Survival Tips From Jack London, Part One©

 

“As he looked apathetically about him, his eyes chanced on the dog.” An illustration by Frank E. Schoonover¹, which appeared in “To Build A Fire”, The Century Magazine, August 1908, Vol. LXXVI, No. 4, p. 531

 

An excerpt from “To Build A Fire”, The Century Magazine, August 1908, page 525

It is supposed to snow hard tonight, and while where I live, between the Great Lakes and the foothills of the Alleghenies, it doesn’t usually drop below 0^oF/-18^oC, the first big snowfall made me think of the story To Build A Fire, by Jack London.

Have you ever read To Build A Fire?  It is a great story by someone who lived what he wrote about.  Have you ever thought to read it as a winter survival manual?  There are some good winter survival tips buried in what is a great outdoor adventure story.

The unnamed main character of To Build A Fire does a few things wrong and several things right, and by studying what he does right and what he does wrong we will be able to discover some winter survival tips that can help us today. 

In this article, I am going to explore what the unnamed main character of To Build A Fire, does right and what survival tips we can learn from him.  In “Survival Tips From Jack London, Part Two”, coming next week, I am going to discuss what he did wrong and what winter survival tips he can teach us.

So just what does he do right?  The unnamed main character does five things right as he travels down the trail to meet up with “the boys” who were camped at the old claim on the left bank of Henderson Creek.  These five things are things that everyone who travels in the wilderness should do, winter or summer, rain or shine.

 

An excerpt from “To Build A Fire”, The Century Magazine, August 1908, page 526

The first thing that he did right, was that he told “the boys” in camp on Henderson Creek, what route he was traveling and what time they should expect him to arrive.  The most important thing that you can do for your survival, in case you have an emergency is to tell someone, before you leave; where you are going, when you are going, what route you are taking and when you should arrive at your destination.  Also, never change your plans or your route without letting someone know.  Remember searchers can’t find you if they don’t know you are lost or where to look. 

 

An excerpt from “To Build A Fire”, The Century Magazine, August 1908, page 527

The second thing that he did right was to keep his feet dry.  In the winter, wet feet are frozen feet, and frozen feet spell disaster!  Even if it isn’t below freezing, wet feet can lead to blisters or to the much more serious condition called “immersion-foot”.

 

Pictures of the author’s right foot after canoeing all day on a windy 70^oF/21^oC day.  Note the blanched appearance of my foot and how the area below the sock line is whiter than the area above it.  Also notice how my toenails are white and not a healthy pink.  Both of my feet were in the early stages of immersion-foot.  Pictures by the author.

Immersion-foot is a warm weather, cold injury caused when wet foot gear and evaporation combine to cool the surface of your feet and ankles.  If it is windy, the wind will speed the evaporation and cool the feet even more.  This cooling causes the body to shut-off the blood flow to the skin surface and to the tissues just below the skin, causing the feet and ankles to look white, waxy and dead.  If untreated, immersion-foot can lead to serious and painful complications.

As a guide in Algonquin Provincial Park, the first thing that I teach the scouts to do after they get off the water for the day and put the rain fly up, is to take off their wet canoe shoes and socks, dry their feet and then change into dry camp shoes and socks.  That is what I was doing when I took the pictures above.

 

An excerpt from “To Build A Fire”, The Century Magazine, August 1908, page 528

  

The unnamed main character was traveling light, and only carried a sheath knife; 70 strike-anywhere matches, loose in his pocket; a couple of pieces of birchbark tinder in his other pocket and a bag of food, kept inside his shirt and jacket.  What he carried wasn’t anywhere near the complete set of the Ten Essentials, however it is more than many people carry with them when they venture into the wilderness.  And so, the third thing that he did right was that he carried with him food and the two most important things for a wilderness journey: a knife and the means to make a fire.

The author’s knives and hatchet: (1) a butchers boning knife, that I have used as a utility sheath knife for 15 years, (2) a small hatchet, (3) a utility pocket knife that I keep with my survival kit, and (4) a pocket knife that that can be opened, one-handed, which I wear in a sheath around my neck.

