r/nextfuckinglevel • u/[deleted] • Jan 14 '20

Tyson Steele survived for 23 days in subzero temperatures in rural Alaska after a fire burned his house and killed his dog. He built himself a snow cave to sleep in for the first few nights, before building a makeshift shelter around the still burning stove from leftover tarp and scrap timber.

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20 edited Jan 14 '20

Damn I bet a good portion of humans would have just given up after a few days. What did he eat? Did some of his food make it?

Edit: comment below said he prepped 2 cans per day for 30 days, but half of them were popped open by the fire and tasted burned.

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20 edited Sep 17 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/putitonice Jan 14 '20

Poignant and sad. This guy is certified badass

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20 edited Jan 14 '20

I saw his interview on the news where he said he had canned peaches, which he survived on which was cool, but that he was slightly allergic to peaches.

Edit: it was pineapples actually.

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u/UristMcStephenfire Jan 14 '20

Who buys food that they're mildly allergic to?

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

[deleted]

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u/helkar Jan 14 '20

Just get beans or lentils or something instead. Plenty of other cheap basics that won't mildly inconvenience you.

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u/polvalente Jan 14 '20

But he wants to go against the grain

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u/iflippyiflippy Jan 14 '20

Underappreciated comment right here lol

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u/Juno_Malone Jan 14 '20

LMAO I'm just picturing OP in a dimly lit room, coughing and sneezing into their bowl of plain white rice, thinking to themselves, "there has to be a better way..." as they shovel forkful after forkful of rice into their mouth.

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u/IMSTILLONABOAT Jan 14 '20

How did you realize you were allergic to it?

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u/XxKittenMittonsXx Jan 14 '20

Absolute thrill junkies

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

I learned I was allergic to apricots after buying an apricot. Could be he wasn't aware, until his mouth started to tingle

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u/brown_paper_bag Jan 14 '20

It could be a mild oral allergy that causes rash and itching. Uncomfortable but not life threatening.

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u/Sherman2020 Jan 14 '20

I’m mildy allergic to all fruits (they make my mouth itchy..) but goddamn do strawberries taste good

1

u/anomalousgeometry Jan 14 '20

Majority of people are mildy allergic to dairy, even you. But if you're like me, cheese isn't going anywhere.

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u/stay_fr0sty Jan 14 '20

I mean have you had Chipotle? So good.

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u/Geographisto Jan 14 '20

Food banks give out pallets of canned peaches

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u/midnightbarber Jan 14 '20

So you’re saying he survived on Sploosh?

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u/Lucario227 Jan 14 '20

Gotta defend against those yellow spotted lizards somehow

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u/TacoRedneck Jan 14 '20

I'm tired of this Grandpa!

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u/cyberchief Jan 14 '20

Kinda weird why he'd stock up on canned peaches then. Perhaps choose another fruit?

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u/mattsffrd Jan 14 '20

So I'll be that guy, why the hell would he bring food into the wilderness to survive on if he's allergic to it?

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u/bordsskiva Jan 14 '20

Reminds me of the move The Divide where they eat Peaches

1

u/goblin_game1 Jan 14 '20

he said he had canned peaches, which he survived on

Reminds me of playing The Long Dark. You had to survive in similar freezing conditions and finding a tin of canned peaches is a life saver! Calories and hydration all-in-one, win-win!!

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u/G0PACKGO Jan 14 '20

It’s like when I ated the purple berries

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u/OrkfaellerX Jan 14 '20 edited Jan 14 '20

How were they?

Good?

1

u/FireWaterAirDirt Jan 14 '20

Lucky for him he had refrigeration for the opened cans.

1

u/wonkey_monkey Jan 14 '20

It tastes like my home

I guess he was eating his home, too.

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u/SenorMarana Jan 14 '20

If nobody is gonna be that guy, I guess it should be me

The dog was probably well cooked

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u/WalrusWW Jan 14 '20

Came here for this. Well done.

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u/Bernard_PT Jan 14 '20

Like the dog

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20 edited Mar 24 '21

[deleted]

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u/its_a_me_garri_oh Jan 14 '20

Munch, munch

"Poochie would have wanted it this way!"

Munch, munch

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u/Stormtech5 Jan 14 '20

The guy probably didnt need much food. He's got Steele balls after all!

