Your Survival Stories

Tell us your survival story here!

How many of you actually had to put your skills to practical use? I've been in several situations that would have ben a harrowing tale of survival for most "ordinary" people. So far i haven't been stranded somewhere for more than a couple of days but there have been a few times that i had to spend a night or two in the wild with no preparation.


There have also been times i was stranded at sea, in hurricanes, and other exicting stuff, but so far, not panicking has gotten me through a lot of tough spots, and even made most of 'em fun.

A couple times, i went out mountiain biking, got a flat, and ended up in darkness by the time i got it fixed. Not wanting to bomb a trail with jumps, drops, log crossings, and exposed traverses for miles, i stayed overnight and made my way downin the morning. It got down to the 50's at night and i was wearing a single layer of breathable lycra and carrying no tools. By making a bed of pine boughs and piles of dry needles underneath, and another layer on top, i could spend a night out inomfort, slept well all night uninterrupted and felt great when i woke up.

Also, for a time, while living aboard a small sailboat and cruising, i spent the better part of a year eating only foods i could hunt or gather. I spent the cool early mornings gathering coconuts, cocoplums, citrus, mango, and any other fruits i'd come across in my searches. As the sun rose in the sky, i'd hit the water for some spearfishing with a hawaiian sling, which could be made in a survival situation,. I'd always come back with something to toss on the fire, or just eat raw. I'd sometimes spend 6 o 8 hours out fishing, solo, a mile or 3 offshore on the reef, taking what i needed, and observing the environment. I got so famiiar wit the reefs that i could naviagte effectively for miles with underwater landmarks.

For lunch, i'd spear a small fish, swim to the inside of the reef, float on my back, and eat it raw. If you're going to eat fish like this it's a good idea to break the fish open and eat it from the inside out, to avoid the scales. Also, eat quick, toss the scraps, and clear the area, making sure none of it is stuck to you. I've been doing this for quite some time and have never seen a shark on a fishing dive, and i've looked for 'em cause i'd love to see 'em in their environment.

From my experience, i'd prefer to be in a survival situiation alone, with nobody to babysit, whine, cry, despair, scream "WE'RE GONNA DIE!" or otherwise be a buzzkill. I like to enjoy the outdoors, even if i'm stuck there, just because you have to hike 20 miles back to civilization doesn't mean you can't enjoy it. Be glad you're not stuck in traffic, waiting in line, or at work, and enjoy a stroll through nature as opposed to a panicked dash through the bush in a harrowing tale of near death under the control of the sadistic puppetmaster known as fear. Unless it's with Chuck Norris, cause he can take care of hisself, but otherwise, i'd prefer to go solo.

How about you? What did you survive?

Really cool life you get to live...Unfortuntly I have never been stranded for more then two days and never at sea I was wondering though sense these posts are about preparing and helping others prepare could you please tell me how to make a hawaiian sling? please I've heard of many survivor stories and those slings seem to be a big life savor please educate me how can you make and use one give details too because I'll need them.

Originally posted by 2Resistance
Unfortuntly I have never been stranded for more then two days and never at sea

Unfortunately?? You think it's fun being stranded some place?? It's not a game, man. Even worst at sea. It's not fun and games.

[edit on 17-12-2006 by enjoies05]

I realize being stranded at sea is horrible, or being stranded anywhere but I personally like to look bakc at any bad point in my life and talk about it sometimes there funny or interesting...I didn't mean it as in every one whos been stranded is stupid or super cool it sucks but later they can be cool to talk about.

Originally posted by enjoies05

Originally posted by 2Resistance
Unfortuntly I have never been stranded for more then two days and never at sea

Unfortunately?? You think it's fun being stranded some place?? It's not a game, man. Even worst at sea. It's not fun and games.

[edit on 17-12-2006 by enjoies05]

Actually for me it was/is fun, i feel alive and in my element, away from all the silly fake things that the "civilized" world is built from, and am presented with a challenge. Hey, it beaats trying to pretend i fit in with the big meaningless game. But then again, i'm an adrenaline junkie.

