Survival expert Peter Kummerfeldt wrote my go-to book on wilderness survival “Surviving a Wilderness Emergency.” He is also my friend and an expert source when I have questions about wilderness survival. So when Peter published his list of reading favorites, I paid attention. Here are some good reading suggestions! – Leon

 by Peter Kummerfeldt

Winter is a good time to do some reading and if you are interested in expanding your knowledge of survival and surviving, here’s a list of some of my favorite books.

These are books that I go back to time and time again. They are my references for much of what I teach in my seminars.  Some are of the “been there, done that” variety.  Some are of the “here’s what you need to be able to do in a survival situation” genre, and others are scientific studies of the physiology of humans in extreme conditions – survival conditions.

Peter Kummerfeldt gathers water from a vine.

In previous times, the survival literature was based on the anecdotal accounts of those unfortunate souls who had been in a survival event and returned to tell about it.  “They survived, therefore what they did must be correct!” 

Not necessarily so!  Some people survived in spite of what they did!

Fortunately, scholars, many in the medical community, have in recent years studied why some people survive and yet others, under similar conditions die, and have written some very good books on the subject.

Read widely.  Compare the advice given.  Test the recommendations and find out what works for you.

Peter Kummerfeldt’s Top 20

Survival Psychology – John Leach
Deep Survival – Laurence Gonzales
Everyday Survival – Laurence Gonzales
Life at the Extremes – Frances Ashcroft
Surviving Extremes – Kenneth Kamler
The Survivors Club – Ben Sherwood
Alone – Richard Logan
Last Breath – Peter Stark
The Unthinkable – Amanda Ripley
102 Minutes – Dwyer & Flynn
The Essentials of Sea Survival – Golden & Tipton
Desert Survival Skills – David Alloway
Out of Captivity – Gonsalves, Stansell & Howes
Touching the Void – Joe Simpson
Survive – Peter Deleo
Wilderness Medicine 6th Edition – Paul Auerbach et al
Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage  – Alfred Lansing
Northern Bushcraft – Mors Kochanski
Staying Found – June Flemming
Angels in the Wilderness – Amy Racina

Humbly, I might add my own book “Surviving a Wilderness Emergency” to the above list.

Notice there aren’t any books on this list that are titled “The Complete Book of……….” because they never are!  Nor are there any books titled “The Encyclopedia of…………..” because once again they never are!

The other titles that are noticeably missing are books based on military survival training, both the American and the British military.  Skills taught to the military, regardless of nationality, do not necessarily cross over into the civilian world.

I measure the value of a potential survival reference book by whether or not the book recommends the use of space blankets, a bow and drill for fire starting, solar stills and living-off-the-land!  If they do, I conclude that the author has not done his homework!

Remember, when reading, there’s a big difference between the skills needed to survive an inconvenient night out and bush craft skills needed to live in the back-country for prolonged periods of time.  Granted, there is some cross-over, but more typically you need to know how to survive a night or two out until you are found.

Peter Kummerfeldt has walked the talk in the wilderness survival field for decades. Peter grew up in

Peter Kummerfeldt has taught wilderness and emergency survival for more than 40 years.

Kenya, East Africa and came to America in 1965 and joined the U.S. Air Force. He is a graduate of the Air Force Survival Instructor Training School and has served as an instructor at the Basic Survival School, Spokane, Washington; the Arctic Survival School, Fairbanks, Alaska, and the Jungle Survival School, Republic of the Philippines.

For twelve years, Peter was the Survival Training Director at the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado. He retired from the Air Force in 1995 after 30 years of service.

In 1992, concerned with the number of accidents that were occurring in the outdoors annually and the number of tourists traveling overseas who were involved in unpleasant and sometimes life-threatening incidents Peter created OutdoorSafe.com

He is the author of Surviving a Wilderness Emergency and has addressed over 20,000 people as the featured speaker at numerous seminars, conferences and national conventions.

Check out Peter’s blog at: OutdoorSafe.blogspot.com

Click here for great jerky seasonings and DVDs!

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

Any list you make shows your priorities, and hopefully this list will help establish some in your survival planning!

by Leon Pantenburg

The idea behind SurvivalCommonSense.com started several years ago. As a journalist, I was often on the scene of natural disasters, catastrophes, accidents and search and rescue missions. My observations lead me to this premise: Survival is mostly psychological.

This is certainly no groundbreaking revelation on my part!

“The best survival tool is between your ears,” claims wilderness survival expert Peter Kummerfeldt. This idea is further reinforced by Cody Lundin, another wilderness and urban survival expert, who maintains that 90 percent of survival in any situation is psychological.

One goal of  SurvivalCommonSense.com is to help you develop the survival mindset that will keep you alive. So, let’s start with the baseline knowledge of what happens to people, mentally, in a survival situation. Until you know what might happen in your mind, or in the heads of the people around you, there’s no way to come up with a plan to survive.

With a survival mindset, you can survive anything. Without one, you won’t!

These five are among my favorite survival psychology books, and they deserve a place among your prepper or urban or wilderness survival tools. Here’s some good choices to get you started on creating your survival library:

Union prisoners are seen crowding near the main gate of Andersonville Civil War Prison. The prisoners had some of the psychological reactions anybody would have in an emergency!

“Survival Psychology” by John Leach

Some 20-odd years before the rash of “reality” or “survivor” shows, or anybody had ever heard of Les Stroud or Bear Grylls,  psychological studies resulted in a book which documented people’s  reactions  in emergency situations.

“Survival Psychology” by John Leach, PhD, of the University of Lancaster, England, was a groundbreaking study, that today is a reference source for many wilderness and urban survival bestsellers. If some of Leach’s writing or thoughts sound familiar, it is because you’ve read or heard them before!

Leach studied survivors’ reactions, including those of Union prisoners at the horrific Andersonville prison during the Civil War;  to shipwreck survivors; to people who made it through plane crashes and natural disasters.

Distilled down to one sentence, here’s what Leach found: Psychological responses to emergencies follow a pattern.

Survival situations bring out a variety of reactions – including some that make the situation worse. Leach’s studies show that only 10 to 15 percent of any group involved in any emergency will react appropriately. Another 10 to 15 percent will behave totally inappropriately and the remaining 70 to 80 percent will need to be told what to do. The most common reaction at the onset of an emergency is disbelief and denial.

