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.

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

By Peter Kummerfeldt

I was driving to Soda Springs, Idaho, this past week to present a risk management program.  My wife was driving and at one point, we were following several other slower vehicles while waiting for a chance to pass, when an oncoming eighteen wheeler drifted toward the double yellow line before returning his side of the road.  I got to thinking about the thinness of the margin that keeps traffic flowing safely.

Disaster can be as close as the next passing vehicle!

When two vehicles pass on a two-lane road the space between them can be as little as a few feet!  As long as the vehicles stick to their side of the road everything works well but a moment’s inattention can result in catastrophe.  The more I thought about it the more I realized that this concept could be applied to many other scenarios. The difference between surviving and dieing, especially in the outdoors, is indeed a thin one.  In fact I believe that we are the thickness of a piece of paper away from a disaster at any given time!

As a society we have become so dependent on technology to keep us safe that we no longer think about the threats to our safety and what we would do in the event that our lives are placed at risk. We have come to depend on others to keep us free from harm. The Federal government, state governments, our employers, family members and others have a role in keeping us all safe but ultimately we each have to recognize that no one is more responsible for our safety than we are.

That “buck” cannot be passed!  Our safety is dependent on the preparation we accomplish before an event.  Our safety is dependent on our ability to recognize danger and react quickly enough to ensure our safety.

Is it possible to guarantee personal safety in the outdoors?  Of course not! But you can increase your knowledge, improve your survival skills, outfit yourself with reliable equipment, thoroughly evaluate the risks and then measure your skills against those risks before undertaking an activity in the outdoors.  A comprehensive analysis of the threats to your safety must be followed by an honest, objective appraisal of your skill level and ability to cope with those threats.

It is easy to talk about the impact of weather, or terrain hazards or perhaps the threats posed by animals when you recreate in the outdoors but the part of risk management and accident prevention that is hard to come to grips with is what the academics call “human factors.”

Here are a few “human factors” that you should think about:

Complacency -  a product of boredom, distraction, lack of awareness, or failure to question old  habits results in a belief that “I’ve done this before successfully therefore there won’t be a problem the next time!” Not necessarily! Sometimes we are suckered into complacency by our past successes!

Risk perception – a situation that is familiar, controllable, pleasant, predictable and avoidable is perceived to be of less risk.   Consequently when an activity becomes routine the likelihood of an accident increases.  Also keep in mind that to be able to deal with a dangerous situation you must first be able to recognize a dangerous situation!

Overconfidence – an unrealistic belief in one’s ability to cope with life threatening situations.  Men are particularly prone to overestimating their ability to cope with a crisis.  Sometimes brute strength isn’t enough!

Goal setting – the inability to adjust goals as situations change often leads to accidents.  You must get out of the “summit or die” mentality.   Remember – it is never wrong to turn back!

Impatience – patience is a virtue, impatience can be disastrous.  Continuing on in the face of bad weather, rough terrain, darkness or other hazards in an effort to “get-back-at-all-cost” can be fatal.

Commitments – do not allow previously made commitments to influence what you should do when you are in trouble.  Do what is in your best interest and don’t worry about what your spouse is thinking or your what employer  is going to think when you don’t show up for work.  Their concerns are no longer important.  Keeping yourself safe is.

Peer pressure - Don’t concern yourself with what others may think.  You can survive teasing, ridicule, and the comments of others but you may not survive the impact of the environment if you fail to protect yourself.  Do what you have to to be alive to be teased!

Failing to test – Nothing gets people in trouble quicker than accepting, at face value, the advice of others,   Test everything before your life’s on the line.   Practice your survival skills and experiment with your equipment before you need to use them in a crisis.

Experience can help you through a tough situation or it can betray you by setting you up to fail when your experience doesn’t take into account a new situation.  Put another way: “People are often setup for a disaster, not by their inexperience, but by their experience.”

While the tangible risks can usually be managed, the subjective, intangible issues, the human factors, are much more difficult to come to grips with.   To be a survivor you must prepare for what you hope will never happen while accepting the possibility that a crisis can happen at any time.

At some point you need to ask yourself “What do I want my newspaper headline to say?”  “Survived in Style” or “Deceased?”

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

“What am I preparing for?”  As I see it there are five broad categories that capture most situations where a person may have to “survive” until rescued or until the weather conditions improve and the individual can rescue themselves.

Winter weather presents challenges to drivers. Make sure you have a winter survival kit in your car!

The categories are: Becoming lost, being caught out after dark, becoming stranded, becoming ill or injured and unable to proceed and bad weather that makes continuing on dangerous.

This article will look at the third of these situations, “stranded.”

