From Flashlights to Fire

"It’s the craziest thing. Every year hunters and anglers alike head out into the great outdoors without carrying so much as a pack of matches on them. Yet I have always stressed that, depending on the circumstances, above all, give me a no fail way to get a fire going and I can make it through most survival ordeals unscathed. Being caught without matches or a lighter in the wilderness is a serious mistake. Trying to make fire without them is nearly impossible no matter how cool I make it look on Survivorman.

To me, fire is one of the most profound advantages you can have in a survival situation. You can get warm. You can cook your food. You can boil your water. And most importantly; it keeps away the boogieman. But how do you make it without a lighter, matches or any other kind of fire starter? Well, there’s rubbing two sticks together. A perennial favorite of the Boy Scouts everywhere, the fire bow, hand drill or fire plow, remain some of the most difficult methods to learn. But hunters carry a few items with them that can be manipulated to make a life saving fire."

Because we love Brian Brawdy (He lives a nomadic lifestyle and has all of these cool tech toys!) we thought we'd give you an update on his tour and give you some great words of advice for the New Year. First for the advice:

“Get off the couch and out of your box. Get moving and live your life, not the lives of others on the electronic box [TV]. Be your own hero. Be your own guru. Take your own confession. Find adventure where you find yourself. Remember, adventure needn’t be extreme, it just needs to be yours!”  --Brian Brawdy

Often referred to as “an Environmental Pioneer”, “Outdoor Adventure Expert” and “Green RVer”, Brian recently completed his Wonder Explore Believe Tour in his decked-out “Green” RV that took him to 48 states in 10 months. His passion and goal on the journey was to inspire individuals to take a proactive roll in their lives and the planet.

SPOT is one of Brian’s selected survival gear pieces that he always keeps at hand. Click to see how Brian and the Green RV are Covered On and Off Road with SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger in one of his recent blog entries discussing SPOT Roadside Assistance: The world’s only roadside assistance that operates solely via satellite. Photo: Brian walking across Death Valley

"Ice fishing is one of those activities where you either ‘get it’ or you don’t. If you don’t get it then you think we’re all nuts for sitting on the middle of a frozen lake for hours at a time. If you get it…’nuff said…we know.

I love walking a few hundred yards from our cottage and chopping a hole in the ice for my family to enjoy some winter fishing. It’s a pretty safe situation. But many an angler has gone to the extreme, of ice fishing miles away from safety by snow machine. And why not, it’s exciting. But to head out into the winter wilderness unprepared for emergencies is just foolish. I always say there are two kinds of survival kits; your pocket kit and you survival pouch. Keeping survival items in your pockets is the absolute best way to ensure your safety and our winter gear offers us plenty of pockets to fill. Simply put; you don’t leave your pockets behind anywhere. Let’s keep things light and small so you don’t feel like you are becoming a gear geek. You can fill up your survival pouch with many things beyond the following pocket list:

Click here to read survival tips from Les Stroud. Look forward to future SPOTlight editions containing more survival tips from Les!

Running America is a documentary film that will follow elite adventurer Charlie Engle (Running The Sahara) and the only person in the world to complete the Triple Crown of Extreme Sports, Marshall Ulrich, on their record breaking run from San Francisco to New York. For more information on the event, click here.

SPOT LLC is dedicated to supporting star athletes like Charlie Engle and Marshall Ulrich with the SPOT Satellite Messenger as they hoof it across America to breaking records. Fans of Charlie and Marshall can view the action here as SPOT allows real-time GPS tracking displayed on Google Maps. SPOT offers these amazing athletes reliable messaging and tracking to friends, family or emergency responders no matter how rugged their adventures.

SPOT is sponsoring the ESPN Outdoors Great American Duck Trek. The duck trek will be followed on-line through the month of November as they migrate south. The ESPN Outdoors Duck Trek Edit Team will use SPOT at the beginning and end of each day. Click here for more info. We'll keep you up-to-date when the specific tracking page launches!

Week 1: Upper North Country States: Wisconsin, North or South Dakota and Minnesota
Week 2: In an RV hunting twice in Illinois, twice in Ohio
Week 3: In an RV hunting in North Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky
Week 4: In an RV hunting in Arkansas, Arkansas duck calling and then to Texas to hunt twice
Week 5: Half of a week. Once in Mississippi, twice in Louisiana, ending in Venice, 1 hour south of New Orleans

Once again, we have found another cool use for the SPOT Satellite Messenger!