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Survival Is Not Fun, by Wild EMT
Bug-Out!
A friend and I recently discussed some of the possible physical difficulties that might be associated with a rapid exfiltration from a devastated area during a major grid-down scenario. We thought it would be interesting to explore the personal effects of increased stress, combined with decreased caloric intake, which might be encountered while “bugging-out.” We wanted to move away from academic knowledge to personal experience, so we created a seven day bug-out “challenge” for ourselves.
Background note: my survivalist friend was a U.S. Marine who served in Vietnam and then spent his career working on computers. I’m a 46-year-old male who exercises daily by running and lifting weights. I’m also a Wilderness EMT-B and I teach wilderness survival and wild plant skills as serious hobbies. We both grew up in rural Utah, and we’ve spent many years backpacking throughout the Rocky Mountains. We also invited another survivalist buddy (lawyer) to participate in the seven day challenge.
The Challenge
- Consume only 1,200 calories daily
- Run 5K or bike 10K each day
- Work manual labor (or) lift weights one hour each day
- Sleep only 6 hours a night on the floor or ground
- Refresh your (heavy) bug-out bag and wear it at least 30 minutes a day
- Capstone: Run 15K or bike 30K with a (light) pack at the end of the challenge
We picked 1,200 calories per day because this is the approximate amount of freeze-dried survival rations that we carry in our bug-out bags (and it’s also the amount with which we’ve stocked our families’ bug-out bags). The idea was to test these calorie limits while under increased stress. We couldn’t simulate everything perfectly, as we still had to work each day and support our families. However, we thought this limited set of experiences would be achievable and educational.
Our friend the lawyer never started the challenge. In addition, my Marine Vet friend shifted to 2,000 calories by the third day after struggling with effects of calorie reduction, although he continued with the physical challenges. I personally stopped the challenge after five days – here’s why:
Body Temperature
By the end of the second day I started getting cold and then I stayed cold. I went from one blanket to two at night. This was odd for me, as I don’t get cold very often. My metabolism is fairly high and I was probably feeling the effects of a reduced metabolic rate as my body adjusted to fewer calories. One takeaway is that in a major crisis, I would probably want a larger sleeping bag than the ultra-light one I currently carry. In addition, I’ll probably include an extra base layer of lightweight underwear just to maintain body heat when additional food isn’t available.
Physical Fatigue
Under these austere conditions, by the third day I was taking nearly twice as long to run my standard 5K route (7,000s-foot elevation, two large hills). For me that was huge, as I run this route regularly. After four days of this grueling exercise regime, I became a little light-headed just climbing a few flights of stairs.
Source: http://www.survivalblog.com/2013/07/survival-is-not-fun-by-wild-emt.html