By Peter Kummerfeldt

The very word “stranded” brings to mind the story of Robinson Crusoe’s lengthy stay on his tropical island or the plight of the Donner Party.  Or the experiences of the Uruguayan rugby team who survived a crash landing in the Andes as told in Piers Paul Read’s book “Alive” also come to mind.

If the truth be told, you can become stranded in far less exotic places than the South Pacific, the Andes or the Sierra Mountains of California.  You can become stranded, and find yourself having to survive, in the woodlot behind your home.  You can become stranded when driving to work or as a result of many other scenarios where suddenly you are unable to continue – or to return to safety.

Weather,  the onset of darkness, mechanical breakdown or other accidents can all result in your having to utilize survival skills and procedures to insure that you see the light of the next day.

A winter storm can make travel particularly dangerous. Make a vehicle survival kit, and let someone know when you left, and your expected arrival!

morning after working the night shift to drive home. A few minutes later, she was stuck in a snowdrift on an isolated country lane unable to proceed.  Some forty-four hours later she was finally found and rescued.

Her advice to others: “It can happen to anyone. Make sure you’re equipped. Stay with your vehicle. Tell someone where you’re going!”

Karen survived becoming stranded because she followed her own advice, believed she would be rescued, didn’t panic,  and she survived!

Unless you have experienced the emotions of finding yourself stranded a long way from help it is difficult to explain in words: The gut wrenching fear felt when you realize you can’t get back, you’re cut-off, you’re alone without anyone to help… YOU MIGHT DIE!

Let’s look at “becoming stranded” objectively, find  the problems faced by the victim and then identify some practical solutions to those problems.

WEATHER

Most commonly,  the onset of inclement weather strands people.  Motorists are stranded in their cars on the highways when driving conditions become too dangerous to continue – or more commonly they continue driving until an accident happens.

Those recreating outdoors suddenly find themselves unable to return home because the snow gets too deep, the water in the river rises and crossing becomes too risky, or fog obscures the landmarks and the navigation becomes impossible.

It is often weather that causes an aircraft to crash land or ditch – particularly light aircraft and helicopters!

A tornado could destroy roads and bridges and strand people on the disaster scene.

It is the weather, or more accurately, the lack of awareness of how quickly that the weather can change, that    precipitates a person into a survival situation!

One moment the sun is out and hiking in shorts and T-shirt is appropriate and moments later the sun goes behind a cloud, it begins to rain, the wind velocity increases a few miles per hour, the temperature plummets and now the victim is in a situation from which they may not recover.

Never assume anything. As Lefty Kreh, the well known author and fisherman once said: “It’s always going to be colder than they tell you.  It’s going to be windier than it should be for the time of year and it’s going to rain more than you expect it to so be prepared for anything.”

 Select the kinds of clothing that will keep you warm and dry and will keep the wind out. With good clothing the need for a fire and even the need for additional shelter may not be necessary.

MECHANICAL FAILURE.

Unfortunately most people have an unfounded faith in their vehicles ability to perform forever!

• It should be a given that if man made it, it can and will break down!
• It should also be a given that if it’s likely to fail, steps should be taken to be able to fix the problem.
• At  the very least you should be able to contact others for help in the event you become stranded.

When traveling to places where help is a long way off, prepare your vehicle accordingly.  Often the malfunction is not something catastrophic.  It’s usually the failure of some part that, had the operator performed a simple visual check; the situation could have been prevented.

Simple steps like checking the fluid levels (all fluid levels, not just the oil), checking air pressure in the tires; checking the condition of belts and hoses is often all it takes to complete an uneventful trip. While it may not be possible to eliminate all mechanical failure, it is possible to minimize the likelihood of becoming stranded because of mechanical malfunction by thoroughly inspecting your vehicle before a trip and equipping it with sufficient emergency gear to keep the occupants safe until found.

MISCOMMUNICATION.

As the pilot flew back to Fairbanks  after dropping my sheep hunting partner and I off, I was left with some misgivings regarding his understanding of when we were to be picked up.  My misgivings became reality ten days later when our ride home failed to show up.

While waiting for the overdue transportation strange thoughts occurred.  Such as: I wonder if the plane that dropped us off crashed on its way back to base. I wonder if the pilot told anyone else where he had taken us. I wonder if anyone will come looking for us!

Several days passed before we finally heard the drone of the Super Cub, our ride home, coming across the tundra.  In this instance it was confusion between “picking us up ten days later” and “picking us up on the 10^th” that led to the miscommunication.

Had we not planned on “weather days” and a delayed pickup, our hunting trip might have become a survival experience. Critical communications should be written down not verbally communicated!  Plan for delays.

CRASHES (car, plane, boat, snow machine, motorbike, etc.)

