Training Exercise Scenarios

My family and I lived in a foreign city for a couple of years. We traveled by public transportation. When we were out together and ready to return home I would tell them to get me home. They had to determine what means of transportation, what number and what stop. When they made the wrong choice I would let them go for a while and then stop and ask questions to show where they made their mistake. I imagine the same thing could be done in the forest. Helps with teaching map reading and navigation.

 

That's a good idea. I would imagine that teaching them to check for expected landmarks, etc. would aid them in determining on their own that they've gone down the wrong path. I'd want them to be able to determine that on their own even if I weren't there.

Thank you!

 

Same thing here. My dad taught us the same method. When my brother caught his first fish, a local newspaper reporter happened to be there and took a photo and ran a story. I think he was 4 or 5 at the time. To this day I sometimes prefer cane fishing over anything else. A great way to relax. In Texas at least they don't require a fishing license to cane fish.

 

topics you usually dont see that should be covered:
usin the facilities when there arent any
leaving nothing behind, including no footprints
places NOT to set up camp
wildlife interaction dos and donts

 

about the cane fishing, the only fishing things in my pack are
hooks, line and sinkers
the rest gets cut fresh whenever i fish

 

For me it depends on where I am. But when my daughter gets old enough I plan on sticking to the old cane pole for the both of us.

 

What are you using for bait that the fish will bite on? I've seen some videos where people chose a small flower petal. What else might you use? What works best (understanding that fish can be temperamental and have differing tastes depending on different factors).

 

bugs, worms, frogs, toads and crayfish are almost always where theres water and fish
the old beer and pop tabs make quick lures
birds drop feathers everywhere, you can tie up a quick fishin fly with a feather a hook and a long hair
make up a handfull of bread dough and cook it up, cats bite it as well as a few others
whole kernel corn will get hit too usually

 

In addition to the training exercises for my son, how about some for the bigger kid (me!). ;-) I'd like to think there has to be some resources out there that put forth some sort of survival skill training exercises that have clearly defined objectives, rules (what's allowed, what isn't allowed), predefined equipment to be brought along (if any), etc. My searches have come up with minimal results (e.g. Nutnfancy working only with a new knife and trying to avoid the use of the sawvivor; another man putting his arm in a sling trying to start a fire and do other things with a simulated arm injury from falling our of a deer stand; and some of the staged scenarios seen in the Survivorman shows; to name a few)

See, having a resource (resources?) that spell many of these out gives me an opportunity to go through all of them, not just the ones I might find more interesting/fun. Let's face it, if TSHTF, it's not going to be fun. If I try to come up with something creative on my own, there's going to be that human tendency to make the scenario one that fits within my comfort zone when in reality I need to be pushing that (just as I would do for my sons in their own way) so as to gain greater confidence if/when I really need to call upon my experiences in a real-life situation.

Seems to me that there has to be some sort of resources out there (book, PDF, website, etc.) that would have this sort of thing. Maybe it's a military source for all the things they put their people through to push their limits and comfort zones. I don't know.

Am I looking for the right thing or should I be looking for something else? What might I be missing in this thought process? I'm open to differing points of view.

 

try my "walk into the woods empty handed" for a week or weekend
its a good test to see if you can make do with just what nature provides

 

I don't know of any resources that are specifically a collection of scenarios, but many books geared towards survival have a few scenarios in them somewhere. Perhaps we could start a collection of scenarios here, like the one Chelloveck wrote.

Maybe we could use a template like so:

1. Location, date & time. This will give us information like climate, time of year, terrain, etc.
2. Situation. Lay out the circumstances that led to the scenario; i.e. broken down vehicle, separated from a group, plane crash, power loss, etc.
3. Party composition. List the condition & skills of the party members, including injuries, training, age, physical fitness, etc.
4. Physical assets. What is the party carrying? Can they salvage anything from the car/plane? Are they armed? Do they have food & water and a means to get more? And so on...
5. Threats. What stands in the way of the party and their goal? This can be anything from hostile terrain to roving bands of bad guys to disease and wildlife.
6. Objective. Are they moving to a bug-out location? A hospital? The nearest town?

Something like that might help organize it for us. If we can develop enough scenarios, maybe it would even be worth a new subforum.

 

My youngest and I picked out a couple of MREs, canteen, rifle and went for a lunch hike. We entered the woods and I told him to notice which side of his face the sun was on. We went in about a half mile, checked deer sign, had a hot MRE lunch, and headed out. Reminded him about the opposite side of his face the sun should be on. We came out about 500 feet from our entrance site. He was amazed and I was tickled that he had learned a valuable lesson or two. When I showed the older boys how to "twist" a squirrel out of a hollow tree w/o getting bitten it gave them a new way to feed themselves silently. They learned how to flint/steel fires and to build a "proper" keyhole pit. How to read a map/orienteer, use shadows, and move silently. Both are excellent shots and avid hunters/fishermen. Take him frog gigging using a pole gig. Help him dig some sassafras roots to make delicious tea with. Take up some cattails and use the whole plant for food/shelter(weave a hat). When you go fishing only use a bit of string(sewing thread wiped with bees comb or wax), a small rock for a sinker, and a chunk of Pine bark for a float. Bake your catch or pull out some aluminum foil, lemon(or an orange), salt/pepper, and make a foil baked fish in the coals. You will be amazed at how good fresh caught fish is and you will have a confirmed fisherman for a son. Kids remember things like this for their entire lives--they remember when we screw up also--important to be a good father--makes good kids/adults.

