A Summary of my 5-Days with Mors Kochanski (Part 2)

My last post gave a more structured summary of the course.  There are however, bits and pieces of knowledge I gain that Mors brought up, which I felt were important and hadn't been addressed in anything else I've read.  This concepts didn't fit into any particular category, so I'll make a point to mention themhere.

• The distinction that primitive living IS NOT the same as survival. In his experience Mors has found that indigenous people know very little about teaching survival, since from their perspective the skills that they know are just what it takes to live day-to-day. A true survival instructor will be able to recognize and emphasize the areas you are deficient in and would need to address if put in a survival situation.


• 75% of the knowledge encompassed by a person living 1000 years ago would be solely dedicated to the flora present in the areas they live in. The usefulness of each plant, which parts to utilize, the seasons they are useful, etc. The remaining 25% would be devoted to fauna, shelter, fire, and other skills. This was particularly humbling to me as I am particularly weak in this area.



• Reflector fires are a misnomer and should actually be known as re-emitter fires.


• Your clothing is your primary shelter. Dress properly and you can spent a winter night in the Boreal forest with nothing more than a large (correctly built) parallel log fire.


• Diamond Willow fungus, Calamus (Ratroot/Sweetflag), and Balsam resin are what Mors turns to in the forest to remedy any illness or injury he encounters.
(1) Diamond Willow Fungus (2) Ratroot (3) Balsam


• You have mastered the flint and steel fire when you can build a fire from striking a sewing needle on the bottom of a tea cup


• The importance of fasting. It's funny that more often then not people fixing on methods of acquiring food in survival, whereas Mors exalted the benefits of not eating. By not eating you put yourself into starvation mode that allows your body to use stored fat. Eat something, even small and the insulin surge takes you out of that mode and your body tries to burn glucose again. This forces your body to metabolize muscle tissue until it switches back to burning fat, actually worsening your situation.


• In a survival situation the sole goal is to last until rescue. If you've done your trip planning properly, someone will notice you're missing and will likely send rescue to look for you. Survival and wilderness living are not the same.


• A stone ring placed around a fire isn't very useful at prevent forest fires and actually prevents you from utilizing the fire to it's full potential. A properly built fire is built on TOP of a stone platform, so that oxygen and freely flow through the fire from underneath.


• A properly made survival fire in the Norther Boreal forest requires hug sized pieces of wood, laid out in a parallel log fire configuration. The heat radiating out from it should force you to stand 1 meter away from it to be comfortable. Mors found this fire setup to be optimal for fuel usage and utility because the heat that reaches you is strong and uniform enough to warm your whole body or dry wet clothes (ie. no singed clothing).


• Through his own testing Mors claims that the heat that reaches you from a fire follows an inverse cubed law. That means the heat that reaches you at 2m from the fire is 1/8 the warmth as if you were 1m from the fire.