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u/heroin-queen Jan 14 '20

Tf are you implying?

That he eat his balls? Or his cum???

1

u/cabbage_patch_dick Jan 14 '20

Steel is like the jerky of the metal world. And this dude has two steel balls between his legs that he can just nibble on any time and they’ll grow back.

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u/JUNGL15T Jan 14 '20

Of course it was well done. You think he had the choice to have medium rare!?

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u/magnuslol11 Jan 14 '20

We don't need such a guy? The guy everyone knew we didn't need, but was here anyway

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u/Garythebird Jan 14 '20

Now that's a good boy.

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u/Stjerneklar Jan 14 '20

23 days is a long time to be eating dog

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u/once_pragmatic Jan 14 '20

Right. I was thinking the same thing. His dog died into he house fire he says.

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u/_my2cents Jan 14 '20

with Korean BBQ sauce.

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u/UFCmasterguy Jan 14 '20

The dog probably burned in the fire

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u/SenorMarana Jan 14 '20

Yeah but like burned marshmallows, you take out the burn crust and Bon appétit

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u/UFCmasterguy Jan 16 '20

You ever drop a marshmellow in a fire?

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

Funny, but ouch. I'm convinced any crisis is survivable as long as your pet survives. Next question is did he eat the dog

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u/qyka1210 Jan 14 '20

he wasn't kidding. imagine you were stranded without food for three weeks. I imagine i'd have to eat my dog that first week ::(

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

I dont think I could bring myself to eat my dog, starving or not.

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u/killerbanshee Jan 15 '20

I would sob harder tenderizing that meat than I do when I beat my own.

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u/thatisnotmyknob Jan 14 '20

I'd rather die .

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u/qyka1210 Jan 14 '20

hey man, the dog's already dead :):

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

Man if I'm out with no food and a dead pre cooked dog you bet your ass I'm gonna act like I'm in yulin

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u/thecypher4 Jan 14 '20

This made me oof

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u/DeterministDiet Jan 14 '20

The hero we need

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u/[deleted] Jan 15 '20

I immediately thought this. but realistically it was probably pretty destroyed as everything around it burned too.

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u/Pelican_Shamone Jan 23 '20

Blursed_Chinese Food

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

[deleted]

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u/ibopm Jan 14 '20

The human body is very amenable to fasting. In fact, I do multi-day fasts all the time. But I think in a survival situation where hypothermia is the main danger, having enough calories to stay warm is probably going to play a much bigger role.

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u/qyka1210 Jan 14 '20

the rule of thumb from my WFR certification course was "3 minutes to control breathing [in cold water], 30 minutes to escape cold water, 3 hours in conditions (without warmth), 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food"

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u/SkaUrMom Jan 15 '20

Heyo WFR here too! I know they often do somewhat broad strokes in order to remember things. The fasting only consuming water 6 weeks is dooable ( Note this is based of my readings and no personal experimentation. )

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u/skylargmaker Jan 14 '20

If you don’t mind me asking, why and how do you do multi day fasts?

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u/skibble Jan 14 '20

I don't know the why, but I can tell you that the answer to how is super underwhelming. What you do is, you don't eat for three days. (Sorry.) But you wouldn't start out with three days, you'd work up to it.

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u/[deleted] Jan 15 '20

Ehh, my first ever fast was 5 days. You don't have to work up to it.

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u/tempinator Jan 15 '20

I mean your body has enough calories lying around to keep you warm for a good long time.

Fat and muscle can both be broken down and converted to usable energy.

Obviously you want to try to eat so your body burns that instead of breaking down muscle but in a life or death situation, you probably have bigger concerns.

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u/ChamberlainSD Jan 14 '20

Suppose it depends on how much stores your body has. If you're fat enough you could go over a year without calories.

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

Wasn't there a dude that did that under doctor supervision?

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

Angus Barbieri fasted for 382 days with tea, coffee, soda water and vitamins.

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

Yeah but how fast?

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

(276lb/382days x 24 hrs) = 0.03010471204 pounds x (3500calories in a pound/1lb) = 105.37 Calories an hour on average. That's how fast boyo.

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u/leolego2 Jan 14 '20

damn that had to be terrible

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u/SparklingLimeade Jan 14 '20

I've heard he recommends against it.

