TBow Posted March 5, 2010 Report Share Posted March 5, 2010 Listening to the news tonight, they indicated a Toronto man had lost his life after taking to the bush to try and be like his hero, Les Stroud, the Survivorman. The news mentioned all he had taken into the bush was a hatchet and some waterproof matches. Apparently he was found by police and the indication is that he died from hypothermia or over exposure. He had no formal survival training and it sounded like his wilderness experience was limited to the watching of the TV series with Stroud and reading a few books. The news article sort of asked the question if TV reality series go too far in planting ideas in people's minds and encouraging them to take risks they would or should not take. I think the real question is, how do you keep morons from watching TV? It sounds like he was not married and had no children, but the media was interviewing the man's brother at the time of their notification of the loss of his brother. I mean like my sincere condolences go out to the man's family, but really, trying to throw caution or blame to shows like Survivorman, because some people have no comon sense is just plain wrong in so many ways. I watch Les Stroud in his show Survivorman and love the show. My wife doesn't understand what I see in the show, but I think it's great. Still, I wouldn't head to the woods in the middle of winter and try and live on chewing spruce gum and building a birch bark canoe on a whim. I've got a little more respect for the outdoors to do something as rediculous as that. I think the vast majority of people who hunt have a true respect for the conditions that mother nature can throw at you. I moose hunt in northern ontario every fall. We build our own camp, but we go prepared with all the required gear and keep contingency plans in place in the event of surprises. If the circumstances arose that required me to stay alive in the bush, I think I could make a go of it, but my preference is to be prepared and maintain accomodations and gear that make my life a little easier, more comfortable and safer. I'll continue to watch and enjoy Survivorman, but darned if you'll see me tryin' to sleep overnight in the woods in the middle of winter without a danged good reason! TBow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted March 6, 2010 Report Share Posted March 6, 2010 Good example of the fine line between a mans desire to surive and his own ability to perform in a survival situation. The knowledge to build, create and gather life sustaining necessities doesn't necessarily give you the ability under real life threatening conditions. May have done better to try to simulate some controlled conditions he would be encountering from the comfort of his own backyard taking note of his weaknesses before ultimately throwing himself to the mercy of mother natures wolves. In my opinion this was a story of suicide. You don't get test runs in a survival situation so you do your best to not throw yourself into one.....you live...or you die.:angel2: Survivor Man is good entertainment, but sometimes even that's questionable. Too bad about this guy. From what I hear about hypothermia once your body stops trying to fight it off, it's a very peacefull way to go.:sleep1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wobbly_Alaska Posted March 7, 2010 Report Share Posted March 7, 2010 well figure in nearly 20 years he will be iconized and have a movie made about him... unless.... Wait???? did he have a bus too? no do-overs... sorry for his family but gee whiz ............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prairiepredator Posted March 8, 2010 Report Share Posted March 8, 2010 That is really too bad! You really have to know your stuff to be able to survive in the wilderness. Not just anyone can go survive out in the wilderness with limited supplies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swamphunter Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 He had no formal survival training and it sounded like his wilderness experience was limited to the watching of the TV series with Stroud and reading a few books. So sorry to hear of his death, but the quote above sums it up.... sad. I have a cousin who enjoys sleeping in snowbanks in the woods... I think he has a few screws loose. Sleep in cold snowbank alone in middle of winteror sleep in toasty warm bed next to beautiful wife with fireplace on..... you can guess what I would choose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBow Posted March 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 sleep in toasty warm bed next to beautiful wife with fireplace on Just like the commercial says, "PRICELESS"! Ya if people are going to stray into the wilderness, heck even the woods in their back yard, they should have enough common sense to take a few precautions: 1. Take a cell phone 2. In areas of low cell coverage, carry a GPS distress signalling device 3. Leave instructions where you'll be and an itinerary of when you plan to return (Apparently that's what the victim did. Left a note with a neighbor saying if he didn't make it home by Monday, they could find him..or his body....at a certain location) 4. Travel with a group or a partner. 5. Take enough provisions to sustain life 6. Too many people work up a sweat in cold temps, then become inactive. Recipe for hypothermia. 