Survival situations can happen when you least expect it, or in places where such a thing doesn’t make sense. Even your regular run or evening walk can turn dangerous, and a simple survival kit can make all the difference.

These items are lightweight, easily-carried and could save your life if you're injured while running. From left: handwarmers, cell phone, flashlight, knife, Boy Scout flint stick, whistle, and firestarter.

by Leon Pantenburg

Maybe you’ve gotten into the habit  of taking a run in the same urban area every evening. Then, one evening, the endorphins kick in, and you decide to double the usual mileage. As darkness approaches, you realize you have to get back to the car before it gets really dark. You slip, twist your ankle and can’t move.

Or you might decide to go for a walk and just take off without thinking to tell someone where you went. You’re strolling along, relaxing and enjoying the iPod, and letting the stress from the office dissipate. Then, as it starts to get dark, you realize you’ve taken a wrong turn and are lost. And pretty soon, it will be pitch dark, and you can’t see the path.

Maybe you have your routine down, and are so set in the pattern that you don’t consider the potential danger. After all, you don’t  go that far from your home, and this isn’t some wilderness area…

A similar situation happened to Bend, Oregon resident Karen Johnson. (Click on highlighted word to read Johnson’s complete story.)  She nearly died of hypothermia after slipping on the ice and  breaking her leg. The area she was running in was a popular, well-used trail. But when Johnson was injured, there was no one around. Only prior preparations, her survival equipment, and being very, very lucky saved her.

Here’s a few tips on what survival equipment to take, and the links to find them,  on a run or an evening walk. These items are lightweight, take up little space and can easily be fitted into a fanny pack or jacket pocket.

• Leave a note or verbal message about where you’re going and when you’ll be back: Even if you’re only expecting to be gone for a little while, nobody will know where to look for you. They might think you went to a movie, the library or some place where you had to shut off your cell phone.
• STOP: Stop, Think, Observe, Plan. This survival mindset exercise applies to every survival situation. Know how to use it.
• Cell phone: You can call for help if you need to. Even if you can’t get coverage, leave your phone on. The pings to your phone from the nearest cell tower can be traced.
• Small flashlight: If you end up out after dark, the flashlight can help you get safety out of the dark places. Not to mention, the psychological boost it can provide if you have to stay in one place and wait for help.
• Whistle:A whistle carries further than your voice, and won’t give out. You
  

  Sign up for our Email Update here!

  can signal for help more effectively, and sometimes a whistle works to scare off potential bad guys.

• Flint stick or lighter and firestarter: If you’re injured, you may be able to build a fire for warmth, signaling and as a morale boost. It will help you stay in one place so you can be rescued. Strike It, Matchless Firestarter
• Small knife: I carry a Swiss Army knife Classic everywhere. The blade can be used to strike sparks of a flint stick, whittle kindling,  or cut string. The tweezers, scissors, toothpick and file also have multiple uses. Victorinox Swiss Army Classic Pocket Knife
• Lanyard: Combine everything together on a lanyard so you can wear it around your neck or tie it to your clothing. If the gear is tied to you, it won’t be lost.
• Handwarmers: Even if the weather is warm, a runner will cool rapidly if he can’t move. The handwarmers can be placed on the chest or torso to keep the vital areas warm. HeatMax Hot Hands 2 Handwarmer (40 pairs)
• Water: Hydration is always a good idea. If the water gets too heavy, you can always drink it, or pour it out. Platypus Sport Bottle

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

The Altoids tin prototype kit was field tested in the summer of 2007 by two experienced backpackers, Josh Sullivan and Jeremy Cline of Bend. Prior to a weekend hike in the Three Sisters Wilderness, they were given the kit with no instructions, but to use it as best they could.

Am Altoids tin survival kit is a valuable survival tool, but it does not have everything you need!

by Leon Pantenburg

The Altoids tin kit is intended as a five-ounce backup, not as the primary collection of survival gear. As with any equipment, it is worthless unless you spend the time needed to learn how to use it! Both men carried complete survival gear with them. (To read what items are included in the Altoids tin survival kit, click here.)

This is from Josh: Leon, I had a great time tinkering with the items you and Mr. Grenfell put together.  Here’s what I found I was able to test, in order of usefulness for me:

LED light: This was by far the most-used item for me. I liked the size of the light and the light’s ability to be turned on, rather than having to constantly push a button to keep it on. Since I was playing with some of the fire-starting tools in the survival kit past dark, I was able to turn the light on and balance it on a rock and it provided me with sufficient light.

