Using your vehicle to survive

Greg Davenport

Greg Davenport

Joined
Nov 29, 1999
Messages
632
The scenario:

You are in central Oregon with your wife and infant child. You have gone to a remote hot spring to enjoy a day of family fun. No other cars or people for miles around. Half way through the day it begins to snow...against better judgement you stay another three hours.

You climb in your ford pinto which has bald tires and begin heading toward home. Unfortunately, the wind has been blowing and you are over three miles from the REMOTE hot spring and ten from the city when you get stuck in a huge snow drift. In fact the drifts are so high that unless you have snowshoes you can't go far becouse with every step you sink up to your knees.

All your efforts to get the car unstuck fail. You had no survival kit on your person or in the car (if only you'd have joined that forum). All you had was the clothes on you back (all cotton) and cheap flimsy coats ...no fire making materials (or so you think), shelter supplies (hmmm), signals (maybe you do), water, food, etc. It will be dark in one hour.

You weren't prepared...should've joined that forum that you browsed through...you know the one on www.bladeforums.com.

Now hold on everyone...I know this wouldn't be you. I'm sure you all would have a bunch of survival stuff on you. This is intended to be a thought provoking exercise...so bear with me.
___________________________

As always, a survivor has "five survival essentials" that must be met. A quick review:

1. Personal Protection (clothing, shelter, fire)
2. Signaling (manmade or natural)
3. Sustenance (water and food)
4. Travel (with and without a map and compass)
5. Health (psychological strss, enviromental injuries, traumatic injuries)
_______________________________________
In any survival situation ANEW (me) advises you to use the following formula to help you meet your "five survival essentials" and survive. you should:

1. Stop what you are doing and recognize the situation for what it is.
2. recognize your "five survival needs" and prioritize them in the order of importance. Realize that you may choose not to do certain ones...that's ok.
3. Improvise to meet your needs using all manmade and natural materials at your disposal.

Note: Remember that improvising is an easy act when you use ANEW's five step rule of improvising:

1. ID your need.
2. inventory your manmade and natural materials.
3. Look at the various options of how you can use these materials to meet your needs.
4. Pick one based on the best use of the following:
a. Time
b. Energy
c. Materials
5. Build it. Make sure to build it:
a. Safe
b. Durable
_______________________________________
Exercise:

1. Stop
2. Prioritize your survival needs in order of importance for:
a. immediate action the first night
b. long term the next day (rescue doesn't seem immenant (sp)).
3. Improvise to meet your needs in the order established in step two:

a. Day one...immediate action
b. Day two...long term

There are many variables in this exercise that aren't addressed. If you want to change the make of the vehicle into the one you own...that is OK...you are in a temperate forest surrounded by Douglas and Grand fir trees. It is overcast with a ceiling at about 500 feet. Remember, you can use anything at your disposal to meet your needs.

This is a true story...The Mother died

I won't be around to answer any questions...so just answer them yourselves if there is a problem :>) I'll be checking in on Tuesday (late) if I get my way...

Best to all

------------------
Greg Davenport
http://www.ssurvival.com
Are You Ready For The Challenge?
Are You Ready To Learn The Art Of Wilderness Survival?

 
Greg,

Thanks for the exercise,hope all goes well with your surgery.
I'm thinking about what I would do with this scenario in the snow.

Jeff
 
Hello

Well I would probably figure that I'm going to have to spend the night,and I'm sure that I would freeze to death in the truck.So my first priority would be to find or make a shelter,I would go to the forest with the intent of looking for wood for fire and keep looking for ideal places for shelter,like big fallin hollow logs and lookin for things that the Human pigs have left behind like any trash,cans, anything I could us,old clothes,rope ,wire,etc.I would probably find a place for a shelter,If not i would begin to make one ,I think I would opt for some kind of frame shelter starting with dead big branches for the frame,then pile whatever crap i could find on the outside, maybe than put snow on the outside( Good or Bad idea),all the time I would have my wife gathering wood for fire small dry stuff and med stuff.I am probably getting very cold or sweating from all the work I would make sure I am not getting wet.I would then stuff the Inside of the shelter with pine boughs that I could either break off or if I had my Battle Mistress or SAK rucksack(saw) with me I would be fine.Maybe find some matches in the truck or use lighter to start tinder bundle or strip wire that i did not need to drive the truck out the next day and use the battery for sparks,last thing i would use If i had to would be some gas that I could get out of the fuel lines if I maybe had a screwdriver or a dime or something like that to open the clamps,I would put gas in some kind of container that the human pigs left behind or the 1000 empty beer bottles in the back of my truck.I'm sure I would be OK .get the fire going outside the shelter, and hudle together around the baby for the night,do you guys think I would make it thru the night or not?
Next day start a water generator that I learned how to make from Chris Janowsky"s book,Tie off a T Shirt and fill with snow hang from tree branch with wire from truck rope made from found t-shirt,anything next to fire and catch the dripping melting snow in a container of some sort,lined depression in ground,1 of the 2000 empty beer cans in the back of truck,etc.
I would next figure out how to get out ,signal,etc.burn the spare ,or the whole damn truck because it is a piece of s%$#t.
smile.gif

might want to stay forever if I did not have my wife and kid with me.
I think I would be OK it seems like there would be so many things I could do with all the stuff on the truck so I was just kidding about burning it
smile.gif
.

