I can say with some credibility that I think I know what modern day survival items bad ass Mountain Men wish they had with them to survive their unforgiving wilderness environments. I made a ‘Wish List’ I that will give you some ideas for your next outdoor adventure to AVOID survival tragedies and remedy survival threats.
First of all, I wrote the Survival Book:
Paperback Book—————Kindle E-Book
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attempting to detail the survival applications, techniques and tricks used by bad ass mountain men like:
- Alexander Mackenzie
- Andrew Jackson
- ‘Old’ Bill Williams (Crazy Bill)
- Charboneau
- Daniel Boone
- Davy Crockett
- Davy Jackson
- Ewing Young
- George Drouillard
- Harrison Rogers
- Hugh Glass
- Jack Larisson
- James (Jim) Bowie
- James ‘Jim’ Bridger
- James ‘Jim’ Clyman
- James O. Pattie
- Jedediah Smith
- Jim “Ol Gabe” Baker
- Jim Beckwourth
- Joe Walker
- John Colter
- John Hanna
- John S. Gardner
- Joseph K. Meek
- Joseph Lafayette Meek
- Joseph Reddeford Walker
- Kit Carson
- Lewis & Clark Expedition (Charboneau and Colter)
- Moses Harris (Black Harris)
- Osbourne Russell
- Rufus B. Sage
- Samuel Hearne
- Samuel Houston
- Tom ‘Broken Hand’ Fitzpatrick
- Will Carpenter
- William H. Ashley
- William Nowlin
- William L. ‘Bill’ Sublette
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And 2nd, believe it or not, I’m related to the family of the famous mountain man – Kit Carson family. No, not Kit Carson himself but I’m actually related to his 3rd wife Josefa.
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Mountain Men Entered ‘No Man’s Land!’
Mountain men faced the wrath of Mother Nature and all She possesses. Mountain men learned the ‘Art of Suffering’ but were still not experienced in the ‘Art of Suffering’ as compared to Native American Indians.
Mountain men tolerated extreme weather conditions from killer cold blasting blizzard temperatures to the baking heat in desert environments. They ventured in gently rolling hills to steep and cliff-like terrain.
Mountain men were seriously injured and killed by bears, venomous snakes, wild cats, wolves,… and many Native American tribes. With no doctors around, they treated themselves using their own emergency first-aid methods.
When the white man first entered what is now North America, there were more than 199 different Indian tribes. Mountain men from the 1700s to the late 1800s faced dozens of hostile Indian tribes that simply wanted to kill them DEAD DEAD DEAD. And death was a much wanted preference over the extremely non-stop POUNDING painful slow death of their expert torture techniques. Indians were not only World Class survival experts in their own specific region, but were experts in extremely painful torture. One torture by one Indian tribe used on their enemies was to be tied to a spigot and slowly roasted over a fire.
Another excruciating torture was to tie their enemy spread eagle naked standing between 02 poles. As many as a hundred Indians would pass by the poor soul and make a slight cut, a nick with a sharp piece of flint or obsidian (volcanic glass) on the victim’s body to cause excruciating pain, not bleeding. Just 01 single nick is painful, can you imagine a hundred nicks? The Indians would chant and pray and make another pass with a hundred more nicks throughout the victim’s naked body. By this time the victim is in such pain, the victim would beg for death. And another pass by the hundred Indians to make 100 more nicks.
