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Survival Skills
“Man Vs. Wild” Video Game More Fun Than Eating Raw Muskrat
Every Boundary Waters camper has had to rough it at one point or another. But have you ever had to ward off a hooded viper, or drink your own pee to survive until you got back to your entry point?
Now you can, courtesy of survival expert, Bear Grylls. This fall will see the release of the “Man Vs. Wild” video game by Crave Games. It’s all here: spearing catfish, skydiving over mountains, scrabbling over “slippy” cliff faces… good clean fun (watch the trailer here). Even the grub-eating gourmet himself gives it his seal of approval: “It’s the only video game I’ll ever let my kids play.”
The Man Vs. Wild video game will be available for Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. And if you have to camp out in line to get your copy, just remember to bring a multi-tool and canteen.
Via Trailspace.
Haiti Needs Tents
The buzz began last week, when a spokesperson for a relief organization in Haiti made this desperate plea in a New York Times article: “Tents, tents, tents [...] That’s the word we want to get out. We need tents.”
Some 100,00 tents, in fact, will be needed to shelter an estimated half million refugees.
It didn’t take long for people to act. Minnesota’s own Gear Junkie (Stephen Regenold) soon found himself being nominated by bloggers to organize a tent donation effort. Turns out, he discovered, there’s one in motion already; one that you and I can help with, too.
Backpacker’s Guide To Staying Comfortably Cold
Aspire to go winter camping, but have cold feet? Backpacker has posted a fairly comprehensive ‘winter camping essentials’ guide to help allay your fears and warm you up to the experience.
The collection of articles covers how to dress, what to bring, and how to do what you need to do — all without losing precious body parts to frostbite. There’s a lot to be learned, so read on for our highlights.
Igloo Eye Candy
When considering the topic of winter survival, I’m compelled to believe that snow forts just SO ROCK!
In what feels like a page stolen from a modern architecture journal, Wend Magazine has posted a number of unusual igloo creations.
Igloo construction tools (like Grand Shelters’ ICEBOX) are becoming more widely used in winter camping. So it’s more than just fun to see how creative people are getting with them — the gallery is actually a pretty good resource.
Even with an ICEBOX, it can take up to 4 hours to build an igloo. That doesn’t leave a wide margin of error, in terms of daylight. So maybe next time I endeavor to build one, I’ll steal this page myself (especially that rad Fortress of Solitude one.) Via WinterCampers.
iPhone as a Survival Kit? Stop Laughing.
Of *course* you’re skeptical. But just be thankful this isn’t the 9,438th post out there on how to fit survival gear into an Altoids tin.
Can an iPhone be significantly useful in the wild? Without a signal? We just read about a blogger who’s sufficiently optimized his iPhone, to argue a good case for it.
For quick access, all his outdoors/survival apps are on the same page. As you’d expect, the good ol’ compass and flashlight apps are among them. But he also references a “500 page survival, escape and evasion manual [...] recently updated with an edible, medicinal, and poisonous plant guide that includes color photos,” which once downloaded, obviously doesn’t require a signal.
What to do when it’s lost its charge? He’s even got an app for that, but you’ll have to read the article to find out what that is.
Recommendations on chargers and cases are also given. Overall, a well-researched article. Too bad there’s not an Emergency Blanket app… Maybe you could a real one as a protective case.
Choose My Adventure, Vote #1: Tracking Wild Boars or Granola Bar Survival Fire
Wow! Tomorrow begins our adventure in the Allegheny Mountains, with the Gear Junkie. We’re extremely pumped — and you should be too, since you’re voting on our first day’s activities!
Since the trip is the grand prize of the Junkie’s Choose Your Own Adventure sweepstakes, we want you to be a part of it. We need you to vote on what to do during our hike in the mountains tomorrow. Will it be:
Tracking Wild Boars
Honestly, we know nothing about the Alleghenies. So while researching, we were curious about which kinds of wildlife we could expect to see. “Whitetail deer, chipmunk, groundhogs…” Nothing new, we have those in Minnesota. “…Bobcat, snowshoe hare, wild boar and black bear are also found in the –” Hold it right there. Wild boars? Yes! What an awesome chance to read Nature’s signs, feel the thrill of the chase and perhaps get our shinbones flayed by a vicious feral beast!
-OR-
Start a Survival Fire Using Granola Bars
A vigorous hike will keep you warm, but in those elevations… well, you just never know. If you vote for this option, we’ll attempt a fire fueled with bars of both the Chewy and Crunchy varieties — and who knows, maybe some of that paraffin-coated Key Lime Luna Bar crap (I sure won’t be eating that one, Survival or not.) It’ll be educational.
So, what’ll it be? Cast your vote NOW in the Comments section of this post. You’ll find out which option we chose, when we post our hiking adventure, tomorrow night. VOTE!
Turn Your Facebook Friends Into a Rescue Squad
We’re headed off for 5 days of adventure along the Frost River — where the forecast may indeed call for some frosty mornings.
But don’t worry, we know preparedness is the key: If things go bad, we’ll just do what those two Aussie girls did on Sunday when they got lost in a sewer for hours. Think we can get a few bars on our cell phones out there?
See you in a few!
Survival Is Serious (see Ed Wardle)
So what to do when, after seven weeks alone in the wild, you’re out of food, out of energy and out of clarity? You put your distress call signal to use, be glad for a quick rescue — and you realize it’s okay to call that a happy ending.
Adventurer/documentarian Ed Wardle has done just that.
As the subject of his own survival experiment Alone in the Wild, Wardle had himself placed in western Canada’s wilderness with his film equipment and little else. His goal: Three months. His tools: Sharp wits and his skills as an outdoorsman (though his bio is clear that he is not a survival expert.) His only lifeline: Weekly videotape deliveries to a drop-off site, and daily ‘I’m still alive’ tweets.
Survival Is Funny (see The Naturist)
They say survival in the wild is 1/3 What to Do, and 99% What Not to Do. Or something like that.
Case in point: The Naturist, a new video series brought to us by Teva. Outdoor expert Gavin McInnes takes us into the backcountry where he finds unexpected water sources, dispels myths about bee stings, and shows what to do when discovering those myths actually aren’t. Watch and learn, young grasshopper.
Commemorate Your Weekend Disaster With Demeritwear
How to salvage an epic adventure turned epic fail? Reward your buddies with Demerit Patches for surviving it all.
For everyone who may have has had a less-than-perfect camping experience, Demeritwear takes a little of the hurt off, with their selection of tees and individual patches. Tent get flooded out? Critters enjoy the food pack more than you did? Get caught skinny-dipping by unexpected visitors (ask Pam about that one)? There’s a patch to heal up almost every painful memory here.
I’m actually considering stocking up on a number of these, to give out on last nights of future trips. Shoot, if you’ve suffered as many mishaps as I have, you’ll rack up your 15 pieces of flair in no time. Via Backpacker.
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