7. If you're going to do the survival thing as a hobby, don't scrimp by buying the cheapest gear you can find. Quality gear may save your life. 8. And last and foremost.....STAY HOME where it's toasty warm! One of mankind's greatest inventions may well have been central heating! TBow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wobbly_Alaska Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 Just like the commercial says, "PRICELESS"! Ya if people are going to stray into the wilderness, heck even the woods in their back yard, they should have enough common sense to take a few precautions: 1. Take a cell phone 2. In areas of low cell coverage, carry a GPS distress signalling device 3. Leave instructions where you'll be and an itinerary of when you plan to return (Apparently that's what the victim did. Left a note with a neighbor saying if he didn't make it home by Monday, they could find him..or his body....at a certain location) 4. Travel with a group or a partner. 5. Take enough provisions to sustain life 6. Too many people work up a sweat in cold temps, then become inactive. Recipe for hypothermia. 7. If you're going to do the survival thing as a hobby, don't scrimp by buying the cheapest gear you can find. Quality gear may save your life. 8. And last and foremost.....STAY HOME where it's toasty warm! One of mankind's greatest inventions may well have been central heating! TBow wow TBow not to be obtuse but....that list sure ... ah.... brings light onto todays outdoors folks... i think that some education is in order. what happens when you HAVE to survive and don't have any of that stuff? to many people take chances based on the hype of the equipment they are fooled into buying? cell phone for survival? sure if your in phone coverage, have battery life to get you out to coverage, spot? lots of places it does not work yet... survival skills are a must.. like how to start a fire at -40.... guy was just rescued last weekend here in AK... set his $10,000 snow machine on fire to keep warm when he got lost. had now idea how to scrape the pitch off the black spruce and get a fire going. to many folks do not know how to build adequate shelters, or to melt snow BEFORE your drink it.. or that keeping the core of your body warm is the key to surviving. here it is spring time around much of the country.... what happens if you fall through some ice... phone and electronics are now wet.... or gone.... car goes off the road edge in the dark... down the hill... where no one can see you.. ATV or snowgo breaks down or wrecks and your injured. every year we get folks that have NO IDEA what it means to survive. last year one kid got lost twice in Denali National park... park rangers said he would be arrested if caught in the woods again... two kids got rescued pushing the spot 911 button because the sun never set... today folks put entirely to much emphasis on electronic gismos... and leave their brains at home.. we should ALL be teaching our kids how to survive if need be. everyone that takes a kid hunting or fishing should be teaching more then to shoot and kill... Does your kid know what to do ... IF YOU GET HURT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBow Posted March 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2010 (edited) WA, All good points. I live in an area where cell phone coverage is not an issue, and just assume everyone else has the same opportunities. Around where I live, a cell phone can mean the difference between life and death...under certain circumstances, such as if a heart attack occurs while you're out hunting. But I can appreciate that there are many areas of the world where their only use might be to start a fire with a short circuited battery, if that would work. I do recall that a family lost in the mid west a few years ago was found after the authorities tracked their weak signal on their cell phone by GPS tracking, even though the cellphone couldn't be used as a phone. And I believe the GPS distress devices are water-proof, at least the ones I used to carry in the arctic were, when I was flying as a passenger in choppers with the coast guard. Not all survival stuff will work carte blanche everywhere. Wouldn't make sense to wear a shark-proof suit walking the tundra of arctic, but you might want it to scuba dive off the coast of Australia. And likewise, a survival suit for hypothermia makes sense in the arctic, but would be ludicrous to wear in the Sahara Desert. A lot of the individuals who are in survival situations in my neck of the woods are those who self-inflict it upon themselves as week-end warriors. Understandably where you live, survival isn't a game, but certainly raises the need for training and preparedness. And I guess the most important thing to take with you in the wilderness, or anywhere for that matter of fact, is common sense. Many people tend leave it at home. I sent two of my kids on a St. Johns First Aid and CPR course a few years ago. They thought it was boring, but I felt a little more comfortable knowing they had some knowledge of what to do in an emergency. As a matter of fact, as I'm writing this, it hit me that this would be a good idea for a thread specifically targeting survival tips. Maybe the administrators of the site might consider pinning such a thread. All good stuff! Thanks for noting the deficiencies and flaws in my short list. TBow Edited March 16, 2010 by TBow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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