Black rubber bands: I was surprised to find a use for these, but they really came in handy after dinner. I had some half-eaten food that needed sealing before I hung my food bag and the rubber bands were perfect for securing plastic bags and wrappers over my food.

Jute twine: I’m a long-time user of the cotton ball/petroleum jelly method (of fire starting) and was delighted to find that jute twine seems to ignite better than cotton. I was able to light the jute faster than cotton and it seems to provide a better flame. In addition to its flammability, I can think of a multitude of other uses for the jute, which makes it a clear winner for me over cotton balls in the future.

Wax-covered linen: (This was actually the 100 percent cotton waxed firestarter. A small instruction sheet was included on how to use it.)
This was the sleeper-hit of the survival kit. I’ve never seen a material like (the firestarter) before and was curious to see how it could be used.
Following directions on the small instructional sheet, I was able to twist a match out of the linen once I got a small flame from the jute. It burned for a reasonably long time and only took a tiny amount of the cloth to twist into a match. I was able to start a second fire by the flame from this cloth alone. I like how lightweight it is, and the wax covering seems to make it more durable. Two thumbs up on this stuff!

Petroleum jelly packet: This goes along with the jute twine. It’s lightweight and I could probably get three, maybe four fires out of just one packet. Fantastic!

Swiss Army knife: The blade on this knife was worlds better at throwing sparks from the flint stick than the provided striker, which dulled after a few passes over the stick. I didn’t use the knife for much more than starting fire, but I can’t imagine a survival kit without it.

Tiny compass: I didn’t actually use the supplied compass on my trip, because I have my own I use while hiking. That said, this is another essential item for the kit in my opinion, and if I had forgotten my compass I would have used this a lot.

Duct tape: A rock from my fire pit exploded and burned a large hole in my tarp during the night. Since the rock made a large noise when it threw shards, I woke up and assessed the damage. I used a strip of duct tape to cover the hole in the tarp. Since it was sprinkling on and off through the night, it was nice not to have a gaping hole where water could enter.

Orange fire-lighter flint: (This item was replaced with the Boy Scout Hot Spark in the final kit design after several people reported difficulty getting it to work.)
This was kind of a miss for me. I couldn’t seem to throw enough sparks for my lubed jute twine to light, and while it’s cool to be able to use this with one hand, it just wasn’t effective for me.

Conclusion: With the exception of the orange lighter-flint and the Boy Scout quick-dulling striker, every item I used was great, and perfect for the survival kit. I wouldn’t necessarily exclude the orange flint, because it can be used with one hand. If you’re going to keep the waxed firestarter as part of the final kit (I hope so!), I would be interested in having detailed instructions on how to make the stuff, since I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere else. (To read the recipe, click here.)

Addendum: I also took along a small magnesium block to test. The clear disadvantage of the block is that the small pile of magnesium shavings are really easy to disturb or blow away while trying to light them.

Something interesting I found, though, is when the magnesium is used with the petroleum jelly jute or cotton ball, the shavings actually stick to the material because of the jelly. When I used the magnesium stick with the jute, I was able to get a fire going faster than by any other means. As an aside, the magnesium block fits perfectly inside the Altoids can.

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!

Check Out Our Affiliate Blogs!

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

The wind blew sheets of rain sideways and the water dripped off the brim of my hat as I hunched over my charcloth and flint and steel. The original idea had been to demonstrate to Boy Scouts of Troop 18 in Bend, Oregon how to start a fire in the rain using one match, and available natural materials.

The waxed firestarter will burn on snow, or when the weather is wet and nasty.

By Leon Pantenburg

It had rained in the area for two days, and everything was soaked. We found a juniper tree that offered some shelter. I demonstrated how to find the dry side of the tree, strip off dry inner bark from underneath a limb and gather relatively dry twigs from under the trunk. Then I reached from my waterproof match container.

My 11-year-old son Dan had other ideas.

“Oh, c’mon Dad,” he said. “You can get a fire started with a flint and steel, can’t you?”

Typically, Murphy stands at my elbow when I attempt such demonstrations. And Murphy’s Law (as it relates to firemaking) is very explicit. It states: The more people watching you try to show off, the harder it will be to start a fire.

But Murphy had stayed home. I caught the spark on the second whack of the striker, placed the glowing charcloth into a prepared nest of dry and shredded juniper bark and in a matter of minutes had a roaring fire going. Nobody was more impressed than me.

