Outdoorsmanship 101, Wednesday, period 1

[vdistinctive]

Class met on the edge of the preserve. As soon as the students arrived, Eliot made sure they all had sunscreen (or other sun blocking cover), a water bottle (near as he could tell, all his students this time around would hydrate with water), and a reusable fire starter. Once everyone was gathered and basically prepared, he waved for them to follow and started them hiking into the woods.

"This is a class on outdoorsmanship, so you're all going to want to show up prepared to spend the whole class period outside. That means you're going to need to be dressed for the weather, whatever it ends up being. That means checking the weather before coming to class. This is the only time I'm gonna be providing water -- you gotta bring your own for the rest of the session. You show up without water, you better be able to get some before we set out at the start of class, or you're not going. I ain't havin' anyone dehydrate on my watch. Rule number one for outdoorsmanship is to be prepared. Any of you ever spend any time around the Boy Scouts of America, that'll be a familiar refrain to you. Goin' out into the wilderness unprepared is a great way to get dead. I'll give you a couple tips on how to get by without your supplies if you end up kidnapped or shipwrecked or trapped by a plane crash or something, but for the most part, if you're goin' outside, it's 'cause you want to be there, in which case, you got no excuse."

That lecture got them all the way to a nice little clearing Eliot had scouted ahead of time, with a small creek running along one side, and plenty of small rocks, sticks, and tinder along the edges.

"It's the first week, so we're going to do a pretty easy one this time," Eliot said. "We'll get on building fires shortly, but tradition dictates y'all statin' your name and such, first. So let's get that out of the way. I'm Eliot Spencer. You can call me Eliot, or Mr. Spencer, or just Spencer if you want, I'll answer to any of it. I served with the United States Army Special Forces and did freelance work requirin' me to be out in and survive in most climate types on the planet Earth, and before that I grew up doin' plenty of campin' and adventuring in the wilds of Oklahoma. I still do this sort of thing for fun, any time I can convince my partners to tag along. Now . . . you." He pointed to a random student. "Name, experience in the great outdoors, and why you're takin' this class."

Comments

Sign in

[vdistinctive]

Outside

Re: Sign in

[kenselvren.livejournal.com]

Jalian d'Arsennette y ken Selvren

Re: Sign in

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo Noyamano

Listen to the leture

[vdistinctive]

Try not to trip over anything while trying to pay attention and hike at the same time.

Re: Listen to the leture

[kenselvren.livejournal.com]

Quite a few of Jalian's classes growing up had been like this. She wasn't tripping. She was listening with an increasing amount of respect, though.

Re: Listen to the leture

[vrajna_kralis]

This was a class of Messire Delaunay's devising, though Hyacinthe couldn't find it in himself to complain. For all that he was a city boy, born and bred, and Didikani to boot, the Tsingano were a traveling people and this would be useful to know.

Not that he thought for a moment that Anafiel had signed him up for this class in order to assist him in joining his grandfather's kumpania.

"What is this?" he asked, sniffing at the unguent in the container.

Re: Listen to the leture

[vdistinctive]

"Sunscreen," Eliot said. "You put it on your exposed skin so you don't get burned."

If pressed, he'd get into UV rays and long term sun damage leading to potentially deadly disease, but he'd stick to the straight forward explanation for the time being.

Introductions

[vdistinctive]

Name, outdoor experience, and why you're in the class.

Re: Introductions

[kenselvren.livejournal.com]

"Jalian. Jalian d'Arsennette y ken Selvren," she said, and shrugged. "I am a Huntress. Part of that is surviving in the wilderness. I decided to take this class to see how things are different in this timeline."

Re: Introductions

[vdistinctive]

Eliot nodded. "Welcome, Jalian. I'd be interested in hearin' more about bein' a Huntress, sometime. If I end up glossin' over something you don't know, bein' from another timeline, let me know, yeah?"

He didn't actually anticipate her doing so; she seemed like a rather capable, independent young woman, the type who liked to figure things out for herself first and foremost. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to make sure she -- and everyone else -- knew that he wouldn't jump down their throats for asking questions.

Re: Introductions

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Ringo Noyamano. I spend a lot of time outside, but I think that's kinda different from outdoors? Never spent much time in the forest or mountains or anything like that growing up, you know?"

She chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. "And I guess I'm here to try to change that? I've met a lot of people from less, um, urban places than me, and I kinda want to know how to handle things if I ever get a chance to visit or something."

