It's like when one of my kids is going on a 250 mile trip. I remind them they need to fill the gas tank. Now, I know that all our cars can go quite a bit further than 250 miles on a tank of gas. So am I disseminating misinformation? Should I instead say, "Put enough gas in the tank so that it contains exactly 12 gallons." "Fill the tank" is good enough to cover things and give an extra safety margin. "Boil the water" is good enough to cover things and give an extra safety margin.

Quite true. I've often wondered exactly how often that advice gets followed, though. It may be such a successful strategy that it usually results in a quick, fairly routine rescue and thus doesn't often get reported in the press. On the other hand, the impulse to effect a self-rescue by moving must be overwhelming, especially for the experienced outdoorsman, to avoid embarrassment as much as to reach safety. The anecdotal reports we see in the news certainly seem to most often involve people found (or not) after having moved some distance from where they were "supposed" to be.

Personally, I've never been lost, but I have misplaced my route for a day or two before.

Jeff

This is a battle I've given up on. If people think they need to boil water for 10 minutes I'll be happy to heat up their dinner when they're out of stove fuel.

I suppose next you'll be telling us that the Earth really isn't flat when we can all see that it is!

You're right, and Cody Lundin makes this point in his books also. I generally make sure it's a rolling boil (and it takes me a minute or two to be sure) since I live and camp at high altitude, and that's probably even overkill. But it's usually enough time to finish off my beer!

If someone invents a dehydrated or concentrated beer for us backpackers, I'll try to get him nominated for a Nobel Prize! What a glorious day that will be! I've never had the pleasure of a cold beer in the backcountry, but sometimes I bring along a bit o' Irish single malt.

Jeff

I have read years ago that once water comes to any kind of boil its safe. I always let it boil just to make sure as others have said, if you don’t have a thermometer it’s an easy visual thing to see.


Now that I have several wood fired camp stoves (the Thermette is great for this) I don’t worry about fuel at all.

Not me, other then letting someone use a wood stove (assuming they go scavenge wood for it) if I have a wood stove with me let them fend for themselves.

If they can’t figure out how much fuel to carry it’s not my fault. Gasoline and alcohol is too expensive to give it away.

that's exactly my point, gang; once it reaches boiling no need extra boiling time is needed. short of having a WAPI (I use it generically to also mean thermometer), watching the first signs of a boil is the only indicator you have.

hacksaw, you're nicer than me. "if you insist on burning more fuel, I'll be more than happy to watch you eat a cold meal."

best,

If you find yourself lost in the woods, hug a tree. Eventually a clearcut gypo logging operation will show up and have you peppersprayed. We are all burdened with falsehoods in survival literature and folklore. I'm still trying to find a anthropological reference to Apache Debri Huts in Arizona and identify the military researchers who came up with magnesium bars and solar stills. Whoever illustrated the first survival tome should be suing every other publication for copyright infringement of that neatly latticed debri shelter. I suppose they are to embaressed, another infamous trap drawing so obviously wrong even a retarded chipmunk could see it will never work. Survival is as much stoic humour at all the nonsense and hype as real experience. Do what the Inuit do and get some sleep. If it's a zip together WIGGY unit you can invite it's detractor to crawl in with you and find out together. Hopefully it isn't Les Stroud, Cody or me. I hear tell we aren't afraid of bears because our heroic snoring scares off any beyond even a STORM whistle's maximum effective range.

Switching from survival myths to survival truths, I guess the most important element in survival is simply making the decision to survive. Mental attitude, along with the ability to take on problems one at a time, seems to be the most frequent common denominator in most extreme survival accounts I've read.

Another lucky advantage I have is that my wife is the director of the reasearch library for the Naval Operational Medicine Institute. She feeds me all the good survival books and research, Aircrew survival, hypothermia, SERE, tropical and expedition medicine, etc.

Jeff