He’s lived with cannibals in Papua New Guinea, the “Hobbits” of Indonesia and survived being lost twice in the jungle. Now former Marine John Sullivan is appearing in Milton Keynes’s Big Outdoor Show this month to impart his knowledge to others, as Ruth Supple reports . . . Pictures by Kelly Cooper

Into the

wild

outdoors

Imagine the scenario. You are lost in the woods and have to try and survive for at least 24 hours before you are rescued. Which three items would you have with you in case of an emergency exactly like

this? Former Royal Marine Commando John

Sullivan, known as Sully to his friends, lays out a choice of items on the floor in front of me and asks me to pick my top three.

And no, you aren’t allowed a mobile phone or any other GPS technology.

We are at our “base camp” in the middle of the woods somewhere in Northamptonshire on one of John’s special into the wild survival days, run as part of his Elite Survival Training company.

We have already spent an enlightening morning foraging for natural goodies among the trees to make a fire later on and learning how to spot animal tracks.

I had been reluctant to take part in one of these days having always been utterly useless at fire lighting or camping in my Girl Guides days.

So reluctant in fact, I had seriously considered bailing out hours before meeting him in the woods, but John had spent the weekend before preparing for the big day and I was on deadline with five pages to fill.

We strolled in bright sunshine along the track deeper into the woods, then bore right into the heart of them where 40-year-old John revealed the cutest little dog shelter

which he had pre-built for us out of wood, leaves and dried grass. It was seriously impressive and looked like something out of The Lord of the Rings . . . perhaps a throwback to the time the intrepid explorer lived with a tribe in Indonesia, who then became dubbed the Hobbits.

Luton-born John, who moved to Northampton in 1987, spent hours exploring the woods when he was a child and discovered a huge love affair with the great outdoors, realising he wanted to join the Marines when he was only 12.

“I opened up a magazine and there was a spread on how to be a Marine; it was amazing,” he recalls. “I spent from the age of 12 to 16 getting myself physically and mentally fit at my boarding school, Kingmill in Oxfordshire, and then joined up from 1991 to 2000.

“I served in Northern Ireland, had Artic training in Norway and desert training in Death Valley, America, and jungle training in Borneo and Malaysia.”

After leaving the Marines, John decided to go exploring and went to Bali to start off on a tour of Indonesia . . . at the same time as the Bali bombings took place.

“Everyone was telling me to come home when that happened but I decided to stay and took a tuk-tuk up to the top of a volcano to watch the sunrise. It was 2002 and the first of two times when I got lost in the wild for real.”

John had decided to head back down the volcano on his own and then realised that he

had no idea where the village of Moni, where he was staying, was in relation to his position.

“I’d spent one hour wandering around totally lost and then realising my kit bag only had one-and-a-half litres of water in it, along with some mosquito repellent, a sunhat, fire lighter and a packet of biscuits,” he recalls.

“I felt really angry with myself that I had been so careless and had made all these mistakes, mainly by being so cocksure in thinking that I could get from A to B.

“I didn’t have the adequate kit with me and the sun was my biggest enemy - it was already 35 degrees at 7am - plus the humidity.

“I had to keep myself hydrated and gave myself one hour, until 8am, to find my way out of there and if I didn’t by then, I would find some shelter and rest up for the rest of the day, starting again at 4pm because it would be so much cooler.”

Luckily, it didn’t come to that. Sully used his survival knowledge to follow horse hoof prints which led him to find a horse tied up against a tree. He used basic gestures to get the Indonesian owner of the horse to guide him off the volcano.

It was a revelatory encounter.“Everyone in the village was so small, like

Hobbits and I thought ‘wow, this is weird.’ A few years later, there was a story about The Hobbits of Indonesia being discovered and it was them! Apparently there is a lot of iron in the ground there which has hampered their growth.”

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John’s passion for exploration has led him to become nicknamed Northampton’s Indiana Jones and to some of the most remote places in the world, researching and setting up documentaries for the BBC and the National Geographic Channel, including living with ex-cannibals in Papua New Guinea. Closer to home he gives speeches and runs courses for schoolchildren and adults all over the UK and Europe.

“When you go travelling and exploring you can have all the fanciest kit in the world, but the biggest thing you have got is a smile,” he says. “That and good eye contact and positive body language all helps.

“I always take pictures of my family and postcards of Northamptonshire with me to show tribes I meet, along with packets of extra strong mints, because mint isn’t something often found out in this places. I pass them round and then, of course, they give me something like a witchety grub to eat. That tastes like an explosion of pus in the mouth. And we all start laughing, which is a great ice-breaker.”

It’s making my day in the woods seem like a walk in the park and I am soaking up the knowledge and entertainment Sully is providing.

Things like finding spagment moss and hearing how it would have been used for its medicinal properties in Roman times as it contains iodine.

“They would have used it as a first aid bandage and as a sanitary towel, and as a way of purifying water,” he explains.

He then shows me what to forage for to make a fire, including strips of silver birch off nearby trees, resin from pine trees which acts as a candle for a fire, dead twigs and larger branches, and King Alfred’s fungus or crampballs.

“I get ridiculously excited when I see these,” he says, pointing to looks like a pile of animal droppings.

