Listen, Smell, Look! Use your senses they work. This is the greatest truest pun and the most prevalent and basic. This is true for yourself as well as the deer. What does this mean. First you need to understand that you are the intruder. You are the one going into the woods, field, etc… and aren’t normally there. Any animal that is worth it’s weight in survival will know when an intruder is near. Especially an intruder that is clumsy, smelly and awkward as most hunters and people are in the woods. It’s just a reality…. We do not spend nearly enough time in the woods in our modern society to blend into the woods perfectly. But we are smart and we can compensate for it. So… what to do?

First assume that anything you can hear, see or smell, a deer can 10 times better. It’s true! Maybe even more than tens times better especially when it comes to scent. So failing to calculate things like the direction of the wind, walking or moving around in plain site and making lots of noise is the first mistake most hunters will make. A sure way to scare an animal like a deer that is instinctively scared of humans and deer are. We have hunted them since the beginning of time just as wolves have it doesn’t matter how long or how old you think the earth is this is universally true. They are scared of humans as much as wolves, a lion, anything. If they are not scared it’s because they have been interfered with and associate us with food or have been forced to live in close proximity which is indeed and interference with the natural disposition.

1) Don’t make noise. Don’t wear clothing that is noisy. Jackets or pants that swish when walking, make more noise. Even if your holding still eventually you’ll have to move to aim your firearm or bow or whatever you’re using for hunting. If you clothes are making noise your prey may become aware. For Example: Ever notice how most hunting gear has a tendency to be made of soft fabric, great, but it doesn’t end there. You may also need to silence some of your clothing. I have a pare of boots that I use for hunting… they have zippers on them and a flap with snap buttons on them to cover the zipper. The zipper grip flaps against the side of the boot while walking. Walk through some soft grass and just listen to them. I walked and I heard a zipper clicking on both feet as i was walking, so what did I do? I took a pair of wire cutters and cut the grip and threaded the zipper with para chord. The para chord doesn’t make any noise and lets me use my zippers. Low and behold I had zippers on all my clothing and what did I do. Replaced all of the handles with parachord. Sound crazy….. Just walk down a carpeted hallway once with all of your hunting equipment on and just listen. I bet you’re making noise. Figure out what it is and figure out how to get rid of it. Zippers and buttons unsnapped can be like little tiny bells on your clothing.

Also what might even count more than silent clothing is walking/hunting a path that is quite. A lot of times it is tempting to cut through areas of brush, grass or woods. A lot of times it’s a bad idea. Not only is it difficult to travel it’s difficult to be quiet while your doing it. Just try and walk through a corn field without making any noise. It’s not easy and probably won’t work even though the plants are evenly spaced and you have an isle to walk down. So what to do? Take the long route even if you have to walk up a road or two. Figure out how to get to your spot by being quite and whatever you do don’t walk across that field. That field even if it’s mostly grass and quite is open plain site. A deer, the deer will see you. If anything go along the edges or something just don’t walk or drive through the middle of it cause that is dumb.

2) Don’t be seen: I was never a big believer in camouflage until I realized how well it worked. And obviously some work better than others. Don’t get caught up in it just make sure that you are dressed appropriately and practically enough. 3D camouflage is the best. Why? cause even if it’s the wrong colors it breaks up your outline. The shadows and edges that it creates does an excellent job in breaking of the edges of your body. This is the goal to make your image appear more like NOT you. The more you can see how it no longer looks like you the more it works on the deer. Some people don’t believe in how well it works. I think they need to try it and find out. I’ve used it quite well. If you can hold still enough just after a deer sees you and you have the camouflage on they may even keep on doing what they are doing as if you’re not there. Believe me it works. You can even make your own camouflage. Bear in mind you may need to be wearing blaze orange for certain hunting seasons.

3) Don’t stink: Smell is a tough one. With smell sometimes it’s just too difficult to not be exposed to random smelly crap. Think about it… your car probably smells after all it’s emitting burnt gases from the rear. I take the minimalize the issue approach. I realize that I’m not going to bath in apples and role around in the dirt before I go hunting so I try to make the best effort I can to eliminate any strong smells. First things first wash up in the morning and don’t use scented soaps. Plain soap should be fine. Same with the clothes. You can buy scent free detergent but keep in mind if you stick it in your wash machine that you normally use with other detergents, guess what. There will be some left in there scenting even if you put in a scent free load. One year i actually washed all my clothes in a plastic bucket then placed it in a bag with apples and leaves for a month outside untill the day before opening day (to make sure it wasn’t wet). I wore that for opening day. It smealt like stinky apples and earth but certainly did not smell like me. Not sure if it helped but and after all no smell might actually be better than an earth smell. One thing for sure I would say though is… don’t smoke a cigarette. I don’t smoke and I can smell cigarette stink a mile away. And if I can smell it… so can a deer only ten times better. Also, try to keep off other stinks. If I bring food with me I bring things that a deer might eat like peanut butter and honey or fruits/vegetables. NO I don’t bring a frozen burrito or a chunk of meat. It smell too much like something else.

