#28658 - 06/29/04 07:27 PM
Re: How would you test your skills?
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Enthusiast
Registered: 12/09/02
Posts: 204
Loc: Long Island, New York
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#28659 - 06/30/04 12:48 AM
Re: How would you test your skills?
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 12/26/02
Posts: 2997
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Can you take another bag even if small? Take one piece of gear you normall use and put it in that bag and tell yourself you forgot/lost/broke/used it and try to do whatever you need to do without that one piece. If you normally carry all your gear on your belt then get a small neck sack for the one piece, or vise versa. Each time you go out rotate a different piece into the off limits bag and get by without it.
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#28660 - 06/30/04 01:15 AM
Re: How would you test your skills?
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Don't go naked into the woods... you'll be cold, and you might get arrested. Take the equipment along as a back-up, but try not to use it. Get that fire going with a fire bow, make a shelter from what's around you instead of what's on your back ( or in your pocket ), take the time to boil water instead of using chemical gadgets. Have some FUN under controled conditions, then when you need the skills, you've already "been there, done that".
Troy
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#28661 - 06/30/04 01:24 AM
Re: How would you test your skills?
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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ALWAYS take what you need. Don't cut yourself short, just because you have a lighter doesn't mean you HAVE to use it. Take along whatever you might want/need, then try to do without, but ALWAYS have the creature comforts along... no sense in making a fun weekend outing into so many hours of misery, or worse yet, quitting and going home because of a short-coming, use the back-up, stick it out, and LEARN SOMETHING <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
Troy
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#28662 - 06/30/04 01:48 AM
Re: How would you test your skills?
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Hey Matt, As far as a list goes, how "native" do you wanna get? I once read that the Eskimos say "with a knife, you live". I wouldn't suggest that most people go quite that far... but it's possible. Start slow, get a fire going with a bow drill, and your whole outlook will change. After that, actually build a debris hut or a lean-to from what nature provides, pretty soon, you'll be looking for the "hard" way to do things just for the thrill of doing it and being able to say "I can".
Troy
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#28663 - 06/30/04 01:51 AM
Re: How would you test your skills?
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Please take my advice, friend... ALWAYS have a back-up, just try not to use it.
Troy
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#28664 - 06/30/04 01:57 AM
Re: How would you test your skills?
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Dittos, great advice... we're not in the Rangers, and Rambo's only on film.
Troy
P.S. For those of you who ARE in the rangers, thank you from the bottom of my heart, you deserve far more thanks and praise than you'll ever get.
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#28665 - 06/30/04 05:58 AM
Re: How would you test your skills?
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@
Member
Registered: 09/07/01
Posts: 181
Loc: Dardanelles
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If you are coming over here we will find the cure for your disease <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Have you decided yet??
Burak
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#28666 - 06/30/04 01:05 PM
Re: How would you test your skills?
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Enthusiast
Registered: 01/12/04
Posts: 265
Loc: Stafford, VA, USA
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Matt, All the replies being similar, the common thread is that the best training exercise in the world is fruitless if you don't come back from it. I am not saying that would happen, but it can everytime we all step into the woods (or wherever).
I have spent time on scout outings sitting around trying to light fires with flint and steel. It takes practice and I am glad I could fall back on a dry sleeping bag. By all means limit the use to your EDC/PSK, but either have a backup system or a person to bail you out if the bubble goes up. That is why we equip ourselves in the first place, right?
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#28667 - 06/30/04 08:50 PM
Re: How would you test your skills?
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Matt,
I think that with some progressive practice (i.e. you bring the gear with you but use it only if you fail on the primitive stuff), you'll find out that "roughing it" is not that hard. Of course, it all depends on the season, your condition/health, etc. It's all about thinking ahead and not pushing yourself so hard that you ever reach your limits in anything (dehydration, hypo/hyperthermia, fatigue, lack of sleep, etc.).
I'm teaching that stuff to people right now, and we use that very simple approach: we all carry the essentials, and we try to use them as little as possible. Doing so, people find out what gear they really need. The items you wish you could get out of your backpack the most often are the true essentials... and they are a personal thing (yet there are many similitudes on the required tasks : collecting and purifying water, cutting stuff, making fire, cooking/containing, tying/building, and waterproof shelters... and taking care of blisters <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> -- the rest of the jobs are just not appearing often <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />).
Cheers,
David
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