What a year it has been. At last count I gave forty-nine programs at seventeen locations around the country to over 6,500 people. Many of you receiving this newsletter attended one or more of those programs. My thanks to all of you for making this a very successful year for both Mary and I. I was also very happy this year to have been featured in the August edition of Field and Stream magazine. This all came about as a result of Dave Petzal, the senior editor, sitting in on one of my programs in Casper several years ago. He tasked Tony Atwill to do the article and "Thirty Years a Survivor" was the result. I thought he did a great job and the feedback I have received has been overwhelming positive. Two of the letters I received came from prisoners (one a maximum security prison here in Colorado) who wanted to know all there was to know about surviving in the outdoors with emphasis on wilderness navigation! Needless to say I didn’t answer either of the letters. I also got involved in making two videos this year neither of which are ready for production just yet but should be before too long. One of the two videos I made was for the National Bow Hunter Education Foundation for their bow hunter safety program. These videos will be available for purchase through OutdoorSafe in the spring.

Mary’s survival kits were also in demand throughout the year. She was very pleased to learn that one of her kits was used in Alaska to affect the recovery of two people.

"Dave, my husband, just called from Kodiak, Alaska where he’s been hunting deer and wanted me to share with you the following: The pack from OutdoorSafe really came in handy. After a day’s hunting, we were to meet the outfitter at a designated beach (and be picked up by boat). Using a compass we felt we were near the meeting point, but couldn’t be certain. There was quite a squall that day and the seas were up with lots of fog and mist kicking around the air. I draped the orange bag over a rock facing the water. The outfitter located us in no time at all. He said it would have impossible to see us on the beach without that bright orange bag serving as a beacon."

SURVIVAL PSYCHOLOGY

This has always been a difficult topic for me to adequately communicate to my audiences. Probably because I wasn’t clear in my own mind how to deal the topic.

Recently I came across a book titled "Survival Psychology" written by John Leech, an English professor at the University of Lancaster who has removed the fog for me.

In essence he concludes that the "denial" is the root of our problems. We deny that we will ever be in an emergency. We deny that the emergency is happening to us and then we deny that it ever happened! And I totally agree with him. Since we aren’t willing to accept that we will ever be in an emergency, whatever its nature, we don’t prepare for one. We don’t pay heed to the threat signals that exist or the warnings we might be given and then at the very last minute, try to do all the things we should have done earlier. Studies have shown that only 10-15% of those involved in an emergency will react appropriately. Another 10-15% will behave totally inappropriately and the remaining 70% will be "frozen" and will need to be told what to do. What category do you fit into? We usually don’t find out until we are in trouble – and then it may be too late! What is known is that those who can see themselves in a disaster are more likely to prepare for it and consequently are much more likely to be in the group that react appropriately.

There’s no question that our mental health affects our physical well-being and vice versa

The better you understand the impact of the environment on your physical and mental health the better you’ll be able to prevent life threatening medical problems from occurring. The more training you have participated in, the more experience you have the better you’ll be able to cope.

SPEAKING OF BOOKS

A couple of other good books that I’ve come across since my last newsletter that I recommend.

Cold Comfort by Glenn Randal. This book was published in 1987 but contains a lot of good commonsense advice on staying warm in the outdoors. It’s based on personal experiences in the field -- I like that!

Medicine for the Outdoors by Paul Auerbach, MD. I’ve come to really appreciate anything written by Dr. Auerbach. This is a very comprehensive text written in straightforward language that even a non-medical person can easily understand.

SINGLE-HANDED SURVIVAL

By that I don’t mean "surviving all by yourself" but rather trying to accomplish all the survival tasks you need to do but only using one hand. Too often we are led down the garden path believing that if we are ever in an emergency we will have the use of both hands. Too often this turns out not to be the case and those struggling to survive find it nearly impossible to "open a folding knife," "zip a zipper," "tie a bootlace," or "button a button!" One doesn’t have to be physically hurt – cold hands become stiff and you loose your finger dexterity very quickly in cold conditions. Try it sometime – it will make a believer out of you. If you can’t touch thumb to each finger rapidly you may be in trouble! Murphy’s Law would have it that the injured hand is the not going to be the one you write with! The point of all of this is that when selecting clothing and equipment for use in the outdoors consider how easy it is going to be to use in the event you are injured and impaired. Zippered jackets should be backed up with hook-and-loop closures or snaps. Folding knives should be able to be opened with one hand. One handed metal matches are available for starting fires from Survival Inc. (www.survivalinc.com) Think about the worst case scenario you might face – hope for the best case but always plan for the worst!

I came across this some time back:

When you’re lost and cold and weary on a bleak deserted plain,

Hungry, frozen, tired and dreary, unprotected from the rain;

Or cracking, parched and burning in the northern desert sands,

With the vultures o’er you turning and the veldt sores on your hands;

When your cartridge belt is emptied and your water bottles dry,

You may find that you are tempted just to give it up and die,

But remember if you’re clever that however long the night,

It can never last forever, and you can still rise up a fight.

