Chuggnutt!

Tag: Survival

Stranded on a desert isle…
I guess this post spins out of watching the TV show “Lost” and a post by Isaac Laquedem a while back. The question is, what three books would you take with you if you were stranded on a desert isle? (Isaac’s post considers five books; do that if you can’t keep yourself to three.)

My tentative picks would be:
- Les Miserables. No, not in the original French; I like my massive English paperback edition. I haven’t even finished this book, so it would occupy me for a while.
- Either The Stand or Cryptonomicon.
- Probably an anthology of some sort. Something like The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway, or maybe The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces.
Of course, if I were practical, I’d choose an all-purpose survival guide, a book on identifying plants (edible and poisonous), that sort of thing.

Or, better yet, go with this book:
May 13, 2005
How to Win a Barfight
Another fun little tidbit reprinted from a friend’s daily “Survival” calendar.

Most state laws stipulate that you may use sufficient force to stop the attack, but you may not deliver any sort of punitive retribution to your attacker. Knowing this may save you a costly trip to court.
1. Attack the most sensitive areas of your opponent: eyes, groin, knee, and throat.
  Stay close; if your opponent is large he will need room to hit you.
2. Attack repeatedly and be efficient.
  Make fast, repeated blows to any or all sensitive areas.
3. If necessary, use a weapon.
  Choices include telephones, pens, bottles, books, beer mugs, coffee cups, and keys.
4. Protect yourself from additional attackers by fighting with your back to (but not up against) a corner or wall.
September 23, 2003
Survival Tips
A co-worker has one of those page-a-day calendars, where you tear off each day and it has some interesting content of some kind… normally, they’re comic strips, or trivia, or word-of-the-day things, but this one is a survival calendar. So it has things like “Today in survival history” and “Today’s Hero” and the best, various survival tips.

Among such choice tips as “How to stop a runaway camel,” “How to escape from a sinking car” and “How to foil an alien abduction” is one that was too good not to share here:

How to Jump from Roof to Roof
1. Look for any obstructions like gutters and small walls at the ledge of the roof.
2. Make certain that you have enough space to land and roll.
3. Check the distance between the buildings.
  Most people cannot jump farther than 10 feet, even at a full run.
4. Run at full speed toward the edge.
  You will need 40 to 60 feet to gain enough speed to clear about 10 feet of distance.
5. Leap.
  Make sure your center of gravity is forward. Try to land on your feet, then immediately tuck your head and tumble sideways onto your shoulders.
April 22, 2003