Survival skills

Adventure 19 ~ How To Be Like Ray Mears

/ intrepidjane

Ray Mears is an expert in wilderness bushcraft and survival. Today, I am going to make Ray proud by trying my hand at learning a useful survival skill : using my watch as a compass.

winter sunYou can see that it’s rather a grim day here in Northern Ireland today. Fortunately, I could just about see the sun!

You can see how I get on in the video (and I’ve put some explanatory notes below the video just in case you want to try it for yourself 🙂 )

How I’m doing it works in the Northern Hemisphere. Use 1pm for bisection in Daylight Saving Time. When you bisect the angle to establish the N-S line, North is the direction heading away from the sun. For full instructions (including for the Southern Hemisphere), look here.

I am just going outside and may be some time 🙂

JT

Adventure 4 ~ I Wonder If Bear Grylls Can Do This!

/ intrepidjane

Adventure seems to be ubiquitous at the moment. This week alone, I’ve watched television programmes about Reinhold Messner (he climbed Everest without oxygen) ; about James Cracknell and Ben Fogle (they attempted to ride camels across the Empty Quarter of the Arabian Desert) ; and about Bear Grylls and Stephen Fry (they shared a wild weekend in the Dolomites).

Whilst I recognise the practical skills and courage required for such undertakings, I did have concerns for their safety. I wondered whether they had sufficient linguistic skills to communicate with the local people should it come to a life-or-death situation.

I think responsible adventurers should take it upon themselves to learn at least one “survival phrase” in the local language of the countries in which they mount expeditions. From my research, there seems to be one key phrase that will ensure survival pretty much anywhere.

The adventure I have set myself today is to say that key survival phrase in 11 languages. Can I do it?

I hope this short video will be accepted as a vital contribution to the global adventuring community. Words save lives 🙂

I am just going outside and may be some time,

JT