Survival > Wilderness Survival
Psychology
Lost Soul:
Adi, I think someone may have beaten you in terms of the book. Found this title only yesterday “The Outdoor Survival Handbook” by Rob Beattie, Published by Apple in 2012. It deals with the STOP rule, fire steels etc.
On a related topic, state of mind is a pretty fundamental aspect of survival. Long ago I remember attending a symposium on survival and rescue at sea. Of all the lectures given the one that sticks in my mind to this day was the one given by a Psychologist from Lanchester University. Who had made a lifelong study on what factors contribute to people living and dying in extreme conditions. A majority of the scenarios were well beyond water and the sea I might add. And of course he was talking about a person’s state of mind being a significant contributing factor affecting survival.
Basically if you think you are going to survive you probably will, if you think the opposite then you will probably die. He illustrated his lecture with examples of people surviving the most impossible situations – jungles, mountains etc - because they believed in themselves and had the will to live. Yet on the other hand people die in quite survivable conditions because they gave up hope and did little to help themselves - see Adi’s post immediately on helping yourself.
adi:
LOL STOP rule has been around for 40 years and is regurgitated in most survival books.
The first public survival manual was the US Army Survival Manual and it had no copy right so it have been copied to death including the stuff that is wrong. Manual survival manuals same the same stuff there are very few that are upto date and written from modern up to date knowledge and equipment.
I am not sure I want to buy another survival book to be honest, it is probably only a re titled copy of The Outdoor Survival Bible which is a rewrite of 'The Pocket Book of Survival' by the same author.
The state of mind of survival is the most important thing. I have studied this quite in depth, not only in wilderness survival but urban survival and disasters. I have been fortunate enough have talked to many survivors from around the world, survivors of many different situations from wilderness survival to terrorist bombs. I have taken that knowledge and used it in my courses.
I spoke to a professional Yachts woman some years ago who whilst ferrying a yacht across the Atlantic the yacht sank. Her and 3 others ended up in a lift raft and for respect of all involved I will not go into the details because I am not sure how public the details are but one girl just gave up and died in the boat but the first to die was a male who lost his nerve among some other very disturbing things shouted we are all going to die and jumped into the sea and swam away. His body was never recovered. The Yachts woman was the only survivor it is everyone's belief that she should not have lived she defied medical knowledge by a mile. The reason she lived was because she was an around the world yachts woman that had experienced many hardships during her sailing carer and had the determination to keep going.
adi:
--- Quote from: Lost Soul on September 02, 2012, 01:55:38 PM --- Long ago I remember attending a symposium on survival and rescue at sea. Of all the lectures given the one that sticks in my mind to this day was the one given by a Psychologist from Lanchester University.
--- End quote ---
Was it Dr John Leach? He is one of the leading experts on the subject. He gave a lecture when I was doing one of my survival instructor courses, A really interesting information filled 4 hours that pricked my interest somewhat.
Laurence Gonzales book on the subject is a great read and his talks are entertaining and informative too.
adi:
People dismiss survival as a subject that will never effect them but they don't realise that only 10% of people are wired to survive all the others are wired to die, some of them will actually continue on with their day ignoring the treat actually speeding up their death.
The more experience you have have of a situation the more likely you are to survive. If you are willing to break the rules or even the law you are more likely to survive. If you are willing to ring up your work and tell them that you are ill when in fact you are going to the beach for the day you are more likely to survive.
Survival Psychology is definitely the most interesting and important part of the subject and in many respects you can forget much of the rest of the subject. Too much knowledge can work against you too.
Brian:
I'm fascinated by this thread. Thanks to all who have contributed to it.
Adi - STOP is terribly important. And as a companion to a good knife, I'd have a saw of some sort. I prefer a substantial folding pruning saw with a 7 - 10 inch blade. Cheap, light weight and safer and more energy efficient cross-cutting a branch than swinging with a knife. Also, in our evergreen forests, you can remove boughs from trees (insulation) much more easily with a saw than with a knife (you can't swing your knife within the density of the branches).
With the saw, you can make a baton to strike the spine of your knife for wood-splitting and for chopping, you can "square" the ends of branches, precisely cut lengths, etc.
"State of mind" is crucial. I try to get people to a survival mentality by providing them with a familiarity of what to expect if lost in the woods, what equipment they should have, and how to use their tools. IF they practice a little, much of the terror of the unknown dissipates.
In essence, knowledge, proper equipment and practice should help create state of mind conducive to survival. Or so I hope.
In the way of shelter equipment, I also stress taking a 4 mil thick plastic contractor's trash bag as a last resort. Cut a hole on the fold near the closed end for your face, and climb in if the worst comes to the worst. Cheap, light-weight and effective.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version