What first got you "into survival"?

There are so many interesting threads here on this forum, i am curious as to what first got you interested in the subject of survival?

Is it just an ongoing learning curve from when you used to make dens as a kid, or maybe the scouts or similar?

Maybe your need to learn how to survive comes from a real life experience? I think you only have to be in a life threatening scenario once to never want to be there again.

My interest is a bit of a mix. As a child i was fascinated with fending for myself outdoors, ok that might have meant a survival tin and a stash of biscuits hidden in a nearby den lol.....but i could survive for a few hours.

My forces service expanded on this somewhat, and now i have children so my interest in survival is passed onto them by way of bushcraft skills and fun activities in the woods. I've never been into stockpiling food or hiding mass foodstocks and survival gear in the woods, i guess i just do enough to get my by for a few days in the local vicinity.

However, there is another reason i am writing this. Two nights ago i had a dream, one of those dreams that was so realistic it was positively scary on many levels. I dreampt that with no warning whatsoever, a nuclear explosion occured over the UK, maybe a few miles from where i live.

I heard the explosion, and the after effects came quick, but for some reason i was safe as long as i stayed in my house. My attention immediately focused on how to survive in the house for weeks or months with the kids.

Food, life without water and electricity, hygeine.....it was all suddenly so real a problem, that i realised how unready i was for even a long stay in the house.

So anyway, i feel a need to be ready for whatever might come my way in the future, whether that be on a small scale or larger.

CX.

All things that are Abomnations,

reply to post by CX

What first got you "into survival"?

It all started for me from a very young age. I was born on a farm in Iowa.
So my family has always been the type to be able to take care of ourselfs without the outside world for what we need to survie. Doing my daily things on the farm taught me alot about this world we live in. I was also a cubscout.. Then boyscout.. Almost joined the military.

I was 11 years old when the farm was taken over by the banks.. We lost everything and was forced to move into the city. Mom and dad divorced and we took off to florida.

We moved down here to a place called Moonlake. A little backwards, extreamly redneck swamp here in florida. All off roads where not paved.
And 1 main road that lead out of town.
Moonlake had its own fire and police department. That was run by the Iron Coffins. (A MC club).

As a teenager I met up with some of the swamp rats and thats when it really started for me.. We would spend entire weekends out in the swamps. Building forts with no hammer or nails, just want we could find in the swamp. Cut out cypress trees and made little huts inside of them.
And when it would rain we would build our forts up to sleep up off the ground. Besides being off the ground kept alot of the bugs at bay.
We wore NO shoes, and ran around barefoot for atleast 3 years of my life.
And would spend countless days out deep in the swamps with nothing but our bows, and machetes. There where about 4 of us that would do this on a daily basis. We would set up about 10 steel traps to catch any critter we could. And then we would skin them.. Cure the hide, and we would sell them to some of the guys who made clothes out of them.. And we would cook and eat the meat for food at night time..
We just didnt go home to our parents house for dinner, and go back out in the swamp.. No it was a real fashion redneck living folks..hehe
I didnt come from the type of home that my Mom expected me back at any sertin time.. I pretty much did what I wanted when I wanted.
AS I fell in with the ruff crowd of Moonlake.. And everything there where hard core surivialists! I learned alot from the ruffnecks around that area.
There are so many countless stories I could sit here and ramble off about my times on the farm and Moonlake but I will stop here..

As thats what got me into all this.. And I cherish all the knowledge I have to this day. And I have grown up alot since that time.. And truely understand that in a city.. You have no real chance to live off the land.
Its not going to happen.. To many people, and not enough woods and wild life.. 1000's of fathers going into a little patch of woods for maybe 5 wild hogs and a gator. Its a crazy world today.. And chances of doing any real wilderness living is not an option for city folk.


[edit on 25-1-2009 by zysin5]

[edit on 25-1-2009 by zysin5]

Honestly, no idea what got me into survival. I mean, there's no one cause, probably a combination of things. I think some of it was seeing all these countries around the world with civil war, famine, genocide, corrupt governments..and everyone over here acting like it could never happen in the "civilised west". It just made me think, well, what if something did happen, I'd have no idea what to do. And, after that, I never quite felt 100% safe you know, realised I didn't have the knowledge, and it put me at a disadvantage if anything did happen. Plus, part of it was ATS I think, in that it just reaffirmed I'm not crazy for thinking this, or trying to plan for TSHTF.

Got to admit though, I do get the odd moments when I just look around, see all my creature comforts and think that it'd be so much easier if I just slipped back into believing it'd never happen, just get on with life. But, if something does happen that won't save me. And I don't want to go down without a fight.

