The-Atlantic-thefemalesurvivalist

Nearing the end of 2010, I'm inspired by all the creativity shown on the Internet.
Youtube offers videos on just about anything you can think of, from Review of the 2100 Casio Piano Keyboard, How to Break Down and Reassemble a Shotgun, to music by Rianna, and How to Build a Snow Cave.
You can see gear in use before you buy it, learn techniques on survival hunting, and watch cute animal videos.

Knowledge is power. If you surf awhile, there's no telling what you'll come across. I love the http://walletpop.com website for the boring financial stuff made interesting.

Yes, knowledge is power but without experience, that power will burst like a bubble under stress.
I try nearly everything I can at least once. Not everything works for me, but even failures or less than ideal outcomes are valuable learning tools.

We met a Continental Divide Trail hiker up in East Glacier a couple years back. He'd come into the hostel and my partner and I were trading stories with him. He pulled out a water spotted map and pointed out an alternative route, skirting through a range just north of Enis. It looked interesting, viable. Some of his descriptions, however, seemed nebulous.
I finally asked, "Have you hiked through there?"
"Nope", he replied, "but it looks totally doable".
After he put away his maps and data and went for supper, I told Rainmaker, "I don't think we should be pissing around on someone else's bushwhack"

Rainmaker laughed and agreed. We'd been on enough bushwhacks and alternative routes of our own to know how disappointing they can be.
Water? Campsites? Lost trails? Impassable blowdowns.
Experience ruled out this route suggestion from our new friend, although we filed away its existence in our trail brains.

You just never know when this piece of information might come in handy.

Unfortunately, we are often bombarded with Non News.

Check out this heart rending story of a fire in an abandoned building:
Fire Kills At Least 8 "Wanderers" in New Orleans

Young people huddled in one of many old buildings, as temperatures dipped below freezing. In their attempt to stay warm, they built a fire in a large metal trash can. You would think in these old buildings there would be sufficient draft to allow fresh air into the building. Not so. Enough carbon monoxide built up to render some young "wanderers" unconscious and thereby unable to flee the burning building. Small places like tents and snow caves would be more deadly with even tiny unvented combustion.

This article brings up even more disturbing trends. Not only is there an estimated 12,000 people homeless in New Orleans, but many of them are young. Even those with skills like carpentry are still unemployed, in a city so desperately needing rebuilding .

Those who died in the fire were called "wanderers". At first I thought it denoted adventure, idealism, and a creative lifestyle. After reading the article, I felt it reflected hopelessness; a roving band of the directionless.

The continuing recession brings up important issues. As people become more impoverished with fewer options, there will be further breakdown in family and society.

If the media doesn't present these issues, no one will know they exist or find solutions. The above article does an excellent job in exploring the roots of this disaster.

As survivalists, our surroundings are very important indications of pending threats. If I am unaware of the storm brewing, I am unlikely to seek shelter. If I am aware, I make plans and take action.

I'm also making a mental note, a survival memo: beware of carbon monoxide!

Check out this link for a great chart, information on what it means, and at the bottom of the page, an actual calculation plug in the numbers tool.

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/windchill/index.shtml

Before heading out, follow safety measures, including layering clothing, full face covering, sunglasses, lip balm. Leave your itinerary with a friend or in your vehicle.

Wind chill can kill.

Apparently, there's a company called Righthaven. Its whole purpose is to buy the copyright to various articles from any given newspaper, then check the Internet for that article. If they find someone who has put it on their blog or website, they try to sue them. The federal copyright law allows fines or penalties of up to $150,000 per article.