 |
 |
|
|
|
Gearhead
Every issue we ask a local boater to review a piece of whitewater gear
Woods Survival Camp (by Mike Paradise)
This week’s Gearhead might seem like a stretch...but when 12 year-old Jackman resident Mike Paradise
said he’d like to write about his experience at Woods Survival Camp, in Bryant Pond, we had to let him
give it a go. More whitewater reviews next issue. Here’s what Mike had to say:
Sleeping on the ground under the stars for a week is a lot different than on a mattress. At survival camp I got to discover what it’s like to
sleep with the animals for 5 nights. Ten other campers including myself had to stay in the woods for 6 days. There we learned how to
make a fire with just wood, make spoons out of coal, throw sticks at animals, spy on other campers that stayed in camps, and make a
shelter out of everything you find on the ground: leaves for the roof and sticks, branches, and logs for the frame. The shelters were hard
to build but we were happy when we got it done. Each night someone was supposed to sleep in it for the night. If it were to start raining,
he or she could go back to their original sleeping zone. The way we made the shelters was, we would split the camp into two teams and
each team would have to make a shelter. At the end there were two shelters two people were allowed to sleep in one at the same time.
Four people sleeping in the shelters in one night. When it was my turn I was supposed to be the only person sleeping in the shelter
because I was the last person to sleep in one but two of my other friends came in with me and it was a little crowded.
The spoons were also fun to make. The first thing we did is carved out a shape of a spoon in wood with knives our leaders gave us.
After that was complete, we would put a piece of hot coal on the end of our spoon and hold it on with a stick. Finally, we would blow on
it until we had a nice hole in the spoon (making sure not to go through the spoon). When you complete all that you should have a nice
wooden spoon.
My favorite activity for the whole week was spying on the other campers. In the beginning I wasn’t sure I would like it, it was 60
degrees Fahrenheit and we had to cover ourselves in freezing cold mud. I was surprised how fun it was after though. We had to crawl in
tall grass, run through fields, and hide behind trees. It was just like the war movies you see on TNT all the time. After all that excitement
we charged at the campers that weren’t in our survival group.
Making fire with sticks was one of the hard things we did. I couldn’t do it but some people could. It was different then I thought.
We needed a bow, a stick that wouldn’t break, and two flat peace of wood. We would rap the bow’s rope around the stick that wouldn’t
break one of the flat piece of wood and put one end of the stick on that and then take the other peace of wood and put it on top of the
stick. We would make sure we had a good grip on the top wood and press down on the stick. When finished that, we moved the bow
back and forth for a long period of time. When it started to smoke we would take something flammable and put it next to the stick that’s
making the smoke, wait for that to catch on fire, and when it did throw it in the fireplace.
At the end of the week I was ready for a shower and to sleep in my bed again. I would recommend survival camp to anyone.
Email nick [at] noumbrella [dot] com with your questions, comments and concerns.
Design and Content © 2002 to 2006 No Umbrella