[edit on 25-1-2009 by DarkPassenger]

I'd have to say Katrina opened my eyes as far as getting serious about survival. Of course, survival is a 24x7x52 thing, and as we can see many can't even handle their own survival needs during non-emergency situations (i.e. those living on welfare, food stamps, credit cards, etc.). Even now, those that haven't a clue how to survive by employing themselves are in rough shape after loosing their job.

So anyhow, after that whole Katrina thing, I got serious about survival. NEVER will I want to ever become dependent (nor a burden) upon others, such as FEMA, to keep my ass alive and well. In the event I ever got caught up in such an event, I can now survive all by myself just fine for up to a year. I even put enough emergency funds away so that I can escape such a calamity and start over in another location to call home. Survival is not just doing what is necessary to take care of yourself and your family, but it's also about NOT becoming a burden upon others to save your ass.

I wonder how many people could survive a situation where, for example, the economy collapses, and mass riots and chaos break out, and all the stores are looted and much of the infrastructure that they had depended upon to feed them were burnt to the ground? How many could survive the winter without grocery stores, gasoline, electricity, running water, police protection, etc.? I can now say that I can.

This survival issue came up elsewhere once, and I was surprised that NOBODY was prepared for an emergency. Some said they would manage okay, because they lived near a wilderness area and could hunt, but, ha, when I inquired if they actually knew how to properly harvest their catch, only a few actually knew. Pressing the issue further, most did not even own rifles or shotguns, and half that did didn't even have more than half a box of ammo. Some didn't even know how to cook, having subsisted upon can goods and freezer meals and dinning out their entire life. One fellow didn't even know how to cook rice for himself.

What a mess things could quickly become if something crippled our infrastructure. Imagine a solar flare or a terrorist act taking out electricity for a few months across much of the country. How would so many survive during these months while substations are reconstructed and repaired. They wouldn't have a job during those months, stores and banks would be mostly closed - and even if they were open, how long would the cash in your pockets last? Most folks would be forced to line up for FEMA food and water and medicines, and they would probably have to walk miles to get to each distribution point.

Seriously, those with families, children to feed, ya'll really need to step up and take responsibility and prepare for such emergencies. Everyone should also prepare to avoid becoming a burden upon others during such emergencies. Being prepared is like having insurance. Also, it's not fair that those that have prepared should be burdened with the choice of having to decide if they should subsist on their emergency provisions, or be guilted into giving up their emergency food for someone else's children because others failed to properly prepare.

Yup, Katrina was a horrible incident, but it was also a pitiful display of irresponsibility. Some of them folks didn't even keep enough money on hand so they could have escaped from that disaster, and that was just ridiculous and darn right irresponsible. Just like how one has to prepare for their own old age retirement, one should also prepare for unexpected disasters. It's not right to expect that it's someone else's responsibility and burden to save you from your lack of proper planning and preparedness. Katrina should have served as a wake up call to everyone. Those that lost their lives because of Katrina should serve as a wake up call for everyone. PREPARE! Prepare not just for disasters, but for unemployment too. Survival is a 24x7x52 issue!

reply to post by CX


In agreement with the above postee. Having stayed for Hurricane Katrina IN New Orleans, mind you, it was probably a huge mistake. Maybe th ebigest of my life..lol..but It was tough without power and water. My house did not flood thankfully, but it was incredibly wierd. You could hear no birds in the morning, no human, no car. Sometimes at Night you could hear people screaming and with my radio next to me you could actually hear the rescue efforts.

The reason I did not leave was because the Truck was broke down 2 days before and No mechanic was there to fix it. So I stayed. The first thing I learned was to board up the windows, take all foo and huddle it together in the freezer, and wait. Waiting was difficult, but eventualy the storm came and it was strong! The first thing I realized was that the wind and the boards on the windows were creating a vacuum and at a couple of points I thought the windows were going to break, but luckily they didn't. Then the tree's strated to fall in the back (70+ foot pine tree's and 2 oak trees which were bigger) They are started to rock violently and then the Biggest oak tree breaks and falls to the left and crushed the neighbors house and then a HUGE gust of wind uproots the next oak tree and it takes out the other 4 pine tree's, none of the tree's hitting my house, they all hit my neighbors house.

