Woods Competency

Posted: 30 October, 2011 in Adventure, Awareness, BFE Labs, Bushcraft, Knowledge, Mindset, Prepping, Resilience, Survival, Tinder/Tools, Training, Wilderness, Woodscraft
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Recently, a client made the comment that he was a “student of wilderness survival, not a bushcraft type”. This struck me as sort of odd, so I asked him a bit about how he differentiated and why. The upshot was that he, although spending a lot of time in the wilds with minimal gear, saw his practice as being entirely focused on bettering his chances in emergency situations. His view of bushcraft was that it amounted to an interesting, but not really relevant, set of anachronistic camp craft practices for those who wanted to really live in the woods, not “survive life threats and get-the-fuck-out as fast as possible”.
Although his explanation made some sense, it left me contemplating this perceived difference. His is certainly not the first opinion I’ve encountered that separates bushcraft into a different category from wilderness survival. This separation does hold some water: Bushcraft (Woodcraft, Woodscraft, as you prefer) is a dedicated practice of living and working in a traditional manner with minimal, and somewhat primitive, tools in a wilderness environment. Wilderness survival is an oh-shit-situation, where something has gone quite wrong and getting home at all is drawn into serious question. It is easy to draw a line between the practices of bushcraft and survival training and say one is a lifestyle, and the other a means-to-an-end practice like medical training or tactical driving. It’s easy, but is it right?

An Imaginary Divide?
There are numerous approaches to wilderness survival, and the development, refinement and maintenance of wilderness survival skills. As such, there are numerous arguments about which is right, and who is wrong.
Those who cannot do, particularly those who cannot innovate, debate. Everyone has an opinion on a given topic, and many folks are extremely willing to share their opinion, but mileage always varies. Much debate is driven by low-mileage individuals, who may “know” a lot but have proven very little of it to themselves. These folks are quick to point out flaws in others thinking, but they rarely if ever take their own knowledge outside in the dirt and try to break it. They fail to actually build strength, through finding and solving failure, and instead attempt to satisfy themselves with arguing as if it were a real form of doing the work.
I am sure that there are those who would bitterly argue that wilderness survival skill is far removed from bushcraft, just as there are those who would that no one can develop competent survival skill without being a bushcrafter. On one side, they might say that bushcraft practice is akin to studying musketry for contemporary gunfighting needs. Meanwhile, on the other side, they might say that studying survival skills without the depth of knowledge granted by bushcraft leaves one wholly incompetent to really get the thing done. This isn’t really about declaring one, or another, hardliner to be right or wrong. We have no real interest in participating in argument. If hard lines have been drawn, then those drawing them aren’t going to change their minds. They will simply continue to contribute noise. Our interest is in a little bit of signal, for those also interested. With that in mind, it is this issue of competency that grabs hold of us. Read the rest of this entry »

Thin, Sharp, Knives

Posted: 9 September, 2011 in Gear, Knives, Knowledge, Outside The Box, Tools, Woodscraft
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If you look around the working world, at the knives that are regularly used to do work, you might notice some startling differences between those knives and what is prominent in the popular knife industry. Particularly the “survival”, “tactical”, and “hard use” arenas of popular knife-making (both custom and production).
In these arenas we typically see heavy knives, from thick stock, with study handles and generally robust construction. We are told that this robustness is desirable, even absolutely necessary, for these tools to withstand the rigors of hard use. And the market sucks them up about as fast as they can be made, with companies like TOPS Knives producing ever-new variants of these beefy blades for battle and conquering barren-wastes. But what is being bought, and what is actually being used, are far different. What people actually work with is often something very different. The prominent working knife is not a robust, stout, knife but rather a thin, sharp, knife.

A Pair of Traditional, Thin, Folding Knives, inset Comparison to Modern Tactical Folder Thickness

I was at a branding recently, out here in cattle country, and took note of the knives being used. For those unfamiliar, when branding calves it is also common practice to ear-mark with a notch in an ear and castrate. These tasks require a deft hand with a sharp knife, particularly when the calf is not forced into an immobilizing squeeze chute, but is rather roped out and held down. I’ve taken part in and observed this process numerous times in my life, and there is a great commonality to the knives being used: They are thin, sharp, knives. The same knives most of the cowboys and ranch hands carry in their pockets daily, and use for everything.
The thin, sharp, knife is not unique to this environment, but rather common to every other. Moving out from the traditional slipjoint folder common to the ranching west, a survey of other traditional folding knife designs would turn up a variety of styles, locks, and construction methods, but one commonality: Thin, sharp, blades. Moving from folders, to fixed blade knives, we see the same variety in design and construction in traditional designs, but a great many have the same commonality of thin blades. The traditional Scandinavian knives, as typified by the Mora so common to woodscraft, are an easily accessible example of the type.
Thin blades are not limited to small knives, either. Many old-time woodsmen, frontiersmen, mountainmen, etc. who used big knives carried ones that, rather than resembling the Iron Mistress of Hollywood, more resembled a butcher knife, being thin although long. Now, some may use the argument that we know more than they did, and thus make more appropriate choices, but that is simply nonsense. Anyone who makes a living with a tool, or depends on it for his own life, on a day-to-day basis, knows far more about selecting the right type of that tool than anyone who does not do the same, no matter the other mans “knowledge”.
If so many who’s lives depended on their knives choosing thinner blades historically holds little sway, then the fact that the trend is a modern one too should tell us something. Today, if we take a survey of the knives being used routinely, we would find many of them to be far thinner than what we’ve come to expect (or been told to expect). And not just small knives: While so many Americans and others influenced by the major knife market are of the opinion that a heavy, thick-spined, knife is required for chopping or “serious” woods work, much of the rest of the world relies on something far different; The machete, or some variant thereof.

