SURVIVAL BASICS:
Covering the 4 essentials of wilderness survival
1. shelter
2. water
3. fire
4 .food
SHELTER :
If or when you find yourself lost in the wilderness, the first thing you need to do is stay calm. Don’t wander around in a panic and get yourself more lost. sit down, think things over, inventory your equipment and make a plan.
the 1st thing you will need to do is make a shelter, it is the #1 most important element in survival. a shelter will protect you from the elements like snow, wind, rain, heat etc. and also will help protect you from possible predators, and keep you off of the ground depending on the type of shelter you build.
If you have a tent or bivvy shelter in your gear that is perfect, but chances are you will be out with little or no gear so there are several shelter options you can choose from depending on your location.
you can look for natural shelters like rock over hangs and fallen trees etc. other options include a squirrel type shelter made of sticks and leaves, a lean to made from sticks and loose bark. Remember to insulate yourself from the ground also by covering the floor of your shelter with grass, leaves, ferns or other types of soft vegetation.
WATER:
water is the 2nd priority you need to take care of in a survival situation. you can go for 3 days without water, in most jungle or temperate climates water can be found fairly easily, you will need to purify it most times and that can be done by boiling it if you do not have purification tabs in your personal survival kit.
water just needs to come to a rolling boil to make it drinkable, no need to boil it 5 mins. there are also vines in the forest which will yield water if you cut them correctly. Thistle plants will also give you a refreshing bit of moisture, just scrape off the spikes and chew the stems for the moisture then spit out the pulp.
It is a fantasy that cactus will provide water, in fact most cacti are toxic to a certain extent. avoid trying to extract moisture from cactus, it is a waste of time and energy.
you can also look for water that has collected in rock depressions and in the hollows of trees.
If in the desert look for the green indicator plants in washes and dry river beds, these patches of green will be easy to spot in the desert. if in a dry river bed look for the lowest area in the bend of the river bed and dig down until you find moist sand/dirt, dig a little deeper and see if it begin to fill with water. If you get lucky and find water in the river bed you can soak it up with a piece of cloth like a bandanna or a sock then ring it out into your mouth.
another way to get water is to walk through a dew wet field of grass and collect the water in your clothing then wring it out into a container.
FIRE:
there are numerous ways to make a fire in the outdoors, chances are you will have a lighter or matches on you when out in the woods if not, you can make a fire fairly easily with the bow and drill method of fire making
A B&D set consists of 5 components;
1. Tinder bundle - can be made out of any combustible materials that have been softened, I like to use cotton wood cambium or juniper bark. Other materials I have made into tinder bundles include milk weed and dog bane fibers, grass, aspen cambium etc. there are countless things to be found in the outdoors that will work.
You can also add extra combustibles to your tinder bundle if you cannot find enough of one type of material, things like thistle or cattail down, birch bark, and pine pitch are excellent fillers.
2. spindle(or Drill) - the spindle for your personal should be about as big around as your thumb and as long as your hand and should be made from a wood that can be easily dented with your thumb nail. Good types of wood in North America are Alder, cedar/juniper, sycamore, cotton wood, or willow.
3. fire board - the board is made from the same material as the spindle and needs to be about 2 fingers wide, 1 finger thick , and about as long as your foot.
4. Bow - your bow can be made of any type of wood you like but it needs to be from arm pit to finger tip in length. some folks like a flexible bow with an acute bow in it but I prefer a straighter stiffer bow with no flex.
5. socket, (bearing block, top rock etc) sockets can be made from deer antler, Cow bone, various hard woods or stone.
FOOD:
Going without food is uncomfortable but a human can go without food for 3 weeks of more depending on their metabolism. in a short term (say 72 hour) survival situation you can easily go without eating.
it would be better to concentrate on improving your , finding water of making a fire then to waste energy on food.
But Edibles can easily be found in the summer if you know where to look.
Everything that walks, swims, flies or crawls can be eaten. if you have fishing gear in your personal survival kit you can set out trot lines or try bank fishing. Scout along the streams and look for other animals like cray fish (craw daddys), or fresh water mussels.
Snakes, birds, rabbits, marmots, squirrels etc. can be killed with a simple stick or club. You can throw it at the desired animal in a spinning motion to make a quick kill. The aborigines of Australia use the boomerang to the same effect. Southwestern Native Americans use a rabbit stick in a similar fashion as the boomerang.
PERSONAL SURVIVAL KIT:
Your PSK will depend on where you live and the type of wilderness environment you venture into. when putting your kit together remember the 4 essential of survival and go from there. your kit should be small enough to fit easily into a pocket or belt pouch. Some useful items in a kit should include;
Shelter: space blanket (or 2)
Water: metal cup for boiling water and water purification tabs (aqua tabs)
Fire: Lighter (or 2),or matches in a water proof container, other options include a metal match (ferrocium rod), candle, small tinder bundle of natural fibers, trioxane fuel tabs, fire ribbon or other types of commercially available tinder.
Food: hard candies are a good choice, bullion cubes, power bars or chocolate bars, instant soup mix, coffee, tea, sugar packets, salt packets etc.
Some 1st aid items like extra strength pain killers, bandaids and a few bandages with adhesive tape are a good idea.
A signal mirror, small sewing kit, fishing gear, and a whistle are also excellent choices for a personal kit
Invest in a good knife like a Swiss army knife (SAK) that has 2 cutting blades and a saw on it, avoid the heavy and difficult to use multi tools. You will find that the saw on the SAK is the best tool you can have for shelter building.