The problem with modern transportation is that in a very short period time you can find yourself a long way from help after an accident.  In a couple of hours an ATV traveling at 12 mph can put you 24 miles from the trail head. How long will it take you to walk 24 miles? You can find yourself many miles from the marina when the boat that you were speeding across the lake in collides with a semi-sunken log and sinks.  How far can you swim?   A light aircraft flying at 100 mph places you even further back in the wilderness – usually too far to walk out.  Regardless of the mode of transportation you are now a long way from home – you are stranded and must survive until rescue arrives. Will you be able to survive until you are found and rescued?

DARKNESSSuffice it to say that once the sun sets a person can be just as stranded as they are when their car breaks down miles from sources of assistance.  Traveling on foot at night is not generally recommended for all the reasons previously discussed.  Stay put and wait for the sun to come up and then decide what should be done.

Becoming stranded is not the end of the world!  If you have told others of your travel plans they will become worried when you don’t show up and will initiate the rescue process by contacting the authorities.  As the one who is stranded your job is to keep yourself alive until they show up.

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

It has been said that without Waco, there wouldn’t have been the Oklahoma City Bombing.
Ever since the Waco siege ended in 1993, I have wanted to visit the site. Over Christmas break, 2010, I got the chance.

The 50-day siege of the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, ended in disaster and the deaths of 76 people. (AP Photo)

by Leon Pantenburg

This post will not evolve into a discussion about who was right or wrong in the 1993 Waco siege situation.

Today, little remains to show the struggle that went on at this site 17 years earlier. This view shows the ruins of the swimming pool. The rebuilt chapel is in the background. (All photos by Leon Pantenburg)

I like going to historical sites.  My wife and I walked Pickett’s Charge on the Gettysburg’s battlefield at dusk.

I stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, on the spot where one man told about his dream. At the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca, MN, I looked downstream on the tiny creek and wondered where it could take me.

But the ruins of the Branch Davidian compound at Waco stand alone as a unique historical site.

Briefly, according to Wikapedia:

“The Waco Siege began on February 28, 1993, and ended violently 50 days later on April 19. The siege began when the United States Bureau of  Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) attempted to execute a search warrant at the Branch Davidian ranch at Mount Carmel, a property located nine miles northeast of Waco.

“On February 28, shortly after the attempt to serve the warrant, an intense gun battle erupted, lasting nearly 2 hours. In the aftermath of this armed exchange, four agents and six followers of David Koresh were killed. Upon the ATF’s failure to execute the search warrant, a siege was initiated by the FBI.

 

This monument is just outside the chapel.

“The siege ended 50 days later when a second assault on the compound was made and a fire destroyed the compound. Seventy-six people (24 of them British nationals) died in the fire, including more than 20 children, two pregnant women, and Koresh himself.”

During the Waco siege drama, which was on television every night, I watched in disbelief at federal authorities’ handling of  the situation. I am still appalled that so many children and other, innocent-until-proven-guilty people died. I was shocked at how quickly the  forensic evidence, which could have answered many questions, was deliberately obliterated or “lost” by federal authorities.

I always wanted to visit the Mount Carmel site. My sister, Susan,

and her family live outside Waco,  and my daughter and I visited them over the Christmas break.

The New Mount Carmel Center website indicated the public was welcome to visit the ruins of the Branch Davidian site, so we googled a map, loaded up the kids and drove the 20-odd miles to Mount Carmel.

The scenery along the way is beautiful; it reminded me of parts of Iowa, with the rolling hills, thick stands of timber along the rivers and creeks and black, fertile soil. We ended up at the entrance of the former compound, where several masons were working on a stone entryway.

I asked the stone workers if the public was allowed to visit the site, and was assured that we were welcome. There was no admission fee, though donations for maps of the site and building upkeep are accepted.  I was told to ask for a man named Charles at the chapel, about a quarter-mile from the entrance.

Charles was talking to a visitor from Georgia at the side of the chapel when I walked up the ramp, and he

nodded pleasantly and briefly interrupted his conversation. Charles welcomed me to the site, pointed out key locations and invited us to walk the grounds.

Today, virtually nothing remains of the original Mount Carmel structures. A modern re-built chapel sits on the site of the original compound, and according to Charles,  the door is located on the same spot as the former compound entrance.

The side of the chapel, he added,  is on the same spot as where the ATF ladders were placed during the initial Feb. 28 assault.

This monument honors the four AFT men who lost their lives, and the Oklahoma City bombing victims.

The ruins were bulldozed by the FBI in April,  1993 shortly after the final fire was put out, Charles said, and before forensic evidence could be gathered.

Today, you need a map to figure out where everything happened. In front of the chapel, there is a monument to the Branch Davidian dead, as well as a marker commemorating the four ATF men who lost their lives there, and a stone tablet dedicated to the Oklahoma  City victims.

