1. Wilderness Survival
Senior Grad Project
Cody Schunder
Ms. Rieger / Period 9
g:courses/library/senior project
2. Overview of Presentation
I am going to run through my PowerPoint Presentation
to provide basic research gathered
Play video demonstration
Play and discuss video interviews
Do a class activity to review information that I provided
which will include audience participation
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3. Thesis
I plan to educate students on the basic needs and skills
to survive in a possible life threatening outdoor
environment.
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4. Personal Relevance
I chose Wilderness Survival as my topic because it can
help save lives if taught correctly.
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5. Relevance of Topic
• It is important that every young person has a chance to
know the basics that so they can draw on this
information if needed.
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6. Evidence of Research
I learned what the most important factors/skills of
survival are.
I tested my skills in an actual outdoor environment by
going in the wilderness and putting my research to use.
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7. Wilderness Survival
Basic needs to survive:
Ways to start fire
Correct Clothing and Gear
Shelter from Elements
Correct mental mindset
Munro, Nicky. The Survival Handbook. Illus. Mike Garland.2009.Untited States:DK
Publishing.Print.
8. Fire Making/Starting
This is the number one aspect in survival. It will
enable you to keep warm, heat food, boil water to
drink, dry clothing, signaling, and more.
Munro, Nicky. The Survival Handbook. Illus. Mike Garland.2009.Untited
States:DK Publishing.Print.
9. Fire Making/Starting
The top three components for fire starting are
oxygen, heat and fuel.
Munro, Nicky. The Survival Handbook. Illus. Mike Garland.2009.Untited
States:DK Publishing.Print. Pg 118-127
10. Gear
Work backward from a worst case scenario situation,
analyzing what you will need to survive if the worst
case scenario happened.
This is called your first line equipment. What you
should carry with you at all times when you are going
into any activity that is outdoors.
Munro, Nicky. The Survival Handbook. Illus. Mike
Garland.2009.Untited States:DK Publishing.Print. Pgs 42-49
11. Gear (continued)
Your first line gear (bare basics) should consist of
crucial items of outdoor clothing along with essential
items for navigation and safety.
Munro, Nicky. The Survival Handbook. Illus. Mike
Garland.2009.Untited States:DK Publishing.Print. Pgs 42-49
13. Gear (continued)
Dressing for the outdoors varies depending on the climate you are
in, activity level and weather conditions.
Layering of the right gear provides flexibility based on the above
information.
Munro, Nicky. The Survival Handbook. Illus. Mike Garland.2009.Untited
States:DK Publishing.Print. Pgs 42-49
15. Shelter from Elements
Munro, Nicky. The Survival Handbook. Illus. Mike Garland.2009.Untited
States:DK Publishing.Print. Pgs. 156-175
16. Shelter from Elements
Raise the sleeping area off the ground
Make sure your shelter is sturdy and secure to be able
to withstand the worst conditions.
Munro, Nicky. The Survival Handbook. Illus. Mike
Garland.2009.Untited States:DK Publishing.Print. Pgs. 156-175
17. Information from Interviews
Mr. Robert Collins
Ex army, part time instructor of survival courses
Owner of Earth Star Survival: survival expedition
teacher/leader
Inter view with Mr. Robert Collins
19. Interview with Russ
• Reviewed clothing to wear and not wear. What material you
want your gear to be made of. No cotton, all
polypropylene/wool.
• Talked about eating the right foods while trying to Survive and
how you need to eat twice as much of the right foods because
your body is using up its fuel so vigorously.
• Stressed the importance of staying hydrated.
• Russ talked about positive mental attitude and a strong will to
survive being one of the most critical aspects in surviving.
Munro, Nicky. The Survival Handbook. Illus. Mike
Garland.2009.Untited States:DK Publishing.Print. Pgs. 156-175
21. Survival: A State of Mind
Being aware of your situation, and mentally prepared plays
a significant part in your survival in a difficult situation.
A positive mental attitude is the single most important action
you can have in any survival situation.
You must access your situation and priorities; develop a
plan, and keep positive.
Keller, William.Keller’s Outdoor Survival Guide: How to prevail when lost, stranded, or
injured in the wilderness.Minocqua, Wisconsin:Willow Creek Press, 2001.Print. Pgs
9-13
22. Do’s and Don’ts of Survival
DO:
Keep dry
Collect water
Stay alert for weather related injuries
Get a fire going
Be constantly alert for signs of rescue
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23. Do’s and Don’t continued
Don’t:
Overexert yourself and cause sweating.
Don’t allow extremities to get too cold.
Don’t panic/give up.
