Are we as tough as our outdoor-loving predecessors? When I read about the exploits of famous frontiersmen like Daniel Boone, Davey Crockett, Simson Girty and their contemporaries, I wonder if I could have kept pace beside them.
Some of these tough outdoorsmen went on hunts that lasted a year (or more) so that they could procure bales of animal hides to sell for the support of their families. But could any of us modern-day-button-pushers hack living in the raw wilderness with very few supplies? I’m not convinced we could make it. Take the case of Simon Kenton, for example. In March of 1773, he and two hunting companions had amassed a great assortment of animal skins in their remote camp, and they had let their guard down. It had been months since they had seen another soul, and this peace was shattered when a group of Native warriors (likely Shawnee) ambushed their camp. Kenton and a younger companion had been out trapping all day and gotten soaked in the cold rain. They were warming by the fire and drying out their clothes when the lead attacker shot and killed their older hunting companion. Some historians say the Kenton and his fellow hunter were wearing only long shirts, while others say they dropped blankets and ran away naked. Either way, they fled for their lives in cold wet weather – shoeless, with no supplies, in the cold weather of March in the Kentucky wilderness. For the next six days, they proceeded toward the nearest settlement and subsisted off leftover acorns and spring greens. Naked or nearly naked, they stumbled upon a group of fur traders paddling down the Ohio River and were rescued. With no food, no clothes, no fire making kit, in cold weather – I’m not sure I could have done it. Maybe our forebears were just cut from a tougher cloth than we. But here’s the takeaway. We don’t have to be as tough, because we have survival gear that our ancestors could never have even imagined. How about a little colorful stick that shoots out fire on demand (a Bic lighter)? Could they even conceive of a blanket made of the brightest silver – that had no weight and kept you warm (space blanket)? We have the gear now to make up for an easier lifestyle and the softness that it have given us, and we’d damn well better take it with us the next time we go play Daniel Boone in the woods.
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Prepare For Anything
Hunting and Gathering Survival Manual
How To Survive Anything
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