Guys:
I enjoyed the earlier thread on 1 to 2 day survival kits. So I thought I'd ask my nephew, a former Navy Seal, how he would approach the issue.
I set out some limited conditions, so we didn't venture into the Arctic:
Assume good health and no major (crippling) injuries. Lower 48 states. Not dead of winter, not at the top of a mountain.
Some rain. Cold enough at night for hypothermia.
If you say you can do the 48 hours with nothing but a t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops, I'll believe you.
But if you really need something else to go the 48 hours, what would the minimum be, given your Seal training and knowledge? Minimum being what is needed to sustain life without requiring medical care when it's over. Hungry, okay. Cold, okay. Cranky, okay.
This is the response I got. I hope you enjoy it.
A man can survive 48 hrs in described conditions with nothing but his birthday suit.
It won't be fun or comfortable, but the answer is yes, absolutely. So we'll build up to a more comfortable vacation in the sticks from here.
Water is first priority. You can live 48 hrs without but you'll be suffering towards the end. 3-5 days is human limit w/o water. Those limits depend on the man's physical and mental tenacity. After 3 or 4 days you'd be too weak to do any useful work.
If no H2O sources available - I'd want a rag, t-shirt, socks or other cloth that can retain water by walking through morning dew. Alternatively, a plastic trash bag or similar for obtaining H2O via plant transpiration would be a good item to have/find. Also desert solar sills, or beach/berm/hill digs to access the area's water table are all good methods.
Re: hypothermia weather - the woods have plenty of vegetation and earth with which to build a comfy and warm site. Most heat is lost through ground conduction, so a bed of easily-gathered dry, dead veg makes a great insulator, larger sticks and earth digs will block wind and reduce air-convection heat loss.
Now that water and shelter are taken care of, food. Thin wire/fishing line for squirrel poles and small game traps would be 3rd on my list after a shirt and a trash bag. 4th would be a good hand-made knife ("custom" blade in the knife industry)...not a factory-manufactured piece. The line and knife can be used to make a bow fire. Now you're set. Hot rocks (exception: stream rocks - they'll explode) in the fire would make for a 5-star luxury bed once piled with a foot and a half or so of dirt.
Thanks for the fun question.
- Tom
