Author Topic: Stories from FL280...  (Read 35372 times)

Offline Serenity

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Re: Stories from FL280...
« Reply #420 on: June 06, 2017, 04:08:30 PM »
So.  Try EVERYTHING.  Not kidding.  Eat that damned rabbit eyeball, and turn the skin into an improvised glove.  In your "spare time" after dinner, grab your knife, a bone shard, and some rabbit tendon (you DID save some before throwing bunny into the stew pot right?) and see for yourself how hard it is to sew rabbit skin together.  Save the bunny brains and see if you can tan a section of rabbit hide with it.  Make a fish trap if you're near water.

THIS is going to be the hardest part. I don't mind humans getting bloodied, but I've never had the stomach for hunting personally... I know I'm going to HAVE to, so it'll happen, lol, but I'm not looking forward to it.

Offline Kanth

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Re: Stories from FL280...
« Reply #421 on: June 06, 2017, 04:43:44 PM »
Great advice from Eagl.   :rock

This is probably the only time in your life you will get an experience like this. Make the best of it.


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Offline eagl

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Re: Stories from FL280...
« Reply #422 on: June 06, 2017, 04:45:14 PM »
THIS is going to be the hardest part. I don't mind humans getting bloodied, but I've never had the stomach for hunting personally... I know I'm going to HAVE to, so it'll happen, lol, but I'm not looking forward to it.

That's the BEST reason to volunteer to do whatever.  Whether its whacking bunny, skinning or gutting thumper, eating the eyeball (vitamins!), tasting stomach contents (totally yuck but concentrated vitamins may save your life), or trying out improvised resource utilization with the hide, this is the only time it really is totally OK to concentrate on it shamelessly.  Back home yea you're a weirdo if you go around investigating creative ways to use rabbit parts, but at SERE that's the whole point.

Think about it this way, and start adjusting your attitude now - You don't HAVE TO, you GET TO.  I'm not kidding.  Every time you start thinking "I'll HAVE TO...", b**ch slap yourself in the face and say out loud "I'll GET TO..."

Nothing can improve your SERE experience more than eliminating that sense of resignation about all the things you're gonna be forced to do, and replacing it in your mind with expectation that you'll get to play caveman, get to try stuff that really isn't socially acceptable, and its all ok because it really could save your life.  And it WILL positively impact your operational career if, before you launch on any particular mission, if you're not terrified about what you might "HAVE TO DO" if you eject.  You get to do it just once, for free, no repercussions, no shame, no guilt, because its real life not some tv show, not something you read about once in a book.  You get one time to try it all out before you take the experiences and tuck them in your bag of tricks for when you might really need it someday.

One of the saddest military survival stories I've ever heard...  Some USAF guy had a flameout in Alaska and dead-sticked the plane successfully onto a frozen lake, in a few ft of snow.  He got out of the plane, walked to the treeline, walked back to his plane, pulled out his .38, and shot himself in the head.  Searchers found his body less than 24 hours later.

Guess what - he probably went through sere thinking he was going to "HAVE TO" do stuff.  When he shot himself, he was within 5 minutes walk of everything he needed to survive in style for weeks.  The treeline had plenty of materials to make a really snazzy shelter.  He had all his survival gear, so he could have made a fire big enough to burn for a month.  He had a plane full of fuel dregs which, while tough to get started, would have let him keep a fire going even in a snowstorm.  He had a gun to shoot any predators with or maybe even bag himself a baby moose for dinner.  All that snow and a fire meant he would have had plenty of water to drink.  He had a totally unused parachute which would have made fine clothing, bedding, signaling panels, you name it.  His survival kit probably even had a few thousand calories of compressed granola bars and a waxy chocolate bar for immediate energy.

He had everything he needed except 2 things.  He probably didn't have a positive SERE experience to give him the confidence to draw strength from, and he didn't have the will to live under challenging but totally survivable circumstances.

Don't be that guy.  You don't HAVE to do stuff like skin the wabbit, you GET to whack thumper, eat him, and put on a silly puppet show with his skin at dinnertime (er... I mean demonstrate the utility of the recovered hide for both improvised clothing and morale-boosting entertainment)

If you find a snake then kill and eat it, you'll be my hero of the day and I'll buy you a bottle of just about anything after you get back.  Pro tip - Some venomous snakes may have live unborn young with developed fangs/venom so be CAREFUL gutting snakes.  But I'm sure your instructors will mention that little detail if/when it comes up.

Everyone I know, goes away, in the end.

Offline eagl

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Re: Stories from FL280...
« Reply #423 on: June 06, 2017, 04:54:48 PM »
May as well start with some light reading to desensitize you...

http://www.themeateater.com/2017/field-butchering-tips-part-2-quartering-vs-deboning/
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Offline Gman

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Re: Stories from FL280...
« Reply #424 on: June 06, 2017, 05:16:21 PM »
Fantastic post and advice Eagl, glad you're still around writing things like this. 

Knowing Serenity as I do, I think he's a tough kid when you get down to it, and your words aren't going to be lost on him. 

I wouldn't be looking forward to being locked into a small box a la Zero Dark Thirty, that's one thing personally I'd want to find more information about beforehand if possible, and learn some skills in how to deal with that both mentally and physically.  Not a big fan of that idea, but the rest of SERE I would think is a great opportunity to learn some very valuable knowledge, to build on hunting/survival and human social engineering skills already in the quiver. 

