the ideal weight for survival

DezertSkies, first you had me thinking this guy is in fantasy land talking about wrestling alligators and bears, and what does that have to do with survival. Then I read further and figured, wow, I guess this guy does this stuff, working with animals, for a living. Bet there's an interesting story behind the temporarily detached finger.

I've worked with animals since i was a kid. I' ve probably got more social interaction with other species than with humans in my lifetime. As a kid, i always had a collection of reptiles, monkeys, and other unusual critters. Growing up i worked with lots of different kinds of animals, both in the wild and with captive raised animals. There's a few people on tv these days doing stuff with animals, we all hung out together as kids.

I don't suggest the average cityslicker go out wrestling gators or jumping out of trees onto deer with a bowie knife, but if you're capable (you know who you are) then these are considered survival options. Sometimes depending on what you're doing, it can benefit to have 250lbs of leverage to do battle with a 10 foot gator trying to break your leg with a swipe of it's mighty (tasty) meat filled tail. At 180lbs that gator can toss you off balance a lot easier, at 250, you can absorb the gator's tailsnap and still stand solid and firm.

I've worked with animals at a sanctuary where we took in orphaned exotic animals. If a zoo went out of business, we usually got the animals. If a drug dealer got busted and they confiscated a lion or something like that, we got it. I worked with 150 large cats on a daily basis, as well as a whole slew of primates, bears, lemurs, bearcats, birds of all sorts, reptiles, both venomous and non, and a whole assortment of small critters like coati, capybara, cavy, and other weird little critters.

with knowledge and skill, capturing a 6' gator is not as dangerous as it sounds, and using the techniques the Seminole used, one could easily harvest enough gator meat to keep several people fed. Between that, and harvesting frogs, snakes, crawfish, turtle, and other small critters that live in the places you'd find gators, it'd be easy for a skilled hunting party of 3 or 4 to feed a decent sized village when it comes to meat. If you know how it's easy, and if you have the body weight to do so, it becomes extremely easy.

Whatever your size and body type though, make sure you use it to it's potential. If you weigh 90lbs take advantage of it by becoming a skilled climber, and learn how to stalk animals unobtrusively. If you weigh 300lbs, learn how to make that weight work for you, and a weakness can become a strength. Being 300lbs means you can drag large animals around, or heft some good sizable pieces of building material into place to build a solid shelter.

Haha, yeah, the finger. Right before i started at the sanctuary, i was working in the kitchen. Some glass fell off a shelf broke, and a heavy piece guillotined my finger, cut all the important stuff like nerves, tendons etc leaving only the bone. Kinda dumb, but it kept me one handed for almost two years.

"Everyone listens when the one armed zookeeper speaks" -Me

I still work in the kitchen, it'll take more than cutting off a few appendages to keep me away from cooking. That's my passion and i can't believe i get paid to do it.

Haha, yeah, the finger. Right before i started at the sanctuary, i was working in the kitchen. Some glass fell off a shelf broke, and a heavy piece guillotined my finger, cut all the important stuff like nerves, tendons etc leaving only the bone. Kinda dumb, but it kept me one handed for almost two years.

"Everyone listens when the one armed zookeeper speaks" -Me

I still work in the kitchen, it'll take more than cutting off a few appendages to keep me away from cooking. That's my passion and i can't believe i get paid to do it.

I have a BMI of about 20 (going off my Diver medical) so for long distance stuff I don't have a problem. The downside
Ran/speed marched marathons before carrying a day sack no problem, but I was in my early 20s then not 30 like I am now.

The big bulky and beefy guys will suffer in SitX IMO.
They will be used to fatty food and lots of it.
I'm not saying that cause I'm a skinny runt but cause it's what I've seen.
Food will be a scarce resource. If you look at the olde worlde pictures you'll notice how small folk were back then. Big guys were less common back then.

However for fit and heathy folk who are big builds they can carry a lot more than I could.
So where my bail-out bag only contains the essentials and few goodies, the big guys can cram a lot more into them.
A final point to consider is that the old saying of 'The bigger they are the harder they fall' has got to be one of the biggest cons going. Unless it's regarded a falling guy whose just been shot or something.

Big guys will typically be more dangerous fighters 1 on 1 than us skinny dudes in an unarmed fight. Even with weapons to even the odds the weight a big guy can put behind a hand weapon will give him an edge in a fight.
I know some of us have martial arts but in a survival situation I think most of them will be less useful than we think we'll be wearing layers of kit and be fighting for survival not flamboyance.

I don't think big guys typically have the advantage, or are more dangerous. Big guys are usually slower and telegraph all that power they're making to put a fist through your skull IF they connect. A big guy who uses strategy is a VERY dangerous foe.

As a big guy, i'd be more worried about having to confront a small, quick, wiry individual. I know several people literally half my size or even smaller, that i'd be very hesitant to engage hand to hand, because it would be like fighting an enraged chimpanzee.

I've had big guys swing at me, and i usually end up taking my time when it comes to avoiding, and just tilt my head and let the fists hit air while remaining calm, that usually ends the drunken turd looking to toss hooks from going much further.

That, and with experience dealing with animals, after wrestling a 300lb bear into a full nelson and immobilizing it, folding a feeble little human in half is a simple task. Last time i had to restrain someone i did exactly that, used brute strength to fold some clown in half, head down, arms pinned in between his legs, knees pinned to ribs, i just carried him down the block like a sack of potatoes and tossed him out of the hood.

I would say that no matter what you look like before or during situation 'x' you will not stay like that for long if you can maintiain survival.

In the north, you want to look like this

In the hot souths



In the jungles and forests

Far south


AND IN LARGE CITIES?
Dont matter is your fat or thin. Your doomed in situation x. Good luck.



[edit on 16-5-2008 by IvanZana]

[edit on 16-5-2008 by IvanZana]