I would say what might even be more important than being sent free is being aware of what direction the wind is moving. Perhaps you should have a plan for what you’re going to do depending on which direction the wind is blowing. It wouldn’t hurt. If I had a dollar for every time a deer ran away because it smelt and saw me. Not just one or the other but both. A deer is like a person. Like for example… lets say you hear something in the back yard and go look to see what it is. You see nothing. Depending on what you heard you may just go back to watching TV. Deer logic is similar. If they hear a twig crack they will look and try to smell. If they do not smell anything and hear no more they may not run away. So like anything your stealth is dependent on the combination of silence, low odor and concealment to become effect. Not just one or the other. But in order for them all to work you have to be effective in each.

This post is to que everyone else in on my muzzleloader system. As in the method I use to clean and maintain accuracy with it. I hope that if someone has better suggestions they let me know. If not I hope it helps someone else out. As of now this method seems to be working quite well for my muzzleloading. Enjoy….

For Starters:
I’m firing a Traditions Buckstalker .50 caliber muzzleloader. I mounted a 1.5-4x Barska (shotgun scope) on it for regular deer season and then I take it off for muzzleloader season (It maintains zero). Maybe off a tiny bit but at longer ranges it’s hard to tell if it’s different powders, loads, bullets, me or the scope. Yes I switch it up quite a bit with what I’m using (why not?). It’s your job to know what is going on. You can’t know unless you try different things to get better, worse or indifferent results.

The scope mounts have space to allow the use of iron sights with the scope. I think this is important as any mechanical device can fail, two methods for aiming doesn’t hurt. There’s nothing worse than sitting in your tree stand all day, not knowing if your scope is still on mark because you bumped it in the dark on the way to the tree stand.

Also, in Wisconsin, most deer shots are close ranges. Unless you are on the edge of a field you’d be lucky to get 100yds of clear view/sight on your target. So really, it’d be foolish not to have an easy close shot even though my scope has 1.5x power (good for close shooting). The 4x on the scope is usually more than adequate to get out to 150yds (even 200yds) or so if you think your muzzleloader will hit that far. But again, for the most part, unnecessary. The scope isn’t the Cadillac of scopes but it works well for an inexpensive muzzleloader.

1) The first thing I did out of the box is clean the entire thing until it was bone dry. I don’t want any ones finger juice, crap, lint or factory oil all over the thing. My preferred method of cleaning most oily residues etc… is 91% isopropyl alcohol. It’s not the cure all but it’s not highly toxic, fairly safe, easy to handle as well as evaporates quickly and leaves nothing behind (did I forget cheap as hell and easy to get).

2) I put gorilla grease on the breach plug threads. No I don’t usually use the most expensive stuff from Cabellas or Gander Mountain. I am looking for some sort of silicon or grease replacement for cost. Look for high heat resistance, less or non-toxic and cheap. WHY? because after you clean the barrel & plug enough times you start to realize that you go through it fast. It more or less gets wiped away and doesn’t need to be expensive strength crap just resist expanding gases & heat. It’s working as the seal on your breach plug and your breach plug is going to need to be cleaned every 5 to 6 shots otherwise you won’t be able to get it off. Also, after you get it all over your fingers a few times you start to hope that whatever the stuff is made out of? it isn’t going to give you cancer or poison you 10 years down the road.

3) Then for the bore. I put a cotton patch dabbled in bore butter down the barrel. This does 2 things, lubes the bore to easily load the bullet and then after the shot keeps the fouling from the powder, primer and plastic and/or lead pretty loose to clean. This step leads us into the seasoning the barrel discussion.

I do not claim to be an expert on seasoning gun barrels. I think the term “seasoning the barrel” or “breaking in the barrel” are misnomers. First, I’ve heard countless folks speak of seasoning cooking pots/pans ceramic plates etc…. Do I think this is real, maybe. What are they talking about? You’d have to ask them. I do not think the bore butter will season the steel of my barrel. I simply think it is lubing it up. Why use bore butter? because from what I can tell it’s cheap and easy and does a decent job of keeping everything loose for cleaning. Are there better products? Perhaps. I have yet to have any problem with Bore Butter. It hasn’t “built up” on me, although I do clean the gun religiously like a swab every round or two and thoroughly clean after use just because it’s a muzzle loader.

With a muzzle-loader that uses a breach plug, I don’t think there is much to worry about if cleaned regularly and consistently. I think that when people are seasoning pans they are talking about leaving oil on it to make it less sticky. So if someone compares seasoning a gun barrel to seasoning a pan I would doubt they really understand what is happening and/or there credibility. Does bore butter season a barrel? To me it’s very doubtful. Are there other products that do, maybe? In the sense it leaves a residual smooth surface on it, yes. I would assume that anything going through the barrel (especially at high pressures like a bullet) will eventually start to wear out the barrel. So you could call it seasoning it or you could call it shooting your gun. Also, why wouldn’t you be sighting in your gun while supposedly breaking it in? So break it in do whatever you want but keep it very clean and keep in mind…..