Re the snake Eagl - is it a rare thing or something to find snakes and kill/eat them on the course? 
« Last Edit: June 06, 2017, 05:23:09 PM by Gman »

Offline Vraciu

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Re: Stories from FL280...
« Reply #425 on: June 06, 2017, 05:26:35 PM »
I don't know where you're going for SERE, but where you live now they could just drop you off in the middle of King Ranch or Kennedy Ranch and that'd be pretty tough going for a few days.

That's no bull.  I did part of my Wilderness Survival training in Scouting out there.   Woke up with a javelina sniffing around my shelter.  :eek:
« Last Edit: June 06, 2017, 05:47:45 PM by Vraciu »
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Offline Mister Fork

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Re: Stories from FL280...
« Reply #426 on: June 06, 2017, 05:33:24 PM »
It's times like this Serenity that jokes about "ouuu I got a good rabbit stew recipe for SERE trainees" comes to mind.  Find out what you're allowed to take with you and then if you're going with buddies, work out a system of taking various items so that at least you can maximize your experience and ease the pain and suffering.

Tips:
- The hard part is the POW training- and they WILL make it tough for you for a reason.
- Some of the SERE instructors will be arses, but it's their job to keep you alive in case you need to fall back on your SERE training. Don't take it personally.
- Understand that everything they throw at you is because someone experienced something that could save your life and they added it to the curriculum.
- Finally, talk to the IP's to see if any did SERE and if they have any tips.

Besides, it's not like they're throwing you into a "NAKED AND AFRAID" episode.
« Last Edit: June 06, 2017, 05:37:40 PM by Mister Fork »
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Offline DaveBB

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Re: Stories from FL280...
« Reply #427 on: June 06, 2017, 07:18:25 PM »
Serenity's like "Caught the 3 wire, still counts".

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Offline colmbo

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Re: Stories from FL280...
« Reply #428 on: June 06, 2017, 07:25:53 PM »
And the miserable food whiners are irritating as f**k because you can't hide from the fact that they're not paying attention and will be a total drain on group resources if they ever find themselves in a real survival situation.

Isn't that the guy you gut and crawl inside of for shelter?
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Offline Toad

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Re: Stories from FL280...
« Reply #429 on: June 06, 2017, 10:34:53 PM »
I remember getting stuffed into a very small box during the POW phase at winter survival.

It was so small I could barely expand my lungs to get a breath. Certainly not a full breath. The first few minutes were absolutely horrible. I was sure I was going to suffocate; I was really struggling to just breathe. The was an initial period of panic.

Then I analyzed. I figured bigger guys than me had been in the box and didn't die. I worked out a way to breathe in really shallow breaths that didn't require much expansion. It was almost the way a dog pants but very slowly. Then I figured I'd start counting minutes. Telling myself if I just made two more minutes they'd let me out. I counted out 30 minutes that way.

Believe it or not, I eventually fell asleep in there. Not sure how long I was in before they opened it up. I was really stiff from being cramped in a fetal ball but hey...I actually got some sleep. I like to think I snored and that pissed them off so they let me out.  ;)
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Offline Kanth

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Re: Stories from FL280...
« Reply #430 on: June 07, 2017, 07:59:34 AM »
Btw I used to work inside the fuel tanks in the wings of airplanes. I was small enough to fit in there.

We had a guy who was pretty small climb in, and then he panicked and got stuck. They say you swell up when you panic. Do not panic.

For this guy they sent me in after him and I was able to manually arrange him to get him slowly backed out.
It's very tight, and it smells like fuel and there's only a limited amount of time you are allowed to be in there.

So don't panic, try to relax. Just slowly work out your problem and it'll actually go much easier.
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Offline eagl

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Re: Stories from FL280...
« Reply #431 on: June 07, 2017, 09:06:17 AM »
Re the snake Eagl - is it a rare thing or something to find snakes and kill/eat them on the course?

In USAF SERE courses, the instructors encourage the students to procure their own food, for practice.  Anything bigger than a rabbit is generally catch and release though, since the schools try to leave a low footprint to preserve the area and ensure access.

As for a snake specifically...  If he's going to be training in so-cal, I'm guessing he'll be on or near Pendleton.  That's California desert, and I figure its unlikely he'll see anything EXCEPT snakes.  I guess if they're particularly skilled they might find a wild rabbit, but those critters probably stay far away from the SERE training areas for obvious reasons.  Not much else to catch out there.  Out here in Nevada there is a desert tortoise that might be tasty but its also a protected species so it would be off limits. 

Jackrabbit isn't too bad in a stew.

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Offline Vraciu

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Re: Stories from FL280...
« Reply #432 on: June 07, 2017, 10:27:12 AM »
In USAF SERE courses, the instructors encourage the students to procure their own food, for practice.  Anything bigger than a rabbit is generally catch and release though, since the schools try to leave a low footprint to preserve the area and ensure access.

As for a snake specifically...  If he's going to be training in so-cal, I'm guessing he'll be on or near Pendleton.  That's California desert, and I figure its unlikely he'll see anything EXCEPT snakes.  I guess if they're particularly skilled they might find a wild rabbit, but those critters probably stay far away from the SERE training areas for obvious reasons.  Not much else to catch out there.  Out here in Nevada there is a desert tortoise that might be tasty but its also a protected species so it would be off limits. 

Jackrabbit isn't too bad in a stew.

Beware of rabbit starvation if forced into a real world survival situation.  The meat is awfully lean. 
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Offline Serenity

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Re: Stories from FL280...
« Reply #433 on: June 07, 2017, 11:41:31 AM »
Well, they've changed their minds, no SERE yet lol

Offline Vraciu

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Re: Stories from FL280...
« Reply #434 on: June 07, 2017, 11:43:54 AM »
Well, they've changed their minds, no SERE yet lol

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