1- Bear Grylls served in the British SAS (British Special Forces). They went on “hard routine.” They existed for days on end without a hot meal. He points out that a hot meal makes your job in the out-of-doors a lot easier.
Options:
1- Build a camp/cooking fire to heat your meal.
2- Trail or backpacking stove.
Heating food does several things:
- Destroys harmful bacteria, toxins, viruses, protozoa, and parasites.
- Wards off critters like fleas, ticks, and maggots.
- Begins to break down food so that food is more easily and thoroughly digested.
- Warms the body and the spirit.
- Seasons the food – some seasons taste better when cooked. Like salting meat before cooking for a richer flavor.
1B- The advantage of trail stove is that it has less of an ecological and Leave No Trace footprint. Stove & fuel may be heavier than a pack of matches. Every stove requires a certain kind of fuel. (canister, petroleum, LP/propane, synthetic)
1C- Building a cooking fire means that you are subject to acquired fuels – ie: living off the land. Usually bigger and harder to maintain and contain in a windy situation. Can handle more than 1 pot at a time. Can cook using different methods at the same time (baking, frying, grilling, boiling…) It may not be as hot as a camping stove. Takes time to be ready to cook on. Clean up of the fire is more time-consuming and tedious. Pot & pan cleanup is worse. You can also heat yourself and your patrol from the fire.
NOTE: There are exothermic chemical heaters but they are specific sizes and hard to adapt. They are also expensive. And you have to pack them out.
I: What is worse than finding a worm in an apple?
J: Finding half a worm.
K: I used to be addicted to the Hokey Pokey.
L: I see you have turned yourself around.
2- Drink clean water often. Drink before you get thirsty. Monitor your urine frequency and color. Drink! Drinking water is easier than becoming a medical emergency and getting an IV needle stuck into you. I have seen multiple IVs stuck in a person in a very bad case!
M: What did the shark say after eating the clownfish?
N: That tasted a little funny.
3- Spying water when there is none. Watch the animal life. A lot of animals water at dawn and at dusk. Birds travel from nest to water, water to nest, or are out searching for food. Go back and re-read Sit. Rep. # 73 and Sit. Rep. #22 on animal observation.
O: What do pigs use when they have an infection?
p: Antibiotic oink-ment.
Semper Paratus,
Gaither