First, I welcome any critique or suggestion on what has or should be done. Those three children are the very reason I am here on this forum. Do not let me lead them down a wrong path.
Especially for children of this age, I consider signalling and shelter to be of highest importance. First aid is certainly near, if not at, that level of concern. Water, I am a bit hesitant to show them how to clean up a mud hole right now. Food, certainly high on their list, but not all it's cracked up to be short term. Listen to me argue with myself:
Food: Again, not a big concern when considering short term survival, but a major comfort to them. My focus has simply been to allow them some choices to pack and give them the opportunity to prepare it. I constantly remind them of proper hygiene, and of the safety concerns of a fire.
Water: I struggle with this one. We have relatively clean water about us, certainly not potable without prep though. I can justify dodging that subject somewhat by the fact that they must inventory their personal supply with each outing. Carrying the weight versus what you need/want is a lesson that we all struggle with concerning many items/tasks.
First Aid: Focus at the moment is simply prevention. They are relatively safe around the fire, so much so that they cook slow. I haven't focused enough on showing them the subtleties of a proper cooking fire, that one needs fixin'. Getting them to just slow down and be sober in their moves has been my biggest safety concern. I try to be calm when calling them out on that, I certainly do not want to quell their enthusiasm. They each have a first aid kit, how and when to dive into it I struggle with.
Shelter: As you have seen, they have been through a lean to. I think they understand shingles now, but I must test them at that. Knots, not only for shelter, is soon to come. A garbage bag tent, and the space blanket, may be one of the next tasks. A debris shelter is soon to come also.
Signalling: A short story first.
The second year that my oldest son went with me for buck season, was the first time I had ever let him out of my sight in that setting. That particular year, a hunter from a camp about 1/4 of a mile away fell and broke both his legs on his way into stand. He laid there all day, helpless, until one from our camp was making his way back to camp after dark. He made contact simply by yelling.
It was almost daybreak when we finally got the guy to the top of the mountain. Seeing that chopper land on that remote gas line right of way, in the Potomac highlands of WV, was a surreal and emotional experience. We have not been afield since that year without a two way radio. I'm sure many on here have experienced much more horrifying scenarios, but I offer it only to make myself relive the horrible thoughts of not being able to find my son. It shivered me timbers. I carry that experience, every time I am out with the varmints.
We started last week on leaving signs. I aim to focus more on signalling this coming weekend. Flash, their whistle, smoke, and proper protocol on the radios. They each have a 22 channel GMRS/FRS/Wx radio. Our hunting camp protocol was only an obligation to listen at the top of every hour for five minutes. I'm not certain how that evolved, but battery life was one of the considerations. We chose a high watt channel, illegal without a license I think, and operate with a quiet code. It works when you have many on the same "page", but it is flawed in a general sense. I could write pages of me arguing with myself on this subject, but I'll simply throw out a couple of comments/questions to hopefully start some dialogue.
They are certainly not a hot rod radio, but common and functional. Functional enough?
Without the paid license, GMRS is illegal?
Which channel? Is this the standard?...........LINKY........
Battery life, they'll last a week of daylight remaining on if rx/tx is limited. Top of the hour only? More? Less?
Comments are welcome on any of the above, or any other thoughts/concerns.
Bookmarks