On Whose Authority?

On Whose Authority?

Over the last year or so I've noticed several discussions which focus on teachers, on authority, on certifications, and so forth. Who is the better teacher of a skill (old kung fu movies come to mind, "My master is better than yours!") is a question many students wish to know the answer to, because they strive to become qualified in some way. There are many schools out there focusing on bushcraft, outdoor living, self reliance, and survival. A student can spend an enormous amount of money going through all this training and certification, and then hang out their own shingle as an "expert" because someone else said so.

At the academic level, we do this all the time without thinking. Universities teach courses and offer credit, and at the end you get a diploma which proves to the working world that you might know something about your subject of expertise. But Harvard doesn't offer Masters in Bushcrafting right now. so we have to make do with other forms of training and trust in the quality of that training.

I'd like to paraphrase one of my respected teachers, Alan Watts, on the subject of Authority. It was originally written regarding spiritual authority, the word of the church, and so on. But I think the theme is equally useful to consider in any pursuit of recognition.

What is the source of a teacher's authority? He can tell you that he can speak from experience. That he has experienced situations which have made him profoundly skilled or understanding or clever or whatever it may be. And you have his word for it. You have the word of other people who likewise agree with him. But each one of them and you in turn, agree with him out of your own opinion and by your own judgment. And so it is you that are the source of the teacher’s authority. And that is true whether he speaks as an individual or whether he speaks as the representative of a tradition or a school.

So the question comes back to you. Why do you believe, why do you form this opinion? Upon what basis does all this rest?

So, in the case of the various survival and bushcraft schools--which I choose not to name because I'm not trying to pick a fight with them--or any number of other groups who offer training, followed by some form of certification that you know what you're doing, it gives the student a sense of superior accomplishment because we tend not to trust our own experience and authority in complex skills and decision-making. These schools might say that their way will prepare you to be confident, prepare you to teach, or prepare you to survive, and that this way must be obeyed in a certain way or else you won't pass the class, and your time will be wasted. But their ways are held to be effective and right only because we say so.

Now, there are times where the authority of teachers is far more obvious, and I'll put medical training up on this pedestal readily. I would not suggest that one can become an EMT or a doctor without going through extensive and rigorous training, to acquire knowledge that is not readily available to the average person. The basics of anatomy and medicine are available to most people through good books and online resources, but the difficult lessons of how it all actually works, depends on life-and-death judgements, and that is probably better left to experienced teachers, rather than self-education.

But when it comes to more humble experiences like starting a fire, building a shelter, obtaining food, signalling for help, or even purifying water, there are so many resources available to the common person that there is no excuse for not getting outdoors and testing it for yourself. And in this way, through your own experience, you create your own authority and wisdom on the subject of living and recreating outdoors. It may take many nights outdoors for you to earn your experience and gain confidence, but the false lure of paying thousands of dollars and holding up a certificate risks confusing the symbol with the real thing. That certificate isn't going to keep you warm at night unless you use it to start your campfire with, nor will it fill your belly or stop your bleeding or quench your thirst. These are all things you have to learn for yourself. Good teachers help, of course, but reliance on dogma is not a reflection of an adaptable mind, which I think is far more important in any situation human beings find themselves in.

As the cliques and popular groups tell you they have "the way" for being successful outdoors, remember that they live by all the same rules you do - they need to eat and drink, be sheltered, and generally have the same powers of observation and reasoning as you do. I think that the sharing of experience, and of hard lessons learned, is a good thing for all of us, but I find it puzzling why people go so far out of their way to elevate to "rock star" status certain personalities or groups when the body of their teaching is, and has been for quite some time, very much in the public domain.

Some people are more effective at communicating information than others. That's to be applauded and maybe even invested in, but the egos which attend our community do us no service at all, in my opinion. Any discussion of who is "in" or "out" of a group takes away from the reason we're all doing this to begin with, and that is to have joy in our outdoor experiences.

The Personal Survival Kit

The Personal Survival Kit

Not your camping gear. Not your bushcrafting gear. Not your "let's try out a new skill" gear. Not your snivel gear.

We're talking about your core Personal Survival Kit (PSK). The stuff that, when roaming outdoors, you carry no matter what. The stuff you'll rely on when things go wrong, not when they go right.

Naturally, there will be some layering, some things in your pockets not in this kit, and some things in this kit you might use in normal bushcrafting, but this kit is put together and carried as a single item to be broken into when circumstance requires. Tied to your body, more often than not, at all times.

Pictured is 99% of it. Not in the photo is my first and most important survival item: my cell phone. Even in the most remote woods I have available to me, I can often get enough signal to send a text, even if it won't connect voice. SMS requires far less bandwidth, and can handle interrupted connections, as it breaks the text down into packets and sends them as it can until the message has gone out. Also not pictured is my GPS, which I rarely use for personal navigation, but if I'm not near a road intersection, and I need to provide precise coordinates, is an invaluable tool for getting those numbers to a rescue team. I could replace both with a SPOT tracker, and just mash the 911 button if things go wrong, and it's on my short list of outdoors gear to add to my setup.



From the upper left: SOL Survival Bivy. Oven roaster bag for the wayward traveler. About the same cost as a Wal-mart sleeping bag, but tiny and more important, light. Good for cutting the wind off my body at night, and keeping 20 degrees or so inside. Not perfect, but much better than nothing, far better than a mylar sheet. A red bandanna, for whatever you need a bandanna for... too many uses to count. Contrasting color to the woods, though, is important. Next, my most expensive item here, a sil-nylon tarp/poncho. 11.5oz of waterproof heaven, 104x57 inches. Worth every penny in fast personal shelter in place, or on the go. A map of the local area. More useful by itself than a compass, because it contains information about the area, and can be oriented to without any other tools. This one is waterproof and tear-resistant, and has served many trips to this particular locale. Under it are a couple contractor bags. Additional waterproofing for gear, shelter, me, or a buddy. Fill with dry leaves and browse for a mattress, or just use as a ground cloth to keep dry. slippery, though, so be warned.