I would survive,I beleave

Got to Go,could go on and on.

Jeff Sanders
 
I think its fair to say that if you get yourself into a sufficiently difficult situation then you may not survive. And getting your family into such a situation is criminal stupidity.

Boy Scout Rule #1: Be Prepared.

------------------
Happy Holidays
 
D. Epstein
Your post is correct but I am glad I caught this before it goes to far.

this is just an exercise. Once again...I would never expect you guys to be in this situation. One of the reasons you wouldn't be is becouse you have skills and also prepare for the worst. One type of preperation is to figure ways out of a worst case scenario (one you're sure you'll never be in but challenges your skills).

So forget how unfortunate it was that someone allowed this to happen...and use this as an exercise that tests your improvising and survival skills.

Gotta go....good luck...have fun with it and don't forget to inventory all available manmad and naturall resources that you might use to meet your needs.

------------------
Greg Davenport
http://www.ssurvival.com
Are You Ready For The Challenge?
Are You Ready To Learn The Art Of Wilderness Survival?

 
I apoligize for not having the time right now to give this problem the time it deserves, but cannot resist giving a few comments. First, it is a serious problem, because I recall the story I read recently, as recall on www.equipped.com of the pilot who with very few injuries and survival knowledge apparently dying of hypothermia in a couple of days, with a plane for shelter. Yes, he had a survival kit, BUT it was unavailable in his trunk. Secondly, I buy the being stuck because wind could have picked up and caused drifts everywhere, so getting out of one drift would not be good enough. Thirdly, ANYBODY can make a mistake and get caught in an unforseen bad situation.

First, at least for the present, I would stay with the car. It is unlikely you are going to find better shelter in an hour. Also you are on a road, the most likely place to eventually be found, travel if weather improves, etc.

You have a lot of resources with the car. You can also pile branches and then some snow around part of the car to insulate it, being careful to leave a door and window free for egress and air. Avoid blocking the exhaust area (or dig it out later) if you want to start the car for heat, etc, remembering the effects of carbon monoxide. Personally I would not start it for heat except in the direst emergency.

Before turning you car into a snow cave, you probably have, even in a Pinto, a thin covering in the trunk, and although you may want to leave it to protect the engine for later restarting, a blanket over the engine. Put those into the car. Move the front seats forward and all huddle together in the rear, moving some to keep circulation flowing. Bring in the tire iron for various emergency uses. What, no gloves, you may need to use a piece of cloth to pick it up.

You have insulation in the front seat you could rip out for covering. You could bring in some boughs or pine needles, but that might be too much of a fire hazard. Make sure your keys are secured! You may need them.

You have gasoline and hoses in the engind compartment for siphoning or punch a hole...move the family first, remember Pinto stories
wink.gif
Since puncturing could cause sparts....last resort.

You have hubcaps, battery for sparking, reflectors and filiments in the lights. Lenses could be used as magnifier perhaps. Lots of metal such as the air filter cover, to sharpen. I have no idea how to get potassium permanganate crystals, but they would react to antifreeze for fire starting. You have rubber for black smoke in the morning.

You should plan which resources you are going to need when. For instance, the battery may be the most reliable fire starter, but if desperate with children, one small light warms up the interior some, just like the Eskimos using a tallow candle in an igloo. Personally, I would save it, but it is a choice.

Bottom line, lots of tools and resources. You made a mistake, now get to work!
 
Greg, my post was not intended to shut off discussion about your thought-provoking scenario, I hope it does not have that effect.

When I was stationed in Ft. Carson Colorado, one of the things they always told us in our weekly "safety briefings" was to check the weather before heading into the mountains. They hammered it into our heads repeatedly. I know from personal experience how fast the weather can change in the mountains.

Another thing they told us is to let someone know where you are going and when you are expected to return. That way if you come up missing, then at least someone will know about it.

I believe the most important piece of equipment you have is a working cellular telephone. You do not want to make a long stay of it stuck in the mountains with just the cloths on your back, so communications is vital.

