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#195915 - 02/15/10 05:59 PM Survival Improvisation
stevenpd Offline
Journeyman

Registered: 09/15/07
Posts: 81
Loc: SoCal
After much thinking about survival (in various situations), finding endless number of lists, etc. Questions for the ETS Think Tank. We all know that the mind is a critical component to any survival kit and generally surviving any situation.

How much does improvisation play into a survival situation? Is it possible to survive with just a multi-tool and your mind? I guess you could simply survive with your mind alone dependent on the situation. But is it enough?
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#195916 - 02/15/10 06:42 PM Re: Survival Improvisation [Re: stevenpd]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
You attitude and mental abilities are at the core of a survival situation. I recall a victim we rescued who was found sitting in a wet, chilly forest, rather despondent. We asked, "How about starting a fire?" His response - "It's useless, the woods are too wet."

We got a fire going quite promptly. The woods weren't that wet. The victim was carrying a fifty pound pack - mostly items he could not use because he was just not in the game.

One thing the mind does is ponder hypothetical situations and prepare in advance. It comes up with lists of items that will be broadly useful in a variety of situations and then somehow those items seem to be at hand or at least recognizable.

When I spent my first unplanned night out in the snow and cold, I was not dreadfully surprised. I knew, from reading and discussing with others, that unplanned bivouacs were part and parcel of mountaineering and that it was a good idea to carry a few essentials. Thus, when I gazed on a beautiful sunset over the icy slopes, and I realized I had traveled about 100 yards in half an hour, I knew I had to prepare some sort of shelter, put on all my clothing, eat something, light a fire, and stay as warm as possible. I did have a gas stove, matches, a cup, and tea, among other things, in my gear.

Of course, it is easy to conceive scenarios in which a prepared mind, with or without gear, will not see you through. You are on the beach and a 100 foot tsunami approaches. Of course, had you been thinking, you might have heeded warnings and not been on the beach that day.....
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#195917 - 02/15/10 06:46 PM Re: Survival Improvisation [Re: stevenpd]
MostlyHarmless Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 06/03/09
Posts: 982
Loc: Norway
Well, it HAS TO BE enough, hasn't it? Considering the alternatives....

I recommend Laurence Gonzales' book "Deep survival". It deals with the key components that all those that survive impossible odds have in common. The book deals with mental processes and how survival is a very thin balancing act to keep the powerful emotions from running the show (thrashing wildly through the bush, giving up in despair and so on). It certainly was an eye opener for me.

That being said, even the top supreme survivalist will fail when the conditions are too tough. Nature does not grant you diplomatic immunity to hazards or environmental conditions. Normally I would at this point digress into a long explanation of that's why we carry those extra layers of protection (i.e. our PSK), but we all know that drill... Stay on topic!

I'd say that the ability to stay rational, consider all the alternatives and actively improving your situation. Improvisation is the logical conclusion of staying open to your surroundings and looking for ways to improve your situation - without the restraint of convention. Hm... look, here's a XXX. How weird. Hm... I could actually use it to do YYY.

Actually, I'd rate improvisation skills pretty high on skills important to survival. And... do cheat: Improvisation is a whole lot easier if you carry some improvisation grease (your PSK). And practice. Someone said that improvisation was just the result of hours and years of practice... He was talking about actors able to improvise off the script, but the point has some survival merits as well.

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#195920 - 02/15/10 07:35 PM Re: Survival Improvisation [Re: MostlyHarmless]
JBMat Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 03/03/09
Posts: 745
Loc: NC
Can you survive with just a multi-tool and your mind?

Probably. Although depending on the terrain/weather, you could be pretty well miserable a lot of the time.

Could I survive with just my wits. More than likely, but again, depending on terrain/weather, I will not be really happy.

Would I do a Bear and try and find my way out? NO, unless I was sure of civilization being in reasonable walking distance. I mean I have a reliable map, I know the area, and damn near can see where I want to be, in good weather.

Would I do a Les and hunker down, find what I can, make what I can, do what I can... yeah, 90%.

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#195921 - 02/15/10 08:35 PM Re: Survival Improvisation [Re: JBMat]
Mark_F Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 06/24/09
Posts: 714
Loc: Kentucky
That would be the ultimate minimalist survival kit, wouldn't it?

"Brain?" "Check!"
"Multitool?" "Check!"

Mindset and improvisation would be your most critical tools. Just doing some thinking and comparing to some of the basic essentials. You might have to identify some helpful medicinal plants or improvise a bandage; build a shelter with natural materials; make a bow drill to create fire; use natural materials and charcoal from your fire to filter water; make a container from a section of a log to carry water and purify the water by using hot rocks to boil it; and improvise a snare or fishing items to get some food in your belly. What would it take to pull all this off? Knowledge, skill and practice. And something a little more intangible: the will to survive.

