Posted: 1/20/2014 7:08:07 PM EDT
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I've read the book a couple of times now, tried to watch the movie, and I am simply amazed at what Christopher "Alexander Supertramp" McCandless was able to do with so little.
I have definitely undervalued rice. Its cheap, easily prepared, easily transported, and it is filling. Seems like a man can go pretty far with a 25lb bag of rice, a good wild edibles book, and a .22. The man defines Bug Out. I have been rethinking my long term term supplies and am going to switch rice heavy. Its something I already eat often, wouldn't mind eating often, and is easily prepared. I get hungry just thinking of rice and fried Spam. |
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I suppose if you consider dying a success then he did great. He did far better than 99.9% of Arfcom would. Surviving 4 months in Alaska with just his bag is not bad and it read like he died from pure bad luck, not necessarily being stupid. His other trips were pretty interesting too. |
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I have never read that and need to get around to it, hopefully soon. Read the follow-ups too. Krakauer's book and Penn's movie have both been debunked. https://www.google.com/#q=did+christopher+mccandless+starve |
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I've read the book a couple of times now, tried to watch the movie, and I am simply amazed at what Christopher "Alexander Supertramp" McCandless was able to do with so little. I have definitely undervalued rice. Its cheap, easily prepared, easily transported, and it is filling. Seems like a man can go pretty far with a 25lb bag of rice, a good wild edibles book, and a .22. The man defines Bug Out. I have been rethinking my long term term supplies and am going to switch rice heavy. Its something I already eat often, wouldn't mind eating often, and is easily prepared. I get hungry just thinking of rice and fried Spam. You do realize he died a slow painful death because of his ignorance and unpreparedness right? |
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You do realize he died a slow painful death because of his ignorance and unpreparedness right? Quoted:
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I've read the book a couple of times now, tried to watch the movie, and I am simply amazed at what Christopher "Alexander Supertramp" McCandless was able to do with so little. I have definitely undervalued rice. Its cheap, easily prepared, easily transported, and it is filling. Seems like a man can go pretty far with a 25lb bag of rice, a good wild edibles book, and a .22. The man defines Bug Out. I have been rethinking my long term term supplies and am going to switch rice heavy. Its something I already eat often, wouldn't mind eating often, and is easily prepared. I get hungry just thinking of rice and fried Spam. You do realize he died a slow painful death because of his ignorance and unpreparedness right? IIRC this was discussed here before. The reason he died was because his book listed a certain food as edible, when in fact, it's only edible in small concentrations. He tried to survive solely on that food and died a slow painful death. Sounds a lot less like being an idiot and more like just pure bad luck with a little ignorance thrown in... just my .02 |
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Quoted: He did far better than 99.9% of Arfcom would. Surviving 4 months in Alaska with just his bag is not bad and it read like he died from pure bad luck, not necessarily being stupid. His other trips were pretty interesting too. Quoted: Quoted: I suppose if you consider dying a success then he did great. He did far better than 99.9% of Arfcom would. Surviving 4 months in Alaska with just his bag is not bad and it read like he died from pure bad luck, not necessarily being stupid. His other trips were pretty interesting too. He had plenty of opportunities to survive his adventure. It was evident throughout the book, that I suffered through, that he had a death wish. He was ill prepared and he died. I think that was his goal. I'm still not sure why Kraukauer thought the story was worthy of telling other than to say, "don't do it this way." To say he is admirable because he survived so long on so little doesn't compute. To prepare yourself and survive 4 months in the Alaskan bush and come home and write your own story is admirable. |
| The average American could survive 60 days with NO FOOD at all. Doubling that doesn't seem to be much of a feat quite honestly.....If you want to learn from a real American Survivor you might read up on Wild Bill Moreland. HE was the real deal, though of questionable character..... |
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I felt that McCandless went out of his way to NOT be prepared. They guy that dropped him off at the trailhead offered to take him and get some proper supplies for him, and McCandless refused, with inevitable results. He was also seriously lacking in experience or know-how.
and from wikipedia: "...after living in the bus for three months, he decided to leave, but found the trail back blocked by the Teklanika River, which was then considerably higher and swifter than when he crossed in April. Unknown to McCandless, there was a hand-operated tram that crossed the river only 1/4 of a mile away from where he had previously crossed." 
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I felt that McCandless went out of his way to NOT be prepared. They guy that dropped him off at the trailhead offered to take him and get some proper supplies for him, and McCandless refused, with inevitable results. He was also seriously lacking in experience or know-how. and from wikipedia: "...after living in the bus for three months, he decided to leave, but found the trail back blocked by the Teklanika River, which was then considerably higher and swifter than when he crossed in April. Unknown to McCandless, there was a hand-operated tram that crossed the river only 1/4 of a mile away from where he had previously crossed." This part kills me, he was there 3 months and didn't know about this tram that was only 1/4 mile away? Who could live there 3 months and not have explored the area, especially up and down the river so you knew what was around? I lived in Alaska for 10 years, from '96-'06. It's not as easy to survive up there as people think. There isn't game behind every tree. I hunted every year and shot one deer the whole time. No moose, no caribou, just one little deer. There is a reason all the native tribes live on the coast or on a river, FISH. It's what keeps them alive, not living out in the woods. |
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The guy definitely had some hubris and died as a result of poor planning but his Alaska trip certainly was not his only trip. I think the guy did a lot with very little. Burying caches across the country and retrieving his goods as he needed, burying his money outside of major towns to avoid theft...he was not entirely stupid.