If anything in there builds up too much, it could ruin your shot and maybe even your barrel. Short answer to most problems is….. regularly, thoroughly and consistently clean your gun. With a muzzle loader I would say do it every shot or every other shot. Don’t worry about cleaning your rifle too much assuming you’re not scratching the inside of it. I use a fiberglass cleaning rod, it is much softer than the steel barrel and should minimize scratching or grooves on the inside of the barrel. As long as you’re not having conversations with your rifle, you’ll be alright!

4) The fourth step is I run a dry patch and/or patch soaked in isopropyl alcohol after every shot. Why? Simple, to maintain a smooth empty barrel. If I’ve shot five rounds through it or the bullet gets hard to load I swab/patch a little more then will put a swab/patch with bore butter through it. I also do the same when I take the breech plug out to clean and re-grease the threads. When I say swab/patch I mean liberal amounts of the isopropyl alcohol (this will burn up and generally evaporates quickly) but I wouldn’t pour the stuff down the barrel. When I put the bore butter in at any time I really just get the patch wet with it and run it down the barrel then wipe off any excess. Really minimal amounts of the all of the stuff. Excess fluids in the barrel, no matter what, can cause the barrel to deform (i.e. fuck up). So really it’s a system that involves a lot of cleaning. The rewards are great. Mine will keep good enough groups at 100yds to put down a deer. At 25 yds the bullets are on top of each other. I’ll be trying to push it our further for next years hunting season, I’m hoping to hit 150yds although the bullet does start to drop fairly quickly because of the nature of a muzzle loader. So if I get there, I’ll be happy.

This is a video that I made with the Adobe Creative Suite 3. The text & background was done in Photoshop. The birds were done in Illustrator then imported into Flash to animate with the text and landscape. At the end I imported everything into aftereffects and added some effects here and there to make it look a little more movie like. Overall I think success. Let me know what you think. I also made recorded the soundtrack with my American Deluxe Fender Stratocaster and Audacity. I used a jamlab USB audio card plugged into my laptop.

I know I said I was liberal but honestly, I feel, if you can’t trust a person with a gun, then what good are they? (Set aside accidents form misuse and/or irresponsible handling) Many feel that eliminating guns is a solution to violence in America. I feel that America (and our culture/society) itself causes it’s own violence and guns are just a tool used to express that. It’s really not that far out of an idea to understand. But gun control is another issue. What I really am saying is that I do not agree with this type of legislation.

Basically people want to kill and the gun allows them that ability much more conveniently than a knife or other means. But it’s important to remember that the gun isn’t doing the killing. Guns don’t have emotions like fear, hatred or happiness. A gun is indiscriminate. However, an individual pulling the trigger does have these emotions and so does that person on the other end of the barrel.

To me getting rid of guns is like taking a drug. In this statement I feel as though trying to legislate the removal of guns in our American society is more of a cover up than a fix. It is an attempt to remove the aggression that our fellow Americans have towards each other but at best it just eliminates the symptoms of the problem it does not strive for long term successful removal of violence, hatred, anger, fear or any of the many reasons that people rationalize killing in our society. In fact I believe that simply trying to remove guns and not addressing the cultural, social issues pertaining to violence is irresponsible.

For example, lets say you have chronic heart burn. But you also eat poorly. You can continue to eat poorly and take Prevacid (heart burn medication). This works and gets rid of the heart burn but really isn’t fixing the problem cause you are still eating poorly. Or you can change your diet. This will also get rid of the heart burn. However, you will not have to take Prevacid. Not to mention that the other effects of eating healthy will help increase your chances of living longer. So….. what is the better choice? It’s just like gun control.

You can legislate removing all non hunting type firearms (oxymoron BTW) and remove the effects of having firearms available to people even though they are the same person with the same potentially violent aggressive behavior towards each other. Or you can try and fix this violent aggressive behavior that the murders in our society possess which would be inherently good because the side effects of such actions would positively benefit everyone else gun violence included. The side effect instead or murder or heartburn would be peace and tranquility or as close as we could come to it.

So I pose a side question to the US government. How do we rationalize spending more than half the money the US has on weapons and literally war and then when it comes to spending money on loving each other…….people get confused or somehow pervert it with hippie stereotypes and/or blissful and/or irresponsible thinking?

I know that in reality it is much more complicated of a situation than the way I have painted a picture in this article. But, I can’t be the only who thinks like this? To me it just makes sense.

Moreover, I think the problem with anti-gunners is that they think the fact someone wants to possess a gun in the first place is a problem. To them I say…..

“happiness is a warm gun” -The Beatles

NO, really though! There are a lot of legitimate reasons for owning a firearm. The first and foremost reason I bought a firearm is for hunting. The second is for personal protection and the third reason is for protection of others. I feel these three reasons alone are perfectly legitimate not to mention recreational purposes like competition shooting, plinking and/or tactical shooting. Then there are the obvious reasons the military needs them and no I don’t think that our government can do no evil. All one needs to do is pick up a history book and read between the lines, to figure out how evil/cruel people can be to one another. But again I would pose that this can be done without a firearm after all weapons such as a gun didn’t always exist but cruelty, temptation and evil certainly have. It doesn’t matter what book you read.

