(AACR) After Action Camping Report, by Scipio
I just returned from my annual, uh semi-annual, or more accurately, my “occasional” cold weather training camp out.
One winter when my two oldest boys were around ten and twelve years old, I randomly picked a night that was forecasted to be in the mid 20-degree range for “cold weather training”. We were to train by sleeping outside under the stars. The purpose of the exercise was to teach the boys how to endure discomfort and cold.
The boys were so excited, meanwhile, I had to overcome my wife’s protestations. To hear her tell it, we were going to do a HALO jump into Siberia where emergency rescue was a day or two away at best. I pointed out to her we would only be fifty feet from the front door, and that brought her back from her mother hen reaction. Besides, I said, if they get cold, they can simply come back into the house. Apparently, she thought my old infantry sergeant mentality had overcome me, and I would be forcing my little men into insufferable endurance against their will.
All we took out with us was ground cover and sleeping bags. The weather forecast was for no rain (good), clear skies (bad). I let them pick out their sleeping bags from the collection I have. They picked the coolest colored ones usually used for sleep overs. After getting in their bags, I kept hearing them say, “I’m cold” over and over. I let that sink in for a few moments and just when I thought they were going to give up and tap out, I told them to go back in the house and pick the dull colored sleeping bags with tags indicating a 0-degree rating. The replacement bags worked perfectly. No, more “I’m cold” for the rest of the night.
In the mean time I was freezing because I was cold, even in my 20-degree bag! I was also forty years old at the time, and the old me that had previously slept out for up to ten days at a time in the open air on frozen ground in the winter on the DMZ in Korea, had long since left my body.
Before we went out for the night, I spelled out the ROE (Rules of Engagement). I ensured my wife that if they couldn’t stand it any longer, they could tap out and come back inside to their mommy without any questions asked. I emphasized the word “mommy” not “mom” to my boys. Now, that it was me out there shivering in the middle of the cold night, I was praying one of them would tap out so I could go inside! They never did, crap! They were tough little buggers; don’t know where they got that. I don’t know about them, but it was good “cold weather training” for me so I would remember what it was like to shake uncontrollably through the night in an inadequate sleeping bag.
Fast forward to the present day and the purpose of this AACR. One of my youngest sons (two girls in between the older two boys and younger two boys, six children in all) who is 42 years old, suddenly announced he wanted to go “cold weather training” with me. He and his other brother grew up when video games had become mainstream, and unlike their older brothers who did not have that influence, they spent more time on video games and less time outdoors.
So, we picked a cold cloudless night, reserved a camp site at a nearby state park, gathered our “camping stuff” and headed outdoors. Believe it or not, “mommy” still had some concerns, but more of a make sure he is OK kind of thing. What is it with mothers? The first time I took the other boys out it was as if I was going to make them live out The Almond Brothers’ song, “Whipping Post”.
By reading this you know we survived, much to the relief to my wife. BTW she texted us twice while were out just to “see how you’re doing?”. When I went through Mike Von Steuben’s Team Leader Class the other year during a cold March weekend, she texted me she had made a reservation for me at a nearby hotel in case I got cold sleeping out. Geesh.
Now you have the back story, sorry it is so long, now to the AACR.
FAILS:
1.Before I left for the trip, I noticed my cell phone battery was half charged. No worries, I planned on charging it with my car charger on the way but I forgot.
2.No worries I had a plan B. I had a large lantern with a recharging cell phone port. However, I forgot to check the batteries in the lantern before I left and discovered it was dead.
3.No worries I had a plan C. I planned on bringing extra batteries. However, I forgot.
4.I brought canned food to eat, and had my trusty P-38 to open them allowing me to not bring a cumbersome can opener. To my chagrin, I discovered my neuropathy from Agent Orange exposure had rendered my fingers incapable of using my P-38! I was crushed. My P-38 has been on my key chain or around my neck with my dog tags since June 1966. Sounds crazy, but a sadness overcame me I could not explain. That was a reality check I never thought would happen.
5. Since it was cold, 40’s during the day, I didn’t think we needed any bug spray. Apparently, there were some mosquitos doing their own “cold weather training” and they kept bothering us until temps dropped around sunset.
6. There was also an incident in starting the fire.
The quickly approaching darkness caught us without our fire ready to start. I told my son we must hurry, “This is how you start a fire that will last”. I placed combustible material in the fire pit first, then followed by small dry twigs I had brought with me, and then thin split kindlin, and finally kiln dried birch split wood. To hasten things up I did something you should not do, I added a “little” accelerate.
I used a long neck cook-out grill lighter to start the fire, and as I have always instinctively done, I looked away from the fire as I light the lighter. There was instantly a loud “Whoosh” and a simultaneous fireball that engulfed me as I fell back. To say the least I was surprised, and my son was too as he was asking me, “Dad, are you alright?” Fortunately, the winter clothing covering my whole body, my toboggin pulled over my ears, and the long neck lighter kept me from getting seriously burned. Except for singed eyebrows there were no noticeable effects. Yet, my right hand, from my knuckles to my coat sleave burned for about two hours afterwards. After a while I wondered why my fingers on my right were not feeling the same way? Then I realized it was because of my neuropathy. I can’t feel anything with my fingers anyway.
After realizing I was OK, we started laughing about it. My son said, “Dad, we were really close to me calling mom and telling her, “Mom, I’m here in the Burn Unit at UNC Hospitals with dad, and they tell me he is going to make it”. I told my son, “Son, what I just demonstrated is NOT how to start a fire”. The consequences could have been serious, especially if I had put more than a “little” accelerate on the fire
7. I failed to realize getting out of a warm sleeping bag and crawling out of the tent to go pee three times during the night would cause such sleep interruption. I woke up tired.
Successes:
1 I had a Plan D for charging my cell phone. I carried a “Pocket Juice” cell phone charger I bought at Batteries Plus that allows up to 2 ½ recharges of a completely dead cell phone battery. Scout would be proud of my emphasis on comms.
2. Unknown to me, my son had brought a traditional can opener that made up for my inability to use my P-38 to open our canned food.
3. We carried in enough fire wood to keep the fire (not the explosion) going until around 1:00 AM
4. We had the right clothing and sleeping bags.
5. I took work shop heavy duty screw hooks that we screwed into the trees to hang our lanterns, packs, and things we wanted to keep off the ground.
6. We had a second, smaller working lantern, one without a cell phone charger. I did check it out before we left and it worked fine.
7. We had two LUCI inflatable lanterns that we used for campsite illumination. They burned brightly from 6:00 PM when I turned them on until 6:30 AM until I turned them off. I checked them out for a full charge before we left. I had never had them on for that long before so I didn’t know how long they would last.
8. I brought a large bottle of hand sanitizer for hand washing.
9. Our butane/propane fueled cook stoves were tested before hand, cannisters were full, and they performed nicely.
10. We both had packing lists, but in the hustle of getting out, we omitted some of the things that resulted in the “Fail” category listing. When in a hurry it is easy to miss something.
Summary: Over all our preparation was adequate, but oversights and carelessness could have resulted in more than an inconvenience. We loaded our vehicles with our camping stuff, and I was surprised it took us almost two hours to get on the road. We moved quickly and efficiently to and from our campsite leaving it in the pristine condition we found it.
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Not a P-38, but a close relative.
Matt
That reminds me that getting old is not for the youth.