I think his problem was that he thought Alaska was like any other place he survived in. Living off the land is difficult at best. Personally, I took away a lot from his successes and failures. |
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This part kills me, he was there 3 months and didn't know about this tram that was only 1/4 mile away? Who could live there 3 months and not have explored the area, especially up and down the river so you knew what was around? I lived in Alaska for 10 years, from '96-'06. It's not as easy to survive up there as people think. There isn't game behind every tree. I hunted every year and shot one deer the whole time. No moose, no caribou, just one little deer. There is a reason all the native tribes live on the coast or on a river, FISH. It's what keeps them alive, not living out in the woods. Quoted:
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I felt that McCandless went out of his way to NOT be prepared. They guy that dropped him off at the trailhead offered to take him and get some proper supplies for him, and McCandless refused, with inevitable results. He was also seriously lacking in experience or know-how. and from wikipedia: "...after living in the bus for three months, he decided to leave, but found the trail back blocked by the Teklanika River, which was then considerably higher and swifter than when he crossed in April. Unknown to McCandless, there was a hand-operated tram that crossed the river only 1/4 of a mile away from where he had previously crossed." This part kills me, he was there 3 months and didn't know about this tram that was only 1/4 mile away? Who could live there 3 months and not have explored the area, especially up and down the river so you knew what was around? I lived in Alaska for 10 years, from '96-'06. It's not as easy to survive up there as people think. There isn't game behind every tree. I hunted every year and shot one deer the whole time. No moose, no caribou, just one little deer. There is a reason all the native tribes live on the coast or on a river, FISH. It's what keeps them alive, not living out in the woods. I thought his lack of exploration was VERY strange. I would have thought with just his hunting and foraging that he would have walked up and down that river. |
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He was mentally ill. The only thing different is he didn't choose suicide by cop or hard drugs to do himself in. He sought out and found high risk lifestyles. Being homeless is dangerous. Going places in the wild without proper planning is dangerous. He's no different than some wino that dies in -5 degree weather under a bridge. The movie was a good watch but there is about a thousand better movies and a million better books to get real information from.
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Much can be learned from him and the book and movie. Not gonna worry about what is correct or not, some people have no clue about options that are out there so maybe it will open some eyeballs and fire a few brain cells. I think much more can be learned from primitive tribes and what they did with very little technology. I am somewhat amazed by some of today's homeless people, how do they handle not being able to stream tv shows? Or ask google questions when they have a question? Dick Proneke is another name to do some searching on as well. |
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He was mentally ill. The only thing different is he didn't choose suicide by cop or hard drugs to do himself in. He sought out and found high risk lifestyles. Being homeless is dangerous. Going places in the wild without proper planning is dangerous. He's no different than some wino that dies in -5 degree weather under a bridge. The movie was a good watch but there is about a thousand better movies and a million better books to get real information from. He did have a some kind of mental illness no doubt but I do not believe that he was actually suicidal, just very reckless. I cannot believe that you thought the movie was good...I struggled to get through it... |
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Much can be learned from him and the book and movie. Not gonna worry about what is correct or not, some people have no clue about options that are out there so maybe it will open some eyeballs and fire a few brain cells. I think much more can be learned from primitive tribes and what they did with very little technology. I am somewhat amazed by some of today's homeless people, how do they handle not being able to stream tv shows? Or ask google questions when they have a question? Dick Proneke is another name to do some searching on as well. I'm going to look him up. Before I read about McCandless I never thought about how the homeless, hobos, and tramps survive. I think they have a lot that they can teach about surviving on meager means, by their mistakes and successes. |
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I'm going to look him up. Before I read about McCandless I never thought about how the homeless, hobos, and tramps survive. I think they have a lot that they can teach about surviving on meager means, by their mistakes and successes. They survive. Many holocaust victims did the same, they survived. They didn't have the strength or means to improve or escape their situation. Surviving is not thriving. We talk about survival preparedness but I have always seen it as being prepared so we don't have to JUST survive. When you read the true fact behind into the wild and look at aerial photos you realize that kid was an idiot who was hiking into his death. Did he have other adventures? Sure but luck can carry anyone for awhile. |
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He did have a some kind of mental illness no doubt but I do not believe that he was actually suicidal, just very reckless. I cannot believe that you thought the movie was good...I struggled to get through it... Quoted:
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He was mentally ill. The only thing different is he didn't choose suicide by cop or hard drugs to do himself in. He sought out and found high risk lifestyles. Being homeless is dangerous. Going places in the wild without proper planning is dangerous. He's no different than some wino that dies in -5 degree weather under a bridge. The movie was a good watch but there is about a thousand better movies and a million better books to get real information from. He did have a some kind of mental illness no doubt but I do not believe that he was actually suicidal, just very reckless. I cannot believe that you thought the movie was good...I struggled to get through it... A lot of kids are reckless in their youth, myself was no exception. Some of us took it a little further than others or got lucky. How many times can count looking back " dang that should've killed me"? Too many for me and I'm sure I'm not alone. |
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You can find parts of the PBS special "Alone In The Wilderness" on YouTube. Here is one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYCn2OrfQlY . Mr Proenneke walked the walk that most of us only talk about (myself included).
