Note: This story originally was published in The Gazette on June 30, 2006

You’re lost. Hopelessly, dizzyingly lost. Somewhere, somehow, you got turned around in the forest. The shadows are deepening and the air is cooling.

Thunder rumbles in the distance. Something — you can’t see what it is — crashes through the trees behind you. You feel like walking faster, running even, away from the growing sense of panic, away from the darkening trees, away from the realization that you’re lost.

What should you do?

Sit down.

That’s right: Sit down. Take a deep breath and a sip of water. Wait for the adrenaline rush to subside and fear to wash away.

Sit for 30 minutes, survival expert Peter Kummerfeldt says. “It takes at least that long for the adrenaline to flush out of your system. Then, at the end of 30 minutes, make a plan.”

Kummerfeldt preaches the 30-minute rule at survival seminars throughout the world. The rule is one of several in a common-sense approach to survival that has made him one of the most sought-after survival experts in the country.

And the rule is the reason Cathy Jacobs is alive.

Jacobs, of Shreveport, La., was in Alaska last summer. She and her group had been dropped off by a bush plane for a float trip down the Kongacut River.

“I decided to hike to the top of the highest mountain, right there on the Arctic Ocean,” she says. “I got up there, but I stayed too long, and a storm blew in.

“It was a storm like I’ve never seen. By the time I counted to five, it went from blue sky to whiteout.”

Jacobs says she realized right away that she was in trouble. “There aren’t trails in Alaska. You’re just walking across the tundra. And when you can’t see where you are going, you’re in trouble.”

But Jacobs had taken Kummerfeldt’s survival class on a Colorado vacation, and as she stood stranded in the Alaskan blizzard, she remembered what she thought was the most basic piece of advice:

“Sit down and calm down.”

“I had to sit there a long time. I did my yoga breathing. I had my survival gear with me, and I thought I would probably be OK — maybe lose some fingers and toes.

“Everything worked out. It seemed like forever, but they found me in a couple of hours, sitting and blowing my whistle.”

Jacobs says she still has nightmares about that day, but she continues hiking, backpacking and fly-fishing.

Kummerfeldt collects stories such as Jacobs’ to use in his survival classes. He is an untiring advocate of ways to stay safe in the outdoors, and he has taught his techniques for decades.

A native of Kenya who grew up there, he came to the United States and joined the Air Force in the 1960s. He graduated from the Air Force Survival Instructor Training School and has taught at survival schools around the world.

For 12 years, he was the survival-training director for the Air Force Academy, retiring in 1995. Today, he runs his own company, OutdoorSafe (www.outdoorsafe.com), that offers seminars and education on outdoor safety worldwide.

“People tell me they want survival training that really works,” he says, explaining why he is in demand. “There is so much bad information out there, like rubbing sticks together to get fire and building elaborate structures.

“Those methods work for aboriginal people, who used those skills their whole lives since they were little babies. But for the average person, they are utter nonsense.”

Kummerfeldt’s approach to survival is outlined in his newest project, a book he wrote called “Surviving a Wilderness Emergency: Practical Advice on What to Do When You Find Yourself in Trouble in the Backcountry.”

Survival myths and misconceptions would be funny, Kummerfeldt says, “if people didn’t believe they worked, or if people really knew how to survive on their own. But as a nation of people so dependent on technology, something like Hurricane Katrina comes along, and we realize we aren’t really prepared; we don’t really know how to survive.”

Kummerfeldt is comfortable in extreme arctic and jungle conditions, but he talks of survival in the broadest sense — surviving a blizzard in your stranded car; making it through a flash flood; living through a hike or a camping trip that went bad.

Every survival situation has one common factor. Something bad has happened to cause you to need help, Kummerfeldt says. “If you need to survive, if you need to be rescued, you are in trouble.”

Like most outdoorsmen, Greg Rodriguez never thought he’d get into trouble.

Rodriguez, an outfitter and hunting guide based in Sugarland, Texas, has guided clients on hunting trips throughout the world. Last September, he was the client on a deer-hunting trip.

“We were on a horseback hunt in the mountains of British Columbia, and over the course of an hour or an hour and a half, the weather changed. There were 50-mileper-hour winds, the temperature dropped about 50 degrees, and a cold rain was being blown sideways.”

Rodriguez’ guide didn’t have any survival gear with him, so the Texan took charge of the situation.

“He didn’t have any wool clothes, and I did. He couldn’t function. He was really, really cold and shaking.”

With Kummerfeldt’s survival kit that he purchased after attending one of Kummerfeldt’s seminars, Rodriguez went into action. “I built a shelter and started a fire. The wood was all wet, but I found enough to keep the fire fueled all night, and my shelter broke the wind.”

