Thoughts on Survival

Studying the craft of survival is to be well versed in understanding paired dualities. Getting your food for the day seems like it shouldn't be too hard, but it is. Getting fresh, clean water seems like it should be hard, but relatively it isn't. There is fantastic complexity involved with simply starting a fire, or understanding the physics behind thermodynamics while building a shelter, which to the common observer seems like just throwing some sticks together. What my reading and practicing has taught me is that there is no activity, no matter how simple, that cannot be improved upon with increased knowledge. Survival therefore becomes a metaphor for life, where the proper application of power (knowledge) is the most common and probable solution to any problem. Thinking of force and power as abstract derivatives of mental prowess/preparedness turns the tripe "violence never solves anything" completely on its ear.

Studying survival also begs for the student to approach problems with the simplest solution available, and increase complexity over time for greater day to day efficiency. Simpler, lighter survival kits are more likely to be successful partly because they are more likely to be carried, but also because the likely user has substituted materials for knowledge. Yet, the average person off the street cannot simply walk into the woods with nothing but a knife and expect to live much past 72 hours. Again, paired dualities.

Survival is something that technically anyone should be able to achieve, but only a minority of the population exposed to extreme conditions does. What allows them to succeed where others fail results from a mixture of psychology, luck, and available resources. I'd argue that it's possible to survive with just the survivors mindset, but instant death scenarios are difficult to refute. Regardless, having mastery over your own mind and possessing the ability to think clearly under trying circumstances are the ultimate survival tools. Having additional physical tools or resources should, in theory, just make things easier. However, the beginning survivor would, given the choice between spending $200 either on equipment or on training had best opt for the training.

At some point in the near future I'll put up my short list of essential survival equipment; cheap and cheerful yet tough and multipurpose.

EDC Bags

I've always been a firm believer in being prepared for the slings and arrows of modern life, which can range from minor inconveniences like waiting in an office to (albeit extremely rarely) full blown emergencies. To that end I try to carry things on my person that I'll find useful the vast majority of the time, and a set of additional gear in an EDC bag.

However, in the environment I currently labor under, carrying a bag around without raising suspicions as to the bag's contents is exceedingly difficult. Also, a grown man my age can't wear a fanny pack without advertising to all in the know that he's carrying something significant. Add into the mix thanks  most small backpacks and over the shoulder bags are "tactical", so they are kind of a giveaway too.

Comparatively speaking, it's easier to carry EDC gear around if you work at a place where messenger bags are relatively common, or at a university where such bags and backpacks are likewise common. Not so much at my current job, where my bag might get rarely searched to help prevent employee theft.

I'm at the point where I need to reconsider how and what to carry, based on my experience over the past year, and taking into account the types of conditions I'm most likely to encounter in the span between home and work, as the distance between the two being used as a radius initiated from my house would describe my range of movement on a daily basis 99% of the time. I'll type up what I come up with later, but I should be approaching a result by the weekend.

Book Review; Let the Great Axe Fall

Robert Blecker's "Let the Great Axe Fall" was formally a kindle single that was available on Amazon for a pittance, but for some reason or another is no longer available. That's a shame, because I really enjoyed reading this long form essay about the author's philosophical journey towards understanding why he inherently stands behind and for the death penalty.

The basic premise for accepting the death penalty as necessary in some cases is pretty straight forward; any rational person should be able to agree that there are certain people with monstrous behaviors that deserve to die. Hitler, Bin Laden, Hussein, Pol Pot, Manson, McVey.. on and on, there's a list of notorious criminals both in and out of war who committed heinous crimes without any feelings of remorse.

I won't get too far into explaining the essay, because I can't really summarize it further without writing a long form essay myself. Suffice to say that I think that Mr. Blecker has submitted to his readers a convincing essay and series of arguments for the death penalty. However, in the interest of full disclosure I myself didn't have a problem with the death penalty in the first place, so he was kind of preaching to the choir with me.

As far as other basic points on my standard review goes; the essay was written and edited well, with little to no grammatical and/or spelling mistakes. The subject matter can be interesting, but I wouldn't exactly call the essay a "page-turner". It's more of the kind of essay where you have to read a few pages, and then put it down and think about it. Repeat until you reach the end. This made the essay a rather slow read for me, rather than the quick read that it's 40 some odd pages would suggest. I needed time to digest what I had read, and compare it against my own moral compass.

On my corrected bell curve scoring system, with a 50 being perfectly average in all regards in terms of editing, effectiveness, readability etc.. This long essay by Robert Blecker was about a 55. I don't think it's destined for the "classic" reading level for the type of reader that I represent. Certainly the essay has much more meat to someone who studies the law in a professional capacity. However, it was still a thought-provoking read that I was satisfied with at the end.

Book Review; After London Or, Wild England

A lot of people tend to think that post apocalyptic novels are a by product of the cold war between the United States and the now defunct USSR. A sort of cultural outlet for growing fears of impending nuclear warfare that promised worldwide devastation. Richard Jeffries book, After London Or, Wild England, is a refutation of that premise, being that it was written in the very late 1800's.

Well, Mary Shelley was writing post apocalyptic fiction before that, but that fact is neither here nor there. Although this book is relatively modern in comparison, the word choice in this book is kind of ye Olde style, so expect to crack out the dictionary occasionally.

Richard Jeffries was by training and inclination a Nature writer, and the forward for the book, which describes the local environment and geography in detail is indicative of that. He's short on ability to effectively describe dialogue, so he made up for that short coming by simply leaving out the vast majority of dialogue that one would expect. To that end, there is little to no character development for the main character, Felix, and no development at all for the secondary or minor characters. Don't expect a coming of age story with this novel.

It is, however, a pretty decent adventure yarn. One man sets off to explore the world around him and earn his fortune through wit and skill. What's not to like about that? Set aside arguments for better development, ignore the antiquated terminology and shoddy characterization, and I end up with a book that I liked more than I should have. Synergy isn't dead, I guess, but I will still knock the book down a peg for not treating human physiology more realistically. The main character should have died a dozen different times from hypothermia or dehydration but marvelously, inexplicably didn't. That's just plain bad writing.

On my corrected bell curve, this book is a 40. It's still a good book that is an acceptable read, being that I didn't waste my time when I read it. Still, I can't help but think of what the book could have been.

*Radio Static*

Back from unavoidable duties, obligations, responsibilities, and road trips having nothing to do with the aforementioned, your humble author has plenty of things to write about but limited time in which to do so. Nevertheless, posts be incoming!

Multiple book reviews, thoughts on weddings, being newly married, planning honeymoons, proper gear for a road trip, and more musings on things in general are heading your way.

In the meantime, watch this space and my twitter feed as I wind things back up. It's going to be a blast!