“Survival Psychology” is out-of-print, as far as I know. But I’ve had no trouble getting a copy through the local inter-library loan program. Your library probably has a similar program, so check out Leach’s book. Survival Psychology

"I Sit and I Stay" is a practical book about how to keep your children safe if they get lost in the outdoors.

“I Sit and Stay: A Survival Guide for Kids (and parents, too!)” by Leah L. Waarvik

Kids need to be outside. They need to be taking advantage of our great outdoors as opposed to vegetating in front of computer or TV screens. But anyone who goes into wilderness areas needs to do so safely, and  “I Sit and Stay” teaches your children what to do if they get lost.

Author Leah Waarvik is a search-and-rescue professional who works as part of a canine team to find missing people in the wilderness. She wrote “I Sit and Stay” after hearing stories of children who were lost and unprepared. The title says it all: Teach your lost children to stay in one place and await rescue.

Written in interesting, easy-to-understand terms, the lesson of staying-put is taught through the characters of Emma and Koa, two wilderness search-and-rescue dogs. The book also mentions and discusses three simple tools that every child (I say every person, regardless of age!) should be taught to use and carry on every outdoor excursion:

• Whistle: Always carry one on a string around your neck when hiking or camping. The child should be taught that if they get lost, they sit and blow. Rescue Howler Whistle by Adventure Medical Kits
• A pocket-sized mirror: Use this to signal search aircraft or other people. Ultimate Survival Technologies 2×3 StarFlash Emergency Signal Mirror
• A large garbage bag: With training this is to be used as a shelter. (My two cents worth is that the bag should be bright yellow or orange to aid in being found.)

After being taught how to use these items, the child should also be trained to carry these survival tools in their pockets or pack. Pockets are probably the best, since a child will probably lose their backpack before their pants! Survival Kit for I Sit and Stay A Survival Guide for Kids and Parents Too!

“The Survivors Club” by Ben Sherwood

Most of us can’t take all the survival field classes and seminars we’d like to, and only a fool would create a real emergency to see how he might react!

Author Ben Sherwood interviewed people who have survived everything from the World War II Holocaust to the Twin Towers tragedy on 9/11. He was seeking a common ground, a kind of definition, about why some people survive catastrophes, disasters, and emergency situations and why others don’t.

His conclusion, after extensive research, is that the most important part of survival is in your mind. And – no surprise here – you must develop a survival mindset.

So where do you begin?

According to the U.S. military, you must first decide you will survive.  The US Army Field Survival Manual, in their official instruction for how to stay alive in hostile environments, offers this advice on the very first pages:

“Without the will to survive, your chances of surviving are greatly diminished,” the book states. US Army Survival Manual: FM 21-76 , Illustrated

The next step to surviving is to accept that whatever is happening to you is not unique. We all want to think we’re special, Sherwood, writes, but any survival situation will cause people to react in established behavior patterns. The sooner you get over being incredulous, the sooner you can start reacting in a positive way and come up with a plan.

Then, a survivor must do something. The most common reaction, regardless of the circumstances, is to do nothing, hang tight and wait for someone else to react first, or tell them what to do.

But surprisingly, there aren’t a lot of panic attacks during an emergency. Researchers examining crises as disparate as the WWII London Blitz and the attacks of Sept 11 found people rarely lose total control and run around mindlessly. Rather, most just freeze until they’re told what to do.

So we keep reading “The Survivors Club,” because we all want to know the secret, the one thing that can make a difference between living and dying.

What is the secret of survival? Sherwood asked Ray Smith, former Marine Drill Instructor, with 27 years on active duty in the Navy as a survival instructor. Smith is the author of  How to Survive on Land and Sea. Smith’s answer is simple.

“Faith in God,” Smith says “It’s a major factor in all survival scenarios.”

“Man’s Search For Meaning” by Viktor E. Frankl

I first ran into the writings of Viktor Frankl, eminent psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, when I was in graduate school. Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning remains one of my favorite books. So it was no surprise to me that Frankl was mentioned in The Survivors Club. Frankl developed a survival mindset to get through Auschwitz.

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing:” Frankl observed, “The last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

Purpose gives you the why – the meaning and mission – in your life. It also gives you the power to survive.

Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why by Lawrence Gonzales

I read “Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, And Why”  in a few marathon sessions. The fast-paced accounts of real life survival situations are mesmerizing. It’s a good survival mindset read and I couldn’t help wondering what I might do in some of the situations.

In the book, Gonzales mentions 12 points that disaster survivors seemed to have in common.  These points are definitely worth reading and thinking about, even if you don’t get anything else out of the book.

1. Perceive, believe: If there is any denial, it is counterbalanced by a solid belief in the clear evidence of their senses. In other words, survivors establish a survival mindset immediately. They see opportunity, even good, in their situation.
2. Stay calm (use humor, use fear to focus) In the initial crisis, survivors use fear, and aren’t ruled by it.
3. Think/analyze/plan: Survivors quickly organize, set up small manageable tasks. In other words, they’re using the STOP tool.
4. Take correct decisive action: Survivors were able to convert thoughts to action. They deal with what they can from moment to moment, hour to hour.
5. Celebrate successes: This is important to maintaining motivation and avoiding hopelessness.
6. Count you blessings: Be grateful you’re alive.
7. Play: Sing, play mind games, recite poetry, count things etc.
8. See the beauty: Survivors are attuned to the wonder of the world.
9. Believe you will succeed: All the above practices lead to the point where survivors become convinced they will prevail.
10. Surrender: Let go of your fear of dying. This is the type of thinking John Leach calls: “resignation without giving up. It is survival by surrender.”
11. Do whatever is necessary: Survivors know their abilities and don’t over or under estimate them. They believe anything is possible and act accordingly.
12. Never give up: There is always one more thing you can do.

"The Unthinkable" is a thought-provoking look at what happens during emergencies, before help arrives.

“The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes and Why”  by Amanda Ripley

Amanda Ripley, an investigative journalist, writes about the human psychological reaction to disasters. Ripley covered some of the most devastating disasters of our time, and retraces how people reacted. She interviews leading brain scientists, trauma psychologists and other disaster experts. She comes up with the stunning inadequacies of many of our evolutionary responses.

Ripley’s book is not about disaster recovery: It’s about what happens in the midst  of one – before emergency personnel arrive and structure is imposed on the loss. Ripley describes a “survival arc” everyone must travel to get from danger to safety.

If you’ve ever thought about a disaster and possible reactions to it, then you’re on the right track. Ripley starts the survival arc process with the thought “I wonder what I would do if…”

Here’s the survival arc progression, according to Ripley, of a typical reaction to a disaster situation:

Denial: This can’t be happening. This isn’t happening to me.

Deliberation: We know something is terribly wrong, but don’t know what to do about it.

The Decisive Moment: You’ve accepted that you are in danger, deliberated the options and now it is time to take action.

Anybody with a “Be Prepared” mentality hopefully moves quickly through the initial denial phase. We’ll also hope that you have read and studied survival techniques so you will be able to deliberate effectively and move on to the decisive moment phase.

But even if you think you’re prepared mentally for surviving a disaster,  “Unthinkable” is a book you need to read.  You must understand what goes on in your head during a disaster before you can use your tools. You’ll need information and techniques to respond correctly.

Some of that information can come from “The Unthinkable.” The book’s information is a powerful survival tool.

For more survival book reviews,  click here.

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The ability build a fire under survival conditions may save your life. The inability may cost your life!

by Leon Pantenburg

I met Peter Kummerfeldt several years ago at the Deschutes County Sportsmans Show, in Redmond, OR after I dropped in during his “Myths of Survival” presentation.

The ability to build a warming campfire, under extreme conditions, could save your life.

With no idea of who this guy was, or his abilities, I sat in on the seminar out of curiosity. (After all, I had a survival kit, and had been knocking around the backcountry for decades while backpacking, hunting and fishing. I knew what I was doing…I thought!) At the end of the hour-long session, and numerous “ah-ha” moments, I followed Peter back to his booth and plied him with questions.

Later, Peter became an expert source for a winter survival guide I wrote for the Bend, OR “Bulletin.”  Since then, Peter have become my friend, mentor, guest contributer for SurvivalCommonSense.com and my main go-to source for any question about wilderness survival. Peter is also on the short list of people I like to hang around with.

With that disclosure, how can I do an unbiased review of Peter’s latest E Book ” A Better Way to Build a Fire”?

Well, I don’t claim to be a wilderness survival “expert,” but I do claim considerable expertise in survival  firemaking. My experience, based on independent research, use and testing over many years, has taught me many things related to building a fire during an emergency. (To read the “best ignition sources” story, click here).

As a Boy Scout survival skills volunteer, I have helped teach well over 10,000 people basic flint-and-steel firemaking skills over the past ten or so years. This instruction has been done during all sorts of weather extremes. I have tried and tested many different firemaking methods, with the goal of being able to recommend the right tools to make a firemaking kit that could save a person’s life.

One thing I learned after all this research and training is this: The average person, even if given matches and gasoline,

Cotton balls infused with petroleum jelly, combined with a metal match, make an effective and reliable firestarting method! If you want to include matches, make sure they are high quality!

couldn’t start a fire under survival conditions! Firemaking, like any survival skill, must be practiced, and you have to start out with the right tools and training.

Our ancestors used an open flame for light, heat and cooking, and everyone, of necessity, was an expert at building a fire. But today, there are people who have never needed to make any sort of fire. They may have some vague idea of what a campfire looks like from the movies, but the idea of making a fire in the rain or snow would be completely foreign to them.

Or worse, they may believe they can just pick up a couple sticks, like the heroes of the “reality’ survival shows do, and twirl up a flame. For beginners, the place to start is with some realistic education.

One of the first, best tools might be the “A Better Way to Start a Fire” eBook. Just out, and available from the OutdoorSafe.com website, Peter starts from the ground up and discusses everything from the theory of firemaking to what tools you should carry with you.

The primary ignition tools are mentioned, as well as the steps to making that initial flame grow into a fire. Natural tinders are discussed, as well as techniques for finding dry firewood under extreme wet conditions.

Butane lighters work fine as long as the conditions are ideal and they are warm and dry.

Peter also introduces the platform and brace method of starting a fire. While the traditional tipi stack or “log cabin” arrangements can and do work well, the platform and brace method of stacking wood to build a fire works particularly well in wet or snowy conditions.

Think all matches are the same? Guess again – Peter discusses the different styles and brands, and why you should shy away from them. I’d already made my mind up that I don’t trust matches as a survival firemaking method before I read this ebook, and Peter’s research reinforces this.

Peter also discusses some of the myths related to survival firemaking. He debunks some of the commonly-accepted, though unproven, practices.

As you look at your survival training, and decide what skills you need to get better at, consider what instructional tools would make a good addition to your library.

Take a hard look at “A Better Way to Build a Fire.” You can download it for $10 from the Outdoorsafe.com website right now, and be reading it in a few minutes. The publication belongs in any wilderness survival training course, and should be in every prepper/survivalist library.

I recommend “A Better Way to Build a Fire” without any reservations whatsoever, and the skills you learn from it could very well save someone’s life.

Peter Kummerfeldt has walked the talk in the wilderness survival field for decades. Peter grew up in

Peter Kummerfeldt has taught wilderness and emergency survival for more than 40 years.

Kenya, East Africa and came to America in 1965 and joined the U.S. Air Force. He is a graduate of the Air Force Survival Instructor Training School and has served as an instructor at the Basic Survival School, Spokane, Washington; the Arctic Survival School, Fairbanks, Alaska, and the Jungle Survival School, Republic of the Philippines.

For twelve years, Peter was the Survival Training Director at the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado. He retired from the Air Force in 1995 after 30 years of service.

In 1992, concerned with the number of accidents that were occurring in the outdoors annually and the number of tourists traveling overseas who were involved in unpleasant and sometimes life-threatening incidents Peter created OutdoorSafe.com

He is the author of Surviving a Wilderness Emergency and has addressed over 20,000 people as the featured speaker at numerous seminars, conferences and national conventions.

Check out Peter’s blog at: OutdoorSafe.blogspot.com

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

The topic of hunting knives is best discussed around a campfire after a day outdoors! But since we can’t do that, here is the next best thing – a special SurvivalCommonSense.com email update devoted to the topic of hunting cutlery.