EDIT: And here is his first book http://www.2shared.com/document/khAN-EqV/One_Mans_Wilderness__An_Alaska.html . |
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Dick Proenneke puts McCandless to shame. Not even worth to be mentioned in the same thread. I'd also put Alexander Selkirk up there too, but his was a different situation in a different climate. McCandless was underprepared(in both knowledge and supplies) and died because of it. If you want to admire someone for surviving in the wild, there are many better examples out there. |
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the movie was descent but like usual "Hippy Fare" getting told to live free while they are filling up thier water jugs from the spicket outside a convience store. It's pretty easy to look at his life or that of Everett Ruess and appreciate the freedoms they experience but you need supply's and insight from the experienced to survive certain areas and that ignorance of not learning from those in the know is what gets people like the Mccandles kid killed. Jeremiah Johnson in the movie was done if it weren't for the old guy who taught him to survive the area.
The part of the movie with Hal Holbrook was great though. |
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From articles in the google link I posted:
He wasn't poisoned from plants he ate. He had a map and $300 when he died. He wasn't in the "wilderness." He was a long days hike from a Denali park service rd. which had a crossing over the Tek river, if he used the map he had, which didn't show the tram cable crossing car up river. Krakauer twisted the scenario into " . . and other possesions " and ". . . no topographic map." (I'm paraphrasing) to make it sound as if he had no map. True, he had no topo map, but he had a map that showed a way out to the highway. He starved to death when his BMI dropped below that necessary to sustain life. Around 13. There is also speculation he had a rt. arm/shoulder injury that hampered his food foraging and hunting as evidenced in a photo of him sitting by the bus and his SOS note he posted on the bus stating ". . . I am injured." Krakauer played fast and loose with the story for sensationalism as did Penn in the movie. Certain subsequent printings of the book were hastily removed from store shelves and replaced with an edited version, when the story didn't add up after particular facts came out. The Athabasca indians have eaten sweet vetch seeds for generations (a common name of one of the the plants he ate blamed for poisoning) with no ills and there are no recorded poisonings from wild potato. As far as mold in the seed creating a toxin, researchers have pretty much ruled that out also. Even if a slight amount was present, it couldn't cause his demise in the last 16 days that his journal recorded what transpired. The kid had spirit. He took his own path. Sadly, his ignorance killed him. Edited for spelling and added content.. |
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I've read the book a couple of times now, tried to watch the movie, and I am simply amazed at what Christopher "Alexander Supertramp" McCandless was able to do with so little. You amaze very easily. A guy with no preparation, no plan and no skills dies of starvation. |
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He was a thief and a idiot. People that steal from cabins/camps are lower than snakes. I don't mind people using cabins as long as they replace what they use. Yep! And the Moose he killed he had no idea how to preserve it. I knew guys who flew over their planes and he showed nothing of distress. He had plenty of greens in rubber to throw into the fire to give dark black smoke off. There has been many others coming and going from that bus that lost their lives. They should dispose of that bus. |
All this complaining...
The guy went out, screwed up a lot, and taught us a lot how not to. He gave the opportunity for folks to make metrosexual books and movies of his 'adventure'. Also gave us a wonderful opportunity for Monday Morning Sheeple Prepper complaining. 
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He poisoned himself in the same way Nazi's toyed with during WWII. Wasnt his overt fault but he was foolish nonetheless.
Technical whitepaper http://www.scribd.com/mobile/doc/166341536 Original article: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2013/09/how-chris-mccandless-died.html Note the author of the NY Post article. |
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All this complaining...
The guy went out, screwed up a lot, and taught us a lot how not to. He gave the opportunity for folks to make metrosexual books and movies of his 'adventure'. Also gave us a wonderful opportunity for Monday Morning Sheeple Prepper complaining.
As usual, Expy, you never fail to bring a chuckle to my belly. 
Yes, McCandless was a misguided fucktard kid - surely, but his mistakes can be a lesson we all can learn. Contrary to what has already been said in here, I'd like to think that 99% of the folks who frequent SD here could survive well beyond what he did. Lets not forget that when McCandless started out, there was no Les Stroud or his contemporaries on the telly. Even the average joe would probably fare better than he did. |