5 day survival immersion: complete

So a friend asked me to accompany he & another guy on a "knife only full survival immersion." Okay says me!



Our gear: shorts, pants
t shirt, light long sleeve shirt
foot wear
hat
knife
I advised the fellas that despite our "knife only" gear maximum I planned on bringing some asthma meds.

The other two guys had small backpacks containing emergency gear in case of an emergency.

We had a light breakfast together and embarked on a hike into the depths of a vast national forest.

Monday walking in we collected:

Solomon Seal root
Lady Thumb
Stinging Nettle
Hog P nut
Cleavers
Chick Weed
Bass Wood tree leaves
Ox eye daisy flowers

and we were fortunate enough to collect two large black rat snakes.
Another bonus was I found 30' of real 7 strand 550 para cord tied between two trees at an obvious stream side camp site whose tennants had littered the place up.
I also found an old lamp cord I collected to make copper snare wires out of.

By early after noon We found a good place to camp with nearby safe wild water flowing right out of a mountain side.
I skinned and gutted the snakes retaining the innards for bait.

We found some dry box elder and made a large two man bow drill kit. The woods were quite damp and there was a good chance of rain this day and a very high likley hood of rain tomorrow. I left the fire ring & fire making details to my comrades and went out to scout the area and set some dead fall traps.

On my scouting I found some old gatorade bottles and glass beer bottles I scavenged to become our water bottles. I set a figure 4 trap and made a minnow trap out of a littered 2 liter soda bottle using snake intestine as bait. I also had collected a good tinder bundle from various rock out crops that made just enough shelter to keep the first 2" of woods litter at the rocks base dry. I found a few game trails as well as some nice holes in a small stream that should hold fish.

I headed back to camp to make sure it was in order & to see about bedding. I kicked up a high pile of leaves to make a debris hut out of later. On another look about I found a large piece of rolled up thin plastic. I told the team about it and they immediately decided to take advantage of it for shelter as it seemed just barely big enough to keep the three of us out of precipitation. I erected the plastic sheeting lean to style with 4 of the inner cords of the para cord. I looked at my pile of wet leaves and was not elated at the thought of sleeping in it, but wet, buggy and scratchy & slimy trumps freezing and not sleeping at night with me every time.

The one guy with us that I did not know let out a happy hoot and holler as he headed back to camp. Here is was not even late afternoon on the first day of a knife only trek and he walks into camp with two NICE cat fish. We had collected the two snakes in two seperate locations as they sunned themselves, but that was not skill- it was dumb luck!! But this guy already has two cats???? I was really impressed and glad I was with a primitive skills master guru- and already having thoughts of learning lots from him. I asked him how he had collected the fish and he told me with a hook and fishing line from his pack, using worms and grub for bait. Out goes the guru thoughts from my cranium. He must have identified the look on my face as he exclaimed "well.....I had them, so I used them."

*I got nothing against more modern survival techniques, but I did not understand how it fit into our "knife only" scope of this trip or, nor, did I identify an emergency for which to use the emergency gear from their packs...... I was not pleased but *I let it go.*

We bow drilled up a nice fire and poached the snake and cats and veggies in the "emergency" cook pot. ** Eventually I was to learn this stranger had set out two steel coon traps and 8 limb lines for cats!!**
It was nearly dark when I learned this.

Per them telling me """emergency""" gear was permitted to be brought along, I had pitched in ONLY a gps and a bivy/ water proof thin sleeping bag cover. Begrudgingly I too dropped our original theme of "knife only" and slid in my bivy bag, wormed into my wet leaves and was off to sleep here our first night.

My friend slipped into a bivvy bag and the stranger whipped out a nice large US wool blanket. **

Tuesday:
It got QUITE, unseasonably cold in the night and I woke cold and restless several times equating a poor night's sleep. My compadres wanted to move and look yonder for resources and a new camp, so we struck camp and were on our way east after having dinner left overs for breakfast.

Enroute to we really did not know where we collected:
5 box turtles(!)
Solomon Seal root
As much Stinging Nettle as we could practically haul,
Spider Wort
(small) Poke leaves
Cross Vine leaves for tea
And some reishi (sp) & Ear of the Woods mushrooms off a couple of old logs.

We had found another source for safe wild water and a moderately decent place to camp near some more rocks that gave minimal dry tinder materials, but unfortunately the water source and camp spot were about a quarter mile apart. We had scavenged another two liter soda bottle which upped our bottling capacity to about a 1.5 gallons so we went with it and deemed it good'nuf.

