The article details the unfortunate case of a fan of the television show Survivorman who left for a weekend in the Muskoka woods, and never returned home. The only things he took with him were the knowledge in his head and his gear which consisted of his "multi-tool, an axe, matches, a lighter, an emergency blanket, fishing tools, a compass, a survival book, maps and some cash". It goes on to detail his self taught skills and the number of times he spent alone in the woods successfully.
Without going into the blame game, and whether or not "reality survival show" are to be blamed for this, there are a few things the article covers that I think need to be addressed.
One of the most important take home messages here is the importance of safety when learning skills that put your life at risk. There is no substitute for going out and practicing the skills to make shelter and fire, or find water and food. Doing so takes us to a very spiritual place, a place were we get just a glimpse into our past to see what our ancestors had to do just to live. The problem here lies in the fact that doing too much too soon means the difference from having an enjoyable experience that develops character and spirit, and death.
I think the biggest mistake that this poor fellow made was that he didn't know his limits. Regardless of how mild the winter has been here in Ontario, walking into the middle of the Muskoka woods without proper sheltering materials or winter clothing is stupid. Anyone with proper winter experience knows how serious the dangers of hypothermia are, and to not prepare for it shows either ignorance or over confidence. He clearly had experience having demonstrated the ability to go out in fair weather, so he definitely was not ignorant.
In survival, even more important than your gear or your skills is your mindset...and if you're overconfident, nature will punish you for it. The truth is, that when...
...you know nothing, you don't take the risk because you know you can't handle the situation.
...you know a little, there is a tendency to be over confident because you know more than the people who know nothing
...you know just a little more than that, you appreciate the scope of how little you actually know and you're humbled by it.
Perhaps if this fellow appreciated the seriousness of what he was doing he would not have lost his life for it.
I'd like to comment briefly about the attitude of the people around him and the tone of the article. With no disrespect to the grieving friends or family, the sense that the article gives is that the skills this man learned were almost dismissed as being nonsensical or laughable. From the description given in the article it sounds almost like this gentleman knew that the inner bark of pine trees is edible, that willow bark or basswood trees gave strong bark that could be twisted into cordage, or that he had knife skills to do woodwork which is essential in bushcraft. Insights such as these tell the story of a person who was dedicated enough to learn very important yet, generally overlooked skill sets. Yet the impression the article gives is that he was only "playing" at survival, because he was self taught. They simply couldn't understand why he would want to go out and do what he was doing.
Survival isn't a game. It isn't camping, and it isn't an adventure. Survival means that your life is at risk and the only two options are life and death. I don't know the full story, but as someone who also loves the outdoors I can at least appreciate where he was coming from.
a true student of socrates.
ReplyDeleteyou make the old man proud.