Outside the chapel is a marker welcoming visitors. It says: “(We) declare this tabernacle to be a house of prayer for every nation, kindred, tongue and people.”

Click here for  information on the siege from CBS News:

Click here to view the PBS special on Waco. (More Waco photos follow.)

For more related SurvivalCommonSense.com tips and stories, click on the highlighted words:

• STOP: Use this exercise to reduce stress and focus your thoughts.
• Write a note to let people know where you went, before you left.
• Take your Ten Essentials on every outing.
• Dress with the right fabrics.
• Have a plan to make a tarp shelter.
• Carry lightweight, compact firestarter.
• Find the most effective fire ignition system.
• How to make charcloth, a material that can catch a spark from any source.
• Use charcloth as an effective method of catching a spark to make a fire.
• It can kill you: Hypothermia
• Hardtack: A great emergency food
• About Leon Pantenburg

The door of the rebuilt chapel is located where the door of the compound used to be. The door marks the spot where David Koresh was shot on the first day of the siege.

The entrance to Mount Carmel from the road.

This monument is still under construction and lists the names of all the Branch Davidians killed during the siege.

The rusted metal is all that remains of the buried bus that was used as a bunker.

These stones were left from the siege, and mark the original location of the bunker where the children died.

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

Past articles have defined the word survival and have discussed the importance of being prepared as opposed to trying to manufacture what you need from materials at hand. (For more info, see “Preparing to Survive” at the bottom of this page.)

Now, we need to look at some of the situations that people find themselves in where their knowledge of how to survive, combined with a basic survival kit and good clothing, can bring about a positive ending to their experience – or the lack of knowledge, equipment and clothing could result in tragedy.

By Peter Kummerfeldt

The question then is: “What am I preparing for?”  As I see it, there are five broad categories. These capture most situations where a person may have to “survive” until rescued, or until the weather conditions improve and the individual can rescue him or herself.

When nothing looks familiar, and every direction seems to be the same, STOP, sit down on the log for 30 minutes and decide what to do next!

The categories are: Becoming lost, being caught out after dark, becoming stranded, becoming ill or injured and unable to proceed and bad weather that makes travel dangerous. This article will look at the first situation of those situations, “Becoming Lost”, and the remaining scenarios will be discussed in upcoming parts of this series.

BECOMING LOST.

If it hasn’t happened yet it will sooner or later. Probably more than once!   Becoming lost is, in itself, not a critical situation. After all, as a friend says, “If you like it where you are, you ain’t lost!”

There are people who appear to be truly gifted in their ability to keep themselves oriented. But no one has a “built-in homing device” that enables them to find their way out when the countryside is obscured by dense timber, bad weather or darkness.  Whether we do it consciously or unconsciously, when we travel, we keep ourselves oriented by what we can see. When we can’t see, we must use a compass, a map or Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver.

Finding yourself lost can be a terrifying experience.  How you react when you discover that you are lost will often determine the eventual outcome.   When suddenly nothing looks familiar…  When the sun is setting in the east and the river appears to be flowing uphill…  

You are lost!  Admit it!

When you are no longer able to determine which path will lead back to the truck the urge to keep moving faster and faster can overcome you.  It’s easy to convince yourself “It’s just over the next hill” or the next one and you keep running!  This urge to keep moving must be controlled.

Continuing to move makes a bad situation even worse – it increases the risk of injury; you dehydrate yourself; you waste the your limited amount of energy and you often move further and further away from the last place where you were still “found!”

Sit down!  Get off of your feet!   Have a drink – of water! Drinking water has a very calming effect and helps you overcome the panic you feel.  Don’t let the fact that the stream you are looking at may contain giardia or other harmful organisms that discourage you from drinking the water. 

Drink the water!  Prevent dehydration.  The doctors can treat giardia, but they can’t treat dead!

Start using your brain (it’s the best piece of survival equipment you possess) to puzzle out what has happened and, more importantly, what  to do next.  Find a log to sit down on and stay there for at least 30 minutes.  This will give you time to work through the feelings of panic you will experience and overcome the urge to keep moving.  Thirty minutes will give you the time to objectively evaluate your situation, determine what needs to be done and then put your plan into action.

S – Stop moving around.

T – Think about what needs to be done.

O – Observe your surroundings.

P – Plan a course of action and implement it.

Don’t let the promises made to others override the need to protect yourself.   Often these promises, as in: “Honey, I’ll be home for dinner at seven” or “Boss, I’ll be in to work in the morning” cause survivors to continue trying to find their way out. They should be thinking about a fire and shelter and staying put for the night.  Break that promise and protect yourself!

As with most things “It is a lot easier to prevent horrific things from happening than it is to correct the problem after it has occurred!”  This is certainly true in the case of “Staying Found.”  Those who recreate in the outdoors should become proficient in the use of a map and a compass.  A GPS receiver is also a very useful navigation aid.

