Oregon Trip and Interview

The Oregon trip went well and I got to do about everything I'd hoped to during the brief time I was there, including driving more than 500 miles all over the northwestern section of the state and hiking in various locations from Silver Falls State Park to the Mt. Hood area and a rugged section of the coast at Ecola State Park.  Here are a few photos I took, but I still have hundreds to go through and edit, as well as some video footage that will take even more time.

Silver Falls State Park:

 

Mt. Hood:

Ecola State Park:

Those of you who are familiar with Oregon know that this state has no lack of natural beauty and magnificent scenery to enjoy the outdoors in.  But one thing is for sure: despite the rugged topography of this northwestern part of the state, the human population here is dense compared to the areas east of the Cascades and to other western states like Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.  As I mentioned in my book, Bug Out, Oregon has comparatively few large roadless areas for a western state, but some of those remaining areas that do exist are quite inaccessible and could work as bug-out locations for those prepared to deal with the steep terrain and wet conditions.  Another thing about these dense coniferous forests that was evident even on the relatively short hikes I had time to do, is that game is abundant, evidenced by numerous trails and fresh elk tracks and droppings.  Lots of edible plants abound as well, as these forests are incredible green and lush from all the rainfall they receive.

My interview on AM Northwest, a regional morning show on Portland's ABC station: KATU Channel 2, involved a brief discussion of some of the topics of my book, Getting Out Alive: 13 Deadly Scenarios and How Others Survived.  There's never enough time in an interview to go into depth about the subject matter of a book - much less in an interview of just over 5 minutes in length.  But the two hosts asked some good questions, particularly the very first question, with regard to the Canadian woman who recently survived 7 weeks stranded in a van in a remote Nevada wilderness.  Again, there wasn't enough time to respond with everything I would have liked to talk about, but the point is that most of the scenarios in my book involve people going out for a day or weekend outing and getting into a situation that could become a matter of life or death because they simply did not take into account the possibility that something could happen to delay their return.  This happens with automobiles, boats, motorcycles, ATVs, snowmobiles and any other kind of vehicle that can transport a person rapidly into a remote area, much farther than they would normally be able to travel under human power alone.  The technology then fails them in one way or another - either mechanically or by getting stuck somehow, and then people who only planned to be out for a short time are faced with what could be an ordeal of much longer duration - such as this woman's 7-week stranding that few would have survived. 

The lesson here is prepardness.  If you are always in a state of prepardness wherever you go and whatever you do, you are much less likely to find yourself in one of these situations.  This means having adequate shelter, clothing, food and water to last much longer than your planned adventure.  This is why when I ride my dual sport motorcycle into the woods, paddle a kayak off the coast, or sail away from land on a larger boat, I always have extra supplies for those unexpected delays.  I learned this the hard way many years ago when I first started sea kayaking and paddled 12 miles to a barrier island for an overnight trip.  A strong weather system moved into the area, whipping up seas that made my return impossible, and keeping me stormbound on the island for 4 more days.  I had only taken food for one night, but it was a good island for foraging, so I made out okay until the weather broke and I was able to leave - but it was a lesson I never forgot. 

Here is the interview for those who are interested:

Getting Out Alive Excerpt: Where to Look for Water in a Desert

Getting Out Alive: 13 Deadly Scenarios and How Others Survived is now in stock on Amazon and has probably made it's way into a bookstore near you, or will soon.  As I mentioned before, I planned to post a few excerpts of material from the book here from time to time - especially sections that are relevant to the focus of this blog.

In looking at potential bug out locations across the Lower 48, as I did in my other book, Bug Out: The Complete Plan for Escaping a Catastrophic Disaster Before It's Too Late, it becomes obvious that some of the most remote and largest areas of trackless wilderness are still to be found in the arid West.  The deserts and semi-desert environment of these arid regions are a tough place to survive and an easy place to die if you are not knowledgeable or prepared.  In Getting Out Alive, I use as an example the case of an entire family of tourists from Germany who wandered off the beaten track in Death Valley in a rented van.  They disappeared without a trace, and their skeletons were just found in November, 2009, 13 years after their fatal blunder that came about as a result of their inexperience and underestimation of the harshness of that environment.

