Wilderness Survival - Boy Scout's Example

With the good news being reported about the 12 year old Boy Scout from Utah being found alive after surviving in a cold wilderness environment by using his fieldcraft skills and building tree-branch shelter, I was asked my two people, what would I have done if I was lost.

First, the Boy Scout's story: The 12-year-old Boy Scout, however scared, kept his wits about himself and still knew what to do when he got lost during a Utah wilderness outing: He built a shelter made of tree branches and wood to get through a cold night and he covered himself in dirt to stay warm.

Scout Jared Ropelato's lean-to — a crude structure the Boy Scout manual advises Scouts to build if they become lost — kept him warm enough so he could sleep after the overnight low in Utah's Ashley National Forest dipped to 31 degrees in the area. The boy was wearing only jeans and a shirt, and had no food or water, when he went missing around noon Friday. He had gotten lost while on his way by himself back to camp from a nearby lake, walking a total of eight or nine miles before searchers on ATVs found him Saturday morning some four miles from where he started.

First of all, preparation is the key to survival. This comes in two forms: Knowledge and Skills about the environment and fieldcraft/survival skills; the second being Equipped. A knife, folding or fixed blade,...a lighter or waterproof matches,...and a canteen are essential to any outdoor outing or hike. If you are even better equipped then your chances (and comfort) are much better.
Having a simple Butt Pack or Day Pack with those above items, plus a flashlight, ground cloth or survival blanket, a section of parachute cord, maybe 50 feet, and, some food such as granola or survival bars would be the minimum in my book.

Knowing how to build a fire, build a shelter, procure and filter water would be key. If I was lost and looking to help people find me, a fire, then a shelter, then a ground to air signal in a nearby cleared area would be my first priorities as long as I had water. Sure you can go maybe up to 48 hours without water, but throughout that second day your mental and physical skills will start to wane. In a colder environment, such as this Boy Scout was in, you could stretch that to maybe 72 hours, and this is depending upon how hard you are working; how much sweat you have lost; if you avoid exposure to the Sun; and, if you have food to eat.

Hats off to the Boy,...other than breaking the two man rule, which is his Scoutmaster's fault, he did good.

Food Shortage Already Here

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com has already written several posts about the coming food shortage, both in this Country and Worldwide. With the droughts, natural disasters, economic condition and high taxes/expenses this Country's ability to feed itself is rapidly declining. On the plus side, never before has hobby farming where regular people and even urban dwellers start their own gardens been so prevalent. Not only is a worthwhile skills, but the satisfaction you get from harvesting your own vegetables and having them for dinner just makes it all the more worthwhile.

A reader sent me this article entitled What Produce Drought Isn't Killing, People Are Stealing: Killing Drought in Arkansas

By Ron Klinefelter, owner of Spring Valley Organic Growers, 10 August 2011:

This is now our 77th consecutive day (Aug. 7) of this heat and drought. Temperatures all week were over 100. One day it was 104, one it was 107! We also broke 2 new all time heat records this week….108, and 112, and of course, no rain.

Several more things bit the dust this week. One, a patch of a beautiful heirloom grinding corn, that usually produces 2 ears, many a foot long. Even with every other day watering, they just couldn’t produce even one ear, and are now just curling up and dying.

Attention…..NO SEED for next year!

I was walking in one of the gardens yesterday, and the big elderberry bushes have so dried up that their big dinner plate sized clusters of fruit, which have just sat there green for weeks, instead of ripening, have begun to mummify, like they had been placed in a dehydrator. Also, the armadillo damage is so great now that they are ravaging whole beds. In the morning, it looks like a roto-tiller has gone thru there.

I have natural food stores calling me, asking for any produce, especially tomatoes. When I was in one of them last week, they were selling organic tomatoes FROM MEXICO! In talking to the manager/produce buyer of Prairie Markets last week, she told me that virtually everyone had “given up”, and there wasn’t even a viable farmers market in town now.

One more little problem. I was talking to someone in an adjoining county that was fortunate to get SOME rain. They had a pretty good bunch of tomatoes that they had been letting ripen on the vine. They were going to pick them one evening, but it was just too miserably hot. They decided to wait until morning to pick them for canning, when it was a little “cooler”. This is a relative term, as it is well after dark.9:00p.m., and it’s still 92 degrees. When they went out to pick them the next morning, someone(s) had snuck in, in the night and stolen EVERY SINGLE TOMATO! Not a one was left!

I have so much water and time invested in the gardens now, that I don’t hardly dare to stop now, but even if it were to start raining for days now, there probably wouldn’t be time enough before frost to bring another crop off. This will most likely be my last year of commercial growing. I am a vanishing species.

Seeing what I see, and reading what I’m reading from all around the country (and world), I find it almost impossible to believe that food shortages and possibly famine are not dead ahead. One would be a fool to not be putting up food like crazy, while you can get it. To NOT be doing that, I believe, is a very dangerous and foolhardy move – act now!

