[at-l] "Tuckerizing" plane crash illustration... (December, 1999)

[Sloetoe]

>>> "Tom Janofsky" <twj175 at voicenet.com> 12/17/99
11:35AM >>>
Could you all please enlighten me as to the origin of
the term "Tuckerize"
and perhaps provide me with some pointers on how to
"Tuckerize" one's self.

***Sloetoe responds with something he tried to explain
to RamBunny's Mom back on Thanksgiving......

A plane crashes in the mountains, miles and miles from
nowhere. You are the only survivor. You have nothing.
Nothing. You have escaped (barely) with the clothes on
your back. 

1) What are you wearing?

You watch as the plane is quickly consumed by fire ?
nothing left but ashes. You are overcome by thirst. 

2) What do you do about water? What can you find from
the plane?

You are cold. You bundle up your clothes, drink a
little water, and find that you're famished by hunger.
You look around for debris that might have spilled
from the plane before it settled and burned. You find
some tidbits of this and that, some with bags, some
without, some "needing" cooking, some ready to eat.

3) What food have you found? What can you "cook" with?
What's the minimum you need to put a meal together, if
you life depended on it?

The wind blows, and the sun sets low, and the clouds
say "rain." There's nothing left of the plane in which
to take shelter. Again, you peruse the jetsom of the
crash site to see what you might use to craft some
protection. 

4) What have you found tonight to protect yourself
from wind, rain, and cold?

You wake at dawn, and know you must hike out on your
own. Being unsure of where to go or for how long, you
don't want to leave the things which have so far
insured your survival. For the last time, you look
over the crash site for something to allow you to
carry what you've found ? the water, food, shelter.

5) Describe what you have found to carry your "gear."

************************
Most of us approach the "What gets carried?" question
with a full pack from which we try to remove what
could possibly be "done without." The best way to do
it, however, is to start from nothing and build up. If
you answered the questions above with a bit of
realism, and then substituted "hiker gear" instead,
you'd feel like you were living pretty large. 

Good Luck!
Sloetoe

Spatior! Nitor! Nitor! Tempero!
   Pro Pondera Et Meliora.