Re: Introductions

[vdistinctive]

"That's true," Eliot said, smiling. "Bein' outdoors in a city doesn't work the same as bein' outdoors in the woods, or out on a prairie. There's a bit of crossover -- fire is fire, if it's in a fire circle in a clearing or in a trash can in an alley -- but the main challenges are gonna be different. Still, maybe you'll pick up some tricks for your own home, along with those of some of your friends."

Re: Introductions

[vrajna_kralis]

"I am Hyacinthe," he said with a merry laugh. "And I've little enough experience outside. I was born on Night's Doorstep in the City of Elua and until I came here, I've not gone more than a few miles from there. I believe my patron wishes me to gain additional knowledge of how to live off the land, so does he send me to Skaldia or the like, I can return without needed to be carted like some pampered noble."

Re: Introductions

[vdistinctive]

Oh lord, it was like listening to a Shakespearean play.

Which, fortunately, Eliot wasn't terrible at, but it did take him an extra moment to make sure he was parsing that floridity properly.

"Always good to have an extra level of self-sufficiency," he said. "'Specially if you might want to do any side trips on those, uh. Missions your 'patron' might send ya on."

Re: Introductions

[rhymeswithtable.livejournal.com]

"I'm Mabel Pines, and I might be a city girl from California, but my brother and I had all kinds of adventures in the woods in Oregon. You never know when a class like this is going to come in handy!"

You better believe she had her trusty grappling hook with her again, too.

Re: Introductions

[notamascot]

Kaylin was already covered head to toe in dark clothes as usual so she hadn't used the sun thingy. Yes, her face was uncovered, at least that part of it that her hair hadn't fallen over as it escaped from its loose knot at the back of her neck. She looked up at Eliot. "I am Kaylin Neya and I grew up in the fiefs, which while not exactly wilderness, might as well have been compared to here. But I thought it would be useful to learn more."

Re: Introductions

[omgnochecksyet]

"Eric Bittle, I was a junior counselor at a summer camp a few years ago, as well as just some regular ol' camping and, well," he shrugged. "It just seemed like the kind of thing that might come in handy."

Re: Introductions

[notfinnyet]

"FN-2187," said FN-2187, "and I haven't had the basic outdoors survival training module yet, so, minimal experience with the outdoors, but since I seem to be stuck planetside for the time being it seemed advisable to get some experience?" It came out like a question, yes. Approve of his reasoning, authority figure. Please don't send him for retraining for thinking on his own.

Build a fire

[vdistinctive]

Eliot had a simple picture guide, and a much longer explanation for those more interested in the physics and mechanics of the process.

"You can use whatever you got on hand to get the fire goin'," Eliot said. "Matches and lighters work fine, but have limited functionality in the wind and rain. The fire starters I gave you take some practice, but don't need refuelin' and it's way easier than tryin' to do it by friction, though that's a useful one to practice, too, if you're thinkin' you might end up livin' the kind of life that gets you thrown into the woods overnight on a moment's notice with no supplies."

Eliot had absolutely had to learn to start fires by rubbing sticks together the hard way. That had been a very, very long night in the Black Forest. There was a reason why so many of the creepy fairy tales about wolves came from that place.

Re: Build a fire

[kenselvren.livejournal.com]

Jalian could do it with only friction, but learning better ways was always a good thing, and since they had the fire-starters, she would go ahead and learn to use that.

Re: Build a fire

[vrajna_kralis]

This, at least, Hyacinthe was good at, even without his new firestarter. He was from a time long before matches or lighters and getting the fire started in the stove in the mornings was a chore he'd taken over from his mother long ago. Not that he'd ever used two sticks, but he carried flint in his waistpouch as a matter of course.

So after demonstrating his ability to start a fire with flint and tinder, he set about learning to use his firestarter, which operated on the same principles, he was pleased to discover.

Re: Build a fire

[notamascot]

Kaylin was completely and utterly baffled by his 'explanations, but starting a fire - whether it was with her own flint and steel or this firestarter thing or rubbing sticks together - was pretty easy. She did find the firestarter quite fascinating though.

If he had a lighter he might never have gotten it away from her!

Talk to Eliot

[vdistinctive]

You could try quizzing him on survival scenarios. He made those up for himself for fun.

Re: Talk to Eliot

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Wuv You!" Hardison's mechanized voice was becoming increasingly salty.

OOC

[vdistinctive]

Damned holiday weekends. I literally went to check my flist this morning and went "oh shit, it's Wednesday."