OK so, I did a lot of thinking about a supposed best survivalist weapon. I figured for this post I would do more of a pros & cons/talking type list to make sure I get all the info without the boring.

The first weapon I would like to propose is the Glock 17L (L is for longs lide). This might sound ridiculous but hear me out on this one. First and foremost it’s a 9mm semi automatic pistol that holds 17 rounds. I’ll go right into the things that appeal most to me about this gun then the downsides and maybe a little hypothetical at the end.

PROS
1. Weight and size. All together it weighs in at like 24oz (670g). That’s light and it’s mostly do to the fact that a lot of the gun is made of high strength polymer i.e. plastic and yes the “I don’t trust plastic guns people” are slowly fading away. Weight is important. The fact that you can put the gun fully loaded on your belt and walk around all day with it is a superb bonus not to mention it’s not in the way. The fact that it’s small enough to hide easily in a back pack or under a loose jacket/vest or even a shirt or pant is even better. It’s not super concealable like some small guns but it’s probably the smallest gun I one could still consider adequate self defense. This may be more or less important depending on the situation. For example, if your trying to appear non-threatening or trying to not let on you have a weapon i.e. You can’t do that with a giant assault rifle on your back.

2. Reliability It’s a Glock, people have laid claims to shooting over 100,000 rounds through them without replacing major parts. The thing was designed well. No it’s not like an AK-47 but yes it will work through the extremes if well attended. Anyone who claims you can pour dirt into the barrel and so and so forth is half full of it anyways. Even if you could why would you not clean/clear you gun before firing? Even if a gun did fire with dirt in the chamber or barrel it would still eventually wear it or ruin it over time if not right away.

3. Efficiency This is probably the last strong point and I think grossly overlooked by many in terms of quality for value. I think the word efficiency get’s a bad rap especially when it comes to guns. To start with 9×19 or 9mm rounds are very cheap not to mention you can find them almost anywhere on the planet where bullets can be found. They were meant to be fired out a semi auto gun as well as have been around for quite some time (over 100years). No it’s not renown as the “crazed native stopper” but yes… it is deemed effective by our military. So it doesn’t have the knock down power of a .45 but usually it holds around twice the capacity, this is called a trade off. And yes smaller rounds have their advantages such as lower recoil which means quicker shots, less noise and generally a more manageable weapon for smaller folks. Anyone who does not take into consideration shooting a .45 can be cumbersome to the shooter is either a pro shooter or full of man ego.

Also the gun is fairly priced. Around $600.00 new which is about the same as many other military/law enforcement type guns in this category. The beauty of the long slide is it’s almost the same as it’s shorter counter part. Just go to an online auction site if your local dealer gives you the “you can’t find it anywhere schpeel” and no you don’t really need an add-on. Personally, I dislike laser sites but highly recommend a tactical light. Don’t cheap out on the light either. A good light will make your pistol a universally effective weapon. This can all be done with a comparable budget to most things. Even a good sword or crossbow is going to run you $300+ only that Glock is probably 100 times more deadly if properly used. Also the ammo is cheap too. You can pick up 1000 rounds of ammo online for less then $100.00. And going back to the knock down power issue. Accuracy is the first factor then size/power. Who is going to be more deadly accurate the person who shot a 1000 rounds through their weapon cause it’s cheap or the person who shoots 100 and then saves the rest of their ammo cause it’s expensive? Price out .44 magnum costs. They’re not cheap. Try and find a 10mm round, good luck!

4. Capacity It holds 17 rounds or 19 if you ad the extension and yes you can buy a 30 round magazine for it too. This is superb. It also speaks to the plausibility of a survival concept. If you have to fire more than 17 rounds you probably should have been long gone by then. Not to say that this is always an option so if it isn’t you should still find a 30 round magazine or an extra 17 round magazine adequate as an extra magazine can be.

5. Accuracy This is where the strengths can also be considered weaknesses in other words a conundrum. Also why I suggest a long slide instead of regular Glock 17. For a out of the box handgun it’s superbly accurate. But compared to thousands of other guns it’s lacking. Usually the effective range for a hand gun is around 45yds tops in the military or 15yds if your talking practical self defense. I think with practice you can put a Glock 17L out further than 60yds. How much further would depend on the target. But really it’s not at all a long range weapon. So yes it’s accurate for what it is but no it’s not ideal for longer ranges. That being said it will be quite effective at closer ranges and for very close ranges I would say ideal.

6. Overall plausibility The over all plausibility could also depend on a whole slew of factors whether it be availability or the application in which the weapon would need to be used. I know that you could kill a deer with it if you had to even a bear (yes a bear) but really by no means is it practical for that. So really it depends and yes you would have to consider what type of options you really would have in a survival type situation as the circumstances would vary. I think the fact that it could be so easily carried is probably the first and foremost logic behind having one.