On the other hand, those who have the skills and knowledge to travel and prevail in that environment have  always had an advantage over those who cannot.  Throughout the history of the settlement of the West, outlaws and native masters of the environment such as the Apaches gave their pursuers fits with their ability to live in places that seem impossible to human life.  But most deserts are not quite the wasteland that they appear to be to the outsider, and those who have spent time there know they are teeming with life.  The key to that life is of course, water, and the key to surviving in the desert is knowing how to find it.  Here are a few suggestions taken from Broke Down in the Desert, which is the title of Chapter Eight in Getting Out Alive:

Where to Look for Water in a Desert

The desert environment is defined by the scarcity of water, but despite this almost all desert areas are inhabited by plants and animals that require at least some water. Many different forms of life are certain indicators of water in the vicinity. By knowing a bit about the nature of desert plants, insects, birds, reptiles, and mammals, you can often find their hidden sources of life-giving water. It also helps to remember that water flows downhill and naturally seeks the lowest level. In the desert, this may be at the base of hills or underground, especially where there is a large amount of vegetation. Even an apparently dry stream may yield water if you dig in the right place.

Anywhere you find damp soil or sand is a good place to dig. In dry streambeds, this will mostly be in the outside of bends under the concave bank of the outer curve, the same part of the stream that would be deepest if it were flowing with surface water. Even if you find only wet mud and no liquid water, the mud can be pressed in a piece of cloth such as your T-shirt to squeeze out precious moisture. Indicators of subsurface water in a dry wash include an abundance of green plants, especially those species that require lots of water such as cattails, cottonwood, or willow trees. Dense clouds of flies swarming over a particular spot usually indicate that water can be found by digging there; this is what enables the nomadic Bedouins of the Sahara to find water in the driest wastelands.

The presence of bees is also a certain indicator of water in the vicinity. Bees are rarely found more than three or four miles from fresh water. If you can see which direction they are flying to and from, you can often track them back to the hive and their water supply. Ants are likewise indicators of a water source. The ants and bees may be observed going in and out of a hole in the crotch of a tree—if so, there is probably a hidden reservoir of trapped rainwater there. You can find out by dipping a long piece of grass or a stick in it. Such natural tree reservoirs are common in dry areas, replenished by rain and by dew that condenses on the branches and trickles down. It can be mopped out with bits of cloth tied to a stick or sucked out directly with a hollow straw or reed.

Some species of birds, like doves, blackbirds, and other grain and seed eaters, are a reliable indictor of water. They spend the day feeding but at dusk make for a water hole to drink before going to roost. If you see them flying low and swift late in the day, they are flying to water. Carnivorous birds, on the other hand—such as hawks, eagles and owls—get most of the moisture they need from their prey, and are not reliable water indicators.

While desert reptiles such as snakes and lizards are largely independent of water other than dew and what they get from their prey, if you see frogs or salamanders there is almost always water nearby. Mammals also need water at regular intervals, though many that are found in the desert can travel long distances between drinks. Animal trails do not always lead to water, but fresh tracks of grazing animals such as deer that lead downhill late in the day will sometimes lead you to water.

Some of these water sources used by birds and other animals will be natural rock basins and pockets that trap rainwater and snow melt, sometimes holding it for months afterward. Native Americans such as the Apaches who thrived in some of the driest Southwestern deserts and mountains relied on these natural water basins when hunting and traveling far from streams. They are often located on sandstone ridges, in side canyons, and in narrow clefts in the rock. By carefully studying the terrain for areas of sandstone cut by water runoff you can usually find such hidden water basins.

Water can be obtained from certain plants, including dew that can be mopped up from grasses and other low-growing plants in treeless areas. The easiest way it to collect it is to use rags or articles of clothing to sponge it up in the early morning before the sun evaporates it and squeeze it into a container. Other plants contain water in their roots, stems, or leaves. Tree roots near the surface in gullies and other low areas can be pulled up and cut into short lengths to drain out the moisture.