Getting interested in one aspect of history generally leads to other rediscoveries. In my case, an interest in primitive

firemaking lead to a search for an effective firestarter. Surely, I reasoned, the oldtimers had some sort of flammable material that was compact, portable, effective, simple to make and that used easily-obtained local materials. Pitch wood, cedar bark, dry grass, weed stalks, pine needles etc. all work great when the weather is nice. But usually, the fouler the weather, the more desperately you need a fire (another axiom of Murphy’s firemaking law). There had to be some sort of old time firestarter.

The answer came from another seeker of esoteric knowledge, my buddy, Dr. Jim Grenfell. Jim is a former UCLA

Charcloth, made from old denim, will catch any spark and should be included in every survival kit! The finished product should be completely black, but flexible and not brittle.

instructor of dentistry who took up blacksmithing upon retiring. He makes knives, replica tomahawks, fire strikers, and anything the local Boy Scout troops need. Jim is also a former fighter-bomber pilot combat veteran of the Korean War and a graduate of three Air Force wilderness survival schools.

Jim already had the answer to the firestarter situation. We went out to his shop and he pulled out what looked like a waxed pillow case.

“You could make a hat out of this, cover your feet, or use it as a mat to sit on,” Jim said. “But it’s really firestarter. Try it.”

Well, I did, and the waxed firestarter works very well. Here’s how to make it.  The idea is to melt equal proportions of beeswax and paraffin together and dip 100 percent cotton cloth in it.

First, find a large flat pan and a source of heat to melt the wax. I use my propane Camp Chef double burner camp stove outside to reduce the potential mess.

Get some 100 percent cotton that tears easily. Denim from jeans and the stretchy material from old T-shirts will work, but the material is difficult to tear or fray the edges. I prefer old cotton sheets or pillow cases. The material can be torn easily to whatever size is needed.

Paraffin is available in grocery stores. Beeswax can be expensive, so a good alternate material is the wax liner ring used to seal the bottoms of toilets. These rings cost under a buck at most hardware stores and they provide about eight to ten ounces of wax. The toilet sealer wax starts out slightly sticky, but after it’s diluted with paraffin that disappears. I always add a crayon to the mixture. The crayon’s only purpose is to color-code the batch, so if it works particularly well, you can duplicate the recipe.

Set your fire extinguisher nearby. Then heat the wax/paraffin mixture to almost smoking hot, SHUT OFF THE HEAT, and start dipping the cloth. Molten wax can burn you, so wear oven mitts or gloves. I use kitchen tongs to handle the hot cloth, and after dipping, let the excess wax mixture drain off.

Set the dipped cloth out the dry on a cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil. And that’s it.

To use the material, rip off a piece and roll it diagonally, and fray the edge. It should light almost instantaneously. For lighting campfires, I generally use a piece of firestarter about the size of a cigarette paper. If your tinder, kindling and wood have been gathered correctly, this will be overkill. If the fire starts quickly, you can extinguish the starter and re-use it.

How well does this stuff work? Well, it will burn almost completely up while resting on top of a snowdrift. An eighth-inch by one-inch piece, rolled loosely, will burn for several minutes. I’ve used the firestarter many times in driving rain.

Because the wax mixture is so hot when the cloth is dipped, individual threads completely absorb the wax. This makes

Firestarter, left, charcloth and a signal mirror can all be carried in a wallet. The compact, easy-to-carry firestarter can be included in your everyday wardrobe without ever noticing it!

the material completely waterproof and virtually indestructible.

Several springs ago, a Boy Scout campout south of La Pine, Or., turned into an exercise in sleet and snow camping. In the dark, somebody dropped a piece of  the waxed firestarter in the main path, where it was ground into the slush, mud and snow.

The next morning, assistant scoutmaster Dave Colton of Bend found the piece and brought it over to me.

“Do you think this will work now?” he asked. We brushed off the mud, patted the firestarter dry on my pantleg, and it started like it had spent the night in a waterproof container.

Since discovering the waxed firestarter, I’ve replaced all the commercial versions in all my survival kits. I carry a credit card-sized piece in my wallet. The waxed firestarter takes up virtually no space, is light and doesn’t leave a mess. (But don’t leave a piece on the car dashboard in the summer sun!)

Like all survival tools, this one will do you no good unless you know how to use it. So make some waxed firestarter, practice with it and add another tool and skill to your survival arsenal. (Original story published in the Volume 28, No. 2,  April/March edition, 2006,  of “The Backswoodsman.”)

