Pacific NW Advanced Survival Course

[craigr]

I took a wilderness survival course recently. I'll post up the review soon, but just thought I'd dump the photos I took now:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160324133 ... al-course/

[MediumTex]

You lucky dog.

I went on two wilderness survival camps when I was a kid in Boy Scouts and both experiences are seared in my memory.

I would like to go to a "cave man camp" some time.  Wearing animal skins, dancing around a fire and painting on cave walls might provide a refreshing and cathartic jolt.  (My wife is a bit of an indoor person, so I will probably be doing that one alone.)

[craigr]

This course wasn't caveman, but it was close. For starters, we were told the morning of the course that we couldn't bring food. Secondly we could only bring the water we had with us with no filters/chemicals for purification. When we went to camp we were not allowed to use any fire starters. We first had to start a fire with primitive means before we were allowed to use other methods. Then we had to make our own container to boil our water to clean it (we could use our other containers as well, but the purpose was to make our own first). We could use a tent the first night, but the next night we had to use our improvised shelters and took our tents down to ensure nobody would sneak into them at night. I slept in the improvised shelter the rest of the course because honestly it was just as comfortable as my tent. Go figure...

All food was foraged or some food was brought in to simulate some hunting type activity and meat processing. But overall it was four days of calorie restriction and primitive conditions to simulate an actual survival type situation. It was a good experience in bushcraft-type skills.

[Pkg Man]

Sounds awesome.  Glad you had a good experience.

[l82start]

sounds like a great time, i am envious

[MarySB]

Awwwww...I used to live in Quinault---almost a survivalist, but not really.  I hope you got to the Lake Quinault Lodge after, for a much-deserved celebration!

[craigr]

Awwwww...I used to live in Quinault---almost a survivalist, but not really.  I hope you got to the Lake Quinault Lodge after, for a much-deserved celebration!

A few of us went to the Lodge after and pigged out. I've been to the peninsula many times but never went to Lake Quinault until now (just drove by it each time). It's a nice place.

[craigr]

Craig, that sounds like a great course.  Do you have any idea how many calories you averaged per day over the period of the course? 

I live in Central Oregon, and surviving on foraged material here would be a huge challenge! 

Foraging is tough going. But another well-known survival instructor Cody Lundin says about wild edibles "These calories don't run."

I've been interested recently in getting to know wild edibles better in my area. When I went out foraging I found a huge growth of wild blueberries and salal berries. There were also some other edible grasses which I skipped (the berry sugars had more calories). We also had simulated "hunts" and meat sure is a denser calorie package. The course instructor said over and over "It's a calorie game." and it's very true. You don't want to expend any energy unless it is going to improve your situation.

The first day we were given a ration of rice to split between our team (each team was two people). It looked like a cup of rice per person. Maybe. Perhaps less. The next day we prepared three rabbits and split them amongst the 20 people there (instructors and students). Not a lot of meat, but it was filling. By the third day my appetite had shrank considerably. We did a hunt for some turkeys that were brought in. There were two turkeys split again amongst the people there. I ate a little along with the berries collected. But by then most people's appetite had shrunk and less calories were being consumed. Although honestly I wasn't that hungry and felt like I had enough energy. The body just kind of goes into a different mode when there isn't a lot of food around. I think that as a society we eat so much because food is all around us. When you are in a situation where you can't simply go to the fridge to get something to munch on the body goes back into a more primitive state. Your stomach shrinks and your appetite is greatly reduced. You will eat when food is there, but I personally found that I wasn't ravenously hungry.

Now when I got back I ate a bunch, but I think again it's because the food was there. I lost about 5-7 lbs. over the whole course of four days. I'm thinking an average calorie intake was maybe around 500-1000 a day?? In the early parts it was less than 500 for certain. Once we got the meat then the calorie intake went up. For long term survival you need to be over 2000 calories, but if you were just trying to manage your energy to wait for rescue or affect self-rescue then this calorie intake is acceptable. 

[craigr]

I finally got the second part of this updated:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160324133 ... s-lessons/