Many Working-Class Knives, World Wide, are Thin  and Simple (if not Crudely Constructed). This Example was Found in a 50lb Sack of Livestock Feed, and has Excellent Edge Geometry and is Well Tempered.

I have seen the argument made that we in the first world know more about metallurgy and geometry than uneducated third-world residents who regularly use machetes. The idea that, because of where you live or your heritage, you somehow are more in possession of advanced knowledge than someone from a different place or background, is racist garbage. Again, all the education in the world is no substitute for what someone knows from a lifetime of dependency on a tool. That thin sharp knives, even in larger blade lengths, dominate much of the working world, and the manufacture of such tools is a deep part of some cultures, holds far more sway with me (and should with you) than some xenophobic concept of “more knowledgeable”.
Different tools are appropriate for different tasks. There is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, a place for robust knives. One of the most valuable characteristics of contemporary knifemaking is the rise of robust locking systems for folding knives. The matching rise of the robust blade, however, may not be the best thing. But it is important to recognize that place, and use the right tool for the right job. For the majority of tasks for which a knife is used, a thick bladed knife is not the right tool. This includes many “hard” tasks, from woodscraft to cowboying to “tactical” environments (whatever those are). You aren’t necessarily wrong is you carry a robust knife for these, or even more mundane, daily uses, but you should ask yourself if that is truly what you need. Give some thought to whether cutting performance is a greater need than brute strength, and take a thinner knife better suited for cutting out for a spin sometime.

Awareness Notes: Training for Blindness

Posted: 2 September, 2011 in Awareness, Training
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In our quest to better ourselves and hone our necessary skills for staying alive in our field, we should be training often and hard. From time to time, in our efforts to train hard and often, we fall into shortcuts. It may be laziness, or simply zeal for returning to a more fun part of the training, but whatever the cause these shortcuts turn into shortcomings very quickly. When we shortcut part of our training we deny ourselves that experience, and any lessons that may come from it. Further, we deny ourselves one more repetition of doing it right, in favor of doing it easier/faster. When the time comes to draw against those regular deposits of training, you will find yourself doing exactly what you trained to do. Where you safely took shortcuts in training, you will find yourself punished in the fight. Shortcuts in training create gaps, rather than narrowing them, and leave us extremely vulnerable.
In seeking to improve our situational awareness, our training practices lay the foundation; But what if our practices are instilling poor awareness rather than cultivating it?
Beware of points in training where you act-out paying attention/using awareness, by mimicking the appropriate motions or stating the action, but do not actually engage in seeing and attending to things in the environment. If you look, you can find these points in training for almost any skill. Once found, you should replace the mimicry with actually seeing and attending.
One example is the common practice of doing a 180 to 360 degree visual scan, after shooting. This is common practice, and you can find numerous instructors teaching students to always perform a visual scan after finishing a shooting task. The idea is quite sound; Maintain awareness, break threat-focused tunnel vision and search the environment for other threats after having addressed the primary one. In practice however, something is often lost. Three things work against the student here; On the class firing line, or even solo at the range, most folks are there primarily to shoot and practice shooting; They are already engaging in other repetitive, good habit, behaviors to build muscle memory; They “know” they’re in a safe place and only expect to see fellow students on either side of them. The end result is that rather than actually performing a visual scan, many students simply perform a motor task of turning their head side to side after shooting. You will see shooters run their drill, bring the muzzle down and then whip their head first left, then right, and then stare back down rage, spending usually less than a second “looking” to either side. Most of these individuals are not seeing, they’re just turning their heads.
Slow down, complete your shooting task, assess your shots, then perform your visual scan and actually see something. Take note of things on either side and to the rear of you, and make a habit of doing this. Remember that you will not rise to the occasion, but rather default to your level of training, and train yourself to actually see, not just mimic seeing.

Awareness Notes: “Satisfaction of Search” & Multiples

Posted: 1 August, 2011 in Awareness, Knowledge, Mindset, Training
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In a short 2010 paper in i-Perception, Dr. Daniel Simons noted the following; “[The finding] is consistent with the phenomenon of ‘satisfaction of search’—people are less likely to search for additional targets once they have found their original target (Fleck et al 2010)—but extends it to the previously untested domain of inattentional blindness and the detection of unexpected objects. In sum, looking for an expected unexpected event has an unexpected effect on the detection of other unexpected events.”
In the above cited paper, as well as in this interview with SEED Magazine, Dr. Simons discusses evolutions of his widely known gorilla experiment, in which a variant experiment was conducted for groups already familiar with the original; In the new experiments the expected-unexpected, the gorilla walking through the scene, occurred, but new unexpected changes occurred as well. Many participants in the new experiments failed to notice the unexpected events for which they had no priming. Dr. Simons attributes this to satisfaction of search and says that familiarity with an inattentional blindness task can enhance blindness in more involved scenes as the observer stops searching once the expectation is initially met.

We’ve previously discussed the phenomena of inattentional blindness, and mentioned that expectation of the “unexpected” event, i.e. the gorilla walking through the scene we’ve been instructed to attend to, seemed to increase the viewers ability to notice the “unexpected” event. In short, if you’ve been told its coming, you’re looking out for it in addition to whatever primary task you’re completing.
What Dr. Simons work on satisfaction of search suggests is that once an “expected unexpected” is attended, we become more blind to the truly unexpected. Falling prey to satisfaction of search, could influence us to refrain from searching for additional threats once initial cues have been detected.
Under the wrong circumstance, this could put us as far behind the power curve as not having situational awareness in the first place. Predators use distraction to disarm their targets, and when working in multiples can use different tactics to draw focus to one member of a team while their partner(s) approach the victim from less obvious angles. If we’re sensitive to the cues of potential assault during the interview or set-up phase, and focus in on a single source of those cues, we may be entirely unaware of the encroaching secondary threats. We must shape our thinking and training to deal with this. Approach by a single threat is it’s own cue of approach by multiple threats; We mustn’t fall prey to “satisfaction” or tunnel-vision effects, and neglect to be aware of multiples. Our training should incorporate the use of multiple aggressors, using tactics of misdirection and malicious attentional capture, to develop our sensitivity to relevant cues, and our ability to manage those situations once recognized.

Cultivating Awareness

Posted: 14 July, 2011 in Awareness, Knowledge
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“[...]a man becomes his attentions. His observations and curiosity, they make and remake him.” William Least Heat Moon

Our last post was on April Fools Day. We posted an appropriate post, saying our philosophy had changed to a very left-of-center, naturalistic, and pacific position of harmony and… well, you get the idea. It was, of course, bullshit: A prank, a joke, a laugh. Still, we got some pretty negative feedback from a few of you who didn’t get the gag. To those who took us seriously, and were upset, hopefully there are no hard feelings; Please don’t think we’re laughing at you. Well, not anymore. We got all that out of our systems months ago, honest!
April 1st (April Fools or All Fools day) is traditionally a day of pranks. While the origins are murky, the spirit of the day is well known to many, if not most. From time to time we may forget what day it is, and begin to fall victim to an April 1st prank. Most times before we fully fall however, we realize the day and snap to facts pretty quickly. Sometimes though, we succumb to unawareness and are taken for the fool. With April Fools pranks and such nonsense this is harmless, but there are times and situations where any lapse of relevant awareness might prove very dangerous.
With this (particularly the examples of folks who took it seriously) and the recent Paying Attention post well in mind, it seemed to be a good time to go over some thoughts on awareness, and cultivating it. All of us could benefit from more practice at paying attention, and ideas on cultivating awareness also apply to maintaining awareness.
Much of this writing is framed around self defense and awareness of potential criminal assault, but should provide information valid across a broad area of interests that also benefit from improved awareness.

Awareness as a Tool
Awareness, as used here, is not the general awareness that yes the sky is blue and we are alive, but more specifically Situational Awareness. To borrow from the Wiki entry, Situational Awareness is “the perception of environmental elements with respect to time and/or space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their status after some variable changed, such as time.” Rather than general awareness, this is awareness of potential bad shit as it’s encroaching upon us. Ideally, an awareness that is in time for us to avoid, or at least dominate, the situation.
Situational awareness is a tool of constant importance, not just something to turn on and off when “things go down” (once things are going down, you’re way behind the curve). Nor is it a process of accessing a static moment after it has happened. It is a constant process of perceiving your environment, processing the nature of objects and events, and determining their meaning both immediate and in the future as the variables change. This is thus not mere recognition of existence, but a more active process at the front end of our decision making, feeding us relevant information.
Our situational awareness is the bubble with which we first “touch” the world around us. If you are paying attention, using your senses together and constantly taking in surroundings and events, your bubble is larger. If you are not, your bubble is smaller and everything is that much closer to you (in time and distance) before you are aware of it.
Good situational awareness is fundamental. It makes you better at almost everything, from driving to navigating office-politics minefields, to personal security. Without good situational awareness, you can have enormous amounts of technical skill, and never have the opportunity to make good use of it. Because we cannot get advance notice before bad things happen, the best we have is to be able to register their potential or development sooner. If you’re tuned out at that random moment when chaos occurs, your recognition of danger may come too late, and someone or -thing will take advantage of your inattention and eat you. Read the rest of this entry »

A New Direction

Posted: 1 April, 2011 in BFE Labs, Wilderness
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We’ve been making some grave errors in how we conduct ourselves,and the ethos with which we operate. Recent work and writing, with the increased focus on observation and learning from being close to nature, has forced us to reconsider our positions.
For too long BFE Labs has been focused on violence and negativity. In our work, products and practices we have allowed the poison of violence to fill us, and spread from us to others. That violent poison within us even shaped our approaches to working in backcountry and natural environments. In our approach to the natural world and “survival” as dualistic between humans and the Earth,we have sent great legions of negativity into the world, and are only now realizing the harm we’ve done. We owe you all such a great and profound apology, that words will never be enough. So our words are just a beginning, a place to lay out our feelings and plans for returning to a harmonious and healthy coexistence, and how we hope to heal the wounds we’ve caused.

In the future, BFE Labs will move entirely away from “Hostility”. The only reason hostility exists in the world is because we continue to propagate it; Preparing for it, acting in supposed defense or preemption, and even thinking about hostility creates an incredible amount of negative energy. That energy looks for a home, in the anger and hate of other hearts, and causes the very hostile actions others hoped to avoid. Those supposedly preventative , securing, measures therefore become hostile acts themselves;Hostile to the whole world. Spending time in nature, exploring and adventuring, has taught us this.
So, we’re going to be moving in new directions, healthier and more positive approaches to living and coexistence with nature, including other humans. By refusing to engage in hostility, we are left to focus on austerity in new, and breathtaking, ways.
The world, particularly the natural world, offers us so many lessons and benefits. We have been approaching austerity as something to be solved, and we have been wrong. Austerity offers its own solutions, if we are in touch with the Earth and can hear her voice within our hearts. From here forward, we are dedicating ourselves to spreading the words and wisdom of our mother Earth, because she has the answers for every problem, every negative experience or situation, if only we listen. It is our mission, now that we’re finally listening, to share what we learn in nature, and help each of you discover the beauty and capability in your natural soul, when freed from negativity by nature. Our new focus is thus Solutions within Austerity; Answers for the important questions, of the world, heart and mind, as provided by deep and spiritual wilderness experience.

