what could james kim have done?

[WT]

It sounds like he did stay on the road initially but after some time he wandered off the road

Yea, but he walked the way he had driven already, knowing that he hadn't passed a damn thing in 7 miles. I had read that they theorize a bear or other critter chased him a bit, which is why he initially went off the road.

 

[torpid]

I had some stupid macguyver but dumb ideas and figured he didn't try them but I read this article and decided he did a lot of intelligent things and only a few unintelligent ones. I am not sure I would have done any better.

 

[FilmCamera]

What could he have done? Stayed in his car, like you are supposed to. You are not supposed to move if lost. Most rescue people will tell you that if you stay in one spot you are more likely to be found.

 

[spidey07]

In all honesty if it were me I'd build a huge, humongous fire (think 10 foot bonfire) and sleep in the car. Forage for food and sleep most of the time. Tear the car apart to use for tools. You'll be plenty warm.

You'd have an endless supply of water so you're good to go.

 

[Dacalo]

Originally posted by: spidey07
In all honesty if it were me I'd build a huge, humongous fire (think 10 foot bonfire) and sleep in the car. Forage for food and sleep most of the time. Tear the car apart to use for tools. You'll be plenty warm.

You'd have an endless supply of water so you're good to go.

Have you ever tried to burn wet wood? Tear the car apart with what?

I am sorry but some of the comments on this thread are naive.

 

[Mrvile]

I wonder why they chose to burn tires instead of just the wood lying around?

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Dacalo

Originally posted by: spidey07
In all honesty if it were me I'd build a huge, humongous fire (think 10 foot bonfire) and sleep in the car. Forage for food and sleep most of the time. Tear the car apart to use for tools. You'll be plenty warm.

You'd have an endless supply of water so you're good to go.

Have you ever tried to burn wet wood? Tear the car apart with what?

I am sorry but some of the comments on this thread are naive.

The huge fire would allow you to put wet wood on it without problem. That's the main purpose of getting it so hot. Sure it would take a while to get to that size, but with a nice pic and rocks you could even dry out the wood quickly. That's why the fire would be so huge.

Also wet evergreens (small branches with needles) go up in a blaze even on a low fire. I've been stuck in the middle of nowhere with a soaked forest and you can do just fine.

Also you've got a tire iron and other metal to use. Hopefully there were hubcaps, otherwise you could find SOMETHING to hold water.

 

[Drakkon]

I'm surprized no one has suggested cannibalism yet...donner party anyone?
its the time tested solution for any californian family stuck in a snowy moutain pass...although it didnt work out so well for them either...

 

[merlocka]

Originally posted by: spidey07
In all honesty if it were me I'd build a huge, humongous fire (think 10 foot bonfire)

with what fuel?

and sleep in the car. Forage for food and sleep most of the time.

I'm down with that. Stay in the car.

Tear the car apart to use for tools.

Aside from a tire iron, plz explain what you expect to fabricate from your car parts.

You'll be plenty warm.

?

You'd have an endless supply of water so you're good to go.

It takes a lot of snow to make drinking water. It takes a lot of heat to melt that snow.

Based on the answers in this thread, I'm thinking that James did a hell of a lot better than the average human, even though he didn't stay put.

 

[her209]

If the car is stuck but the engine can still be turned on, turn on the car, and pop the hood. Put some wood over the engine to dry it. Continue doing this, piling up the dried logs in the car.

 

[her34]

Originally posted by: torpid
I had some stupid macguyver but dumb ideas and figured he didn't try them but I read this article and decided he did a lot of intelligent things and only a few unintelligent ones. I am not sure I would have done any better.

good link. gives more insight on decisions made

 

[spidey07]

Merlocka, you're in the middle of the forest. Plenty of wood. And don't tell me "but it's wet", you can burn wet wood just fine.

Tools? Seats for twine/tieing, the padding for possibly making water (just set the snow on top, water comes out the bottom into your collector). Could probably find something that could be used as a shovel - dig near tree roots to find food.

 

[olds]

Anyone know how stuck the car was? Could he have dug it out with a make-shift shovel?

 

[ultimatebob]

The sad thing is that he could have survived if he just walked UP the hill for about a mile or so instead of walking DOWN the hill. There was a hunting lodge up the hill that had food, and perhaps a radio for calling for help.

Personally, I would have made the biggest bonfire I could have in order to get someone's attention. Not sure if it would have worked, but it was better than just wandering out in the woods with no idea where to go.