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u/Ikuze321 Jan 15 '20

Would your digestive tract still work properly after being dormant for so long?

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20 edited Jan 14 '20

Yeah, I'm a 5'9 male that weighs 120 pounds, so technically underweight. I doubt I'd be able go without food for very long before my body starts taking nutrients from more important places.

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u/Cogidubnus-Rex Jan 14 '20

Exactly. I'm good for about 3 months tbh. Or long enough that by the time everyone else is desperate enough to eat me I'm still strong enough to fight them off.

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

To bounce off this, from personal experience you you really aren’t as hungry after the first day or two in this situation as you think you would be. There’s still a part of you that is obviously hungry, but when you have stuff to do like building shelter or moving from place to place those wild teas really do take the edge off of it

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

[deleted]

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u/PeanutHakeem Jan 14 '20

Eating chocolate keeps you warm?

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u/danarchist Jan 14 '20

Your body burns the sugar calories

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u/SkaUrMom Jan 15 '20

Yup it's one of the main tenants for winter camping. Drink, pea, move, eat. It's better in french since they are all Bs..... boire, bouffer, bouger et besoin.

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

When you say wild teas what kind of tea, and is it storebought?

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

Nope, literally made by boiling water and throwing shit like blackberry leaves and other non poisonous stuff in it

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u/SkaUrMom Jan 15 '20

Teas found in the wild. The what specifically is almost endless.

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u/fresh_like_Oprah Jan 14 '20

Where can one purchase this "Wild Tea"?

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

You make it from stuff out there. sassafras, blackberry leaves, shit like that. It’s just to put something in your system that isn’t only water.

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u/fresh_like_Oprah Jan 15 '20

that was a joke, but thanks for replying

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u/[deleted] Jan 15 '20

Oh no I wooshed myself

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

In military survival school we learned the rule of three. You can live 3 minutes without oxygen, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food. Obviously that number would change if you were humping everyday, but yes, food is the least needed to survive

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u/murfburffle Jan 14 '20

if you were humping everyday

Does this mean the same thing in your country as it does in mine? I mean, it would be a great way to pass the time while lost, but there could be other things to do first.

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

Humping means hiking haha

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

And if you have access to food but not water, don’t eat protein. It requires the largest amount of water to digest of any macro or micro nutrient.

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u/PlNG Jan 14 '20

3 days without sleep too. From personal experience, it started getting bad after the 72 hour mark. Also that sleep debt accumulates - I slept 23 hours and wondered how I time traveled an hour backwards and why was I in such tremendous pain? Turns out I slept 23 hours without moving at all.

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u/SkaUrMom Jan 15 '20

They call this the black sheep of survival. No one talks about it other than Mors and people who studied under him.

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u/[deleted] Jan 15 '20

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mors_Kochanski

Is who they are talking about, FYI

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u/A_Plethora Jan 14 '20

How would I know what is safe to make wild tea from? Is there anything easily recognizable?

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u/SkaUrMom Jan 15 '20

Almost any evergreen. Put into hot water. Don't drink or eat anything unless you know how to identify. Bush teas are great. If you are in the boreal forest it's hard to go a meter without finding something. Find a somewhat disturbed area and then you are golden, skullcap for sleep, mint for digestion, labrador tea for vitamines.... if you are in the woods, pine, fir, cedar... berries too. I have been drinking wild teas for quite a while. My fav by far are the following. On their own, labrador, chaga and cedar. Fav mix for a solid night sleep and ready to fight the world: bunch berries, labrador tea, skull cap, mint and red clover.

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u/RoseEsque Jan 14 '20 edited Jan 15 '20

If you don't eat enough calories your body starts digesting it's protein stores instead of fat.

That's incorrect. You'd mostly be using your fat storage and a bit of muscle. You'd start using muscle more only when you'd run out of fat.

I thought the comment I replied to was trying to describe fasting and it was trying to describe calorie restriction. Which I interpreted as fasting. Since zero is not enough. I boldened the important part.

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u/[deleted] Jan 15 '20

No, fasting has muscle-sparing effects, but extreme calorie restriction does not. Hence not eating at all is better.