If I could make a list of equipment, knowing all the time that equipment is not a substitute for attitude, knowledge, and planning, it would be as follows:

1) A good, reliable vehicle with a full tank, spare tire and bumper jack, and a functional radio (no Pintos allowed).
2) Cell Phone
3) Spare blankets for each passenger
4) Some MRE's
5) Fire making supplies
6) Some fresh water
7) A good knife
8) First aid kit

You can go on and on with endless quantities of supplies, but I think the above is more than sufficient for most situations.

But remember, equipment is no substitute for attitude, knowledge, and planning. It's always better to avoid a life threatening situation than to try and get out of one, especially if others might have to pay the price for your mistakes.

Greg, best wishes to you.

[This message has been edited by D. Epstein (edited 06 December 1999).]
 
Greg: Good luck tomorrow!

Now to the topic. I'll add what I would do later. But I think I remember seeing this story. They started WALKING cross country and ended up huddling in the snow. She was breastfeeding the baby at the time. Since she was doing this, she believed she had to keep hydrated for the baby's sake and ATE SNOW!! Lots of snow and went hypothermic from the inside as well as the outside...Does this sound like the same story?

Personally, I wouldn't have had a car. I have a 4x4 pickup and everything I need to last a two to three day snowstorm in it. This comes from growing up in ND, where it could EASILY happen.

I would have left EARLIER, but at the least,
I would have attempted driving back to the lodge if possible.

First rule of winter time travel: STAY WITH THE VEHICLE! Don't run the engine but a little at a time. Use a candle to heat the interior some. Crack a window for fresh air. Keep the exhaust clear of snow to keep from fuming yourself out. Wait for better weather or help to arrive.



------------------
Plainsman :)
primitiveguy@hotmail.com


 
deleted.

[This message has been edited by jrf (edited 12-26-2000).]
 
Hey Greg...

Well I'll give it a shot...

Definately stay with the car....
Lights could be rigged with speaker wire and setup on the roof pointing in different directions for signals..

I would pack the car in snow for insulation and keep drafts out.
Seats could be tore apart and the foam used for blankets and insulation..

A friend of mine was a car stereo installer and said there is enough food (fries,chips, crackrs) inbetween most seats to survive on for a week!! LOL

Roof liner for a blanket...

Wouldn't you be pissed if you just got all this set up,, car tore apart inside,, then the plow comes? Then again it's only a Pinto..
Oppps forgot one...

If you kick the back bumber several times hard enough,,it will burst into flames!!! LOL


Eric...

------------------
Eric E. Noeldechen
On/Scene Tactical
http://www.mnsi.net/~nbtnoel

 
Eric, I almost broke my suture line open reading your post. Especially the part about kicking the pinto.

the point of this exercise was to stimulate the thought process of how you can use both manmade and natural resources to meet your five essentials (alone or together).

The car provides us with so many resources to meet our needs. To name a few (there is a lot more, perhaps you can mention them below this post)

1. battery...fire starter and keeps heater working till your out of gas (keep exhaust open)
2. wire...to improvise all kinds of stuff with
3. cushions...can make boots using vinyl to cover, can put between clothes to insulate.
4. Roof cover...? blanker
5. tires...burn for signal...contrasts white snow. can do the same with gas and oil.
6. etc. etc. etc. just look think about it, you are only limited by your imagination!

The story ended with the wife, who was breastfeeding, dying. the left the vehicle...but couldn't make it out on foot due to harsh travel conditions (they also didn't improvise snowshoes).

I can't remember how they were rescued but as I recall their vehicle was spotted from the air...

------------------
Greg Davenport
http://www.ssurvival.com
Are You Ready For The Challenge?
Are You Ready To Learn The Art Of Wilderness Survival?

 
Hi Greg...

I don't know if this is the same story,, probably different,, but there was one almost identical,,, but all of them left the car,, husband was in the army, wife breastfeeding(At least there was food
smile.gif
Come on Hon,, let me suck on the for awhile,, I'm starving!!...LMAO)

Anyway,, they ended up loosing a few toes in the ordeal...

They made a TV movie out of it..It was filmed up in the Yukon and a friend of mine's uncle played the snowplow driver...

ttyle Eric...

------------------
Eric E. Noeldechen
On/Scene Tactical
http://www.mnsi.net/~nbtnoel

 
Different story. this group left the car and ended up camping (sleeping) next to a log. That is where Mom died and I think they were rescued the next day or so after the car was spotted by a chopper.

I know your story also. You know it is so odd that when people make major mistakes they get a movie made. Guess when people do it right, you never hear about them. :>)

------------------
Greg Davenport
http://www.ssurvival.com
Are You Ready For The Challenge?
Are You Ready To Learn The Art Of Wilderness Survival?

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top