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24. Class Activity
For my activity I am going to develop a worksheet to
review information covered in my presentation. The
class will have to complete the worksheet and we will
review together.
I will review the answers with the class.
25. Conclusion
The basic needs and skills to survive in a possible life-
threatening outdoor environment include finding
shelter, making fire, getting food, and having a strong
mental mindset, and are important for everyone to
know.
My research confirms the fact that this information I
shared is supported by my interviews and in my camp
out experience.
26. Works Cited
Adventure Sports Online. Outdoor Mind, 2009. Web. 2 Dec. 2009. <http://www.adventuresportsonline.com>. Adventure Sports Online (ASO),
established in 1995, is a directory for the outdoor enthusiast. The site is designed to be an online information resource and inspiration for the
everyday outdoor enthusiast. The site consists of a calendar for special events, an online store for adventure products, and trip planning advice.
This online resource is made to appeal to the general public, not just a specific audience like my military survival guide. I will look for my outdoor
gear on this website to make sure I am prepared for my survival conditions.
Angier, Bradford. How To Stay Alive In The Woods. Illus. Jack Doherty. 1956. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2001. Print. Bradford
Angier wrote this comprehensive book for survival in the outdoors more than fifty years ago. This book contains many scenarios and diagrams for
survival, which are presented in great detail. For example, the different types of firewood are described in great detail during the chapter about
wood. This guide is more precise with its information, explaining processes in a step-by-step fashion, while William Keller presents general
principles in his guide. I will incorporate some of the detailed drawings in this book into my presentation for my senior project. I will be able to teach
my classmates exactly how to survive in the wild after reading this book.
Dalrymple, Byron. Survival in the Outdoors: An Outdoor Life Book. Illus. Charles Waterhouse, Carl Sigman, and Fergus Retrum. New York: E.P.
Dutton & Co., Inc., 1972. Print. Through the years, Byron Dalrymple has tested his ideas about outdoor survival through his experiences hunting,
fishing and on wilderness expeditions. He has been writing about these experiences for the last 25 years in magazines such as Outdoor Life and
Sports Illustrated. He reveals such survival necessities like how to purify water from the ground, build shelters, kill for food and stay warm even in
wet conditions. This book contains numerous pictures to supplement the instructions unlike some of my other sources. I will use this information to
make survival diagrams for my project.
Dyer, Jessica. “Naturalist to Teach Survival Tactics.” Albuquerque Journal 8 Aug. 2008: 4. ProQuest News and Magazines. Web. 2 Dec. 2009.
<http://proquest.umi.com>. Jessica Dyer is an Albuquerque Journal Staff Writer. She wrote this article about Mike Bochnia, a naturalist and tracker.
Bochnia, a naturalist, believes in getting rid of day-to-day luxuries and coming back to nature. Bochnia teaches people how to use the most basic
elements in his survival classes. This article differs from my other articles because he actually teaches people how to survive through his classes. I
will read this article to highlight information I did not know before. I will try to incorporate some of his naturalist views in my project.
Galvin, John. “The Self Reliance Issue: The Rules of Survival.” Popular Mechanics 1 Oct. 2009: 66. eLibrary. Web. 3 Dec. 2009.
<http://elibrary.bigchalk.com>. John Galvin has written numerous articles for many different magazines including Popular Mechanics, and Field and
Stream. In this article John talks about how when trying to survive you have to put everything into perspective. For example, if you are stuck out in a
snow storm you need to figure out what your top three priorities are to be able to survive. It focuses on the impact natural disasters have on humans
in contrast to the book How to Survive in the Woods. I am going to use this source by taking the info on how to help your family survive disasters and
g:courses/library/senior project they can do to do the same.
show the class how and what
27. Works Cited
“The Self Reliance Issue: The Rules of Survival.” Popular Mechanics 1 Oct. 2009: 66. eLibrary. Web. 3 Dec. 2009.
<http://elibrary.bigchalk.com>. John Galvin has written numerous articles for many different magazines including Popular Mechanics,
and Field and Stream. In this article John talks about how when trying to survive you have to put everything into perspective. For
example, if you are stuck out in a snow storm you need to figure out what your top three priorities are to be able to survive. It focuses
on the impact natural disasters have on humans in contrast to the book How to Survive in the Woods. I am going to use this source by
taking the info on how to help your family survive disasters and show the class how and what they can do to do the same.