Okay, a hurricane story. Crossing back from the Bahamas one year to Florida, i wa sunder sail and racing a storm across the strait. On a perfect beam reach in a 29' Irwin sloop, 12-15' rollers and 25-30 knots of good wind. I spent the first couple hours avoiding the bands of the storm, dodging waterspouts and rugged looking cells. About halfway through the crossing, the door slammed shut on us. The wind instantly went from 20-30 to around 80 knots in one huge gust. The mainsail exploded like it was made of wet toilet paper, and the jib tore and hit the water, dragging the boatonto it's side by dragging under the boat in the water. We got the hatch sealed quickly, but the boat was pinned mast to the water by the wind and drag of the sail. The other crewman manned the tiller and tried to get it to hit the water again. By this time the sea looked angry, like in the movie Perfect Storm, just like that, towering walls of black water, no sunlight at all in midday,dark as night, a driving rain so hard if you look into the wind you'd drown, and the wind itself, still whipping at hurricane force over my battered and semi-capsized vessel. I managed to walk along the bottom of the hull, holding onto the keel, which was out of the water completely, and lashed myself to the bow pulpit as i got the jib and roller furling setup de-rigged, the sail pulled back abouard, and stuffed in the forward hatch in between swells, Even with the jib no longer dragging, the boat wouldn't right itself, the windf kept the mast and rigging pinned. AFter a bit more struggle trying to weight the windward side of the boat, a huge swell blocked the wind long enough to catch the keel and tiller in the water again. We finally got the boat upright and ran barepoles downwind, surfing swells and trying not to pearl in and catch the bow underwater. With both of us prying at the tiller, we managed to run for a couple of exciting-to-say-the-least hours downwind, until the storm finally spit us out, about 20 miles from port and severely off course. We took on some water, but got it pumped out. Unfortunately though, it was enough to flood the engine room, so we were 20 miles out with no sails or power. Another boat was caught in the storm, and ended up in the same area. After hailing the vessel on the VHF, the skipper responded in a state of near total panic, praying to any deity that would listen to save him. with clear skies, but monster swells, and the wind still blowing, he maneuvered wityhin range of my vessel and when i hit the top of the swell i dove for the deck. FRom 20' high up the face of a wall of water, it was like trying tohit a postage stamp. I jumped, and hit the deck dead center in a crashing heap, got the panicked skipper sorted, and took over as skipper on his vessel, a 43' chris craft from 1950, all steel hull, built like a battleship with twin marine 427's and loaded with goodies like GPS and auopilot, all of which the skipper had no idea how to use. I got my vessel tied on and ended up towing it back into port.

Overall, that was a pretty exciting day, and even though it should have been harroing and scary, i was lashed to the front of the boat, being beat to hell by wind and water, skin stinging and even bleeding a bit from every dime sized raindrop that plowed into me at 100mph or more, i was still screaming YEEEEEEHAWWWWWWWW! loud enough that i can hear it over the sound of the storm. It was one helluva wild ride, and i'd go again in a second being given the chance.

Actually somthing i've been thinking about since then, and would like to do soemday, is ride out a hurricane at sea without a vessel, just me, a life preserver, wetsuit, snorkel, mask, some fins, and a little bit of supplies. I'd get dumped by boat into the path of a good solid cat 2 or higher, so far out to sea that i have no chancce of hitting land, and just ride the storm for a good 12 hours or so. That'd probably be an even wilder trip than on the boat.

I'm kinda looking forward to the day where i'm free from the shackles of society's oppression, when i finally walk off into a vast wilderness, and leave the wreckage of civilization behind to go live in harmony with mother earth. If it happens tomorrow, then cool, if nothing happens for the next 5 years, cool, i'll just pretend civilization collapsed and go live without it anyways

I could see it not being fun if you've gotta drag somebody's broken ass for days through green hell, or kick it Donner party style, but for the most part, survival should be fun, or else it's not worth surviving to be miserable, depressed, scared, and longing for convenience.