Survival Campaign Report (Episode III)
In the first and second episodes, we talked about our accumulation of experience and the acquisition of survival skills. In the first trips, we trained our skills mainly in one place, i.e. did not go anywhere. In the same departure we had a full hike with a minimum of equipment. The weight of the backpack was limited to 5 kg. Well, traditionally, we did not take with us tents and food. There were three of us again.
The scene of action is the North Caucasus. The mountains. The time of year is the beginning of November. A group of 4 more loyal guys joined our group of minimalist survivors. They wanted to walk a few people and try some survival too. They had a sleeping bag tent and a hammock. We had 3 sleeping bags, 1 sleeping pad, 1 hammock and 2 pieces of already tested polyethylene. Landed. It's raining. And we went.
The forest consisted mainly of beech, chestnut and oak. On the way, we collected chestnuts and beech seeds (in common people - Chinarians). The part was eaten at once, the part was postponed for the evening. At an altitude of 900 meters, it suddenly began to snow. We walked some more and decided to set up camp.
A little frost was added to the weather. Everything that was just wet before was now covered with a thin crust of ice. And we began to make a fire with a flint ... 2 hours passed, the hands almost completely refused from the cold, we were clearly not ready for such a weather.
')
Desperate to burn natural materials, we set fire to the paper, and further, we started to make a fire a little bit. I must say that the self-sufficient, rather independent at first glance, fire went out. All the energy of the fire went to warm the cold wood with an ice crust, and there was nothing left for the flame. I had to constantly blow a fire. In total, the creation of the fire took 3.5 hours, and we could not consider it purely surviving.
By that time, all the found chestnuts had been cleaned, and we had one mushroom. Even before dinner, the loyal guys seduced us with grilled chicken, but we proudly refused, not wanting to spoil our whole concept. Cooked stew of chestnuts and fungus was named "Death of Koschey" for the terrible black color and excess salt. Boiled chestnuts resemble sweet potatoes, due to various sucrose and starch - very high in calories. Therefore, we ate from the heart. It is time to sleep.
Given the experience of previous trips - immediately broke for duty for 3 hours. One person slept in a hammock and in a sleeping bag, the second - on a fireside table and wrapped in plastic, putting his legs into an empty backpack. Well, the duty officer did not allow himself to freeze, keeping the fire going and collecting firewood, or even in a state of half-transport, wandering around the camp and doing what it was unclear. 3 hours flew by. You have time for your shift to completely dry out, drink tea, and even meditate. Cold, severe, wet. But still slept.
Rise at 7.00. Again arrogantly abandoned the hot coffee prepared on the burner. The route we took was popular, we often met satisfied, satisfied mugs from other groups. Some of them even kindly offered to drink tea from a gas burner with them, but we, as always, arrogantly refused, saying that we were cooking everything exclusively on a fire divorced from a firewood from wet firewood. It's raining.
The day came to an end, and we, half drenched, began to set up camp. For the night, we chose a fruitful place - half an hour a kilogram of 2 huge chestnuts was collected, which they have not eaten so far. We turn on fanaticism: again we are trying to make a fire with a flint. The fire was made, but the fire was not. We set ourselves a failure.
This overnight stay was the most comfortable. We were protected from the wind by three walls of polyethylene and an awning, and we built wind-proof structures made of stones. It was even hot to sleep around the fire.
Started and came to the end of a new day. It rains all the time. Most of the tour groups went home, along with our loyal guys. We stayed three. At the point of departure, we donated bread and stew. She was a critical argument when we refused to test slingshots on birds. And surely saved several lives. We have gathered quite a lot of all kinds of natural food for these 3 days, so we didn’t worry about food at all. Could stretch on chestnuts alone.
We went on. At that moment we were already completely wet, but cheerfully singing “A separate, tenth landing battalion goes into the night” went into the night. We decided to go until they ran out of power. Our goal was to access the sea, we have long walked on the asphalt. But when the asphalt was over, we realized that the last 20 km were on the wrong road. Not there turned off. Affected by fatigue and distraction. It has long been dark. We spent the night without a fire and dinner. In the sennik in the attic of someone's barn, for a completely surmountable fence. At night, we sometimes woke up from the cold, then from the fact that someone was shaking and shaking this very platform on which all lay. Gone before dawn, so as not to shine. The next day, we successfully took a bus to the departure point, scaring people with our smoked smell.
Findings:
• Again polyethylene has paid off. We learned how to use it to create windproof walls. When they were walking, they were wrapped in polyethylene backpacks, which protected them from rain.
• Hammock again justified itself. If you have a sleeping bag, you can sleep in a hammock without a fire. One of the loyal guys had a home-made hammock with a heater embedded in it. Such a solution takes more space, but more universally. If you wish, you can sleep on it as a normal karemat.
• The duty confirmed its positive qualities. Time passes quickly. The duty officer manages to dry all his belongings by the fire. Watching the fire in the quiet of the night soothes great. Keeping evenly a bonfire, the attendant ensures a peaceful, warm sleep for everyone else. And everyone can sleep better, knowing that you will not catch fire from the fire, because someone is following this.
• Rest . We neglected the rest and comfort, and this resulted in a critical error for us during orientation. Fatigue and absent-mindedness - this is very bad in conditions where important decisions have to be made. In the conditions of real survival, this can be vital. Therefore, we have taken into account for the future - rest and comfort is not a nobility, not a manifestation of weakness, but a necessary means of maintaining clarity of thought and the ability to make adequate decisions. This is perhaps the most important of the experiences gained in this campaign.
