# Would You Die If You Were Lost in the Wilderness?



## OPC'n (Jul 20, 2012)

I'm pretty sure I would! lol! I took This quiz and only got a 13! It was the "what direction?" questions that killed me! Seriously, I could get lost in a phone booth ahahahaha! My best bet is to stay put cuz i knew what to eat, where to make my shelter and knew when i was getting hypothermia and what to do about it. Even though i knew you can know how close a storm is by counting between lightening and thunder idk you had to divide between a certain number............... and then I needed a calculator to divide it hahahahaha......... so I'll be lost in the woods building my shelter thinking i have time in which to do it just to find out that the storm is upon me while i'm halfway in the midst of building my cozy home hahahaha! I love being blonde! I just need my computer, the internet, and electricity if I ever decide to get lost in the wilderness  BTW, don't ask me for directions or anything about math lol.


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## Zach (Jul 20, 2012)

Yup, I would be a goner.


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## OPC'n (Jul 20, 2012)

hahahaha well i hear that the other side rocks! so no worries we'll go together


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## J. Dean (Jul 20, 2012)

I also got a 13.


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## Southern Presbyterian (Jul 20, 2012)

I also got a 13.

I tell you one thing though, I'm never purposely getting close enough to any snake to determine the shape of its eyes! And how in the world can you start a fire with a soda can and chocolate?!


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## Unoriginalname (Jul 20, 2012)

I got a 15 which isn't to shabby for a kid who lives in the middle of a major metropolis.


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## Mindaboo (Jul 20, 2012)

I got a 13, but my fear of snakes would certainly be the death of me. So, I'd be dead at the start just thinking about running into one.


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## Christopher88 (Jul 20, 2012)

15. The snake question got me, and the soda can and chocolate. Now where is my chocolate?


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Jul 20, 2012)

16


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## OPC'n (Jul 20, 2012)

Southern Presbyterian said:


> I also got a 13.
> 
> I tell you one thing though, I'm never purposely getting close enough to any snake to determine the shape of its eyes! And how in the world can you start a fire with a soda can and chocolate?!



HahHA I got the snake one right but like you I so don't need to look into their eyes to see if they would cause me harm I'm running north of them .... which ever way north is lol


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## toddpedlar (Jul 20, 2012)

19 here  (though I will admit to two guesses)


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## Marrow Man (Jul 20, 2012)

I grew up in the middle of nowhere but only got a 10. I'm as good as dead.


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## Jack K (Jul 20, 2012)

14 for me. My 12-year-old son might do better. They actually teach wilderness survival skills in his school here, which makes some sense given where we live and all the outdoor activities people engage in. Stories of people lost in the mountains for days come up quite frequently.


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## Theogenes (Jul 20, 2012)

15. But I won't eat bugs and their larvae so I will die for sure....


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## Jerusalem Blade (Jul 20, 2012)

16 I'm comfortable in, and familiar with, wilderness – but some of these questions are tricky!


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## kvanlaan (Jul 20, 2012)

Seventeen. Grew up city, now livin' country. Yee haw.


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## John Bunyan (Jul 20, 2012)

Only 13 
I thought watching Man vs Wild would be enough to make me answer everything correctly


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## VictorBravo (Jul 20, 2012)

19, though that was because I answered according to how I thought they would answer, and not according to what I thought was the right answer.

I got the most popular insect wrong. Of course beetles are edible, but who cares how popular they are? I'm sticking with grasshoppers anyway.

The moon question was poorly worded, but I guessed at what they were looking for.

I also figured what they wanted regarding nutritional aspect of insects, but their "correct" answer is not quite right: the protein they speak of is incomplete and often unavailable in the wild (because of chitin), whereas fat content is almost always available.

[End obscure and OCD criticism]

I think more emphasis should have been on plants, e.g., for some of us western US folks it's important to be able to identify death camas from camas. Grasshoppers and camas will keep you going a long time in much of the Great Plains and northern Rockies.


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## Scottish Lass (Jul 20, 2012)

16, so maybe Tim and I have a chance if we stick together!


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## jwithnell (Jul 20, 2012)

15, and I've worked in the woods; but we were taught to grab for our MREs and radios 

I'm surprised they didn't ask about discerning naturally warmer locations for sleeping That can be critical.

I've eat elderberries with no ill effects and have consumed wine from the same. Might there be different names in different parts of the country?


> the soda can and chocolate


My belly shouda caught fire a long time ago. I'm seeing an eagle scout tonight. I'll ask him.


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## Kim G (Jul 20, 2012)

I scored 16. I rethought one just as I clicked the wrong answer, so it should have been 17 (honest!).


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## malum in se (Jul 20, 2012)

Only 15.
In my reasoning if you're close enough to see the snake's eyes you're too close to it.