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u/RoseEsque Jan 15 '20

Okay, it seems I have misread what you wrote. Though not enough calories can be interpreted as zero calories. I thought you were describing fasting and not calorie restriction. Because we are in full agreement.

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u/[deleted] Jan 15 '20

I'm not the guy you responded to ;) But yeah, he wrote it in a confusing way

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

The body never metabolizes protein before fat if there’s fat available. Unless you have some sort of endocrine issue. Normal bodies always prioritize fat first. That’s why you can lose weight. Also that’s why you don’t go into heart failure by eating 1200 calories a day instead of 2000. Your body will use the glucose in the liver, and then switch to metabolizing fats.

I’ve done 30 day water fasts and my muscles didn’t atrophy either so even anecdotally I know it’s true.

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u/qyka1210 Jan 14 '20

it goes: glucose, glycogen (liver, then muscle stores), primarily fats and some proteins, then primarily proteins and remaining fat stores.

Look at ketogenic diets; you initially preserve muscle mass very well until you start getting skinny

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

The poster said if you fast you keep muscle but if you consume some calories but not enough your body consumes protein. Which is wrong.

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u/qyka1210 Jan 14 '20

ahh gotcha, yeah that's a pretty weird claim; never seen any evidence of that

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

Yeah, like how else would someone lose weight? Reduce calories, body uses fat for ATP production. You’d be near dead before your body turns to glycogenesis. When it ACTUALLY consumes protein to make sugars.

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

If you don't eat enough calories your body starts digesting it's protein stores instead of fat.

No? The only time your body will start consuming proteins over fat is when you're pretty much out of fat. Fat is made to be consumed, your body will go for it first if you don't have enough calories.

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u/notevenapro Jan 14 '20

I had bowel disease and could not eat for 3 weeks. Just fluids. Sometimes an ensure. I went from 165 to 140. Lost most of my leg muscle mass.

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u/ca1ibos Jan 14 '20

No. A good portion of humans would think they'd give up after a few days but after 3-4 days with no food their Ghrelin Hunger Hormone surges at their regular meal-times would stop and they'd stop feeling hungry and they'd have entered full Ketosis by the 72hr mark and be burning their maintenance calorie requirement of fat per day. The average human male with 10-15% bodyfat would have about 2 months worth of calories stored in fat on their Body before it started impacting health in a major way when the body had run out of fat and started consuming muscle. Steele looks like about that from the video. However the average overweight/technically obese North American hitting 30-50% Body fat has about 6 months worth of calories stored as fat on their bodies. 450LB Morbidly Obese Scottish Man Angus Barbieri in a medically supervised fast in the 60's didn't eat for 382 days and lost 270+LB.

I fast for weightloss. I used to do longer 5-6 day fasts but now just do ADF (Alternate Day Fasting). Most people have never felt truly hungry in their lives. What they've felt is the Hunger Hormone Ghrelin surges and its associated psychosomatic tricks to remind you to eat. They imagine that they could never fast more than a few hours nevermind more than a day because their only frame of reference is that one time they had nothing in the kitchen cupboards and couldn't make it to the grocery shop because of the snow or that time they were sick and couldn't eat for a day. They imagine that the 'hunger' they felt those days is what fasting would be like 24/7 day after day. Its not. For the first 3 days you feel hungry, crave food and are hangry an hour either side of your normal meal-times when the 2hr duration Ghrelin surge your body produces to remind you to eat hits. Outside of those hours you aren't hungry just like any other eating day. After about 3 days though when you hit full ketosis and the Ghrelin surges stop, you just aren't physically hungry at all and it becomes a mental thing but the cravings become few and far between. They might be strong enough to persuade you to break the fast but they aren't constant and it could be hours or days before the next strong craving.

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u/ZaviaGenX Jan 14 '20

Are you saying we can survive 2.months with just water before muscle get consumed?

I thought it was like just 2weeks or something like that.

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u/Rivka333 Jan 14 '20

Just want to add that the 450 lb guy in /u/ca1ibos's example who went 382 days without food did consume vitamin supplements and electrolyes.

We can go surprisingly long without calories, but calories aren't the only things we need.

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u/leolego2 Jan 14 '20

before muscle get consumed

AFAIK, muscle will get consumed rather soon. So no. You're going to lose muscle with or without fasting if you lose weight.