 

An excerpt from Arctic Survival Guide, by Alan Innes-Taylor, page 65

 
A knife is vital for almost every task in the wilderness, such as building a shelter or preparing tinder, and it doesn’t matter if it is a sheath knife or a pocketknife.  Never, ever travel in the wilderness without a knife!  Personally, I always carry two knives with me when I travel in the woods; a pocketknife that can be opened one-handed, which I wear in a sheath hanging around my neck and a utility pocketknife that is rubber-banded to my survival kit.  In the northern woods, you should also always carry either a sturdy sheath knife or a small axe.  Both can be used to cut saplings for tools or shelter, and branches for firewood². 

 

The author’s tinder-bag, clockwise, (1) Ziploc® bag with birchbark, dryer lint old jute twine and cotton pads, (2) my waterproof tinder-bag, (3) a tea candle, (4) strike-anywhere and UCO Stormproof matches and striker, (5) a mini-BIC^® lighter, (6) a Landmann Fire Starter and (7) petroleum jelly as a fire sustainer

Just like you should always carry a knife, you should also always carry tinder and a way to start a fire with you when you venture out into the wilderness.  I always carry two BIC^® lighters with me, one in my pocket and one in my tinder-bag.  In my tinder-bag, in addition to the BIC^® lighter, I also keep strike-anywhere and UCO Stormproof matches, tinder, petroleum jelly, tea-candles and a Landmann Fire Starter: the last three are for those rainy days when everything is wet and it is difficult to get a fire going.  I keep my tinder-bag in my pack; but in my survival kit, which I always have in my pocket, I also carry a Ferrocerium rod (or as it is sometimes called, a Ferro rod), some trick birthday candles that don’t blow out, extra strike-anywhere and UCO Stormproof matches and a spare mini-BIC^® lighter.

 

An excerpt from Arctic Survival Guide, by Alan Innes-Taylor, page 64

 
Also, as you travel through the woods, you should always be the lookout for dry tinder to replenish the supply in your tinder-bag: you never know when you will need it and you never know when it will rain.

 

An excerpt from “To Build A Fire”, The Century Magazine, August 1908, page 526

In the winter it is vital to keep your furnace fueled and your heat production up.  The unnamed main character’s lunch biscuits would have provided him with carbohydrates for quick energy and fats and proteins to keep his furnace going for the long haul.  Even though most people can go for three weeks without food and live, you should always bring high energy snacks or emergency rations with you when you wander in the woods.  For a good recipe for an emergency ration bar, see “Survival Rations … 1962 Civil Defense Style”, HERE, and “Further Thoughts on Survival Rations … 1962 Civil Defense Style” HERE.

 

Excerpts from “To Build A Fire”, The Century Magazine, August 1908, page 529

The fourth thing that the main character did right was that he knew how to build a fire.  He knew to place several large pieces of firewood on top of the snow as a foundation, to protect the young flame from melting snow.  He also knew to start with the smallest and finest of dry grasses and twigs as tinder and to slowly and carefully, as the flame grew, work his way up to sticks the size of his finger and then, as the fire began to burn fiercely, to the size of his wrist.

It always amazes me, when I am teaching outdoor skills to adults, how few modern people know how to build a fire and how to feed it.  Maybe this is because, unlike in 1898 when To Build A Fire takes place, when building a fire was a daily requirement, rain or shine; today fire building is a recreational skill only practiced occasionally in good weather on weekends.

 

Excerpts from Arctic Survival Guide, by Alan Innes-Taylor, page 64 to 66

The excerpts above, from the Arctic Survival Manual by Alan Innes-Taylor, are an excellent introduction to fire building.  While the need to build a foundation or platform when lighting a fire on top of snow is obvious, because of the need to protect the flame from melting snow, a platform can also be useful when there isn’t any snow.  As your fire burns it will draw moisture from the ground below; so if the ground is wet, or if it is or has been raining, make a platform to build your fire on.  Also, I like to hold my handful of tinder against a piece of bark as I light it; this protects my fingers from the flames and allows me to turn the handful of tinder so that the flames spread through it.  And when I place the lit tinder into my kindling square, the bark will shield the young flame from ground water, particularly if I have built my kindling square on a foundation of firewood. 

