Chinwag No.59 Steve Crombie talks Moventure of a Gentleman

“Life is either a daring Moventure or nothing at all,” is the opening line for the Moventure of a Gentleman campaign undertaken by off-road adventure rider and author of Lost on Earth, Steve Crombie. Already endured more than 40 countries and four different continents, crossed the Andes four times and boated 14,000kms down the Amazon, Crombie begins his next adventure all in the name of mental illness and prostate cancer.

Transmoto: Steve, you’re running the Moventure of a Gentleman campaign. Tell us what it’s about.

Steve Crombie: Basically, the idea is about getting people out of their heads and into their bodies to do something physical for Movember. It’s about testing limitations and understanding your capacity as an individual and then going out to survive. It can relate to how you survive at work, home, school or in my circumstance, how you survive in one of the hottest locations on the planet: the Pilbara region in Western Australia.

What was the purpose of it all?
It’s all for Movember to raise awareness for mental health and prostate cancer. I went into the desert and learnt how to survive and become a country gentleman, which is this year’s Movember theme.

Interesting mix! When did you do the trip?
I did the trip in October for 10 days.

So what survival training did you do and more importantly, what training did you do to become a gentleman? Last time you were in the office you were wearing flip flops, boardshorts and a singlet…
To be honest I’m a bit more of a caveman. I literally spend my weekends living in caves in the Royal National Park. It’s pretty far from a gentleman. But that’s its whole purpose. It’s time for me to change my ways and step up. I actually found one of the world’s foremost survival experts, Bob Cooper, who also trains the SAS how to survive behind the enemy lines. He’s the ultimate survival expert and gave me 10-days of his time; teaching me the tricks of the trade. And he is an upstanding gentleman so he helped transform me into a true country gentleman. Also, with the gentlemanly training, I was taught by one of the world’s most renowned etiquette experts, June Dally-Watkins.

What equipment did you take for the 10-day trip?
When it came to equipment I went with nothing more than the cloths on my back, but instead of Bear Grylls style I was dressed in a country gentleman’s tweed suit. All I had was a soapbox – the size of two packets of cigarettes – and I could put whatever would fit.

So what did you fill the soapbox with?
There was a flint, magnifying glass, little bit of rope, three hooks, three sinkers, a little bit of fishing line, water purifying tablets, glucose tablets and a plastic bag. But I had no food, no water and no shelter.

I’m surprised you didn’t take a condom to carry water. Isn’t that what those survival guides recommend?
Yeah. Actually, condoms suck for carrying water because they aren’t very strong and are liable to break. And if they do break, you can’t tie up the corner to ensure it is going to continue working. Therefore I had a neatly folded plastic bag and if it did break I could tie up the split and continue carrying water. I actually ended up inserting one end of the plastic bag inside the arm of my jacket and used my bowtie to tie it down. Then I could use the plastic bag like a backpack to carry water. I had to re-appropriate my suit for other things, too. I had a scarf that I used to cover my face from the flies and sunburn and I also cut up bits of the scarf to help make my backpack. The temperature was between 40 and 47 degrees. It was hectic.

How far did you travel?
I ended up travelling about 120 kilometres. I actually lost six kilograms because I couldn’t get food. I only ended up eating three of the 10 days. Seven days were learning the art of survival and becoming a gentleman. The final three days I set out on my own to make it to the end. That was harrowing really, because in the end I hadn’t eaten for a couple of days and it was really difficult. I had 64kms to do on my own and I basically walked until I passed out and would wake up shivering and continue. What was worse, there was no moon and since I did most of my travelling at night, because of the heat, I had to try navigate by the stars. The terrain was extremely challenging, too.

So when you did find food, what were you eating?
When I found food I was eating Hibiscus flowers, cungi, which is basically tree sap, and palm-sized Perch.

No insects?
No. I caught insects. At night time a few crickets and other bugs were flying into the fire so I caught them, fed them onto a stick and saved them for bait when fishing. But you don’t actually need a lot of food to survive. My main priority was water, then shelter then food.

Being the desert, how hard was it to find water?
We had a lot of problems finding water because it was the start of summer. Even Bob said it was one of the hardest journeys he has ever done and he has had a hell of a lot of experience. A lot of the water holes were dried up. Dehydration was the biggest risk because we had to drink between six to eight litres of fluid a day.

How many people went along with you on the trip?
We had Bob Cooper, Jonathan Harley – the former senior producer at 60 Minutes – and Paul Bell who shoots programs for Lonely Planet and National Geographic. They couldn’t touch me or assist at any point during the trip.

One of the videos on Crombie’s adventure. See more on his YouTube channel.

How do people get involved and help the cause?
To get involved follow the Moventure of a Gentleman on Facebook or Twitter or go to www.mobro.co/stevecrombie and you can donate and follow my journey. If anyone has a few dollars to spare for this worthy cause please do so. You can join the Moventure team as well.

What content are we going to see come out of this trip?
It’s a four-stage video process. The first part is all about survival and what things you need to stay alive in difficult situations. The next stage would be transformation; dealing with people and situations and adapting. The third is dealing with endurance. Lastly, it’s about self-discovery where I loose my shit. I start to have trouble walking and staying focused. It’s a genuine journey and nothing is fake. Hopefully people will enjoy it. We were also lucky enough to have Australian film star, Joel Edgerton, to do the voiceover to support Movember and the Moventure of a Gentleman.

Where can we watch it?
You can find it on my Facebook and on the Movember newsletter. Plus a few other places like Transmoto!

With your newfound survival skills, what’s next for you?
I’m going to try bring the survival skills back in the motorcycle world and hopefully I’ll be able to do longer, harder and more challenging routes in the motorcycle adventure world.

Cool. Thanks for the chat.
No worries.