PART 2 -
Special Forces Advanced Mountain Operations School
Finding Food, Water, Edible Plants, Insects, Wildlife, Fire Making, and Making Shelter
PART 3 -
Special Forces Alpine Warfare Survival Training
Scouting, Camouflage, Erasing Tracks, Fighting in the Snow, Choosing a Camp Location, Baiting an Enemy into a Killzone, Retreat, Taking High Ground
Part 2
Dave Chace, a writer published by the U.S. Army, writes in this article, Climb and Conquer: Special Forces, "this is where some of America's most elite Soldiers learn to move and survive when the air is thin, the wind is strong, the snow is deep, and the stakes are high."
What is it exactly that the Special Forces are teaching and learning there? It's really not much different than what any other warrior culture in history has learned about mountain survival and mountain warfare -- America's military may have some new communications tools, as well as modern-day tools for mountain climbing, but people have been doing that throughout history.
The fact is you can live and survive in the mountains -- you can fight from the mountains -- you just need to know what you're doing and how to cover all the bases to survival. Let's get down to the details.
This is the kind of thing that's being taught in Special Forces mountain survival courses. Listen -- they're not learning anything top secret -- they're not being taught how to make a magic potion and presto -- food, water, shelter, and cable television pop up out of thin air.
They're being taught simple methods of survival that are going to give them the most success in specific types of terrain that they may one day live and survive in for short periods of time -- keyword is short -- we're going to have to look at primitive people like early century Native Americans if we want to learn what it's going to take to live in the mountains for the long term.
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We -- like the instructors at the U.S. Special Forces survival school -- know people can live and thrive in harsh conditions -- look at the Eskimos, who may spend much of the year living in the snow, with sub-zero temperatures lasting many days and weeks, eating fish from iced over oceans, lakes, and rivers, as well as seals and probably from time to time polar bear also.
Once in the mountains -- especially at higher elevations -- fish just aren't going to be the staple that they can be in lowland rivers (depending on the season) and lakes or what they are down on the coast and in the ocean; so once in the mountains we turn to hunting.
"The training has been a great experience and worth doing again," said a Special Forces weapons sergeant. "It definitely got my feet wet, knowing what's needed, what kind of equipment you need, how to use it. This will be something I would want to continue training on."
The first day of training allowed the Green Berets to become familiar with cross-country skinning, skijoring with a snowmobile and learning to shoot on skis and snowshoes. During such times, each individual was carrying 40 to 60 pounds of equipment.
"It's a lot more difficult. Anything you do in a snow environment is at quarter speed," Rainville said. "You're delayed with the cold, trudging through the snow, wearing heavier jackets and restricted movement. It's a big challenge just showing guys how difficult it is and being able to practice firing off skis. A magazine change is quite a task in itself."
The following days consisted of the unit learning to survive in a cold weather environment with subzero temperatures; educating themselves on how to build proper shelters as well as moving throughout various terrains during the day and night while pulling their equipment; a full combat load.
"We were taught the proper ways to build shelters and how to stay warm," said the weapons sergeant. "It wasn't too bad staying out at night.
If you make a good shelter, you're going to stay warm at night."It's not hard to build a shelter -- one that is insulated -- you just have to put in the work. If you take a course an instructor will teach you how to build an insulated shelter. Or you can skip the course all together and buy a book -- but do you need to?
What I mean is this isn't rocket science. Primitive people have been building insulated shelters for thousands of years.
Shelter-making isn't a big deal -- you just have to do it right. Limbs, tree boughs, brush, leaves, even dirt can all be used to construct an insulated shelter. Then when the snow comes down you can use the snow as well -- even insulating pre-existing shelters from earlier in the season. See: Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties: The Classic Guide to Building Wilderness Shelters
You're going to need a spark -- without a spark you can have all the dry tinder in the world but no way to ignite it. If you've been reading anything about survival in the past you know that fire-making can be a time consuming and difficult process -- and so you should go out of your way to make sure you are well stocked with quality lighters (even weather and wind resistant) so that you can skip the entire drama of fire-making without a lighter.
