Sunday, June 20, 2021

Survival Survey, Don’t Be Like Most Americans ©

 

 

The wilderness as found in Algonquin Provincial Park, photograph taken near the shores of Lake Louisa by the Author.  According to a recent survey, 62% of Americans believe that they could survive more than two weeks in the wilderness alone, could you survive?


The other day I was reading an article written by Chris Melore, called “Average person thinks they can survive for 2 weeks in the wilderness — but most can’t start a fire”.  It got me to thinking about a conversation my wife had with someone who told her she wanted to bug-out of the city and live in the wilderness, unfortunately this individual doesn’t know how to disinfect water, how to find food, or start a fire, or ... anything!  


Did you ever wonder what the “average” guy, thinks that the wilderness is like and what they know about the wilderness?   


Now if you are reading this blog then you are not an “average” person and you probably know how to start a fire or at least are in the process of learning how to.  Sometimes, I wonder if most Americans, you know “Joe Six-pack”, the “average” guy, thinks that the wilderness is like a campground or city park, which it is most definitely not.  So hopefully, this article will help you understand some of the “average” people that you might meet in the woods. 

 

The survey was commissioned by Avocado Green Mattress, and it was performed by OnePoll, who tested 2,006 people across the United States on their “Nature Knowledge”, and this is what they found.

 

A campfire on the shores of Lake Louisa, Algonquin Provincial Park, photograph by the Author.


The survey found that only 17% of respondents felt “very confident” about their ability to start a fire “if only given a flint (without a fire starter, lighter, etc.)”.  That isn’t surprising, in fact, I would have been more surprised if the percentage were higher!  Before the invention of the match in 1827, or “lucifers” as they were soon called1, everyone knew how to knock sparks into char-cloth with a flint and steel and blow them into a flame with some tinder.  But now, with matches and the ever-present BIC ® Lighter, starting a fire with flint and steel is no longer a common skill and is only something that a small percentage of people still know how to do.  That is not to say that we all shouldn’t know how to start a fire this way, because we should!  Flint and steel never freeze up like lighters can in the winter and it doesn’t matter if they get wet.  Flint and steel are an excellent back-up method for starting that, oh so important, fire. 

 

I would have been interested to know how many people felt “very confident” about their ability to start a fire with a lighter or with matches, because in my experience most “average” people that I have taught, have a hard time even with modern tools starting a fire -- especially when the weather is wet.

 

A black raspberry plant, photograph by the author.  More on black raspberry plants can be found HERE.


Only 14% of the respondents felt very confident in their “ability to identify edible plants or berries in nature” and just over half of the respondents, 52%, were confident in their “ability to identify different types of trees and plants”, and yet of these respondents only 26% were able to correctly identify a black oak leaf when shown a picture of one and only 35% knew what poison ivy was when shown a picture of it.  Even more amazing only 34% of the respondents knew the difference between a deciduous and a coniferous tree!2

 

Eastern poison ivy, photograph by the author.  More on how to identify poison ivy can be found HERE.


I guess the good news is that almost 65% of the respondents were able to identify maple leaves and 55% could identify ferns!

 

The shores of Lake Louisa, Algonquin Provincial Park, at dawn.  Photograph by the Author.


So, if you can start a fire with flint and steel, and if you know the difference between a deciduous and an evergreen tree, can identify an oak leaf and a poison ivy plant from a picture then the good news is that your wilderness skills are way above those of the “average” American!

 

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Map Scales...Say What! ©”, where we will talk about those bars and numbers on the bottom of maps that no one pays attention to or really understands anyways.

 

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

 

Notes

 

1 From “Friction Matches Were a Boon to Those Lighting Fires–Not So Much to Matchmakers”, by Kat Eschner.

 

2 A deciduous tree is a tree which lose its leaves every fall, and an evergreen tree is a tree which keeps its leaves all year round.  While most evergreen trees are coniferous trees and have needles, the evergreen American Holly, ilex opaca, which can be found throughout much of eastern North America, has leaves.  And not all trees with needles are evergreens either, the Tamarack, larix laricina, is a needle bearing, deciduous conifer!  So, you see, not all evergreens are coniferous and not all deciduous trees have leaves.

 

Sources

 

Eschner, Kat; “Friction Matches Were a Boon to Those Lighting Fires–Not So Much to Matchmakers”, November 27, 2017, [© 2021 Smithsonian Magazine],

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/friction-matches-were-boon-those-lighting-firesnot-so-much-matchmakers-180967318/, accessed June 17, 2021

 

 

Melore, Chris; “Average person thinks they can survive for 2 weeks in the wilderness — but most can’t start a fire”, May 24, 2021, [© 2021 41 Pushups, LLC], https://www.studyfinds.org/americans-survive-2-weeks-wilderness/, accessed June 8, 2021

 

Castronuovo, Josh; OnePoll, (Personal communication regarding “Nature Test” survey performed for Avocado Green Mattress, June 11, 2021)

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