And this thought may sweeten, when you know you’ve got to die,

That you’re never really beaten ‘till the day you cease to try.

Brian Brooke

HOW TO AVOID BECOMING A DEHYDRATION CASUALTY

• The Problem: When the water we use or loose each day, through normal body functions (urination, defecation and sweating) is not replaced dehydration results. Dehydration severely reduces the body’s ability to function efficiently, which frequently results in poor decision making and accidents occurring. The loss of one to two quarts of water, from a starting water level of about twenty quarts in the body, can result in a significant reduction in working efficiency.
  

• Contributing Factors:

- Altitude. The air we breathe contains less humidity as we travel higher -- dry air has to be humidified before it reaches the lungs.

- Many of the fluids (coffee, tea, alcohol and colas) we drink daily contain diuretics, chemicals that cause us to loose even more water.

- Increased activity increases water loss by sweating

- Injury and illness, especially diarrhea, can increase water loss

- Mouth breathing increases water loss

• Signs and Symptoms:

- Headaches

- Nausea and vomiting

- Yellow urine

- Infrequent urination

- Fatigue

- Weakness

- Increased pulse rate

- Loss of balance

- Irritability

- Dizziness

Treatment:

- Catch it early and re-hydrate using diluted sports drinks or water with a little sugar and salt added. (1/4 teaspoon salt and 4 teaspoons sugar per liter of water.)

- Severe dehydration will require intravenous fluid therapy -- usually not available in the backcountry!

• Prevention:

- Increase the amount of water you drink each day -- three to four quarts is good - more is better

- Don’t sweat

- Breath through your mouth

Note: Dehydration is a contributing factor in many other medical problems that occur in the outdoors. It is also a significant factor in determining how successful the body can keep itself warm -- a dehydrated person will have a much more difficult time staying warm than a hydrated one.

• Water disinfecting:

- Boiling. Bringing water to a roiling boil is sufficient to kill all harmful organisms

- Halogens. Chemicals such as iodine and chlorine kill microorganisms.

- Filtration. Filters remove all harmful agents except viruses. Purifiers remove all harmful agents including viruses

MATCHES

Matches despite all of the other hi-tech devices that are available, are still one of the best ways of igniting tinder to get a fire going. But there are matches and then there are matches. It pays to choose carefully. To begin with most people are familiar with household safety matches. I say "familiar" but then wonder if in fact people are familiar with them. Without the need to light fires in our daily lives any more how many people do have matches around the house?

Safety Matches require that they be ignited by striking the head of the match along the abrasive surface on the side of the matchbox. There are a couple of problems with this. Firstly, the striking surface must be kept dry along with the matches and secondly, especially with matches made off-shore, this surface wears out long before you have used up all the matches. Some really cheap matchboxes only have the striking surface along one side of the matchbox!

Other matches are advertised as "waterproof." In essence what this means is that the head and about the upper one third of the matchstick has been painted with a varnish-like material. This material makes the match "water resistant" but it also makes them more difficult to light. More "strikes" are required to wear through the varnish. In an emergency this might make a big difference – you may or may not be able to get a fire started! Neither safety matches nor the so-called waterproof matches are in any way wind proof.

Other matches are billed as "storm proof." These matches are totally different from those that have discussed so far. They are reasonably water resistant (no match in my opinion is truly water proof) and the better ones are in fact "wind proof" – you cannot blow them out once they are ignited. Looking at them you will see a much-enlarged head, sometimes covering as much as two thirds of the match sticks. Here again there are good ones and not so good ones. The inferior varieties burn very quickly and the user must be able to light the tinder quickly before the match burns out. The better varieties burn at a much slower rate and provide ample opportunity to get the tinder started. The best matches currently available in the United States are available through the REI chain of outdoor stores (www.REI.com).

The only problem I have with REI matches is finding a match case long enough to accommodate the match – I haven’t been able to!

Instead I nip off about 1/8 of an inch of the matchstick with a pair of side cutters and then they fit just fine. Periodically, one or twice a year, replace your matches – they do deteriorate over time.

MY GEAR

A lot of you have asked what I carry in my Gregory Day-and-a-Half pack – here’s the list.

Other notes I will be conducting eight, two-day survival training programs at the Gold Camp Ranch near Victor, Colorado this year. This will be a very comprehensive program designed to develop the survival skills needed to survive a wilderness emergency. One day will be in the classroom and the second will outside where the participants will develop their survival skills (fire craft, emergency shelter construction, water procurement and use, signaling and many other important skills.

I also recommend the 28-day "Guide School" presented by Pikes Peak Outfitters. For those of you that might be considering changing jobs, and want to get one working in the outdoors this is a great place to get started. Tuition for the course may be available to you through various federal, state and other sources depending on your circumstances. Contact Gary Jordon at 800-748-2885 to find out more about this program.