Real Life Survival

Well, Im not dead

2012-10-16T11:33:00.001-07:00

I'm here, trying to catch up with life and planning. I had actually written this really awesome post, I can say it was awesome because I have not intention of posting it now and you wont be able to hold me to my adjectives, and then I just got lazy I suppose. Getting settled into life and all that jazz seems to have kicked my butt. Honestly I don't see a time when I wont be so crazy busy but I will try my darnedest. Please forgive me, I shall return anon. (yes anon is a word)

MCT

2012-05-16T08:55:00.001-07:00

So I’ve made it. I am officially a Marine. Three months of getting screamed at, tortured with physical exertion and bullied have bloomed into a little flat-black eagle, globe and anchor. I can now not wear what I want, nor style my hair the way I want. I can now not sit or stand however I choose. Instead I’ve been instilled with something that is supposed to make me disdain comfort and style. Yeah, hokay. On the upside I have had “classes” on survival shelters, first aid and self defense. And best of all I know how to do all of it while screaming Marine Corps at the top of my lungs. The real fun comes in a few days. Im not back for goodsies just yet. Only checking in really quickly. I have MCT (Marine Combat Training) to do. After which I hope to really get back into the kick of this survival blog thing. Any suggestions for where I should start this epic awesome journey?

I'm going on a Camping Vacation.

2012-02-01T12:27:00.000-08:00

Well, I have to say that I suck. Haven’t even thought about writing to you all more than maybe 35 times in the last few weeks and seriously, I don’t feel guilty one little bit. Ok… so I exaggerate. I intended to write but time is speeding by. In fact I leave for a three month vacation to Parris Island, South Carolina in two weeks and I won’t be posting anything for the duration. Time flew by. And by vacation I mean Marine Corps boot camp. Since pretty much only my family and friends are reading this blog at this point I figured I would write a little help me survive and know what you are talking about bit.

First of all it is the Marine Corps. Not the army and no it isn’t corpse like a group of trees or a dead person it is more like apple core. And boot camp is no contact except old school snail mail. No phones. No email. No anything at all that looks like technology or even passable mid century communication devices. But your letters are welcomed, in other words write me a damned letter. (You know who to contact to get the address) The only thing you get to mail is a piece of paper with your hand writing on it in an envelope with only the provided address, your return address and a stamp on it. No fancy smancy crud. But feel free to send bunches and if time allows I will respond. Don't get all heart broken if I can't.

I am officially out of your reach on Feb 12^th at 5pm. On a plane Feb 13^th at some, likely god awful o dark something, hour of the morning. Then 13 weeks of awesome start. There is this lovely matrix that will detail all of that and about.com has a pretty stellar description if you so wish. At the end there is family day, forgoing injury and illness, that will be May 10 and graduation will land on May 11. At this point I get 10 days of leave at the end of which, meaning including travel time, I need to be in North Carolina for MCT (Marine Combat Training)... and then one other school but let us not get to far ahead. I should be home by the end of August for staysies.

In the meantime I have set up a scavenger hunt for the awesome El Suave and he might check in every so often to tell you how it goes and probably to tell you I’m still living. Here (MCRDPI, USMC, LINKS) are some other awesome websites to check out if you so desire and the awesome comic strip from Terminal Lance below. I have posted boot camp related strips but he covers all of the Marine Corps and is pretty much hilarious. For those of you who might not understand the point behind the strip visit the website where Maximilian Uriarte (the writer) does a brief explanation for each. (also, the comic is very much not PG13)

If you are really motivated you can watch (on Netflix on demand) Surviving the Cut or The Marines. Other than that I will see you all in a few months.

What runs but never tires?

2011-12-28T12:32:00.000-08:00

Photography by me

We need it:

to digest food and absorb nutrients.

to maintain proper muscle tone.

to supply oxygen and nutrients to our cells.

to rid our body of wastes.

to cool ourselves.

to protect against illness (lymph).

and to lubricates and cushions joints.

When it comes to survival your first thought should be clean drinkable water.

The smart people at the United States National Research Council tell us that total water intake, including water in foods (20% of water comes from your food. The best hydration foods being berries and fruits while meat and salty things are going to have an adverse effect on your water levels.), should be 3.7L for men and 2.7L for women. The folks over at the US Institute of Medicine have a little different take and say men only need 3L and women 2.2L unless they are pregnant then it is 2.4L and if they are breastfeeding a whole 3L.

We lose water when we sweat, pee, poop and believe it or not breathe (water vapor, you know like when you fog up your sunglasses or that dvd to clean it?).

