Are you a "Survival Expert?"

**Echo2** · 02-20-2013, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by kyratshooter

So without a camera everyone is a suspect of fraud.

So a Cree Indian in northern Canada that has lived a life in the wilderness, and does not own a camera, has to buy one to prove his abilities?

But some fool with a camera, that has never left his back yard, is and 'expert" because he as a recording?

Does that meand that Nesmck, Kepart, Whelan, Angiers and all the other writers of the past did not know what they were doing because they wrote instead of filmed?

Lord save us from the techno-junkies!

Is that really what you took from his post?.....geeezzz.

**kyratshooter** · 02-20-2013, 11:02 AM

Originally Posted by Echo2

Is that really what you took from his post?.....geeezzz.

I can only take from the post what you write. You act like writing is not 'sharing".

As it is, "sharing" is far over rated. The modern media has allowed too many fools with no skills and no communication talent to pollute the minds of the masses. There was a time when some measure of intelligence and ability was necessary to get a work/book published. Those days are past. and bad grammer, ignorance and computer skills now replace real talent.

I am so sick of being linked to badly produced U-tube clips and bad blogs I just ignore them unless I have some knowledge of the person from their writings of a forum and feel thy know what they are doing before I hit the button.

I do not watch the evening news either, for much the same rasons!

**Echo2** · 02-20-2013, 11:17 AM

EB gets out there and practices his skills just about every weekend....and yes....he vid records a lot of it.

My thought is kudo to him for trying....I'll wager he learns something new every time he goes out.

He's not bashing you for not recording it.....simply making a generalized statement.....not attacking anyone....lighten up.

How exactly do you get from my post....that writing is not sharing?

**Wildthang** · 02-20-2013, 11:30 AM

I think the true and real survivors of the world do not write blogs, they don't film, and they don't publish books, they just live life and pass on, never with any validation of what they have done!

**BENESSE** · 02-20-2013, 11:37 AM

Originally Posted by Wildthang

I think the true and real survivors of the world do not write blogs, they don't film, and they don't publish books, they just live life and pass on, never with any validation of what they have done!

Why does it have to be so mutually exclusive? Communication evolves with the times. Used to be word of mouth, then it was recorded, on and on. If no one ever wrote anything down to begin with the entire human civilization would be SOL.

**kyratshooter** · 02-20-2013, 11:39 AM

Sorry E2, I had confused your post with another.

Due to growing up with written material I have some difficulty keeping up with the confusion of multiple posts from various detractors and defenders in a single thread.

It is much the same on U-tube, where the chin whiskers, baseball cap or boonie hat and wrap around sunglasses all blend together into a single generic survivalist flatly staring into the camera, pre-empting every phrase with "you know?" or "AHHH", closely followed by "hold my beer and watch this" the last of which they will occasionally edit out.

Or the never ending shot of a stump with some freikish huge knife stuck in the middle while the "reviewer" drones endlessly reading the label on the package it arrived in.

Ms B is spot on with the total of all usable information, the main problem with this day and age being the easy disimination of so much useless time wasting crap.

It seems that every trip to the back yard requires documentation, instantly imparting expertise I suppose.

I fondly remember the day when one could attempt to avoid the video/movie camera owner, freshly returned from his vacation to wherever. One could have other engagements, late work or have an emergency that pulled one away from the sickening boredom of sitting and watching anothers home made movies.

Now he shows up with blue highlights begging for attention in every other post.

I find still shots much more informative, and artistic. Usually the photographer looks at the shot before posting and makes some effort to edit and present the best shots.

Same with books. Most published works have some demand for structure and have been edited for grammer, punctation (praise God) and spelling.

**Wildthang** · 02-20-2013, 11:44 AM

Originally Posted by BENESSE

Why does it have to be so mutually exclusive? Communication evolves with the times. Used to be word of mouth, then it was recorded, on and on. If no one ever wrote anything down to begin with the entire human civilization would be SOL.

Communication is a wonderful thing, but with all of the medias available today, their are too many wanna be fakes that are sharing information. So it tends to make people like Kyrat and me just stay away from it. It's not worth sorting through the stupid to see one meaningful video or article!

**hunter63** · 02-20-2013, 11:44 AM

Well, it seem that some of the newbies that we are getting lately are of,
Hi
I'm a newbie, I saw a couple of Bear vids, and learned a "stuff",.....but I gotta blog and do u tubes of all sorts of stuff y'all have already done.....so I gonna come to your site so as you all can lookie at me.

Please keep all those lists and tips coming so I can steal them, with copy and paste, ...no one will notice if I post it as my stuff on another Survival site....cause non of you dinosaurs know 'bout computers.

All you old guys that have been hunting, trapping, fishing, logging construction, road building, tending animal, and of course the combination of everything...farming..... all year long using tractors, trucks, heavy equipment, canoes, boats, horses, dog teams....living in tents, bunk houses, logging camps, line shacks.....a lot a cases building your own dwelling,.....have been doing it wrong all these years. ( I mean history started in 1963, right?)

