Much, if not most, of the survival info we get from tv, mags and books is sheer nons

[Pathfinder1]

Hi...


Much, if not most, of the survival info we get from TV, mags and books is sheer nonsense...!!

Examples:

The classic three close-spaced shots fired as a distress signal is worthless in hunting season. If people can hear it at all, what they'll think is, "Now there's a lousy shot."

Leave your lighter at home; it's not only useless; it could kill you.

Commercial chemical tinder is no good. Better to make your own.

Cheap compasses sometimes have the wrong end of the needle polarized, and even good compasses can have their polarity reversed if they're exposed to the electronic junk we carry with us.

Most match safes are no good.

There's only one brand of survival matches that can be relied on.

Matches you 'waterproof' yourself will probably be useless.

The scariest four words you can hear in the outdoors are, "I'll be right back."

Lots more info at Survival and outdoor safety information and education from Peter Kummerfelt - OutdoorSafe Inc. Survival and outdoor safety information and education from Peter Kummerfelt Information and Education on Outdoor Safety, or Google Peter Kummerfeltd. You'll get lots more surprising info...!! (And, he backs it up).

 

[oldsarge]

His Survival Bibliography is informative. Pretty much sums up with what's being said in these forums. I like the list of book he recommends. I think we all know and understand that what may have worked in one survival situation doesn't make it the only way to go about surviving. We all pay close attention to what would help us the most in our geographic locations. I learned most of my survival training in the jungle, which make my cold weather survival skills lacking. So anything I see on TV or read in books just sparks my interest. Thanks for the link.

 

[carmen]

Not everything you read on the net is true, I have known this for years but trying to drill it into anyone's head is another story. Most of the true things I come across are first hand knowledge of someone who has experienced what they are talking about (like here for example), not some random database full of snip-its of spun random content.

 

[wvbreamfisherman]

Like anything else- you have to pick and choose. The best info is pretty useless unless you at least try it out yourself, if you think it is good.

Read, think about it, give it a try in the backyard. Talk about it with people whose opinions you respect.

Winnow the chaff from the wheat!

 

[Grandpa]

His Survival Bibliography is informative. Pretty much sums up with what's being said in these forums. I like the list of book he recommends. I think we all know and understand that what may have worked in one survival situation doesn't make it the only way to go about surviving. We all pay close attention to what would help us the most in our geographic locations. I learned most of my survival training in the jungle, which make my cold weather survival skills lacking. So anything I see on TV or read in books just sparks my interest. Thanks for the link.

I'm like you Sarge, only I have no fear of the cold or mountains but being lost in the jungle or swamps would really be a challenge. By challenge, I mean keeping my head on straight which is the whole challenge to survival anywhere. I just don't have enough experience or background there to know what works or not.

 

[ghostdog]

Not everything you read on the net is true...

That bears repeating...over and over and over...

My first grade teacher sat us all down (long before the net), got our attention and told us; Not everything you read it true. That was a long time ago but one of the most valuable lessons I ever learned in school.

I guess I'm a natural skeptic, never trusting until I get some hands on experience and find out what works for my own self. :unsure:

There are an awful lot of soapboxes and hot air out there.

 

[Pathfinder1]

oldsarge;
His Survival Bibliography is informative. Pretty much sums up with what's being said in these forums. I like the list of book he recommends. I think we all know and understand that what may have worked in one survival situation doesn't make it the only way to go about surviving. We all pay close attention to what would help us the most in our geographic locations. I learned most of my survival training in the jungle, which make my cold weather survival skills lacking. So anything I see on TV or read in books just sparks my interest. Thanks for the link.




Hi...


Well put, Oldsarge.

And, you're welcome.

 

[Michael]

Well, yeah. Most of the survival stuff you read or watch is:

1. For entertainment. 'Nuff said.

2. So out of context as to be nearly useless.

3. Some crap someone found somewhere else and is repeating.

Real survival stuff is very un-sexy and for the most part totally boring. It makes for crap videos and dry reading.

My favourite illustration of exactly how totally rubbish stuff on the internet is has to be knife review videos. About 90% of them are in someone's living room and spend most of the time talking about the sheath and how you can use the MOLLE to attach it to your tactical vest. Most of the rest spend the bulk of the video batoning logs that were obviously cut with a chainsaw.

Almost no one does something really useful, like uses the thing to build a shelter, a bow drill set, or a dead-fall trap. And that's totally typical for survival and bushcraft skills type videos. They do stuff that's useless, silly, and the same as everyone else that makes those videos.

 

[Marshmallow]

I didn't realize some of the things you were talking about were contrary to what we should really do to survive. That says a lot about my training.

 

[Esperahol]

It has been said before, but a lot of the most useful things are utterly boring to hear about. That said I am totally okay with being bored stupid so long as I gives me the keys to stay alive later on. Besides which if you honestly have a real interest in this stuff then boring shouldn't come into it.

 

[Pathfinder1]

Hi...