The next day everything was so strange and the radio station was talking baout the flooding. I was like thats bad..lol.. Then they started talking baout how there were going to be cops stationed in different area's, never once did the radio station say they would HELP the citizens. So the next day I went loooking for them and amazingly they were right down the street at a gas station. I know I could hotwire any car to get out, but if I did that I would gas. So I went to the cops and immediatly they tell me stop and don't move. I am just standing there and thinking to myself there are 17 of you and only one of me, but I understood what they were doing. They allowed me to talk with the senior officer and I figured there the police so they should help me right? Wrong!..lol..I asked for gas and they laughed at me and said that we cannot give you gas. I was like well if you give me gas I can leave the city. She looked at me and said do I have to tell you again, I said NO gas for anyone! I asked her if she had any suplies like food or anything and she said we are not authorized to help you. I told her I wouldn't tell..lol..and she looked at me and said you should be on your way to get out of he city. I said whatever and started walking away, when another officer started walking iwth me and talking to me.

He said that he was sorry, but that the senior officer could not help us due to a shortage in gas. I asked where did the gas go? and he said that the gas went to the senior officers FAMILY, the ones that statyed behind to get out. He said look you can go ahead and shiph the gas or do whatever I had to do to get out. I told him I appreciate the kind word and help and went back to my house.

There are other things that happened from that point on. A man was able to get through the checkpoints with food from an expensive restaurant and gave it to me and all my food lasted a whole week without going bad, whih was a miracle. Some people tried to break into the house next door (at night) and I hunkered down in my house with my gun waiting, but they never came. I found a friend that alos stayed and he took me out the next day, all he needed was gas..lol..so we had to get it without the cops help.

Thats just the short version..lol..anyway, it was a MUST to learn how to survive or die. I had to learn to make a mis-shift fan to remain cool. It reached a temperature of 97 degrees and I was dieing..lol..so hot and my meds were running low, so I had to ration them (yeah I know bad idea, but I had to). It was challenging...but I survived.

Thats how I got into survival!

Thanks for reading,
~TheMythLives

I was given a book called "Survival for young people" and that wetted my appetite. I was 14yrs old at the time......... I'm 41 now

Rgds

I'm not into the survival thing in a big way, but I want to be ready and comfortable for a few days of inconvenience. I have my hurricane list and my bug out bag is ready. (Ok, so I have been shopping for knives, firesteel, mosquito netting, and 550 para cord. Maybe this is developing into something.)

I moved a few miles from the Texas coast and with the threat of hurricanes, I have to be prepared. I wasn't prepared when I evacuated for Rita and I was in a confused mess, but I learned a lesson. When the last one came through at a category 2, I was prepared and rode it out without a problem. The morning after I was sitting pretty in my driveway, on my comfy folding chair, drinking coffee and eating a hot breakfast, watching the dazed and confused drive up and down the road. (No gas, no electricity, no food, trees and lines down. Where were they going?) A few hours later a cold front came through producing a nice thunderstorm. I took that opportunity to wash my clothes in the driveway during the pouring rain. I saved some rainwater to add to my well water stash. My neighbors looked at me from their window like I was nuts, but I had 2 extra weeks of clean clothes, plenty to drink, and a nice, hot bath every day, while they looked for a washateria with electricity, water for bathing and drinking. It was thirteen days before we got electricity and many people ran out of water since we all have wells. Lessons were learned, and adjustments are being made for the next situation.

The other motivating force is knowing that so many Americans are total wimps, and that really scares me. There are people at work that are repulsed because I ...get this... drink water from my well. "You don't DRINK it do you?" When they found out I was drinking rain water after the hurricane they were sure I was insane and would be sick soon. Last week, out of the clear blue, a coworker asked me if I have guns!?! Answer: yes. Knowing how to be much more prepared than the average spoiled adult out there will put me well ahead of the game if TSHTF and The Masses are freaking out.

BTW, after Ike, the nearest FEMA station was about 20 miles away, close to NASA. You know, where all the poor people live!

What got my into survival ??

Well I have always had a love for the great outdoors and about a year ago I rediscovered this site and the survival forum.
I read a few threads and a few thoughts sprang to mind like, How would I look after myself if this happened or how would I cope if this happened.

So basically I wanted to become a survivalist to give myself a chance should things go wrong. I do not want to be in a cue with other unprepared people at the mercy of the govt.

If I am prepared I can help buil my own destiny.

Er... I don't want to die. So I figure taking precautions and plan for as many eventualities as possible is a good place to begin in order to avoid the inevitable.

The more I learn, the more I need to learn.

This thread brings back childhood memories for me. I'm not sure exactly what started it but I can remember being in 6th or 7th grade reading ASG Magazine (American Survival Guide). I remember being that young and reading articles about what vehicle would be most suited for what we now call SitX, or what gun would be the best for survival, self defense etc. I'm not sure what kept me from becoming a "gun nut" so to speak. Also back then there was still an active cold war going on and a fear of nuclear war. Couple all of this with being a farm boy and you have the makings of a survivalist. A lot of years have gone by and I look back and think wow I've been into staying alive for a long long time.