Check Out Our Affiliate Blogs!

What do the experts recommend as the knife to carry for small and big game hunting? Survival expert Peter Kummerfeldt gives his choices and some advice. Randy Yow, host of  Extreme Desire TV, handles dozens of big game animals in the field every season – learn what knives he carries.

Custom knifemaker C.T. Fischer explains what characteristics a good sheath should have to keep a fixed blade knife safe.

The Cold Steel SRK (top) and Mora are favorite backcountry knives of mine, but might not suit your needs.

I’m weighing in on what knives to carry into the backcountry to handle a big game animal. You can read all these stories and see the update by clicking here.

Last week, to coincide with the opening of hunting seasons in many western states, SurvivalCommonSense.com started a series of  special email updates that deal with specific topics dealing related to  backcountry travelers.

Last week’s special edition featured navigation expert Blake Miller. In several articles, Blake discussed common concerns of backcountry travelers. If you’ve ever wondered how to make sense of a topographical map, how to set up your GPS for hunting season, or how to keep from getting lost while hunting, this is the update for you. Check it out here.

In upcoming weeks, we’ll discuss that to carry in your survival gear, how to dress, emergency shelters, foolproof survival firemaking and whatever else you want to talk about. (Well, almost anything. Zombie survival? Survive the zombie apocalyse? Best knives for zombie survival? We’ll pass on those topics!)

If you haven’t subscribed to the weekly SurvivalCommonSense.com email update…why not??? It’s free and delivered to your email every week. You won’t miss any information  and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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If you haven’t subscribed to the weekly SurvivalCommonSense.com email update…why not???

Check Out Our Affiliate Blogs!

It’s free, there is no obligation and you can unsubscribe at any time . Get the update sent to your email every week and you won’t miss any of the latest survival and prepper info published on SurvivalCommonSense.com.

The publication also does periodic special interest updates, where we concentrate  on several stories from expert sources based on topics you request.

Let navigation expert Blake Miller answer any of your questions about staying found! (Blake Miller photo)

Check out this week’s update, which features a great jerky recipe and survival expert Peter Kummerfeldt’s gear for the backcountry  by clicking here.

View the special land navigation issue with Map, Compass and GPS expert Blake Miller – just click here.

Blake Miller has made a career out of staying found and knowing where he is at all times. His formal navigation training began when he joined the U.S. Navy in 1973. He served as an officer aboard several Navy ships over his

Blake Miller

twenty-year career; many of those tours included the duty of Navigator. Blake began working with satellite navigation systems at sea in 1976, culminating with the then-new satellite positioning systems aboard the Battleship WISCONSIN in early 1990.

In 1998 Blake started Outdoor Quest, a business dedicated to backcountry navigation and wilderness survival. Blake has taught classes to wild land firefighters, state agency staffs, Search and Rescue team members, hunters, hikers, skiers, fishermen and equestrians. He regularly teaches classes through the Community Education programs at Central Oregon (Bend) and Chemeketa (Salem, OR) Community Colleges.

As a volunteer, Blake teaches navigation and survival classes to students in the local school districts, and conservation groups. He is a member of a Search and Rescue team.

If you have any questions about land navigation or wilderness survival, you can contact Blake through SurvivalCommonSense.com@gmail.com, or you can go to his website.

Contact Information:

Website: www.outdoorquest.biz

Blog: outdoorquest.blogspot.com

Phone: 541-280-0573

Email: outdrquest@aol.com

To hear the Blake Miller interview about choosing a magnetic compass and GPS on SurvivalCommonSense.com Radio, click here.

For more navigation information, click here

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

During nearly 45 years of wandering around the world’s backcountry I have developed a collection of equipment that has frequently saved my bacon! Equipment that, on more than one occasion, changed a potentially life threatening situation into an inconvenient night out.

By Peter Kummerfeldt

Some would call my collection of gear a “survival kit.”  The mountain men of the Rocky Mountain West would call it a “possibles kit. I call the collection “my emergency gear” and always have it with me – what good is your emergency kit if you don’t have it along?

Over the years the contents of my kit have changed. As new equipment came along that was better and lighter than the gear I used it replaced the old.

Despite the changes in the individual pieces of equipment, the categories of equipment I carry have not changed – there are those must have items; there are pieces of equipment that would be sorely missed if they were not available and then there are those pieces of equipment that you would like to have with you but if you didn’t, the world would not come to an end.

While it’s hard to justify carrying equipment that doesn’t get used often there is some equipment that has to be carried for that once in a life situation when your life hangs in the balance – these core items include shelter, fire making and signaling equipment.

In my pockets: Some things just belong in your pockets – a folding knife for example.  A bandanna handkerchief, a piece of equipment that has a thousand uses, would be another valuable item,  Chapped lips are a constant aggravation – carry one of the lip balms with a SPF factor of at least 15 with you and use it often.  I would always have a metal match with me with which to start a fire. Carry those things in your pockets that you need quickly and use often.

Then, because of circumstance, you were separated from all of your equipment bags you would at least have a few basic items with you that you could use to save yourself.

In my get-away bag This bag should contain the emergency gear that you would heavily depend on if you were stranded, if you were hurt and couldn’t make it back, if you were caught out after dark or trapped by bad weather and continuing on would be dangerous.

This bag would be usually carried in your day pack or fanny pack and then removed if the larger pack was left behind.  Fundamentally this bag should contain a water proof, windproof shelter – material that you could crawl into or crawl under to keep yourself dry and warm. It should contain reliable fire starting tools and the means to signal your distress.

Here’s a list of what I carry in my get-away kit.

• 1 heavy duty, 4 mil, orange plastic bag (38”x65”) for shelter
• 1 metal match with scraper
• 2 match cases – one filled with REI matches and one filled with Vaseline saturated cotton balls
• 1 glass signal mirror
• 1 plastic whistle
• 1 small folding knife
• 1 orienteering compass
• 1 plastic water bag
• Small stick of pitch wood  for fire starting
• 1 small LED light with a head band
• Nylon line

This equipment is packed in a bright orange Cordura zippered pouch with belt loops.

