Survivalist attempts 1 year challenge, dies

by **flsgear** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 2:06 pm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... n-hut.html

Of course I see bear grylls and I wince... but yeah. Read and learn

What I find most interesting is that he didn't die of hunger, or dehydration. He was in a cabin in northern scotland - a Bothy (?) .. and died of hypothermia.

Goes back to that whole rule of threes thing

He also went off without any emergency backup (left his cell phone) and was apparently somewhat versed in how to survive as he'd taken a few classes.

by **Tetra Grammaton Cleric** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 2:23 pm

Crap... he froze to death.

Gear failure? Sleeping bag, etc not rated at the right temps?

Fire-fu failure? Couldn't get enough fuel out of the environment/surroundings? (the pic at the link looks pretty bereft of trees? Doesn't peat burn though? Is there even peat in that neck of the "woods")

Shoot, I'd be tempted to burn some of that bothy hut to stay alive if I still had the energy/mental wherewithal to think of it.

Bear, you photogenic devil you, you gots some 'splainin' to do.

-

by **Czechnology** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 2:34 pm

Damn. Poor bastard.

I'd imagine stunted mental capacity from a lack of water or food likely had a hand in this.

here · by **oldsoldier** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 2:35 pm

Peat burns-once its dry. Cutting it out of a bog...well, it aint dry

.

by **nacho** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 2:45 pm

This is what happens when you listen to people on TV.

by **flsgear** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 3:09 pm

Comon now, who couldn't trust this guy implicitly?

by **GentryMillMan** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 3:11 pm

If I were to try a "year long live off the land" I would at least pick an area that would leave the odds somewhat in my favor. But if a "survival expert" is saying that it would be nearly impossible that should be clue #1.

It all makes perfect sense to me, but then again I am also still alive.....
Darwin's work alive and well......Such a shame.....

by **dogbane** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 3:31 pm

Well, he can't rightly be called a "survivalist" now, can he? He's like a cold-weather version of that Ultimate Fighter who died of exposure in some southwestern desert a year or two back. Or that Canadian guy trying to be like Les Stroud. In fact, the only TV-related "survival" story with a happy ending I can think of is that kid who did all the wrong things, just like he learned on Man vs. Wild, who got rescued in spite of it.

by **raptor** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 3:38 pm

The phrase knowledgeable enough to hurt yourself comes to mind.

It is a shame but this seems to happen (or hit the press) at least once a year. It come back to rule for life...

Always have a Plan B. Always know the location of the back door and if your Plan B stinks then do not lose sight of the back door.

He not only lost sight of his escape route; his plan B was to make plan A work. A terrible strategy at any time.

by **dogbane** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 3:44 pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Tanner#Death

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/201003 ... tl_100304/

Actually, two youth survival stories:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... rylls.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -Wild.html

But the kids weren't trying to be "survivalists"; they were just trying to survive.

by **Woods Walker** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 3:55 pm

I am not surprised. The lone backpacker survivalist is a fantasy IMO that isn't advocated around these parts for a reason.

by **jamoni** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 4:09 pm

Woods Walker wrote:I am not surprised. The lone backpacker survivalist is a fantasy IMO that isn't advocated around these parts for a reason.

Agreed. 2 is 1, 1 is none. It could have been something as simple as a high fever. Put him out of commission just long enough to break his cycle of finding food and combustibles, and bam, he's dead.
This is why my survival preps always include the following:
1. Shelter
2. Water
3. Fire
4. Food
5. First aid
6. COMMUNICATIONS.

The first five are just so you live long enough for help to come.

by **flsgear** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 4:35 pm

What gets me about this whole thing is that temps have been hovering around 30 deg in that area per weather.com with mild wind chill. So he gets into a bothy - they have a picture of it on the site - and it's a decent little cable/shelter. I'd assume it had SOME kind of heater - so seriously wtf? That just blows my mind. I've slept through some cold ass nights camping out and it's a bitch, for sure, but something doesn't track. I think he was probably really in a weakened state already (which the article tends to lend towards).

I will say I wouldn't mind reading that journal of his that he wrote up.

by **raptor** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 4:47 pm

jamoni wrote:It could have been something as simple as a high fever. Put him out of commission just long enough to break his cycle of finding food and combustibles, and bam, he's dead.

Like jamoni said it could be as simple as getting a bad cold or a fever that put him out of commission. If you are sick and snowed in the road to help may as well be on the moon.

by **Woods Walker** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 7:49 pm

flsgear wrote:What gets me about this whole thing is that temps have been hovering around 30 deg in that area per weather.com with mild wind chill. So he gets into a bothy - they have a picture of it on the site - and it's a decent little cable/shelter. I'd assume it had SOME kind of heater - so seriously wtf? That just blows my mind. I've slept through some cold ass nights camping out and it's a bitch, for sure, but something doesn't track. I think he was probably really in a weakened state already (which the article tends to lend towards).

I will say I wouldn't mind reading that journal of his that he wrote up.

Exposure is the death of a thousand cuts. On a side note never underestimate conditions in the 30-40 degree range. Toss in some rain and in many ways it’s harder to deal with than subzero.

by **Woods Walker** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 7:52 pm

jamoni wrote:
Woods Walker wrote:I am not surprised. The lone backpacker survivalist is a fantasy IMO that isn't advocated around these parts for a reason.

Agreed. 2 is 1, 1 is none. It could have been something as simple as a high fever. Put him out of commission just long enough to break his cycle of finding food and combustibles, and bam, he's dead.
This is why my survival preps always include the following:
1. Shelter
2. Water
3. Fire
4. Food
5. First aid
6. COMMUNICATIONS.

The first five are just so you live long enough for help to come.

Yup. If solo without backup a person is just a slip, trip, fall or sickness away from a world of hurt.

by **xxxDarksidexxx** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 8:34 pm

amazing that the guy dies in a SHELTER! you guys bring up good points about him maybe getting sick, if thats what happened then the cold just adds to the trouble.

by **nacho** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 11:12 pm

jamoni wrote:This is why my survival preps always include the following:
1. Shelter
2. Water
3. Fire
4. Food
5. First aid
6. COMMUNICATIONS.

The first five are just so you live long enough for help to come.

+1000

by **by-the-throat** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 1:02 am

You fail at survivalism, sir, and make us all look bad in the bargain.

I concur with others. Solo survival is a fantasy. I don't care how brilliant and hairy chested you are, you can be the living incarnation of John J. Rambo and still slip a disc and starve to death with your arm outstretched towards a bag of rice on the counter.

I was in a situation recently where me and another of the group were going to go on an altoids tin and knife only mock bugout for three days, and he had to back out due to work obligations but I had the option of going solo. I chose not to for that very reason.

by **KnightoftheRoc** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 1:46 am

by-the-throat wrote:You fail at survivalism, sir, and make us all look bad in the bargain.

I concur with others. Solo survival is a fantasy. I don't care how brilliant and hairy chested you are, you can be the living incarnation of John J. Rambo and still slip a disc and starve to death with your arm outstretched towards a bag of rice on the counter.

I was in a situation recently where me and another of the group were going to go on an altoids tin and knife only mock bugout for three days, and he had to back out due to work obligations but I had the option of going solo. I chose not to for that very reason.

QFT

When I herniated three disks in my back, it happened at home, in my bed. I was basically unable to move at all without EXTREME pain, and this inside my comfy apartment. Had I been outdoors, in a survival or even just camping situation, and alone, my chances of survival would have dropped to zero. How did I herniate three disks, you ask? Why, all I did was sleep in a bad position- when I went to get up for work, pop! No more legs, just a world of hurt. I barely managed to get downstairs to go see the doctor- took me a half hour to go down one flight of stairs. Hiking a trail, out of the question.

by **chills1994** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 2:30 am

jamoni wrote:
Woods Walker wrote:I am not surprised. The lone backpacker survivalist is a fantasy IMO that isn't advocated around these parts for a reason.

Agreed. 2 is 1, 1 is none. It could have been something as simple as a high fever. Put him out of commission just long enough to break his cycle of finding food and combustibles, and bam, he's dead.
This is why my survival preps always include the following:
1. Shelter
2. Water
3. Fire
4. Food
5. First aid
6. COMMUNICATIONS.

The first five are just so you live long enough for help to come.

basically, the bottom level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs:

by **jamoni** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 2:32 am

I think it says something about this crowd that someone losing their job gets way more sympathy than this guy.
Something good.
Because probably the number one rule of survival is "Don't go looking for trouble."
@Chills, pretty much.

by **chills1994** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 2:37 am

a really dumb...DUMB question, going back to very high school basic biology classes. okay, maybe I am mistaken, but things just don't spontaneously generate. if he is not in contact with other people, how does some virus or bacteria get in contact with him (his mucus membranes or eyes) to get him sick. I mean I guess he could have contracted something through his water (not boiling it long enough) or through whatever food he was eating, and then he had the runs so bad he got dehydrated, got out of his right mind, and then froze to death.

my next best guess is carbon monoxide poisoning assuming he didn't have enough draft in his shelter.???

by **Kutter_0311** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 3:36 am

You don't need other people to get sick, just a system that's been run so hard it can no longer keep up with the thousands of things that you are exposed to every day. Usually, the many layers of your immune system eliminate threats quickly enough that they can't take hold, but that all requires resources, like anything else. If you can't stay hydrated, you can't make enough mucus to trap and remove crap before it gets to your lungs. If you aren't eating right, your body doesn't have materials to make white blood cells to police the crap in your blood, or even respond to a known threat that you're "immune" to. Consider that, in the cold, you burn way more fuel just to maintain body temp, and you'll see why people tend to eat more in the winter.

Cold climate survival problems tend to snowball from "oops" to :gonk:

before you realize...

Also, that structure has a really high roof, heating it must be a bitch!