There are two rules of thumb that I have found to be the most useful when it comes to fire building 101.  The first one is from “How To Build A Campfire”, by ScoutmasterCG.com, found HERE, and the second is from Craig White, a Canadian survival expert, who teaches that you will burn through a generous armload of wrist-size sticks in only an hour.

 

A section of “How To Build A Campfire”, from Scoutmastercg.com

 

Excerpts from “To Build A Fire”, The Century Magazine, August 1908, page 529 to 530

The fifth and final thing that the unnamed main character of To Build A Fire does right, is he doesn’t panic, when the worst happens, he calmly and coolly sets about rebuilding his fire.  I always teach that if something bad happens when you are in the wilderness, or anywhere for that matter, if you panic it will only make it worse.  Never, ever panic!  It can kill you if you do.

Hopefully we have all learned something from the mishaps that the unnamed main character of this tragic story blunders through, and I hope that, if nothing else, I have inspired you to read Jack London’s short story To Build A Fire. 

In next week’s article “Survival Tips From Jack London, Part Two”, I am going to talk about what the unnamed main character did wrong and what winter survival tips we can learn from his mistakes.

That is all for now and until next week “Happy Trails”.

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and my videos at BandanaMan Productions and don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube, and 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.

Notes

¹ Frank Earle Schoonover was a student of Howard Pyle art school and subscribed to Pyle’s philosophy that an artist should “live what he paints”.  As such in 1903, with inspiration from Pyle, Schoonover traveled north to the Hudson Bay to experience the wilderness so that he could illustrate it.  Schoonover journeyed to both Canada and Alaska and on one trip in 1903 he traveled 1,200 miles entirely by snowshoe, canoe and dog sled.

For more information on Frank Earle Schoonover, visit https://americanillustration.org/project/frank-schoonover/

² Remember in a pinch you can use a baton-sized stick or wooden club to pound your knife through saplings or branches, by repeatedly strike the spine of the knife; this is called batoning. 

Sources

Innes-Taylor, Alan; Arctic Survival Guide, [Scandinavian Airlines System, Stockholm, 1957], page 64-65

Green, Clarke; “How to Build a Campfire”, November 7, 2012, [Dynamik-Gen, 2019] https://scoutmastercg.com/how-to-build-a-campfire/

London, Jack; “To Build A Fire”, The Century Magazine, August 1908, Vol. LXXVI, No. 4, [The Century Company, New York, 1908], p. 525-534, https://books.google.com/books?id=8XkAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA518&lpg=PA518&dq=%22to+build+a+fire%22+%22jack+london%22+1908+%22century+Magazine%22&source=bl&ots=Erpfoe9twm&sig=ACfU3U2hNB3BlOJWvbrdE1Lr4ctAFaxIHQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjhsNTjjLHlAhXhQ98KHTfiBwU4MhDoATAIegQICBAB#v=onepage&q=%22to%20build%20a%20fire%22%20%22jack%20london%22%201908%20%22century%20Magazine%22&f=false, accessed 11/02/2019

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)

Getting Lost And What To Do About It”, Circa 1915 ©

Recently I was reading Emerson Hough’s book Out Of Doors, which he wrote in 1915, included in his book is a chapter about “Getting Lost And What To Do About It”, in which he wrote extensively about the “psychology of getting lost”.  I was struck by the similarities between what he was teaching then, in what we now call the Classic Era of Camping, and what modern survival experts teach today.  Therefore, I thought I would do a review “Getting Lost And What To Do About It”, circa 1915.

