Use anything you want, I think this whole forum is about education, I certainly learn a great deal from everyone else here.

Along the same lines, you will find excellent thoughts on the mental aspects of survival in the old standby: FM 21-76 US Army Survival Manual. It's been reprinted enough, that's it's readily available. I have a 1991 edition, that was reprinted in 2003 for Barnes & Noble. The first chapter is called: The Will To Survive, and it discusses many of the things you brought up in your original post. I'm just glad that I only have to worry about survival until rescue, rather than escape and/or evasion issues too. (At least I hope I never need to worry about the full scope of SERE.)

If you're searching for it, the ISBN is: 0-7607-4988-4

"... it would have been interesting if the situation had been more severe, rather than just uncomfortable."

It was probably bad enough at the time for you to learn something that you haven't forgotten.

Tell me, since you still have contact with the guys on that hike, did any of them "use" it as a kind of springboard toward more survival training/information collecting, or preparation?

You're right, it certainly left some lasting memories. I wish I could say it was the only time I found myself in a mess outdoors, but, it isn't. I certainly realized at some point that even one more thing going wrong beyond what already happened and we could have been in a real world of trouble. Weather conditions, for example, were no problem, which would change the scenario significantly. Since then, I've always had the mentality that my gramp tried to drill into me, "when you are going out into the woods, assume you might need to spend the night there".

It's strange, because all of us knew back then what we should have with us, and that we should leave a note with where we were going, and we should be back off the trail long before dark, and we should have the essentials with us, even for a day hike. We were foolish teenagers. At least we still had our brains, and some of the lessons from my gramp and my Scoutmaster got us through the night.

I know that at least one more of them took it to heart, because we both took a NOLS course a couple years later. Since then, I've taken wilderness first aid, cpr, leadership training, trek safety, waterfront training, climb safely, gone to outdoor leadership school, and on and on. Still, I feel like I have a lot to learn, that's part of why I'm in this forum. My buddy also has a boy, like mine, that loves the outdoors. I think we both feel like it's our mission to get these guys to realize that they can still have a lot of fun and adventure outdoors, but, they need to be prepared for what they might need to deal with.

It would be a shame to see young folks miss the amazing value of outdoor adventures because their parents were afraid of the risks. It does so much to build them into well rounded adults. Oliver Wendell Holmes has a nice saying that I read in the Boy Scout Fieldbook: "A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions."

Instructors at SERE (Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape) school recommended catching a lizard or a toad, tethering it to your shoulder, and making it a pet. Not entirely intended to be a joke. Gives you a project to focus on aside from just pure survival (e.g. catching the critter). Also gives you a pal (like Wilson). When someone asked how to feed the thing, the instructors just shrugged and said "don't bother, just catch a new one when the old one croaks...).

Actually this is a topic that fascinates me. While browsing the books about survival in our nice public library I came across the book Deep Survival and I want to read it thoroughly. I've read parts of the "rules of adventure" chapter at the end of the book and the author mentions among other things, the Kum Do's four poisons of the mind (fear, confusion, hesitation and surprise) and Marcus Aurelius and the Stoic philosophers. I thought it would be worth mentionning it and I guess studying these philosophers could help prepare your mind to be detached from pain and stuff like that. It's interesting.

François

Cheer up and stop being so miserable Zeno.

This is actually what I feel is extremely important in any survival situation. I've just started reading 'Deep Survival' and one of the first thoughts he presented was the thought of subconcious 'emotions' and the influence it has on instanteous cause and effect.

How is a person going to train themselves to be better in a situation that has just presented itself a milisecond before it will occur? That is one of the many thoughts that scares me, the thought to be one of the many who cannot comprehend FAST enough, and will fail.

Such talk is intuitive but in many cases, discrete to normal life. Never discussed and almost always in the back of our minds.

Hope such discussion on such deep thoughts will present itself with a credible answer

Fishmode

I agree. Keeping the mind busy & focused is the key.

Before I go camping I like to think thru the RULE of THREES because it gives me a structure & helps me to relax & then I know I haven't forgotten anything that matters. Then when I get there I go thru them again. If ever in a true survival situation that is what I will be doing as well.

The best thing to keep you from worrrying & freaking out is to stay focused on the priorities - don't concentrate on what you don't have.

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Take the analogy of dieting. If you sit there & think about not wanting a candy bar in the machine down the hall you will eventually cave in & go get one. In a survival situation if you sit there thinking about the bugs & the dark you will go crazy.

Instead if you find other things to concentrate on - the healthy food you going to enjoy later, your work or whatever keeps your mind off what you don't want to eat then you have a better chance of success.

In the same way if you focus on making a fire (which itself will take care of the bugs & the dark) you will be successful. Even if you are not able to make a fire then get yourself as comfortable as possible & close your eyes & focus on the next day when the sun will come out.

It's a mental game where we must go on the offensive.

A technique that I find useful for dealing with procrastination/lack of concentration/unpleasant situations is to consciously decide, then focus on, the next physical action. At my desk, I'll often clear distractions, then write it down on a post-it in front of me to help keep focussed.

The critical points are to decide before doing (not both at the same time), and make the action small and well-defined. E.g., "look up this person in the staff database and write down their phone number" as opposed to "get this person's sign off on project plan X". This allows me to focus on one thing, and not to be distracted, wondering if I'm doing the right thing or what to do next, while I'm doing it.

(I also use this to get myself up in the morning: "just switch the light on", "just pull back the duvet", ...)

eeph

Kochanski points out in his video about clothing, sleeping bags and sleep that one important priority often overlooked, especially in cold weather is to build a comfortable bed (for exemple, a bough bed that is soft and level, elevated from the ground). In fact he says asking yourself how am I going to sleep is the first thing to do, then you can start looking for water. Sleep is crucial for your mind to stay clear and rational and also to conserve energy so you spend energy that will contribute to save it.

Frankie