Bloke goes bush on extended trip with minimal gear

[Son of a Beach]

An article in today's Examiner newspaper tells the story of a young bloke from Sydney who's heading outback on his own with next to no gear or food for a very long time and has told people not to send in a search and rescue party if he doesn't return by his planned due date of 2nd of July.

[Drifting]

My Momma always said stupid is a stupid does.

[melinda]

Hi Nick,
Saw the same article in the local Wollongong rag, umh, highly respectable paper.
Hope he stays safe, he does look quite young.
Melinda

[tasadam]

The bit I don't get, he doesn't want to be rescued, yet he's taking an emergency beacon.
Go figure

I wish him well.

[Son of a Beach]

Yeah, I wish him all the best too, whether he's being wise or not.

I'm guessing he wants the option to be rescued if he decides he needs it (and activates the EPIRB), but doesn't want anyone to send out a search party on a wild goose chase (eg, if he decides to stay out longer than originally planned).

Sounds like he may be fairly familiar with the bush, but I'm still not sure if it's a good thing to attempt or not. Sounds like a lot of fun, if nothing goes wrong.

[north-north-west]

Sounds like a Darwin Award in waiting.

[kramster]

I think he's been watching too much Bear Grylls...

[bushrunner]

I think he's been watching too much Bear Grylls...

If this sort of thing interests you I would suggest watching some Survivorman. It is a very different show to Bear's. In Survivorman, the guy heads into some remote location with little more than his camera gear with the goal of surviving for 7 days, sometimes he is collected at the end and sometimes he walks/paddles out. He has no camera or support crew. He films everything himself and his focus is usually upon constructing some sort of shelter, making a fire and getting a supply of food and water. Compelling stuff and a sensible guy. Plus the locations are sometimes quite pretty. Really not the sort of thing you can compare to Bear's show, they follow a totally different format and have a totally different focus but they seem to appeal to the same types of viewers.

[Ent]

Humans never cease to amaze me. The question "why" seams to get lost in the air. Call me a crank but unless you are forced into survival situation then why do it? Ego is supposedly not a dirty word but is that a good enough reason to worry others about your survival plans or lack of?

Cheers Brett

[etrangere]

Ok call me cynical but a few alarm bells go off about this.

1. Feeling the need to tell a media outlet not to look for him rather than just telling family, friends and relevant authorities.
2. Calling himself 'snake hunter'
3. Posing with snake shirtless for photo opportunity
4. The ridiculous hat and claw necklace

Sounds like blatant self promotion if you ask me. I'm sure he will be trying to sell his story to any media outlet that will listen after his adventure and cast himself as some kind of Steve Irwin/Crocadile Dundee/Bear Grylls. Trips and twists an ankle = fell down 100 foot gorge and broke his leg. Spots a wild pig = chased and attacked by wild feral pig!! You get the idea.

[Ciaran]

.......And survived on one mars bar for several weeks.

sounds like a media payout to me too.

[Drifting]

Hey- it'd be cool if one of those TV guys got attacked and eaten by a wild pig.

SURVIVOR................RAZORBACK!!!!

[bushrunner]

This guy is perfectly open about the fact that he is doing it for publicity. He is making a video of it I believe. In fact he claims that publicity is the GOAL of his trip as he wants to raise awareness for some issue... of which I am not aware.

[Drifting]

probably the Royal Flying Doctors (poor taste joke, sorry)

[tas-man]

.......And survived on one mars bar for several weeks.
sounds like a media payout to me too.

If the "mars bar" reference is to the extraordinary survival of James Scott in the Himalayas from December 22nd 1991 to February 3rd 1992 for 43 days, then the comment about a "media payout" is not appropriate in his case. Here is a link to an interesting article about some extraordinary survival stories, including a mention of James Scott's experience. http://www.theage.com.au/news/science/c ... 62499.html

PS Found a more detailed report on James Scott's medical assessment as to his survival here : http://www.annals.org/content/127/5/405.full

[Nick S]

Interesting read Ian.
I think many of us wonder how we ourselves would handle a similar situation when reading about survival stories.
Do I have the will to live? "James occupied his mind with lengthy, detailed recollections of pleasant times and mentally drilled himself on the minutiae of karate maneuvers. He read Dickens's Great Expectations cover-to-cover six times."