I found the following table at survivaltopics.com and it seems to be a pretty splendid breakdown of survival water rationing. Some people have gone 8 to 10 days without water and lived to tell the tale but let’s not test that shall we?

Max Daily Temperature	No Water	1 Quart	2 Quarts	4 Quarts	10 Quarts	20 Quarts
120 F	2 days	2 days	2 days	2½ days	3 days	4½ days
110 F	3 days	3 days	3½ days	4 days	5 days	7 days
100 F	5 days	5½ days	6 days	7 days	9½ days	13½ days
90 F	7 days	8 days	9 days	10½ days	15 days	23 days
80 F	9 days	10 days	11 days	13 days	19 days	29 days
70 F	10 days	11 days	12 days	14 days	20½ days	32 days
60 F	10 days	11 days	12 days	14 days	21 days	32 days
50 F	10 days	11 days	12 days	14½ days	21 days	32 days

If you lose 2.5% of your body weight through water loss you are going to lose 25% efficiency. In other words, a 175lb guy only needs to lose 2L of water to be dangerously dehydrated. And if you think about it when you take a jog on a hot day you lose about 500ml to sweat and then you go to the bathroom and another 800ml is going down the drain. That brings you pretty close to your limit.

Signs of dehydration start small with things like being thirsty, dark urine or less urine, headache, lack of sweating and dry lips or skin. Things get a little more serious when you start to feel tired or weak, dizzy, confused and start passing out. At this point you have issues and the sunken eyes, shriveled and dry skin, low blood pressure, rapid heartbeat and rapid breathing make an appearance. If this goes on you are in danger of heatstroke, cerebral edema (brain swelling), seizures, hypovolemic shock (not enough blood, pressure or oxygen), kidney failure, coma and death. (queue scary doom music)

To prevent all of that, look for water early in your survival situation. Take note: 96.5% of water is found in the ocean, 1.7% is groundwater, 1.7% is frozen in glaciers, .001% is floating around the sky as clouds. Of all that only 2.5% of the world’s water is fresh enough to drink and most of it is frozen or underground. So if you are lost you will be looking for the worlds .3% of freshwater available in lakes, ponds, rivers or falling from the sky.

But just because it is wet doesn’t mean you should drink it. Water is contaminated in many ways. Impurities can be removed by screening, sedimentation, filtration, chlorination or irradiation. But we will go into that some other day.

Arrivederci

Hawaii Style Rainy Morning

2011-12-23T10:47:00.000-08:00

I’m starting to think that I should have looked into how to survive writing a blog. I had intended to have two videos posted yesterday but alas, it could not be. I will put them up when I get them. Survival rule number one of writing a blog: don’t stress! Aaahah! So my intro and Christmas videos will be late. Eh. I’m sure I will survive. In the mean time I thought I would give you all something to keep the thumb twiddling to a minimum.. This is an experience I had when I was living in Hawaii.

Photography by me

Hawaii Style Rainy Morning

Thunder rumbles and recedes, boiling tumultuously in the inky night. The drumming crescendo of rain increases. Wet pounding on metal, beating on broad leaves, churning in gutters, filling every corner and dip. The bleak gray expanse of bloated clouds spread never-ending from ocean horizon over mist shrouded jungle peaks and beyond. The steady rush of the chilling downpour distorts anything further than 30 feet away. Its deafening drumming increases to a roar. And it is time to wake up.

Large cool drops splat on my forehead and run steadily down my face and neck. My toes curl in my already drenched shoes. I splash quickly through the rain to the truck. The wipers beat back the torrent in a futile effort to increase visibility. All forward movement is a crawl. The hesitant drivers are fearful of one another and the increasingly violent weather.

Wind whips the trees and a flood warning screeches over the radio. Fast moving water overcomes the lower sections of the road and pools in dangerous puddles. A wall of water shoots from the slipping wheels as cars jerk and slowly slog through. The large torn and disfigured carcass of a dog lies over the yellow lines. A black plastic garbage can blows into the lane. We swerve and fight to maintain our places in the algid stream.

The traffic lights are out and police mill in clusters not bothering to direct a detour. All vehicles are herded south. All vehicle operators look fearfully at the muddy incline aware of the blaring mudslide warnings from the radio. Branches fall and litter the congested streets. Gutters are torn from roofs as dripping children run from their school buses in an oddly reversed morning routine. Garages flood and shoes are swiftly stolen by the creeping waterline.

As the pelting water increases and recedes in waves the sky lightens. The dreary shadowy dawn turns to cool whitish-gray.

Pause

2011-12-20T21:47:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone. I've been working on a video. It will be up soon. In the meantime I've noticed that my pocket knife is excessively dull. Sharpening seems to be on the list of things to do. I have a few methods to try. Any favorite brands or tools or things of that nature you might suggest? I have always felt hesitant about sharpening knives. I guess I think I might be doing it wrong. Just something else to look into, yes? Until later my friends.

