Recently, i thought it would be a great learning opportunity to test my existing Bug out abilities and my tactical know how.

Goal: Myself and my friend start at different points in the forrest, both positions unknown (chosen by the other) and to meet at a designated location. The time to get there is unknown. The only given was the start and end coordinates. Upon meeting we are to set up a tactical parameter and protect the area for 24h and return home with no trace of our being there.

Day 1

I arrived at my location at 7am and immediately got my map out and took my bearings, got my course and headed out, Thats when I encountered my first 2 set backs. first i need to brush up on my topography skill set it took me far to long to gain a bearing and head a direction. Secondly, we all know that a straight line is the fastest way to get from A-B, however in the forest i was in was criss crossed with old wildlife paths, so do i go off the beaten path and hold a bearing or take a longer easier route on the paths, i choose to "bushwhack". So off i went, because of my current employment i am used to carrying a large pack but on the way i realized that some people may not have ever taken the B.O.B out for a hike and see if they can even transit with it. 9am i am about a kilometre in and realizing the value of both a machete and an axe to clear a path or aid in transiting creeks, rivers or small valleys. 11am I take my first break, and I decide to try out my knowledge of local plants and try and gather a lunch, epic fail. Even with a guide in my B.O.B i could not identify any of the local flora as edible. With that I struck a small fire, and experienced my first real success so far. My fire starting gear was great and the plans i've made work very well, the method i used was to gather small dry wood and use a small pack of vaseline soaked cotton balls and flint. Got my fire going and boiled some water and made a spruce tea and a dehydrated lunch, YUM!....Onward!. Won't bore you with details of the transit, but i was soon confronted with another choice do i continue hiking past sunset or strike up a lean too. it was now around 5pm and i figure i had 2km or so to go. I chose to stop, due loosing sunlight and safety in the form of bears and cougars. Got a fire going, had food and water now for shelter, now the dreaded lean too. the site i selected had a rock face on one side and trees to the other. So heres what i did, took 2 hours, used a space blanket to cover the rock face to reflect heat into my lean too, used another to gather rain water/condensation. Used paracord and a few fishing bells to create a security parameter(bears and cougars are a real threat, i did have protection but a few seconds warning could make a difference). Lean too was a task but basically did it buy the book, used two close trees strung up a cross member with para,some angled saplings as the back and covered them with downward facing spruce branches and covered those with dead leaves. worked well and held the heat very well, covered the ground in my lean too in dry leave. the last thing i did was made sure i could not be seen, you know the whole tactical thing. All said and done, on day one i traveled about 5 KM and made a camp from only my B.O.B, i would have like to cover more ground but through heavy forest i was happy with my performance thus far. I fell asleep comfortably and woke with the morning sun with no major incidents, and being thankful for my shemagh, they are now a new must have item.

end day 1