How long do you think you'd last?

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

One doesn't need to be in a huge wilderness with bears, wolves etc to be unlucky and die. However well you think you are prepared you are never prepared for everything and thinking you can handle everything is a big mistake. it seems to be a 'thing' boasting how great you'd cope in 'the wilderness' like some film hero or Sir Ranuph Fiennes, (even he though never comes away from his expeditions unscathed.)

I don't think anyone is suggesting that they'd be prepared for everything. I do know that I've spent enough time in the wilderness that I could survive on my own for a couple months, if I had basic survival gear (knife and flint). Like I said above, if the first night is rainy, that would be the toughest. If it was dry I'm pretty sure I'd be fine for a while, until either help arrived or I decided to start hiking and start searching for civilization.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

you keep saying that, but being wet isnt the biggest problem, its not as good as being dry, obviously, but you body warms the water and the water then provides insulation from the cold water raining down on you, you can only saturate your clothes and after that it does matter how much rain you get.

the problems comes when it stops raining and you start to dry out, that's when latent heat exchange occurs and you get really really cold, the evaporation turns you into a fridge, so in the scheme of thing, if you get soaked through then you really don't want it to stop raining till you get somewhere warm and dry

im beginning to thing that the people on the other side of this discussion live in the tropics have never spent a day in the cold and wet

That actually doesn't go against my argument that the first day would be the toughest. The first day would either be toughest from direct wetness or; being frozen from the temperature once the sweat on me freezes while the direct rain disappears. Like you said, I wouldn't want to be dry until I could be fully dry, either by the nearby temperature, or someone finding me who was entirely dry. I'd rather be naked and dry then clothed and wet.

 

[jobo]

Water conducts heat.

you do live in the tropic, yes it does, but so does air so does cotton. yet both are considered an insulator

how much heat is conducted depends on the temperature gradient between the two things,

so in simple terms at 40 degree ambient temp, if you body warms your wet jean to 40 d then theres no heat conducted away, if your body warms it to 45 then you'll loose 5 degrees to the out side air, how cold you get depends on how quickly you can warm it up again, keep moving. or shivering, as shivering warms you up., however the point im making is that continued cold rain makes no difference to that process as the jeans are already saturated, mean while the water has trapped the air in your jeans by blocking the holes, better than dry cotton would hold the air, the wind cant get though anymore

 

[jobo]

That actually doesn't go against my argument that the first day would be the toughest. The first day would either be toughest from direct wetness or; being frozen from the temperature once the sweat on me freezes while the direct rain disappears. Like you said, I wouldn't want to be dry until I could be fully dry, either by the nearby temperature, or someone finding me who was entirely dry. I'd rather be naked and dry then clothed and wet.

most of this debate is disembodied from reality, just how have you managed to be dropped in the middle of the wilderness, if you've driven there, there's a road, if you've walked there you have the same clothing as you traveled in, which would hopeful included some sensible clothing.

the further you are from civilisation the more bizarre the question becomes,

we commonly get people stuck on hills that have to be rescued, their seldom more that 3 miles from their car, they set off on a warmish after noon dressed in fashion wear, get lost and then start freezing as night comes. you don't need a wilderness to get in trouble, the fact your 100 miles from anywhere would usually mean you have some sense and equipment or you wouldn't have got to the middle of the wilderness in the first place to be stranded

 

[pdg]

just how have you managed to be dropped in the middle of the wilderness

Aliens.

 

[jobo]

Aliens.

yes, it either that or your helicopters ran out of fuel

 

[Chrisinmd]

most of this debate is disembodied from reality, just how have you managed to be dropped in the middle of the wilderness, if you've driven there, there's a road, if you've walked there you have the same clothing as you traveled in, which would hopeful included some sensible clothing.

Lets say your the pilot of a small private plane and it crashed it the wilderness situation I described. Just you no other passengers. Lets say you didn't file a flight plan as well so no one likely to be sending a search party

 

[pdg]

Lets say your the pilot of a small private plane and it crashed it the wilderness situation I described. Just you no other passengers. Lets say you didn't file a flight plan as well so no one likely to be sending a search party

Then really there's no real problem unless you're injured.

 

[Chrisinmd]

Then really there's no real problem unless you're injured.

Well there is the problem of making it to civilization and not succumbing to the elements in the meantime

 

[jobo]

Lets say your the pilot of a small private plane and it crashed it the wilderness situation I described. Just you no other passengers. Lets say you didn't file a flight plan as well so no one likely to be sending a search party

isn't not filing a flight plan illegal and also very usually unless your running drugs ? and you have maps and navigation skills

if your in the andes or upper alaska your in trouble, in washington state, its a bit of an inconvenience

 

[jobo]

Well there is the problem of making it to civilization and not succumbing to the elements in the meantime

a lot of this is people who have never done anything out doors in moderate temps thinking that anything other than arctic clothing means certain death.

you are not going to freeze to death at 40 degrees, you cant by definition

the question was how long would YOU ( ME) last, and the answer is a prolonged period, im not dismissing the fact that people who cant walk thirty or so miles in a day, have no idea how to navigate from the sun, cant find enough food to sustain life, cant build shelter and have a great intolerance to the cold from living in texas, might be in a bit of trouble. but that wasn't the question

 

[pdg]

Well there is the problem of making it to civilization and not succumbing to the elements in the meantime

Sort of, but you've got shelter, materials, fuel and a source of ignition - and likely a few tools too.

