The story of the father and his two daughters capsizing on New Years Day and surviving (see November 8th’s Blog) brings to mind two good books on outdoor accidents and survival. The first is one you may know: Sea kayaker Deep Trouble, by Matt Broze and George Gronseth. This book contains reports of twenty-two kayaking accidents, happening mostly on the west coast. Each report makes a good story by itself. However, after describing the accident, the authors examine it to see what was its primary cause, what went wrong, what went right and what lessons can be learned.
A second great book on survival is Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies and Why, by Laurance Gonzales. This is an analysis of the psychology of survival as well as an examination of what goes into causing and surviving accidents in the outdoors. The stories are very gripping and it becomes clear that luck will sometimes trump preparation (as in the survival story of the totally unprepared father and daughters above). In many of these tales however, intangible traits having to do with a person’s perseverance, optimism and will to live make the difference between who dies in the water, on the mountain or in the woods, and who survives. (Both of these books are available in paperback from Amazon or your local bookseller.)
In October of 2006, I participated in a survival weekend through Pack, Paddle, Ski, a Rochester based outfitter. We met on an early morning in late October, at a park in Naples, New York. Temperatures were in the low 30’s. We were outside from that time until late the following afternoon. The program consisted of discussions around survival and a thirty-six hour practicum in the woods of Little Italy Valley. The things I learned through the discussion parallel the things I have since read in these two books. The first list below deals with many of the psychological skills mentioned earlier, but also incorporates preparation and skill development.
Issues Influencing Your Chances of Survival
1.Pre-planning and Preparation
•In the case of the father and daughters, this would have meant
oBeing dressed for the cold water (Wet suits, Plus)
oWearing PFD’s at all times
oUsing spray decks
oCarrying a cell phone in a waterproof container.
2.Perseverance vs. Fatalism
•Fatalists believe that things are the way they were meant to be and don’t fight against what they see as the inevitable.
•People who persevere are problem solvers, optimists who keep addressing the problems as they come without giving in to despair or giving up. I suspect that our capsized family had these positive traits.
3.The appropriate prioritizing of issues to be addressed
•This is the ability to coldly look at a situation and assess what is most important to address first, second, third, etc. in the context of survival. As the Gonzales book shows, this is sometimes a messy process that takes a while to sort itself out.
4.The individuals outdoor skills
•While our capsized family may have had the appropriate psychological traits to survive, they were almost completely without the appropriate outdoor skills. This and their lack of preparation almost doomed them to death. The deciding factor in this case was luck. This is not something you can count on every time.
Another task we had was to prioritize eight items, from those that should receive immediate attention to those that could wait. We were surprised by the order of priority our leader gave to some of items.
Priorities in a Survival Situation
1.The will to survive
2.Environmental Factors
•Oxygen
•Shelter
•Fire
•Rest
3.Rescue
•Signals
•The decision to stay put or move
4.Sustenance:
•Water (can go without for 3 days)
•Food (can go without for 7 days)
Our surprise related to the relatively low priority given to food and water, but in the end, it all made sense. Number 1, of course, is that intangible factor that determines whether and how hard you will fight for your life. Number 2 makes sense as well, because a much more immediate need than food is shelter from the environmental factors of cold and wet that can quickly take your life through hypothermia. Indeed, our first task in survival training was to inventory our resources, get to work building a shelter and provide for warmth. Number 3 is what you do to help yourself be seen and rescued. If the first three are in place and work, the issue of food and water are irrelevant. Number 4 kicks in when you are not rescued in a short time.
The culmination of the course was a night spent alone in the woods without tent or sleeping bag. I had constructed a windbreak and a fire pit. I had collected a large amount of wood that kept me warm almost till midnight just from breaking it up for use. It was a magical time in those late October woods, with the full mood illuminating a cold fall night, and my fire awakening me every hour or so to feed it more energy. I was warm and had a real sense that I could survive.

Information on Surviving Immersion in Cold Water:
Sea Kayaker Magazine’s on-line SK Newsletter (November 8, 2007) asks these questions to which several experts respond:
1. How should a kayaker determine when immersion wear should be worn?
2. Do you believe immersion wear is underutilized by kayakers? If so, how do you convince people to suit up?
Follow this URL for the discussion:
http://www.seakayakermag.com/2007/07e-newsletters/November/immersion-questions.htm
And for still more information:
Well Suited
By Christopher Cunningham
http://www.seakayakermag.com/2007/07e-newsletters/November/WellSuited.htm