In coming weeks, we will be removing all references to hostility, violence, or use of force from this website. All of our tools and equipment related to violence and causing harm will be remanufactured into a variety of implements for bettering our lives in concert with the Earth. Knives, firearms and other steel tools will be reforged (in coal & petroleum free sustainable, recycled fuel “green forges”) into hand tools for a local “UnSchool” program teaching permaculture and sustainable food practices to elementary age children. Tools and parts made from other materials will be used in the creation of housewares to be donated to low-income undocumented immigrant families. All remaining items and materials of former negativity will be made available to local artists, and art-in-schools programs working with recycled media.
As we move forward, all our work in the wilderness will be re-focused to leaving no footprints, and living in concert with nature without doing harm, even in what many so-negatively refer to as “survival situations”. We have learned that survival is not a hardship, but an easy, and comfortable, process of existing within nature. Only those out of tune with our Earth mother struggle to eat, stay warm or be healthy in a natural environment. The “survival as hardship” thought process (thought poison) is something we will be entirely removing from our past work, and future outputs. This is a negative, masculine-centric approach to nature as something to be conquered, to be beaten and penetrated by men with tools and in anger. This is an incredibly damaging perspective, an active rape of mother Earth, that creates great negativity against all women. Our work to counter this perspective is essential to our new mission; We owe everyone so many apologies for this negativity we previously promoted, and the damage done to the rich femininity of nature.
The road is long, and is beset on all sides by forces of negativity and violence, but we are confident that we will endure. The Earth speaks within us, and through us, and alongside her we can create a new psycho-emotional climate of earth coexistence, learning from austerity, and achieving a state of whole-living as post-gender natural beings.

Thank you for sticking with us, and our most profound apologies for past negativity we may have brought to your life. We hope you will continue to join us, and allow us to remove that negativity and heal the harm done by it.
Namaste!

(Pssst! April Fools!)

Observation is Important, M’kay?

Posted: 17 March, 2011 in Adventure, Awareness, Grey Man, Knowledge, Mindset, Prepping, Resilience, Survival, Wilderness
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There is perhaps no skill, trait, attribute, or ability of more value to survival than simple observation. If you are not aware, and you are not able to grasp the meaning of what you are aware of, you are crippled in a very real way.
Of late, a lot of my work and practice has been in areas that relied on observational skill and the habits associated with being observant, have been on my mind a lot. A major take-away has been how many people truly pay no attention at all, even when they are working in, or at least thinking in, high risk contexts.

Not to sound too stuck on myself (there is plenty I am bad at), I’ve known for a long time that many people were unaware of their surroundings, simply by contrasting them with myself. Growing up in the backcountry, on a working ranch, I came to have good observational skill at an early age. It was nothing specifically taught, but rather just part of the routine practices of living and working in the backcountry. You watch everything, as a matter of course. You watch the sky for signs of impending bad weather; You watch the ground for signs of your livestock and their movement patterns, as well as for dangers and predator sign; You even watch the grass grow, so you know the condition of the resources upon which your stock depend. These are the routine practices of the day, and the habits of everyone, as natural as breathing most times, and as forced as tying a shoe thats come unlaced at the rest.
Because of that environment, I have always been the guy among others who regularly saw things first in all manner of circumstances; The finder of arrowheads and lost keys, and the one who often took note of the little details no one else did. When I was younger, my first real clues that other people did not place as much importance on observing their environment, was that my mention of things like “smells like rain” or “I don’t think that real fresh looking bear shit was here when we walked up this way” were met with dismissal, arched eyebrows and “ohgod, there he goes again talking about more little random broken twigs and shit” attitudes. Folks from my part of the world, or who had lived and worked out a lot responded more positively, often being on the exact same page. After enough of this, plus experience teaching others observational skills for self protection, survival, and general better living through not getting eaten by that thing you otherwise wouldn’t have seen, I began to get the idea. Most folks don’t pay attention.
Sometimes though, even the most cynical among us can be surprised unpleasantly. A recent conversation with a neighbor, who we’ll call Jane, produced this. She had been talking to another neighbor (“neighbor” in this country being one of the five or six folk who live within ten or fifteen miles), who is a more recent resident out here, about the upgrades he was making on his property. He is a “prepper” type, is setting his property up as a survival retreat, and was talking about his solar and wind system and all his other neat tools and toys for surviving the apocalypse. Jane asked this fella’ about his plans to drill a well, and he told her wasn’t going to. Goggling at him she asked if he expected to be able to haul water the thirty-five miles of dirt road from town during the end of the world. Laughing, he said no, of course not, but he had other plans. He was going to collect dew, running off his roof.
Now, this may be a mighty fine idea in other places, I really can’t say. Here, however, it is not. This is a desert. A high desert, with plants and some water sources, and all of that, but a desert all the same. The amount of dew that runs off a roof in the average year is almost immeasurably small.
Here at the ranch, we trap all the water that runs off the roof. I have no honest idea about dew volume, but the amount we get from rain is not enough to sustain a family, much-less a family with crops, and animals (either pets or stock). This is dry country, with an overall dry climate. There are very few above ground water features, and the majority of those are seasonal arroyos and catchments pushed up by ranchers with bulldozers, which are typically dry. Annual precipitation for this area is nine (9) inches a year, and on top of that, we’re having a drought. None of this is exactly a big secret; The ground is dry, the grass is dead, and it never rains. Anyone with half a mind, and a pair of eyes, should be able to figure this out just by looking around, and if not that, by sitting in their kitchen in the early morning and listening to the sound of absolutely no dew running off the roof. In short, observing their environment. And yet, here was our “prepper” fellow, expecting to survive by collecting dew.