“You find King Alfred’s fungus on dead trees and people used to keep them smouldering all day long, dangling from their belt, as they make great fire lighters and are also great natural mosquito repellents.”

Sully’s boundless enthusiasm is catching and the hours simply fly by as we enjoy a therapeutic few cuppas over chatter, a swing in his Hennessey hammock, and food cooked over the first ever fire I have successfully made and managed to light.

So what were those three items you should take, if that is all you were allowed?

I decide not to pick, but ask the extreme survivalist’s advice: “A bivvy bag, firestriker and a poncho,” says Sully.

Do they do anything a bit more fashionable and funkier than the transparent poncho, I am left wondering as we head home after what I can honestly say was one of the most enjoyable, educational and therapeutic days I have ever had...in beautiful natural surroundings.

UK survival packages in the woods with Elite Survival Training cost from £75. Find out more at ww.elitesurvivaltraining.com or call John on 01604 415697 or 07804 915407.

Lost in the woods or wild? Here are some of Sully’s suggestions to take in a kit bag so you are prepared. “It all depends on your budget and how much you want to spend. The key message is, if you want to explore, you don’t need to spend lots of money on kit but need to have confidence to know it will be alright if you ever get lost.”

Useful Things

Signalling - This could be as crude as a mirror or CD to attract attention. The inside of a packet of crisps is shiny and can be stuck in trees to attract attention.Food - Take a tiny little cooking pot containing an emergency meal which you will only eat if you are desperate. I always take toffee pudding in mine as I cannot bear it. Pack some toilet paper, tea, coffee and sugar.Protective clothing - A poncho from a £1 shop in case of rain. Space blankets are great too and I always advise people to keep one in the glove box of their car in case they breakdown in winter. They make a great signalling device too. Sleep and shelter - A Goretex bivvy bag but, if you haven’t got one, straw put into a survival bag makes a great sleeping bag and will heat you up at night. An emergency shelter, which again you can pick up cheaply, acts like a tent and will keep you warm and dry. A storm shelter costs about £40 but acts as emergency shelter in terrible weather and can fit up to four people inside it.Medicine - A first aid kit. You can improvise making a stretcher using a storm shelter and logs and sticks.Clothing - One set of spare clothing.

The world’s greatest living explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes will headline The Big Outdoor Show this May Bank Holiday weekend (May 23-25, 2015) at Milton Keynes. Joining him on the speaker platform will be Northampton’s own adventurer, John Sullivan, who will impart his skills and experiences of survival training.

John and the legendary Sir Ranulph are just two of the attractions planned for the exciting new show, which promises affordable, interactive fun and entertainment for campers, families and outdoor enthusiasts in the region.

Organiser Pauline Gibson, of Freesports Events, says: “The Big Outdoor Show is a unique event! We’re not only staging displays in adventure sports, like sailing and mountain biking, but we’re also encouraging people to get involved. We

expect Sir Ranulph and John’s rousing talks will inspire people to try new pursuits, or learn more about skills such as survival training and polar expeditions.”

As well as Sir Ranulph and John’s appearances at the show, other explorers like Felicity Aston and Mark Woods, and adventurers Alex Jackson and Richard Harpham will also recount their intrepid experiences.

There will be daredevil bike and scooter displays from the awesome National Action Sports Tour team and demonstrations in water rescue by Ellie Bedford’s team of Newfoundland dogs. These are just some of the exciting line-up announced so far for the weekend.

“We’re aiming for a real family festival atmosphere where people can either visit on a day pass or camp for the whole

Whitsun weekend,” says Pauline. “There’ll be live music from bands like blues legend Big Boy Bloater, Pearl Handled Revolver and Nicky Prince, an open-air evening cinema and fearless mountain bike trials displays to entertain crowds, plus the chance to buy anything from the coolest sunspecs to camper vans and sailing boats from the many exhibitors located onsite,” she says.

Willen Lake and surrounding woodland will play host to the new three-day event. Up to 30,000 visitors and around 2,500 campers are expected. Tickets are priced £9.50 for adults and £4.50 for children aged eight and over (under eights go free). Weekend Gold Pass camping tickets giving access to all areas cost £49.50 per person. Advance tickets can be purchased at www.thebigoutdoorshow.co.uk

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Sir Ranulph Fiennes to speak at outdoor leisure show

I’m a survivor - Sully’s kit

Sully’s check list...

- Small whistle

- Little strobe light for signalling

- Personal location beacon

- Mirror heliograph for signalling.

- Water purification tablets and a mill bay bank bag for collecting water.

- Small torch, one battery and one dynamo.

- Fire striker

- Tissue for loo paper

- Anti-bacterial hand sanitiser

- String

- Spare emergency knife

- Norwegian knife

- Knife sharpener

- Mosquito headgear

- Very strong mosquito repellant

- Compass and a spare one

- Pacing beads and glow beads to mark the spot you use the beads from

- Emergency sweets

- A homemade survival tin including a little mirror, plasters, wire for

snares, a torch, a sewing kit, painkillers, a spare compass, a tiny piece of

bicycle inner tube for keeping a fire going, cotton wool, vegetable stock

drink, an electrolyte drink, waterproof matches, baking bags if you have

meat and cotton wool.