I have considered using it for hunting as the 6″ barrel and center fire round makes it legal in Wisconsin to hunt deer with it. However, I think that I would be restricted to more of a bow and arrow range and definitely wouldn’t have make sure the shot would be in a vital area. Also, not sure how other hunters would feel about it as some might consider using a 9mm inhuman if you didn’t quickly kill the game. Although if I had a dollar every time someone shot a deer with a high power rifle and it ran away, I’d still be poor, but at least it’d pay for the ammo. Perhaps the gun would also be a better compliment to a larger weapon system in survival circumstances. As in the glock is the gun you always have with you and you can rely on something else for bigger problems.

OTHER THOUGHTS:
1) Another good option for a survival weapon would be the bigger brother to the Glock 17L is the Glock 24 the first thing better than a Glock 9mm is a Glock 40 cal. pistol. And yes follow the link it has been used to kill a Kodiak brown bear. This is a just like the regular glock 40 caliber but like the 17L it has an extra long barrel for more accuracy. Also, 40 caliber rounds are still in the cheaper price range. They are consider more effective at penetration than 45 and 9mm calibers. More powerful than a 9mm less cumbersome than a 45 to shoot. The bullet still has significant knock down power and a high velocity and a readily available supply of ammunition at least in the us.

2) Another suggestion for the pistol would be to make either a temporary shoulder stock and/or lanyard to more accurately aim your shots. I would confidently say that these two items can/will easily put either a Glock 17L or Glock 24 out to 100 yard effective ranges. Simply being able to hold the gun steady is sometimes the hardest part about long range shooting. A 9mm will most definitely go that far with a loss of power I wouldn’t go shooting large or dangerous game with it but it won’t drop nearly as much as a .45 which is a much slower moving bullet. The 9mm relies on it’s higher velocity to make the smaller bullet effective and means it’s trajectory is flatter i.e. it drops less over the same distance/time. Also, I say a temporary stock because adding a stock to your pistol could make it illegal (class 3 without a license) and harder to carry. So something that could be used to hold the pistol steady and against your should allowing you to precisely aim with the sites that could easily be taken off would be ideal. I am working on making a stock that slides in the back space of the gun handle and wedges secure with a chunk of rubber. That way it’s more of a shooting stick against your should as apposed to an actual stock.

There are many circumstances that could be considered a survival situation or a survival challenge. Most are inspired by stories either passed on by word of mouth much like urban legends or great tails of adventure and many published by books. However, in our modern world adventure or survival situations are inspired many through movies and television. Despite the best efforts of actors and directors and movie makers as well as the audience to subdue themselves with the craftiness of a true survivor individual it seems in a lot of ways, to fall short of the real experience. For some people, watching the tube is enough but for the rest……

I would for the sake of understanding my concept classify survivalists, survival-ism, survivors for the sake of this article into several different categories with no personal offense or judgment meant to any. The classifications are purely an unbiased observation of the respectful circumstances these categories encompass. This classification defines the motivations behind why one would want to practice or partake in survivalist activity.

1) Enthusiasm: If you’re like me and have spent tons of time outdoors then you will realize that it is quite relaxing and fun to spend more time doing what you love. Any excuse to get out of the house or test your craftiness in the woods is a good time. This enthusiasm comes from wanted to spend as much time as you can in nature and our natural environment.

2) Curiosity: Many people want to test themselves it’s really that simple. Especially since these types of scenarios whether they be real or fake show up on TV all the time. It’s a bit more of a competitive attribute but as long as it’s done in good sport no need to fret.

3) The unplanned and/or disaster: This is without a doubt one of the strongest and most logically demanding reasons for survival ism although the most difficult to plan for. To be prepared for a disaster is like saying I’m going to be prepared for the rest of my life. It’s very vague and you can spend all your time training to do something and never need to use it and then something can go wrong and you won’t be prepared for that specific situation. But nonetheless. Perhaps this motivation would convince people to realize their mind as their strongest tool.

4) The conspiracy theory: Justify the need and/or logic of being able to survive off of the land and/or their own self sufficient manner in/or out of society because the government as a whole and/or our society cannot be trusted to either fulfill those needs or will disregard our civil rights for other reasons such as war and greed. Although history has proven these scenarios as possible it is kind of hard to predict exactly what could actually go wrong or what wouldn’t in our society today and how to deal with it properly. I think at any given time our society is on the verge of great disaster and/or great accomplishment as whole. Although I would validate this concern simply because it cannot be ruled out just as well….. in most cases it’s a harmless logic to be prepared assuming that being preparedness does not dwell in paranoia or irrational action.