This compass is adjusted for declination

While it is not possible to learn to use a map, compass and GPS receiver in the next few lines, the following tips might help you become a more proficient navigator:

• Buy an orienteering compass that  can be adjusted for local declination.
• With an engraving pencil or other sharp point engrave the color of the north pointing end of the compass needle on the back of the compass base plate.  I.e. R = N (red equals north.) In a panic it’s easy to forget which end points north.
• Avoid using your compass around metallic objects which will deflect the needle and give you a false reading.
• Carry two compasses – if they both indicate the same direction to camp then proceed in the direction indicated.  When you are in trouble, it’s easy to believe one compass is defective.
• Learn how to walk a straight line heading using your compass.  It may not be the most efficient method to get from one point to another, but it is the most reliable.
• Always mark your starting point on your map before you depart.
• Identify “boundaries” on your map that surround the area you will be traveling in. Boundaries include roads, railway lines, long lake shores, power lines and rivers. If possible locate boundaries to the north, south, west and east of your starting point.  Mark these boundaries with a yellow or green highlighter pen.  In the event you become lost, determine which boundary is closest to you (this may be an educated guess) and follow a compass heading to that boundary.
• Having located yourself, make your way to your original starting point.  It can be a long walk back but at least you will know where you are!  In some situations less than four boundaries may be available and if this is the case, determine which direction you would have to travel to get back to the boundary you started from.  (I.E. If you walked north away from a road, follow a southerly heading to return to that road.
• When using a GPS receiver ALWAYS mark your departure point.  Unless the device knows where “home” is, it won’t be able to take you there later.

OK, so you’re lost and the day is coming to an end. You are faced with an unplanned night out.

However, because you had considered the possibility of such an event occurring, it’s not totally unexpected.  You have your survival kit, an extra sweater and a rain suit to keep you warm.   The initial urge to keep moving has been overcome and now it’s time to settle in for the night.

Look for the most protected area you can find, an area out of the wind – it’s easier to cope with ambient air temperature than it is wind chill.  Look for a level area under the protection offered by the limbs of a large tree.  Move uphill out of

Look for a sheltered spot out of the wind, such as this small cave.

cold air sinks.   Look around for any naturally occurring shelter – caves, overhangs etc.

Add layers of clothing before you get cold.  Locate any available firewood and build a fire.  You will find that a fire is a valuable companion in addition to all the other benefits it provides the survivor.  Once a fire is burning and you are sheltered you are “home.”

With the camp chores done, your thoughts will turn again to those you are separated from – your buddies in camp or perhaps family members at home who are expecting you for dinner.  Here again the need to be reunited with them will emerge.  RESIST THE TEMPTATION!  Traveling at night in unfamiliar country is dangerous!

It is possible that as the sky darkens you will be able to see the lights of distant homes or towns and again be tempted to make your way toward them.   Survivors tend to underestimate distance and overestimate their ability to travel to a distant destination! 

Sit tight. Survive.

Be alive when the sun comes up in the morning!  Crawl into your plastic bag shelter or under a lean-to made from a blue-crinkly tarp and get some sleep.  Depending on the temperature, you will probably wake up frequently during the night as your body cools. Exercise.  Eat some food. Have a drink and then go back to sleep again.  In cold conditions, it may be necessary to be more active during the night to keep yourself warm.

Don’t get spooked by the night sounds.  Our minds tend to make mountains-out-of-molehills – the cricket chirping under a nearby leaf can become a hungry mountain lion!

Take heart, the sun will come up the next morning; the weather will improve, you will “find” yourself once again and make your way back to worried, but now relieved, family and friends.

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

For more Peter Kummerfeldt and OutdoorSafe survival tips, click on:

• Preparing to survive
• The importance of water to survival.
• Avoid becoming an altitude casualty.
• Wilderness emergency management
• Making water safe to drink.
• Don’t become a lightning casualty.
• Questionable water: to Drink or Not?
• Self Rescue: when staying put is not an Option
• Survival Kit List for beginners
• Preventing dehydration during emergencies
• Winter Survival Equipment Test: Blizzard vests and emergency blankets

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

An essential part of learning how to survive is reading and studying books and articles by reputable sources. But the problem is always in deciding who is a reputable source, and if what they’re writing is information, to sell books or promote a TV show or a waste of your time!

This is a real concern if you don’t have much experience, are researching to learn and don’t yet know what might be  fact and what is fiction.