I got a kick out of Peter Kummerfeltd's pan of Outdoor Life's 'Thoroughly Researched by their crew of experts', etc., book on survival which came out last year. Way too many far-out ideas and suppositions. He caught far more improbable suppositions in it than I did.

I got the book last year on approval. Was sadly disappointed and sent it back.

 

[shaun]

I agree with your points but I do think we can learn a lot from survival programmes, I know I have. Bear Grylls is good, as is Ray Mears, and I've been enjoying the 'Man,Woman,Wild' series, lots of helpful tips on offer.

 

[wvbreamfisherman]

Yeah you can learn a lot from Bear about what NOT to do. No doubt he has skills, but the show is pure grandstanding entertainment (much of it totally staged).

 

[Pathfinder1]

Hi...


Yes, there is usually something to be learned from those 'survival" shows, especially when you remember that they are put on for our entertainment, more so than actually teaching us about survival.

Isn't that why the 'survivalist' and the helecopter always met at the exact time and place seven days after each show allegedly began?


I considered Ray Mears to be near the top of list as far as those shows go, and Bear Grylls at the very bottom. Man, Woman, Wild I just couldn't stand.

We each had our favorites, right?

 

[oldsarge]

I guess this is kind of like the old show "This old house" with Bob Villa. For the longest time people thought of Bob as the guru of home improvement. Then it came out that he wasn't all that he was thought to be and was only a host of a show. Either way the info he help put out was good quality. Same for some of our survival experts we watch on TV. I personally don't think of them as being the best, just someone with experience that's sharing what he knows. Of course the producers have to make us believe that these guys are top of the food chain on the subject. We can do that, then someone who knows absolutely nothing about the subject can look at us as God's gift to wilderness survival.

 

[Pathfinder1]

oldsarge;
I guess this is kind of like the old show "This old house" with Bob Villa. For the longest time people thought of Bob as the guru of home improvement. Then it came out that he wasn't all that he was thought to be and was only a host of a show. Either way the info he help put out was good quality. Same for some of our survival experts we watch on TV. I personally don't think of them as being the best, just someone with experience that's sharing what he knows. Of course the producers have to make us believe that these guys are top of the food chain on the subject. We can do that, then someone who knows absolutely nothing about the subject can look at us as God's gift to wilderness survival.




Hi...


When it comes to Bob Villa, you hit the nail right on the head...!! Well put.

:tinysmile_twink_t2:

 

[ppine]

This is one of those times when I disagree with Pathfinder. Media keeps ideas in front of people. I like Les Stroud and the Dual Survival guys. After awhile it is not that hard to tell the difference between someone with a lot of field experience and a producer from LA or New York.

We have talked a lot about many different right ways to do things in the outdoors. That is why those shows are useful, different ideas. Dual Survival can show two radically diifferent ideas about how to proceed and often both have merit. I disagree with those that think only field time counts.

If the shows are "sheer nonsense" maybe Pathfinder needs to get involved in one and show us "the true form of survivalism."

 

[ChadTower]

People need to stop watching TV, put on a pack, and go out into the world. You learn to survive a big trip by using the experience you gained on the 50 small trips you did first. Nothing you see on TV is going to prepare you for trying to light a fire with damp tinder while your hands are shaking and your fingers are freezing. Nothing on TV is going to teach you how to keep your fire alive when it starts raining. Nothing on TV is going to teach you to keep walking when you haven't eaten in 24 hours.

Survival is not a skill. It's the exercise of about 500 individual skills that you can't gain by watching television or reading a book.

 

[Grandpa]

People need to stop watching TV, put on a pack, and go out into the world. You learn to survive a big trip by using the experience you gained on the 50 small trips you did first. Nothing you see on TV is going to prepare you for trying to light a fire with damp tinder while your hands are shaking and your fingers are freezing. Nothing on TV is going to teach you how to keep your fire alive when it starts raining. Nothing on TV is going to teach you to keep walking when you haven't eaten in 24 hours.

Survival is not a skill. It's the exercise of about 500 individual skills that you can't gain by watching television or reading a book.

Thanks Chad, you put into words exactly how I feel about it but couldn't find the right way to say it. And each of those little excercises will be handled differently depending on the situation that day.

 

[oldsarge]

Don't get me wrong here, but no one single person was born with ultimate knowledge of survival or anything for that matter. To say not to watch TV or read is setting yourself up for failure. Would you rebuild a car engine without first learning about it. Who has the time to trial and error there way through life. Would you make a bone head move like that with your finances, hell no! You read and research how to succeed. If your not researching and applying what you learn to develop skills, you're wrong. Knowledge is learned through watching and reading, skills are developed through practical application. Those of us who have skills can watch TV and pick out what's right and wrong for us. Those without skills watch TV, think they know it all until they try it out........now they're learning!

I fully agree with getting out more and using what you've learned. You're correct ChadTower, you may learn to build a fire, but doing it when wet and cold and under stress, that's a whole other story.