NI-Wild Survival Night

[Paul72]

not one of you has talked about having a firesteel.

Er..I think I did mention a firesteel!  I took that as a given that people would be taking one anyway or some other means of making a fire but it's still good to try other techniques.

[spartan00117]

I agree with Lenny on this one, if its for one night whats the point in a sleeping bag or bivvy.  Why doesnt one person bring a tarp or a 10 x 10 piece of poly which we could use to make a temporary shelter or ground sheet with.  As for fire lets just use a firesteel this time round and look at other options the next time.  Here would be my list.

Tarp or poly 10' x 10'
1 knife
1 firesteel (tinder optional)
10m of paracord
1 empty 2 litre plastic bottle
Food (optional)
1 billy can
Clothing (whatever you choose to wear)

Ofcourse we will all have mobile phones with us and someone should bring a medi kit just encase, but thats it.  What else is there?

[LennyJ1]

I agree with Lenny on this one, if its for one night whats the point in a sleeping bag or bivvy.  Why doesnt one person bring a tarp or a 10 x 10 piece of poly which we could use to make a temporary shelter or ground sheet with.  As for fire lets just use a firesteel this time round and look at other options the next time.  Here would be my list.

Tarp or poly 10' x 10'
1 knife
1 firesteel (tinder optional)
10m of paracord
1 empty 2 litre plastic bottle
Food (optional)
1 billy can
Clothing (whatever you choose to wear)

Ofcourse we will all have mobile phones with us and someone should bring a medi kit just encase, but thats it.  What else is there?

I would say that is a perfect kit list for survival weekend minus the tarp. If you find something in the mountains then thats fine.

[suspectmonkey]

I'd be up for this, depending on dates and how long it takes for my left arm to start working again!  I'd probably be thinking of bringing the following kit:

Bivvy bag
Sleeping bag
Fire steel
Knife
Crusader cup
Paracord

Pretty sure I, along with a few others, mentioned bringing a fire steel.  The reason I will be bringing a sleeping bag is because any fool can be uncomfortable.  I could of course go all Bear and make myself a "sheeping bag" but I doubt the smell around the camp fire would be too pleasant and I don't think it would be the best way to appease the local farmers.  Of course everyone will have different objectives, so if anyone wants to go with nothing but the clothes on their back fair play to them.  Personally my objectives would be to build and sleep in a lean-to or a-frame shelter (with sleeping bag to keep me toasty and a bivvy bag purely to protect the sleeping bag) and get a fire going using nothing but the fire steel and maybe a feather stick or something.  Nothing too adventurous, but something a bit different all the same.

[Grace.]

Yeah I think the same as suspectmonkey. Im totally with bringing the clothes on your back and fire steel if I could. But I need a sleeping bag because if my legs get to cold they freeze up and well you'd all have to take turns at carrying me back

I think a few of you need to sort out the list of stuff to bring etc. The date and whereabouts. Post it abit before the actual night on a new post for people to look at and well if people disagree then I'm sure something can be figured out. There is like 10 or more men here who Im sure all have there own way of doing things that all work for them. So getting it all down into one little survival list will be a challenge. Just remember there can be more than one night. So if people have different ideas then I'm sure everyone wont say no to another awesome night in the woods.

Grace

[LennyJ1]

Ok guys, if you feel you need a sleeping bag then thats cool.

All im saying is that is not survival if you have a biviy and a sleeping bag.

Everyone to thier own - I'm not looking for a fight.

[LandyLiam]

BE SAFE & BRING EVERYTHING

whether you use it or not is a different matter, but if its in the bag beside you when the weather takes a turn for the worst you'll be glad of it

[Grace.]

I agree with Lenny here. No point starting a little argument over something that is meant to be fun for everyone. And by the way I didnt mean if I did to come across like I was being bitchy. I know Oisin says it can happen sometimes

[LennyJ1]

Have a read of this all 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survival_skills

[Matthew]

BE SAFE & BRING EVERYTHING

whether you use it or not is a different matter, but if its in the bag beside you when the weather takes a turn for the worst you'll be glad of it

That's the attitude I like. I have had my fill of miserable nights in the hills, Lough Shannagh and the Meelemore saddle to name a few recent ish ones. Don't get me wrong I like the whole idea and I really do sign up to it all but I am not wanting to be freezing, get zero sleep etc. Ill have a go at building whatever it is to sleep in but I want to know that if it all goes wrong I at least have warm bag for the night.

Matthew

[suspectmonkey]

All im saying is that is not survival if you have a biviy and a sleeping bag.

Not to be pedantic, but just to point out there have been plenty of "survival" situations were people have been fully equipped and still been in life or death situations.  I don't think "survival" purely boils down to what equipment you have at your disposal, often the survival element can be your physical location or physical health.  Take for example the recent thread on the Canadian woman who survived seven weeks stranded.  She may very well of had a sleeping bag, a bivvy bag, a stove etc. at her disposal but due to her physical location she was in a life or death survival situation.  It's perfectly reasonable to assume that if you ended up in a survival situation with your tobacco tin of essentials you may very well still have your rucksack with shelter and insulation.  You can't just draw a line and say that taking certain items into the field means it is no longer a survival situation.  That's my take on it anyway, frankly I'm not looking to earn any kind of badge or medal, just want to enjoy carving up some sticks and lashing some logs around the camp fire for a bit of craic  

[LandyLiam]

I employ survival techniques every day and night, otherwise i wouldn't be here 

so maybe its actually a BUSHCRAFT night we should be looking at  p.s. if i go i'm still bringing my sandwiches 

[LennyJ1]

Suspet you are right, must be the milatry coming out but one tin with kit is survival. sleeping bag and biviy is comfort and survival is not comfortable.

I wont be bring this up any more. I have more than likely repeated myself to much now.

Peace out

[Paul72]

An excellent suggestion, I think we've got a little ahead of ourselves with definitions etc.  If this were a bushcraft night then it covers all the bases yet were not pressured into having a rough night when we don't need to.  By all means we should practise shelterbuilding, firelighting or whatever but, as has been said, if the weather takes a turn for the worse we should be able to use whatever equipment we have brought with us.  After all we're meant to be enjoying it and having a bit of craic but that's not going to happen if you're cold, wet and miserable.

[suspectmonkey]

p.s. if i go i'm still bringing my sandwiches 

That's okay, but you have to lug up a bag of wheat and bake the bread in some kind of earthen charcoal oven

Am actually quite looking forward to this as if we all pool together our collective skills and knowledge we should be able to learn a few things from each other