Here are some things I look for in a survival book. If I find any of them, the rest of the information is highly suspect and probably regurgitated material:

• Making a fire with a knife blade and piece of rock. (Yeah, I know, I’ve seen the YouTube videos that show how to perform the technique and all that. But I can’t do it, don’t know anyone who can and for my purposes, it is not a viable survival technique. And if the knife and rock do create a spark, just how will you catch it? With what?)
  
• Advocating use of  solar stills: (I learned this from Peter Kummerfeldt and tried it out myself! )
• Mylar blankets as part of the survival kit: (Again, Peter pointed this out to me first, I field tested them, and now crusade against  including such blankets in any survival kit!)
• “Throw up a quick lean-to shelter, made of natural materials before the storm hits…”: There is no such thing as a “quick” lean-to. Try building one some time!
  

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

In this review, survival expert Peter Kummerfeldt  comments on Les Stroud’s “Survive: Essential Skills and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere.” (Peter is the author of my go-to survival book: “Surviving a Wilderness Emergency.” Check out his credentials at the bottom of this post!) – Leon

by Peter Kummerfeldt

“Survive”  by Les Stroud. I finally got around to reading this book and, for the most part, thought it a useful addition to a person’s survival library.

And then I got to the part where Les writes:

“A good signal mirror can also serve as a fire starter by reflecting the sun’s rays.” (Page 28)

How do you do that?

How do you concentrate the rays into a spot hot enough to ignite tinder using a flat surface? A highly polished parabolic reflector can be used, but not a flat surface!,

On one level, this kind of miss-information just irritates me. On a more serious level,  it angers me since it confirms for me that the writer hasn’t tested the process and has just accepted someone else’s information as factual!

The problem being that when you present yourself as an expert, (particularly as an author,) whether you deserve it or not, people accept your word as gospel!

When reading an article or book on surviving there are two or three things I look for that tell me if the author has done his homework or is just regurgitating what others have written about previously.

The use of solar still to obtain water in a desert survival scenario is one. They don’t work!

Advocating the use of a space blanket to wrap up in when surviving in a cold experience is another. And once again they don’t work.

Suggesting that, when fire is needed, one can be ignited using one of the many methods of “rubbing sticks together.” It can be done, but not by a victim who needs fire now! Particularly an injured person!
As I have said so many times before the techniques and methods of surviving you select must be easy and the equipment that you plan on using must function properly under difficult conditions! Then you have a chance.

The aboriginal skills presented in most of the survival literature have little practical value to the average person

Peter demonstrates making fire by rubbing two sticks together. In reality, such skills may not be practical in a survival situation!

faced with a cold night out in the mountains.

Four books, Alone by Richard Logan and Tere Fassbender, Black Wave by John and Jean Silverwood, Overboard by Michael Tougias and Left for Dead by Nick Wood increased my understanding of survival after catastrophes at sea.

If you were to pick just one of these books to read pick Alone.  Tougias is an excellent writer and storyteller, and his account of five people sailing from the U.S. east coast to Bimini is gripping.

For those of us who are “land-lubbers” it is difficult to imagine the horrors of being caught in a fierce storm in a sailboat that is disintegrating around you.
Then, two of the group, the captain and the first mate, ended up in the water leaving the others in a sinking boat!

Those of you who sail should read these books and learn from them. It is too late to prepare when you’re already in the storm.

Sift out the “lesson learned” by those that survived and adopt them. Identify the reasons that caused
others to die when they might have survived with better training and equipment.

For those of you who don’t sail they are still worth reading if for no other reason than gaining an insight into how people cope and react in very stressful situations!

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

Many of you are subscribers to the SurvivalCommonSense.com weekly email update. For the rest of you – here’s what you’re missing!

Learn what to "Grab and Go" when a disaster occurs suddenly!

This week, we’re talking about how to avoid drowning in a flash flood in the desert (More people drown in the desert than die of thirst. Bet you didn’t know that!)

We also talk about Red Cross suggestions for survival kits. And, we can’t forget the weekly survival recipe!

If you’d like to subscribe to the email update, just click on the button on the top of the home page, or on the update!

To view this week’s update, click here!

We hope you “Like” it!

For more related SurvivalCommonSense.com tips and stories, click on the highlighted words:

• STOP: Use this exercise to reduce stress and focus your thoughts.
• Write a note to let people know where you went, before you left.
• Take your Ten Essentials on every outing.
• Dress with the right fabrics.
• Have a plan to make a tarp shelter.
• Carry lightweight, compact firestarter.
• Find the most effective fire ignition system.
• How to make charcloth, a material that can catch a spark from any source.
• Use charcloth as an effective method of catching a spark to make a fire.
• It can kill you: Hypothermia
• Hardtack: A great emergency food
• About Leon Pantenburg

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

People looking to SurvivalCommonSense.com for hard-core backcountry wilderness survival techniques will find them. But Survival CommonSense.com’s underlying theme always comes back to this point: The determination to survive – that “survival mindset” – its the most important part of survival, in any circumstance.