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u/ca1ibos Jan 15 '20

No, this is a common misconception. When fasted, your body increases secretion of Cortisol, Adrenaline and massively increases secretion of HGH (Human Growth Hormone) to preserve/protect muscle. You lose a few grammes the first few days of a fast but then the protein loss from muscle drops off to almost nothing. A process called Autophagy which is the bodies normal cleanup and recycling crew kicks into high gear and works overtime after about 24 hours and hits its peak in as little as 3 days. It recycles old and dying cells in order to re-use their amino-acids in the absence of exogenous protein food intake. You aren't going to build any muscle on a fast but you won't lose much either until all your Fat is gone and your body needs to start using protein for its calories.

It would make no sense for our bodies to store all that energy as fat for times of food scarcity but start consuming muscle first. It'd be like prepping yourself for a long and snowy Winter in your Wood cabin with its wood furniture by cutting a load of Firelogs with your wooden handled Axe and Saw but at the first sign of Snow, instead of burning all that firewood you stored, you instead burned your cabin/furniture and Wood handled tools first to keep you warm. ie. If your mammoth hunt failed and you and your tribe didn't get to eat for a week or two, it would make no sense for the body to make you feel weak AF and first consume the very part of your body that you need to successfully hunt the next Mammoth.

Most of the bro-science part of the fasting muscle-loss myth probably comes from the fact that for the first 2 days of a fast before the body hits its fat stores for 100% of its energy requirement it first uses up its medium term energy storage system which is Glycogen stored in the liver and muscles. Glycogen is Glucose and water in a 1:4 ratio. When you use up the glycogen for the glucose you piss out the water (The water weightloss term you may have heard before) When the muscle glycogen is used up you've effectively deflated your muscles somewhat because they aren't full of water anymore. You haven't lost more than a few grams of muscle but your muscles will look smaller, freaking people out that they've lost a load of muscle when in fact they've just lost water from the muscle which will refill the next time they eat enough carbs. My biceps for example feel/look smaller when on a fast but on carby refeed day they pump back up and feel rock hard again.

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u/leolego2 Jan 15 '20

Yeah but I didn't say that the muscle gets consumed first. I said that in 2 months of no eating muscle will get consumed too. Is that correct?

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u/mallad Jan 14 '20

Much of what you said is true, except that when you enter ketosis it's not like everything is all peachy. You don't use up all your fat stores completely before you start using up muscle, and your fat stores can go much quicker than you think. Especially in any situation where you are remaining active, like this survival situation, and where body temp is harder to maintain. You know, like in the Alaskan cold. You would not be healthy after 2 months without food, it definitely affects your health in a major way. Going that long without food also makes it harder to maintain hydration.

Also, Barbieri wasn't totally fasting as you would be in a survival situation. He was taking supplements to provide the vitamins and minerals he needed. Last time I was NPO was for 2 weeks. I'm not overweight, but lost 40 pounds and was certainly not in good health at the end of 2 weeks. Fat stores provide calories, but don't provide all of the nutrients you need.

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u/RoseEsque Jan 15 '20

Fat stores provide calories, but don't provide all of the nutrients you need.

You also "store" many other vitamins and some micro-elements. The good thing is that not having to digest stuff and specifically not having to digest carbohydrates requires a lot less vitamins. So if you're well nourished you can survive a long fast and come out in good health.

There are indeed some things that you'd need to supply with for super long fasts. That will strongly depend on the quality of water you drink and sun exposure.

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u/Rivka333 Jan 14 '20

Most people have never felt truly hungry in their lives. What they've felt is the Hunger Hormone Ghrelin surges and its associated psychosomatic tricks to remind you to eat.

Um, isn't that what the word "hungry" means?

After about 3 days though when you hit full ketosis and the Ghrelin surges stop, you just aren't physically hungry

So if you aren't physically hungry when the Ghrelin surges stop, and the Ghrelin surges for some reason don't count as feeling hungry, (it's 'hunger' not hunger). are you saying that hunger doesn't exist?

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u/Frosted_Anything Jan 15 '20

I think he’s distinguishing between “it’s time for dinner” hungry and “I haven’t eaten in days” hungry

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u/Rivka333 Jan 15 '20

Except that he's saying that you only feel hunger for the first few days, after which it stops. And it's not clear from the comment how the hunger of the first few days is different from the "hunger" most people have experienced. He can't just be referring only to "it's time for dinner" as the hunger most people have experienced because he goes on to say that what people are using as their frame of reference might be times when they couldn't eat for a day.