The Survivalist Challenge, A test of survival skills in the wild. Most people think of surviving as something they do everyday some people associate it with great struggles or a means of testing ones willingness to endure. For most though it would probably be associated with adventure movies or drama packed reality TV. For the sake of this blog and it’s contents. We would like to keep it real. It’s easy to get caught up in what the Television portrays as a survival situation but you have to remember that most of TV is about the hype. They would rather sell you adventure with no authenticity and a lot of excitement than reality and boring facts that might actually save your life (despite the fact that it is called reality TV). To keep a truly authentic situation you would need to skip past the theatrics and head to the heart of what our concept of a survival situation is. So, what exactly would make an excellent survivalist challenge?

Their is no good way to simulate an actual survival situation so you’re just going to have to suspend your disbelief. Why, because the idea in the first place of a survival situation is rooted in the idea that a person must overcome a set of circumstances or face immanent danger. How could you simulate this without violating/jeopardizing your own personal safety or the personal safety of others? For example, to simulate a plain crash in a remote area you would have to beat someone up then drag them behind a motor boat for an hour and dump them off in the middle of a remote lake? Obviously these circumstances are not except able. However, there are many ways to practice these situations without putting yourself in danger.

The method that I came up with for developing a survivalist scenario requires a five step planning process.

1) Develop a scenario: be it Hollywood based or your own invention of a survival situation. Describe the event in detail but be sure not to make it too complex. Also, you may want to keep in mind the individual or “survivee” has to survive at the end of this adventure. Something for starters could be surviving a snow storm like Luke Skywalker did in Star Wars.

2) Realize the obstacles: Make a list of obstacles that the individual will have to overcome in order to survive their situation. Be detailed and describe acceptable results of the situation/s being completed. Like what the person would have had to have done to complete the scenarios previously developed. Think of them as goals. For example: “survived a snow storm” is too vague but “spent the night outside in -10 degree weather with only a knife and a blanket” is better. Good would be “outside from 9:00pm-9:00am the next morning in, -10C degree weather moderate snow fall, winter clothes on with a blanket and a knife,”

3) Quantize the goals: Distinguish between ascertainable goals and highly achievable goals. Get rid of anything that is impossible in respect to human limitations as well as legality as well as get rid of anything that’s too easy. Take what you have left and put a numerical value and/or parameters to it. You need something you can measure. So as in the “survived a snow storm” scenario. You could make a stipulation that a person must stay X amount of time in Y amount of temperature with Z equipment. Obviously you don’t want to make it too easy thus negating the survivees ingenuity as well as eliminating any amount of adventure out of the situation.

4) Methods of simulation: Think of way that you could simulate each situation with the resources available to you. Remember this is a controlled simulation, you must make sure that what you are doing is safe. There are a lot of easy ways to do this. It will be important to practice a lot of common sense. Since you cannot accurately depict a survival situation why jeopardize yourself attempting too. Controlled means planned. So for each goal you must provide an alternate and fail safe plan/solution should the survival situations and/or scenarios not work out. This means if you someone intends to stay out all night in -10C snow storm they will need to have immediate access to safety (i.e. a warm house, emergency phone, etc…) as well as assistants checking to make sure this person does not push themselves to far and hurt themselves and/or accidentally injure themselves. It requires a lot common sense on the part of the survivee and the assistants. If you don’t know then don’t do it.

5) DO IT: Find a group of willing participants and do it!

My girlfriend and myself are going backpacking in the Porcupine Mountains (porkies) in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I realized that I myself almost always forget something back at the ranch. This is the check list I’m using for the equipment I need to make sure we do not end up S.O.L. in the middle of the woods.

I started off by looking at other checklists and found them a bit long and hard to need. I think it gets to easy to specify what one should bring so perhaps putting the item on the checklist with and giving a little hint of good sense after each item is much more effective than trying to be totally specific. Perhaps later edits will have more concise comments to help others out but I’d like to also keep it simple. So perhaps on a second note/post I should include a list of things to worry about in the woods of Michigan and/or Wisconsin (where I’m from). Hopefully this helps. Here is a link to a downloadable/printable version.

EQUIPMENT
___ Back Pack: 3000-4500 cu. in. or so, you don’t need to fill the thing up but if you do go longer or need more weight small is bad.
___ Sleeping Pad: Therma rest style & thick are nice but foam works too. Nothing requiring a pump.
___ Sleeping Bag: Appropriate for weather could be a fleece blanket could be -40 mummy bag. BTW, the bag ratings are never as warm as they allude to. Keep that in mind.
___ Tent: lightweight & appropriate for weather remember the extra tarp & string. Smaller is good but larger is nicer. I have a really light small for 30 bucks at I can’t remember where. No where near as cool or expensive as a North face or LL Bean but works the same.
___ Small stove: I like Brunton raptor easy, small, light (MSR good but you have to prime and play with fuel, lame!). Although make sure you purchase your fuel canisters before you go cause the local hardware store or gas station may not have them.
___ Stove Fuel: I try to cook on the fire mostly but bring as much fuel as you need. Hence stainless steel pots, pans, knives & forks.