The two men survived in a shelter made of a tarp and parachute cord as the rain pounded and wind downed trees all around them.

Rodriguez knows he was lucky. “The day before was a re- ally hard climb, and I almost took my survival kit out of my pack. Since that night, I’ve never gone anywhere without it.”

His experience illustrates the importance of fire. In any situation, think about starting a fire first. Kummerfeldt says stormproof matches should be in any survival kit.

Don’t even waste the energy required to rub two sticks together. (Have you seen those TV “survivors” struggling with that time-honored method?) Even in perfect circumstances, when you aren’t lost or injured, starting a fire that way is difficult.

The magnifying-glass approach? You’ll never get past the smoke phase.

Igniting a pile of your justshaved body hair with a cigarette lighter? Kummerfeldt finds that suggestion ridiculous.

Jacobs says her brush with disaster taught her to be diligent about stocking and taking her survival kit on every trip.

“When it happens to you, you realize this is life and death. In an hour, I’m going to be OK or be dead. I choose OK.”

 

IN THE BAG

What’s in Peter Kummerfeldt’s “Get-Away Bag” when he heads to the outdoors:

– 1 heavy-duty orange plastic trash bag c 1 metal match with scraper

– 2 match cases — one with REI Stormproof matches, the other filled with petroleum-jelly-soaked cotton balls

– glass signal mirror

– plastic whistle

– small folding knife

– orienteering compass

– plastic water bag

– small stick of pitch wood for fire-starting

– small LED headlamp

– nylon line

– chemical hand warmers

And in his pocket:

– folding knife

– bandanna

 

SURVIVAL BASICS

FIRE

Forget the fire-by-friction and fire-by-magnificationglass methods. If you are in trouble, you need something that is fast and easy.

The best tool: Matches, but not just any matches.

Here’s a rundown:

Safety matches — Designed to be struck on their original box. Weakness: Not good if you don’t have the box.

Waterproof matches — Dipped in a lacquer. Match must be repeatedly struck on the striking pad until the lacquer is worn through. Weakness: Eventually, the lacquer wears off on the pad, coating it and making it less effective.

Strike-anywhere matches — With two-tone heads. Weakness: Striking surface must be abrasive enough to light the match, but not so abrasive it wears down the striking surface on the match.

Stormproof matches — Usually water-resistant and won’t blow out in windy conditions. Weakness: None, especially in REI’s Stormproof matches, which relight after they are plunged in and out of water.

Other tools:

Lighters — Not great; they are pressure-sensitive, temperature-sensitive and require hand dexterity to operate.

Metal matches — Made with a flint used in a lighter; some embedded in a block of magnesium that can be scraped with a sharp metal edge. Weakness: Magnesium shavings are hard to hold onto when it’s windy.

Fuel — You’ve probably read about using dryer lint, wood shavings, sawdust and even shaved body hair. Instead, make this fire-starter at home: Saturate cotton balls with petroleum jelly and pop them in a film canister or other small container. Take as many as you can cram in the container. Use one to start a fire.

 

SHELTER

Forget the elaborate shelter of pine boughs and soft bed of needles; forget the snow cave that would take you hours to build if you weren’t stressed or injured. Instead, think about how to best protect yourself.

Some options:

Space blankets — Lightweight and inexpensive; don’t take up much room in your pack. Weakness: Hard to unfold and drape around yourself, especially if you have an injury; too small for most adults; very noisy; tear easily when nicked or punctured.

Thermal blankets — Heavier versions of the space blanket. Weakness: Too small to wrap around an average adult.

Tube tents — Provide a tube-shaped shelter or pup tent; or can be draped around a person. Weakness: Some brands are made of plastic that tears easily.

Tarps — Heavy-duty plastic, canvas or other materials; plastic variety has grommets in each corner and along each side. Can be erected in a variety of ways or used to drape a person. Weakness: When used as a shelter, requires some wood pegs or rope.

Plastic-bag shelters — Large, heavy-grade, 55-gallon-drum trash bags (best if they are orange) with a hole cut for your head. Weakness: Not many; these are cheap, durable and packable.

 

WATER

In survival mode, develop methods of gathering and using water. If possible, don’t drink any water for the first 24 hours. After that, drink any water you can find. Even the most questionable water source in North America is better than no water; when you are found, you can be treated for anything you can get from the water.

SOURCE: Peter Kummerfeldt

Colorado College’s Tyler Johnson congratulates William Rapuzzi after he scored in the first period against Alaska-Anchorage at WCHA Final Five on Thursday, night in St. Paul, Minn. Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS