What do ya'll consider to be your strongest woodland skill?
mmm. good question... mmm. keeping my wits and head about me, not freaking out, and generally almost always being that person most likely to get something done when it needs doing OR finding the right person if need be. okay, not exactly a woodland skill per se, but useful...
hard to say really. i'm pretty good with a lot of aspects. nothing is coming up as amazingly the strongest thing though. mmm, perhaps if i compare to random groups i hike and camp with, some skill that stands out? rope craft? maybe. chopping things with big blades and axes? possibly that.
What is your weakest? Why is it your weakest?
probably catching animals to eat. it's not something i get to practice a lot, but given the opportunity, i think there would be lots of tasty bbq if the need arose... i know some traps and methods, and can build stuff... i'm good at catching fish and frogs and such. if i had access to a gun, i'm a crack shot, so... just a matter of opportunity and practice there.
What's your favorite shelter?
Hennessey Hammocks, Igloos, a nice B&B... improvised? probably a lean-to of some kind, with a lot of stuff on top, and a nice fire in front; probably the base survival default would be some kind of debris shelter - don't practice those a lot, it's a ton of work, and not necessarily the kindest thing to the woodland area (and one should also tear it down after, unless doing a study on durability)
What's your favorite method of fire starting?
propane torch and vaseline
BURN BURN BURN! er, right. fire piston. has to be THE MOST COOL THING EVAH. spark rods are nifty - i was my boy scout troup's all-star champion at many jamborees
potassium permanganate + oil is shiny. i love the concept of friction fires, but again, don't get to practice that a lot. need to work on that.
How do you get water in the wild?
air drop! mostly, i don't. perhaps that's a weakest skill... i just avoid drinking most of what i see as a lot of the urban water IS polluted with chemicals and oils and nasty things. maybe if i was in the mountains, yah, i'd find a spring or seep or such. i'm pretty good at finding those things, and can smell water better than most. ideally, i'd have a good set of filtration and purification with me were i planning on living off the water of the land. otherwise, i'll gladly hike with a couple gallons. it always gets used, drunk, cooked with, and on the way out, you don't need to carry much.
