Self sufficiency is a lost art.

[Jhony5]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/07/national/main2237032.shtml

 

Okay, I'm gonna rant about something thats been chapping my ass of late. Its about this story of James Kim and his family. Heralded by the national media as a heroic and resourceful man, James Kim committed a series of unbelievable blunders which led to his death, and almost the death of his entire family.

 

What mistakes did Mr Kim make?

 

1) Lack of preparedness while driving in the winter weather. Every person should have a sleeping bag and/or a heavy blanket in their vehicle. A portable battery charger. A complete tool kit. Winter boots and gloves and appropriate heavy clothing. How in the god dam hell did this moron even think of cutting a path through some of the most remote and dense forestry in America without running through a checklist of 'what ifs'? If he checked the weather he would have known about the snow. If he didn't than hes an asshat.

 

2)When I heard he burned tires I thought "hey thats pretty smart". Until I heard that they burned them at night to stay warm. WTF! Hello McFly, smoke signals anyone? Jesus how stupid can you get.

 

3)He left his family to their own devices. This is a move that one shouldn't make unless the situation was very grim. I would never leave my family unless the need was absolute. Had he stayed put and attempted to forge for food and shelter, he would be alive. But noooo. He sauntered off like a jackass.

 

4)If the absolute need to leave was apparent, than there are resourceful things one could do to prepare for such a journey. He didn't have a hat, gloves or boots. But he did have the resource of an entire automobile to salvage. Make a hat, gloves and foot covering out of your seats, carpet and any other available materials before setting out. You won't exactly look real fashionable walking around with clothing salvaged from car parts, but you would look real fucking smart.

 

5)Heres the #1 thing this moron did that just defies logic. He left the road and wandered down a drainage gully. WTF? Dude, you're on a road. WTF?

I've been lost in the dense sticks of the Indiana state Forest, and I'll be the first one to tell ya, IT SUCKS. Real bad. The one thing you look for is......A ROAD! You don't leave the road and take your chances with the wild. How could someone be so god awful ignorant? Leaving that road was step #5 to his self destruction. Ultimately it was the final decision that doomed him.

 

Another aspect of his adventure to nowhere that I found profound was the fact that he traveled over ten miles in a very short amount of time. The media exclaimed this as a heroic effort. WRONG. Again this was stupid. To travel that distance he had to be moving real fast. When someone is moving real fast and hard the way he was, you will sweat. Allowing yourself to sweat while wandering in the frozen abyss, is retarded beyond compare. Once you start a good sweat, and you stop moving to rest, you're dead. You will freeze to death very fast after that.

 

I know it might sound terrible to criticize a man after such a tragedy, but I just couldn't resist. Whatever happened to self sufficiency? Are we so reliant on others that we can't help ourselves? Your credit cards and cell phones can't always answer your needs. I suppose Mr Kim thought he could just text message "HELP" to 1546 and the calvary would show up. JACKASS~~~!

[hugo]

That's why there were no asian pioneers.

[Mack the Knife]

That's funny and yet sad.

[Jhony5]

That's funny and yet sad.

Don't get me wrong. I find it plenty sad. It must have been horrible for him when his system started to shut down and he collapsed into the shallow water that they found him lying in. I'm sure his last thoughts were of his family and how he let them down.

 

I feel the media was too concerned on reporting the tragedy and sadness of this event, and not concerned enough with emphasizing the importance of winter preparedness and what to do if you find yourself fucked in much the same way. About ten years ago right here in the suburban sprawl of Indy, a woman was driving home from work at 2AM in the frigid subzero temps. Her car slid off the road and she attempted to make it to a gas station on foot. She made it only about 3/4 of a mile before she collapsed and died on the side of a 4 lane road. She had on nothing but her work clothes and a thin coat.

 

It only takes a few minutes to assemble the necessary precautionary items you need to make it through the "What ifs".

 

In my truck I have a 5 gallon can of gas, a 0 degree rated army surplus sleeping bag, a heavy 6x6 wool blanket, a portable battery charger, a tool chest, a multi-plier, a shotgun and 20 shells, a pair of heavy gloves and Rocky thinsulate boots and road flares. I ain't no victim.

[Msixty]

cut open the car seats, make shoes, hat, and jacket insulation from the foam, and get on a fucking road. how hard is that? it is much better to keep yourself alive and be sure to get rescue to the EXACT spot your family is than to die and leave a few shirts and socks on the ground to follow, i think the only people who are heroic are the searchers who could actually find the damn trail he left, a sock in the snow? those guys must have grown up on where's waldo.

if you go into say, the Rocky's, have a .22 handgun MINIMUM, why? the perfect survival tool, it is because,

 

1) need warmth? remove the powder and use it to spice up your tinder, in small ammounts (like how much you find in a .22 LR shell) it drastically improves the potential for that 'last match' to save your ass.

 

2) no lighter and it's getting dark? shoot the fuck out of a medium sized animal (and i mean get a bead on the heart and lungs and unload the mag, you don't want to have to track this son of a bitch far) cut it open, gut it out, climb in and wait till sun up.

 

3) food (duh) easy enough to understand right?

 

4) signaling, even a .22 handgun will get the attention of rescue a little ways away.

 

5) price and expendability, a good .22 is cheap and reliable, the ammunition is cheep so you can buy much more, it is also light and you can carry more on your person without trying out. also, you don't need to worry about "what if i loose it in a car accident or something" because its cheep, not rare, and you generally won't mind it getting the shit beat out of it, it's a good tool to have, NEVER care more for the tool than your own health.

 

don't get me wrong, if you can, get a damn .44 MAG. it will bring things down faster, make more noise, etc.... but if you don't plan on going into real shitty country, why not get a .22 and throw it in your kit?

 

BTW, do not EVER! go ANYWHARE without a good knife, not some cheep folder, i mean a damn good hunting or combat knife, it is literally the difference between life and death. i have 3 knives on me at all times (not counting school of course) i carry a leatherman Wave multi-purpose tool, a 12" hunting/tactical folder, and a small 5" winchester folder.

[builder]

That's why there were no asian pioneers.

 

Like, the Mongols didn't take over most of Europe?

 

The Chinese settled the harshest regions of Australia.

 

And the Indos haven't taken over half of Papua New Guinea?

[Msixty]

Like, the Mongols didn't take over most of Europe?

 

The Chinese settled the harshest regions of Australia.

 

And the Indos haven't taken over half of Papua New Guinea?

 

but they never made it past the railroad in north america