On Foot Plan

Goal: To present a set of tools/equipment that would be necessary for survival pre/post pole shift. Also to teach necessary survival skills for locating food, safe water, building fire and shelter, etc. The focus will be on a long term solution set, not one for a temporary trip on foot. The final product will be a printable set of guidelines and instructions that can be taken anywhere.
Additional Details: Given the emphasis on long term survival, all selection of tools and equipment will be made assuming that no replacements will be available so durability will be a key concern. Also, any equipment or tools will be selected to compliment the survival skills presented. Additional info will be presented on developing the right mental attitude. Most of the information will be presented with text and photos, but where appropriate, video will be used.
General Steps

Information gathering. Mostly from books by Tom Brown.

Condense book information.

Determine what the best equipment for a survival pack would be and assemble the pack.

Use the pack in a wilderness setting. This basically involves going camping but only with the pack contents. Actual use will be documented for use in the written product. (probably more than one trip)

Put the info into a usable format. The results would all go up on a web page. For printing I can also make a PDF file that can be downloaded by anyone. There will be a long and a short version. The short version will be designed to look something like the SAS Survival Flick Book for portability. Also will look at the costs to get a ready to use, laminated (so its weather proof) version made.

Step Details

1. Information Gathering

I have already read both of Tom Brown's books that Ron recommended. They are, "Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival" and "Tom Brown's Field Guide to Nature Observation and Tracking". Both are excellent sources of skills that require little more than a good knife. I also bought the SAS Survival Flic Book since it it put together in the ideal format for travel.

2. Condense Book Information

I have barely begun this but it shouldn't take more than a week per book to condense them into a usable format.

3. Build Survival Pack

This step will involve determining what one must have to survive. Sources for the equipment will be presented along with reasoning why each piece is necessary. This will include tools, clothing, shoes, and shelter. Not much emphasis will be given to food except on how to get it. This project will not be about packing food.

4. Use the Pack

A suitably remote location will be chosen for testing the tools and skills for survival. If possible, Ron Darby and myself will do this together as that will facilitate taking video clips and such (ie making a fire with a bow and drill). It will probably be good to take a couple of short trips to work the kinks out of anything then plan a final longer trip of a week or more.

5. Prepare Final Booklet/Video

The final step will be to put all this information into a format that is accessible to everyone. The primary location will be a website since this will be that only way to distribute the video clips. Second, I will take everything but the video and put it into a PDF file that can be downloaded. This has the advantage of printing with a able of contents and page numbers that make sense. Printing from a web page is too unpredictable. Also a smaller condensed version will be made either as a PDF file or possibly as a ready to use, laminated, portable book.

Estimated Times Frame

Step 1 is complete

Step 2 will be completed by November 11, 2000.

Step 3 will be completed by December 7.

Step 4 an be started in December, but due to the fact that I'm moving the first week of January, may have to wait until the end of January 2001 or the beginning of February. January or February will be ideal for me as my wife and son will be staying with her family so I won't need "permission" to go camping! :)

Step 5 will take the longest amount of man hours but my goal would be to have the initial website version completed by the end of April 2001. This is including unforeseen delays and "Murphy's Law". The other versions would then be completed as time/budget allowed.

Cost Estimate

It's hard to gauge the total final cost of any of this. Except for any costs associated with producing video clips (I don't have the equipment to do it) or producing a laminated travel book, I don't need to be reimbursed. I would have purchased these things anyway. I will keep all my receipts and turn them in at the projects completion. If TT Inc. wishes to reimburse me for all or part of my expenses that would be fine. I'm estimating that I will spend somewhere between $200 to $400 on equipment and tools. Personally I will be buying the best that I can afford. Since this might be higher than other people will be able to spend, I will include information on less expensive alternatives. I will get an estimate or two on the laminated version and present that info when I have it.

Step 1	is complete
Step 2	will be completed by November 11, 2000.
Step 3	will be completed by December 7.
Step 4	an be started in December, but due to the fact that I'm moving the first week of January, may have to wait until the end of January 2001 or the beginning of February. January or February will be ideal for me as my wife and son will be staying with her family so I won't need "permission" to go camping! :)
Step 5	will take the longest amount of man hours but my goal would be to have the initial website version completed by the end of April 2001. This is including unforeseen delays and "Murphy's Law". The other versions would then be completed as time/budget allowed.