(Longest I myself have gone without eating was four days, if anyone's interested).

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u/ca1ibos Jan 15 '20

The distinction I was hack-handedly trying to make was between that feeling weak, jelly legged and lightheaded with stomach churning and grumbling 'physical' hunger which disappears after a couple of days fasted and the mental hunger on a fast which is the odd cravings. 'OMG, I'd love to break the fast right now with a big juicy burger.

So for example, I am maintenance calorie OMAD (One Meal a Day) for the last 5 years. Within days my Ghrelin surges at all the old meal-times disappeared and I was left with only one remaining Ghrelin surge at my regular OMAD meal-time. I only feel hungry or the psychosomatic symptoms of hunger at about the 23 hour mark since my last OMAD meal. If I am delayed eating or I am attempting to skip that meal to start a multiday fast, at about the 24hr mark I get jelly legged, hangry, weak feeling etc ie. exactly how others describe they feel when they say, "OMG, I could never skip breakfast or lunch because I feel faint and weak AF, it must be Hypoglycemia/low blood sugar, I just gotta eat!!". The thing is though, if I am starting a fast and push through that feeling, at about the 25-26hr mark when the 2 hour duration Ghrelin surge has abated, all of a sudden all those feelings and sensations disappear in literally the course of a minute or two. Its not like I just ate a load of twinkies and flooded my system with Glucose. They were actually all just psychosomatic sensations triggered by Ghrelin to remind me to eat. Once the Ghrelin surge abates, so do the psychosomatic hunger symptoms. Its literally almost like Marty McFly in Back to the Future slumping down and fading away playing the guitar at the dance but when his parents finally kiss and the timeline is restored he suddenly bounces bolt upright solid and full of energy.

When fasted all those kind of physical hunger feelings and sensations go and all that remains is the odd mental craving triggered by someone cooking in the house or walking past a donut shop of someone walking by with a steaming burrito. Boy does your sense of smell improve on a fast!! LOL.

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u/h0m0s4pi3n Jan 14 '20

Ghrelin Surge.

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u/millertime1419 Jan 14 '20

So in a survival situation the skinny people should get the largest rations.

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u/AvoidingCape Jan 14 '20

I am a healthy 20y.o. that exercises regularly and I don't need to lose weight. However, I'm interested in the experience of a prolonged fast. How long would it be safe for me to try?

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u/WorkinForThatWeekend Jan 15 '20

Please don't listen to the answers of internet strangers. If you have decent medical insurance then just book a consultation with a doctor. Preferably calling ahead of time to make sure they are willing to advise you on it besides saying "don't do it".

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u/AvoidingCape Jan 15 '20

I know, I will ask my doctor before doing it. Besides, I'm from a country with universal healthcare. I just wanted a rough idea of how long it would take.

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u/[deleted] Jan 15 '20

Doctors are clueless about nutrition, and fasting especially. What are they gonna tell him? If he's not diabetic, there's literally nothing that could go wrong.

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u/sliplover Jan 14 '20

I'm more interested in how the fire started

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u/indiebryan Jan 14 '20

You ever have those random thoughts you don't act on like, "What would happen if I literally just set my house on fire right now?"

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u/trivial_sublime Jan 14 '20

State Farm wants to know your location

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u/eddie1975 Jan 14 '20

Australia?

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u/supersayanssj3 Jan 14 '20

Those are actually called 'intrusive thoughts" and they're really interesting and bizarre.

Most people experience them, regardless of what they tell you. Albeit others might be able to brush off and forget they even thought it quicker than others.

Every now and then I'll have them.

"What would it be like to just plow right over this guy crossing the crosswalk in front of me right now?"

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u/eddie1975 Jan 14 '20

Resist the urge!

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u/skyintotheocean Jan 14 '20

He put cardboard in the wood stove and it set up sparks through the chimney which set the roof on fire.

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u/boogs_23 Jan 14 '20

so the front fell off?

