to conquer the wild. I highly recommend meeting Reggie and checking out his survival school. Maybe I'll even see you there… just keep your eyes peeled for the slightly lost Yahoo! host, desperately seeking a cell phone signal.

Captivity, Escape, Evasion and Survival

Last week an American teenage boy kidnapped and held in captivity for five months, by Philipino militants associated with Abu Sayyaf and al-Qaida, escaped and evaded his way until he was provided aid by villagers. Kevin Lunsmann, 14 years old, had been taken captive with his mother and cousin while boating near Zamboanga City. His mother was released after two months and his cousin reportedly escaped captivity last month. Apparently after having gained some trust from his captors, Kevin escaped while supposedly bathing in a nearby stream.

Guerilla forces, operating in secret base camps, have to have a water source. Conducting patrols alongside running water sources such as streams and rivers to detect signs of Guerrilla activity, is a common Counter-Insurgency patrolling procedure and I wonder why de-briefings of the released mother and the escaped cousin did not lead Phillipino Army forces to the Guerrilla before.

Anyway,…… just some thoughts on captivity, escape, evasion and survival.

Captivity. The idea is to keep from becoming a captive. Having and utilizing knowledge of the Environment and Threats you will face in a particular area; possessing Situational Awareness; using counter-surveillance skills; and, not drawing attention to yourself are key to not becoming a captive. However, once a captive there are some things you need to consider/implement: do not be combative until you absolutely have reason to do so, as if you are uncooperative it may result in a beating and physical condition that is life threatening and certainly can greatly reduce any successful attempt at escape.

Intentionally use of the word “attempt” rather than “attempts” in the plural form. You have to figure that you have one,....repeat, one chance at escape. An unsuccessful escape attempt will most probably results in serious physical injuries or death. Instead, be compliant; lull your captors into thinking you are cowed; always plan your escape and execute at the best time and place; if your captors are giving proof of life for a ransom or other demands – be cognizant of what innocent things you can say on a video/audio recording that will help Friendlies find you. Find ways to leave clues of your presence around your detention area.

Escape. There are story and after story of captives who have found nails, pieces of wire and other things and have meticulously fashioned lock picks or other tools to help in an escape attempt. The prepared individual has tools hidden on and around his/her body and would not be found in a cursory search.

Evasion. Skills that are useful and indeed required for a successful evasion are:

* A plan. Once free where are you going to go, and avoid leaving sign of passage by sterilizing at least where you cross road, trails and other areas where sign of your passage is easily detected.

* Use terrain to your advantage. Always analysis the terrain for cover and concealment. Reduce any shiny spots on the exposed parts of your skin and anything you may be carrying. Mud, burnt wood and foliage can be used to help camouflage yourself. Use resting spots that provide cover and concealment and allow for observation of likely routes your pursuers will be on.

Survival. Skills that are useful/required for surviving while evading.

* Able to tell direction of travel using the Sun and the stars.

* Be able to read terrain and use terrain association. Valuable for finding the best routes, whether you are trying for a difficult route for pursuers or trying to find easy of movement. Also useful to detect best places to find water sources.

* Be able to use field expedient methods to procure and filter water.

* Be knowledgeable of poisonous and edible plants in the area. However, great the hunger is, water is more important. Given a decent physical condition when beginning evasion, you can go several days without food. Be considerate of what stomach upset natural plants can cause. Crapping your pants all day long does not lend itself to successful evasion and provides sign for pursuers to track….plus it will severely dehydrate you.

* Know how to construct survival shelters. Be considerate of the detect-ability of your shelter.

* The ability to set traps and snares may come in handy as may constructing survival hunting tools and weapons.

* The skill set to built fires is necessary for survival, however the escaped captive will probably not have fire making tools.  Knowing how to build a fire without a torch and how to keep that fire as covert as possible by using masking terrain and vegetation, burning only dry wood may save your life.     

The greatest survival aid is your mind and the best way to employ that is to be prepared for all threats. Preparation, both knowledge, training and equipment is what is going to keep you alive.