In Special Forces survival training they're going to train for a worst case scenario though -- when no lighter or matches are present.
You as well want to be prepared for that scenario also. You can take the time to have flint and magnesium (common fire making tools in most survival kits); the fact is though if you can pack that, then you can have a lighter on you. However, the flint and magnesium (a good set) may have more life than just one lighter. Once that lighter has been used enough times it's out of fuel. Or it may simply break on you. Lighters can be ruined by water and they do experience mechanical failure. Considering that flint and magnesium will produce a spark even after being immersed in water (you'll have to dry them out first), a good survival kit should have both. The more you spend on a good out door lighter though, the better quality you're going to get in harsher weather conditions.
If you've taken a survival course, you may have learned how to rub two sticks together (there are different techniques) to generate heat and an eventual coal that can then be blown on, which will turn the coal a "hot" red, which means there's now enough heat to ignite tinder (more specifically a tinder bundle) -- that's the gist of it anyway. Being able to generate that heat and get the coal transferred to the tinder bundle is the tricky part. Both take practice, but once this skill is learned it's an art that can be of use to you in many emergencies.
Keep a good book or two on hand. Depending on how much "surviving" you're planning, you may want multiple books. Like I said there is just too much specfic information (that would be hard to recall on short notice) on tasks like hunting, fishing, primitive tools, navigation, rope making, knot tying, herbal medicine, wild edibles, etc.
You can also harness the sun's rays to make a fire -- you can use an eye piece from a pair of glasses for example or even better an actual magnifying glass. Did you ever burn ants with a magnifying glass as a kid? That same idea can be used to ignite dry tinder. Look specifically for a magnifying glass called a "fresnel lens". It magnifies sunlight at a higher temperature, making it easier to start a fire.
Survival Tip:
Next to each campfire you get going, lay out small sticks, moss, grass, and leaves so they can dry out from the heat. You're creating future bundles of tinder. Don't place them too close to the fire though -- you don't want them to catch on fire. As they dry out, move them to an area safe from moisture (if you have them, plastic containers with sealed lids), and continue to dry out brush. Dry out a week's worth of brush and then go to great lengths to ensure that this brush will stay dry. Every time you need a fire you will always have dry tinder ready to go.The trick to drinking water from a stream is being able to sterilize it -- all it takes is one pot or metal container and you have something to boil water in. A good rule of thumb is to let the water boil (a rolling boil) for 60 seconds and it's now safe to drink. If you have a get home bag (and have packed a water filter) then you know that a water filter can be handy for providing clean drinking water when there isn't time to stop and make a fire and purify the water by boiling it.
To become a great shot at long range it can take a lot of practice, including the ability to read wind conditions, because wind is going to be a factor in your shot. This is where U.S. Special Forces naturally have an advantage -- most of them (if not all of them) are going to be a great shot with a long range rifle before they've even taken this course on Special Forces mountain survival training.
Understanding how your scope works is important. If you drop your rifle, if you bump your rifle, if your rifle is carried on an ATV or in a pick up truck for example, the scope can be knocked out of alignment and will need to be adjusted to be brought back into alignment. Parallax can also take place -- which is where your field of vision is distorted -- and again this is where the rifle scope needs to be adjusted.
In Special Forces sniper school training the art of long range rifle shooting is taught -- graduates of the school have proven themselves as great shots at long range in addition to the many small factors that can affect aim from understanding wind conditions to understanding how rifle scopes work and additionally the type of gun that is being used and even the type of ammunition -- all of these can effect aim in different ways. At the same time, not all guns or scopes are the same. The more experience a soldier has firing different weapons the better he will get at making adjustments to new weapons he (or she) has to shoot with.
There is an art to hunting -- mainly it comes down to knowledge and then experience. You can help yourself quite a bit with a study of deer and elk and learning what their patterns are. It will make it a lot easier to bring down a buck if you put yourself in the right place at the right time, rather than always being in the wrong place and the wrong time. Days could go by without even seeing a deer or elk if you're always in the wrong place.
Hunting isn't guaranteed - but you can greatly increase the odds in your favor by understanding your prey's eating and sleeping habits. What they eat. Where they eat. When they eat.
Typically you won't simply be walking through the woods and come up on a deer. If you're walking, usually they'll hear you first. So you have to be ready to stakeout an area. One time two friends and I (and his dog) came around a corner on a trail and right before us was a herd of elk. We saw them first. There were a bunch of them. I don't remember how many. My point is that sometimes you might be able to stumble across wildlife, but that's usually rare -- you reduce your odds by not hunkering down quietly and staking out an area that deer / elk, etc. are likely to eat at some point.
Here's some more detailed information about wind and ridges. Essentially, along mountain ridges and ravines the wind can do funny things -- turning into swirls that take wind (and carry your scent) in ways you may not want it to travel. Learning how wind can behave based on the type of terrain you're hunting in will help you reduce chances of your scent being picked up by prey in the area you're hunting in because you'll have a better understanding of what the wind is doing, and where it's likely to carry your scent.
Think about that Special Forces survival course for a moment. That instructor is going to point out things in the terrain that can effect wind direction, such as trees, large rocks or outcroppings, ravines, and even glaciers. See: 3 Tips for Hunting Elk vs. Whitetail
What's going to happen though when the local population of deer and elk realize that there is a human camp close by? What I mean is that after several weeks of hearing gunshots the noise and human odors and activity in the area of your camp could drive them out of the area where you've been hunting to a safer, less inhabited area. This is a possibility -- I think it becomes probable based on just how much hunting (and trapping) may be taking place. If you plan to be camped in the same spot for quite some time, you may want to consider taking your hunting activities far away from your camp -- 20 - 30 miles for example.
For hunting in the vicinity of your camp, which could be 5 - 10 miles in any direction -- hunting with crossbows and compound bows may be a better idea -- deer in the area aren't going to be scared away by the noise of gunshots.
Most areas of the country have trained instructors in finding wild edibles for hire. Take one of these classes and take one or two good books along so that you can learn to match up pages from the book that profile plants with plants that the instructor is showing you out in the wilderness.
Survival Tip: If you've held on to that book(s) on edible plants, and still have your notes you took with that instructor, along with any photographs you took, it can come through for you many months later when you can't recall specific details from that course you took. This book on edible plants will become a manual that you can go to again and again, identifying plants that are safe to eat and protecting you from plants that can kill you or simply make you severely sick. See: 16 Unassuming but lethal poison plants
Keep in mind that there are a lot more that simply 16 poisonous plants -- the link above is just an example. Plants don't have a defense system other than many generating poisons that can keep wildlife, insects, and humans from decimating them -- some plants like the cassava in Africa (a staple for many) must be thoroughly boiled first to remove the cyanide (yes, cyanide). In the modern world careful selection of plants and proper steps of preparing certain plants have made many that are otherwise poisonous safe to eat. In the wilderness though you're not in the grocery store -- you're likely to come across a lot of plants you may not have known are edible. Twin Eagles Wilderness School gives this complete list of 33 of the most common edible wild plants in America:
* Wild Onion (Allium bisceptrum)
* Common Burdock (Arctium minus)
* Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
* Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
* Lambsquarters (Chenopodium album)
* Brambles (Rubus sp.)
* Currants and Gooseberries (Ribes sp.)
* Blueberries and Cranberries (Vaccinium sp.)
* Sheep Sorrel (Rumex acetosella)
* Chickweed (Stellaria media)
* Red Clover (Trifolium pretense)
* Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)
* Miner's lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata)
* Common Plantain (Plantago major)
* Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica)
* Common Cattail (Typha latifolia)
* Wild Ginger (Asarum caudatum)
* Wild Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)
* American Elderberry (Sambucus Canadensis)
* Wild Rose (Rosa sp.)
* Amaranth (Amaranthus retroflexus)
* Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum)
* Common Camas (Camassia quamash)
* Violets (Viola sp.)
* Wild Mint (Mentha arvensis)
* Common Salsify (Tragopogon porrifolius)
* Common Chicory (Cichorium intybus)
* Wild Sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis)
* Western Dock (Rumex occidentalis)
* Cow Parsnip (Heracleum lanatum)
* Bull Thistle (Circium vulgare)
* Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)
* Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus)
The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants
Newcomb's Wildflower Guide by Lawrence Newcomb
Reader's Digest Guide to North American Wildlife
Peterson's Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants (for your region)
From Earth to Herbalist by Gregory Tilford
One thing to note is that in Hawaii and Alaska you're going to have a few more unique species of edible plants and the only way to know is to have a field guide based on your region. If you're a reader in Europe, Australia, Africa, the Middle East or Asia (our site gets people from around the world) you're going to want a field guide based on that specific region.
Acorns come from oak trees and in many states oak trees are plentiful. But you have competition for those acorns -- I'm talking about squirrels, chipmunks, deer and other wildlife. You see, acorns, pine nuts, and hazelnuts are one staple of local wildlife populations.
By the time you come across an oak tree in the wild it may have been picked clean with nothing on the forest floor to pick up. You might have a line of oak trees growing on your property but there are no acorns. The squirrels got to them first.
Hazelnuts are also loved by squirrels, and these grow on trees called "hazels" (or "filberts" as known by some people). If you set up camp in the mountains, you'll find larger populations of these trees at lower elevations but they have been reported to grow at higher elevations, such as "scarlet oaks" in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Denverplants.com reports that it's even possible to grow apples in the mountains, but no higher than 8500 feet in elevation. See: High Altitude Gardening
A Special Forces soldier is going to have to be briefed (more than briefed) on the local fauna -- what he can eat and can't eat in the wild -- where to find water (especially in a dry region) -- and what animals and insects are poisonous.
You need to be briefed also -- which means you need to hit the books and get to know the wildlife that are in your local mountains (or coastal region, should you end up on the coast). Get to know the plants. Get to know the seasons so that you know whether or not to even look for acorns, pine nuts, and hazelnuts. See: Are Acorns Edible?
Regarding pine nuts, most of what is sold in stores actually comes from the Korean Pine. Only a handful of states in America actually have decent pine nuts. See: Harvesting, Shelling, and Cooking Wild Pine Nuts
Primitive people around the world often included insects in their daily diet. For these people (today as well and in earlier centuries) insects aren't something to detest -- not when they've been eating insects from a young age.
When it comes to insects, unlike wild plants, most insects are edible. It's said that most people inadvertently eat 1-2 pounds of insects a year -- in other words insects end up in our food or end up in packaged food processed by food companies, and then ultimately we eat them unknowingly. Or sometimes we do realize that something is crunching in our mouth -- but then it's too late. Down the hatch that ant or spider goes.
If you're eating a pound or two of insects a year, have you gotten sick yet? Probably not. You're going to want to make a mental note of that fact -- because you may be teaching others in a survival situation that most insects are perfectly fine to eat; you can even give them a couple statistics to back that up: 80% of the world's population regularly eats insects (many in foreign countries of course) and more than 1000 types of insects are edible.
But there are more: Termites for example, which can be found in most forested areas. A healthy tree isn't likely to have termites. Look for termites in fallen timber and under and within logs and stumps. Termites contain protein and will make a nourishing meal. Have a good field guide and you'll be able to recognize these bugs when the time comes. Here's a site with detailed photos and information.
Insects are plentiful and there are many you can eat and a few you don't want to eat. Suggested field guides are:
Venomous Animals and Poisonous Plants: North America North of Mexico
Creepy Crawly Cuisine: The Gourmet Guide to Edible Insects
Peterson Field Guide to Insects of North America
Survival Wisdom & Know How: Everything You Need to Know to Thrive in the Wilderness
*** You've just completed part 2 of this series. Click on the link below to continue to part 3.
PART 2 -
Special Forces Advanced Mountain Operations School
Finding Food, Water, Edible Plants, Insects, Wildlife, Fire Making, and Making Shelter
PART 3 -
Special Forces Alpine Warfare Survival Training
Scouting, Camouflage, Erasing Tracks, Fighting in the Snow, Choosing a Camp Location, Baiting an Enemy into a Killzone, Retreat, Taking High Ground
