Watching "Titanic" -- What I learned:

I think it's interesting too, but I know if I was left up my survivor skills I would die early on.

AlexKidd

That is true. Look at 9-11... when the s*** hits the fan, you can't rely on any authorities. Remember that one operator telling people in one of the towers to "Stay where you are"?

You should have some knoweldge yourself on how things work.

Gah!

Ray Mears

He kills red squirrels. He's a badass.

My only survival skill-- avoid going for walks in deserts and or jungles. That's about it.

The movie Titanic is a frightening possibility because of the existence of mass hysteria. In times of severe stress and dramatic events, people may suffer mental dysfunction en masse. In such situations, the mind is no longer rational and will not see what is obvious to the casual onlooker. Nevertheless, survival skills training is a must to all. The method of teaching factors this dangerous phenomenon. All life-saving skills are taught through drills-repetition ensures spontaneity of response which lessens the impact of anxiety.

I can understand the need for teaching survival skills to people who live in, say, a desert region, or somewhere prone to earthquakes, but not everyone. It's a waste of time and money.

What about common sense skills? (It's not "common" sense, if nobody knows it.)

What about the logic of going underground when you might be stuck out in the open for awhile? Does anyone know that a basement is alleged to stay the same temperature (50 degree area) -- year round?

So if you are stuck without shelter, would not "common sense" tell a person it might be smart to dig an underground shelter? No. they'll sit outside and build huts and deal with the winds, rain, heat, cold... yet anyone can survive 50 degrees...

How hard is it, and how long does it take -- to teach these things to anyone -- in high school? What? An 8-hour "survival" class -- would be too logical to ask schools to provide the kids -- just in case?

There's no "common sense" because the people ask the "government" to take the responsibility of passing on knowledge to our children, while we're busy at work, and they fail to do that.

All the government does is prepare kids for the "work" force. So they can work their whole lives away and pay the government taxes the whole time...

But an 8-hour "survival skills" training course would be too much? How to make fire? How to purify water? How to protect yourself from the weather? Simple ways to provide medical attention for a wound?

History teaches me -- the government doesn't give a s***.
It's up to the people to teach themselves, obviously.

Lets go learn to win a new video game!!!! (that'll help)

God are people really this dumb?

Basements aren't "alleged" to stay 50 degrees all year round. It varies almost directly with latitude - in NY, it's pretty much always about 48-52 once you get a couple feet underground. By contrast, in Texas it's pretty much always about 62-65. And that's not alleged, that's reality A lot of people use this fact to heat and/or cool their homes. Run a few water pipes underground and you can have an effective way to add or remove a significant quantity of heat from the home for essentially free.

It's a good idea to seek shelter if you're going to be in the elements for a while. But you also want to maximize your visibility since people will probably be looking for you. And you need to find a source of water and possibly food. So you can't just head for a cave or basement and hole out there until you die.

And, oh yeah, you can't just survive 50 degrees indefinitely. A guy in a T-shirt and jeans in 50 degree weather for an extended period of time will get hypothermic, especially if he or she lays down to sleep on the 50-degree ground or a 50-degree rock, which acts as a humongous infinite heatsink.

This is just common sense, of course. An 8-hour "survival" class would teach a bunch of high schoolers pretty much nothing whatsoever that would ever be very useful to them or even stick with them.

An 8-hour BLS, CPR, first aid, or WFA course would be much, much more practical and useful.

So it's "true" that "underground" makes a lot of sense in some weather-exposure situations jonnythan?

I allege I should have said "claimed", or "stated", or "asserted", or "said". Did i say that right?

jonnythan wins this thread.

Jonnythan wins? Oh. I didn't know it was a competition. Silly me.