The Desert Has Many Riches, but Any Fool Can See, Water Ain’t One of ‘Em

This goes beyond backcountry, wilderness, or zombie apocalypse survival; From personal defense to your daily commute, if you aren’t observing your environment constantly, you’re going to miss something or wrongly assume that because something was so elsewhere it will be so here too. The further out on the edge you are, be it in a wilderness-, medical-, combative- or long term- survival situation, the more important that thing (or those things) you miss will be. Eventually that thing you miss will kill you. Maybe after its killed your children and your spouse.

Keep It Simple, Stupid

Posted: 17 February, 2011 in Cold Weather, DIY, Fire, Tinder/Tools, Wilderness, Woodscraft
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I carry butane lighters as part of my fire starting kits. People give all sorts of reasons not to do this, most of which come back to “they won’t work when you need them”, but I persist. Firstly, most of my fire kits contain two, or three, means of starting a fire so if one does not work, I am not totally hosed. Secondly, if the lighter does work, I just saved myself how much time and effort? This last point is pretty much the entire reason reason I carry and advocate a butane lighter along with a good two layer fire starting kit. Sure it might not work, but how sweet will it be if it does and I don’t have to muck about with a ferro-rod?

The biggest problems I have encountered with butane lighters are getting them to work in the cold, and finding them depleted when I go to use one. The cold issue can be helped somewhat by moving them closer to your body when out in really cold conditions. Finding them depleted though is another story. The gas-feed buttons on the average lighter are pretty easily depressed, and can be held down by other gear or even resting wrong inside a pants pocket.
Awhile back, in an effort to counter this and prevent unwanted depression of the button, I made a couple kydex lighter covers for the units in my fire kits. These worked, but there was an unavoidable amount of bulk added by the kydex. I knew there had to be a better solution, and of course I found one that made me feel like an idiot for not thinking of.
Cruising the internet, I came across a photo of a fire kit and there was a Bic lighter, with an O-ring under the button to keep it from being depressed. Simple, easy, cheap and very low-bulk; The epitome, especially in contrast to my efforts, of the KISS principle.

On some lighters, the o-ring has to be pulled hard underneath the button to prevent its function. On some others, as shown, two o-rings had to be utilized. It’s also worth noting that this will not work with every lighter tried: On some, the o-ring could simply be depressed along with the button, allowing gas to escape.
Happy firebuilding!

Venomous Snakebite Management

Posted: 30 January, 2011 in First Aid, Medical, Wilderness
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As medical science advances, and treatment practices catch up, it is necessary sometimes to revisit old material. In 2009, BFE Labs ran an article on management of poisonous snake bite. Now, in 2011, it is time to revisit that material and update it according to current standards and recent training.
Eventually, if you spend enough time in the back country, you will meet a snake. Odds are you’ll probably meet quite a few over the years. Hopefully, those meetings will remain distanced and both you and the snake will go on your separate ways, no worse for wear. However, the risk of being bitten does exist. This article will talk about both mitigating that risk, and managing the injury in the case of a bite (specifically, in the case of envenomation by a poisonous snake)

Growing up and continuing to live, work and play in the hinterlands of New Mexico, I’ve had more than a few run ins with snakes. As a kid I encouraged “run ins” with non-venomous snakes such as bullsnakes and various racers, catching them and keeping them in a terrarium for a week or two before returning them to the wilds. However, there have also been the run ins I did nothing but discourage, those with venomous snakes, particularly rattlesnakes.
Over the years I have stepped on, kicked, almost sat or put my hand down on, been crawled over and been struck (in the boots thankfully, both times) by both Western Diamondback and Prairie Rattlers. I’ve had close calls of a less dramatic nature with most other species of rattler in the Southwest, to include Mojave and Rock rattlers. It would be easy to say that so many encounters are the product of foolish and uncautious behavior, but in this part of the world, in an outdoors/rural lifestyle, thats simply the luck that many folks have. Those who are foolish about snakes, have less fortune. For all my close encounters, I have avoided serious injury by being cautious and not acting the fool. You can do exactly the same, even in a snake rich environment.

Snakebite Prevention
The first step in surviving a snake bite is to avoid it. Don’t get bitten, and you have nothing to worry about. Avoiding snakes, and avoiding behaviors when encountering snakes that increase the likelyhood of a bite, are absolutely key.
These steps are redundant; If you are dumb and let one slip, or are forced to let one go, but you are still doing the others, you retain a better chance of not getting fucked up. A momentary lapse almost earned me an envenomation from a Diamondback that had moved onto my front porch in the night, but the leather of a high-topped boot prevented his success (Incidentally, 12 gauge #6 birdshot makes a hell of a gouge in flagstone floor).
Wearing high-top boots, ideally of thick leather, or snake-bite resistant gaiters is an excellent step in preventing envenomation, but only become truly necessary when first line precautions haven’t been taken or are impossible due to environment or situational needs. Similarly, wearing long pants, denim or similar materials, may help reduce the amount of venom delivered during a successful strike (“Denim clothing reduces venom expenditure by rattlesnakes striking defensively at model human limbs”, Herbert and Hayes, Annals of Emergency Medicine, 2009 December; 54(6): 830-6).
Of primary importance is that you use care and caution about where you are moving, where your feet are going and where your stride takes you. Particularly when moving across areas that would be likely to harbor and conceal snakes. Brush, tall grass, loose rocks, boulders, deadfall, and human debris/garbage are all prime spots for snakes. Watch for snakes across varying elevations, as they can be above, beside, or below, and don’t forget to check in water for them as well. Look ahead of yourself, and over logs, bushes and ledges before you step over them. Sometimes you won’t see a snake until you are very near, or right above, it. Use a stick to probe, or light to look into, places you cannot see before reaching within.

Do You See the Diamondback?

Be aware of potential snake-rich areas, and approach them with caution. In many areas it is simply impossible to see under or into every possible snake hide. Use tools to locate snakes, so that you can avoid them. Use a trekking pole, or long stick, to probe materials you need to walk or reach through or under. Throw rocks into brush, or rock slides or under ledges. And always, always, look and be prepared to get out of the snakes way.
When dealing with rattlesnakes you have a distinct advantage in usually receiving a warning buzz from them, often before they are seen. However, some do not buzz or will not, and some are simply difficult to hear, so it’s never safe to assume there is no snake because there is no buzz. With rattlers, it is merely an added advantage to knowing where they are and avoiding them. This can also be a problem coming from an environment where 99% of the concern is toward rattlers – It’s easy to be spoiled by having an auditory warning, and forget that many venomous snakes have no such capability. Similarly, people inexperienced with rattlers are often confused by the noise, failing to recognize it as a danger sign, or making stupid moves attempting to identify or locate the source. It is important when going into unfamiliar environments to take note of the snakes of the area and their habits as part of your environmental safety evaluations.

Can You See the Snake Now?
This rattler never buzzed or moved; Had he been disturbed by an errant foot, however, he would’ve reacted far differently.

Most people who get bitten by snakes are bitten because they did something stupid. They were unaware, failed to recognize warnings, or failed to act in an appropriate manner. It’s not hard to not be stupid with snakes. If you encounter a snake, don’t fuck with it. Leave it be, give it a wide berth, and keep on trucking. Most snakes are not aggressive, and simply want to be left alone. A snake that’s been interfered with and frightened or pissed off, however, will act aggressively. Similarly snakes in other forms of distress will behave aggressively. Do your part to not contribute to their foul mood, and you won’t have much to worry about.
Some snakes, water moccasins in particular, are aggressive and territorial. I’ve personally encountered that behavior with Mojave rattlers as well, but that’s not conclusive. Use caution, stay out of their way, and avoid contact with potentially aggressive snakes as much as possible (just like any other snake). If you, for some reason, cannot get away from an aggressive snake, kill it. Most snakes will leave you alone, but when necessary, don’t hesitate to kill one quickly (The head is your target; Shotguns work especially well. A .22 through the top of the head will work just fine, but .22 “snake shot” is snake oil, use a bullet. Cutting the head off works well too, but I prefer a long handled tool like a shovel. Use caution with dead snakes and severed heads as they can still envenomate).

Snakebite First Aid
Snakebite as used here refers to a bite and envenomation from a venomous snake. Plain, simple, non-venomous snake bite should be treated like any other simple puncture wound from a nasty, germ/bacteria riddled, object.
Treatment of vemomous snakebite in the field, absent a well supplied doctor hidden in your backpack, is largely a fallacy. Most of what can be done in the field is support and transport. In the absence of certainty, the bite should be treated as venomous and the bitten transported to the nearest medical facility, or intercept with emergency medical services.
There are various tools on the market, sold as “Snakebite Kits”, which are of no actual value. Most feature a mechanical negative-pressure device designed to “suck” the venom out of the wound. Many also feature a tourniquet, and a scalpel blade, supposedly to constrain the venom to the injured limb, and to open up the bite site for easier suction of the venom. These ideas have been widely discredited in the medical community as wastes of time at best, if not outright dangerous.
I pretty commonly hear the tourniquet and cutting methods discredited by laypeople, but there are a great many people still carrying various types of suction devices. Primary among these is the Sawyer Extractor, but others exist and are still commonly carried and, worse yet, recommended by the people carrying them. There is strong evidence that these types of tools both fail to extract a significant amount of venom (if any at all), and that they may in fact cause further damage to the tissue and vessels surrounding the bite leading to increased necrosis.
In a study reported in the February 2004 edition of Annals of Emergency Medicine (Suction for venomous snakebite: A study of “mock venom” extraction in a human model, by Alberts, et al), 8 patients were injected with simulated fangs and a mock venom marked with radioactive particles. At 3-minutes a Sawyer Extractor was then applied to the “envenomation” sites, and after fifteen minutes of suction the blood collected and analyzed for venom content. The removed fluid was found to contain less than 1% of the injected venom. The study’s authors concluded that this “suggests that suction is unlikely to be an effective treatment for reducing the total body venom burden after a venomous snakebite.”
In the same, February 2004, edition of Annals of Emergency Medicine, an editorial by Dr. Sean Bush, MD, FACEP, titled “Snakebite Suction Devices Don’t Remove Venom: They Just Suck”, compared the study and its findings to previous dismissals of tourniquets and incisions across the bites. In the editorial Bush notes that, in a study he authored, increased tissue damage was associated with use of the Sawyer extractor, “The conclusion of the study was that the Extractor did not reduce swelling, but resulted in further injury in some subjects. Specifically, circular lesions identical in size and shape to the Extractor suction cups developed where the devices had been applied. These lesions subsequently necrosed, sloughed, and resulted in tissue loss that prolonged healing by weeks. Similar injuries after Extractor use have been noted in human patients.”
In short, these types of gadgets are, at best, a piss in the wind rather than panacea.

Snakebite Suction Devices and Tourniquets/Constrictor Bands are Dangerous Antiques Just as Much as Hand Forged Blood-Letting Scalpels; Most laypeople are too reliant on hearsay, word-of-mouth and memory to know this, however.

In absence of effective gadgetry, the best medicine for snake bites remains rapid patient support, and transportation to definitive care. Aside from fundamental Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) type support for the patient, and transport, there is very little that can be done in the field for snakebites. Very little, however, does not mean nothing at all.

