Table Of ContentBasic Safe Travel and Boreal
Survival Handbook
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Gems from Wilderness Arts and Recreation
Magazine
by
Mors Kochanski
Basic Safe Travel and Boreal
Survival Handbook
Gems from Wilderness Arts and Recreation
Magazine
Text © 2013 by Mors Kochanski
Illustrations © 2013 by Mors Kochanski
Photographs © 2013 Randy Breeuwsma
Cover 2013 © Marissa Kochanski and Mike Siek
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any
means whatsoever without written permission from the publisher,
except brief portions quoted for purpose of review. All survival
scenarios by nature are life-threatening. Some of the information
presented in this book, if used incorrectly, could help kill you. Anyone
who provides training that guarantees your safety during an outdoor
survival situation is either a fool or a liar. Neither the author, the
publisher, nor anyone else assisting in the creation of this book is
responsible for your ultimate fate upon using the material contained
within these pages.
Karamat Wilderness Ways,
P.O. Box 483, Wildwood, Alberta T0E 2M0
Orders: 1.877.kar.amat
www.karamat.com
ISBN: 978-1-894453-58-5
Introduction
Basic Safe Travel and Boreal
Survival Handbook
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Gems from Wilderness Arts and Recreation
Magazine
The guide was compiled for the benefit of Outdoor Educators and
the Alberta Junior Forest Wardens movement when the articles in
Wilderness Arts and Recreation magazine went out of print. The
magazine was published in the early 70's and many of the articles
were the basis of the content of the book BUSHCRAFT. As the
Forest Warden's developed their own handbooks the Woodstravel
Guide faded from the scene but continued to be popular with
Outdoor Educators and other enthusiasts as it contained information
not found elsewhere. Some articles are earlier versions of some
chapters found in "Buschraft" and it seems many readers enjoy the
difference between the two. The Guide is being made available
through the efforts of Karamat Wilderness Ways.
Mors Kochanski
April 15, 2013
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Forward
Table of Contents
I. Wilderness Living Skills
A) Site Development
1. Shelter
2. Latrines
3. Garbage Disposal
4. Food Storage: Bearproofing
5. Outdoor Classrooms
B) Equipment
1. Clothing and Survival
2. The Sleeping Bag
3. The Functional Bush Knife and Its Use
4. The Five Most Important Try Stick Notches
5. The Multipurpose Bush Axe
6. The Saw
C) Wilderness Fire Lighting Skills in the Spruce Moose Forest
1. Approaches to the Use of Fire
2. The Question of Impact
3. Some Different Types of Fire Users
4. Abuses of Fire
5. Where Campfires are Out of Place
6. Justifying the Use of a Campfire
7. Points of Basic Fire Ecology
D. Basic Map and Compass Use
1. The Map
2. The Compass
E. The Basic Survival Lean-To and Bed
1. Open Fronted Lean-To Principles
2. Open Fronted Lean-To Made of Flexible Materials
3. Bough Beds
F) Outdoor Cooking
1. Introduction
2. The Australian Cooking Crane
3. Steam Pit
G) Wild Edible Plants
1. Plants
2. Looking at Edible Mushrooms
II. Wilderness Survival
A) Defining Survival
1. Basic Existence Skills
2. Wilderness Survival
3. In Survival You Have No Guarantees
4. Living Off the Land
5. The Advantages of Fasting (on water only)
6. Problems with Fasting
B) Introduction to Wilderness Survival
1. Preparedness
2. Panic
3. Survival in a Nutshell
4. Fire
5. Shelter
6. Dehydration
7. Hypothermia
8. Signals
9. Conservation of Mental and Physical Energy
10. Lost? Finding Your Way
C) Water and Human Survival
1. Body Water Needs
2. How Much Water?
3. Thirst
4. Local Thirst
5. Boiled Water Recommended
6. Undetected Water Losses
7. Water Loss Through Lungs in the Cold
8. The Mechanism of Water Absorption
9. Dehydration
D) Handling Stress
1. Responding to Stress
2. Your Only Three Options
3. Limiting Factor
E) Survival Kits
1. Survival Kits: The Basics
2. The Personal Kit
3. The Basic (Two Kilogram) Universal Kit
4. The Personal First Aid Kit
F) Caching of Supplies and Equipment
G) Signalling with a Mirror
H) Signal Fires
1. The Choice of Site
2. The Simple Signal Fire
3. The Standard Signal Fire
4. The Large Signal Fire
I) Vehicle Survival
1. Vehicle Operation Kit
2. Vehicle Survival Kit
J) Aircraft Survival
K) Helicopter Safety
III Wilderness First Aid
A) Cold Injuries
1. Introduction
2. Hypothermia
3. Cold Hazards: Frostnip and Frostbite
4. Dehydration
B) Diarrhea
C) The Heat Illnesses
1. Introduction
2. Water Loss
3. Burns, Scalds and Fluid Loss
D) Knife Cuts: How to Avoid Them
IV. Wilderness Travel Skills
A) Leading Your Group
1. Travel Hints
B) River Crossing
1. Crossing on Foot
2. Rope Crossing
C) Effects of Travelling at Higher Elevations
1. Conditions Resulting in High Altitude Pulmonary Edema
2. Conditions Above Tree Line
V. Wilderness Environment
A) Annoying Insects
B) Bears are Dangerous
C) Lightning
D) Breaking Through the Ice
E) Quicksand or Mud
VI. Ropework
Author
I. Wilderness Living Skills
A) Site Development
There may be some merit in avoiding the development of
permanent sites for carrying on outdoor programs. Such sites
usually involve considerable expense and if left unattended are often
subjected to vandalism.
An easily movable facility can be relocated when the current site is
becoming over-worn or the local fuel supply is running out. It can
also be folded up and stored in the off-season.
As time goes on, roads are built, and as other local developments
are carried out, better sites may become available to move to.
When money is scarce many programs never get started because
of the prohibitive initial outlay that is required to develop a permanent
facility. If considerable development is undertaken at a given site
one may be committed to using it for a long time because of the
money, time and labour tied up in it. Should local interests wane or
be suspended temporarily, little is lost.
The readily moveable facility may provide a more practical
experience for the users as an example of a type of comfortable
natural disaster, or other crises.
1. Shelter
The proposed shelters use as much locally available materials as
possible. This saves on costs and the effort in bringing in outside
materials. The simplest and most effective shelters are the teepee
and elongated teepee types which use nothing but straight poles in
there construction. They have a low overhead volume for easy
heating, yet have enough of a floor space to accommodate a large
bed space and may utilize a wide variety of cover material
depending on the amount of money available. This type of shelter is
also just as useable in the winter as it is in the summer.
