Results of my 20 day survival trip

Hi Guys my name is Michael Robinson and I talked to chad a bit and have just come back from a short survival trip... I figured some of you would be interested in what I took and how it was..

First off I went to a nice spot in southern illinois near where I live..

My supply list included.
1 army duffle bag to carry all my stuff.
2 survival knives
1 multitool
10 snares
1 army water cup to boil water.
2 army folding frying pans to cook with.
3 days worth of clean clothes
1 E-tool... (Lifesaver)
1 cell phone for emergencies (With a solar charger)
2 Blankets (Man it was still really cold.
1 Tent.
5 lbs of dog food.
20 packets of Ramen noodles for days I couldn't find food.
And my dog.

Needless to say my Pack was full and pretty heavy but not too heavy I was able to make good time on foot.


The First few days were not that bad it was between 65-70 during the day and in the upper 40's at night.
I located a pretty clean water source and and was able to locate a small about of wild edibles and insects.

About day 5 to 15 it got colder and I cought a few rabbits with snares I setup tho I was getting pretty hungry and was loosing weight.
I began to eat ramen noodles to warm up in the morning and making pine needle tea.

For the next two days it rained all the time water was easy to get but food was harder since dry wood was scarce and getting wet when it's 35 out isn't smart.
I did manage to snare a rabbit.

It warmed up on the last few days and I Pretty much lived on Ramen Noodles and what edibles I could find. Eating Acorns is nasty but safe if you boil them. I saw lots of berries but don't know enough about them to eat nor did I see any birds eating the berries in the area I did manage to find a few chicken mushrooms which are pretty good if boiled.

All in all it kinda fun but cold and I lost 5 lbs by the time I got home..

One of the bigest things I got out of this trip was knowledge on the types of supplies you would want to take to do this on an extended time frame.. (Note I could have walked out in one day from my camp site so I wasn't gonna die out there) I also think you would want to farm or raise a few animals if you wanted to do this for a year or more or you better really research wild edibles and mushrooms and bring more hunting supplies.. I could have gotten some slightly bigger game than rabbits and rodents if I had a BOW or put more time into primitive hunting tools. a fishing rod would have helped soo much...

I look forward to talking to everyone and hopefully getting all we need together and going on and expedition.

I have setup a website which I am adding more content to for our trip.
http://wildernesstrip.bravehost.com/
Thanks


Mike

So do you plan on coming with us in march.

I have done several small scale survival trips alone and with friends and I love to camp. But I do want to know what all people plan on bringing.. for a year we will need alot more supplies than only one person can carry. Also I found a 10 person 4 season tent with wood burning stove for pretty cheap.

I do think we need to break down the skills everyone possesses such as hunting fishing foraging wood working and so on. If more than 4-5 people go we will probably need to do some farming and food storage. And you wouldn't believe the wood I burnt for one person and a dog in 20 days, we will have to cut down trees and store wood for winter for sure. I would like to hear other peoples Ideas.. Heck we could build log cabin or elaborate Debris Shelters if we wanted but winter is what I worry about it's late fall and I was pretty cold.

If anyone ever wants to setup live chat let me know.

Mike