Manitoba survival story

Not a lot of detail yet, but some of you may be interested in this one:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2012/12/08/mb-missing-man.html

He went hunting on November 15, and walked out yesterday, Dec 8. A bit hungry, apparently, but just fine otherwise. It's been full-on winter there. I hope he shares his story.

We need to hear more this guy.  Sounds like a great story about what he did right.

this guy apparently knows what it takes to survive. good news.

Well, he lost 40 pounds. see http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Canada/Manitoba/ID/2314432636/

I'm surprised they mentioned pounds not kilos??

I'm surprised they mentioned pounds not kilos??

We're funny like that. We'll use kilometres and litres, always, but nobody ever gives their height and weight in metric. Most of us have no idea how many kilos we weigh, unless we remember how to do the conversion. Nothing in the hardware store is spoken of in metric. We generally cook with imperial measures. We are, however, quite devoted to our degrees Celsius. We're like a blurry patch between America and Europe, I sometimes think, and we pick out the practical and sensible bits of each system. Makes us good at mental math!

The story is really more about what he did wrong to get himself into trouble, than what he did right to get out.

As we all know, the first rule is to tell someone where you're going and when to expect you back. If he'd done that, then stayed with his vehicle (as any SAR tech will tell you to do), he would have been found a lot sooner.

When he left the truck, he got lost and wandered around trying to find a way back. His safe homecoming was more about luck than anything else.

Well he did stay with his truck for five days past his return date. Most rescues occur well before that point. I too would consider attempting a self rescue when it gets near the 5-7 day mark. There comes a point when you have to take action yourself, because you can't always depend on others. However, one needs to not make the situation worse, which in this case involved getting lost. He wasn't lost at first, his truck was just stuck. If we would have walked out using a map and compass he could have probably prevented the "extended stay".

On the other hand, I completely agree he should have told someone where he was going (he told his coworker he would be back Monday because they reported him missing when he didn't show up for work).

Always carry your essentials. You never know when a simple day trip or overnighter will turn into something more. Essentials for your vehicle matter too when traveling somewhere where getting stuck is a possibility. I always carry a highlift jack, some small sections of plywood, 4 come alongs, a snow shovel, and an entrenching tool, extra gas, blankets, couple mres, and a fire starting kit in my truck in winter.

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