Some desert plants such as the barrel cactus contain large amounts of water, but that water is very difficult to get without a good knife and lots of hard work—you need to cut the cactus into sections and mash the pulp to squeeze out the water. Water can also be evaporated from plants by placing leaves and stems in clear plastic “transpiration” bags and putting them in the sun. The water drawn out of the plant material will condense on the inside surface of the plastic and run down to the bottom, where it can be collected. Any type of clear plastic bag can work; the key is sealing it tightly to prevent water loss through evaporation. You can make a solar still from a sheet of clear plastic stretched over a hole about three feet wide by 18 inches deep. Use green plants to line the hole under the plastic to increase the amount of water condensed by the still.

Interview Tonight on Survival Common Sense Radio

Tonight I will be talking with Leon Pantenburg on his Survival Common Sense Radio show between 8:00 and 9:00 PM Central Time.  Leon is the author of the popular blog, Survival Common Sense,  which is an excellent resource on wilderness survival topics from an outdoorsman with extensive real-life experience.  Leon and I have exchanged many emails about survival topics since I began this blog.  Tonight we will be talking about my new book, Getting Out Alive: 13 Deadly Scenarios and How Others Survived. as well as related topics.

Here is a link to more detail about the show and tonight's program:

http://www.bepreparedradio.com/2011/02/17/survival-common-sense-radio-02-18-2011/

More on Survival Hunting and Food Gathering

I spent most of the day last Saturday canoeing with my long-time camping and adventure-travel buddy, Ernest Herndon.  We went to a large national forest lake here in south Mississippi mainly just to get out on the water for a few hours, but also because I wanted to shoot some footage for a video I plan to post here soon, in which Ernest demonstrates a simple paddling technique that makes long-distance travel in a canoe much more feasible and less exhausting.  I'll have that video live here as soon as I have time to edit it.

Out on the lake, as we explored the hidden coves that reach like fingers into the wooded hills of the surrounding national forest, we saw a wide array of waterfowl coming and going, as well as deer and squirrel activity within sight of the water.  Our conversation turned to survival hunting, as Ernest had read my last post here and we talked then about the different methods so many people use to achieve the same end, namely putting meat in the freezer

With over 30 years experience as a newspaper reporter in south Mississippi, including covering the local hunting and fishing reports and writing a weekly outdoor page for the Sunday Edition, Ernest has seen about every technique imaginable and has spend lots of time in the woods, swamps and fields with some incredibly skilled outdoorsmen.   Most of these guys he knows are the kind I mentioned before that probably never read survival books yet have a knack for finding and getting their game when most everyone else comes up empty handed.  They range from some local backwoodsmen who probably don't read any books at all to the highly-educated, like Ernest's own son, who is a doctor but also one of the most avid and skilled hunters I've ever met.  Anyone who has done a lot of hunting and fishing has seen the type.  The conversation reminded me of a hard-drinking surveyor I used to work with who each day after work would walk the banks of a lake near the job with a rod and reel and one specific artificial lure, and come back near dark with a plastic garbage bag full of bass.  This in the same lake where my brother and I rarely got a strike.  The same guy was equally proficient with getting deer during hunting season.

Discussing characters like this, especially the ones Ernest has accompanied and interviewed over the years, led us to more conversation about alternative methods of game and fish gathering that are rarely discussed in a survival context.  Take hand-grabbing for instance:  This involves wading along the shores of a creek or lake and reaching into holes to grab catfish that are laying up there.  People who are good at this can get far more fish than they can eat in a very short time, but again, there's a knack to it that some have while most of us would have to work a lot harder at it.  It's all about knowing how and where to look.  The same goes for setting out drop hooks in the local creek, building fish weirs or rigging snares and traps.  We also talked about frog-gigging, shining beavers, alligator, rabbit and deer at night, and even killing armadillos with a stick, if you were desperate and couldn't find anything else.  

When the conversation turned to the optimum firearms to take in a survival situation, as these discussions always seem to do, Ernest expressed his thoughts on shotguns, which would be his first choice because of versatility with a variety of loads.  He said the weight and bulk issues of the ammunition could be mitigated somewhat by choosing a smaller bore, like a 20 gauge, and that he would prefer the simplicity of a single or double-barrel over a pump or automatic.  Knowing that if Ernest actually had to bug out someday he would do so in a canoe along a local stream, I could find no fault with his choice of weapon because in a canoe he could carry all the ammo he wanted and in the thick cover around here, the shotgun would sure make it easier to harvest squirrels and most other game.  I grew up learning to hunt with a Savage singe-shot 20 gauge myself, and later switched to a .22 for small game before acquiring a variety of rifles in different calibers.

