Primitive Survival: What if game

There's a game I play with my grandson (he'll be 13 in about 3 weeks). We primitive camp a lot in different places. He has an avid interest in nature and in how things work so he is a natural for a survivalist. We spend a lot of time hiking and plundering and just talking. I like to try to catch him off guard and play a game of "what if". It goes like this:

Something has just happened, it doesn't matter what. Let's just say that you're the sole survivor of a small plane crash and there's nothing left to salvage. There's no treasure trove of leftovers from society. All you have is what you have on you and what you know about what's around you. That would include what you know about wild plant foods and medicine, improvised shelter, fire building, improvised weaponry, water procurement and storage, camp cooking, first aid, etc., etc., etc... Nothing wilderness survival is off topic.

I might add that you have no idea where you are, only that it is extremely remote. No one else knows you're there either. You choose the climate and season for your particular survival tip(s). We can also work from 2 different premises. One is that your survival depends on your eventually being found but you're not in dire need. The other is that your survival depends on your not being found.

What are your first considerations on the first day, and long term, what can you share with us of what you know about the wilderness? Try to think in terms of what you would normally have in your pockets. It was a private plane so you can have a knife/gun on you but keep it simple. The less you have to work with the more you'll have to think and the more we'll all learn from this.

Sounds like a great thing your doing. Prepare them when there young and it will become second nature to them. They wont have to slow down and figure out what to do they already know. Its the way I'm raising my kids. I also play the what if game. A very long time ago I started a thread on it to.

AA's what if game thread

[edit on 20-9-2007 by angryamerican]

Thanks AA. Now that you bring it up, I had seen your thread while I was just lurking. Somehow it didn't click. If I'm duplicating you I apologize. I've read much of your writings and respect your views very much.

OTOH my scenario is that due to circumstances thrust upon you (me, whoever) individually survival cannot be planned for. You either know how to use what's available in nature or you don't. The only strict limitation to the discussion is that the theme has to be WILDERNESS related. That does not necessarily mean that we would have to be destitute and miserable. I understand that the Native Americans were quite comfortable in their tipis while the pioneers were freezing in drafty log cabins.

Of the thousands who read these forums, a very large number of people know something about something that relates to this subject. If just one of you is able to enlighten me to only one thing that thing may one day save my life and the lives of those in my group. For instance, every part of a cattail plant is edible and they're found worldwide. You can make bread with the pollen and pound the roots into flour also. The young head in the springtime is like a small ear of corn and can be used in the same way. The mature head (broken up and separated) makes good tinder for starting fires and also can be used as stuffing for either insulation or bedding. The young shoots can be eaten as greens. The leaves can be woven into mats or you can separate the fibers to make cordage. Somebody, somewhere reading this didn't know all of that. Now that they do, maybe they won't starve. There's power and security in what we know.

What I'm really looking for here is tips. Not survival scenarios. I believe that any survival plan that doesn't allow for having to live entirely off the land at some point carries with it an expiration date. There will ultimately come a time that you'll either trade away valuable resources for what someone else knows or you'll be able to use what you know to gain those resources from others. Or you'll die in the wilderness because of what you don't know. Also, in any given group the one who knows the most about these things will also be the one that everyone else tries the hardest to protect. Now's the time to share.

Somebody, somewhere reading this didn't know all of that. Now that they do, maybe they won't starve. There's power and security in what we know.


Semper that would be me! That's why I started coming here and I've been reading at every chance I get. (Taking some notes) but mostly reading. There is so much I don't know and I suspect I'm driving people crazy with all my questions so you and AngryAmerican keep posting away because I am definately paying attention!
Jules

Originally posted by SemperParatus
Thanks AA. Now that you bring it up, I had seen your thread while I was just lurking. Somehow it didn't click. If I'm duplicating you I apologize. I've read much of your writings and respect your views very much.

In this case Its not duplicating. When My wife and I do this she pretty much already knows the answers. You on the other hand have a clean slate so to speak. The mind of a 13 year old is wide open with out preconceived ideas. Thanks for the compliment about my post. Some times I am wrong but I do try. and I try extreamly hard not to offend. If somebody else offends me however I will unload both barrels on them.