___ 1 medium pot w/lid & pot handle: I prefer all metal (stainless) no plastic/wood handles so you can put it in the fire, found a pot and a bowl that fits on top like a lid at good, all stainless under $8.00. You can loose it, abuse it or leave it and not look back with regret. Anything more expensive and I think your wasting your money.
___ 1 medium bowl: I prefer all metal (stainless) no plastic/wood handles so you can put it in the fire. Would like to add that stainless, although not completely stainless, is quite impervious to any type of stupidity despite what it looks like afterward.
___ Fork, knife, spoon: I prefer small stainless, nice if it folds together. You can pay $20 for a titanium spork if you want to, that’s your business. Regular silverware from your kitchen works fine.
___Map: of the entire area, tell others were you are going (show them on a map they have) and when you’re supposed to get back. This way they know approximately where to find the bodies, lol, just kidding.
___Compass: make sure it works and you know how to use it before you go (cheap compasses don’t work!).
___Flashlight / Headlamp: water resistant & extra batteries. I use phoenix with head adapter $50. You can go more expensive but why? I use Enelope batteries too, cheap, easy, rechargeable, and works in cold weather, get a hand charger and/or car charger adapter for them and you’ll always have chargeable batteries.
___Sunglasses: Mine have my prescription in them; polarized and anti-glare is what you’re looking for.
___First-Aid Kit: Ankle wrap, moleskin, painkillers (Excedrin), antihistamines, band aids, bug-bite-relief (6 most used things). Any worse and you need to get out of the woods. Emergency blankets (why?) dress for the occasion, infrared blankets not going to stop you from freezing to death especially when you could have brought a real blanket. Fishing string & hook why(?) and good luck(!) unless you planned on it before hand. Consider superglue, gorilla tape type things but don’t rely on them for anything really important.
___Pocket Knife & MultiTools: Some sort of multitool or pocket knife thing. I have a Swiss champ & leatherman. Only bring one unless your into them. I prefer the leatherman (got from a bum for $5) because it has a pair of full sized pliers on it. Multitool with knife, pointy poker and screw drivers works wonders. More complicated is extra crap.
___Bowie Knife or Saw: Some sort of multi-tool and a large bowie knife (sharp) for wood processing. Do NOT prefer hatchets, dangerous, not as light or versatile as a large bowie and not as good as an axe and an axe is too much. Hardware store saw can be good too. Those lighter ones with replaceable blades for cutting down small trees or tree limbs.
___Firestarter: 2 different waterproof ways to start a fire (water proof matches, flint & steel, or fire-steel) one always on you the other (usually the bulkier one) somewhere in the pack. You can get magnesium firesteel stick but remember you need a knife to use it same with the regular fire steel stick and flint both of which will also need small tinder to catch the sparks.
___Water/Filter/Bottles: 3 liters on average a day for non active types I use a steripen (batteries work w/flashlight AA) and a clear stream but this is Wisconsin/Michigan (know how to find water). Also water bags instead of bottles is a great idea when backpacking, saves space. I also like stainless water bottles, can defrost in fire or boil in bottle and they’re tough, not like nalgene plastic cracks easy when dropped, can’t be around fire, also no seepage. I have 2-3 24oz stainless steel bottles and they rock!
___Whistle: loud communication device (I bring a coyote call but not necessarily a good idea in wolf territory) also have hand held radio Midland gxt1000 GMRS/FRS something, 32miles weather channel, etc… don’t forget your charged cell phone as an alternative to a radio if it gets reception.
___Insect clothing or repellents: 100% deet, just use less and a head net even better than deet on the face.
___Sunburn preventatives: Depends on the weather and your skin type.
___ Shovel/trowel: Depends on conditions a trowel is needed for pooping. A shovel may work for snow as well. Trowel is light, shovel starts getting heavy.
___ Hand Sanitizer: Any type of hand sanitizer could work the gel stuff etc.. . I like 91% isopropyl alcohol, I have also made a stove out of soda cans that burns 91% isopropyl alcohol but I don’t really use it much cause it’s not as practical for cooking better for warming things up.
___ Toilet paper: Leaves work well but sometimes you like knowing you’re clean. Also, baby wipes score high in that area. Remember you have to properly dispose of whatever shit you create.