Keller, WIlliam. Keller’s Outdoor Survival Guide: How to prevail when lost, stranded, or injured in the wilderness. Minocqua, Wisconsin
: Willow Creek Press, 2001. Print. WIlliam Keller was an EMT for over twenty years. He wrote this book to provide people with
practical survival techniques when out in the wildness. Through personal stories of search and rescue missions, he gives advice
based on their survival. For example, he talks about how a man was rescued after becoming lost while out hunting, and what they had
to do to bring him back to health. Unlike the army survival guide the book actually relates real life stories and does not just give
information. Im going to use this in my project by taking the real life stories and using the info while planning my survival expedition.
Multiservice Procedures Survival, Evasion and Recovery. N.p.: Air Land Sea Application Center, June 1999. Print. This guide was
made for the army, marine corps, navy and air force of the United States of America. The information is presented in outline form,
which makes it easier to find important facts. This book is written for the military, so some of the information applies to a different
reason for survival. Some examples of the advice given include “do not leave evidence of travel” and “seek a concealed spot.” The
audience of this book differs from many of my other sources. I will take some of these tactics and combine the information with my
other sources to guarantee survival in the wilderness.
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Notes de l'éditeur
With the technology we have today, people tend to rely too much on technology (phones, GPS) rather than themselves and learned skills.
Add depth to each bulleted item.
I will explain the importance of fire and procedure for fire starting. I will include my fire starting video.
Oxygen-this is a vital part of combustion to get the fire going and if you’re fire seems to be dying down, blow on it or fan it to increase oxygen levels to increase flame. Heat-essential for igniting the fuel. It can be generated by spark, chemical reaction or friction. Fuel-once the fire gets going, you need to fuel it to keep it going. In doing this, make sure you have enough fuel to keep it going as long as you need times ten because you will burn that much to keep warm.
Fully elaborate on the gear, itemizing everything needed. Example: knife, steel, gortex rain gear, insulated layers of clothing, compass, map, matches
Go into detail describing the importance of layering the right kind of gear. For example, polypropylene as a base, fleece, Gore-Tex, wool, and down would all be good insulation materials. Good, insulated, water proof boots are a necessity.
I chose the cave for my shelter because it is ready made, safe, weatherproof, and the best option for my location of being in the forest.
I interviewed Mr. Collins because of the fact he had first hand experience and knowledge in surviving, and teaches survival courses. He has been teaching survival skills for fifteen years to civilians, and prior to that he trained/taught army aircrews. I attended several classes of his at Montco and put a lot of that information I gathered to use during my time I spent in the wilderness.
I interviewed Mr. Collins because of the fact he had first hand experience and knowledge in surviving, and teaches survival courses. He has been teaching survival skills for fifteen years to civilians, and prior to that he trained/taught army aircrews. I attended several classes of his at Montco and put a lot of that information I gathered to use during my time I spent in the wilderness.
I interviewed Russ because he grew up on an Indian reservation learning the ways of survival in Arizona and New Mexico. During college he lived with the Eskimos in Alaska for two years living in igloos. He has a thorough knowledge of wilderness survival in almost any climate, which related to my outdoor survival experience. I used his knowledge and tips for winter survival on my own excursion.
As you can see I had to use many parts of survival that I researched in order to get through a night on my own in the woods in a re-enactment of being stranded due to a broken down vehicle. Some of the more important pieces of information I gathered from my research were: fire building, being able to use the fire to melt snow and get drinking water, how to locate and build a satisfactory shelter, and having the correct gear to get me through the harsh climate. The experience of having to actually survive was pretty intense, but with the right tools and knowledge of how to survive, I made it through the night with no issues.
I have two examples to show how keeping your head in a situation can save you. One is an injured skier, one a car crash victim. The basic human needs of air, water, food, clothing and shelter will change priority according to circumstances and time. Will site example in notes.
Do: Keep all clothing and gear and clean and dry as much as possible. Collect drinking water from a fast moving stream and filter if you can. Examples of weather related injuries are: frostbite, hypothermia, heat exhaustion or dehydration. Make sure you keep the fire going as long as possible. Remember the fire provides many functions: purify water, signal to others, warmth, dry wet or damp gear, etc. Keep positive mindset and don’t give up hope. Keep pushing to get rescued or find your way out.
Sweating because that can lead to hypothermia and even death. Extremities are the most susceptible to frostbite. Some symptoms of frostbite are discoloration, gray color, loss of feeling, painful. Keep a stable positive mental mindset. Do not panic, but remember all of your skills. Keep in mind something as simple as a trashbag can help you survive by keeping you dry, collecting water, etc.
I have seven basic questions to present to the class, reviewing their answers.
As you can see in my simulation of a survival situation in the outdoors, I put the information to an actual real life test, using the information I learned from my research.