Survival Game - You In 200,000 B.C.

[jyl]

The humans/hunter discussion got me thinking. How well would modern man cope with the conditions faced by early man? I mean, Homo Sapiens the primitive hunter-gatherer, before any technology or civilization.

Now, this obviously depends on which modern man - the sedentary obese one who drives his 8,000 lb truck three blocks to hunt down a bucket of KFC, or the hardened Navy SEAL trained in survival and unarmed combat. So I thought, fine, let's see how each Pelican rates their chances.

Here are the rules. Please read them carefully, as our test will be unforgiving.
1. You will have all the equipment with which early man arrived. That is, NOTHING. Naked, shoeless, no knife, no tools, no fur or skins, empty handed. You know how you step out of your morning shower? Like that. (Okay, you can assume your eyesight is good, without need for glasses. Theory being, there would have been no books and computers to ruin your eyes.)
2. You will have, however, all the skills, experience, and knowledge of modern man. Your personal specimen of modern man. Hope you were a Boy Scout.
3. Your job is: PICK THE HARSHEST ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH YOU PERSONALLY COULD SURVIVE. Alone. Indefinitely.

Let me be the example. I'm empty handed and naked, but somehow have 20/20 vision, cool! I have done a fair bit of backpacking and lots of fishing and paddling, am decent at making things from sticks, have passing familiarity with bow and arrow, can swim, but am no sort of survivalist and have never hunted.

So: I pick, for my maximum survivable environment, a coastal temperate zone, like the US West coast, where I could gather shellfish, spear finfish in the streams, make rock blades capable of cutting branches from the forest, and eventually make myself shelter, weapons, and a kayak.

I think I'd have a 50% chance of surviving there. A harsher environment - the High Sierra, the Great Plains - I don't think I could make it. Africa, our birthplace - I don't know what it is like, but the fast things with big teeth make me skeptical.

See how this works? Want to play? Where would you be able to survive? Why did you choose it, how does it play into your skills?

[red-beard]

Am I allowed to look for coal, iron ore and smelt tools?

[jyl]

Sure. You have all your knowledge. If you're like Captain Kirk in "Arena", able to recognize and assemble the ingredients of gunpowder and a hand cannon, go for it. I, unfortunately, was asleep during those classes.

But you start with nothing, no digging tools etc.

[red-beard]

I choose South Texas or Mexico, because there are Iron ore and Coal deposits which are barely below ground level. Lots of water, game and a place to grow food. Eastern Mexico might work because of the native fruits and veggies. And there is a lot of native game.

And 200K years ago, no people...Only have to worry about bears and big cats.

[id10t]

Just coming out of the shower? Hrm.... well... dunno. I'll have my cookie and HK91 and one loaded mag....

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by jyl

Sure. You have all your knowledge. If you're like Captain Kirk in "Arena", able to recognize and assemble the ingredients of gunpowder and a hand cannon, go for it. I, unfortunately, was asleep during those classes.

But you start with nothing, no digging tools etc.

Lots of it is on the surface, which is how it is found.

[RWebb]

THE HARSHEST ENVIRONMENT will have the fewest other humans -- some competitors, some killers, some helpers for your tribe/social group

[jyl]

I was thinking of this as a solo exercise, because encountering other humans complicates things.

Are they primitive men, native to 200,000 B.C.? Then your survival is probably going to be more determined by social skills, if you are accepted by them, then you can probably watch what they do as far as getting food goes, if not then it becomes a running challenge followed by a solo exercise - or you get to be killed.

Are they modern men like you? Then it becomes a season of "Lost" with the odd Jeffrey Dahmer thrown in.

I wanted to avoid those sociological puzzles and keep this game "man on nature."

[RWebb]

if solo, I pick Cali. central coast - venison AND shellfish

[JavaBrewer]

Don't forget the wine making ingredients and temperate climate. Win win.

[varmint]

so, i'm not allowed to find some primitive tribe and convince them i'm a god?

[look 171]

What's climate like 200,000 years ago in middle or south CA? What kind animals were here that could eat me? Saber Tooth, and some type of Short Face Bear are also dangerous. I say so cal only because of the mild climate and plenty of game in these areas.

Now that you say it has to be solo, them I might be good as dead because that outdoor guy who backpack and hitch hiked across the sierra in his youth, and the manly man who raced road bikes for many years is now not too strong just thinking about your game here.

if you decide to bend the rules, I just might meet up with some here in Socal and show them tricks on how to make a few things due to my modern knowledge and work together on hunting and growing food.

[jyl]

Oh come now, there has to be a South Pacific island where the coconuts, fish, and papaya would sustain you.

[pwd72s]

Without diabetic meds, I'd probably be gone in a few days. I doubt many here would last more than a week...

[lane912]

i pick Portland-
mt tabor- grew up just at the bottom of that hill, and know every bit of it.
and yes, I was a boy scout, earned wilderness survival badge, had to construct a shelter and sleep in it among other tasks-
this area would be relay nice if it was just me- lots of potable watter, and game would be plentifully-

[KevinTodd]

New Zealand?

Not too many dangerous critters to kill me--plenty of indigenous edible vegetation, and away from the threat of native tribesmen.

Still, without anything, long-term survival for most modern humans seems extremely limited at best.

[jyl]

Is Portland or generically "Pac NW inland" the toughest location you could survive in, though?

Looking for the toughest (HARSHEST) - else we'd all pick Taihiti.

[widebody911]

How about this: Explorer Ed Stafford talks being naked and marooned on a South Pacific desert island | Mail Online

[red-beard]

I learned survival techiques in the Boy Scouts in Upstate NY. IF the winters 200,000BC are similar to what I went through as a kid, it would be extreme to survive there. Food only grows certain times of the year, etc. Storage becomes necessary. A more temperate climate would be far easier.

The other thing I didn't mention is that the ground here is clay, allowing for the making of fired clay items (bricks, etc) reletively easily.

[M.D. Holloway]

Hmmmm, well its a bit of an extereme because early man (when young) had a fighting chance with his parents and clan feeding and clothing him/her as well as teaching him/her the ways of the clan.

I think you should augment your question to make it a bit more realistic (if thats even possible). How about I get to live with a clan for a month then maybe I get banished because I gave the chieftains daughter the ol high hard hello?

So I got a spear / stone knife, a flint, some skins on my back and mucklucs on my feet and a water bladder, some nice shrooms and good herb in my pouch, and some dried meat and seeds...off I go.

Yup, I could do it. I would prolly talk the chieftains daughter into coming along for kicks...but I could do it. I would look at the Pacific Northwest - temperate and plenty of water. Maybe head southerly for the winter, catch some strange on coastal cali then head on back.

Sounds like a pretty good deal