Do you know where your matches are?

During his interview with "Survivor Man", Clarke Green, over at the Scoutmaster Blog, asked Les what his most important survival tool is.  He said fire starting!  NOT his knife.  He carries a lighter, matches AND a striker.  Les said that one of the most important elements of survival is heat and the ability to dry your clothes out when you are wet.  Good advice, even here in Florida.

In 1995 three soldiers died during Ranger training in west Florida.  Now this is Ranger training, and not something that Scouts would normally encounter, but they died of hypothermia and exposure to the elements.  Water temps were around 55 degrees and air temperature at 65 degrees.  That doesn't sound too cold, but it's obvious that being wet and cold, even at those temps, is dangerous.

Thus Les's recommendation.  Get high, get dry and stay warm.