• Welcome to the Fantasy Writing Forums. Register Now to join us!

Wilderness survival class

caters

Sage
Last night I thought of 13 grades for a wilderness survival class.

1st grade: Prairie grassland(Which is where most of the humanoids live)

2nd grade: Deciduous forest(All of the forests in region 1 of Kepler Bb are deciduous forests)


3rd grade: Mixed forest(Both coniferous and deciduous trees in the same forest)

4th grade: Coniferous forest(also known as Taiga)

5th grade: Rainforest(1st year temperate, 2nd year tropical)

6th grade: Tundra(this is the first time students go to the arctic)

7th grade: Mountains(The very top of some mountains also has a tundra habitat)

8th grade: Beach(It can get very hot on the beach)

9th grade: Desert(Like the tundra, this is an extreme habitat)

10th grade: Lake(Very nice after being in a very hot place)

11th grade: Swamp(can be very dangerous)

12th grade: Savannah(Most dangerous of all the grasslands in my opinion)

13th grade: Ocean(Most dangerous of all water habitats)

Now you might be wondering why I have it in that order. Well to me this is from least dangerous(prairie) to most dangerous(ocean) factoring in the animals and plants that live in those habitats, the weather, the temperature, and where most humanoids live or are close to as well as the fact that these humanoids develop a natural antivenom.

For example if a humanoid gets bit by a rattlesnake this is what happens:

A few minutes after the bite:

The venom spreads and causes damage to blood vessels and red blood cells.

A few minutes later:

A macrophage phagocytoses a bit of venom and breaks it down in lysosomes.

A few minutes later:

A dendritic cell recognizes the venom and travels through the lymphatic system.

A few minutes later:

A T cell recognizes the venom and activates B cells with the venom.

A few minutes later:

Enough antibodies are produced for other white blood cells to get rid of the venom.

A day later:

All blood vessels are healed up.

2 days later:

The humanoid is not anemic anymore.

As you can see this is a fast acting immune system producing a natural antivenom.

However it is nothing against the most venomous creature of all, the box jellyfish. The venom of the box jellyfish can cause death in 2-5 minutes, even after removing any stuck on tentacles. That is only enough time for the dendritic cell to recognize the venom and travel towards the T and B cells.

Anyway do you think that I have the habitats in the right order of least dangerous to most dangerous considering all the factors that I used to order these habitats?
 

Heliotrope

Staff
Article Team
Hi, I am a keen wilderness survivalist and have been a rescue team leader on my local Search and Rescue team for the past ten years.

Wouldn't Ocean and beach go together, or are you putting them out in the middle of the ocean? And you could combine one of the forests with Lake as well.

I would also put the forests in front of grasslands, but that is just me. IMO forests are way less risky than grasslands, as there is less risk of exposure, more material for building shelter, better access to water, much more temperate climate, etc. Deciduous forest would be the easiest for survival.

Tundra, Desert, and Ocean would all be the most difficult for survival and so should come last. Yes Savannah has dangerous animals, but technically it would not be as challenging for survival as the Tundra, Desert or Ocean. The Savannah is relatively warm, has trees to prevent exposure, has access to fresh water and has access to food. These are all basics that Tundra, Desert or Ocean do not have. In the Tundra it would be easy to catch hypothermia and die within hours. In Desert there is high risk of dehydration and exposure, which could also kill within hours, and Ocean is the same.

I would probably go:

1) Deciduous Forest - most temperate, highest access to water, shelter and food. Least likely to run into dangerous animals.

2) Lake - High access to water, shelter/food.

3) Mixed Forest - cold at night but mostly temperate, high access to water, shelter and food. Bears/cougars likely, but usually shy.

4) Coniferous forest - colder (high chance of night time hypothermia), high access to water, shelter and food. High chance of cougars.

5) Prairie grassland - Hot in summer, freezing in winter. High chance of either hot or cold exposure. High chance of water, less likely to find or build shelter, higher chance of running into dangerous animals.

6) Rainforest. Hot. Good access to water and food. High chance of encounter with dangerous animals/plants.

7) Mountain. Very cold at night, good access to water, less access to food in certain seasons, exposure risky, decent access to shelter, less access to dangerous animals (bears/cougars don't usually go this high because food tends to be lower, except in berry season).
 

Vaporo

Inkling
What format are these classes taking? Are they classroom-based? Are the students taken out to the wilds with a teacher who advises them while they learn to survive? Or is it the classic dump-them-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-and-pick-up-the-survivors-in-a-month deal?

A lot of your environments seem redundant or unecessary (especially the forests and lake survival).

I'd probably go with:

1. Deciduous forest (lots of trees for shelter, probably easy access to water)
2. Coniferous forest (Deciduous forests would serve as a nice introduction to survival and teach them the basics. Mixed forest is too small of a step, I think, so kick it right over to coniferous forests.)
3. Swamp (now things are starting to get kind of nasty. They have to deal with things like foot fungus and disease, as well as finding dry firewood and a dry place to sleep).
4. Small island (What you called beach. Beach is just too general of a term. Until now, your students have had to deal with plenty of resources. Now, they have to begin learning what to do when they have too few. Specifically, they have to learn to find fresh water in a limited area, and learn how to fish).
5. Savannah or grassland. (Savannah is really just a subset of grasslands. Water is still pretty accessible, as well as shelter, but food can see you coming for miles, depending on tree density, as well as things that want to make you food.)
7. Rainforest (Same thing as swamp, but on a larger scale with much nastier predators. You might teach this right after swamp, just to get both of the "wet" environments out of the way at once.)
8. Tundra (Not many predators, but water and food are almost nonexistent. Also, your students have to deal with hypothermia.)
9. Desert (depends on what kind of desert. If it's a Sahara-like desert that is totally devoid of life, then this would certainly be the most difficult. Survival would depend on finding an oasis of some sort, or bringing water with you. If it's more like the Mojave desert, where things do grow and live, then it might actually be easier to survive than the tundra).

??? Mountain (This is simply too broad of a range of environments to warrant its own course. It could encompass almost any of the above areas, just on a slope and with thinner air).

Uber-extreme super-survival: Ocean (When you say ocean, I assume you mean open ocean with no land in sight for hundreds of miles. Your people will literally be out of their element. Obtaining fresh water would only be possible through rain storms, but anything that could be potential food could just swim out of the way. If they're in a reef, they might be able to catch food, but they'd have to have some kind of water catcher if they want to survive for more than a few days. If they're in open ocean, with the sea floor 1000+ feet below, your students will almost certainly die.)
 

K.S. Crooks

Maester
I agree with Heliotrope. The elements of the environment are always more dangerous than the animals that live there. You can hide from or fight predators, you cannot fight extreme heat or hide from no drinking water. Think about when real people ae lost in the wilderness. The concern is not that the people will be eaten but that they will die from exposure of some type or lack of water or food. Looking at your list I would have Tundra, Mountain and Desert at the bottom with Ocean. What other things you have play into the scenarios, such as animals, equipment available, competition, etc. can mitigate precise placement. As anther choice how about inside volcanic cave system. Hope this helps.
 
Top