So sit back and let me "Survival Baby Bear", show you the way........

Party On

**birdman6660** · 02-20-2013, 11:49 AM

im not an expert .. not sure there is such a thing ... but I believe Im ready for "ALMOST" anything ....

**BENESSE** · 02-20-2013, 12:17 PM

Originally Posted by Wildthang

Communication is a wonderful thing, but with all of the medias available today, their are too many wanna be fakes that are sharing information. So it tends to make people like Kyrat and me just stay away from it. It's not worth sorting through the stupid to see one meaningful video or article!

I hear you, same thing ticks me off as well. But the oneness is on us to be smarter and more discerning. Go to proven sources, disregard the rest. It's really that simple.
There were snake oil salesmen since the dawn of time and some people fell for them just like they do now. It has always been buyer beware whether it comes to info or stuff.

**Old Professor** · 02-20-2013, 12:26 PM

Remember the definition of "expert". ex = unknown and a spurt is a drip under pressure! Sure describes most bloggers who claim to be "survival experts". I do not consider my self a survival expert or gru but i have been teaching the survival and first aid portions of the Hunter Safety course for fifty years. Imparting survival basics to youth has been rewarding! They have to begin somewere!

**kyratshooter** · 02-20-2013, 12:43 PM

Which brings us to another point;

After an indefinate number of years some of us "experts" can no longer get out there and punish ourselves. Our hands fall victim to authritis, our backs go out and stay out, our feet hurt and knees and hips get replaced.

Ain't going to be any fancy vidieos made of US.

Since we can no longer "do" are we no longer knowledgable?

Expertise is not always performance linked.

Terms are more important than we sometimes realize, allowing access to rescources or denying it, just based on the label prefixing the name.

We can belittle the "expert" or deny "expertise", and reduce ourselves to the status of perpetual students, then who will teach?

The guys with the video cameras?

Eventually someone has to be "Grasshopper" and someone else "Master".

**Cast-Iron** · 02-20-2013, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by Wildthang

I think the true and real survivors of the world do not write blogs, they don't film, and they don't publish books, they just live life and pass on, never with any validation of what they have done!

I would have to agree with you WT. A lot of what I have learned over the years (about outdoor/survival skills) has come from either first hand experience (aka trial & error) or watching someone who has actually been there....done that. All too often when I watch a video by some well-intentioned person/people, I get the impression they either don't have very good communication skills or they have never experienced what they're trying to demonstrate.

**Wildthang** · 02-20-2013, 01:38 PM

Originally Posted by Cast-Iron

I would have to agree with you WT. A lot of what I have learned over the years (about outdoor/survival skills) has come from either first hand experience (aka trial & error) or watching someone who has actually been there....done that. All too often when I watch a video by some well-intentioned person/people, I get the impression they either don't have very good communication skills or they have never experienced what they're trying to demonstrate.

Yeah I know what you mean man! Everybody these days are dying to put things out on the media like, look at me, look what i did, because it is so easy to do. This to me detracts from the media, and what is available because you have millions of half baked no nothing video's and blogs, and very few meaningful articles and videos.
Most of the true survivalists I know would not have a clue how to make a video, or create a blog, they just live the life! I have friends that live out in the wolderness in Oklahoma that served in Vietnam, and upon returning home, discovered that their service was not appreciated. So they bought a house as far out in the woods as they could get, and made a life for themselves. They dont have internet, and most of them don't have TV or a phone either. They eek out a living any way they can and have learned all of the skills the hard way. They are some of my best friends and I would trust them with my life. They have purposely left technology behind, and adopted a very simple way of life living in the wilderness and being at peace with their surroundings.
I took one of them to Oklahoma City to the Veterens hospital one time, and he was starting to panick from just being in a big city. When I ask him what was wrong, all he could say is too many people! It had been around 10 years since he had been to a town that large, and it was freaking him out!

**Old GI** · 02-20-2013, 02:32 PM

I AM A SURVIVAL EXPERT!!!!!!!!!!!!! .................................................. ...................Oh, the alarm clock just went off.

Seriously, if being an expert is knowing everything there is to know about a subject ------- no one can lay claim to that title (with the possible exception if you have a wardrobe full of your hong selection).

But if it means you have the experience and ability to teach others what you have learned, then you may qualify

**Seniorman** · 02-20-2013, 10:16 PM

KYRATSHOOTER - "After an indefinate number of years some of us "experts" can no longer get out there and punish ourselves. Our hands fall victim to authritis, our backs go out and stay out, our feet hurt and knees and hips get replaced."

Brother, ain't that the everlasting truth?!

S.M.

**endurance** · 02-21-2013, 01:20 PM

Expert- ˈekspərt
Noun
Comes from two words, ex- meaning a former relationship with and pert- from the work pertinent. So expert means A person who used to know something pertinent.

What one knew before may not necessarily be pertinent to the current setting or situation, no matter how much one thinks one knows.