I again erected our plastic sheeting lean to, and we made a fire ring. We were on a larger flow now and I often heard geese honking. I went to see if I could rabbit stick or rock a goose. The suckers were quite wary and maintained a 70-100 yard safe zone betwixt me and them regardless
of my approach angle or how sneaky I was.

Back at camp water was in 3/4 gallon cook pot ** and my friend was getting the meat from 3 of the turtles.
The stranger who was a nice guy and becoming a friend had been absent for several hours and he eventually came in with 5 little small mouth bass snatched out of the water by modern hand line.

One of my team mates had found two 4'x4' ish pieces of black plastic sheeting and they planned to use them for blankets.
Here tuesday I was tired from not sleeping well and feeling the weakness of reduced calories. Headaches were light and dull I imagine from my morning coffee withdrawals.

8 limb lines were placed for fish. We bow'd up a nice fire, cooked our vittles and I was first off to bed.

Part 2:


Wednesday night into Thursday:

For another hour or so. With the rock now less warm than I I disposed of it and lie shivering- miserably cold with an appreciable fear and vigilance against hypothermia. I decided to rekindle the fire and play it safe by warming myself up; I could sleep in the warmth of the mid day sun the following day if need be. But then it dawned on my we had no artificial light source and had made no primitive lamps or torches, and despite banking up the coals there had been no coals that had made it through the night.

So ultimately I decided to just tough it out, and not sleep and if My shivering stopped I would alert my sleeping comrades I was showing entry levels symptoms of hypo. A few times I nodded off. I awoke just prior to first light. At first light My wool blanket equipped friend got up and stood with his blanket in hand. I silently pleaded desperately for him to throw it over me as I watched him fold and pin it about him in "match coat" style and he said he was off the check the coon traps. He was quickly out of sight. I willed myself to verbally rouse my friend and then willed myself to get up, get him up and us bow drill a fire. It was all two large framed strong men could do to violently shiver their way through the primitive fire making process... But oh those flames. Thank GOD for those flames as we warmed up. As we warmed sleepiness tightened it's vice on us, but we had much to do.

I had found a "tall" beer can in good shape. I cut the top out, packed it with Cross Vine leaves (which is good meds for long term endurence)
And heated it by the fire. We shared several cans of the tea.

No coons in the traps but We had a good sized cat fish on a limb line. We raked back the fire and slapped the catfish on the coals. I worked on & around camp, and discovered a Bass Wood tree, from which I harvested MANY leaves for the pot. We rotated duties tending the fire as everything including combustibles were all quite damp. The day was slowly warming and clearing at seemingly the speed of glacial flow.

On one of my fire duty rotations I barely heard two shots fired. I raised an eye brow but dismissed it. Ten minutes later my friend came running into camp bare foot wearing only boxers, wet head to toe holding a nice big wild goose. He threw it down and said he was running back to get to redress, pack up his "take down survival .22" and come back and warm up. Obviously this little rifle came out of one of the emergency only packs. **

After he was back the new friend came back curious of the shots. They went to dress out the goose which ultimately was boiled in the pot for 4+ hours with the Bass Wood leaves thrown in near the end.

We ate at the plentiful meal throughout the day. I placed all my leaf pile in the sun & wind to dry out completely. I forget which of my comrades but one of them came in with an additional catfish which was roasted right on the coals. We at that point had an abundance of food.

That evening the sun & wind had dried my leaf pile out by 85%. I packed my bivy with them. I piled many more wet leaves on the ground for an insulative mattress and laid the bivy ontop. I snacked on a little more goose Then went to bed at just the start of dawn. I was quickly almost too warm in the stuffed bivy, but fell off to sleep.

A few times in the night I woke cold. I discovered I had thrashed the leaves off the top side of my body and compacted them down into the leg and foot area of the bivy which had me sweating from the knees down. (I flop like a fish in my sleep) I'd rake the leaves back out of the foot of the bivy back up to my abdomen and shoulders and place the bulk of them back atop me and fall back to sleep nice & warm agian. A process I'd repeat three times in the night. Lesson learned: Pack the bivy TIGHT with leaves and sleep like a king all night long.

At one point in the night I was awakened by what I believe was large ant sprinting laps around my brow line. He'd go all out fast across my forehead hook a hair-pin curve around the end of an eye brow and then make it through the jungle of my eye lashes as quick as he could, hair pin around the end of the other brow and once again it was full throttle sprint across the plain of my for head. He raced alone, so either it was a timed trial race as his buddies watched and timed his runs, or perhaps he was merely practicing along for some coming event. Whichever it was, I laid there in the pitch black darkness for 5 full laps trying to rid my self of him with facial contortions and verbal threats, reluctant to use my hands as it would mean I'd end up having top resort the leaves atop my body one again. I eventually smacked myself several times and he was gone. I won... I think. Or was the joke on me?

