Say some guy from the city was dropped into the wilderness with only his clothes on his back.
I’m not talking about a trapped skier, with people looking for them. I’m talking about somebody who just felt like moving into the woods and starting a wilderness life from scratch.
Does anyone have any cites or anecdotes regarding the success rate of people living in the woods? Assuming that the person actually wanted to survive, and wanted to live in the wilderness for a long period of time, how long would it take them to get up to speed?
Any ideas on how long it would take to make fire? How about the success rates of killing a bear, moose or deer with a handmade spear or a handmade axe? How long would it take to build a one room cabin with a handmade axe?
I once read a book back in grade school called ‘My Side of the Mountain’, which dealt with a kid making it on his own in the wilderness.
I highly doubt it would be useful, though, as a tome of resourcefulness in this regard. Although I wouldn’t know the statistics of the questions you pose, I would imagine that the military must have manuals that teach soldiers how to survive in wild terrain, right? If you could find one (I usually find old military books at the local swap meet, but they’re pretty outdated), it could probably give you a pretty good grasp of the time frame involved.
I would strongly suggest you find a copy of PBS’s Frontier House. Seeing how hard it is for people who were fairly well-prepared to do this will make you realize that the “only his clothes on his back” scenario is almost certainly doomed.
My guess would be that he would starve long before being able to make an effective handmade axe or spear (let alone killing something with it).
There are a lot of prehistorians who made stone weapons. It’s an intricate process, a craft. Assuming that the person would be able to find a convenient kind of stone, I guess it would have to try for a very extented period before being able to make something which could be remotely considered as a stone axe blade. Even fitting it on some wood pole would be a major issue. And then he would be supposed to hunt with this thing? How aknowledgeable the person is supposed to be about animal’s habbits, hunting techniques, and even assuming that he would kill something, about skinning or preservation of food without a fridge?
My take would be that the guy would be unable to make any tool. He would have to eat whatever he could catch (insects, probably some little birds or animals he could kill by throwing stones at them) or gather (mushrooms, nuts, berries…assuming he’s able to tell apart a toxic mushroom from an edible one, which isn’t a given for someone brought up in a city). He would be unable to feed himself sufficiently and would die from starvation, sooner or later, depending on the season.
Hunter gatherers use elaborate crafts, have extended knowledge of their surroundings, don’t live alone without the support of other people, already have tools available, etc… Your random city guy is intending to commit an elaborate form of suicide (though I assumed until now there wasn’t any predator able to feed on him…if there are, his death could be quicker and less displeasant).
You mean without any prior survival knowledge at all? Or are you talking about former boy scouts, city-dwelling hunters and fishermen, etc? What guarantees have you that your city person is even aware that fire can be started from friction, that deadfall traps are possible, or even that a pile of leaves can save you from hypothermia death? Maybe you really mean “well-read but inexperienced survivalist” rather than “city dweller?”
A person who had taken a bunch of survival courses might be able to avoid death if they had an entire summer to prepare for coming winter. Try these:
Also search amazon for “tom brown” books on edible plants and wilderness survival. There are all sorts of useful wilderness-living tricks that a “city dweller” might never discover in a million years.
Maybe I’ve read the unabomber’s manifesto too many times
(not really… i’m just planning for the future when I someday get rich… I want to be able to survive in the woods just for the hell of it, just to say i did it, but I don’t want to be trespassing or anything. although I doubt anyone would even know i was there)
Probably the best (sort of) modern analog of what you are describing is the hunter/trappers who did a lot of exploring of the North American continent. While they did live off the land to a certain extent, they went in well-prepared with guns, supplies, and tools. They probably traded with natives as well.
Given guns, knives, and supplies you could live for several months, possibly even years at a time. With a good start and a reasonably game/food-rich environment, there’s no reason why you couldn’t survive for quite a while. Right up until your first incapacitating illness or injury, at which point wild animals would nibble on your bones.
A willingness to eat anything (even things that would make a Fear Factor contestant gag) would be very helpful.
fatdave with all seriousness, I’d go pick up an SAS Survival Handbook by John Lofty Wiseman. Read it. And start your journey. It is wholly possible, but slightly improbable for a city guy to partake of and be good at, such a difficult endeavor.
Might be fun though for a year, just to see if one could do it.
Sorry I don’t have the book at hand, but John Krakauer’s “Into The Wild” deals with the this situation as well as some supporting anecdotes of people who went to live in the woods. If I recall correctly, most people he spoke of ended up dead or went crazy…
Well, I have read the US Army Survival Manual… I’m not sure of SAS Survival Handbook would have anything additional to provide. However, I will look into reading “Into The Wild”.
My WAG. Bring a hatchet.
I’d say a hatchet would increase your chances of survival by at least 35%. It can preform the same functions as a knife (not as well but still better that nothing) plus you could chop wood. You could skin animals with it, make spears and smack it with flint to make a spark. Read the book “Hatchet”. Its about a kid who survives a plane crash and has to survive in northern Ontario with just the hatchet that his mother bought him before he left. He has no survival knowledge at all. Its an interesting read.
However avoid the movie at all costs. Under no circumstances watch the movie. shudder
Not to nitpick a bit, but for the sake of the thought …
Shall we assume “wilderness” in the USA as defined by the Wilderness Act of 1964? If so, plan on doing more hiding than just living. Quite a few wilderness areas in the lower 48 states are “well used” by wilderness hikers and backpackers so any chance of real, permanent solitude may not exist. Then there’s that little clause in the Act that any permanent existence in a defined wilderness area is illegal. But then, who cares, eh?
Shall we just assume some well-secluded federal or state land? If its Forest or BLM land, someone at some time will hike/ride through. It could be years but they will. Pick a physically secluded, economically unattractive location - a deep ravine - to increase your chances.
Fires. Be ready for them. They still haven’t found the hiker or his body of the guy who set out on a four week trek through southwestern Oregon, two days before the Biscuit Complex Fire broke out. I’m not sure how many other “bodies” will be found this fire season that will never make the news – “crop farmers” and those who dropped out of society already.
State and federal land agencies are partnering more and more with the DoD. The DoD gets their monthly training flying hours in return for the land agencies using infrared and other devices on those training flights to locate illegal crops on the same land, as well as further digitize the topography for maps.
Watching the original Rambo movie should help, but only insofar as all the training he had as a soldier, combined with his “work experience.” The books mentioned so far are along the same lines.
Check out Farley Mowat’s book, later movie, Never Cry Wolf.
Get some EMT training and experience.
Take a “shakedown” cruise. Pack in some emergency supplies, then go back and see if you can live without them for a month or two. It might be easier taking the big plunge if you practiced with “training wheels” first.
Keep a diary and protect it. If you decide to later rejoin society, you could write a book, sell the screen rights and then use the profits to buy that secluded piece of land, stock it well, and truly disappear. Of, someone will find your bones and intact diary, write a book from it, sell the screen rights to buy that secluded piece of land, stock it well, and disappear for themselves.
I’ll second John Krakauer’s “Into The Wild”. I haven’t read it, but I remember reading the very large newspaper story about the guy and his misadventure.
To summarize, (from memory): This guy comes to Alaska and wants to live in the wilderness. He does OK for a while, living off of berries, roots and small game. He shelters in an abandoned school bus way out in the middle of F*****G nowhere. He has a rifle and before winter comes he succeeds in killing a moose which he thinks will tide him over until spring. He starves to death. Not because he ran out of moose, but rather, moose in that part of the season are notoriously lean. Hardly any carbohydrates or fat.