In the chapter, “Getting Lost And What To Do About It”, Emerson Hough described several examples of what he called the “psychology of getting lost”, what today we call “Woods Shock”, he also offered some advice, two rules and a number of recommendations about what to do to prevent it.  Emerson Hough described the psychology of getting lost, as a battle between your fearful, subconscious mind and your civilized, reasoning, conscious mind.  Woods shock as a phenomenon was first written about in Nature, in 1873, and is still used today to explain the psychology of getting lost.

So what exactly do we mean by the word “lost”?  Classically when you are lost, you are so disoriented and turned around that you do not know where you are or how to how to get back to safety.  However, there are other situations in the wilderness where you might be considered lost, such as when you injure yourself so badly that you can no longer travel, you find yourself stuck in impassable terrain, or you are caught away from camp by nightfall.  All of these are dangerous situations and how you react to them will determine if you are “lost” or simply “misplaced” and having an “unexpected adventure”.  The American Heritage Dictionary definition of lost, which is “Unable to function, act, or make progress; helpless”, offers an interesting way of looking at these situations.  In all the situations above, according to this definition, as long as you are able to function and are not helpless, you are not lost.  Therefore, if you keep your head and act in a calm, reasoned and conscious manner, you are only misplaced and are having an unexpected adventure.  If you lose your head, act with your subconscious mind and panic, then you are surely lost and you will experience woods shock. 

Woods shock is the panic and fear people feel when they become helpless; this is a very real condition, it happens often and can progress quickly in a survival situation in the wilderness.  Woods shock is a progression of stages that begins with some form of emergency and five stages later ends with resignation and death.  In the classical example of a lost person, it begins with the realization that they are turned around and don’t know where they are.  Understanding the five stages of woods shock can save your life, the failure to understand the slippery slope that you are standing on, can lead to a fatal fall. 

 

The Five Stages of “Woods Shock”, drawn by the author

Everyone who spends time in the outdoors will at one time or the other become confused, disoriented or as I like to say “misplaced”.  The Disorientation Stage is a springboard to the five stages on the trajectory of woods shock.  In this stage, people will realize that they are confused, disoriented and are uncertain of where they are or more importantly how to get back.  If you stop and think and keep your head, you can break the cycle and avoid be catapulted into the “Urgency Stage” of woods shock.

The Urgency Stage is the first of the five stages on the trajectory of woods shock.  In this stage, you become progressively more confused and frantic as you begin “bending the map”.  In this stage, people will to try to force their map or compass to agree with their preconceived notions of where they think they are, instead of letting their map or compass inform them of where they actually are.  Also, in this stage people will frequently believe that their compass is broken, if it does not agree with their preconceived notions of where they are.  If you do not stop and think, but instead give in to your fears, you will transition to second stage of woods shock: “Panic”.

In the Panic Stage of woods shock, you will begin running, sweating excessively, not noticing the sun going down, bursting through brush, pushing through swamps or rivers, scrambling up hills, shedding your gear, gun, pack and clothing in an attempt to go faster and find safety.  Your odds of surviving this stage of woods shock are small, as people have been known to run off a cliff or into a tree in their panic, especially after dark.  Emerson Hough wrote about this stage, “There is a special danger for city men or middle-aged men who get lost and are seized by panic…let him run and fall and perspire, and pant and run some more, and he is ready to chill and die without much further preparation, if the weather is very cold.”

The third step on the trajectory of woods shock is the “Planning Stage”.  This stage claims those people who have survived the Panic stage and have stopped running due to exhaustion, injury, dehydration or hypothermia.  In this stage, victims belatedly attempt to make a logical plan to rescue themselves and return to a familiar place.  For most lost persons who have reached this stage of woods shock, whatever plan they make will fail, due to exhaustion, injury, dehydration or hypothermia and the fact that their panicked flight through the wilderness has only gotten them more lost.

The realization that their plan for survival has failed, will throw victims into the “Fatigue Stage” of woods shock.  As the lost person begins to realize that their plan has failed, they will either drop back to the Panic Stage or they will give up and make no further effort to save themselves.  Unless they find the will to live, they will slide imperceptibly into the last and final stage of woods shock: “Resignation and Death”.