Flesh eating fungus!

2011-12-17T10:55:00.000-08:00

Just kidding with the title

The weirdest thing happened the other day. I write about power outages and poof, get to experience one. I really hope it isn’t the start of a trend or I am going to be looking over my shoulder a lot since I want to look into everything from wild animal attacks to fire. Anywho, the power was a breaker blowing type dilemma caused by what I assume was the combination of cooking, the space heater, and computer all being on. It was strange though, all the lights went out in the main living area but not the stove. It continued to cook and I mean really cook the hamburger for the spaghetti while we were fumbling with the interesting labeling on our breaker box… Note: check your labels. Make them clear and organized. Another thought would be any large electronics and surge protection. My computer has a surge protector of the minor type. I need to get a larger one but the bank account isn’t really cooperating at this point. I might do a bit here soon on good possibilities on a budget.

So it has been getting progressively icy driving out there, snow and frost and fog included. I’m putting together a little emergency pack for winter driving. Tire chains, blanket, warm hat and gloves, tiny shovel, maybe a few cliff bars and those weird hand heaty things and most importantly water. Any other thoughts of what to include?

Hang in here with me for a bit. This learning the ropes of blogging feels like trying to kayak across the Atlantic.Videos soon to follow, my camera was eaten so photos might be a little less likely..

2011-12-14T20:44:00.000-08:00

When I was in elementary school it wasn’t uncommon for winter power outages to last a few days and it didn’t mean school was canceled either. A wood stove and gas range where mandatory as well as a generator for the well. But now I live in a small apartment in a complex and while it has a fireplace I was wondering what I would do in the unlikely event that power was lost for more than a few hours. The little stuff is simple. If the oil heater is plugged in and on full blast and suddenly the one room is without power we look at the breaker box. If the lights flicker and go out we reach for a flashlight and candles (I always like to have a kerosene lamp handy, can be decorative and useful). But if the power is out and harassing the power company doesn’t seem to be working what is the next step?

Well first things first. Water. Your water should still run without power but is ALWAYS good to have water in your house or car for emergencies. Remember the 8 cups of water rule? It still stands in emergency situations. Every day you need 2-3 liters of water per person, not to mention water for bathing and tooth brushing.

If it is cold and you don’t happen to have a fireplace then closing curtains or putting blankets over the windows will help if you don’t have double paned and blankets along potentially drafty areas might also work in the plus column. Otherwise bundle up or if you have some loose pocket change go to a hotel.

Now what about food! Things like not opening the fridge a lot or standing with the door open are good places to start or maybe picking up some ice from the store to shove in there. A freezer that is half full will hold food safely for up to 24 hours. A full freezer will hold food safely for 48 hours. Just keep the door shut. To be super safe a food thermometer can be used to check the temperature of your food right before you cook or eat it. Throw away any food that has a temperature of more than 40 degrees Fahrenheit. So food is check. When cooking NEVER use charcoal or gas camping stoves indoors. Consider using sterno cooing fuel, like the ones sold for large fondue pots. Added benefit is warmth.

So, food check, water check, warmth check. Now just try not to die of boredom. Cat’s cradle anyone?

2011-12-12T18:30:00.000-08:00

First up I have to say that I am working on the power outages thing. I came home to a puppy hurricane, where my two 70lbs labs had decided to see if they could eat a text book. I would say they succeeded. After which they then vomited it up in various places about the house. Needless to say I was slightly distracted and didn't managed to conduct the interview I had planned on. Instead I have a lovely question to ask you.

What is the most important survival item to have on hand?

I'm talking in home or car here. Not if you are out traipsing about the countryside in search of fun and excitement. I just want to see what your opinions are. Until later.

