Situation 3

You and your buddies go out to the sonora desert to do some quality ATVing. You are out there for several hours and you get separated in all the fun. You thought you knew the area well but everything is very similar and you get lost. Its about 15:00 so you still have a good amount of time before sundown. However when that does happen the tempatures go below freezing. You drive around for another hour and run out of gas... (Surprise Surprise).

You probably cannot walk out because you dont know where to go, your primary choice is to sit tight and wait for help.

However you are no unprepared. You have a number of items at your disposal, not to mention the ATV itself, which just happens to be old and your not afraid to use it to survive.

you have these items with you:

1) 1 x 4litre jug of water
2) 1 x half full powerade
3) 1 x leatherman multitool
4) 1 x ATV cover tarp
5) 1 x 20 foot long eletrical wire
6) 1x Can of WD40
7) 1x lighter but you can only get a flame for less then a second

What can you do with this stuff? And where will you camp? Will you stay, will you go?

_________________
"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic

I'm staying put. Since I was out there with others, it's presumably just a matter of time - today or tomorrow - before rescuers come looking for me. There is likely a bit of gas in the tank that the fuel pump can't pick up. If I remove a tire from the atv and drip the gas on it, I should be able to get a fire started with the lighter. Otherwise, I can use the battery and the wire to start a fire. For tinder, I can use whatever flammable material I can find in my pockets or the seat padding. Putting oil on the tire should help it ignite.
I now have a nice smokey fire going, which hopefully my friends will see. Just in case they don't, though, I'll gather as much brush as I can to keep the fire going through the night and to make a shelter using the atv as one wall of the shelter. Stones and maybe a body panel from the atv will make a reflector for the heat from the fire. The atv tarp will make a sleeping bag, insulated with grass, like the mattress Les made.
In the morning, I'll get another smokey tire fire going. Again, I'll gather wood to keep the fire going. When the smoke from that tire stops, I'll put tire number 3 on the fire. By now help should have arrived.

It all depends on what type of Powerade it is. XD.

1) 1 x 4litre jug of water
2) 1 x half full powerade
3) 1 x leatherman multitool
4) 1 x ATV cover tarp
5) 1 x 20 foot long eletrical wire
6) 1x Can of WD40
7) 1x lighter but you can only get a flame for less then a second

First thing I would do is see if there is a reserve tank (there is on my atv so i'm saying the one here does!). These only hold a very little amount of fuel. So before starting it up and driving like a mad man i'd look around to see if I could see any sturdy vegitation or reasonably heavy rocks (like 20-30 pounds). Then I'd drive the atv over to there. with the 20 feet of electrical wire I'd make a V shape tieing to the front and rear rack of the four wheeler and louping it around the heavy rock or tree. Then i'd cut the atv cover so that it goes over the cable making a shelter. the seat would be removed from the four wheeler and I would use my multi-tool to take the staples out of it leaving me with a black piece of material, about 20-30 staples, and the foam. I would then crimp the staples over the tarp/wire to make sure it doesn't just blow away. At this point a little water would be good. Then I would look for some firewood. According to les the fire wood burns for a long time in the desert. I would still gather as much as I could find tho. Once getting back to camp i'd say it would be getting dark. I'd then shave some of the wood to make tinder, then use some slightly larger wood and so on and so on untill i had a good little set up for a fire made. then with the aid of the wd40 i'd spray a stream of that and after about 1 to 2 seconds of spraying i'd spark the lighter underneith it. and there we have a fire! Fire + shelter = successful day 1. The next day I would be focusing on searching for food (insects/snakes/anything i can kill with a stick) and on rescue. Next i'd flatten the tires and cut out chunks of the rubber to use for signaling (produces a lot of black smoke in a fire). after that was done more looking for food/fire wood/rationing water. Once a little water was gone fromt he bottle i'd pour the poweraid into it. It would taste not so great (reallllly waterd down poweraid is not good!) so the desire for taste would be gone, and it would ration out the elecrolytes so that you have a slow but steady supply of them. now with an empty bottle you could also look for a water source as you look for food/wood and have something to put it in. Continue this till you either die or are rescued. As with any situation contiual building to the shelter would be a must.

_________________
Never explain. Your friends don't need it and your enemies won't believe you anyway.

Alright, right away I would start getting wood together. Out here even after the sun sets, you still have another 10-30 minutes before it's totally dark. It would be hard to get lots of wood so I would focus on anything I could get, hopefully there are enough trees out there. Very Happy

I would use the saw on the wave to get some larger limbs, and just gather as much quality wood as possible. I would come back to the quad, and use it as a shield against the wind and sleep between it, and the fire. But back to the fire. Getting a nice pile of the small things together I would use the wd40 to soak most of it. Then since the lighter only stays lit for a second, I would strike it, and use the wd40 to shoot the flame to the soaked tinder. (what!?! you HAVE to do it atleast once. Laughing

) That should get the small stuff burning quickly. Then add the larger stuff when ready and there is your fire. I would then take the atv cover and wrap myself in it, and prepare for a long night. I wouldn't want to try and tear the quad apart even if it's old because that's my ride out. Since I was with someone they will come looking for me because all my friends are too cheap to drive out there, and I have the keys to the truck. Twisted Evil

_________________
Where the Eagles fly, and the Caribou lie is where I want to be, the Wolf waits there for me.....
-Les Stroud

Here are a couple of things that I would do to add to everyone else. The quad probably has a battery and you have 20 feet of electrical wire. Cut the wire into 3 foot sections, soak your firewood(or whatever your going to use) with WD-40 and short the wires out on the battery. Instant fire starter from the sparks. If there are rocks smash the headlight and get the reflector from behind bulb and you have a signal mirror. The ATV trap is a no brainer for a shelter. the wire can also be used to tie things together for a shelter.

Great pointers Sparky Cool

Cheers & Welcome to the Forum Smile

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
We are Known By The Tracks we Leave Behind
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Good ideas, sparky. Very Happy

Welcome to our humble forum. Cool

_________________
Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. - Prov. 27:17

Thanks people. Seems like a great forum with a wealth of information. I look forward partaking in some of the discussions.

_________________
Everything within your environment is a potential survival tool.

we look forward hearing from you sparky Very Happy

_________________
I just heard something big crack�.. holy crap!-Les Stroud