Pressure Immobilization Technique:
There is a management method, initially thought only applicable to Elapidae family of snakes common in Australia/Asia (vs. Crotalids, pit vipers, the predominant type of poisonous snake in North America), but now considered applicable for all snake bite. Pressure Immobilization Technique (PIT), also known as the Australian Method, is the standard for field care of snakebites in Australia and Asia. The method involves wrapping the bitten extremity in compressing bandages from the bite site, to the trunk, and back again, then splinting to ensure immobility (Australian Wilderness Medical Institute guidelines for Elapid Envenomation). This prevents or at least reduces systemic spread of the venom until the bands are removed (in a clinical setting with immediately available antivenin). For elapidae, this method works exceedingly well, but has only recently seen acceptance for crotalid envenomations.
Elapidae are primarily neurotoxic in their venoms, where-as crotalids are hemotoxic. PIT, when applied to crotalid envenomations, traps the tissue damaging venom and greatly increases intracompartmental pressures, greatly increasing the tissue damage done by crotalid venom. A 2004 study by Dr. Sean Bush et al (Pressure Immobilization Delays Mortality and Increases Intracompartmental Pressure After Artificial Intramuscular Rattlesnake Envenomation in a Porcine Model, Annals of Emergency Medicine, 2004 December; 44(6): 599-604) showed that when used on Western Diamondback envenomation, PIT delayed mortality by 23%, but increased intracompartmental pressure by 179%. In discussion, the authors reference other studies showing improved mortality rates when PIT is used, but increased possibility for tissue damage. Based on their results the authors concluded, “On the basis of our findings, we cannot recommend pressure immobilization widely for viper envenomation, although specific scenarios may warrant its use. Individuals who chose to consider pressure immobilization will still have to assess risks versus benefits versus alternatives on a case-by-case basis. An informed decision should take into consideration factors such as the size and species of snake, the patient’s size, duration and location of fang contact, previous exposures to snake venom, and time and accessibility to medical care and antivenom.”
Despite this expressed reticence, use of pressure immobilization is seeing acceptance in the United States as a taught method and protocol for many emergency medical systems. The 2010 American Heart Association First Aid Guidelines state “Applying a pressure immobilization bandage with a pressure between 40 and 70mmHgi n the upper extremity and between 55 and 70mmHg in the lower extremity around the entire length of the bitten extremity is an effective and safe way to slow the dissemination of venom by slowing lymph flow […] For practical purposes pressure is sufficient if the bandage is comfortably tight and snug but allows a finger to be slipped under it. Initially it was theorized that slowing lymphatic flow by external pressure would only benefit victims bitten by snakes producing neurotoxic venom, but the effectiveness of pressure immobilization has also been demonstrated for bites by non-neurotoxic American snakes.”
The use of PIT for Crotalid envenomations is further supported by “Pilot studies of pressure-immobilization bandages for rattlesnake envenomations” by Meggs et al, Clinical Toxicology, 2010 January; 48(1): 61-3, wherein the authors state “Pigs with pressure-immobilization bandages survived for 24 h, whereas untreated pigs died at 13.68 +/- 3.42 h (p = 0.014). Surviving pigs walked on the extremity at 7 days. Potassium rose from 4.033 +/- 0.252 at baseline to 17.767 +/- 5.218 mEq/L (p < 0.0001) at time of death in untreated pigs but was normal at 24 h in treated subjects. Widespread tissue necrosis was seen in the untreated group but only local necrosis in the treatment group.”

There has been concern expressed regarding the ability of both medical professionals and laypersons to successfully apply Pressure Immobilization, even after training (Physicians and lay people are unable to apply pressure immobilization properly in a simulated snakebite scenario, Norris et al, Wilderness and Environmental Medicine 2005 Spring;16(1): 16-21). Long term retention of ability to perform PIT within the narrow range of ideal pressures was found by researchers to be low.
A 2009 Australian study on pressure immobilization training and materials (“Investigating pressure bandaging for snakebite in a simulated setting: Bandage type, training and the effect of transport” by Canale et al, Emergency Medicine Australasia, 2009; 21: 184-190), noted that performance, while still not perfect, increased when participants were given proper training, “Following training, the median pressure for the 36 participants was 65mHg (IQR 56–71 mmHg), closer to the optimal range than initial attempts. On initial bandaging, 5/36 (14%) participants achieved optimal pressure range with elasticized bandages, compared with 18/36 (50%) after training (p~0.OO2).” The study also noted that “crepe”/gauze bandages did not maintain adequate pressures over the duration of an ambulance ride, “Bandage pressures were measured during a 30 min ambulance trip and demonstrated that all crepe bandages (with or without splinting) did not maintain pressure after an initial bandage was applied at the correct tension.”
Part of such critical work invariably focuses on the performance of untrained persons applying pressure immobilization, and the lackluster performance of these untrained persons is cited as stacking up against PIT. However, many other skills suffer from extremely poor performance when undertaken by the untrained (no one would say that poor performance of CPR by someone who just read an instruction sheet was reason to disregard CPR entirely). The takeaway from these studies should be the need for training, frequent practice and re-training at regular intervals, and ensuring use of the right equipment, rather than a complete disregard for PIT.