That does not necessarily mean that we would have to be destitute and miserable. I understand that the Native Americans were quite comfortable in their tipis while the pioneers were freezing in drafty log cabins.

I couldn't agree more. I say on my web site
"Survival Doest have to be difficult, just planned." I dont know how you feel about E-books but I do host several survival related E-books on my web site you may want to check it out.
simplesurvival.us

Of the thousands who read these forums, a very large number of people know something about something that relates to this subject. If just one of you is able to enlighten me to only one thing that thing may one day save my life and the lives of those in my group. For instance, every part of a cattail plant is edible and they're found worldwide. You can make bread with the pollen and pound the roots into flour also. The young head in the springtime is like a small ear of corn and can be used in the same way. The mature head (broken up and separated) makes good tinder for starting fires and also can be used as stuffing for either insulation or bedding. The young shoots can be eaten as greens. The leaves can be woven into mats or you can separate the fibers to make cordage. Somebody, somewhere reading this didn't know all of that. Now that they do, maybe they won't starve. There's power and security in what we know.

I've often said If I can help one person my time here is not wasted, from the looks of your post so far you feel the same. welcome to the club

What I'm really looking for here is tips. Not survival scenarios. I believe that any survival plan that doesn't allow for having to live entirely off the land at some point carries with it an expiration date. There will ultimately come a time that you'll either trade away valuable resources for what someone else knows or you'll be able to use what you know to gain those resources from others. Or you'll die in the wilderness because of what you don't know. Also, in any given group the one who knows the most about these things will also be the one that everyone else tries the hardest to protect. Now's the time to share.

The view is always better from the front, so to speak. the more you know the more people want to teach you. the more people teach you the more you will be protected.

Now for my little piece to the knowledge base. Cabbage is one of the best survival foods. it grows well in colder climates its packed with nutrition and you can still find it wild if you know what your looking for. It can also be eaten raw or cooked.

what your looking for

[edit on 21-9-2007 by angryamerican]

Thanks for the welcome AA. As for your site and the eBooks I had already been to your site and downloaded all of them. I wasn't aware that it was your site though. Thanks for making those files available. That's a good thing you're doing and I'm sure it will help many.

Are you familiar with a gentleman named Alex Wier who is located in Africa? He has compiled a tremendous library of public domain publications geared toward third world development. He makes them available for free download and encourages that you redistribute. He even gives permission for you to charge to redistribute. He only wants to get them into as many hands as possible. It's about 13 gigs spread out over 44 files though so have plenty of storage space available. A person should be able to build a city with the info on them. You can get them at cd3wd.com... If bandwidth is a problem for you uTOu me and I'll see if I can help.

I have an extremely extensive electronic library on anything that can even remotely be related to survival. I keep a spare laptop in a large ammo box in the hopes that it can survive EMP. The files are stored both on CD's and DVD's and external drives. I keep plenty of backup. EMP may render all of that useless to me but if I am able to access it there's just no way I could have that much hard copy.

The cabbage idea is good also and I'll take it a step further. One year I took a bushel of cabbage and made saurkraut. It was very simple and easy to make, stored well for several years and was some of the best kraut I ever ate. I collected as many glass gallon jars as I could beforehand. I'm talking about the wide mouth kind like some bars sell pickled eggs or pickled pigs feet from. After shredding the cabbage I filled each jar completely full of it. I didn't add any liquid. Then I balled up my fist and pushed down on the cabbage in the jar repeatedly. This pushes the liquid out of the leaves. Be extremely careful with this part so you don't break the jar. The only thing that I had to add was a little plain (NOT iodized) salt. I believe it was about 1 1/2 teaspoon sprinkled on top. Then I put the lids on and stored at room temperature for a number of days. I believe it was in the 20 to 30 day range but if you monitor it you'll know when it's ready. Then I hot packed it in Mason jars. Hope this helps

Ed

[edit on 21-9-2007 by SemperParatus]

[edit on 21-9-2007 by SemperParatus]