There was a thread here about trash bags that had a link to http://www.outdoorsafe.com . This is a site that I hadn't stumbled across over the years.

I recogized Peter Kummerfeldt’s name because he wrote a good article about survival preparedness in the March, 2006 Boys Life, a publication for boys in Boy Scouts - including my son. The web site (and the article) say that Peter spent 30 years in the Air Force teaching survival skills in multiple environments.

I have to say that his philosophy on survival and kit preparation matches mine EXACTLY.

He emphasizes the following:

-Kits should be light weight and ALWAYS with you when you might need them. I tell my Scouts that kits do no good in their tent.

-Kits should include the gear you need to survive a night or two in the current season. They need to be adjusted seasonally to match the weather.

-He suggests carrying a large orange trash bag rather than mylar survival blanket, since they are faster and simpler to deploy. He feels that brush shelters are fine, but in a survival situation you likely won't have the energy or time to build one.

-He prefers good matches (REI) over butane lighters or sparkers, as he feels they are more foolproof and he feels that something liek the REI waterpoof match is more windproof than a lighter or a sparker. He does include a sparker in the kits he sells. He does emphasize the importance of one-handed firemaking.

-He prefers Vaseline-impregnated cotton balls. So do I, as they take sparks real well.

-He doesn't list a knife as the first kit item. As a matter of fact a knife isn't on his "must have" list, though it is on his "things to consider" list. I tend to agree - even though I always carry a knife - that shelter, fire, and signaling are the critical issues. Of course a knife could help with those.

My favorite quote from his site: "You dress to survive not just to arrive!". That is a constant struggle with my family - especially the kids. They tend to dress assuming that the truck's heater will work and they can run through cold to avoid it.

I should also mention that he refers to Doug Ritter and http://www.equipped.org fairly often in his site's materials as his source of the latest info on survival.

His recommend kit:

SHELTER:
-Large heavy duty plastic bags (he also lists tube tents, mylar bags, and sheet plastic)
-Paracord
FIRE:
-Matches in waterproof case
-Lighter
-Metal match w/ scraper
-Vaseline impregnated cotton balls in waterproof container
-Candle
SIGNALING:
-Whistle w/ lanyard
-Glass signal mirror w/ lanyard - or very good plastic signal mirror
-Flourescent plastic surveyors tape
-Brightly colored fabric

ADDITIONAL ITEMS TO CONSIDER:
-Additional clothing for warmth and protection from wind and wet
-Sturdy fixed or folding blade knife
-First Aid Kit
-Metal cup
-Flashlight with a headband and spare bulbs/batteries
-Food bars high in carbohydrate
-Water purification tablets (hopefully you also have something to put the water in)
-Folding saw
-Compass


Ken K.

Ken,

This is a constant issue with kids, my boy, heck my whole troop is like this sometimes. I remember seeing kids at the school bus stop last winter in 10 degree weather with flurries and they had cotton hoodies on. I know my son has all the gear he should have, but, apparently it's just not cool to wear an insulated, waterproof ski jacket unless you're skiing. Nope, gotta wear a cotton hoodie with your favorite team's logo on it, or some guitar player from the 60's. If that bus breaks down, and they have to sit on it for an hour, they'll wish they had a jacket.

Your clothing is so vital to how comfortable you'll be when things go a little differently than you plan. You mention the trip in the truck. I asked one time when he sat in the car in winter without a jacket: "what happens if we need to stop and change a flat tire in this weather?" Of course, my ever thinking teen turned my own preparedness against me: "no problem dad, I'll grab one of the jackets in that bag you have in the back".

Teenagers!

I have the same problem with the PHRASECENSOREDPOSTERSHOULDKNOWBETTER. at work.

Roll van arrives same time, same place (outside reception) every day. Bear in mind that this is England. Which means that it's going to be cold and quite possibly wet for 8 months of the year. Your going to have to queue as there are quite a few people who want feeding. The office staff of the female persuasion are all wearing (as always) something that's Lacy and flimsy. And the male staff? Best left to the imagination. Unless you have a strong stomach. Which I don't.

So, there they stand. Shivering and moaning. Loudly.