Friday:
We woke dry having slept pretty well. We made a final fire, heated all the abundant left overs and had a nice breakfast. We released the two remaining live box turtles. We packed up, struck camp and gathered all the trash we had scavenged and made the hike out nibbling eatable plants and drinking wild water along the way back to my new friends truck at the trail head.

The end.
Hope you enjoyed the read.

All in all We had, I feel we a highly successful "modern survival outing."

Disclaimer: all stated activity that would have been illegal, are purely fictional add-ins to make a more rounded, more enjoyable story.

Wink, wink, nudge, nudge....I hear ya on the activities, just stuff you might, woulda maybe, have done if in dire straights, life saving conditions.....Right?

Good read, sounds like a success, congrats on doing something that a lot of people wanna do, or are 'fixin' on it.....someday.
Thanks for posting.
PS lately I don't go anywhere with out a couple of garbage bags....obvious survival uses....but mostly to pick up and drag out all the garbage I can from the bush

Cool. No camera on the trip?

Yeah no evidence, um, er I mean camera on the trip.

Thanks for the words Hunter.

Tried to give ya some rep, but says i gotta spread it around.

I do hera ya on the junk you can pick up......Really pi$$es me off to come across all the crap out in the woods, rivers, swamps etc........Good for salvaging for use, but seems like y'all made good use of it....although I would have preferred to hear about how pristine it was.....LOL

Thanks for the read, although it's unfortunate the random kept using modern things, but then again i'd imagine it made your guys much more enjoyable, having calories. Hopefully next time you can try and manage a more comfortable shelter, so you won't be freezing. I laughed when you were talking about rocking the goose.

Sounds like you went in with a lot more than just a knife. Who hauled in the pot?

Nice write up. Thanks for taking us along.

Sounds like you had a good time.

A question for you, that might shine a little light for those that come here wanting to traipse off into the wilds with just a knife....

All of you had quite a bit of experience. The original plan of knife only doesn't seem to have been followed (to your chagrin). How well do you think the three of you would have done, being experienced, if it was truly a five day, knife only trip?

Great point and question Crash!

Prior to this, which was not "knife only" any way I have done three other, 7 full day "knife only" survival immersions.

They are TOUGH.

Day one is typical, day two is hungry day three is the crucible- I call it hitting the wall. You feel horrible and weak. Then the switch flips in your body and it adapts to survival mode. After that you bounce back pretty well- I'd say for me 70% of standard operating energy and clarity. Your not dead on your feet. Your a bit tired all the time in a slight lull- but operational and functional. Lots of cat naps. You get winded easier for sure.
It's typical I lose 1.x pounds of body weight a day over the course of the 7 day excursion.

Perhaps odd- but the best most candid compare and contrast I can give is this:

On all the real, knife only outings I have done- I only poo'd once during. And you walk in the woods with food moving through your digestive tract so on the survival attempt the first poo doesn't count- it was "previous food." So on the knife only trips I essentially did not take in enough food that there was ANY my body could afford to eliminate!

In contrast: this past trip I had three bowel movements, the first not counting- and that but a 5 day trip. Big difference.

Sorry for the crappy example and letting my wording go to the toilet.

Now was that imaganary poo added for realism or real poo?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TresMon

...........
Day one is typical, day two is hungry day three is the crucible- I call it hitting the wall. You feel horrible and weak. Then the switch flips in your body and it adapts to survival mode. After that you bounce back pretty well- I'd say for me 70% of standard operating energy and clarity. Your not dead on your feet. Your a bit tired all the time in a slight lull- but operational and functional. Lots of cat naps. You get winded easier for sure.
It's typical I lose 1.x pounds of body weight a day over the course of the 7 day excursion.

Perhaps odd- but the best most candid compare and contrast I can give is this:

On all the real, knife only outings I have done- I only poo'd once during. And you walk in the woods with food moving through your digestive tract so on the survival attempt the first poo doesn't count- it was "previous food." So on the knife only trips I essentially did not take in enough food that there was ANY my body could afford to eliminate!

In contrast: this past trip I had three bowel movements, the first not counting- and that but a 5 day trip. Big difference.

Sorry for the crappy example and letting my wording go to the toilet.

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This is pretty much spot on.......and the third nite is sleep soundly nite, by then you are really tired.
In higher altitudes all this moves up by a day.....and I really believe that you get part of your air from drinking water.