Unless you find a reason to live, the final stage of woods shock will claim you and you will die in the wilderness.  Research suggests that the will to survive depends on mental strengths such as, a sense of humor, the ability to live in the moment, instead of giving into negative emotions and hopelessness and the determination to see loved ones again (this is the reason why many modern survival experts recommend putting pictures of those you love into your survival kit).  Emerson Hough acknowledged this last stage of woods shock when he wrote, “…a tenderfoot was lost for two days and nights.  He was trailed by good woodsmen over all sorts of country.  At last the trail stopped at a log, where the man had sat down exhausted.  He had fallen over backward – and lay there dead, a victim of his own panic.”

Since, as Emerson Hough observed in 1915, even good woodsmen and guides can and do get lost, what should you do to break the trajectory of woods shock and prevent the psychology of getting lost from claiming another victim? 

Above all else, you must not panic; you must control your mind and make rational decisions and plans, preferably, when you first realize that you are turned around and are at the Disorientation stage of woods shock.  You can do this by following Emerson Hough’s advice, rules, and recommendations, which he put to paper in 1915: even though these are more than 100 years old, they are timeless because they deal with the human element of the psychology of getting lost.

Emerson Hough noted that many travelers in the wilderness are in the habit of “passing landmarks without noting them”, this is a recipe for losing yourself in the woods.  Since it is far easier to avoid becoming disoriented or confused, then it is to find yourself once you have become misplaced, Mr. Hough advised that when you are travelling in the wilderness “…to turn around and look back” and notice landmarks, since this is what your path will look like when you head home in the evening.  

Mr. Hough had two “Strict Camp Rules” which he advocated.  Rule One, is “…start home at half past two or three in the afternoon.”  This is a very good rule to remember, especially in the winter months when darkness comes early, because travelling at night can be dangerous, particularly if you do not have a flashlight. 

If you find that you do not know your way back or, you cannot make it back before dark, you should follow Rule Two which is “…if a man is lost he must stop and build a fire, and wait until he is found.”  This rule is still taught today, in an October 2008, article in the Sun Journal, the author wrote “Admit that you are lost and stay put.  Start a fire.  Someone will find you”, when writing about what is taught in new hunter training in Maine.  This rule engages your rational, conscious mind and it helps you stay calm and keeps you from panicking.  Mr. Hough elaborated on Rule Two with the following, “Sit down and think it over.”  He also wrote, “Do not brood or think, but keep busy.”  Lastly, he added, “When you first feel panic, therefore, pull yourself together strongly.”  “Light a pipe if you smoke.  Build a fire in any case.”  In his writings, Emerson Hough foreshadowed todays S.T.O.P. acronym, which is a way of remembering what to do when you are misplaced.  This acronym stands for Stop, stay put, stay calm; Think, gather your thoughts and evaluate your situation; Observe your surroundings and inventory your supplies; Plan for your safety, decide how to best use the tools and supplies that you have.

In addition to his two rules, Mr. Hough made the following recommendations:

“Look at your compass and then think of something.”  Mr. Hough added, “If you have two compasses look at both of them.”  The author further explained his point with the following short story: “…‘One compass is of no use’, said one gentleman.  ‘For that reason I always carry two.’…He went on to explain: ‘I know of this being tried,’ said he.  ‘When a man has the panic of being lost fully upon him he never believes his compass; but when he takes out his second compass and sees it is pointing just the way his first one does, somehow his reason gets a sudden jolt and he concludes that the majority must be right.  That starts him to reasoning again, and then he is usually safe’…”  The thought behind the author’s two compass wrinkle is, when a misplaced person is bending the map to fit his preconceived notion of where he thinks he is, he may believe that one of his compasses is broken, but not both of them.