In my day pack: In addition to the items listed above I carry the following additional equipment which might be considered nice-to-have but in a pinch I could do without, even though I might not want to.

• Dandy saw with 17” blade or a Florian folding saw
• 18”x18” closed cell foam sitting pad
• 150’ parachute cord dyed red
• Hygiene kit (toilet paper, wipes & small bar of soap)
• Basic medical kit (band aids, ace bandage, 4×4 gauze pads, Imodium AD tablets, Benedryl tablets, Bayer’s aspirin, Rolaids, Finger nail clipper, Dental floss, prescription antibiotic, personal prescriptions medications.
• Sawyer bug repellent (depends where I’m going – summer only)
• Bug Out jacket (depends where I’m going – summer only)
• Head Sokz for head protection
• Helly Hansen Guide raincoat and bibs
• Light leather goat skin gloves
• Synthetic mittens
• Esbit fuel tablet stove with plenty of fuel tablets
• Map of the area
• Chunk of pitch wood for fire starting
• Food bars, Cup-of-Soup powder, hot chocolate powder.
• One quart Nalgene wide mouth, water bottle.
• 4 cell, AA battery, Princeton Tec flashlight with elastic headband
• 3.5” Bill Hook Model M571 fixed blade knife.
• One bottle (50 tablets) Potable Aqua tablets
• One metal cup
• An additional orange DOT plastic bag
• Additional insulated clothing

The ability to produce a lot of firewood quickly makes carrying a good saw a priority.  Select a saw that is multi-purpose. The Dandy Saw I carry cuts wood, snow and bone.  It is tough, requires no assembly and has no moving parts.

The Florian folding saw is another very dependable tool that, while not quite as versatile as the Dandy saw, is efficient, safe and reliable.

I carry a closed cell foam pad to insulate myself from the ground when I sit down. It also helps to keep my clothing clean and dry.  Its most important value may be the padding it provides when I sit on hard ground, rocks or other uncomfortable, cold objects.

Parachute line is very useful and will serve as your hammer and nails when you build shelters, line for hanging equipment, sewing thread, dental floss, fishing line and hundreds of other uses.  Buy white parachute line from a military surplus outlet and then dye it red or orange (RIT fabric dye) – a color you can see!

Your toilet kit should have “wipes” in addition to toilet paper.  Under field conditions toilet paper doesn’t do the job well enough.  Wipes are the field replacement for a shower or bathtub!

Assemble a medical kit sufficient to handle the commonly encountered medical issues – not to perform major surgery!  In the event of a serious injury there is little that those present can do beyond taking the normal first aid steps and then making the patient as comfortable as possible before going for help.  Limit the drugs you carry to those personal medications you must have and then add Benedryl for dealing with any allergy issues, aspirin for pain control and for its usefulness when treating someone who is experiencing cardiac problems and finally Imodium or other anti-diarrhea medication.

In some parts of the country protection from biting insects is essential.  Black flies, deer flies, mosquitoes and other forms of “flying teeth” make life miserable for a survivor and can become a life threatening issue.  Head nets, bug-shirts and repellents are virtually impossible to improvise – have them with you when you need them!

Emergency clothing should include the means to keep your head warm, an outer layer that is wind proof and waterproof and a pair of  light leather gloves.  Your hands are not as tough as you think they are and will soon become bruised, burned and battered.  In colder weather include mittens in your gear. With functioning hands survival is difficult. Without the use of your hands survival becomes impossible. Take care of them!

Cotton balls infused with petroleum jelly, combined with a metal match, make an effective and reliable firestarting method!

The ability to start a fire under adverse conditions is fundamental to surviving especially when clothing is inadequate and shelter hard to come by.  Relying on primitive fire making skills in the absence of a metal match or good matches is asking for a cold night out and the possibility of becoming a hypothermia victim.

A container full of Vaseline soaked cotton balls for tinder and a metal match provide the means to start hundreds of fires.

Unlike other methods of fire starting, metal matches are not affected by changes in air pressure (cigarette lighters don’t work well at altitude) temperature, or moisture and require minimum practice to become proficient.  For those who still want to carry matches REI Stormproof matches are the best.

An Esbit stove is a very useful device that makes getting a hot drink easy without having to build a fire.

Signaling devices range from expensive electronic devices that can reach out from any location in the world by satellite and make contact with rescuers, to simple less expensive equipment that may not have the range of the more sophisticated gear but can still get the job done.  Every emergency pack should, at the very least, contain a whistle and a mirror.  Both can be used to attract the attention of ground searchers and, in the case of the mirror, can also be used to signal a passing aircraft or boat.  The human voice is a poor signaling device – it doesn’t last very long nor does it carry very far!  Carry a whistle – it can be blown all day and the blast carries much further than your voice.

Depending on the time of year other things may show-up in my gear.  During the colder months I add a Wiggy’s Sweater.  This jacket is insulated with Lamalite, one of the best synthetic insulators available.

Should I need to dig a snow shelter or move snow for any other reason I add a Snow Claw digging tool. This inexpensive mini-snow shovel works far better than digging with your hands or other improvised shovel and can be used for a number of other purposes as well!  In arid regions I would add additional water containers.

To some of you this may seem like a lot of equipment to carry around the mountain.  To others it may seem barely enough.  We each have to decide what we need based on our circumstances and the situations that we might find ourselves in.  Granted, few people are going to find themselves in a survival situation but when they do, it would be nice to be well equipped, clothed and prepared.

Author’s note: The product recommendations given are based on the author’s use of the items in the field.  The author does not “rep” for any of the companies listed.

Peter Kummerfeldt has walked the talk in the wilderness survival field for decades.Peter grew up in

Peter Kummerfeldt has taught wilderness and emergency survival for more than 40 years.

Kenya, East Africa and came to America in 1965 and joined the U.S. Air Force. He is a graduate of the Air Force Survival Instructor Training School and has served as an instructor at the Basic Survival School, Spokane, Washington; the Arctic Survival School, Fairbanks, Alaska, and the Jungle Survival School, Republic of the Philippines.

For twelve years, Peter was the Survival Training Director at the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado. He retired from the Air Force in 1995 after 30 years of service.