Check out the SurvivalCommonSense.com Making Survival Kits blog by clicking here

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

Survival food is sustenance that can be made easily during a survival or emergency situation using mainly simple, long-term storage food items, cooked outdoors, using off-the-grid methods.

Homemade noodles are easy to make, and make good use of storage foods!

by Karla Moore

I’ve been under the weather a bit this past week to the point where nothing sounded good to eat. If you’ve ever seen me…you’d wonder if that ever happened at all! But, I digress.

When in doubt, go to Grandma’s Special Cure-All: Chicken noodle soup! This week’s recipe is for making homemade noodles using your dried, dehydrated and canned products. As a rule of thumb for noodles, I use 1 large egg per cup of flour, plus added water as needed to make a dough.

So, you ask, what happens if I don’t have any fresh eggs? Answer: Use DRIED.

Homemade Noodles ala Karla

This is a basic recipe. Feel free to substitute different flours, liquid etc.

2 cups all-purpose Flour (or whole wheat etc)

2 large Eggs or 4 TBSP. dried Egg Powder + 8 TBSP. Water to rehydrate.

Additional 1/4 to 1/2 cup water as needed to form dough.

1 tsp. Salt (If using powdered eggs, you may mix the egg powder in with the flour & salt, but I find that you’ll get a better dough by first re-hydrating the egg.)

On a pastry board, make a mound out of the flour and salt. In the middle of the mound make a well. Pour the re-hydrated egg into this. Take a fork and start stirring the dry ingredients into the center until it pulls together to make a dough. If the dough is shaggy and too dry, sprinkle with water.

On a floured board knead the dough until firm and no longer sticky. I’ve found that if the dough sort of “squeeks”, it’s ready. Cover the dough with some plastic wrap, set aside and let rest for half an hour. Divide the dough in half.

On a lightly floured board roll it out until thin, sprinkle flour if sticky. Roll the dough up jelly-roll style, start at one end and cut into noodles. I like thick noodles so I cut mine about 1/4 inch wide. Shake out the noodles and lay on clean dishcloths to dry.

I remember mom making noodles when I was a little kid. She would cover the backs of the dining room chairs with a dishtowel and then drape the noodles over them to dry. I got my fanny swatted more than once for stealing a taste before they were fully dry!

When noodles are dry, drop into boiling water or broth and cook until just firm to the bite, 8-10 minutes. If in a hurry, I use canned chicken broth. Or, if in a real pinch, use water and whatever broth base you have on hand. Reconstitute according to the directions on the jar.

My favorite way to use these is Chicken and noodles, served over mashed potatoes….(must be a Mid-West thing) or Beef and noodles using home canned beef….mmmmmmm

For more survival and off-grid cooking tips, check out: Survival Pantry

Karla Moore

Karla Mooreis a professional soaper, accomplished Dutch oven cook, prepper and avid do-it-

yourselfer. She is the author of “Survival Pantry” blog, and walks the talk when it comes to preparedness. Karla, and her husband Warren, live on a small farm outside Gilbert, Iowa.

The Moores have a large garden and several fruit trees, and Karla cards, spins and dyes wool, sews, cans, preserves food and makes cheese. In season, she and Warren are avid mushroom hunters.

Karla owns and operates “Heart of Iowa” soapworks. She started making soaps for her own personal use, and started her business in April, 2000. Karla has very sensitive skin and is allergic to the detergents used in most commercial soaps. Her experimentation, and earlier training as a cosmetologist, subsequently lead to a special line of soaps designed for people with allergies or similar skin conditions.

Today, Karla sells soap products all over the world and offers a complete line of scented and specialty soaps, shampoo bars, and custom blends. Karla specializes in soaps for people with allergies and teaches soapmaking classes. She enjoys visiting with both beginner and experienced soapers.

Karla’s idea of a good time is hosting a large family gathering at her farm, where she and several of her siblings team up to feed a crowd, using Dutch ovens and off-grid cooking methods!

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

Survival food is sustenance that can be made easily during a survival or emergency situation using mainly simple, long-term storage food items, cooked outdoors, using off-the-grid methods.

Asparagus and  Bacon Pizza on the Grill

By Karla Moore

When it comes to comfort food, pizza ranks at the top of the list for a lot of people, my family included.   When you are in a survival situation, you have to use what is easily accessible and whatever food is on hand in your pantry to work with.

Pizza is serious comfort food!

Since it’s spring here on the farm, we have an abundance of fresh asparagus to work with. So, while thinking about what to make for this week’s survival recipe, I was thumbing through my well worn copy of Jan’s Fabulous Food Storage Recipes by Jan LeBaron.

On page 162 Jan  has a recipe for a Simple Homemade Pizza Sauce made entirely out of dried ingredients.  This stuff is so good, and easy to make, that you never have to worry about running out of the canned sauce again!

First, preheat your grill to around 350º

Next, make your pizza dough.  Here is a recipe that I’ve used for years.  It will make one large-sized pizza.

Pizza Dough

1 pkg. dry Yeast (or 1 Tbs)

1 tsp. Sugar

1 cup Warm Water (105º to 115º F)

2 Tbs. Oil  (I use Olive)

1 tsp. Salt

2 ½ cups all purpose flour (or bread flour if you have it)

Extra flour and cornmeal for dusting

In a medium sized bowl:  dissolve yeast in warm water, add rest of ingredients.  Beat vigorously with a spoon for 30 strokes.  Cover and let rest for 5 minutes in a warm place.

Pizza Sauce

¾ cup Water

¼ cup Tomato Powder

2 tsp. Sugar

2 tsp. Basil

1 tsp. Thyme

½ tsp. Garlic granules

1 Tbs. Oregano

Salt & Pepper to taste.

Whisk ingredients together thoroughly.   Set aside for 5 minutes to fully rehydrate. The sauce will thicken considerably upon standing.

Topping

Fresh asparagus

1/2 cup bacon-flavored TVP

Mozzarilla cheese, shredded

In a small bowl combine ½ cup bacon-flavored TVP in 1 cup water. Set aside.

If using  fresh asparagus, cut into smaller pieces if desired, lightly steam for 5 minutes to partially cook it. I used about ½ pound for this recipe.

Lightly knead the dough. Pat the pizza dough out into a circle on a lightly-floured counter top.  Transfer the dough onto a rimless cookie sheet that has been sprinkled with cornmeal.

When the grill is hot, slide the pizza crust directly off the cookie sheet onto the grate.  It will puff up and cook quickly.  Turn the dough over and cook until lightly brown. Take crust out of the grill.

Working quickly, spread the prepared sauce on top. (You probably won’t use the whole thing!) Drain the bacon TVP before adding to the Pizza.  Add the cooked asparagus and sprinkle with cheese.  You can use freeze dried, Parmesan, or fresh if you have it.  (I used fresh Goat Milk Mozzarella I made earlier in the week.) I also sprinkled on some extra Italian Seasoning.

Bake until the cheese melts and the pizza is bubbly.

For more survival and off-grid cooking tips, check out: Survival Pantry

Karla Moore

Karla Moore is a professional soaper, accomplished Dutch oven cook, prepper and avid do-it-yourselfer. She is the author of  “Survival Pantry” blog, and walks the talk when it comes to preparedness. Karla, and her husband Warren, live on a small farm outside Gilbert, Iowa. The Moores have a large garden and several fruit trees, and Karla spins, sews, cans, preserves food and makes cheese. In season, she and Warren are avid mushroom hunters.

Karla owns and operates “Heart of Iowa” soapworks. She started making soaps for her own personal use, and started her business in April, 2000. Karla has very sensitive skin and is allergic to the detergents used in most commercial soaps. Her experimentation, and earlier training as a cosmetologist, subsequently lead to a special line of soaps designed for people with allergies or similar skin conditions.

Today, Karla sells soap products all over the world and offers a complete line of scented and specialty soaps, shampoo bars, and custom blends. Karla specializes in soaps for people with allergies and teaches soapmaking classes. She enjoys visiting with both beginner and experienced soapers.

Karla’s idea of a good time is hosting a large family gathering at her farm, where she and several of her siblings team up to feed a crowd, using Dutch ovens and off-grid cooking methods!

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

by Mark Henderson, science editor

“Times Online” Aug. 21, 2009

It has long been a staple of adventure stories: the hero, lost in the wilderness, painstakingly tries to find his way back to civilization only to stumble across his own tracks and discover that he has been walking in circles.

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

Now the popular belief that people in unfamiliar surroundings tend to walk round in circles has been confirmed by scientists.

Experiments in a German forest and the Sahara desert in Tunisia have shown that lost people double back on themselves without meaning to unless they have a marker, such as the Sun or Moon, to guide their way.

“The stories about people who end up walking in circles when lost are true,” said Jan Souman, of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany, who led the research.

“People cannot walk in a straight line if they do not have absolute references, such as a tower or a mountain in the distance, or the Sun or Moon, and often end up walking in circles.”

The scientists, whose work is published in the journal Current Biology, also debunked a popular explanation that has been advanced to explain walking in circles.

It has been suggested that people might veer in one direction because one leg is slightly longer or stronger than the other. Over time such small differences could cause somebody to walk in a circle.

The new research, however, in which people were blindfolded and asked to walk in a straight line, found that while they ultimately walked in circles, they did not do so reliably in any particular direction. The subjects sometimes veered left and sometimes right, which would not happen if differential stride length or power was a factor.

Dr. Souman said that it was more likely that circular walking patterns tended to emerge from increasing uncertainty about direction. “Small random errors in the various sensory signals that provide information about walking direction add up over time, making what a person perceives to be straight ahead drift away from the true straight ahead direction,” he said.

In the study the research team took six volunteers to the Bienwald forest, in southern Germany, and asked them to walk in as straight a line as they could while their progress was monitored using GPS devices. Four volunteers walked on a cloudy day when the Sun was hidden and two in bright sunshine.

The four who walked under clouds all moved in circles and three of them crossed their own paths repeatedly without noticing. The two volunteers who were able to see the Sun walked in straight lines, except for 15 minutes when it was obscured by cloud.

A similar pattern occurred when three other volunteers were tested in the Sahara desert in southern Tunisia.

Two volunteers, who walked during the day and could see the Sun, veered off course but did not walk in circles. The third, who walked at night, kept to a straight line when the Moon was visible but doubled back on himself when it disappeared behind clouds.

The team is planning to investigate the phenomenon further in the laboratory by asking volunteers to walk through a virtual-reality forest on a specially designed treadmill.

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

Flash floods are the number one weather-related killer in the United States! Here are some of the things to look for if you know you are in an area that might have a flash flood!

A flash flood can happen incredibly quickly in many areas. Know what to look for! (NASA photo)

by Peter Kummerfeldt

Most flash flooding is caused by slow-moving thunderstorms repeatedly moving over the same area, or heavy rains from hurricanes and tropical storms. The two key elements that contribute to flash flooding are rainfall intensity and duration. Intensity is the rate of rainfall, and duration is how long the rain lasts.

Topography, soil conditions, and ground cover also play an important role.  Flash floods can occur within a few minutes or may occur within hours of heavy rainfall.  Rapidly rising water can reach heights of thirty feet or more and can trigger catastrophic mud slides.

Here are some safety rules:

• Pay attention to the warnings and watches announced by the National Weather Service and your local radio.  You will not always have a warning that these deadly, sudden floods are coming.  Many deaths occur because the victims waited too long to take action or were distracted while trying to save personal belongings.
• Never try to walk, swim, or drive through swift water. If you come upon flood waters, STOP! TURN AROUND AND GO ANOTHER WAY. Even six inches of fast-moving water can knock you off your feet and water two feet deep will float your car!
• Plan Ahead.  Determine ahead of time where you would go if told to evacuate.  Select higher ground where you could climb above the high water.  Many flash floods occur at night, greatly complicating evacuation efforts!
• The sound of distant thunder could forewarn you of flooding.
• Watch for quickly rising water and if present take action quickly

A weather radio is the best means to receive warnings from the National Weather Service which continuously broadcasts updated weather warnings and forecasts. Depending on topography, the average range for these radios is about 40 miles.  Purchase a radio that has both a battery backup and a tone-alert feature which automatically alerts you when a watch or warning is issued.

Stay informed about the weather by listening to NOAA weather radio, commercial radio, and television for the latest watches warnings, and advisories. Plan your activities around the forecasted weather.  Decide what you will do when the weather deteriorates and implement the plan before you are in danger.

Weather can make you very uncomfortable but, with some preparation, it shouldn’t kill you!

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:

• Are you afraid of the dark?
• STOP: You are lost!
• 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

All you have to do to start a “survival” website is to buy the domain name and title. (That’s what I did!) To be a so-called “Survival Expert” all you have to do is proclaim yourself as such! (I don’t know of any credible national or international certification for such a thing.)