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## VictorBravo (Jul 20, 2012)

jwithnell said:


> 15, and I've worked in the woods; but we were taught to grab for our MREs and radios
> 
> I'm surprised they didn't ask about discerning naturally warmer locations for sleeping That can be critical.
> 
> ...



Elderberries have cyanide toxin. It's most pronounced in the leaves and twigs, and less-than-ripe berries. Even fresh berries can have some--concentration may depend upon moisture conditions of the soil. 

Eating a few fresh is probably OK, but boiling them or otherwise cooking them is best: the CN vaporizes away.

As for the chocolate and pop can trick, the chocolate is sort of a gimmick. What you are after is a polished bottom of the aluminum can, which is close to a parabola, meaning that it can be a magnifying mirror to set things on fire. 

Fire from a Can of Coke and a Chocolate Bar


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## OPC'n (Jul 20, 2012)

I thought the sun at noon was right over your head so that along with the moon along with any directional question they had I got wrong lol! Why isn't the sun right over your head at noon that just makes so much sense to me?!


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## Marrow Man (Jul 20, 2012)

Scottish Lass said:


> 16, so maybe Tim and I have a chance if we stick together!



Sorry, I am not up on my "bug cuisine," and I have never watched an episode of _Survivor_.

But the band did have one great song back in the 80s.

[video=youtube;btPJPFnesV4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btPJPFnesV4[/video]

Hey, I didn't know Weird Al played keyboards for that band...


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## VictorBravo (Jul 20, 2012)

OPC'n said:


> I thought the sun at noon was right over your head so that along with the moon along with any directional question they had I got wrong lol! Why isn't the sun right over your head at noon that just makes so much sense to me?!



Well, if you are on the Tropic of Cancer (23.5 degrees North latitude) on June 21, that would be the case. But if you are anywhere north of that (as in the continental US), the sun at noon will always be south of you at noon. At high noon, go outside and see if you can see your shadow extend from your feet. The direction your shadow points to will be North, so, of course, the sun will be South.


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## JohnGill (Jul 20, 2012)

17, but I've been to SERE school.


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## nicnap (Jul 20, 2012)

18 -- certainly would have thought ants to be most popular. Though, probably hardest to capture. Hmm ... idk.


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## OPC'n (Jul 20, 2012)

VictorBravo said:


> OPC'n said:
> 
> 
> > I thought the sun at noon was right over your head so that along with the moon along with any directional question they had I got wrong lol! Why isn't the sun right over your head at noon that just makes so much sense to me?!
> ...



Let's hope I'm never lost in the Tropic of Cancer on June 21, and if I am I'm spending the night there so that on June 22 I'll know which way is north. Hmmmm.....my second problem would be "do I go north, south, east, or west to get to town?" hahahahaha.


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## kvanlaan (Jul 20, 2012)

> I got the most popular insect wrong. Of course beetles are edible, but who cares how popular they are? I'm sticking with grasshoppers anyway.



I think you are correct, sir. I myself have eaten platefuls of fried grasshoppers in China and saw many, many others doing the same. That's one city of 10 million in a country of 1 billion. Beetles are not so popular there, so I think that grasshoppers have a statistical edge.


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## moral necessity (Jul 20, 2012)

My wife and I took the quiz together. All I can say is...I hope we get lost together...(18 - missed the last two).


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## JohnGill (Jul 20, 2012)

kvanlaan said:


> > I got the most popular insect wrong. Of course beetles are edible, but who cares how popular they are? I'm sticking with grasshoppers anyway.
> 
> 
> 
> I think you are correct, sir. I myself have eaten platefuls of fried grasshoppers in China and saw many, many others doing the same. That's one city of 10 million in a country of 1 billion. Beetles are not so popular there, so I think that grasshoppers have a statistical edge.



I was thinking the same thing on that question; especially when you factor in the grasshopper's big brother, Mr. Locust.


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## Danny (Jul 20, 2012)

I got a 14. But, if I have a good knife and I'm in the eastern woodlands, I should be good for a while... if I do say so myself, which I do.


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## Edward (Jul 20, 2012)

17 

Maybe I did learn something in the Scouts.

And count me in the Grasshopper crowd.


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## thbslawson (Jul 21, 2012)

16


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## Peairtach (Jul 21, 2012)

> Would You Die If You Were Lost in the Wilderness?



Probably.


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## AlexanderHenderson1647 (Jul 23, 2012)

12- I hope someone finds my dead body before decay is too severe or animals use me for food. And here I was so sure my raising in rural East TN, my Cherokee ancestry and my natural pioneer moxy would keep me safe.