In 1992, concerned with the number of accidents that were occurring in the outdoors annually and the number of tourists traveling overseas who were involved in unpleasant and sometimes life-threatening incidents Peter created OutdoorSafe.com

He is the author of Surviving a Wilderness Emergency and has addressed over 20,000 people as the featured speaker at numerous seminars, conferences and national conventions.

Check out Peter’s blog at: OutdoorSafe.blogspot.com

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

The older couple at the Swampy Lakes trailhead, a few miles outside Bend, Oregon,  didn’t have any maps or survival gear at all, were unsure how to put on their snowshoes and were reluctant to take the firestarter and matches I offered them. From their inadequate clothing and  lack of preparation, it was obvious they were tourists visiting Central Oregon and had no clue of the potential danger.

In 2006, less than six miles from where they stood, a veteran snowmobiler had died when an unexpected blizzard had blown in.

Click here to visit Peter Kummerfeldt's website!

“We’re not going to do any of that survival stuff,” the woman said. “We’re only going out for a little while.”  – Leon

by Peter Kummerfeldt

Many things get people in trouble when they venture into the outdoors, including lack of preparedness, not paying attention to the weather, accidents etc. More commonly, it is the  attitude toward our safety that is the precursor to a life threatening event occurring.

How many times have you said to yourself or have heard others say, I am just, as in I am just going to walk up the ridge and see if I can see a deer, or I am just going to be out for fifteen minutes,” or perhaps “I am just going to run down to the store.”

I believe these three little words I am just get more people into trouble than any other three little words I can think of!

Most commonly you don’t verbalize these words out loud, but say them to yourself, silently ─ which is even more dangerous. Many times you are not even conscious of your decision to leave your gear behind. Unconsciously you already have made the decision to leave it because I am just…  When spoken out loud there always is the chance that someone, upon hearing you say, I am just will step in and remind you of the importance of always taking your emergency clothing and equipment with you ─ even though the possibility of having to spend an unplanned night out is remote.

When nothing looks familiar, and every direction seems to be the same, STOP and think about what to do next!

 It is easy to convince yourself that nothing life threatening will happen ─ after all you are “just…”   When you use the word “just,” you are convincing yourself that the weather will remain pleasant, that no accident will happen, that you will not get lost, or that you will be able to get back before dark!

You are saying to yourself that you don’t need to carry your daypack with your emergency gear and warm clothing because you won’t need it ─ you are “just…”

It also is easy to rationalize away the need to always carry your backup clothing and emergency equipment. As the years ago by, one hunting season follows another, and you have yet to spend that unplanned night out, the temptation to reduce the weight of the daypack you are carrying by leaving your survival kit at home, can be very attractive.

As you look to the mountains in anticipation of having to ascend on foot and hunt at higher altitudes, it is natural to want to lighten your load and leave behind those pieces of equipment that you have seldom, if ever, used.  Sometimes it is “space” or the lack of it, which causes you to decide to leave items behind that you should take.

Most often, it’s the short trips that get you in trouble!  After all, I was just…  You get complacent.  Nothing life threatening ever has happened in the past and so it is easy to  convince yourself that it won’t happen in the future and if it does you can handle it ─ whatever “it” is!   Ignoring the possibility of finding yourself in a survival situation is like playing Russian roulette.  Falling victim to the I am just… syndrome is like playing Russian roulette with five out of six chambers loaded!

 History is replete with examples of those finding themselves in trouble who, after being rescued from some horrendous situation, said I was just…

This trash can liner can provide a quick emergency shelter. (Peter Kummerfeldt photo)

Several years ago in Oregon an older man left his camp one evening ─ he was just going to walk down to the end of the ridge and see if he could spot an elk.  The following morning was the opening day of elk season.  He never returned and despite an extensive search he was not found alive.

Ten days later his body, partially buried under snow, was discovered by other hunters.  His emergency gear consisted of a .357 Magnum pistol and thirty seven rounds of ammunition, which he had used to try to signal his hunting partners.

Thirty-six of the thirty-seven cartridges had been fired, but were never heard by either his partners or those that searched for him.  He had tried to shelter himself by drawing two log ends together and laying slabs of bark on top of the logs to provide a crude roof.  His clothing, a mixture of cotton and wool, failed to provide the protection he needed from the environmental conditions he encountered.

Physiologically he died from hypothermia, but it also could be said that he died because he had rationalized away the need to carry any additional emergency gear.

Equipment that might have prevented the situation from developing in the first place – a map, compass or a GPS Receiver.  Equipment that he could have used to increase his protection from cold temperatures, precipitation and wind-chill.  Equipment that he could have used to attract the attention of the rescuers that were looking for him – a mirror, whistle, survival radio or 406 MHz emergency beacon.

He was “just going to walk to the end of the ridge, look for an elk and then return to camp!

The words “I am just” when spoken out loud or silently should be considered a red flag warning!

When you say them yourself or hear others say them ─ STOP!  The trap is being set! Continuing on only will spring the trap and once you are in it, there may be no escape.   Without adequate clothing, without basic survival equipment (reliable fire starting devices, waterproof, windproof sheltering materials, a signal mirror and whistle), without the ability to build a fire or signal to others, survival depends on an individuals tenacity to live, their ability to improvise what they need and luck – sometimes that’s not enough!

As you contemplate what you should have with you as you begin a trip – even a short one, don’t use the words I am just…

Peter Kummerfeldt has walked the talk in the wilderness survival field for decades. Peter grew up in Kenya, East Africa and came to America in 1965 and joined the U.S. Air Force. He is a graduate of the Air Force Survival Instructor Training School and has served as an instructor at the Basic Survival School, Spokane, Washington; the Arctic Survival

Peter Kummerfeldt has taught wilderness survival for more than 40 years, all over the world in different environments.

School, Fairbanks, Alaska, and the Jungle Survival School, Republic of the Philippines.

For twelve years, Peter was the Survival Training Director at the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado. He retired from the Air Force in 1995 after 30 years of service.

In 1992, concerned with the number of accidents that were occurring in the outdoors annually and the number of tourists traveling overseas who were involved in unpleasant and sometimes life-threatening incidents Peter created OutdoorSafe.com

He is the author of Surviving a Wilderness Emergency and has addressed over 20,000 people as the featured speaker at numerous seminars, conferences and national conventions.

Check out Peter’s blog at: OutdoorSafe.blogspot.com

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

Editor’s note: “Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink…” Recent widespread flooding throughout many parts of the United States makes this quote from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” particularly appropriate. The mariner was stuck in the middle of the sea, so he was surrounded by salt water he couldn’t drink.

But flood victims, people awaiting evacuation, or trapped by rising waters are in the same situation. Being

Click here to visit Peter Kummerfeldt's website!

By Peter Kummerfeldt

The Problem: When the water we use or lose each day, through normal body functions (urination, defecation and sweating) is not replaced, dehydration results.

Where could you find drinkable water?

Dehydration severely reduces the body’s ability to function efficiently which frequently results in poor decision-making and contributes to accidents occurring. The loss of one-to-two quarts of water, from a starting water level of about twenty quarts in the body, can result in a significant reduction in working efficiency.

Contributing Factors:

Altitude – The air we breathe contains less humidity as we travel higher — dry air has to be humidified before it reaches the lungs.

Many of the fluids (coffee, tea, alcohol and colas) we drink daily contain diuretics, chemicals that cause us to lose even more water.

Increased activity increases water loss by sweating.

Injury and illness, especially diarrhea, can increase water loss.

Mouth breathing increases water loss.

Note: Dehydration is a contributing factor in many other medical problems that occur in the outdoors. It is also a significant factor in determining how successfully the body can keep itself warm — a dehydrated person will have a much more difficult time staying warm than a hydrated one.

Water disinfecting:

Boiling – Bringing water to a rolling boil is sufficient to kill all harmful organisms.

Halogens – Chemicals such as iodine and chlorine kill microorganisms.

Filtration – Filters remove all harmful agents except viruses.

Purifiers – remove all harmful agents including viruses.

“TREATING DEHYDRATION IS MUCH MORE DIFFICULT THAN PREVENTING IT AND MAY BE IMPOSSIBLE IN THE

OUTDOORS.”

Peter Kummerfeldt has walked the talk in the wilderness survival field for  more than 40 years.

Peter grew up in Kenya, East Africa and came to America in 1965 and joined the U.S. Air Force. He is a graduate of the Air Force Survival Instructor Training School and has served as an instructor at the Basic Survival School, Spokane, Washington; the Arctic Survival School, Fairbanks, Alaska, and the Jungle Survival School, Republic of the Philippines. For

Peter Kummerfeldt

twelve years, Peter was the Survival Training Director at the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado. He retired from the Air Force in 1995 after 30 years of service.

In 1992, concerned with the number of accidents that were occurring in the outdoors annually and the number of tourists traveling overseas who were involved in unpleasant and sometimes life-threatening incidents Peter created OutdoorSafe.com. He is the author of  Surviving a Wilderness Emergency and has addressed over 20,000 people as the featured speaker at numerous seminars, conferences and national conventions.

Click here to visit Peter’s website!

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

At some point, you may need to attract a rescuer’s attention. It would be in any situation, from being lost in the wilderness to being stuck on a rooftop during a flood.

But when people are looking for you, though, you may be an insignificant object in a vast  space.

A signal mirror can help rescuers find you, as this photo shows, if it is used correctly! (Peter Kummerfeldt photo)

One way to speed your rescue is to bounce (reflect) a beam of sunlight from your position to that of a rescuer.  Remember, the person on the receiving end of the signal must recognize the reflected light for what it is – an emergency signal, and respond to it.

One way to bounce light is with a signal mirror. I have several, but the one that is always with me is a homemade, credit-card-sized piece plastic mirror material I bought in the automotive section of the local WalMart.

Along with the rest of my wardrobe survival kit, this small mirror may someday prove invaluable!

So how do you use a signal mirror?

Here is a post by survival expert Peter Kummerfledt that explains everything you need to know about this vital piece of survival gear!

To read the rest of the story, click here! - Leon

For more information on making survival kits, click here!

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http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

Click here to visit Peter Kummerfeldt's website!

In a survival situation, be it urban or wilderness, your gear alone will not save you. YOU must save yourself. There are three major areas a survivor must be prepared in, before you start being concerned about accumulating equipment!

In this article, survival Expert Peter Kummerfeldt takes you through a survival sequence.

by Peter Kummerfeldt

One of the most important lessons I learned during my survival career is: “Those who are prepared to survive an emergency usually will, and those who are not prepared probably won’t!”

We don’t want to admit we might be the one faced with a life or death situation or some other equally disagreeable circumstance.

Denial leads the list of the coping methods that people use — we deny anything bad is ever going to happen.  It’s often easier to deny than to prepare for a difficult situation and, as a result, we find ourselves totally unprepared when disaster strikes.

It’s easy to say “I’ll assemble a survival kit tomorrow.” It’s easy to rationalize – “I don’t have the money to buy a better rain jacket,” or “I’ll never be in a survival situation. What do I need a survival kit for?”  It’s easy to think that it will always be someone else that ends up in a survival situation.

Consequently the vast majority of people find themselves facing a cold night out without adequate clothing, without basic survival equipment and without having practiced building a fire, erecting a shelter or signaling for help.

To prepare, potential survivors need to consider three areas: Physical, mental and spiritual preparation.
Physical preparation includes careful selection of  your clothing, equipping yourself for an unplanned night out and getting in physical shape.

“Dress to survive – not just to arrive!

What you wear may be adequate for the work commute, but will it keep you warm if you have to spend the night in the ditch when the car skids off the road?  How much protection will your T-shirt and shorts provide if you are caught out in a late summer thunderstorm?
Becoming lost, is probably the most common way that people end up in a survival situation. “Surviving” places a premium on the clothing worn.

Both of these 100% cotton garments would keep you warm until they got wet. Then, this clothing can become dangerous to wear! (Pantenburg photo)

Cotton Kills! During the colder, wetter times of the year, dressing properly begins by getting rid of your cotton underwear and switching to synthetics (polypropylene, polyester, or Capilene.) Cotton absorbs the moisture your body produces and holds it against your skin causing heat to be constantly conducted away. You will never be warm!

The synthetics are hydrophobic (water hating) and facilitate the movement of water vapor away from your body.  Other underwear fabrics include wool and silk.  Some very good “non-itchy” wool thermal underwear is now available.  Silk, because it is a natural fiber, tends to absorb and hold water.  It is also not as durable as the synthetic fabrics.

