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.