Originally posted by PhoenixDemon
This thread brings back childhood memories for me. I'm not sure exactly what started it but I can remember being in 6th or 7th grade reading ASG Magazine (American Survival Guide).

That made me recall my childhood too. At the age of 13 i was in the army cadets here and started collecting Combat and Survival magazine. Funnily enough i have been clearing out my loft over the past few days and i found the entire collection in binders.

Should be worth a read again.

CX.

reply to post by CX


The old guides are usually the best, straight to the point and they tell you how to get there, without saying other things about it that are not important. Also they tell you how to survive without the GPS system and other techonologies of today that everyone is "supposed" to have.

I was really jolted by the LA riots in 1992. the cops sat back and let the crazies run amok for a couple of days and finally started putting things back together after everybody was tired from looting and pillaging. I started reading Gun magazines and learning how to shoot and began purchasing a few guns. I taught my kids to shoot and had them involved in a youth shooting program.

Later I started reading Tom Brown' s books and getting back into shape. I'm currently taking a wilderness basics course. I personally don't trust our elected officials about any subject, any time, any where. So, I prepare for when the flag goes up. I only hope I can make it over the mountains before everybody else goes, otherwise I'm stuck on the coast with about 9 millions lunatics, and if the power goes out all hell is going to break loose. I may have to walk out then and I'm not looking forward to crossing the desert on foot. The Colorado is quite a way off from the mountains.

About three and a half years ago I started feeling the need to prepare for something major and started by buying over a half ton of dehydrated food supplies. I have eggs, margerine, peanutbutter, and much more in dehydrated form. I also froze several hundred pounds each of rice and flour and then vacuumed sealed it all. I have a very good water purifier that can filter out more than 98% of all contaminants and extra filters, a hand cranked washing machine, two year supply of tp...it's important to me , and much more.

In the 3 1/2 years my husband and I have gotten enough gathered up for us, our children, and Grandson to live off of for about 3 years. My husband has found a few caves that we could set up our tent in and live there if necessary. We've also been stockpiling our medications so we can take care of ourselves.

I know many might think we are crazy for preparing for more than a few weeks, but the way things are going, it brings us some comfort.

My family thought I was crazy when I first started buying these supplies, but in the past year they have been paying attention to the way things have been going here in the US and my son lost his job resulting in him and his wife and kid becoming homeless and needing to live with us. They realize that if things get worse, we at least won't go hungry or thirsty for some time.

Well as a kid i spent my entire 6 week summer holiday running around the woods with friends, ahh happy days

We used to build dens and bases and things that kids do. My grandad bought me a survival manual and i tried some things. When i first made fire with a fire bow i was completely hooked from that point on. That's how i got into it.

I was in Austin Texas when I was in highschool, out of nowhere this big wind storm just annihilated everything outside, it came out of nowhere. After it was over there was no electricity, I had no flashlight, no communication. I went outside with the only thing i could throw together, a hat, hoodie and a poncho made out of a trash bag. I looked around at the destruction, it wasn't anything big compared to Katrina, but there were cars smashed, tree parts on top of everything and people panicking. I felt helpless and didn't know what the hell to do.

Never again did I want to feel that way. From then on I have collected survival manuals, and have a kit for sitx. I have prepared kits for my family and friends too. Sometimes i'll go overboard, and i look at my supplies and think.. "damn how am i going to mobilize with this"

A friend named Dean Ing
en.wikipedia.org...

he was high up in civil defence in Calif and saw how big of a joke it was.

I was a soldier, a Cold War Warrior, part of the forces tasked with fighting in Germany with the BAOR.

In 1979 we did this long course on NBC survival, shelters, noddy suits, decontamination, shelters etc. Near the end of the course a conversation broke out betwwen the staff and us grunts.

Someone asked the staff instructors something like " OK so we are now fully trained and equipped to fight and survive during a nuclear war, we have all the kit and training the govt can provide. So while we are out in Germany fighting like mad what provision has the government taken to proved bunker space, protective clothing, food supplies, shelter, etc for our familes ?"

The officers replied " Nothing , your familes will have to fend for themselves, no civil defence or other protection schemes exist for civilians........ only the government, senior civil servants, and the Royal family" The officers nearly got lynched, needless to say many of us starting making our own preparations to protect our families.

What got me interested in Survival?

Well, I suppose like many others have said I was always interested in the outdoors as a kid and used to love building dens, lighting fires down the woods, shooting Air Rifles etc

It's just grown from there really but one reason I value survival skills so much is because I don't like the thought of having to rely on someone else to survive.

To me surivival isn't only an interest/hobby, its also common sense!