Mocha-momma and I learned a lesson many moons ago; pretty much at the beginning of our relationship. We went to camp out over a 4-day weekend. We decided on Savannah State Park, which was about 3 hours north of the Twin Cities (I remember it being like a 12 hour drive, but MM says 3 hours) Anyway, we get there, nice weather, everything starts out fine. After a few hours the rain starts; and it rained, and it rained, and it rained some more. After 2 straight days of rain, and having what seemed like the Mississippi start to flow into our tent, we threw everything we had into the back of the Bronco and drove straight home. From that day forward, any camping we have done has been at a campground within 1/2 hour of home.
Which leads me to this story from the Star Tribune outdoor section this weekend.
Survival of the fittest, most prepared
Going into the wilderness is easy. Getting out? Pack an emergency kit.
Surviving in the wild -- no matter the location or the time of year -- depends on human wit and will more than the gear you have in your pack. But all survival experts still recommend assembling an emergency kit of equipment to stay with you at all times in the wilderness.
In the hard-copy newspaper, they had three experts give their top ten lists of what to put into a survival kit; here's one of them:
Doug Ritter, Founder of www.equipped.org
1. HeatSheets brand space blanket
2. Gloves
3. Chlorine dioxide water purification tablets
4. Nylon braided line
5. Whistle
6. Lighter
7. Waterproof matches
8. Tinder
9. Signal Mirror
10. Personal locator beacon (PLB)
The other two guys had pretty much all similar items on their list, just the rankings were different. That's all well and good; but, personally, my list would be a little different. I'd make sure to have the following with me.
1. Full sized gas-powered generator, with enough gas to last me at least a month.
2. 42" plasma screen television with built in satellite dish, to pass the time waiting for rescuers to find me.
3 Latest volume of New York Times Sunday Crossword Puzzles; to occupy my mind and keep it from going ino a vegetative state from watching to much television.
4. George Foreman Grill, and about 25 pounds of hamburger (condiments would be added as needed, depending on the amount of space I'd have left in my backpack)
5. My laptop; I won't be able to publish, but I could at least do drafts of posts that come to mind
6. A very large supply of Cottonelle butt-wipes; hygeine is very important, they can also be used to clean up the rest of the body.
7. A snuggle wrap and rabbit lined hat, gloves and boots from Cabelas.
8. A rifle, one powerful enough to take down an elephant, and accurate enough to pick off a squirrel; no animal jihadists will find me unprepared.
9. King sized blow up mattress, with air compressor. I have a bad back, I'm not sleeping on the hard ground.
10. A picture of Mocha-momma; to remind me of all I have to live for and not give up hope.
If you want to learn more about surviving in the wilderness, and where you can get the survival items that I outlined above, check out these sites.
www.outdoorlife.com
www.equipped.org
www.adventuremedicalkits.com
www.acrelectronics.com
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3 comments:
your list is too long.
i'll settle for one fully stocked cabin and cable service, at the end of a paved road.
i'll hold out pateintly til they find me.
People, they left duck tape off the list. And dental floss.
And a knife.
Dimwits.
Actually PB, the other two guys did have those items. One guy was a graduate of the Air Force survival school, and he did have a knife and fish line/dental floss. The other guy also mentioned dental floss.
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