I take great pride in my survival skills. I’ve worked hard to develop them and I’ve used them in the Mojave Desert, the Adirondacks, the Rockies, the Blue Ridge Mountains and the low country swamps of South Carolina. Yeah, I may be toot’n my own horn here but I’m a US Marine, certified search and rescue guy and I’ve lived in the woods and fed myself with a .22 and fishing line on many occasions. I’m the guy you want coming for you when the crap hits the fan. But I have to tell ya, the guy I want coming for me is Mykel Hawke.
Myke is the star of the Discovery Channel show Man, Woman, Wild. The show where he and his lovely wife Ruth go off into ungodly places with nothing but the shirts on their backs to survive in situations that flat out suck. Myke is not a TV personality that learned survival skills for a show. He is a rough-tough, can’t get enough, Army Special Forces Captain (a Mustang – which gets extra props from me) that has spent a lifetime in places that would destroy a lesser man. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology, a Masters in Psychology and speaks a boatload of languages. Let me be blunt; Myke is a bad-ass.
When a mutual friend of ours, Cork Graham, introduced us I had to ask Myke a few questions and he was good enough to answer them. Here they are:
Piccione: What tools are a must have for any environment? What is your ‘don’t leave home without it” list?
Hawke: The list is long, but a knife, lighter and canteen are always on it.
Piccione: What do you consider the toughest survival situation? Extreme cold? Heat? Desert? Jungle?
Hawke: The sea is the harshest place for humans without tools like boats, cups and a tarp.
Piccione: Let’s talk about panic. I’ve seen people take off in the wrong direction on their own only later to have me fetch them and convince them to follow me which has wasted valuable time and energy. How do you keep a level head in a survival situation?
Hawke: Focus on the 50 meter target, what is most critical right now, and do that – one step at a time will see you through.
Piccione: What is your favorite gun? Knife?
Hawke: My blades are my favorite and it is hard to beat a Glock.
Note from Mike P.; Myke’s knives are the Tops Hawke’s Hellion 2020 Survival Knife 14″ and the Hellion 11.75”.
Piccione: Too many men today are not prepared to survive. What do you think has happened to us as men?
Hawke: Modern society has placed higher demands on skills that are simply not related to survival. So, folks lose skills, lose touch with nature and lose a sense of themselves.
Piccione: Prepping is a hot topic. What advice could you give to a new prepper? A seasoned prepper? How much food & water do you recommend for someone in a suburban environment?
Hawke: This is too long to go into but stay ready in all things, in all ways and on all days.
I say stay prepared for:
1 day on your body
3 days in your pack
7 days in your car
30 days in your home
Piccione: What is the profile of a typical student of yours? Are you seeing more beginners getting interested in wilderness survival and/or prepping?
Hawke: All ranges, folks like to learn.
Piccione: What are some things you recommend that you keep in your vehicle?
Hawke: The same as for everything, the basics. I like to carry extra things like camp gear, showers, stoves, fishing rods, sling shots, bb guns. Nice to have stuff, and never forget a self-recovery kit and communications gear.
Piccione: Tell me about one situation on the show Man Woman Wild Ruth said “No way, I’m not going to do that, no chance” and she didn’t.
Hawke: We nearly died in every episode. Many times Ruth said “no” but did it anyway. She is a real trooper.
Piccione: Tell me about a time where you did not think you were going to make it out of a situation alive.
Hawke: About half of the shows, actually. We had lions hunt baboons right through our campsite in Botswana.
Piccione: Talk about common survival myths or mistakes.
Hawke: You can drink urine. Don’t travel in the hot desert by day.
Piccione: OK, this is true. My better half is the executive officer of a large organization and is involved in disaster planning. She recently worked into the conversation that armadillo’s carried leprosy – hat tip to you and the wife for teaching us that one. (Who knew freak’n dillo’s carried leprosy?)
Hawke: Yes, Carville, Louisiana had a leper colony and used the armadillo as a carrier to help find the cure. It worked!
Thanks to Myke for taking the time to answer a few question for the Daily Caller.
Currently he runs SpecOps – http://www.specops.com/ – check it out. They offer a variety of training types, adventure tours and security services. I’m thinking we all need to get together and do a course. I’ll bug Tucker Carlson to join us (Tucker will tell me to wait until the election is over I bet – but he would do it).
To become a Facebook fan of Myke please click here.
Myke and his wife Ruth deep in the middle-of-nowhere.