Dangerous Crossing

 

 

Sunday 300815 I went out to make a video for my YouTube Channel Survival-Russia (Link to Channel) and to test a cover i recently made for the Saiga 12K. I have an article on the cover on this blog (Saiga 12K Cover).

Well, that day was dangerously close to being my last on this earth. Too close for comfort! So, i decided to make a video on how i cross water like rivers, smaller lakes and such and at the same time testing the Saiga 12K cover. The water crossing technique i learned in the Army. It's a tried and tested method and it saved my life. Had i tried to just swim across i would most likely not be writing this article today.... 

It goes like this. You take you poncho or shelter/tarp and put it on the ground. We mostly used our poncho's. Using a poncho, one will need to lash the hood closely tight with a boot lace or other cordage. Then you strip off ALL clothing, put on rain gear and then put the clothes on the poncho/tarp, boots first. As shown below.

I was out of poncho's so i used a British Desert DPM Basha. Then lash the top of the tarp tight and you have a "Caramel" which will float. Seen below. For details, watch the video. Link to Video

Nothing wrong with this method. It was all my fault. For this demo and test i had chosen a location i know more than well, less than 500 meters from the Homestead. My own land. It's a channel, pond, swamp area and we swim in the "pond" or small lake area in spring and early summer. Later on, like now in August the water table normally have dropped and become an unpleasant slurry. This summer however have been very wet. Especially July and August. I was not paying attention to my environment.... 

Normally, the sandbar i am standing on in the pic below, would be totally exposed.

 

So what happened was, made my preparations slid down the bank into the water and started to ford/swim with the "Caramel" in front of me and the Saiga 12K on the shoulder in the cover. After only a few meters i could feel the undergrowth grabbing my legs. I was at a standstill several times and i had to fight very hard to pull my legs free, using the "Caramels" buoyancy as a counterweight. Without this "Caramel" it would have been very bad indeed! I would have had nothing but the water to "hold on to"....

The problem was i was too laid back and acting on routine because of me knowing the spot so well. However, i was not thinking about i never spent time in the water there in August, for reasons mentioned above. I could of course see the plants and undergrowth and it's also there in the spring and early summer but at that time of year it's not very strong. 

Me fighting for my life 

 

 

Being from Denmark i grew up very close to the sea and am a fairly good swimmer. This was crazy. I have heard stories about sea plants pulling people down but never experienced it and then it happens to me in a small lake in Russia....

It was a great learning experience, to never act on routine in nature, just because i am in an area i know well. Nature can play tricks. This i know but here i was not paying attention. I was not thinking the situation through so to speak. Have i done that i would have put notice to that i have never spent time in that water in late summer. Plant are strong in late summer. 

Setting up the cameras, i was thinking about swimming across and put one camera on the opposite bank and one on the sandbar. I am happy i did not do that. I took the long way around the swamp. Maybe Thor or Freya guided me clear of Loke playing tricks on me. I would like to think so.

Get out and Train and Get it Done! 

Out