Survival is about Living!

When the word survival is mentioned, too often people imagine someone lost in the woods for an extended period of time like Simon Kenton or shipwrecked on a deserted island like Robinson Crusoe.  Or, they imagine their favorite Discovery Channel program which features someone with a film crew (tastefully out of the view of the video) and presented with situations where they can show you how to perform a certain skill.  It gets romanticized by many in their minds to the point of the ridiculous.

Survival is hard work and it’s often dirty and crude. For many of us in the modern world, sleeping outdoors in a makeshift shelter on a bed of leaves or boughs trimmed from coniferous trees without access to running water or a hot shower can leave you pretty miserable in only a couple of days!  The whole point of learning survival skills is to learn how to re-create a comfortable life for yourself wherever you are and in whatever situation you may find yourself.  As Nessmuk (George Washington Sears) so eloquently  stated in his well read and well loved book, Woodcraft and Camping, “We do not go to the green woods and crystal waters to rough it, we go to smooth it!”

It is a true statement for the outdoors-man or the survival minded person that “The more you know the less you need to carry.”  For instance, many will carry a full complement of silverware on their treks, fork, knife and spoon.  It will be seen however, that usually the person already will have a knife, a sharpened “Y” stick will serve as a fork and thus the only thing needed for eating will be a spoon.  The cheapest and best option is to buy a tablespoon from second hand store.  They go for as little as 29 cents.  Of course, for the real survival experts, a knife is all they need for they have the skills and know how to carve a spoon.  But, if you really want to go light, learn to use chopsticks and you will have no end of eating utensils as you can readily find pencil sized sticks in most areas!

Getting training in all areas of survival both urban and wilderness, will equip you with the mindset to “get by” and “make do” with what you find on hand or can make.  Even at it’s best, survival isn’t a lot of fun if you are forced to endure it.  Often what forces you into survival mode is of such a nature that stress runs high and resources are thin or non-existent.  The great thing about the age that we live in, is that unless there is a true catastrophe,  usually you will just have to do some Inconvenient Camping for a few days until the great men and women of Search and Rescue find you.  So, learn and practice the skills until you own them and then rest assured that when the time comes, just like the old Boy Scout motto, you will “Be Prepared”.

Real living and real survival is to know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.  After all, as I stated in a previous post, what’s the point of surviving in life if you end up in Hell when you die, as we all will eventually.  No matter how many urban and wilderness skills you master, no matter how well you eat and stay in shape, at some point, old age will catch up with you.  That’s when you will be glad you practiced the skill of always being in the Presence of God.  Surviving eternal death through the atonement of Christ for our sins so that you can live forever in heaven, now that’s a skill worth owning!  Again, like the Boy Scouts of yesteryear, you will “Be Prepared”.

James B.

PS. You can check out my website where you can set up training for many of these skills at www.waypointsurvival.com and look at and order my custom knives at www.benderknifeworks.com.