Well, I do threaten to kill and eat a guy. but it's not Bundy, lol.

will the vicious cycle of violence never end?

Were peoples lives really at risk in this camp? Or did they watch you from a distance, ready to act when necessary?

After four days, the entire group was getting scared and we asked this very question. We were told that we were on our own and there would be no other help. I asked about somebody breaking their leg and what we would do if that happened?

The instructor actually said, "That would be great! We would build a travois and continue on, we will survive!" After he said this, I did start to think that we were in over our heads, but there was not much I could do but trust them.

There were several deaths in these types of classes (no water or food) and they were banned shortly after. I certainly would never consider going without water on any training ever again, the suffering was never ending.

I had temporary diabetes insipidus after surgery once, which results in the body being unable to retain any water and severe dehedydration ensures. It's the worst I'd ever felt in my life--my whole body was in intense pain and I couldn't move without getting dizzy, and I almost wished I were dead--but at least I could just lie in a bed until someone connected me to a saline drip. I can't imagine feeling that way and having to hike through a desert.

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Making fire is a very difficult procedure. Not the part where you strike the knife against the flint rock to get sparks, but the part where you prepare the nest for the spark to fall into. It's like a birds nest, made out of the bark of the mesquite tree and woven into a very tight, perfect shape. In the middle you put a tiny piece of cloth (preferably charred, but that's after you make the first fire) and on top of that you spread a fine layer of bark dust, so that it sits on top right in the middle.

You then begin chipping away at the flint with your knife until you get very lucky and the spark falls right into your nest. You can then begin blowing very carefully and if fate is with you, a small fire will alight. It is very hard to do and even with practice some people are never able to get it.

We were training for "solo", the time near the end of our trip, where we would be out in the desert alone for eight days. We knew that being able to make fire would be the difference between life and death. You can eat bugs! But not without cooking them first. Bugs, especially ants have parasites that will make you sick, so they must be prepared carefully. By this time I would have eaten anything and while I hate to admit it I probably would have killed someone over water.

The businessman was the first to make fire and even if we felt that he got a little lucky, we were overjoyed that we would have heat at last (desert nights are very cold). We could cook the cactus and greens that we had gathered and finally eat something hot. That was the first night that we were allowed to sit down and talk about what we had learned and what the plans were for us going forward. The skies were threatening rain, which of course would have been awesome, so we holed up in a cave and hoped the canyons didn't flood liked they had so many times before.

It didn't rain where we were, but we had viewed the rain in the distance, so the next morning we started out for some rocks where the clouds had been. As we were walking we found a layer of red clay running through the side of a wash and we dug it up and saved it in our scarves. We hoped to make pots to carry water in, thirst never left our minds.

Everything on the desert is designed to live in the dry harshness, so most of the edible parts of a plant are hidden away from the surface. Many plants have nutrients, but those are in the roots deep in the ground and they can't be eaten unless they are stripped and cooked correctly. Every moment walking is taken up by learning some new information that will help you survive anther day and every time you sit down, your hands are busy working on something that will be of use.

In those first days after we stopped walking, I started to realize that I was already beginning to think differently. Sitting on the ground every time you sit down gives you a different perspective on life and I started to have an appreciation for what those people, one thousand years before, felt as they not only lived, but in fact thrived in such a harsh environment. It was then that I hung the first talisman around my neck.

Please do continue. . . was cannibalism ever a practice in these types of wilderness survival training?

I figure if one person dies of de-hydration/starvation or what not it'd definitely bring up that opportunity.

I've never heard of this, but it does sound terrible.

I am skeptical of the Bundy story

I'm sure that never happened, lol. I threatened the one guy because he wasn't working, (and for reasons I'll explain later) but of course I was just mad. In a real situation, I assume that I would survive. I'm thinking the "Alive" story here.

That's okay, because if you mattered, I'd care...

Pretty cool story. I'd love to know how they managed to let Bundy escape from jail twice.

I googled "Ted Bundy Colorado" and got this as the 1st result:

http://voices.yahoo.com/ted-bundy-hi...-10444139.html

Bundy killed people in Colorado in 1975.

How do you not remember that? And even if you didn't, how haven't you searched Bundy's past to figure when in his timeline you fit?

there's other stuff, but I have to go.

How does that make his story less believable?

Because 38 years after the fact he doesn't remember the exact year, but one of the two years he does remember happens to fit the Bundy timeline and that is somehow suspicious?

You're just looking for a reason to be contrarian.

38 years after the fact is irrelevant. if something like that happens to you i'd imagine it'd be impossible not to find out as much info as is readily available in a simple google search.

tylertwo is a DBJ gimmick

Honestly kcaw, some inaccuracies are often more a tell tale sign of truth as opposed to fiction. Anyone can just read up and re tell the facts as written online, in print or otherwise. It is one of the determining factors in and actual protocols in distinguishing the differences.

Oh, I'll humor the troll...

kcaw, this is for you,

First of all, you are actually quoting Yahoo Voices as a source? I suppose it's the preponderance of fifth grade writing errors that won you over, lol. Secondly, while I have read "The Stranger Beside Me", it's been many, many years and no I don't spend my entire life studying Ted Bundy, of all things.

Unlike you I have moved on in life and while I was emotionally stunted for years, I've been able to crawl up out of the terrible hole it put me in (again, lol). Perhaps I could give you lessons, although a quick search of your posting history would lead me to believe that any effort would be futile.

I don't need to research it, because I was there. As unlikely as it seems, there are those of us who leave our parents basement and venture forth into that cruel world.

Lastly, I believe Bundy escaped from jail in Colorado in 1977, but I know I cut my hair that year, so my experience must have been before that.

1st level thinker indeed...

Tyler finally snaps :| Ted Bundy couldn't do the job but Kcaw was in the wrong place at the wrong time asking all the wrong questions to push all the wrong buttons.

kcaw is a good guy and isn't close to being a troll btw.

Keep posting your thoughts/stories Tyler.

There are plenty of us on here that like to read them.

I love tyler burns.

for someone new to it, his trolling here has been impressively strong, as he may well be the first poster to ever have come close to rustling Tyler's jimmies.

I don't care if Tyler's stories are true or not, I got a legit LOL that he is a little fuzzy on the year he was almost raped and murdered by Ted Bundy but is solid on the date he cut his hair short. If that's BS he deserves a Nobel.