Modern Survival: Outdoor Gear and Savvy to Bring You Back Alive, 1979, Part Two

The cover of, Modern Survival: Outdoor Gear and Savvy to Bring You Back Alive, 1979, by Dwight R. Schuh

  

On October 30 of this year, I wrote a review of the first two chapters of, Modern Survival: Outdoor Gear and Savvy to Bring you Back Alive (found here).  I finished reading the book, as promised; here is my review of the rest of the book.

The author, Dwight R. Schuh, advanced three points when he wrote into Modern Survival.  First, to remain alive you must follow six principals.  Second, you must learn basic outdoor skills and should not rely solely on modern technology.  And third, a basic survival pack and first aid kit must always be carried on your person, when you venture into the wilderness.  The author felt that if you took the proper care, acted responsibly and followed these points, then you would not find yourself “…in a predicament that demands primitive skills for survival”.

To recap from my earlier article, the first point of this book is “…that to survive means to ‘remain alive and existent’ and to survive you must follow the six principals outlined in chapter one, which are listed below. 

1.   “Outdoors emergencies are rarely acts of God” 

2.   “Disaster can happen to you”

3.   “Emergencies can happen at any time”

4.   “You should plan for the worst”

5.   “Prevention is the best medicine”

6.   “Learn to live with the outdoors, not to fight it”¹

Writing in 1979, the author, Dwight R. Schuh, wrote, “Surrounded by technological marvels, people can easily become complacent”.  The author’s second point is that you cannot become complacent and expect technology to take the place of learning, “the minimum knowledge needed for everyday outings”.  While this message was not explicitly set to paper until chapter fourteen, it is implied throughout chapters two through fourteen.  In these chapters a number of different activities and outdoor skills, such as how to find your way, how to build a fire or a shelter, or other important outdoor skills, were explained.  He wrote further that when advanced technology is absent or it fails, “You’re suddenly thrust back to a primitive age.  Advanced technology is forgotten.  Survival now depends strictly on what you know and do”.² 

This was true then and it is even more likely to happen today.  I am reminded of a time when I was hiking with my family on a clear and sunny day, in late October, in the central Alleghenies, we chanced upon some other hikers, wearing only flip-flops, shorts and tee shirts.  They asked us how to get back to the main road.  They had decided to venture out into the wilderness without the proper clothes or footwear, without any survival supplies, without a map and compass, and with only a cell phone to help them find their way.  They had become lost when, their cell phone had run out of charge, and since their map and compass were apps on their cell phone, once they were turned around, they had no idea where they were.  I pulled out my map and compass, and soon had them heading in the right direction. 

The author’s third point is that you should always “Prepare an adequate equipment kit for your chosen activity, and have it with you when you are in the field”.  He added further, “…a survival pack must be a constant companion”, before finishing with, “whenever you head into the field, regardless of the nature or length of your outing, grab that survival pack.  Have it with you always”³.  Chapter fifteen includes a list of items to be included in your survival pack and your first aid kit and a list of items specific to various situations and vehicles, developed by the author, with explanations for the uses and importance of each item suggested.  The survival pack that the author recommends follows the suggestions of the 10 Essentials, which first appeared in the 1974 edition of Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills⁴. 

Going back to the incident in the central Alleghenies that I mentioned above, before I sent them on their way, I explained the importance of the 10 Essentials to them and suggested that in the future they should make sure they carry them.  The 10 Essentials Systems are away of prioritizing items that should be carried with you whenever you head out into the wilderness, and there purpose is to be able to answer ‘yes’ to the following two questions; can you respond positively to an accident or emergency and can you safely spend one or more nights in the wilderness.  The 10 Essentials Systems are⁵:

1.     Navigation, you should never go into the woods without a map and compass, since they never run out of power, if you take electrical items such as altimeters, GPS devices, or PLB or satellite communicators, always bring extra batteries or battery packs.

2.     Headlamp, always bring a flashlight or headlamp, the headlamp being the better of the two options as it is hands free.  You should always bring extra batteries.  The author of Modern Survival, had an interesting wrinkle on flashlights, he suggested that you turn one battery backwards, which in a multi-battery flashlight would stop the light from working, so that the batteries won’t drain if the switch accidently gets turned on.⁶ 

3.     Sunscreen rated to SPF 30, sunglasses, a hat, bandana, long shirt and pants or other sun-protective clothes.

4.     First aid kit, which should include foot care and insect repellent, if it is bug season.

5.     Knife, along with a knife you should always carry a repair kit and a multi-tool.

6.     Fire making equipment, such as matches, candle, lighter and tinder, or particularly during the winter, a stove and fuel.

7.     Emergency shelter, you should always carry some way to protect yourself from the elements: a light emergency bivy, two 55-gallon heavy-duty trash bags, a poncho, etc.

8.     Extra food, you should always carry some emergency rations, over and beyond what you need for your outing.

9.     Extra water, you should always carry more water than you expect to need, or the means to purify water you find.

10.   Extra clothes, the exact clothing that you bring depends on the weather that you expect to experience, however an extra pair of socks, a knit cap, and a jacket are the minimum you should carry.

The hikers that I crossed paths with were lucky, their adventure in the woods ended well, but the central Alleghenies in the late fall are not a good place for the unprepared.  This whole incident would have been avoided if they had known of and carried the 10 Essentials on them or in an easy-to-carry survival pack.  If I had not chanced upon them, while they might not have died because of their lack of planning, at the very least they would have had a very uncomfortable and unexpected adventure.

Just as I enjoyed the first two chapters of Modern Survival: Outdoor Gear and Savvy to Bring You Back Alive, by Dwight R. Schuh, I enjoyed reading the remaining thirteen chapters of this book, as well.  Again, I recommend that if you own a copy of this book, dust it off and reread it, and if you don’t own a copy, find one and give it a chance, I think that you will like it, I did.

Notes:

¹  Dwight R. Schuh, Modern Survival: Outdoor Gear and Savvy to Bring You Back Alive, p. 2-6

²  Dwight R. Schuh, Modern Survival: Outdoor Gear and Savvy to Bring You Back Alive, p. 147

³  Dwight R. Schuh, Modern Survival: Outdoor Gear and Savvy to Bring You Back Alive, p. 162-163

⁴  The Mountaineers, “What Are The Ten Essentials?”, (February 2018) https://www.mountaineers.org/blog/what-are-the-ten-essentials, (accessed 12/28/2018)

⁵  Ibid.,

⁶  I had heard of this before I read about it in Modern Survival and so, I decided to test it out; in a multi-battery flash light this works and the flash light will not turn on, in a single battery flash light it does not work and the flash light will turn on.

Dwight R. Schuh, Modern Survival: Outdoor Gear and Savvy to Bring You Back Alive, p. 163

Sources:

Dwight R. Schuh, Modern Survival: Outdoor Gear and Savvy to Bring You Back Alive, (David McKay Company Inc., New York, NY [1979])

The Mountaineers, “What Are The Ten Essentials?”, (February 2018) https://www.mountaineers.org/blog/what-are-the-ten-essentials, (accessed 12/28/2018)