Whether pressure immobilization is used or not, patients need to be supported in accordance with standard ACLS guidelines for Airway, Breathing and Circulation. If available, Oxygen and fluids via large bore IV’s are commonly recommended (Snake Envenomation; Mohave Rattle, Bush SP, Medscape eMedicine 2008. Snakebite, Daley and Alexander, Medscape eMedicine 2010). In absence of IV availability, the patient can be allowed to drink clear fluids, in small amounts, so long as they are not experiencing nausea or vomiting (Venomous Snakebite in Mountainous Terrain: Prevention and Management, Boyd et al, Wilderness and Environmental Medicine 2007; 18: 190-202).
Minimizing activity, and removal of jewelry and clothing potentially involved in the expected swelling of the bitten extremity is recommended when applicable. If it’s necessary to walk the victim out of a remote area, these measures may need to be delayed until a vehicle, or EMS intercept point, is reached. Whenever possible litter carry of the patient should be considered, but may not always be possible such as in self rescue.
When possible the bitten limb should be immobilized to prevent movement, and reduce pain and swelling (regardless of use of pressure immobilization technique).
The patient should be encouraged to remain calm and aided in relaxation (your behavior, as rescuer is thus extremely important), to keep their heart rate low and decrease spread of venom.
Patient and injury history will be very important to record, so that it may be provided once the patient has been delivered to medical care. Note the type and size of the snake, the time of the bite, and the patients condition as it evolves between bite and delivery to care. Continue monitoring patient vitals and mark the increase in affected tissue every fifteen minutes or so. Take note of time from bite to onset of symptoms, and of pain level at time of bite and as symptoms progress. Make note of any medications (prescription as well as over-the-counter) the patient is on or substances they may have ingested, while they remain conscious and lucid enough to recount these details. When delivering the patient to EMS or the hospital, these details will be important.

Going step by step, from the information and sources previously referenced, we can establish a suggested protocol for management of envenomation in the field as follows:

  • Contact Emergency Medical Services.
  • Identify (if possible) the snake but otherwise leave it alone.
  • Encourage calm and minimize physical movement/exertion of victim.
  • Expose the bite, removing potentially constricting clothing from the area (cut away, rather than forcing the patient to make the excess movement required to disrobe).
  • Use Pressure Immobilization when appropriate.
  • Splint the bitten extremity (even without PI).
  • Give oxygen and intravenous fluids if available.
  • Mark the extent of envenomation (visible via swelling), and continue to re-mark every 15 minutes to track progress.
  • Continue to monitor patient condition and vitals. Intubate if available and necessary to combat airway occlusion from swelling.
  • Avoid administering any therapies that lack value, or may increase risks, such as administration of aspirin or anti-inflammatory pain medications that may worsen bleeding, use of ice or electrical shock, tourniquet application, ingestion of alcohol, and home remedies. Use energy and time for medically sound patient support, and rapid transport to advanced care.

This is not comprehensive, and is not intended to replace professional medical guidance for management of snakebites, but is rather an aggregation of some of the current findings and practices on snakebite care in the field. There is a lot more reading that can, and should, be done (certainly if you are a provider), but this should give you a start and a working beginning for your needs in the field.
Be safe, and tread easy!

Bad Experience with Boundtree Medical

Posted: 23 January, 2011 in First Aid, Medical, Retailers, Tactical Medicine, TCCC
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Normally, a bad experience with a retailer would not get mentioned here. Our focus is not to sling mud, and many of the “these guys suck!” rants that crop up are just that. However, there are times when a warning is in order to others, based on experience with a business. Particularly when, in the past, we have directed friends and students to that business. I let this post sit well over a month, to fully calm down and gain more objectivity, and then took a look at it again. After reexamination, I have no hesitation in posting this; It needs to be brought up, so that people can make informed decisions about where they spend their money.

Because of their ubiquity in the professional environment, I have at least a handful of times in the past directed people to BoundTree Medical for their medical/first aid supplies needs. Despite having some of their house-brand gear and seeing large orders made with them, I’d never placed a personal credit/debit card order with them until recently. It was a goat-rope.
I needed a small number of supplies to round out a custom first aid kit for a friend, roughly $25 worth. My order, invoiced for that $25 was broken up into chunks and charged to my account in chunks. This is, probably, where the problem began. As the order arrived, bit by bit over about a week, I saw the invoices were different amounts than those actually being charged. Then the charges kept coming, and totaled far more than my order. The first charge was $18, then $6, and then a series of charges between $1 and $13, totaling up to over $50 charged to my account. When I notified Boundtree of this issue it took their billing department 3 days to get back to me, at which point they said that the additional charges were, in fact, credits. I politely told them that they were not credits, rather they were debits (a hick from the sticks I may be, but I know which way my money goes and what those little + and – signs mean). At that time, a Thursday, I told them to make it right by Friday, or I’d go through the bank with a fraudulent charges dispute. After that the nice girl in customer service wrote back within minutes to tell me she would have someone call me from billing. I told her what hours I was available that day and the following and that if they didn’t get me, to leave voicemail and I would call back. No one called, no one left voicemail. I let it sit over the weekend as more pressing things came up, and on Monday morning logged into my bank account to begin the fraud dispute process. Upon logging in, I found that Boundtree had returned my money.
While I am pleased that they straightened out my order, the process took almost two weeks from the first confusing charges, until my money was returned. The Boundtree billing department either does not know the difference between taking money and sending out money or they knowingly lied to me when initially saying they had credited my account. Neither one is particularly tolerable, and, even with an eventually favorable resolution, it is no tolerable that it happened at all. I have no further desire to do business with a company that feels it can charge its customers above and beyond an order, and make no effort to get it right until seriously rousted by that customer. Taking peoples money for no exchange of goods or services and without an agreement to take that money is theft; Accidental, on purpose, it is still theft. BoundTree Medical ( Boundtree.com ) is a no go as far as I am concerned. To those I’ve suggested source materials there in the past, I apologize and hope you had less problems.
Boundtree is part of the Sarnova family of companies which includes Blue Ridge Medical, Emergency Medical Products and Tri-anim, all of which will be avoided in the future, with the recommendation to others to do the same. Will it hurt them? No, it won’t, but it will save me (and hopefully some others) from having to deal with their clownshoes billing department.

Shop where you will; This is posted for informative purposes only, to enable our friends, readers, and clients to make informed decisions about where to spend their money.

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