The next layer, the mid layer, serves to facilitate the movement of water vapor out to the environment and to trap “dead air” around you to keep you warm. Once again, synthetics work best – the piles and fleeces, with wool coming in a close second.

Under very cold conditions, an additional insulation layer may be needed. The more “dead air” you trap the warmer you will be. Many insulating materials are available to choose from, both synthetic and natural. I choose synthetics primarily because, unlike down, the synthetic insulators do not collapse when wet.

The outer layer may be the most important.  It must keep the inner layers dry and keep the wind out.  If either moisture or wind penetrates the insulation layers, heat will be lost quickly.  Studies have shown that in windy situations, a good outer shell can increase warmth by as much as 50 degrees. Put another way, a good windproof outer layer decreases the amount of insulation needed to keep you warm.

The objective is to use the fewest layers of clothing that will keep you warm when you are inactive. Activity generates substantial amounts of body heat and reduces the need for multiple layers of clothing.  On the other hand, inactivity drives the need to insulate yourself from the environment and to conserve whatever heat your body is producing – very important in a survival situation!

Special attention should be paid to protecting your head and your hands. If your head is not protected as much as 75 percent of your total body heat production can be lost!  Hands suffer quickly when exposed to cool-to-cold conditions. Fine motor skills, the ability to touch finger to thumb, are lost quickly.

This photo demonstrates how a trash bag can be used as a quick, effective emergency shelter. (Peter Kummerfeldt photo)

Could you zip up your jacket if your fingers are frozen?  Could you tie your bootlaces? Gloves and mittens are an important part of your outdoor clothing.

Equipping yourself to spend a night out is the next step.

There are those who advocate construction of survival shelters built from natural materials.  I disagree.

For the average, inexperienced person, building a windproof, waterproof shelter from sticks, boughs, bark and other natural materials may be impossible!

Shelters built from natural materials take hours to build, require cutting tools and adequate supplies of suitable materials, and, most importantly, call for an “able” survivor — one who is uninjured!

Seldom can all of these criteria be met and, for lack of shelter, the survivor ends up spending a very uncomfortable night or two out.  Additionally, inexperienced people will often wait until the sun is about to set or the storm is about to break before they recognize the need for an emergency shelter!

A vital part of your survival equipment is a waterproof, windproof, heavy-duty, plastic bag that you can crawl into!  Alternatively, carry a sturdy tarp or piece of plastic that can be quickly erected to create a lean-to or pup tent style of shelter.

Two plastic match containers have been taped together. One holds cotton balls and petroleum jelly, and the other carries REI Stormproof matches. A Boy Scout Hot Spark is taped to the kit.

The ability to ignite a fire may also be critical to your survival.   Once again, relying on improvised means i.e., rubbing sticks together, is an invitation to disaster!

Because of injury or loss of finger dexterity the usual methods of starting a fire may become very difficult.  How do you strike a match if you only have the use of one hand?  Could you still “flick your BIC” if your fingers are cold and stiff?  It can be done but it may not be easy.

Equip yourself with good matches and a metal match.  Fill a screw-top match case with cotton balls that have been saturated in petroleum jelly – it makes great tinder, can be ignited with either the match or a spark from the metal match and burns for a long time.

The duration of your survival situation hinges on two questions.  Did you file a flight plan?  Do you have any signaling equipment with you with which to attract attention? Always tell someone reliable where you’re going and when you’re going to be back.  Include in your survival kit a good plastic whistle and a signal mirror (glass or a good plastic one)

Improving your physical fitness should be part of the physical preparations you make.  People in good physical shape are less likely to injure themselves. Physically fit survivors  injured in an accident will fare better than those who are not in good shape.

Preparing yourself mentally is as important, if not more so, than preparing yourself physically.

If you can’t visualize situations you might find yourself in, how  will you prepare for them?

What are you afraid of? Confront that fear, and familiarity will make it go away!

What scares you about having to spend an unplanned night out?  Is it the fear of predatory animals? Starving to death? Dying from hypothermia? Isolation?

We all have fears. Unfortunately many are based on stories we were told,  TV programs, or on books we read.  Good entertainment, perhaps, but often poor sources of reliable information  to base our decisions and actions.

Make a list of your fears and apprehensions then contact the “experts” and find out the truth. In most instances, the truth is very different from the myth and, as a good friend of mine says: “When you remove the mystery, you’ll remove the fear!”

Spiritual preparation is the final step.  After interviewing many survivors and prisoners-of-war and after reading the accounts of many other survivors,  it is clear: “There are no non-believers in survival situations!”

Survivors may have started the experience without any strong beliefs one way or the other, but inevitably, at some point these survivors turned to a greater power for additional help.

As Doug Ritter of Equipped to Survive (www.equipped.com) says:

“If you are adequately clothed, if you have equipped yourself and if you have practiced your survival skills, a night or two out should not a be a life threatening experience.  On the other hand if you are not clothed adequately, do not have any emergency gear and have never practiced your survival skills whether you survive or not will depend on your will to survive, your ability to improvise, and LUCK.”

I don’t know about you – I want to be clothed, equipped and practiced!

Peter Kummerfeldt has walked the talk in the wilderness survival field for decades. Peter grew up in

Peter Kummerfeldt has taught wilderness and emergency survival for more than 40 years.

Kenya, East Africa and came to America in 1965 and joined the U.S. Air Force. He is a graduate of the Air Force Survival Instructor Training School and has served as an instructor at the Basic Survival School, Spokane, Washington; the Arctic Survival School, Fairbanks, Alaska, and the Jungle Survival School, Republic of the Philippines.

For twelve years, Peter was the Survival Training Director at the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado. He retired from the Air Force in 1995 after 30 years of service.

In 1992, concerned with the number of accidents that were occurring in the outdoors annually and the number of tourists traveling overseas who were involved in unpleasant and sometimes life-threatening incidents Peter created OutdoorSafe.com

He is the author of Surviving a Wilderness Emergency and has addressed over 20,000 people as the featured speaker at numerous seminars, conferences and national conventions.

Check out Peter’s blog at: OutdoorSafe.blogspot.com

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com