Training without Camp Stasa, Chapter 1

-D Day


On the weekend of December 4-6, eleven militiamen (yes, only eleven) braved the cold at the SMVM's very first training outside of our beloved camp........

I arrived at Island Lake Recreation Area at 1630.  To my surprise, there was a thin layer of snow, the first I've seen this year.  Daylight was fleeting at the desolate campground, so I set to work cutting and collecting firewood.






Then with a surveyor's wheel in hand, I measured the distance around the campground road for level 1 and 2 qualifying.



Bubba arrived while I was measuring the road.






Once the fire was started, I set up my new tent before nightfall.




LFB and Crazy Eyes showed up shortly after dark and joined us by the campfire.   The four of us watched an Israeli military first aid video, using my laptop and my truck's audio system via an FM transmitter.

The park ranger, Dave, came by to check us in and collect camping fees.  To our delight, he was a friendly guy.  We chatted with him for about 1/2 hour, and he went on his way.

Saturday morning, we woke up to bitter cold and frost covering everything.  The fire was rekindled ASAP, and the coffee pot was steaming as we waited for more militiamen to show up.  Mt. Dew, his brother, ET, Mad Hatter, Al, Tom and Claymore showed up, and we began our class on fire starting.  Various methods were demonstrated, including flint steel, 9V battery with steel wool, dryer lint with wax, cotton balls with vaseline and hand sanitizer.












Next we built and tested a Dakota fire hole.  This consists of a dug-out fire pit with an air tunnel.  Though the wood we had on hand gave us some trouble (wet / frozen), the pit worked as designed. 













The Dakota fire hole offers some unique advantages.  It is highly efficient for cooking food, focusing heat directly up instead of in all directions.  We cooked a small pot of chili in just a few minutes, making the pit nearly as fast as my Coleman propane burner. 

It is also concealable.  Handy for when you need heat but don't want to be seen.  At night, the fire is invisible from a distance of only thirty feet, and a man standing just four feet from it is invisible as well.  When the pit is no longer needed, it can be quickly filled in, grated out and covered with a few leaves, virtually erasing any trace of ground disturbance or human presence.


Next it was time to put the intermediate and advanced land navigation courses to good use.   I was teamed up with Mad Hatter.  Though I helped create the course, a couple of the points were deep in the woods and difficult to find.  We dropped our scale, so we had to rely on our azimuth and terrain recognition to find our way.  We completed the course successfully.

Blaze orange was a must, as it was still deer hunting season for the bowhunters.









Each point had a name written on green tape which the participants made note of, to prove that they found it.



Afterwards I tried my hand at some rabbit and squirrel hunting.  In about two miles of walking, I did not encounter one living thing.  Oh well, maybe next weekend I'll have more luck.

Much of Saturday evening was devoted to the campfire, as temperatures dropped below twenty degrees.  We doubled up on socks and pants, and made extensive use of disposable hand warmers.  Cheap, reliable and handy, these things can save your extremities, and maybe your life in an emergency.  Buy lots of them and keep them in your vehicle in the winter.



While the turnout was low, some valuable lessons were learned about cold-weather operations.  We tested some new gear, including the Gander Mountain Arctic -15 sleeping bag, which performed nicely.  Some boots, jackets and gloves didn't do so well, and we stumbled a bit in our fire building / maintaining skills. 

This is what happens when you try to thaw a plastic canteen by the fire.  You need a metal canteen for winter!



The cold was a challenge, but it was just a taste of what you'll experience at Snow Dog.  It will likely be colder with several inches of snow.  Take the lessons learned this past weekend to heart.  Also, while unpacking, make a mental note of what you brought but didn't use.  At Operation Snow Dog, you'll be limited to what you can fit in your gear sled, and it fills up quickly.

In the end, it turned out that many of our fears about training on public land were unfounded.  The ranger was friendly, the campground is sufficiently isolated, and we had no negative encounters with anybody.  Even better were the camping fees.  $1.50 per person per night!

For January, we are renting one of the park's cabins:

More pics from Dec 2009.