Brave and bad ass mountain men when venturing out in the wilderness were up against:
- Miserable weather
- Extreme hot and cold temperatures
- Harsh terrain
- Predator animals
- Warrior Indian tribes
And when mountain men got in trouble, they had to depend on themselves. There was NO:
- NO 911
- NO police
- NO fire department
- NO ambulance
- NO doctors
- NO hospital
- NO grocery stores
- NO fast transportation
- NO neighbors
- NO military to the rescue
- NO hardware stores
- NO protective coats & pants
- NO gun stores
- NO translators
- NO accurate topographic maps
- NO accurate compasses
- NO satellite phones
- NO animal repellents
- NO insect repellents
- NO super insulating sleeping bags
- NO flashlights
- NO super durable quick set-up dome shelters
- NO dehydrated meals
- NO water filter straws
- NO binoculars
- NO high capacity pistols
- NO automatic assault rifles
- NO walkie-talkies
- NO global positioning system (GPS)
- NO strobe lights
- NO emergency fire-starting applications
What MODERN DAY SURVIVAL ITEMS do you think these bad ass mountain men wish they had for a 01-month adventure to satisfy the
8 Elements of Survival:
- Fire
- Water
- Shelter
- First-Aid
- Signal
- Food
- Weapons
- Navigation
Let’s start with one of the most important of the 8 Elements of Survival – Fire:
FIRE:
- Drink Enhancement Products (DEPs**), 08
- Electric Lighters
- Lighter Torch
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WATER:
- Survival Straws (30)
- Drink Enhancement Products (DEPs**), 08 [forced hydration & emergency fire-starting – see FIRE]
- 02 01-quart canteens,
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SHELTER:
- Military Rucksack
- Cold Weather Parka
- “Nat’s Canada” boots (rated minus 118-degrees Fahrenheit)
- poncho (shelter, hammock)
- poncho liner
- sterno (10 small cans – Survival Book – “179+ Emergency Cold Weather Survival Tricks And More!” )
- leather gloves
- Goretex gloves (cold weather)
- mosquito headnet
- mosquito net
- Wiggy’s Sleeping Bag (rated minus 80 degrees F),
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FIRST-AID:
- Colgate Toothpaste (original white paste)
- Clove Oil
- Tobacco Chaw (06)
- NATR Salve (see Survival Book – “104 Anytime Anywhere Survival Newsletters!”)
- stun gun (see Survival Book – “239+ Texas Ranger, Pioneer, Old West,… Survival Tricks And More!” ) with primary & back-up rechargeable batteries
- bandage roll
- bandage tape,
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SIGNAL:
- Walkie-Talkies with primary & back-up rechargeable batteries
- mirror (signal, repel snakes [see Survival Book – “239+ Texas Ranger, Pioneer, Old West,… Survival Tricks And More!”)
- Flashlight Torch w/02 sets of rechargeable batteries
- Night Vision Goggles w/02 sets of rechargeable batteries
- Strobe Light w/infrared cap
- Miniature Solar Panel (recharge batteries)
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FOOD:
- 07 military MREs
- 07 military LRRPs
- Peanut Butter (large jar [food, bait, fire-starting])
- beef jerky (large bag)
- Hormel bacon bits (large bag),
- 30 packets of salt
- 30 packets of sugar
- 30 packets of pepper
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WEAPONS:
- .40 caliber Glock pistol with mags & 250 rounds of ammunition
- M21 Sniper System (accurized M14 w/iron sights & scope), 250 rounds of tailored – reloaded 7.62mm ammunition
- Bowie knife w/sharpening stone
- Industrial Mace
- Ozark Trail Combination Knife w/sharpening stone (collapsible knife, cork screw, spoon, fork, bottle opener, can opener, awl)
- military E-Tool (collapsible light-weight shovel),
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NAVIGATION:
- Ranger Silva Compass (mirror),
- Topographic Maps of area (scale – 1/50,000) maps are protected with ‘combat acetate’ (protective covering [weather, grease pencils,…])
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This blog post was really written for YOU! You may not be a bad ass Mountain Man, but you can AVOID survival threats and REMEDY survival threats versus being another ‘Dead Statistic’ via your gear and Survival Kits! So make your own Survival Kits that satisfy or indirectly satisfy the 8 Elements of Survival (Fire, Water, Shelter, First-Aid, Signal, Food, Weapons and Navigation):
- Pocket Survival Kit
- Backpack Survival Kit (more elaborate & bigger)
- Vehicle Survival Kit (more elaborate & bigger)
- Home Survival Kit (more elaborate & bigger)
And if you venture into the same wilderness area repeatedly, consider an emergency ‘secret’ cache.
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And by the way,
NEVER NEVER, one more time NEVER:
- Venture outdoors by yourself
- Venture outdoors without using PRSC (see “How To Plan Your Outdoor Adventure” below)
- Venture outdoors without a backpack of supplies that satisfy the 8 Elements of Survival. Even if it’s a short 03-hour hike.
And remember to tell someone EXACTLY where you and your friend(s) are going and when you both should return
** = For hydration and Emergency Fire-Starting. See Save My Life… Survival Program!
Also see:
“How To Plan Your Outdoor Adventure!”
“How To Make Your Own True Survival Kits?
- Wilderness Survival
for many blog post dedicated towards international wilderness survival.
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Paperback Book—————Kindle E-Book
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