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## Pilgrim Standard (Jul 23, 2012)

17 - couple of interesting an non-related questions on the quiz.
As for actually surviving if lost in the wilderness: It depends upon location and preparation. I think I would fair well in most locations, but it does depend upon what resources are available. I don't think I would do well in very wet areas, due to somewhat limited fire making skills. I have bow drilled, and fresnel lensed some fires, but not on extreme wet vegetation such as in some jungles. I think the challenge would be quite interesting.


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## JennyG (Jul 24, 2012)

I scored 15, but that just shows quizzes don't prove anything.....I might know where to find insect larvae, but that doesn't mean I'm about to eat any.
However, I should be ok, since we don't really have wilderness in this country. The Scottish Highlands are about as inhospitable as it gets (but I doubt it's possible there to live on the insect life, which is chiefly midgies)


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## PhilA (Jul 24, 2012)

JennyG said:


> I scored 15, but that just shows quizzes don't prove anything.....I might know where to find insect larvae, but that doesn't mean I'm about to eat any.
> However, I should be ok, since we don't really have wilderness in this country. The Scottish Highlands are about as inhospitable as it gets (but I doubt it's possible there to live on the insect life, which is chiefly midgies)



Try Wood ant larvae, taste like egg!

In the Highlands you are never that far from the sea so there are plenty of delights on the sea-shore.


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## kappazei (Jul 24, 2012)

got 15.


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## Jerusalem Blade (Jul 24, 2012)

Sarah, I don't think anyone answered this – you can tell how far away a thunder storm is by counting the seconds between the lightning flash and the thunder: roughly one second is one mile. If you count five seconds, the lightning is about 5 miles away. If there's no time lapse, it's on top of you!

I think wilderness survival is a important skill to have. One can get a Boy Scout booklet on it (for a merit badge, I think), and there are many other books. A good and true one is Tom Brown Jr.'s, _The Tracker_, about a young boy being taught such skills by the grandfather of one of his friends, an elderly Indian medicine tracker. It recounts his and his buddy's many adventures. Though few can get that profoundly into it. Brown used to be a church-going man, but I think went New Age.

Having some basic survival knowledge allows one to avoid panic and remain calm if ever caught unexpectedly in the wilds. If it's not in the middle of winter, the wilderness is often safer than our society's wilderness of hearts.


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## VictorBravo (Jul 25, 2012)

Jerusalem Blade said:


> roughly one second is one mile.



Steve, I hate to be picky because your advice is good, but speed of sound at 70 degrees F is about 770 miles per hour.

770 mph divided by 3600 seconds per hour = 0.21 miles per second. So sound takes roughly 5 seconds to go a mile. If you count 5 seconds, it's only a mile away.

The National Severe Storms Laboratory thinks the same thing:

USATODAY.com


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## Jerusalem Blade (Jul 25, 2012)

I stand corrected, Vic. Hard to believe I've been wrong for so many decades!


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## JennyG (Jul 26, 2012)

PhilA said:


> Try Wood ant larvae, taste like egg!



bleurghh. Thanks for that useful piece of info 



PhilA said:


> In the Highlands you are never that far from the sea so there are plenty of delights on the sea-shore.



worse and worse, I hate shellfish even served on a plate. Where I live isn't actually in the Highlands, so maybe that's the way I'd better keep it


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## presbyterian ninja (Jul 26, 2012)

I got a 16. If someone is so cold that they lose their bladder control...I'm leaving them for dead.


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## PhilA (Jul 26, 2012)

JennyG said:


> PhilA said:
> 
> 
> > Try Wood ant larvae, taste like egg!
> ...



Highlands or not, you are not that far from the sea. What about your garden. You must have snails, frogs, wood pigeon. My mother always taught me that if you were starving you would eat.


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## OPC'n (Jul 26, 2012)

presbyterian ninja said:


> I got a 16. If someone is so cold that they lose their bladder control...I'm leaving them for dead.



hahahahaha that is terrible! I clean pee up all the time it's not so bad!


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## JennyG (Jul 26, 2012)

PhilA said:


> My mother always taught me that if you were starving you would eat.


yes, but I'm willing to bet she was talking about rice pudding or whatever your pet hate happened to be, and was not plying you with grilled garden gastropods


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## presbyterian ninja (Jul 27, 2012)

OPC'n said:


> presbyterian ninja said:
> 
> 
> > I got a 16. If someone is so cold that they lose their bladder control...I'm leaving them for dead.
> ...



Cool. You can be the pee cleaner when the feathers hit the fan. I'm pretty good with a bo staff, and have the strength of a grizzly, the reflexes of a puma, and the wisdom of a man, so I should be alright in the wild. 

(Confession: none of that was true--that was a reference to Napoleon Dynamite, not a willful violation of the 9th commandment.)


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