But there is a lot more to surviving a wilderness or urban emergency situation than vernacular. So, any conversation about survival tactics, techniques and skills must first start with a very basic discussion: “What is Survival?” In this article, survival expert Peter Kummerfeldt gives his definition.

by Peter Kummerfeldt

Survival situations can occur at any time, in any location.

The word “survival” conjures up a mental picture of a horrendous situation in some remote part of the world where the “survivor” has to “survive” under extreme conditions, without food, with only limited (or no) water while fending of the onslaught of predatory animals!

Let’s get real!  While some survival experiences do occur in such places, many more occur in the woodlots of Wisconsin; while duck hunting in Louisiana, or while tracking deer in Washington – in short, anywhere we recreate.

While there are many book definitions of the word “survival,” none adequately describe the difficulties that outdoor people sometimes find themselves in.  Here’s my definition:

SURVIVAL – The ability and the desire to stay alive, all alone, under adverse conditions, until rescued.

Ability. There are skills in which you need to become proficient if you expect to survive: first aid, sheltering, fire craft, water procurement and signaling.  Without these skills, whether you survive or not may depend largely on luck.  These are skills that cannot be learned “on the job” but must be practiced ahead of time. When the emergency arises, shelter can be built, water procured and signals constructed in a minimum of time and with a minimum amount of expended effort.

The desire to live is one of the most important parts of survival.

Desire. You must want to survive!  You must want to live!  Without the desire to live, it doesn’t matter how much equipment or training you have.

There have been survivors who lacked even the minimum amount of equipment; who had never received any survival training but who had a tremendous tenacity to live – and they did!  There have also been people who were trained and equipped but lacked the will to survive who died when they should have lived!
Survivors, who are inadequately clothed, poorly equipped and those who have never practiced their survival skills will have their “desire to live” severely tested.

On the other hand, those who can stay warm and dry, those who have equipped themselves, and those who have practiced their survival skills may experience an uncomfortable night or two out , but because of their preparations, they should not find themselves in a life-threatening emergency.

Stay alive. First of all, staying alive means being able to administer first aid – to yourself! Few people begin their survival situations uninjured! Few people in survival situations remain uninjured!  Any injuries that incurred during or following an accident must be dealt with quickly – you may be both the patient and the doctor!

When was the last time you attended a First Aid course?  Could you administer effective CPR to a drowning or lightning strike victim?  Would those with whom you travel know what to do if you were the one that needed help?

Practical shelter building techniques are another lifesaver.

In a cold, wet windy environment staying alive also means keeping warm; in a hot environment, staying cool is the objective.

Accomplishing either can be very difficult.  98.6 is the most important number in your life!  A deviation of 5° F. above or below 98.6° F. significantly impairs your brain’s ability to function and reduces your ability to make good decisions.   Since surviving is largely a “decision making” process, your brain’s ability to function must be protected at all costs.

Staying alive also means keeping yourself hydrated.  Every activity that takes place in the human body takes place in a water environment; when that water is depleted those activities begin to malfunction.  Under stressful conditions, dehydrated people quickly loose their working efficiency and worse than that, their ability to think clearly and make good decision!

Under adverse conditions. Because of our past experiences, what may be adverse to one person may be routine to another.  Before venturing off, ask yourself “What is the worst thing that can happen to me and am I prepared to cope with it?”

“What scares me about the thought of spending an unplanned night out?”  Answering these two questions honestly is the first step in overcoming one of the biggest barriers to preparing for a future survival situation – denial of the possibility of an emergency happening.  If you can see yourself in a survival situation, then preparing for it will naturally follow.

All alone. Never count on anyone else being there to help you when you are in trouble.  If there is, you can pool your talents, equipment and clothing for the benefit of all.  But if there isn’t, and you have never developed your survival skills because you reasoned :

“Someone else (husband, father, mother, brother, sister, guide etc.) will take care of me,” you have just fallen into a big trap.  You will be totally unprepared physically and psychologically!  Plan on being alone!

Until rescued. Beyond readying the appropriate signals to attract the attention of rescuers, there is little the survivor can do to expedite the rescue process.  Finding an overdue hunter, backpacker or birdwatcher takes time – especially if you have failed to leave a flight plan!

To the survivor, the time it takes to be found and recovered seems to drag on forever; and remaining in one place, waiting to be found, will take all of your willpower. History shows that those survivors who were able to overcome their impatience and desire to walk out had a better chance of surviving than those that continued to move.

Sit tight, survive and wait for rescue to come to you.

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:

• 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