• Making a fire . We did not remain satisfied with ourselves in terms of the production of fire. They firmly decided to arrange special trips with the aim of precisely training the skills of making fires without matches and from improvised natural materials.
In the next issue I will combine the experience of all three episodes into one article.
The scene of action is the North Caucasus. The mountains. The time of year is the beginning of November. A group of 4 more loyal guys joined our group of minimalist survivors. They wanted to walk a few people and try some survival too. They had a sleeping bag tent and a hammock. We had 3 sleeping bags, 1 sleeping pad, 1 hammock and 2 pieces of already tested polyethylene. Landed. It's raining. And we went.
The forest consisted mainly of beech, chestnut and oak. On the way, we collected chestnuts and beech seeds (in common people - Chinarians). The part was eaten at once, the part was postponed for the evening. At an altitude of 900 meters, it suddenly began to snow. We walked some more and decided to set up camp.
A little frost was added to the weather. Everything that was just wet before was now covered with a thin crust of ice. And we began to make a fire with a flint ... 2 hours passed, the hands almost completely refused from the cold, we were clearly not ready for such a weather.
')
Desperate to burn natural materials, we set fire to the paper, and further, we started to make a fire a little bit. I must say that the self-sufficient, rather independent at first glance, fire went out. All the energy of the fire went to warm the cold wood with an ice crust, and there was nothing left for the flame. I had to constantly blow a fire. In total, the creation of the fire took 3.5 hours, and we could not consider it purely surviving.
By that time, all the found chestnuts had been cleaned, and we had one mushroom. Even before dinner, the loyal guys seduced us with grilled chicken, but we proudly refused, not wanting to spoil our whole concept. Cooked stew of chestnuts and fungus was named "Death of Koschey" for the terrible black color and excess salt. Boiled chestnuts resemble sweet potatoes, due to various sucrose and starch - very high in calories. Therefore, we ate from the heart. It is time to sleep.
Given the experience of previous trips - immediately broke for duty for 3 hours. One person slept in a hammock and in a sleeping bag, the second - on a fireside table and wrapped in plastic, putting his legs into an empty backpack. Well, the duty officer did not allow himself to freeze, keeping the fire going and collecting firewood, or even in a state of half-transport, wandering around the camp and doing what it was unclear. 3 hours flew by. You have time for your shift to completely dry out, drink tea, and even meditate. Cold, severe, wet. But still slept.
Rise at 7.00. Again arrogantly abandoned the hot coffee prepared on the burner. The route we took was popular, we often met satisfied, satisfied mugs from other groups. Some of them even kindly offered to drink tea from a gas burner with them, but we, as always, arrogantly refused, saying that we were cooking everything exclusively on a fire divorced from a firewood from wet firewood. It's raining.
The day came to an end, and we, half drenched, began to set up camp. For the night, we chose a fruitful place - half an hour a kilogram of 2 huge chestnuts was collected, which they have not eaten so far. We turn on fanaticism: again we are trying to make a fire with a flint. The fire was made, but the fire was not. We set ourselves a failure.
This overnight stay was the most comfortable. We were protected from the wind by three walls of polyethylene and an awning, and we built wind-proof structures made of stones. It was even hot to sleep around the fire.
Started and came to the end of a new day. It rains all the time. Most of the tour groups went home, along with our loyal guys. We stayed three. At the point of departure, we donated bread and stew. She was a critical argument when we refused to test slingshots on birds. And surely saved several lives. We have gathered quite a lot of all kinds of natural food for these 3 days, so we didn’t worry about food at all. Could stretch on chestnuts alone.
We went on. At that moment we were already completely wet, but cheerfully singing “A separate, tenth landing battalion goes into the night” went into the night. We decided to go until they ran out of power. Our goal was to access the sea, we have long walked on the asphalt. But when the asphalt was over, we realized that the last 20 km were on the wrong road. Not there turned off. Affected by fatigue and distraction. It has long been dark. We spent the night without a fire and dinner. In the sennik in the attic of someone's barn, for a completely surmountable fence. At night, we sometimes woke up from the cold, then from the fact that someone was shaking and shaking this very platform on which all lay. Gone before dawn, so as not to shine. The next day, we successfully took a bus to the departure point, scaring people with our smoked smell.
Findings:
• Again polyethylene has paid off. We learned how to use it to create windproof walls. When they were walking, they were wrapped in polyethylene backpacks, which protected them from rain.
• Hammock again justified itself. If you have a sleeping bag, you can sleep in a hammock without a fire. One of the loyal guys had a home-made hammock with a heater embedded in it. Such a solution takes more space, but more universally. If you wish, you can sleep on it as a normal karemat.
• The duty confirmed its positive qualities. Time passes quickly. The duty officer manages to dry all his belongings by the fire. Watching the fire in the quiet of the night soothes great. Keeping evenly a bonfire, the attendant ensures a peaceful, warm sleep for everyone else. And everyone can sleep better, knowing that you will not catch fire from the fire, because someone is following this.
• Rest . We neglected the rest and comfort, and this resulted in a critical error for us during orientation. Fatigue and absent-mindedness - this is very bad in conditions where important decisions have to be made. In the conditions of real survival, this can be vital. Therefore, we have taken into account for the future - rest and comfort is not a nobility, not a manifestation of weakness, but a necessary means of maintaining clarity of thought and the ability to make adequate decisions. This is perhaps the most important of the experiences gained in this campaign.
• Making a fire . We did not remain satisfied with ourselves in terms of the production of fire. They firmly decided to arrange special trips with the aim of precisely training the skills of making fires without matches and from improvised natural materials.
In the next issue I will combine the experience of all three episodes into one article.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/45152/
All Articles