Why don't we normally advise taking such a minimalist approach? Well, just add something like a broken arm, dislocated shoulder, or other serious injury and suddenly improvising all your needs takes on a new and tortuous agony. Or so I've been told. Not been there and certainly don't want to do that.
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#195925 - 02/15/10 09:22 PM Re: Survival Improvisation [Re: Mark_F]
Susan Offline
Geezer

Registered: 01/21/04
Posts: 5163
Loc: W. WA
It all depends on the circumstances.

If you've crash-landed halfway between SoCal and Hawaii, the plane is sinking and you've got your mind and multi-tool, what are your chances of survival? I'd rather have a liferaft.

If you've just been rolled out of your own car trunk by carjackers and dumped way out in the Death Valley desert in January, just after dark, and the temperature is 20F, what's your plan? I would rather have firestarting tools and materials and an emergency blanket or tarp.

Your yacht just sank off a reef, and the highest point of the reef is a flat area about 1000 sqft, but it's all under a foot of water... what then? That liferaft is looking better and better.

If there's a way out, using your brain will help.

If there's nothing to use your multi-tool ON, you might as well not have it. Do you happen to have an abscessed tooth?

While there are conditions where a knife would be very useful, it isn't the be-all and end-all of survival.

A functioning brain and a more general kit that at least covers the basics (shelter, fire, water, signaling) is better than a brain and any single thing.

If I could only have one thing, FIRE would be my choice: I could keep myself warm if there was something to burn, I could boil water under some circumstances, I could signal for help.

A multi-tool: it can cut some things. Okay, go on from there.

Sue

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#195927 - 02/15/10 09:51 PM Re: Survival Improvisation [Re: Susan]
comms Offline
Veteran

Registered: 07/23/08
Posts: 1502
Loc: Mesa, AZ
Loaded question. To only have your mind and multitool means either your wholly unprepared, had epic fails to get there or relying on others for survival.

That being said, its situationally dependent on location, injury and assets available. Even the sharpest mind and multitool would be hard pressed to make it in a frozen environment if you have limited mobility. Or the desert.


Given a 100% body and ability to modify terrain assets, (growth, deadfall, hydration)its very feasible to make due with just those two items.
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#195929 - 02/15/10 10:29 PM Re: Survival Improvisation [Re: Mark_F]
Art_in_FL Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 09/01/07
Posts: 2432
There is a mental balancing act between allowing your mind to wander enough to think 'outside the box', to think of your situation from a bit of philosophical distance so you maintain perspective, to maintain a sense of humor, but also to both allow emotion to motivate you when you need to dig deep but to husband it so your energy is not wasted and to focus that emotional force into productive activities.

IMO the biggest obstacle to successful improvisation is the way our consumerist world is set up to provide highly specialized devices and to create an expectation that things only have a single use.

I was amazed when I saw a specialized device to open a bag of potato chips, $1.03 w/tax. I'm wondering what was wrong with using scissors. Mostly, not that I eat a lot of chips, I use my hands. But a knife would work also.

Years ago I went to a big group feed. Sort of a picnic. One family brought a suitable cheese and intended to mix in salsa to make a dip. But they were stymied when they discovered there was no can opener. I roll up and thee are quiet lamentations about how unfortunate it was that there was no can opener, and so no dip. Frowny faces all around.

Not these were not dumb people. Several of the men worked construction. And there were knives and silverware around to serve up other dishes. But no can opener. I grabbed a cheap chef knife and opened up the can. You would have thought it was a minor miracle.

This was a decidedly non-emergency. They weren't going to starve for lack of a can opener. Somebody would have figured it out before anyone expired. But it demonstrated to be that people have gotten into a rut. That was back in the 70s and if anything the pop-top cans have made people even less aware of how to handle a can without a dedicate opener or included easy-open feature.

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#195930 - 02/15/10 10:34 PM Re: Survival Improvisation [Re: Art_in_FL]
Milestand Offline
Member

Registered: 09/29/02
Posts: 124
Wow! All that multi-tool marketing is sure paying off...

;-)

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#195932 - 02/15/10 10:48 PM Re: Survival Improvisation [Re: Art_in_FL]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
Originally Posted By: Art_in_FL
the biggest obstacle to successful improvisation is the way our consumerist world is set up to provide highly specialized devices and to create an expectation that things only have a single use.

I was amazed when I saw a specialized device to open a bag of potato chips, $1.03 w/tax.


A few days ago in the local home center I noticed a device specifically marketed for opening those big plastic clamshells in which some many things are now packaged...

Guess what? It was packaged in the mother of all plastic clamshell strong box devices.. So you need an opening device to get at the clamshell tool. When will it ever end?

Luckily I am never far from my Ltool Wave. And I know where to find some big rocks....


Edited by hikermor (02/15/10 11:06 PM)
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