Was it just me or was this episode less about survival and more about the producers wanting to play up the "opposing phi
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wanton87 — 10 years ago(March 10, 2016 10:32 AM)
Slightly off topic, but one of the things that I enjoyed the most about this episode was the shelter building. Those shelters actually looked pretty comfortable too.
I had forgot about the pump drill method, but it looked like a rather effective means to procure fire. I really need to get going myself on mastering the bow/drill method. I have never tried it because I've always found it to be intimidating. But of all of the primitive fire starting methods, I feel that it's probably the most important one to know. -
Arbuckle_T_Boone — 10 years ago(March 10, 2016 10:55 AM)
Slightly off topic, but one of the things that I enjoyed the most about this episode was the shelter building. Those shelters actually looked pretty comfortable too.
The shelters were great especially the second one. I did wonder why they didn't set it up so the overhang in the front was longer to give their fire some protection in case it rained.
I had forgot about the pump drill method, but it looked like a rather effective means to procure fire.
I don't think we have seen it in a couple of seasons. IIRC the last time we saw it was when Cody was still on the show. -
rickathedj — 10 years ago(March 10, 2016 02:05 PM)
Loved the shelter building. It also got me to thinking about making a pump drill. I've done the bow method, but I always found it to be a bit "sticky." I rarely got it to work smoothly. If you want to practice either of those techniques, do a little research on choices of wood. Some wood combinations play nice together and other not so much.
The saga of getting my first novel on Kindle
http://ricksmidnightquill.blogspot.com/ -
rickathedj — 10 years ago(March 10, 2016 02:03 PM)
As Wanton said, the shelter building was good. I also liked the fact that Grady KNEW not to question Bill's fire making ability, because that might have been enough to make him doubt himself, and fail. Seems like they are finally getting to know each other. I also loved the part where Grady was teasing Bill about how many grandparents he had, and that it was delivered in the spirit of good natured fun.
It was also a good thing, that Grady admitted they were in a good place where they could have waited for rescue, but it was just his preference to keep moving until they found rescue.
The saga of getting my first novel on Kindle
http://ricksmidnightquill.blogspot.com/ -
wanton87 — 10 years ago(March 10, 2016 05:06 PM)
If you guys enjoy shelters, you will probably really like this one. This is a video from a guy that I used to watch all the time on youtube. His wife had a baby a while back though, and it looks like that ended his youtube channel unfortunately. This is the second of a 4 part video series. I just jumped to the one where the shelter was introduced.
24 Hour Solo Survival part 2 of 4
Swibo6 -
rickathedj — 10 years ago(March 10, 2016 05:43 PM)
Nice shelter. And fairly successful foraging. Wasn't thrilled with the menu, but good enough to fill an empty belly.
The saga of getting my first novel on Kindle
http://ricksmidnightquill.blogspot.com/ -
blackknight273 — 10 years ago(March 10, 2016 08:13 PM)
The only thing I wondered is if they found the truck seat and hood that Cody and Dave left behind in season 2.
Maybe next week they will build a boat out of a tarp and duct tape and float down a river in Kentucky -
wanton87 — 10 years ago(March 11, 2016 11:04 AM)
Nice shelter. And fairly successful foraging. Wasn't thrilled with the menu, but good enough to fill an empty belly.
I don't know if you watched beyond the second video or not, but he accidentally lit the shelter on fire, so there's a lesson in there. Agreed on the menu, but at least with the wild foragables, you're generally guaranteed to get something in your belly. That's one area where my knowledge is weak. I keep meaning to pick up the Wild Edibles Playing Cards, but haven't as of yet. -
Arbuckle_T_Boone — 10 years ago(March 11, 2016 12:50 PM)
That's one area where my knowledge is weak. I keep meaning to pick up the Wild Edibles Playing Cards, but haven't as of yet.
This is an area where I don't think anyone can ever truly become an expert. Wild edibles are different in every area. Sure, you have some that are the same in almost every environment but then you have others that are isolated to their area of origin. Add in the fact that poisonous plants look just like the ones that are edible near your home and it's literally a toxic combination.
I gave up trying to learn about edibles in other areas after an episode of Survivorman where Les found some wild cucumber that turned out to not be wild cucumber. The plant looked exactly like cucumber and it wasn't. Pictures don't really do any good when a plant growing next to it can look exactly the same. I do however learn about the ones in and around my area and encourage others to do the same.
It really takes an expert physically showing you the plant in the wild to truly learn. This is especially true with mushrooms. -
wanton87 — 10 years ago(March 11, 2016 01:26 PM)
Fair points Arbuckle. I'm in the west, and if I recall, the last time I tried to find a good field guide for my region, I was unable to, but there seemed to be more and better guides for the eastern regions.
I agree that it's best to stay away from plants that can be confused with their deadly look a likes. I'd stay away from mushrooms altogether personally. I know that there's a deadly twin that the wild onion has, I believe it's called the death camas? Berries can be hit or miss? Some are rather toxic. And I want to say that there is an edible plant that very much resembles water hemlock, but considering that it's probably the deadliest plant in the world, I won't be taking any chances with anything that even remotely resembles it.
But I think that it's wise to be able to identify wild edibles in your particular region. This is one area of food procurement that doesn't rely on trapping wild game or catching fish, so it's a more reliable, though lower calorie form of sustenance. If you happen to have fishing tackle or a firearm, or at least solid trapping skills, then meat becomes a much more likely prospect. Frankly, I suck at fishing, so I would probably go for some form of fish trap, and hope for the best? -
rickathedj — 10 years ago(March 11, 2016 08:56 PM)
I saw the one with the fire. Didn't Les do that once?
As to the foraging, I used to know a guy who could walk around my yard and find edible weeds.
The saga of getting my first novel on Kindle
http://ricksmidnightquill.blogspot.com/ -
wanton87 — 10 years ago(March 12, 2016 07:09 AM)
I saw the one with the fire. Didn't Les do that once?
Sort of rings a bell, but my memory fails me here? If it were a later Survivorman episode I may have missed it?
As to the foraging, I used to know a guy who could walk around my yard and find edible weeds.
About the only thing that I'm able to identify on my land is Mallow, and another plant that our neighbor pointed out that he had used to treat stomach ailments. He's Hispanic, and he doesn't really speak very good English, so all that I could get out of him was the Latin name; Marrubium Vulgare (He just called it Marrubium). From that I was able to determine that it was horehound.
Now that I think about it, I recall that IOS, and also probably Android had plant identifier apps. You simply snap a picture of the plant in question (which is hopefully in the database) and it identifies it for you. I'll have to look into that. -
wanton87 — 10 years ago(March 12, 2016 08:28 AM)
Now that I think about it, I recall that IOS, and also probably Android had plant identifier apps. You simply snap a picture of the plant in question (which is hopefully in the database) and it identifies it for you. I'll have to look into that.
This is probably obvious to most, but I would not rely solely on one of these apps for proper botanical identification. I actually did go to Android playstore, and found quite a few, but from reading through the reviews, apparently some were woefully inaccurate. One poster snapped a picture of a plant, and the app identified it as a peanut butter cookie
So yeah, use these as a general learning guide, but do not bet your life on them