Yes. (when I was a kid, I was doing a "kids version" of rappelling and tied a rope to my vinyl belt, wrapped it around a tree, grabbed the other end, and over the edge I went. I can still see myself falling 15 feet or so flat onto my back as I watched that stupid vinyl belt shooting straight up the rock wall - broken in half but still attached to the rope. Not one of my "finer" moments.. :S )
Have you ever thought you were REALLY going to drown?
Yes. At around 4 years old I went a little to far out in the water at a beach on lake Michigan. There was a steep drop off and I sunk like a rock. I remember the sun being an ever darkening spot on the surface. My Aunt pulled me out coughing and puking water. This led to a second experience later in life. I chose the Rangers over the Seals to avoid all the water, didn't pan out though. They almost drown me there during the swim test. With a last name starting with A I got to go first. There was a freak cold snap in Savannah that December so the morning of the test they had to break up an inch of ice on the pool for the test. They tied a wrist thick rope around my waist and told me to swim to the other side then shoved me in. By the time I got to within 10 feet of the other side the heavy rope was dragging me down(along with all the equipment). Between all the water I swallowed and the uncontrollable shaking from hypothermia it was as close to panic as I've ever been. I made it but after my struggle they decided the "safety" rope should be pulled from the other side instead of the swimmer dragging it across. It did make the rest of the test seem easy though.
Ever have the uncontrollable shakes from hypothermia?
Yes, I sometimes make it at home when I can get sushi grade salt water fish. Like sashimi even better. Had hypothermia in Minnesota when I had to walk four miles to a gas station to get a fan belt for my car and walk back to put it on, and didn't have a warm enough coat on in -20 F with a 20 mph wind. Ended up hallucinating, lucky for me I drove to my Dads and he knew enough to get me help.
Ever camped in the winter in northern climates, military training excluded?
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