[north-north-west]

Do I have the will to live? "... He read Dickens's Great Expectations cover-to-cover six times."

Reading it straight through just once would destroy my desire for continued existence. Totally.

[melinda]

Come on NNW, Great Expectations isn't that bad!

[WarrenH]

You can go bush with minimal gear no worries ... just remember where you dumped the supplies.

On a two occasions I've found supplies that have been put behind rocks, in plastic barrels, most likely supplies placed well ahead of time by ski tourers.

Warren.

[north-north-west]

Come on NNW, Great Expectations isn't that bad!

Once you've spent the better part of a term 'doing' it in high school English Lit classes, it is every bit that bad and worse.

I'm not a big Dickens fan at the best of times, but that book in particular drives me absolutely gaga.

[bushrunner]

Come on NNW, Great Expectations isn't that bad!

I'm not a big Dickens fan at the best of times...

"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times."

[melinda]

OK all,
If you had to spent 43 days in a cave with one book, what would it be???
My very first thought would be a collection of Shakespeare's plays.
What would you take???

[flyfisher]

Poor fella my country by Xavier Herbert. 'Twould take that long to read it once by which time you would have forgotten what it was about, who you were etc.

ff

[north-north-west]

If you had to spent 43 days in a cave with one book, what would it be???

Shakespeare (inc the Sonnets) or Byron.

Would need a few spare batteries for the torch, but.

[north-north-west]

Poor fella my country by Xavier Herbert. 'Twould take that long to read it once by which time you would have forgotten what it was about, who you were etc.

It's about a kid called Prindy. He dies in the end.

[melinda]

It's about a kid called Prindy. He dies in the end.

So would it be good to read a book about dying, as you lay there dying?

[flyfisher]

Yea,not much of a story line eh?

[WarrenH]

"He spent the time on the way to hospital reassuring his worried mother, explaining to her how the poison worked and how it wasn't going to kill him quickly."

One of Australia's least venomous snakes the Black Snake obviously didn't kill him quickly ... but the effects over a lifetime might be interesting.

Some time ago, when I was was working as a professional guide, I received a letter from a medical research officer, who was working in a Psychiatry and Public Health Department at one of the universities, I think it was Newcastle. He was studying the changes in people after the loss of a limb as a result of contracting emphysema.

IIRC, the Uni Department had sent thousands of letters to amputees asking for information on their life style. What he was finding was, that the majority of amputations were caused by emphysema, diabetes, accidents and cancer, the norm. When we chatted, he asked me if I knew of anyone who had been bitten by a Black Snake. I'm guessing Wilderness First Aid Consultants may have given him my contact, I was one of their students. He said he was finding amputations with people who were neither smokers, diabetics, accident victims or sufferers of cancer ... they were people who had been bitten by a Black Snake on the limb that was amputated ... bitten 20 years earlier. I remember him saying, the figures were coming from drovers and farm workers.

I remember him saying the results of the survey were forming a pattern that was disturbing involving Black Snakes. A possible long term necrosis. After that one chat, I didn't talk to him again and have no follow-up info.

What many of us think as a timid, relatively harmless snake ... gives me a particular shiver when I see one, a shiver that not even an Eastern Brown gives me. It was a good year this year ... I didn't see a Black Snake. In fact this year I haven't seen a snake, just how I like it.

Warren.

[saijef]

If stuck with one book to read it would be "South: the Endurance expedition" by Earnest Shackleton. The details of what the voyagers endured to survived after being locked in pack ice, then the sinking of their ship Endurance only to be stuck on an antartic island for months is well worth reading several times.

Pick it up in a Penguin soft cover for your next read

ange

[WarrenH]

Another good book is 'Trek Through the Back Country' by John Blay (Methuen Australia 1987 ISBN 0 454 01236 5)

As the Little Ravens fly over the Deua, the Woila and the Brogo Wilderness maybe only 90 kilometres, John Blay was only able to do a few kilometres in a week at times, because of the severity of the country.

I cant even find a way into the Brogo even after several attempts along firetrails from the South. The Brogo has gorges from your worst nightmares and John Blay conquered them ... with his donkey Zac.

Warren.