Survival Roundtable
By Jamie Hale
The following roundtable was conducted with four guys that know a thing or two about outdoor survival. I want to thank Craig Caudill, Christopher Nyerges, John Holden, and Doug Gellman for their participation.
Why do you think outdoor survival is such a popular topic these days?
CN: Survival in general is popular because as society gets more complex, and ever more specialized, each individual realizes that they have lost touch with the basics. Survival knowledge is real security.
CC: I think perhaps the obvious answer is the popularity of TV shows depicting survival strategies for entertainment. I am sure most of us who actually practice survival strategy finds the shows mildly entertaining, if we watch them at all. But for those that are of the “weekend warrior” variety they can watch a show and think they have the ability to do so such things, simply because they can talk about it around the water cooler.
DG: Most likely because of the desire for self-sufficiency. With the economic downturn, there is a segment of the population that not only wants to know how to make it on their own, but because they long for the knowledge to understand what to do if the need arises.
JH: The economy makes us a little more basic, closer to real things. For too long the wilderness was second to Disney World to many in interest.
Do you have any basic suggestions for people wanting to learn more about outdoor survival?
CN: Read more, and take some classes, and then gravitate towards what interests you, and then practice the skills.
CC: Practice, practice, and more practice. Many things can be learned on your own, with adequate practice, the right tools and a bit of education. For those things that you may have trouble with, seek help from someone else. Most people, who have a useful skill set in any outdoor survival strategy, are more than happy to share their experiences with you.
DG: Reading books, visiting outdoor shops, and enrolling in survival classes and outdoor leadership schools are the best ways to learn more about the topic.
JH: Take classes from many sources, needs to be hands on!
Do you prefer hand drill or fire bow for fire starting? In general, do people learn one method easier than the other or are they equally difficult?
CN: Hand drill. Difficulty level has to do with the user.
CC: I personally find hand drill to be the more difficult of the two to make work. With that said in a true survival situation, bow drill fire making has several more pieces gather, to make it work. Because of this, I would prefer hand drill to bow drill because the materials are simpler to gather and find.
DG: I use neither, and am unable to comment.
JH: I have done long winter trips (10days + at 0 degrees during the day) without fire, don't use it or like what it does to pristine areas
What is your favorite tinder?
CN: Mugwort.
CC: Cedar bark, simply because in my area it is abundant.
DG: Store bought: Ultimate Survival technologies ‘Wet Fire’. Scavenged: Deadfall Cedar or Birch bark.
What is your favorite short-term winter shelter?
CN: a tent.
CC: I don’t necessarily have a favorite, I would let the area and provisions on hand dictate and determine for me what my favorite is for a specific time it was needed. With that said, a small, close-to-the-ground lean to with a fire reflector, is very easy to construct. Oftentimes, you can find one nearly half-made from a fallen tree and utilize it rather than starting from scratch.
DG: A Four Season tent, or handmade Lean-to.
JH: an old cabin in an abandoned lumber camp, or a 4-season tent.
What is your favorite method of water purification?
CN: Boiling
CC: Similar answer to above, but a handheld water purification pump is very easy to use, and can pump out quite a bit of clean water fast and with little effort. This helps a person minimize caloric expenditure. With no pump available, I would boil or heat-to-boil with rocks. Other methods take a lot of energy to put together.
DG: I do not purify, as viruses are not a concern in the mountains in the states. Rather I use filtration methods, and the pump-style filtration devices from outdoor companies are my preferred method.
JH: Tablets for weight
Any basic suggestions on locating a water source?
CN: Common sense, watch the animals, smell the air, look for green...
CC: Simple, all water flows downhill. Don’t be looking for water high, get as low as you can.
DG: Obviously, heading downhill, towards a drainage, is always a good bet. Locating Red Maple trees also is indicative of a water source.
JH: Easy in the East, vegetation in the SW, look down on wilderness canoe trips, my favorite thing
What does your fire starting kit contain?
CN: Magnesium fire starter, flint and steel and charcloth, bow drill and hand drill, and sometimes other things.