As a result of this conversation, Ernest decided to poll some local experienced hunters regarding their choice of a survival firearm and got a variety of answers, with many favoring 12-gauge shotguns, and few opting for a 20-gauge, a .22 rifle, a .22 revolver with interchangeable .22 Magnum cylinder, and one preferring a .17 HMR rifle. 

Another interesting topic of this conversation we had regarding survival hunting concerned what we have seen in our travels in various parts of the world.  Ernest went on two expeditions into the interior of New Guinea back in the 1980's, including visiting a village in the mountainous jungles there where the people still hunted with bows and arrows and wore bones through their noses. He wrote a book about it called In The Hearts Of Wild Men.  In New Guinea at that time, he also encountered various subsistence hunters that used shotguns, while crocodile hunters were still using spears.  Later, in the 1990's, we traveled together in both the jungle areas and drier mountain areas of Honduras and encountered both Miskito Indians and campesinos who hunted every kind of animal in the region with .22 rifles.  Lucio, our host at a remote ranch near the El Salvador border even used his .22 to shoot fish when we approached a stream and claimed to have killed over 200 deer with his well-worn and rusty Marlin Model 60.

The conclusion we came to is that you use what you have and what you feel comfortable with.  When we stopped for lunch and Ernest broke out his banjo to pick some blues, I decided maybe he won't have to hunt after all in a post-apocalyptic world!  People are still going to need entertainment after the lights go out, and what could be better than some banjo blues by a campfire out in the backwoods?  I recorded one of his tunes for YouTube and thought I would share it here too:  

Current Book Project Now Listed on Amazon:

Now that the book I'm currently working on has a page on Amazon complete with the preliminary cover image, I can give you a hint as to what it's about:

There will be a subtle change to the title and sub-title, as discussed with my publisher, but this is close.  Unlike Bug Out, this book will not be a guide or how-to, but should be entertaining reading to anyone interested in the subject of survival.  The scenarios presented here will cover a wide range of predicaments that others have lived through and that you might find yourself in as well, especially if you are the adventurous sort.

Here's a brief description from the publisher:

During a catastrophic event, what separates those who survive from those who are never seen again? In 13 suspenseful adventures, each a story of overcoming impossible odds, the author reveals the three vital ways to cheat death when all seems lost—avoid panic, know your survival skills, and maintain a relentless determination to make it out alive.

A unique combination of fictional scenarios, true accounts, and instructive sidebars, Would You Survive? educates as it entertains. Readers realize how important it is to suppress the natural panic response that produces bad decisions and often fatal outcomes.

Teaching by example, the characters use real-life survival tactics—including navigating, building shelters, finding water, and signaling for help. Scattered throughout the book, bonus profiles recount true survivor stories that illustrate how the determination to live in the bleakest and most devastating conditions has saved the lives of countless people.


The scenarios range from urban disasters to wilderness ordeals in many different environments.  And of course for the the readers of this blog and Bug Out, one of them will be a "bug-out" situation.  Needless to say, this is a big project and I'm working hard to get it done in time to meet the publication date.  I'll be posting more about it here as publication gets closer, as well as some posts about the types of predicaments that will be discussed in the book and how you could end up in one. 

Wallet-sized Firestarters

Leon Pantenburg, the man behind the excellent site, Survival Common Sense, recently sent me a test sample of some wallet-sized firestarter packages he has developed.  He first contacted me about these in response to my post, Minimal Bug Out Kit for Everyday Carry.  He probably felt sorry for me for still carrying the old bulky Fire Stick firestarter that I've used for years.  Leon's wallet packs are much more compact, barely taking up any more space in your wallet than a business card.  They come sealed in plastic packages, with instructions on the label:

When you take the material out of the package, you can see it is some kind of impregnated fabric:

The instructions say to tear off a 1/8-inch strip, twist, and then light the edge.  I did that when I first received the package, but Leon insisted that to give these a real shake-down, I should first soak one in water for a couple of days.  I did better than that.  I opened one of the packages and weighted it down in the bottom of a pan of water, forgetting about it for a week.  Today when I took the above photos, I removed this fourth package from the water, thoroughly soaked, as you can see here:

Following the instructions, I tore off a strip and twisted it a bit, then lit it with my Bic lighter:

I had no problem getting it started, even though I didn't bother to shake or wipe the water off the twisted strip. It sizzled and popped, but burned with a fury.  So then I lit the whole piece from the soaked package:

You can see the first piece is still burning fine, and the larger strip is flaming with a vengeance.  I had to throw it on the ground and stamp it out before it set the 4x4 post I was using for a bench on fire!   I would say this is a pretty good initial test.  I haven't used the firestarters on a trip yet, when getting a fire going really counts, but they are now part of my kit and will be put to use the very next time I build a campfire. 

Leon says the idea for a wallet-sized survival firestarter came to him several years ago when he did a story on some lost snowmobilers who with no gear and no training got stuck in deep snow in the Oregon backcountry and nearly qualified for a Darwin Award because of it.  With no idea how to find tinder or dry wood, they tried cash and even credit cards in their attempt to start a fire, but did not succeed.  They survived only because they were found in time by a search and rescue team. 

He says he developed this wallet-sized firestarter over a period of several years and now includes them in all his survival kits.  As he says, it's light, absolutely waterproof and works every time.

Leon plans to start selling these firestarters from his website sometime in the future, saying they will likely go for about $5 for a package of three, plus shipping.  I think he's got a winner here and I look forward to seeing this on the market as all of us who are interested in survival, prepping or wilderness travel have a need for a compact, reliable firestarter. 

Book Review: Lost in the Jungle

One of the great fringe benefits of writing books is that I get to read a lot of good books in the course of my research.  I've been reading lots of first-person narratives of near-death survival experiences lately while working on my current book project which will be completed in the next two months.  One such book is Yossi Ghinsberg's Lost in the Jungle.   At one time, back when I was obsessed with getting to the jungle for the first time myself, I read anything and everything I could find related to jungle travel.  Now, having been there and done that  more than once, it began to have less appeal, and somehow I passed on Ghinsberg's excellent book a couple of times when I picked up the original hardcover edition in the bookstore and flipped through the pages. 

I now realize the mistake I made after recently reading this book, which I couldn't put down once drawn into the narrative.  Lost in the Jungle is in fact a gripping account of a lone man with little knowledge of wilderness survival facing one of the most unforgiving wildernesses in the world - a trackless swath of the Bolivian Amazon along the remote and inaccessible Tuichi River.

Here is a Google Earth view of the area where Ghinsberg was lost.  Note that not only is it an unbroken tract of virgin rainforest, it is also rugged and mountainous, the rivers cascading in whitewater rapids through treacherous canyons. Try to imagine what it would be like to try to walk out of such a jungle, alone with nothing but a lighter, a poncho and a few remaining morsels of beans and rice, your feet peeling from jungle rot and not even a machete to aid in gathering food or cutting a path: 

Ghinsberg is extremely fortunate that he lived to write his book. Two of the four companions he started out with on his ill-prepared trip were never heard from again.  In the first part of the book as you read his account of how they ended up in such a predicament, it's hard to have much sympathy for any of them as you see mistake after mistake being made.  But once Ghinsberg is alone and telling of his terrifying experiences after getting swept through raging rapids on a log raft when he becomes separated from his remaining companion, his descriptions of the difficulties the jungle presents and his methods of dealing with them with practically nothing win you over to his side.  He turns out to be an incredibly tenacious survivor against odds that few experts would care to even contemplate.  Even with his inexperience, he manages to find food, shelter himself from torrential downpours, survive a flash flood that nearly sweeps him away, extricate himself from quicksand bogs and fend off a prowling jaguar in the middle of the night.

I think the most important lesson this book has to teach is the role of attitude and the will to live in an extreme test of life or death.  Ghinsberg refuses to give up, and near the end of the narrative, when he knows he can't walk out, he resigns himself to the possibility that he may have to wait months before someone comes along on the river.  Even with this dismal prospect, he starts making plans to survive alone like a modern-day Robinson Crusoe of the jungle until he can get out.  It is little wonder that today he makes his living as a motivational speaker.  More about what he is doing now can be found on his website here:  http://www.ghinsberg.com/