Take whatever you feel comfortable with, really wish you a great time
just be careful! and know when to walk awayHow long could you survive?
- Thread starter Martyn
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Take whatever you feel comfortable with, really wish you a great time
just be careful! and know when to walk away
This is Ed doing a bit of a post-mortem on his time in the wild....
[video=youtube;maESkWnuaEQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maESkWnuaEQ&feature=re lmfu[/video]
Some good insights there too, mainly to do with the pressures of solitude.
Take whatever you feel comfortable with, really wish you a great time
thanks alot mate, iv done plenty of trips were iv fished or trapped my main meal of the day with relative ease, i no the right places to look so then its just a case of time, the biggest problem untill early spring will be the non protein part of the diet but for a few days im sure il cope, although i wouldnt be surprised if by the end of feb there isnt a few treats to be had, good luck with your trip
To respond to the statements of being nutritionally in danger after 3 days, you won't. Humans don't even start to metabolise fat until after 3 days of starvation. First of all you will go into ketosis and will metabolise muscle tissue, then the liver will have adjusted to the lack of carbs and metabolise your body fat. Adults need very little protein, just enough for repair of tissue, about 20-30 grams daily. Most western adults will have plenty of fat to last a month before getting into serious trouble.
What will be hazardous to your health will be lack of vitamins & salts, especially b & c.
Personally I would take some high dose multi vits and speak to your doc about a 'vitamin b compound strong' prescription. Also, for salts, a dose or 2 each day of an isotonic solution such as dioralyte.
None of these things will increase performance or comfort but may well reduce the risk of longer term harm.
All depends on the time you intend to survive alone for though, a week won't make much difference, a month will.
One thing I learnt from my week long survival course is the rapidly detrimental effect of dehydration, the course was in January in south of England, yet inside 36 hours I found thought and coherent speech to be difficult.
Alone, with no face to face checks, I would want a check in (via your letter box method) every 12 hours with a maths or comprehension test being performed for your supervisor (on paper in the letter box) to check on level of mental function.
Good luck
What will be hazardous to your health will be lack of vitamins & salts, especially b & c.
Personally I would take some high dose multi vits and speak to your doc about a 'vitamin b compound strong' prescription. Also, for salts, a dose or 2 each day of an isotonic solution such as dioralyte.
None of these things will increase performance or comfort but may well reduce the risk of longer term harm.
All depends on the time you intend to survive alone for though, a week won't make much difference, a month will.
One thing I learnt from my week long survival course is the rapidly detrimental effect of dehydration, the course was in January in south of England, yet inside 36 hours I found thought and coherent speech to be difficult.
Alone, with no face to face checks, I would want a check in (via your letter box method) every 12 hours with a maths or comprehension test being performed for your supervisor (on paper in the letter box) to check on level of mental function.
Good luck
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Excellent idea!!!!
Another excellent idea.Alone, with no face to face checks, I would want a check in (via your letter box method) every 12 hours with a maths or comprehension test being performed for your supervisor (on paper in the letter box) to check on level of mental function.
Good luck
obviously but you would expect him to term with the fact before you go on a trip like that, yes there are bears in canada are you going to be atacked by one if you follow all the rules no, are you even going to see one from a distance probably not, would you be lucky if you did see one yes its part of what draws people to canada. all he talked about was bears everytime he heard a noise he thought bear attack, thousands of people camp in remote canada without a gun and electric fence and enjoy it the reason being they dont take the protection is because they have a healthy respect for the animal but dont spend there trip worried about being ate by one.
if i had a spyder phobia i wouldnt camp solo long term in the rain forest, i dont particaly like spyders but id happily camp in the rain forest without worrying about them if that makes sense
cheers
xylaria
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Personally for week in the wild, I would bring oxo/marmite/bovril. In the midlands wild food contains vertually no salt, lack of salt can kill a modern westerner in less than a week, hyponatreima can leave someone very confused. Lack of other vitamin and minerals wont kill that quick, I dont think. The marmite/bovril has enough flavour to boost the most repetative nettle soup and b vit to sustain some energy.
I only know this because trust me after a day eating just want you can find I could drink soya sauce. We are really very depandant on quite a high level of crap in our diet.
I only know this because trust me after a day eating just want you can find I could drink soya sauce. We are really very depandant on quite a high level of crap in our diet.
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You won't get hyponatremia if supplementing with (proper, not sports stuff) isotonic. And chronic hyponatremia is a slow process, your body adjusts to an extent.
