As I sat on the beach last week during my vacation, I managed to relax and have fun. One of the many highlights of my days, then, was listening to the waves crash as I read with great interest my newest book. Of course, being a wilderness survival instructor, I tend to read non-fiction accounts of survival. After all, reading offers a great way to help learn from others about what it it takes to deal with adversity, often when you may most feel like giving up. This book was unique, however, in that it’s main focus is on the only official canine POW of World War II. No Better Friend: One Man, One Dog, and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage and Survival in WWII, written by Robert Weintraub, describes almost incredible accounts of heroism, fortitude, and devotion between dog and human alike. Born in Shanghai, China in 1936, Judy, an English Pointer, was […]
Read more →Amazingly, at least in my mind, it has been 22 years since Christopher McCandless slowly starved to death, all alone in an abandoned school bus, in the Alaskan wilderness. Many of you may have read about his story in the Jon Krakauer book, Into the Wild, or saw the movie of the same title. Amazingly, he still remains to this day the subject of active, even fervent, discussions amongst those in the outdoors community. There is just something about McCandless’ story that touches something so visceral in so many. The debate generally falls into two main camps. The first tends to argue that his death was almost inevitable due to his selfish personality and reckless lack of preparedness. The second tends to praise him for his free spirit and trust in the bounty of Nature, and views his death as an unfortunate accident. For what it’s worth, my opinion tends to reflect those of the […]
Read more →I thought that I would share with you an interesting idea that I just read while sitting on the couch at my EMS station. It comes from a book that that I have been reading, Surviving Survival: The Art and Science of Resilience, by Laurence Gonzales. In short, the book is about dealing with post-traumatic stress. Gonzales writes that when one is in the midst of a crisis, while it can seem that the pain and distress will go on forever, it isn’t true. Rather, pleasure, laughter, even peace and happiness almost always follow. In fact, he suggests that the waiting time in between can be sped up by following three simple steps: Do something that you love. Do something for someone who needs you. And be with people who care about you. His paragraph really struck me. It is something that I think that we can all agree is true, […]
Read more →Yesterday, at Hartwood Acres County Park, I spent the day teaching “Basic Wilderness Navigation.” The main goal of this course is twofold. First, of course, is to provide our students with the fundamentals of using a compass and map so that they can begin to feel more confident as they prepare for, and engage in, their chosen outdoor activities. But, the second, and arguably the most important goal, is to provide each student with a solid foundation of understanding for their continued self learning. That’s because, as I stress at the conclusion of our various land navigation courses (not to mention many of our other courses, like wilderness first aid), their training hasn’t ended, rather, it has only just started. In short, and in common parlance, if you don’t use it, you’re going to lose it. So, I very often recommend the book, Be Expert with Map and Compass by Bjorn […]
Read more →On Saturday, my postwoman handed me the latest version of Accidents in North American Mountaineering (ANAM) that I had ordered earlier in the week. When I get home tonight from a meeting with my friend, J.C., I fully intend to crack open a beer, plop down on my couch with my fresh copy, and, soon after I start to read, begin heavily marking the pages with my highlighter and pencil. Since it is the sixth year in a row that I’ve been reading this journal, I know that it will probably take me about a week to finish — And I will appreciate every minute of it. Whoa, wait a minute, Erik, isn’t it a little weird to “appreciate” page after page of death, injury, and mortality statistics? I wrote “appreciate,” not “enjoy.” Besides, I read it … and often recommend it to my students … for very good reasons. After […]
Read more →Today, an expedition composed of six Brits and Australians, led by Tim Jarvis and Barry Grey, completed a re-enactment of one of the greatest survival adventures of all time. The team followed the path of Ernest Shackleton, the acclaimed polar explorer, who in 1914 set out to sea from Great Britain on the Endurance with a crew of 56 men, just as hostilities broke out with Germany, to be the first to cross the Antarctic continent from sea to sea via the South Pole. However, soon after leaving port, the expedition faced one difficulty after another. Ultimately, though, even after overcoming all of those obstacles, the Endurance became hopelessly trapped in sea ice. Knowing that their only chance for survival lay in their own hands, Shackleton led his men over high walls of pack ice, hidden crevasses, raging seas, blinding blizzards, even a mountain, to a remote whaling station on […]
Read more →If anyone is looking for a last minute Christmas gift, then I have terrific recommendation. One of the best all time books on the subject of survival is Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why? by Laurence Gonzales. First published in 2004, Gonzales seeks to answer a classic question that has puzzled many of us for so long: Why does survival seem so unpredictable? For example, why does only one out of a group of five in a lifeboat survive while the rest die? Or, why does an experienced hunter die overnight, while, in worse conditions, a toddler survives many days? Using a combination of physiological and psychological analysis, plus true-life case studies, Gonzales weaves a deceptively simple, yet powerful, explanation: Equipment, training, and experience, though helpful in a survival situation, are not decisive … It is what is in your brain and heart that counts. One reason that Gonzales’ book is […]
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