 

Thank you for sharing this! As you might sense, I'm still relatively new to all of this. As a child, I wasn't as outdoorsy as my brother (he's now a Florida Fish and Wildlife officer). I did some outdoors things (primarily fishing and hiking) and I always enjoyed it, but I was more of the computer geek as a kid and now work as an engineer. Strange how having sons changes a man to see things differently. Now I want to take them fishing, have this urge to go hunting, want to do some primitive camping, etc.

Having said this, what you described sounds excellent. Maybe MRE's aren't the best tasting meals (any thoughts on which selections taste best?), but it's not about the meal... it's about the memories. I can easily see myself doing similar to what you've shared with us.

I should add that all of this talk has motivated me to take both of my boys (ages 5 and 3) on a hike tomorrow morning through part of a local WMA. Hopefully we'll spot some deer (and avoid the gators). The goal is to hike the 1+ mile in to a primitive camping site to scope it out. I'd like to know what resources we'll find there before taking my oldest son there on a camping trip. He actually said, on his own initiative, that he wants to make a tent out of branches. [wiping happy tear from eye]<wiping happy="" tear="" from="" eye=""></wiping>

 

i was 5 when i got my first lesson in frying an egg
you're never really too young to learn
but you can be too old
i wont let a teenager touch a chainsaw unless he learned before he was 12
once the teen years start, the kid knows everything and wont listen

 

First Trip Update

Took the boys out to the local WMA, complete with their backpacks full of provisions (wanted them to work a little too... dad wasn't going to carry everything for them). First time to this location as well. It was nice driving in a few miles and having so much space to explore.

Found some (most) of the trails to be quite wet from recent rains... and the boys and I didn't have the footwear to tread through it. Walking along the slightly higher ground along the sides of the trail kept us (mostly) dry, but it was real slow going especially with a 3yo having to step over brush, fallen trees, and the like. Still, we treaded through it for a while just for the sake of having the boys do something out of the ordinary.

After a while of this and after coming across even deeper water with less passable spots, we backtracked and took a higher trail (a gravel roadway). It was dry and provided more room for the boys to roam around and to explore. Plenty of grasshoppers to see (some being eaten by armies of ants). Head from another person there was a 3ft alligator back a way, but we didn't spot him (from the safety of the car of course).

I took some video and pictures of the excursion just for memory's sake. The boys enjoyed showing their mother their adventure. And even though they were hot, sweaty, and stinky, they have repeatedly told me over the past few days that they want to go back again. Glad that they had a good time.

Only downside really was the flooded trails. The one we were going down headed to a primitive campsite. I wanted to personally scope it out for a possible trip with my oldest son. I also planned on giving a firestarting lesson in the site's fire pit. But due to the slow going down the trail at the site being at least a mile in, it would have taken us all day to get in and out instead of the few hours we had planned.

If I learned anything in the process is that I brought along food and drink for the expected trip (a few hours), but didn't have any extra in the event something happened to extend our trip. Second, it might have been part of the fun if I could find the wet-wear that would have allowed the boys to just trod through the wet trails... not sure they make it for 3 and 5 yo boys. Third, my firestarting lessons involved using the sun... I should have had a backup option or two (a logical thing to have with me anyhow) because there were intermittent clouds in the area. Lastly, along with the first, I forgot to bring my small camping pots (a container) in which to boil water in. There was plenty around us, but not any means of sterilizing it.

Considering it was a short trip and the first one like this for the boys, I suppose I shouldn't be too critical. Still, for the big guy (me), I knew better and I was already realizing, during the drive out there, that there was a few more things I should have brought with me. In the end, we can be thankful that nobody got hurt and that we got to enjoy some time with all of God's creation. We enjoyed the trip, especially the time spent together, and look forward to more like it.

 

Found a related post that talks about preparing kids. Preparing Kids for Disasters, by J.B. in Montana - SurvivalBlog.com

 

I still recall, with pleasure, how when we were kids and playing army, most of us were able to run and move pretty much silently through our woods. We always knew when an adult was coming due to their lack of sound discipline (breaking twigs, big stomping footsteps, etc.).

Years later, in the US Army, I was intrigued that our Special Forces units were undergoing training to teach them how to move silently through the woods.

As a child, you just never know what applications your playtime pursuits may eventually be converted into someday.

 

when i was in the corps i always got bitched at cuz i didnt make any noise
they always claimed i was stalkin the higher ups...lol
growin up in a good old stand woods teaches you things you dont forget

 

The reason most people make "noise" in the woods is they are moving too fast.