Acute hyponatremia such as that caused by necking a load of disco biscuits, dancing your nut off and drinking 10 litres of water in a few hours is a very different (and highly dangerous) beast
Acute hyponatremia such as that caused by necking a load of disco biscuits, dancing your nut off and drinking 10 litres of water in a few hours is a very different (and highly dangerous) beast
Having spent a lot of time studying the methods of the old trappers and prospectors who lived for months (often in winter) in the forests of Canada, I'm of the opinion that while a week is doable, for any longer trip you'd need a lot more kit than would fit in a pack that could be carried by one person. The old guys would have a mule or two, or a canoe to carry their kit in, and that kit would include a lot of spring traps to catch animals.
As I use traps professionally, I should point out that it's nowhere as easy as it looks, trying to catch anything without a lot of knowlege. Even in expert hands, snares have a catch rate of around one in fifteen, so if you want to catch one rabbit for dinner, you need fifteen properly placed and set snares. Steel spring traps have a better catch rate, if you know how to use them properly, but without that knowledge, you'd probably catch nothing (except perhaps your own fingers!)
Trying to live off the land in Britain in summer wouldn't be too bad if you've got the right skills in trapping and plant recognition, but in winter your diet would be very restricted unless you were near the coast and with fresh water not too far away. There's also the possibility that your trip could end with you being fed for free (at the taxpayers expense!) if the local police wildlife crime officer finds out what you're doing.
Good luck anyway, and the reports of your trips should make interesting reading.
Alan
As I use traps professionally, I should point out that it's nowhere as easy as it looks, trying to catch anything without a lot of knowlege. Even in expert hands, snares have a catch rate of around one in fifteen, so if you want to catch one rabbit for dinner, you need fifteen properly placed and set snares. Steel spring traps have a better catch rate, if you know how to use them properly, but without that knowledge, you'd probably catch nothing (except perhaps your own fingers!)
Trying to live off the land in Britain in summer wouldn't be too bad if you've got the right skills in trapping and plant recognition, but in winter your diet would be very restricted unless you were near the coast and with fresh water not too far away. There's also the possibility that your trip could end with you being fed for free (at the taxpayers expense!) if the local police wildlife crime officer finds out what you're doing.
Good luck anyway, and the reports of your trips should make interesting reading.
Alan
The woods are mine, and I'm fully aware of the hunting restriction dates for the various species. These will not be touched
But thank you for your concern anyway.
Day
Udamiano, I wasn't referring to you personally, but there's a lot of people out there who don't know the rules. In fact it's very rare to find anybody outside of the hunting, fishing, shooting fraternity who does. I get calls from other professional pest controllers who won't touch wildlife jobs because they don't have the knowledge or equipment to deal with them.
Sorry if you thought I was having a go at you.
Alan
Sorry if you thought I was having a go at you.
Alan
Hi Ratcatcher,
Not a problem matey, didn't think you were tbh.
But its best to lay any confusion to rest, especially in open public forums. So just covering myself
Day.
Its one question I get asked alot, but the truth is, you need time to prepare. A week in the woods aint going to to it. You goto prepare food storage, traps, tools, shelter etc.. etc.. the longer you are out there the easier it gets.
Yes I could do a year in british woodland, but no to the scotish highlands, thats a different ball game.
Yes I could do a year in british woodland, but no to the scotish highlands, thats a different ball game.
Wow. What's your secret? How would you cope with the isolation? What would you do for a source of carbohydrates? I think anyone can live in the woods, it's whether you can live off it that is the question.
The question was...
You are saying you could live a year with nothing more than the contents of a rucksack, no money, no support and no help?
How?
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widu13
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I'm about halfway through this book, free download here, http://www.archive.org/details/aloneinwildernes00knowrich the guy went in the woods with nothing, not even clothing for two months, interesting read but I'm not sure I believe all he wrote.
As for a week, its possible with the right skills and a bit of luck. I did the same course as Sandbender is talking about, we were in a team of three which made it easier on division of labour and chores but we caught plenty in snares and caught a few brown trout, carbs were supplied from reedmace, also plenty of beech mast around at the time of year we did it and I agree after two or three days even the easy tasks require a lot of concentration and effort.
We were allowed a knife, a billy, three snares and a few fishing hooks and a small length of line, everything else was provided by the woodland or lake.
Some interesting things happen to the mind and body so I'll be following this one with interest.
As for a week, its possible with the right skills and a bit of luck. I did the same course as Sandbender is talking about, we were in a team of three which made it easier on division of labour and chores but we caught plenty in snares and caught a few brown trout, carbs were supplied from reedmace, also plenty of beech mast around at the time of year we did it and I agree after two or three days even the easy tasks require a lot of concentration and effort.
We were allowed a knife, a billy, three snares and a few fishing hooks and a small length of line, everything else was provided by the woodland or lake.
Some interesting things happen to the mind and body so I'll be following this one with interest.