I'm not, because I have a nice warm, wind and waterproof parker on. Stand there all day if I have to.

Now guess who's getting S.....t and abuse about it?

Yep. Me.

So I decided to return the compliment.

By asking how, pray tell, am I responsible for the way their leaning curve appears to have plateaued?

You do this five days a week, year in, year out. You should have worked out by now that your going to need a coat.
"But we don't have time..." Actually, yes you do. You just don't have the brains to forward plan........

I'd compare them to a brain damaged chimpanzee, but why insult the chimp?

With kids, your own kids, you have options in altering mindsets. If necessary just keep the heat in the truck off.

Some years ago one of the vehicles in my long line of beaters developed a leak in the vacuum operated valve that controlled the flow of hot coolant to the heater. After determining the cost of a replacement on the car I replace it with two ball valves from the plumbing department of my local big box. I'm down here in Florida so for most of the year I don't need heat. In fact one of the problems with the old valve was it kept the heat on all year. Ten dollars in valves and that again in clamps and I was riding cooler in summer. Come winter, all six weeks of it, I simply popped the hood, opened the valves and had heat.

You could certainly simply not use the heater in the truck. Of course you will hear a lot of wining and crying. With manual control hidden under the hood you could simply claim it doesn't work. If for some reason you really need heat, a hypothermic individual, you could quickly turn it on and have heat.

You could also try a little green-mail. Claim the heater makes the engine use more fuel. No heat in the truck is saving the planet.

Worth a shot to help get the kids in the right attitude.

Trying to convince anyone other than your kids, who you presumably have some responsibility to and power over, and the odd close friend is foolish. You just alienate people. In the wind and rain and cold, yes we have it down here, I stay as warm and dry and comfortable as possible and simply smile while others suffer. Who am I to interfere with the subconscious need for suffering in others. Some say suffering is good for the soul. Maybe they need the pain to repair their souls.

Short of serious permanent harm or possible death I don't feel I have and right or need to comment or intervene. I feel bad for others kids who get dragged out unprotected by the guardians who should be protecting them. But kids are pretty tough.

They do what they do. I do what I do and we all get along. If they complain and suffer loudly I just figure that a certain amount of noise is part of their self-imposed therapy. I simply try to validate their suffering: Yes, I see that your cold, wet and miserable'. And smile reassuringly.

I leave the: And I'm warm, dry and comfortable. (Thank-you very much), unsaid.

I can't save the world and outside of a request, and some evidence of a willingness to at least try to save themselves, I don't see any point to offering up any commentary. Each must walk the path in their own way.

"...the PHRASECENSOREDPOSTERSHOULDKNOWBETTER. at work...

Shame shame shame!!!

I can relate. Both of my sons, even when in Scouts, used to wait for the school bus in t-shirts and shorts during a New England winter. I used to remind them of what they had learned during their Wilderness Survival and First Aid merit badge training, but peer pressure was more important.

There is hope. Both are now in their 20's and in college and dress correctly for the weather.

I am going to get abuse regardless. Unless I want to stand there and shiver in a t-shirt like a good little member of the flock. Baah, baah, baah.

I think not.

If the shoe fits. In this case perfectly.

Actually, it just occured to me that using the "S" word is rather insulting to sheep. They dress for the weather.

It's normal for teenagers to "wear the uniform" to fit in. They would rather die than look "weird." I recall that my parents couldn't tell me anything either.

At least hoodies offer some protection to the head and neck in cold/windy weather. So do those silly "gangsta" watch caps they wear in the dead heat of summer; or perhaps that fashion trend is over?

Seems to me the key might be to add some thin, discreet insulation underneath the whole works.

Adding a polyester athletic T-shirt under a cotton shirt adds both warmth and moisture management. A merino wool T-shirt would add enormous warmth over the body core. Yet it would be essentially invisible under the "uniform."

Adding some thin dress wool socks under cotton tube socks similarly adds both warmth and moisture management.

Maybe you could convince them to keep a super-thin headband in the pocket of their hoody, even if they don't usually wear it.

These little improvements add up a lot.

Worth a try, anyway.

I was kind of refering to the fact that using that term here is no-no...