Read it yourself here: Produce Killing Drought

Survival Rifle for 15 Year Old

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received an e-mail question concerning Sniper Rifles……”This is about the sniper issue. I am a Marine and have a 15 year old brother who is an excellent shot but not up to (handling) large loads and I don't like the idea of missing him (him being messed up) up in close-quarter combat. I have plenty of buddy's to cover that. I want a lightweight and long-range take-down weapon. I disagree with .22LR due to its lack of take-down and versatility. I mean there maybe other groups with a heavy military center to these groups which would include body armor. Just wanted some choices for SHTF that you might suggest. I was thinking along the M40A1.”

UrbanMan replies:: Thank you for your service, Marine. A .308 caliber battle rifle like the venerable M14 or M1A1 or in the AR platform such as the excellent LWRC’s (shown to the left) and the LaRue piston driven AR platforms in .308 may be too much to handle due to weight and felt recoil for a 15 year old boy, although I saw 10 year old boys carrying FN/FALS and G3 rifles in Africa, but they weren’t proficient in their use nor even safe. If you want something light, then the M40A1 rifle, which sniper platforms are built on, really isn’t it. Plus you would have to add a scope then training for a 15 year old. I sure it can be done but I would choose a different solution.

Sometimes the closer you are to the solution, the harder it is to see it. As a Marine you are familiar with the M-4 carbine in it’s variants. This is a light weight rifle, if you keep all the crap like lights, scopes, etc., off the gun. It can be broken down if necessary and purchased with a 16 inch barrel and collapsible stock for a smaller profile. Using the SS109 bullet, which is a steel core penetrator and known to you as the 62 grain green tip, is a very effective package against armed criminals wearing body armor when SHTF. And of course the 5.56mm cartridge is more accurate that most men (or boys) can use, and effective range is not an issue as it is accurate enough out to 500 meters. This weapon has been proven as an effective close quarter battle weapon for a lot of military and law enforcement units as well.

Another thing you can consider is the Kel-Tec SU-16D series carbine which is a very lightweight firearm. The weight, unloaded, is under 4 pounds. It is a gas operated much like the M16; uses the M16 bolt; uses M16 type magazines; is semi-automatic and has a cross bolt safety. If you are looking for something with some range, this is probably not it as it’s rudimentary sights probably won’t support accurate shooting past 200 yards. I think this gun best serves as a take down survival gun for Bug Out Bags, but at a retail price tag over $700 it probably is too expensive for what you get.

While I shot one several months ago and shooting off hand at 50 yards it was easy to center mass hits on an IPSC target, I just would not buy one. I don’t need another 5.56mm gun and there is something about plastic guns. But I will say it did not fail on me, nor the owner, and we eventually shot about 160 to 200 rounds that day through it. It may be an option for someone who is concerned about weight. But remember what you give up in weigh, you get back in recoil given the same caliber.

Okay, we're back to the M-4. Magazines are plentiful. Easy to handle gun for older children. Ammunition is cheap. I'd be looking to this gun.

Survival Gardens - More Comments

UrbanSurvivalSkills. received the following on e-mail,....."Hey UrbanMan,really liked the article on Survival Gardening and the lessons learned. Here is what learned from my survival gardening and what helped me format my food stockpiling:.

Seeds. Quality of seeds are very important. Ensure you store them in a controlled manner.

Planting. Ensure the soil and planting location is prepped to control waste of water (important if and when the collapse hits and water sources may not be reliable). Make sure you cull the plants as they come up so you keep the strongest plant of that species otherwise they will compete with each other. Don't plant too close together. I planted my corn way too close together this year and the stalks are not growing very tall.
UrbanMan comment:. Yeah I planted too close together as well.

I also planted new vegetables every 2 to 3 weeks. I am only planting two or three plants at a time because of my limited space in my backyard.

Types of Crops.. Tomatoes, black squash not yellow, potatoes, onions and cucumbers were easy for me to grow. Corn was okay, but (again) too close together. I am know enjoying a piece of fresh vegetable almost every day! I am know buying more brown and white rice, and dried pasta so I'll always have something to make with my vegetables. Canned soup goes further when you can add a piece of fresh vegetable to it and it tastes much better!.

Container Growing. Any containers have to have the ability to drain, so consider this. A a few nail holes in the bottom of the container go along way to drainage and not rotting the roots.

I hope this helps your readers. I am so glad I planted crops this year as I have learned so much. I think people who buy those pre-made SHTF tins of seeds but have never grown anything are going to be in for a surprise and not a good surprise.

UrbanMan comment: I agree with the need to "practice" growing crops if you have never done so. I also think that the Survival Planner would probably be better of customizing his own survival seed stock or at least augmenting store bought survival seed kits by figuring out what grows best in his area and buying those non-hybrid seeds from a reputable source. Gurney's Seed and Nursery is one of the sources I like. They also offer growing information, supplies and growing aids as well as a free newsletter.

There are a lot of celebrities (radio and news) pushing the idea of stocking food; hardly any of them talk about Seeds for Survival Gardens. What are you doing to do when the food runs out?

Stay Safe All. Cheers, Urban Man.