CC: Traditional materials as well as practical. I always take a lighter with me. They are so small but are so easy to use. I enjoy primitive skills as well, so I have string with me always so I don’t have to use my boot strings or make cordage for a bow drill set. Also, as with most things outdoors, a knife to help form materials for use, is an invaluable asset to have.
DG: Wet Fire Tinder, and an Ultimate Survival Technologies Sparkie
JH: I always carry a butane lighter and a magnesium fire starter in an emergency kit.
How well do conventional campers make the transition to minimalist camping?
CN: I have no idea.
CC: Very well if proper desire is there, and most of us tend to move that direction. My experience has been such that if a person’s ego is the driving force behind moving them towards a minimalist approach or even primitive skills, then that ego will eventually get in the way. What I mean is that if someone is going towards minimalist, so they can say, “Hey look at me I am a minimalist!” then that desire falls away. If they are doing it for the shear joy of going light so they can enjoy more of what is in nature without the heavy burden of packs, or being tied to a campground then they do very well.
DG: Depends on the individual, and how many “creature comforts” they are willing to do without. As well, cost is an issue, because upgrading to the most ultra light gear requires an outlay of dollars.
JH: Reach a comfort level with knowing the environment
Favorite Survival Consultants?
CN: I speak to the wind.
CC: Richard Cleveland at Earth School, he is a fabulous teacher and is the only person I have formally studied under, so he would be my second favorite. My first favorite consultant would be Mr. Trial and Error.
DG: NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School)
JH: NOLS
Do you have any new projects in the works?
CN: My latest book will be out this summer, tentatively titled Off the Grid, a Little or a Lot, about how to produce more of your own power and live self-reliantly.
I am helping to make an old house in LA self-reliant, and am active with teaching.
CC: Our website is now up and we are developing it to assist others in finding their way to the outdoors in our area. We hope to continue teaching a lot of after-school programs in our area, so that kids can start early and develop an appreciation and desire for all things outdoors including proper fun and conservation. Our adult classes have seen a surge of interest, so we will continue to develop them as the interest comes along. We have recently taught classes in our area on outdoor survival, edibles and medicinals, and more modern skills such as map reading including GPS. Our desire is to do whatever we can to make it easier and more fun to enjoy and help conserve all the things that our creator has endowed us with.
DG: Not at this time.
JH: Wolves and old growth.... canoe in, backpack in deeper, and finish more of last summer in northern Canada.
About our contributors
Christopher Nyerges, Wilderness Way editor, survival skills teacher since 1974, author of How to Survive Anywhere and other books, etc.
Craig Caudill makes his living as a professional martial arts instructor at Bluegrass Budokai in Central Kentucky. In addition to that he has spent his entire life learning, growing and maturing through the outdoors. He has spent a considerable amount time on primitive living skills, hunting, hiking as well as wildlife and other natural resource conservation projects in his area. He considers himself more of a student than a teacher, of all things outdoors. Recognizing that others have similar desire, but little upbringing in these things, he started Nature Reliance School to help others make their way outdoors.
John Holden grew up in northern Wisconsin surrounded by wild spaces and paddled there often. He started in the outdoor industry in New England (1968). He became an avid backpacker and wilderness paddler seeking many places no one else knew of our went to, off trail or flying in to remote lakes with non-canoeable streams and dragging the canoe for days until they were large enough to paddle. He has hiked all over North America with his favorite place being Yellowstone off trail. He has managed outdoor stores and ran backpacking trips ( 200+) since the 70’s. He is on the board of the Rivanna Trails Foundation, a master naturalist and gets to the mountains almost every week of the year.
Doug Gellman completed an entire thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia in 1996, the Vermont Long Trail in 1994, and the John Muir Trail in 1997. He also did a solo cross-country hike across the Northern Scottish Highlands in 1999 from the Irish Sea to the North Sea using only a maps and a compass. He has worked for Blue Ridge Mountain Sports for the last 15 years. He graduated from Connecticut College with a degree in Environmental Science, and is a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and Wilderness Ventures.
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