Kathleen Knudsen

Nowhere is a survival mindset more important than among cancer patients.

I’ve known Kathleen Knudsen since I was in graduate school at Wayne State College in 1977. Over the decades, we have  maintained our friendship by letter-writing. (You may have heard about this ancient art, where a person takes a pen and paper and writes a letter in longhand).

Over the years we’ve debated book choices, shared stupid jokes, job and career changes, the joyful news of marriages, family gatherings, birthdays and of children being born. We’ve traded potty training tips. We’ve also had our share of tragedies.

Kate is a professional educator and is currently the school administrative manager for Carter Lake Elementary School in Iowa. She  was diagnosed with cancer about two years ago. Throughout extensive surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and the devastation that cancer wreaks on the human body, Kate never gave up.

Kate has graciously allowed me to share this essay, and even gave me permission to post a photo of her new curly hair!  (Debbie Street Compton – this is for you – read and enjoy!) – Leon

by Kathleen Knudsen

I have been having a discussion with others about whether cancer changes people. In a submission for our local “Opera for the Cure,” I wrote:

“Before the diagnosis of cancer, I loved my husband well, noticed sunsets, cried at movies, luxuriated in fine literature
and music, noticed and greeted the butterflies in our gardens. I cherished the sparkles in raindrops, bubble baths, snowdrifts, and diamonds, and I believed that I would be on Earth for a finite time, and that God is in His Heaven waiting for me.”

While this remains true, I see the remnants of cancer every time I look in the mirror. And because
of this, I have discovered something about myself: I am a hair snob. It took some time to discern whether this was “change” or if it was a bias I had developed long before hearing the word “Cancer” in reference to me.

About a decade ago, the cover page for The Weekly Standard read, “The Rise of the Latte Town.” As I read the accompanying article by David Brooks, I got a little scared. Were my husband Keith and I turning into agnostics? Were we becoming attached to an uppity, moderate existence?

The evidence was there. We had already become coffee snobs. The names our parents and grandparents used for coffee were replaced by “Crème Brule,” “Hazelnut,” and even “Jamaica Me Crazy”. We had purchased a coffee grinder
and now turned our nose up at regular coffee. Then, on a trip to Steamboat Colorado, we discovered lattes at a wonderful downtown shoppe. We were hooked.

By virtue of my husband’s running group, we had also discovered Birkenstock sandals which were handy to throw on after a race (and have now become a staple in just about every household). At the time, it seemed extravagant to pay that much for sandals, but we did.

So, as you might imagine, reading about these latte drinking, sandal wearing characters living in pristine cities like Boulder (which we had just visited for the Boulder Boulder run/walk) made me do a little re-evaluation. Yes, we liked good coffee, and yes, we wore comfortable shoes but, even so, our values and character were firmly grounded.

In the aftermath of chemotherapy, however, I am once again facing my own snobbery. Before treatment, I had long, thick hair with which – with a good amount of product – I could do just about anything. And I did.

It was a rarity for me to have my hair look the same one day to the next. I could do it curly, straight, braided, chignon, etc. If I saw a style I liked, I practiced it. Growing up and in high school, I had short hair. But those were the days before blow-driers and hair glaze, and since about 1980, my hair has been some version of  long.

I used to tell the students at my elementary school (who notice the smallest of changes) that I was “my own Barbie”. Now I am wishing for an actual Barbie head – the one with the pull out pony tail.

After surgery and before chemotherapy, during an appointment with my medical oncologist, I wore my hair all diffused and crazy – au natural. My doctor asked me if that was what my hair “really looked like’ and I said, “This is it!”

She said, “Oh, Kate, you are going to have ringlets when it grows back!!”

And, so I do. I have a head full of tiny, thick curls. The locks are four  inches long now, and look like two.

It takes three times the color serum to knock out the gray, and it will dry in a sort of straight manner but it doesn’t really want to and the time it takes to blow-out is not worth it. My hair options now are limited to diffused-curly, air dry-curly with a headband, and a big-curl-curly accomplished with rollers or iron.

I can also do it in a blow-dried kind of mother-in-law look but, even at 51, I am not ready to have “old” hair. (My rule, instead, is: The age at which Dyan Cannon cuts her hair short for the public is the age at which I will consider
my hair is too long for my age. She is 73, so I have time.)

It is fair to say I have probably been a hair snob for quite some time. When I noticed a pre-school girl whose mom cut her long curly hair to a bob, our new secretary said, “You certainly have a long hair bias!”

I confessed that to be true. Long hair is so enjoyable; I don’t know why anyone would cut it! –So many opportunities for decoration and change.