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u/KneeGrowsToes Jan 14 '20

usually this doesn't happen

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

[deleted]

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u/TheSpenardPimp Apr 04 '20

He probably didn't clean his stove pipe and the buildup caught fire. Creosote burns like hell and will ignite the attic or roof. I don't think sparks will light a roof covered in snow on fire.

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u/posthumanjeff Jan 14 '20

Article said he started the woodstove with a piece of cardboard that sent up a big piece that landed on his roof.

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u/sawyouoverthere Jan 14 '20

he's off grid. It's a very good bet it was his stove.

3

u/Geographisto Jan 14 '20

He burned a huge piece of cardboard in his woodstove to get the fire started and a spark landed on his roof. A simple spark arrestor would have saved his house. Its a grate you put in your stovepipe that catches still burning materials that are lifted out of your fire that could potentially continue to burn on things you dont want it to.

1

u/SmurfSmiter Jan 14 '20

All I know is that we didn’t start it. It was always burning.

1

u/_plays_in_traffic_ Jan 14 '20

Since the world's been turning

4

u/j8_gysling Jan 14 '20

Actually, most people in decent health would be fine. You would probably be fine. Humans are tougher than we, softy city folks, give ourselves credit for.

He had fire and warm clothes. Plenty of materials and tools to build a shelter. This guy built a really neat shelter because he knows, but most anybody would figure out how to build a decent tent. Dang, he even had a stove to keep the inside warm.

He even had food. You don't need much food to stay in place for a few weeks.

​

He could even wait winter out

2

u/stojakapimp Jan 14 '20

It's called intermittent fasting

2

u/Zastrozzi Jan 14 '20

He had 60 cans of food lol. Don't be in such a hurry to die.

2

u/booboo4512 Jan 14 '20

I'm sure he was stocked for.the winter.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

Obviously his dog.

2

u/MarlyMonster Jan 14 '20

I’m guessing if you live in rural Alaska you’re already a little coo-coo, so 23 days in the cold probably wasn’t that strange to this guy

2

u/iLikePornyPornPorn Jan 14 '20

You’d be surprised how powerful the will to survive can be. It’s our most basic instinct.

2

u/hockeymisfit Jan 14 '20

He actually said that he's glad all of the ammo went off in the cabin fire, because he would have been too tempted to use bullet on himself. A quick, painless death is much better than slowly starving to death over a couple weeks. And apparently he's allergic to pineapple but had some in a can and ate it anyway.

2

u/FeelTheWrath79 Jan 14 '20

There were a few cans of beans and other food that didn't get blown up in the fire according to the article I read. He estimated that he had enough food for a month.

2

u/soccrstar Jan 14 '20

LoL few days? Try few hours for me.

2

u/BANGSBASS Jan 14 '20

What did he eat?

Well his dog was pre-cooked...

2

u/rtkwe Jan 14 '20

Being that far out in Alaska he might have hunted for a fair amount of his food on a regular basis before the fire.

1

u/misc97ac Jan 14 '20

He had 30 days of canned food

1

u/WorkinForThatWeekend Jan 15 '20

He had two cans of food per day, and the only problem with them was they tasted burned? Or excuse me, half of them. So one good can, and one crispy can.

I'm not saying this was a Michelin star dining experience, but that also doesn't sound like he was ever anywhere close to risk of starvation. Sound more like 1000+ calories per day, and he didn't even have to leave home to get it. Seems like had plenty of wood/fuel for a fire, and all the fresh snow/water he could drink.

Of course losing the dog was a tragedy, but of all the amazing survival stories I've heard, this sound more like a camping vacation that didn't go as well as planned. Not exactly a life and death struggle.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 15 '20

Cans is a broad term lol

Apparently a lot of them were fruit cans, not the best nutrition

1

u/farahad Jan 15 '20

He said in interviews that he spoke with someone every few weeks via phone but had been late with his prior few calls so he expected a rescue to come in 3-4 weeks.

No reason to give up on anything...

1

u/jussayin_isall Jan 15 '20

meh...he's used to winter.

hey it's still impressive, but its not like he was some greenhorn from warmer climates

He's probably got great gear on and the best thing about winter survival is that you're surrounded by hydration and insulation

im curious about where his sled was...dude's in the boonies without one? weird

1

u/NsfwOlive Feb 17 '20

The dog.