Man survives 54 hours out at sea

Michael Graham, 49, left Fort de Soto, Florida, for what he thought would be an overnight fishing trip. Unfortunately his canoe capsized and he spent the next 54 hours at sea until a casino ship, 11 miles off-shore, spotted him.

At the time of his rescue his joints were very stiff, with cuts and bruises to his legs, arms and feet. He also had a number of splinters in his hands even though his canoe was made of fibreglass and he had no wooden objects with him. Go figure!

He got caught in a storm about 2 hours into his trip. As he capsized, Graham managed to grab a lifevest, a bait bucket and his knife. He always knew where north was from landmarks on the coast.

He used his upturned canoe to provide protection from the blazing sun but also noticed that he had company in the form of a couple of sharks. Graham said that all that he did to survive came from instinct and what he learned from the "Worst Case Scenario" survival game he used to play with his daughter. The thirst was worse than the hunger - "The tip of my tongue actually feels like it shrunk a little or something because I was so parched. If somebody offered me a million dollars, I would have slapped it out of the way, just to get a bottle of fresh water."

During his ordeal he saw many cruise ships, tugs and small planes but none saw him until a casino ship nearly ran him down. He realised it would come within 200 yards of his position so he mustered all his strength for a final sprint swim and was finally rescued.

The next time he leaves on a fishing trip, Graham says he will give someone his float plan and take a whistle!

And the moral of this tale - even a little knowledge and minimal equipment can save your life. The simple expedient of carrying a whistle may have effected his rescue sooner.

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The Ultimate bushcraft house?

This cave house, at Wolverley near Kidderminster, could be the ultimate bushcraft/primitive living house.

The one-bedroomed house hasn’t been lived in since the late 1940’s. However, there is a front lawn and woodland above and to the rear of the caves, but the house doesn't have any amenities such as electricity or running water.

Also included in the sale are three other adjoining caves and nearly five acres of mixed woodland and associated garden land. The auctioneers admit that their suitablility for human habitation is "open to question".

The house ultimately sold for £100,000; 4 times the auction reserve!

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Place to play

This morning I was lucky enough to be shown around a woodland by its owner, a very nice lady called Sarah. She has given me permission to roam around as much as I like and do my bushcrafty things. It is a private wood and in some ways I shall be keeping an eye on it for her - she travels a lot, you see.

We spent a very pleasant couple of hours wandering around and looking at all sorts of nooks and crannies. Obviously I couldn't help noticing LOTS of deer tracks - plenty of Reds (poo and all), good number of Fallow and some Roe deer. I know there is fox there and a good chance of badger too. There may even be Dormouse! I've taken it upon myself to find them if tey are there.

Anyway, I am dead chuffed to have been given permission to access the land whenever I like especially as it is increasingly difficult to find sympathetic land owners and even harder to find ones that will let you have a fire and wild camp! Fantastic!

Child's survival story

This is a great story about a little girl who survived out in the woods http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-070615kankakeejun15,1,1984554.story?coll=chi-news-hed

It just goes to show that a child, with no preconceptions of danger, fear etc can survive in a situation like that, when an adult may well perish due to their attitude. It's all in the mind!

Striker

Well, we're not talking football here but a slightly more traditional 'craft' of firelighting from sparks. In the previous post I showed off my first forged knife - well whilst I was there and waiting for stuff to cool I also made a steel flint striker.



The idea behind this is that you strike the edge of the flattened portion (on the right of the image) on a sharp edge of a bit of flint to generate sparks. These sparks are showered into a suitable tinder which then ultimately becomes a fire. There are modern equivelants that produce, more and hotter, sparks but it is still nice to use and make more traditional processes. another homemade bushcraft product!

Hand forging a knife

A couple of weeks ago I went on a course to learn how to forge knives and other tools. It was a brilliant day out and the chap who had the patience to teach me was Dave Budd (www.davebuddknives.homestead.com). He did a good job. Here is the (almost finished) article.

I still have the handle to finish - it is made of oak and it needs to have a bit more sanding, then Danish oil, then more sanding, more oil etc etc.

The blade also needs to be sharpened but that won't happen until I have made the sheath. That will be another day with Dave and another learning curve!

Here is a closeup of the handle and blade.

I did get a bit fancy and added some file work on the spine to make it look a bit flash!

Knife safety

Safe use of the Knife - a by no means comprehensive safety list for using a knife!

Before use, make sure the knife is fit for the purpose. Check for any damage and repair, if necessary, or just go out and buy a new one.

Alcohol and knives don’t mix! Ice and alcohol do, though.

Look after your knife – keep it clean and sharp. Just like yourself on a Saturday night.

A sharp knife is an efficient knife and a bit more useful than a blunt one.

Resheath the knife when not in use – don’t leave it lying around. Like a lot of things in life, it is safer when it’s wearing protection.

If you need to ‘safe’ your knife for a few moments then it can be stowed under the armpit, edge facing down. Take care when withdrawing the knife though. There are better ways to shave your ‘pits.

Never lend your knife to anyone. It can be a sure-fired recipe to see a grown man cry.

Before using your knife have your First Aid kit to hand as accidents do happen. Have a practice opening it one handed just to see how awkward it is.

Plan ahead. Work out where all the bits are going to go like the blade, cut bits of wood, fingers…

Make sure your ‘blood zone’ is clear of obstructions and other people. Using your sheathed knife describe an arc all around you with your arm fully extended. This is to ensure any ‘travel through’ from a slipped blade will not hit anything or anyone causing an unexpected trip to the nice doctors and nurses at the local A&E.

Always cut away from yourself. Avoid working between your legs as a slip could result in cutting the femoral artery which can really ruin your day. Also make sure no other bits of your body are in the path of the blade should it do something unexpected.

Passing a knife safely – hold the knife in a forehand grip, allow it to rotate between thumb and forefinger until the spine of the blade is resting on the web of skin between thumb and fingers, thus offering the handle to the lucky person who is going to look at your knife (see above) but not use it.

Stop using the knife if the light is really poor or it is dark – it’s pretty important to see what you are doing clearly.

Never attempt to catch a falling blade (unless you are a ninja) because if you have kept it sharp then your fingers may have extra ventilation.

Don’t throw your knife at anything or at/to anyone! Bad karma, dudes!

Stabbing your knife into the ground or into wood is a great way to damage the knife, yourself or someone else. All of which are considered bad form.

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