On my crankier days, I do not want to hear, even though it is, of course, accurate, “it will grow back”. It makes me want to say out loud, “OK, then, YOU try it” to the very well-meaning person who just uttered that sentence.

I also disdain the admonishment, “You should just be grateful to be alive”. –As if because I wish to regain a signature feature of myself, I am, therefore, dismissive of the fact that a very good team of doctors caught cancer early and gave me a chance for a long life.

Death did send me, as writer Shelly Lewis put it, a “creepy little post card” but I am not dead yet. I like fashion. I liked my hair, and it is perfectly natural to miss it. (Not, perhaps to the snobbish level I have obtained, but to some degree.) After spending a year filled with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and recovery, I think I’ve earned the right to
have some wistful thoughts about my winsome locks.

Just about everything else is more important than hair, yet it is hard to explain how – after such an unsteady, unsure year – looking in the mirror and seeing the “me” I have known for 30 years would give me some sort of assurance that I have survived the gauntlet, and that, for now, cancer is behind me.

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

Win a free sample of SurvivalCommonSense.com  wallet-sized firestarter by guessing the location of this

photograph!

Guess this location and win some firestarter for your survival kit! (Photo by Kevin Collins)

All you have to do is participate in this photo contest. You can either guess where the photo was taken, or submit a photo for consideration.

Contributors of selected photos will be published here, receive a byline and a free sample of firestarter!

This photo was sent in  by Kevin Collins.  His comment was: “…I can never get over the beauty of the mountains.” Well, I can’t either, so I’m pleased to include this image in this week’s photo contest.

This is White Bird Battlefield, north of the town of White Bird, Idaho. The Nez Perce War started here in June, 1877.

Several people (probably fellow history geeks) guessed the location of last week’s photograph. It was taken from the overlook on US 95 and is the site of White Bird Battlefield.

Here’s some history of the conflict, according the U.S. Department of the Interior:

“The establishment of  white settlements in the lands of the Nez Perce coincided with the treaties of 1855 and 1863. The treaties ushered in a time of tumultuous change. Growing resentment over loss of land, and unpunished atrocities helped bring on a war in 1877, between the Nez Perce and the U.S. Government. The first battle of that war was fought in June, 1877 in White Bird Canyon.”

My research shows that a volunteer militia group went to the site, intent on attacking a peaceful village. The militia charged, despite attempts by the Nez Perce, just prior to the attack,  to negotiate a peaceful solution. The Nez Perce counter-attacked and thoroughly routed the aggressors, and the militia retreated in disarray to Grangeville. The war was on.

Clearwater Battle, July 11-12: Though indecisive, the Nez Perce forces were strengthened because the warrior Looking Glass and his band joined the fight. Looking Glass became the war chief for all the bands.

Over the next several months, the Nez Perce fought a 1,100 running battle with the U.S. Army, in a campaign that is still studied at West Point. The Nez Perce were strictly defensive fighters, using the terrain as one of their weapons. They didn’t attack, but were never defeated when they were attacked.

Throughout all this chaos, Nez Perce leader, Chief Joseph demonstrated the epitome of a survival mindset. He assessed the situation after the White Bird battle, inventoried his assets, decided on a plan and carried it out. His goal was to retreat to Canada, and safety.

This land near Stites, Idaho, was the scene of another day-long battle.

The Army caught up with the Nez Perce at Bear Paw, near Wisdom, Montana, about 40 miles from the Canadian border. While some escaped, Chief Joseph stayed with the elders and weaker members of the tribe.

Back east, newspapers called the Nez Perce subjugation a “victory.”

Here’s part of a poem that came to mind while I was viewing  the White Bird Battlefield from the overlook:

“Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation…”

And you should know the rest of the verses…

Making a survival kit is serious business. During a disaster or emergency you may be literally be staking your life on your survival equipment. Think about these survival tips:

• Don’t let a survival kit give you a false sense of security!
• The best survival knife in the world, or any survival item, is useless without the skills to use it.
• No piece of equipment will ever be able to replace a survival mindset. Mental preparation is paramount!
• No collection of gear can replace knowledge and practical survival skills. Get the gear, then practice with it.
• NEVER think your pocket survival kit can replace a full-blown Ten Essentials kit.

To participate in the weekly photo contest, send your guess to: survivalsenselp@gmail.com. Participants will entered into the weekly email update list, but you can unsubscribe at any time, and your email address will never be sold or shared! Winners will be notified by email.

For more information on the Nez Perce War, click here.

Recommended Reading:

Surviving a Wilderness Emergency
Build the Perfect Survival Kit
GPS Made Easy (GPS Made Easy: Using Global Positioning Systems in the Outdoors)
Staying Found: The Complete Map and Compass Handbook

Stay Prepared!

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com