The beer can had its lid removed with a side-safe can opener, and rinsed well. A favorite of ultra-light backpackers, it serves as the billy pot and weighs nothing. Keep the lid to hasten boiling or keep stuff out of the pot while working. Titanium spork, because the plastic ones melt too easy. The little ziplock bag is my pocket kit, which has a button compass, water purification tablets, storm matches, blot clotter, safety pins, and kevlar thread. Handy if all else is lost, I'm not without something to help improve my situation. Small bic lighter, because that works 99% of the time. Match case with more UCO storm matches, along with a ferro rod and the best blast whistle I've ever tested. Small Petzl headlamp. LIFESTRAW, because they're cheap and they work, really useful if you can't get a fire going for whatever reason. Just keep the drinking end clean, and chug down that dirty river. Pack of dry soap leaves, and a small bottle of hand sanitizer, because hygiene is important in the bush, and the alcohol is a secondary fuel source or firestarter. Hank of paracord, because, well, paracord.

12 hour light stick if I need to save, or have drained, my headlamp. Good enough for one night. Arrowcard dogtag model for extra little blade, saw, and hunting point, not that it should come to that. Connected on a chain is a dogtag-sized signal mirror. At the bottom, my tool kit tin. Heaviest item in the picture, but contains many excellent tricks including bank line, saw blades, a small multitool with pliers, and other goodies. It is an entire post unto itself. Mora knife, floating handle, solid sheath. I own two, neither has failed me yet. Shaving sharp. Some first aid stuff, hard to show as that bit of kit is always evolving and repacked for almost every trip outside my neighborhood, but at a minimum, some gauze and blood clotting agent, in plastic bags useful for sealing up serious wounds against infection or air movement. The duct tape in the tool kit suffices for small cuts. Finally, a bit of food. Mio water enhancer, so that foul-tasting but safe water can be made a bit more palatable, especially warm. Tea would be better for hot drinks, if you can carry it and a little sugar, but this works cold too. Couple flat-packs of tuna and a mountain house ration. Not because I'm going to starve in 48 hours, but keeping both energy and morale up helps everything else.

Pack it all into the container of your choice. Nest small gear in the billy pot, keep first aid and the knife at the top, shelter items next down.

And it goes everywhere with me in the bush. Period.

Scouting and Politics

Scouting and Politics

When I was a boy, the only politics in scouting were the petty ones carried in by some of the adult leaders, centered more around who was a better Scoutmaster than anything else. National politics were, thankfully, not on our radar as youth.

Today that is no longer true. In a world constantly bombarded by the 24/7 in-your-face news cycle, social media, and instant information, we're helpless against the onslaught of agendas coming our way from every direction.

Today, I got in my email a letter concerning the contentious issue of Gays and Scouting. I'll begin by saying I don't know what the right answer is. I support my friends who have other orientations and experiences than mine, and I will defend their right to be who they are, whether that conforms to someone else's idea of what's "right" or not. I also see, how in an all-male organization, there are some questions that are driven mostly by fear, but still remain unanswered because the BSA is not willing to use the youth of the program as guinea pigs in the experiment of finding out whether a pro-LGBT stance is appropriate or not.

The letter says:

As many of you are aware, a youth member and Eagle Scout in our council has been publicly advocating for further change to the current BSA adult leader standards. This young man, who is openly gay, has stated his intentions to attempt to register as an adult leader when he turns 18, in early August.

It goes on...

NCAC has, and will follow the policies and procedures set by the National Council. As such, it is anticipated that the scout’s application for adult membership will ultimately be denied, after a full review like any other application that is submitted, and he will
voluntary adult leader after he reaches 18 years of age.

What I want to say is this - the BSA made a choice last year to allow Gay youth, but prohibit Gay leaders. I think this was the worst possible choice they could have made, for two reasons. First, it was an act of appeasement. Had they held their ground and stuck with tradition, they'd have been called a bigoted organization, but as a private organization that is their right. It may not be for everyone, and I find that tragic, but it remains a legitimate option. Second, it creates the worst possible environment for a gay young man... membership in an organization that tolerates him because it feels it has to, but sends a clear message that his natural mentors, the gay men who've lived in silence or shame, are not worthy to lead other young men as adults. It puts the young man in a position of being surrounded by people who accept him by policy, and not in true fellowship.

I think if BSA were genuinely interested in helping young men today, it would find a way to accommodate the young men of yesterday, and display the kind of character we try to teach boys... that all are worth of our positive attention, that there are good lessons to be learned in the outdoor experience, and that sexual behavior, regardless of orientation, doesn't belong at camp. The fear that a gay leader might be acting inappropriately with gay boys should be lumped in with the same youth protection we follow now, in defending against any other form of pedophelia. Abuse is abuse, and that should be where policy stops. Further marginalization and judgement doesn't achieve the high moral standard BSA claims to be carrying the torch for. Rather, demonstrating the quality of character to dive in and tackle difficult problems at the adult level, so they don't turn into problems at the youth level, is what BSA really ought to be doing, if it weren't living in fear.

I'll not discount those fears, either, because the other truth of today is that our society is more litigious than it used to be, and trials are far more public than they were in my youth. The BSA has a lot of money coming in from people who think there should be no compromise, and their fear of being sued, de-funded, abandoned by their base, or pilloried any other way for taking a stand for equality is something its board of directors has to deal with.

But I think men like Green Bar Bill, Ernest Seaton, or even Lord Baden-Powell might have risen to the challenge if they were here today.