“If it is nearly dark and you must lie out, do not wait too long.  Darkness comes at four o’clock in winter…”

“Get behind some windbreak and have plenty of wood for your fire.”  The author also recommended that you, “Always have some wood close at hand to throw on the fire should you wake up chilled and shivering.” And, “When in doubt get some more wood, for it will certainly take a lot.”

“If it is very cold build a fire; then rake it away and lie on the warmed ground.”  In addition the author wrote, “You can build two smaller fires, and so keep warm on both sides.”

“Don’t eat snow, and drink hot water rather than cold, if you have any way of boiling it.”

“Whistle once in a while.”

Lastly, it does no good to decide to build a fire, if you forgot to bring any matches, and have no way of lighting it.  Anytime that you go into the wilderness you should always carry basic survival tools.  Emerson Hough anticipated the Ten Essentials, which were developed in the 1930s, by ‘The Mountaineers’, a Seattle-based organization for climbers and outdoor adventurers, when he recommended that you always carry the following equipment with you when you go out into the wilderness and that “This equipment will do you no good if you do not keep it on your person”.

“You must have a map, either in your pocket or in your mind; and you must know where you are on that map.”  Emerson Hough also wrote, “And you should remember that the compass without a map, in either your pocket or your mind, is worthless.”

“…two compasses – not one…”

“…two match-boxes, one absolutely water-proof and held in reserve…”

“…an axe with a good edge…”

“…a knife with a good, strong blade…”

“…a lunch of some sort – or, better still, some prunes or raisins and cakes of chocolate…”

Emerson Hough, in 1915, just as modern survival experts do today, recommended some hard and fast rules; the importance setting and accomplishing of small tasks, like stopping, thinking, developing a plan, building a shelter, gathering firewood, starting a fire, or doing whatever the next most important survival task there is to do; and always carrying basic survival tools.  By following his “Strict Camp Rules” the traveler in the wilderness would avoid becoming misplaced or at worst, would not panic and become lost.  In addition, by setting and accomplishing tasks, a misplaced person’s mind is kept busy, which prevents panic by bringing the conscious part of their mind to the forefront, while pushing their subconscious fears away and giving them a sense of winning.  Lastly, by carrying some basic survival tools it will give them confidence, since they know that they will have the tools that they need to survive an unexpected overnighter.  This breaks the psychology of getting lost and stops a person who is only misplaced from panicking, catapulting into woods shock and being lost.

Sources:

Emerson Hough, Out Of Doors, (D. Appleton and Company, New York, New York [1915]) p. 269 - 282, reprinted in https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QadnZNQ1xrsbkS3T4VJlC_uZQ8t4yj2UNH5POGbNio-1SDyFM8TAqUfl7ciDY5CuNZxvnnE0Pcxf1j6Thu_zOs5kz8rgR9MOtsbTxVgRVa3bwaKo0-D5YX2T4JaBO_z6G8vgwFNgLiJ9XCfBVnn9K4qR7ZFa0faNe3zmvfWDfmEo049sqXQlw697XIHDWNblRJj9niiabZoBB7aQHl82tf4y03cpU2hMdLVADF-7P2pvJKsZbLDnJN8ncLZ9IftMudapmn8E, (accessed 11/8/18)

Laurence Gonzales, Deep Survival, (W. W. Norton & Company, New York, NY [2003]) p.156 -157

Keith McCafferty, ‘Woods Shock Can Kill’, Field & Stream, October 2006, Volume CXI, Number 6, p. 40 reprinted in https://books.google.com/books?id=Gv5GUqHcT8wC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false, (accessed 11/8/18)

Kenneth Hill, Dr., “Psychology of Lost”, reprinted in http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.692.1704&rep=rep1&type=pdf, (accessed 9/24/18)

Kevin Felts, “Woods shock the silent killer”, http://www.survivalboards.com/2009-05-27/woods-shock-the-silent-killer/, (accessed 9/24/18)

“Some are born to survive”, (Sun Journal, October 8, 2008), reprinted in http://www.sunjournal.com/born-survive/, (accessed 11/20/18)