2011-12-10T19:59:00.000-08:00

Today was an interesting day to say the least. On my way to Batteries Plus to get a battery for my video camera, I have some fun ideas for you all, I had an interesting encounter with some folks on the side of hwy 217. Traffic was dreadful and unpredictable and the weather wasn’t helping either, as it couldn’t seem to make up its mind to drizzle or frost on us unsuspecting travelers. As I moseyed down the road with the puppies in the back of my truck there was a sudden cease in traffic flow. The car in front of me, a small white car, slammed on its breaks and in order to not smash them into tiny bits I hit my breaks and angled for the shoulder of the road which was quite wide and clear. As I look in my review mirror to see if the pups had mashed their faces on the window with the abrupt change in motion I see a movie scene play out in miniature. From one side of the mirror to the other fly a white box looking SUV that looks to be pooping out a midsized grayish bronze car. By jiminy! Since I am already on the shoulder I stop my car and put on the park break and hazard lights before getting out to lend my assistance. The gray-bronze car has come to rest about where I was before stopping my truck only it is in the grass facing the wrong way. Totaled. The SUV is an additional 20 feet further up the incline sitting comfortably in some bushes. The man in the car opens his door as I come along side him. “Are you ok?” he looks a little dazed but ok. The airbags went off but he isn’t visibly bloodied. “Do you want me to call an ambulance?” I already have my phone out. He indicates yes and motions towards the other car so I jump into the bushes and head for the driver’s door. It opens a little but the bushes are in the way and the woman closes the door and crawls to the other side. I get out of the bushes and go around to see if she is ok. “Is there anyone else in the car?” She responds with a very shaky “My baby!” Her car is without a scratch and no airbags deployed. Her three year old boy is just scared. This whole time I am talking to 911, which you would think might be less time consuming but I suppose it just felt like eons. They send help and two other people stop their cars at this point but only stand with us for a short bit before leaving. The man is still dazed and I ask him a few times if he would like to sit down. He says he has too much adrenaline. Soon an ambulance and fire truck arrive followed by a police car. It is freezing outside. The fire truck blocks traffic as the firemen set out flares. The paramedics walk to us since none of us seem to be having hysterics. One paramedic checks with the woman and child while the other asks the man a few questions and prods him about the neck and chest looking for pain. The woman has only mild neck pain and refuses to go in the ambulance but the man has marks on his shins, one is bleeding, and has chest pains likely caused by the seat belt. He mentions blacking out for a second when his face hit the airbag. To be safe he goes in the ambulance as the police ask questions and the firemen try to figure out what happened. They are understandably confused since the SUV looks perfect and it is hard to imagine that it mangled the front of the car so much. It turns out that the man looked down and didn’t see the SUV as the woman over reacted to the stop in traffic by slamming on her breaks. When he hit her the momentum carried them up the embankment. It was lucky they didn’t hit the overpass. Everyone is ok. Only the car doesn’t survive. As I passed the spot later in the day only a few muddy tracks are left.

Take care folks, when I return on Monday I hope to begin my midget series called 'starting small'. It will have to do with minor survive in your house type issues; first up will be some insights on power outages. Minny shout out goes to Sandra, awesome lady, and Jean Auel, author of the Clan of the Cave Bear series. They both helped drive me to this blog whether they knew it or, more likely, not. Sandra, who would pick me to be her survival buddy should she ever be stranded on an island or in a forest or some such crap-I'm-screwed-and-have-to-live-off-the-land type situation. I promise to one day dress up all cute and girly and do a skin an animal demo just for you ;) and Jean Auel, whom I have read since I was about 12. Ayla, the main character of her 7 book series, is the most survivaly-ist character I have ever encountered in the world of reading. She is also one of my heroes. No matter how often I read through her story I love and learn all over again.

2011-12-08T10:04:00.000-08:00

Yeegh. This feels like a lot of pressure, this starting a blog thing. So for starters I will tell you why I’ve decided to be a blogger as I grow up. (not when I grow up because I’m not sure that ever happens)

One night a few years ago I was feeling lonely and doing the random internet surfing thing (I hadn’t yet been introduced to stumbleupon) and I discovered CommunityChannel. I was hooked instantly. This girl is funny, I though to myself, she is interesting! In fact I stayed up all night watching all of her videos and have since been on tenterhooks awaiting each one as it is posted. So you will understand that a short while later I added her (Natalie Tran) to my list of heroes, right next to Eleanor de Aquitaine and Virginia Hall. (witty notation about Nat and the non similarity of my other heroes inserted here)

I have since been trying to figure out what to do with my life. At one point I sat down and wrote a list. I am divorced. I have no money. I have no career. I have no hobbies. Well, I though to myself after much boohooing and grumblings, the easiest dilemma to solve would be the lack of hobbies. All I have to do is figure out what I like. Another list ensued. I decided one thing I could not live without was being outside and more specifically outside AWAY from civilization. This naturally blended with the need to pack the right gear and pretty much figure out how not to be miserable while tromping about outside. Hya! I had a hobby. Later as I sat late at night and watched Nat make hilarious little insights about people I was hit with inspiration. Right on the forehead. I could make a real life survival blog. (also on the list of likes was writing)

I wish I could say that that was yesterday and poof here is my blog but no, I’m a procrastinator. It has been a while since the idea struck me and it has since been pattering me on the head with increasing force. So here I am taking this one step forward in my discovery of who I want to be.