Survival Training

[brkawy7]

Hey guys, this is my first post here! I came across your forum while I was searching for a survival "camps," in Missouri.

My brother and I have been talking about going out "camping," with the bare bones of supplies. A little water, machete, fishing line, etc. We aren't looking to prepare for the end of civilization, we just want to see if we have what it takes.

Being a former Marine, I do have some basic skills. The biggest problem is that we don't really know where to go. All I can think of are State Parks, but they have so many rules on where you can camp and what you can do, it's hard to tell what exactly they are.

We live in St. Louis, so we can hit Missouri or Illinois. We may also be interested in a survival school. If anyone can help me out, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

[Rick]

Rather than taking the bare bones why not just take your gear and make note of what you use and don't use? No one should intentionally put themselves in "survival training" unless it's under strictly supervised conditions. Just heading off to the woods with nothing is not a supervised condition. What happens if something goes wrong and you find out a little late that you had the right stuff but the accident nullified it or you just didn't have the right stuff? Whatever that is.

We have a saying. It's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. So go some place close like the Mark Twain National Forest. Do some hiking and camping. Keep a list of those things you need and didn't have and those you have and didn't need. After you've done that a few times you'll have a decent idea of what you can get by on and what you really need to have with you. Toilet paper is one the must have list by the way. The benefit of doing it this way is if you really did forget essentials you're near the car and can call it off. If something bad happens you get out of Dodge and to medical attention. Oh, and don't forget to leave a plan with someone responsible in case you don't show up on Monday. It will activate SAR a whole lot quicker. Here's a plan you can use.

http://www.adventuresmart.ca/downloads/TripPlan.pdf

Here's a list of areas in Missouri that offer dispersed camping in Mark Twain. Read through it and find some place that interests you and your brother.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/mtnf/recreation/camping-cabins/?recid=21644&actid=34

Welcome home and thank you for your service.

[Daniel Nighteyes]

What Rick said.

[hunter63]

Hunter63 saying Hey and welcome.....Thank you for your service.

[Grunt]

Hydration and calories! A small eye dropper of bleach and energy bars. Being a marine you know about hydration, and bleach goes along way in purifieing water. People don't stop and think of the amount of fluids needed to just maintain your body while sitting. When your start to move trying to gather enough calories (2500 a day)to stay some what healthy you will find that you cannot carry enough water so in a survival situation a good water source is number one on the list.
A person in good health can survive for about 64 days without food but only 2-3 without water.

Thanks for your service.

[Wildthang]

Get a backpack with the essentials and learn how to use them all, practice at home and go camping and practice some more before going very far into the wilderness. We have many threads here on the essentials!
And welcome to the forum!

[RangerXanatos]

Sometime in the future, I plan on doing a night, maybe two, with just my water bottle pouch and its contents. I won't be doing it out there with just that, but I will take my whole pack and the kitchen sink. Like Rick said, if something happens, I want to be able to deal with it and not unintentionally put myself in a dire scenario. Use brains, not brawn.

[kyratshooter]

What you are really proposing is a vacation in the woods with no gear so the wife and kids will stay home. If you have to plan this hard just to get to the woods how do you ever imagine that a "wilderness survival senerio" is going to occur?

Here's a thought, save your money, you can do 99% of your real world training right at home.

Set up a tent in your back yard. Starting with only the clothes on your back and EDC gear spend the weekend without any modern conviniences. No electricity, no beer, no fans or AC, all water recovered from puddles, no purchased food, only scrounged eats, no insect repellant, no bathroom, showers or hygiene and no modern transportation allowed. No gifts/supplies from family or strangers allowed.

Chances are that if a "disaster" strikes you will not be in the wilderness, but where you work or live. That is the training you need to concentrate on.

[hunter63]

Back yard training is a real good way to start.
Being a former marine I sure you have experienced some of this training in the past, things don't change much...The only difference is amount of gear, and supplies.

If you have ever experienced spending a night or several nights out, be it military, Boy/Girls Scouts, 4H, hunting trips, fishing trips.....You know that basic needs have to be addressed

Shelter, or at least clothing this may be your only shelter and will get you by even with out fire, water, food...followed by first aid...is a good place to start.

Most parks do not allow shooting game, or any small animals out of season w/out a license,...so a knowledge of eatable plants and such makes a lot of sense.

You might want to check with your fish and game, DNR or who ever in in charge of these places in your state for a list of activities and rules.

Spent quite a bit of time hunting in the south west part of Missouri, down near Cole Camp, in the foot hills, some pretty primitive public hunting grounds.
Hunted a lot near Sedalia, as well.

[Rick]

"Henry! RX is using my Azalea bush for a bathroom again!"
"Call his wife, dear."

[tsitenha]

Gladis, I already told you we don't have azeleas,, some kind of ivy.....

[Woodmaster750]

What!!!! NO BEER............ SEMPER FI.

[Daniel Nighteyes]

If you were to look up the term "old fart" in the dictionary, chances are that my picture would be part of the definition...

Now, with that said, the human needs for "survival" are pretty much the same no matter where you are in the world. The problem comes in meeting said needs from the specific, available,resources. Please heed my advice here -- do NOT go into any "wilderness" to test your level of preparedness without bringing all the essentials with you -- just in case.

Otherwise you - and anyone who is with you - are likely to wind up as negative teaching examples. ("He/she/they could have survived if only he/she/they had...")

As syndicated radio humorist Red Neckerson always said, "That's my opinion; oughta be yours!"

-- Nighteyes

[Rick]

I find it interesting that no one comes on here and says, "I'm going to take a good pair of tennis shoes and go stand in the middle of 210 in LA during rush hour and see if I have what it takes to dodge vehicles." OR..."I'm going to take a knife and jump in a frenzy of great white sharks off the coast of Aus to test my survival skills." OR ... "I'm going to lock myself in a tank of water and test my skills at getting out." It's pretty obvious that if you fail at any one of those just what the outcome is likely to be. Yet, no one seems to have an inkling that failure while testing your survival skills holds bad juju along with a potential to be just as fatal as any of the three "tests" I mentioned above.

[hunter63]

.....yeah, What Rick said....The TV shows have crews folks.....

[crashdive123]

"Henry! RX is using my Azalea bush for a bathroom again!"
"Call his wife, dear."

"No need. I planted poison ivy after the last time he used them."

[shepherd]

If you were to look up the term "old fart" in the dictionary, chances are that my picture would be part of the definition...

Now, with that said, the human needs for "survival" are pretty much the same no matter where you are in the world. The problem comes in meeting said needs from the specific, available,resources. Please heed my advice here -- do NOT go into any "wilderness" to test your level of preparedness without bringing all the essentials with you -- just in case.

Otherwise you - and anyone who is with you - are likely to wind up as negative teaching examples. ("He/she/they could have survived if only he/she/they had...")

As syndicated radio humorist Red Neckerson always said, "That's my opinion; oughta be yours!"

-- Nighteyes

I agree wholeheartedly. The closest I will voluntarily get to a survival situation is having the wife visit relatives.