Winter warefare/survival ideas

[Nfld Sapper]

Nothing to do with dress, as anyone quickly finds a comfort zone. All tripwire coils kept are perfect for winter warfare snare training. Nothing beats real game captured utilizing leftovers from your defensive build kit. And a length of lashing wire can certainly garner larger game, if hungry enough.

But illegal to use... got to use that shitty 6 strand snare wire now....

 

[LineJumper]

But illegal to use... got to use that shitty 6 strand snare wire now....

That's good to know. I'll have to source this type of wire. Heh heh heh, is WD1 or assault wire illegal?

 

[c4th]

So to be clear, your side of this discussion is that you see no value in training to start a fire from scratch?
To take your point to the next logical level, why not be prepared for everything?  Why not be in the forest with a full camper with a stove, generator, and television?

Hands up, anyone who has started a fire using wood on wood.  I've seen several expedient ways to start a fire but have never seen an effective demonstration of a 100% nature start.  I’m not a big fan of freezing to death so I would suggest that carrying a pack of matches is more efficient than a 9 Volt battery, steel wool, potassium, magnesium etc...  Not that other methods won’t work, but for weight to benefit It’s going to be hard to beat the match.

+1 on the camper and gear.  At least that is what the rangers travel with.  If one is on the land without preparation in cold weather the prognosis is not going to be good.  If one is dressed for cold already, then why not carry a ruck with what is going to be needed for at a minimum 24 hrs.  Add a light snow shovel and a machete and you have the tools for shelter.  No one really should be surprised by winter in this country.

My point here is the aim of survival training should be to increase a soldiers comfort and confidence in his abilities to withstand the climate for short periods of time.  This can be achieved with a minimum of kit.  Is it realistic to have no equipment?  If so, why not try survival with no clothing? 

All this must be subordinate to basic winter warfare training.  Tent routine, basic snow mobility, comms,  field craft , battle procedure, battle procedure and battle procedure must be the priority.  Survival training is great for interest and confidence but as an addition to the basics not at their expense.

 

[Brasidas]

Survival training is great for interest and confidence but as an addition to the basics not at their expense.

Right on. There's nothing wrong with trimming away at what "minimal" kit is, but going for some sort of objective of the "shirt on your back and the boots on your feet" objective seems a bit outside of a generalist lesson plan.

Focussing on shelter, snares, signal fires, and how to work in the cold (layers) seem like enough to edge out wood-on-wood to me.

 

[PMedMoe]

Naphtha cubes are good for starting fires......