CLOTHING
___ Underwear/Socks: Synthetic, spandex, you know what you like. Cotton sucks when wet and I would bring extra pairs cause underwear & socks are lite to carry and you want to be comfortable.
___ Pants: Synthetic, pants that zip off into shorts awesome, preferably cargo. I like tactical pants or milspec type stuff. Cotton sucks when wet.
___ Shirt: Under armor type is best, if I can get away with long sleeve and loose will cause it will stop mosquitoes tight shirts don’t. If its hot short sleeve may have to do. It has to have sleeves though otherwise backpack straps chafe shoulders. $50+ dollar shirts are silly, unless it’s for show or your climbing Mt. Everest but in Wisconsin you can find the same thing cheaper? At Kohls I got 96% polyester 4% spandex shirt = almost the exact same thing as Under Armour, paid $9.00 for a single shirt (Fila brand).
___ Thermal underwear top: I like wool and poly mix, cotton sucks when wet. Remember you don’t have to wear it just have it with.
___ Thermal underwear bottom w/socks: I like wool and poly mix, cotton sucks when wet. Don’t forget the wool socks and synthetic liner sock for comfort. Again wool will chafe in a boot and could rash or irritate the skin.
___ Gloves: I bring work type gloves but also dependent on the weather. Could be skiing gloves or wool mittens if it’s cold. You get what you pay for with gloves.
___ Boots: Hiking or otherwise depends on weather & terrain. Don’t cheap out on your feet $80+. Make sure they’re broken in before you go and have a high ankle. Traditional/Military boats are questionable not always as nice as a pair of hikers. Skis if going cross country but Snow shoes, in Wisconsin maybe Michigan? You’re better off with gators.
___ Sandals: Could be a water shoe but not for hiking for getting wet or when you’re done hiking and want to air out the feet. Water shoe no good for this.
___ Swim gear: whatever you need keep it to a minimum shorts can double as hiking shorts this is bonus.
___ Hat: Depends on the weather, wool balaclava (cold) or synthetic boonie (hot) are my first choices. Also, boonies are great for mosquitoes and rain if it’s not cotton. Remember light colors deflect heat. Dark absorbs. Also, wool can chafe your skin and an extra layer of synthetic balaclava will keep you even warmer.
___ Fleece or thermal under jacket: Depends on weather: Don’t cheap out on the warmth and dryness on this one. In this case $150+ is NOT silly. North face, etc.. could be a regular sweatshirt if it’s summer though.
___ Shell: Top and Pant if necessary. Depends on weather. Don’t cheap out on the warmth and dryness on this one. In this case $150+ is NOT silly. North face, etc..
___ Para cord: 550 cord has excellent weight, strength, size ratio. I carry at least 100ft. enough to hang your food in a tree. Also, might want to consider a bag to hang food in so your backpack doesn’t have to be in the tree all night. But really the cord is key.

Random ITEMS
___ Toothbrush: put it in something so it doesn’t get dirty.
___ Toothpaste: small container
___ Biodegradable soap/scotch bright: I’d use this for everything clothes, hands, hair, pots pans, etc.. non-scented. No, patuli doesn’t count as soap.
___ Medical needs: Anything medical things you might need, like for asthma, prescriptions, allergies, conditions, etc….
___ Light sticks: 2 eight hour light sticks in case of emergency
___ Towels: small absorbent towels. Good HQ camping towels can get expensive but are nice. I just got microfleece shammy thingies from ACE hardware. Cheap and absorb water.

FOOD OPTIONS
Breakfast:
___ Crap to mix into your water: Coffee, Tea, Carnation instant breakfast, Hot chocolate etc…
___ Oatmeal cream of wheat (quaker instant): Cereal needs milk, we’re not taking milk with.
___ Granola, cliff, etc: whatever, not loaded with candy type bars you like.
___ Dried fruit: whatever you like nice to put into oatmeal or cream of wheat.

Lunch:
___ Gorp: aka trail mix: nuts, seeds, dried fruit, m&ms
___ Bagels: Don’t worry about food weight you can always eat your burdens away critters are always willing to help as well.
___ Jerky, salami and crackers: already dry no refrigeration.
___ Peanut butter & honey: Don’t forget the bread.

Dinner:
___ Instant soup (Lipton’s Chicken Noodle & Cream of Chicken)
___ Freeze-dried dinners: Mountain House, Lasagna, Spaghetti, Pasta Primavera, Chili Mac, Noodles & Chicken, Chicken Polynesian, Beef Stroganoff or anything freeze dried or ready to mix with water.
___ Rice: Whole grain, brown or Indian is the best for you but nothing taste better than Jasmine or sticky. Time consuming though consider instant.
___ Instant mashed potatoes: Great idea. Potatoes Ugratin for the ambitious types. No milk though.
___ Mac & Cheese: Or any noodle with a taste powder mix with it. Remember butter is hard to bring but olive oil isn’t. Or just noodles and parmesian is good.
___ Salt, pepper: onion powder, garlic powder, pre-mixed, ground dried herbs, pepper (red or black)
whatever your favorite seasonings are small container.

Good snacks:
___ I like going to the local European Homemade sausage deli and getting smoked sausage especially polish. No refrigeration needed and good.
___ Tiger’s Milk Bars
___ Licorice Sticks
___ Kudos
___ Bear Valley MealPacks
___ PowerBars (Berry)
___ Chewing Gum
___ Gatorade
___ Bagels, English muffins
___ String cheese (individually wrapped)
___ Chocolate & candy
___ Dried fruit (raisins, apples, pears, peaches, bananas)
___ Dried meat and fish
___ Giant pretzels
___ Raw fruit / vegetables
___ Nuts
___ Pop Tarts
___ Fig/Peach/Apple Newtons
___ Crackers

Just thought I’d share with ya’ll! One of the greatest cover’s I’ve ever seen.  Johnny Winter rocks this song. I’ve been practicing the song myself I’ll post a video if I ever feel good enough about the progress.