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> What Will I Ever Use This For?, Thoughts on the Survival Training
Steve_Marshall
post May 4 2005, 03:01 AM
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What am I ever going to use this for? That’s the question I’ve heard some of my students ask me when I'm teaching them Earth Science or Oceanography, and I’m sure it’s the same that millions have asked throughout history about many things. That question is always frustrating whenever a teacher hears it, but now I was thinking it myself. Don’t get me wrong, the Arctic Land Survival class, taught to us by Brian Horner of LTR Training Systems as part of our orientation for the upcoming TREC projects, was definitely an invaluable course on first aid, finding and preparing food, building shelters, etc., in the Arctic, but I still had trouble connecting it to my project. I was going to be on a large U.S. Coast Guard ice breaker after all, a ship with trained medical officers and personnel whose jobs involve rescues in dangerous situations. With all that, why would I ever need survival training, and how could I even compare any skill I might develop to their skills and years of training?


Survival Food
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If you are smart enough to be prepared, and lucky enough to have your survival pack make it through an emergency situation, you may not need to find your own food right away. Brian Horner of LTR Survival Training Systems prepares the TREC teachers a taste of some typical high-calorie survival pack food.


As this “what am I ever going to use this for” thought continued to go through my mind, I began to think about how I always answer that question for students who ask it of me, and it also tied in to what the instructor had mentioned about survival; A big part of it is attitude and being prepared. Rather than concentrate on what I CAN’T use the skills for, let me concentrate on what I CAN….Take a positive attitude and approach. With that, I then thought about how the prevention and treatment of hypothermia could definitely apply to my project, even if I might have the protection of going inside the ship. What if somehow there was a tragic accident and everyone on board was separated from each other? I’m getting to the ship by way of helicopter; What if there was a helicopter accident either on the land or in the water? Rather than fear building inside me from thinking about the possibility of these things actually happening, I instead had a new level of excitement about my project and the skills I was learning. Once I started looking at a few ways these skills could apply to me, EVERYTHING started applying to me.

I still have what I think is a valid sense of security about being on the ship, but it’s still important to remember that other important aspect of any situation: Preparedness. Even with a large crew on the ship, if an accident were to happen and I am the closest to assist, I might be able to provide the aid fastest, and that might make the difference. If an accident happens over water, knowing how to prevent or treat hypothermia, and knowing the factors that speed up or slow down the process would be invaluable. If a helicopter accident happened over land, having the skills to provide first aid, to build a shelter, to find and trap food, to use scrap material to build protective clothing, and to start a fire with even the most primitive tools and materials, would all definitely be skills I was glad to have learned.


How to Build a Boot in 5? 10? 15? easy steps
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Ever hear that campfire story about the ghost dude who says, "I can't find my foot"? Well, if for some reason you can't find your boot, or you need a new one, Brian shows the TREC teachers how to build one that can keep your feet warm in the coldest of conditions.

The Boot: Still building, and building, and building....
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Lots of layers and tape go into building the boot. This step shows some foam being put around previously applied layers. Hopefully a video will later be posted that shows some of these steps in more detail.

The Boot: Finished!
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The boot is finally finished! Notice how large of a surface area the bottom of the the boot covers. Brian, refering to my small size (always the jokester, that guy is), said the boot would be wide enough for someone my size to use it as a snowshoe. OK, so he was serious.....I can take it!


Again, although the above may seem to indicate I could be psyching myself out thinking about all the dangers and possible risky situations, knowing I am now better prepared for them makes me all the more confident and excited about the trip. Not only that, but even the skills that seemed the least likely to be used even created a level of excitement because they were just downright cool and fun skills to know.


Now THAT'S a saw!
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Brian of LTR Survival Training Systems displays one of several types of ice saws that can be used to cut ice blocks for shelters or whatever need you have to cut ice.


The instructor’s enthusiasm added even more to the whole experience. All of this had changed my attitude. I had gone from the typical negative question of “what am I ever going to use this for?” to the positive question of “What ELSE can I use this for?!”

If every student could go in to every situation with that same positive attitude, with that same question, the resulting enthusiasm would be uncontrollable and contagious.
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