If you have an aeroplane on hand, even a small broken one, and still manage to die then honestly you not making it out alive is a service to the gene pool.

That's dependant on the location being somewhere like the example of Washington state, where it never gets properly cold and you're never really that far from civilization.

Inside the arctic circle is obviously a different matter - but if you're flying there without carrying decent emergency provisions then my previous gene pool comment stands.

 

[Chrisinmd]

isn't not filing a flight plan illegal and also very usually unless your running drugs ? and you have maps and navigation skills

if your in the andes or upper alaska your in trouble, in washington state, its a bit of an inconvenience

I don't think a private pilot flying a small crop duster like plane has to file a flight plan.

But fine your running drugs and you have 50 ibs of heroin on the plane

 

[pdg]

a lot of this is people who have never done anything out doors in moderate temps thinking that anything other than arctic clothing means certain death.

you are not going to freeze to death at 40 degrees, you cant by definition

the question was how long would YOU ( ME) last, and the answer is a prolonged period, im not dismissing the fact that people who cant walk thirty or so miles in a day, have no idea how to navigate from the sun, cant find enough food to sustain life, cant build shelter and have a great intolerance to the cold from living in texas, might be in a bit of trouble. but that wasn't the question

I'm not sure how I feel about having to agree with you


When I were a lad, our house had single glazing and the heating was restricted to an open fire in one room.

It wasn't uncommon at all to wake up in the morning and find real proper ice on the inside of the windows and the glass of water you took to bed last night frozen solid.

When we lived in France (in a mobile home in the garden while working on the house) our memory thermometer recorded -15°c on much more than one occasion overnight - we had to put water in the fridge overnight if us or the dog wanted liquid to drink the next morning because the fridge was the only place to stay above freezing - the pipes were frozen every morning and had to be thawed with a blowtorch.


I hate being cold, I don't find it enjoyable in the slightest - but I can deal with it.

 

[pdg]

I don't think a private pilot flying a small crop duster like plane has to file a flight plan.

How often do things like crop dusters fly over wilderness a hundred + miles from farmland (and associated habitation)?

 

[Chrisinmd]

Your running drugs so know it is not a typical use for a cropduster type plane. I think your getting a bit to caught up in the details here.

 

[Deleted member 39746]

You could do indefinitely with some difficulty if you had a knife and boiling vessel etc. The most basic thing you need is a knife or cutting instrument, cord, fire starting ability and a vessel to boil water in or other wise purify water.

A lean to shelter is pretty easy to build and will suffice.

im going with woodland as thats the most viable one for me. Im not going to be stuck in the middle of the sahara in england.


for the record the less and less you bring the harder and worse it becomes. Bare minimum is a knife as you can make most things out of it. Just going to reassert he need for a good knife or cutting instrument again. You can make do with a rock or flint but you really need one.


Also if you legitimately want to try this, there are many places that do survival courses which give you bare minimum to use. Grated scope for them is usually waiting out until someone comes to get you, or going to a place. I imagine somewhere has a pretty bare bones survival course where they expect you to only have a knife on you or something like that, or could be persuaded to host one.

Oh and i think i could do a week, as im not totally useless in this area, and if i had the minimum you need. Thats when food and/or disease will probably get me.

 

[pdg]

Your running drugs so know it is not a typical use for a cropduster type plane. I think your getting a bit to caught up in the details here.

Not really, I'm simply saying that having a plane on hand gives you everything you need to get everything else you need with stuff left over if you're anywhere close to the temperate zone.

Even if I was, details are the difference between making it and not.

 

[pdg]

Bare minimum is a knife as you can make most things out of it. Just going to reassert he need for a good knife or cutting instrument again

Give me a couple of flints and half an hour or so and I'll have a serviceable axe and knife.

 

[jobo]

I don't think a private pilot flying a small crop duster like plane has to file a flight plan.

But fine your running drugs and you have 50 ibs of heroin on the plane

your running drugs by plane from canada,? that's not generally how the business works. but i've answered the question frequently, you just keep asking it again

hide your drugs and walk for a couple of days till you get to a phone, ring the cartel who undoubtedly have a contract out on you by now, call an uber and book into a hotel and have a nice long soak, then rent a pack mule and go and retrieve your drugs