 

[0roo0roo]

guess keep something like this in the trunk,
http://www.wisementrading.com/knifeandsaw/saws.htm
folding bow saw type dealy
otherwise your stuck bending over young trees and trying to hack em down with your knife

and don't forget the zinc firestarter you can have on your keychain
http://www.equipped.com/devices28.htm
about 5 bucks from wallyworld

 

[HardcoreRobot]

start a fire, and keep it burning till rescue

 

[QED]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
The sad thing is that he could have survived if he just walked UP the hill for about a mile or so instead of walking DOWN the hill. There was a hunting lodge up the hill that had food, and perhaps a radio for calling for help.

Personally, I would have made the biggest bonfire I could have in order to get someone's attention. Not sure if it would have worked, but it was better than just wandering out in the woods with no idea where to go.

Actually the lodge was down the hill.

This is a tough question, and short of obvious hindsight answers I'm not sure I'd do anything differently than what James Kim did.

In theory I'd like to say that if I didn't find anything after walking for a day, I'd head back to the car but the fear that around the next bend is help would be too great to actually turn around.

 

[swimscubasteve]

He could have made a big fire and been fine for a couple of weeks, easy. I have been through survival training and, trust me, there was plenty of wood to be burned where he was.

 

[randomlinh]

how do you easily burn wet wood? this is a serious question, my friend had a wood stove at his old house, and if the wood outside was even a little damp, it was a pain to keep the fire going. Would it be just a matter of getting the fire started.. say from the seats if he could get them out... and just keep putting wood on there and not letting it go out?

obviously, I would have been a lot worse out there. It kind of reminds me of the book Hatchet. I would have not survived a week.

 

[her209]

Originally posted by: randomlinh
It kind of reminds me of the book Hatchet.

Oh man, that book was f*cking awesome.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: randomlinh
how do you easily burn wet wood? this is a serious question, my friend had a wood stove at his old house, and if the wood outside was even a little damp, it was a pain to keep the fire going. Would it be just a matter of getting the fire started.. say from the seats if he could get them out... and just keep putting wood on there and not letting it go out?

obviously, I would have been a lot worse out there. It kind of reminds me of the book Hatchet. I would have not survived a week.

You need a really HOT fire. In those conditions it could easily take an entire day to get a really HOT fire going. The kind that will melt glass within 30 seconds.

Your friends wood stove won't allow a HOT fire. Not enough air.

Not only am I an eagle scout, I'm also a rampant pyromaniac.

 

[swimscubasteve]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: randomlinh
how do you easily burn wet wood? this is a serious question, my friend had a wood stove at his old house, and if the wood outside was even a little damp, it was a pain to keep the fire going. Would it be just a matter of getting the fire started.. say from the seats if he could get them out... and just keep putting wood on there and not letting it go out?

obviously, I would have been a lot worse out there. It kind of reminds me of the book Hatchet. I would have not survived a week.

You need a really HOT fire. In those conditions it could easily take an entire day to get a really HOT fire going. The kind that will melt glass within 30 seconds.

Your friends wood stove won't allow a HOT fire. Not enough air.

Not only am I an eagle scout, I'm also a rampant pyromaniac.

Not exactly. You need to dry your wood next to the fire. And if it is only covered with snow it won't be too wet. It also help to burn smaller sized wood and not try and ignite logs.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: swimscubasteve
Not exactly. You need to dry your wood next to the fire. And if it is only covered with snow it won't be too wet. It also help to burn smaller sized wood and not try and ignite logs.

Meh, if the fire is hot enough it doesn't matter. But your right. The snow will insulate the wood and it should be pretty dry, sript the bark if you need to. Having a big arse fire sure doesn't hurt in drying out that wood though. If anything strip the bark, put that close to the fire and use it when you need a boost. I'm not saying pile on huge fuel logs. Just build a really big/hot bonfire, get the heat up and then burn your wet stuff. Heck even a campfire can light up wet evergreen branches.

-edit-
Kim's demise was mainly due to not building a roaring, huge, fire.

 

[KK]

like others had said, he coulda stayed with the car. two if he was going to try and get help, stay on the road. Someone said he drove seven miles on this road before getting stuck. now to walk 7 miles shouldn't take but a few hours.

 

[Tom]

has their been a definitive report as to why they took the route they did ?

I don't mean where he walked, but why they drove there in the first place ?