Wilderness Survival Basics

I hope readers of this blog have enjoyed the last several blogs which have been about sculpturing and making use of items that may be found in the wilderness to help your survival situation.  No doubt there will be many more items to share in the future about making use of such items or other fun ideas that can be helpful.  It seems that when learning about wilderness survival, people generally want to learn fun and interesting “tricks” to survival.  Maybe this is because these are fun and when having fun doing something, it is usually easier to learn.  When it come right down to it though, it is the more simple basics of survival that are generally the most important things that can save your life.  So while we will eventually and occasionally get back to so called fun and useful tricks of wilderness survival, it is time to revert back to the February 2012 blog for some basics of survival.  This months blog then is simply a copy (and a very good reminderof survival basics) of the February 2012 blog and we will move forward from this point on the next blog posting.


TAKE A BREAK

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF IN A WILDERNESS SURVIVAL SITUATION?

 

While there can be many wilderness survival scenarios and each scenario may present different challenges, the one I would like to discuss for this blog is that of being lost or disoriented. This may sound odd and some people may disagree with me but the first thing to do is-

TAKE A BREAK.

 

That’s right! Take a break. Take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes to just relax. Sit in a comfortable spot and sing a song, recite a poem, watch birds, or have a snack – whatever relaxes you. If you take just a short break this will likely diminish going into panic and just running and getting yourself lost even more. Being relaxed will also likely help you to think more clearly when break time is over.

 

Once break time is over, then you can take time to STOP.

S - STAY where you are if possible as this will make it easier for rescuers to find you.

T- THINK calmly about your situation and options. Evaluate and remain positive.

O- OBSERVE the weather, your surroundings, your equipment/supplies and capabilities.

P- PRIORITIZE immediate needs(shelter, medical, fire, water, signal and food) – develop a plan of action, follow your plan, remain positive.

 

Best wishes for happy and safe adventures,

 

Magpie

UnCANny ideas!!!

 

This is the last of my pop can wilderness survival ideas.    There are many more ways that a pop can may be used.  I hope that the pop can ideas have been fun and useful for my blog readers.    After this blog I want to go back to the February 2012 blog and move forward from there.  The purpose of the last few blogs all of which have been ways to use pop cans was just to give examples of ways to use the things that you may find in the wilderness to help in a survival situation.  Generally there are going to be other items a person may find in the wilderness which may also be used to increase the potential for survival.  The important thing is to not look at things simply for what they are but for how they could be useful.  Items that may generally be seen simply as trash can (with a little imagination) might be very useful. 
 

Fishing Lure

 

I’m certainly not a great skilled fisherman and I recommend including a fishing kit as part of your wilderness survival kit.  However,  if you don’t have a fishing kit, perhaps the following pop can hooks and lures may help provide a nice meal.  Remember, in a wilderness survival situation you are not necessarily going to get a restaurant style fish plate.  When trying to survive, just be glad for the protein regardless if it is a salmon, large mouth bass, catfish, carp or whatever fish you can get.  The point is to get the food you need to stay alive. 

   

The lures and hooks in the following pictures do not have fishing line attached but the pictures give an idea of what can be done.  Although it may be somewhat difficulty to tell from the pictures, the hooks are most definitely very, very sharp.   I hope that readers of this blog will try to make some of their own hooks and lures.   The only tool needed is a knife but having a multi-tool in your survival kit would make it even easier to make these items.   I hope my blog readers try to make some hooks and lures too. 

                                                                                     
Finally the last of the wilderness survival pop can ideas --- snow goggles.

Many wilderness survival enthusiasts are familiar with improvising snow goggles.  They can be made from a piece of leather and some string of other available materials.  The purpose of improvised snow goggles is to protect your eyes.  If you are stuck in the wilderness in a snow covered area and you have to travel, the glare from the sun and the reflection from the snow can be blinding to the point your eyes can be damaged or you can become snow blind.   The loss of your vision significantly complicates a wilderness survival situation.   

 

The bottom outside portion of the two pop cans goes over the eyes.  Each piece of pop can has a hole punched in the middle (from the bottom outside of the can toward the inside of can).  The punched hole can be enlarged slightly if needed.  Each pop can piece also has a hole punched into each side of the piece also.  I happened to have a wire bread bag tie which I used to fasten the two pieces together by threading it through the holes and twisting the wire tie.  The eyepieces are fastened around the head with a shoelace or a piece of string.   Not only do they protect the eyes, they also reflect outward which serves as a reflector mirror which may help searchers to spot you.  The snow goggles work very well.    Give it a try!

 

Be safe and happy adventures.

 

Magpie

Reflecting On The Pop Can

This months blog is another example of creative uses of so called "junk" that you may find in the wilderness.  It is important to see things not for what they are but for what they can become.  The first picture here is a signal mirror that took just a few minutes to make without much effort at all and only with the use of a pocket knife.

This next picture is the same signal mirror shown in the shade.

 

This last picture shows the basic materials used to make the signal mirror.  It's a matter of simple cutting and then bending and crimping the edges together. 

 

You don't really need to join the two pieces of pop cans together, one can alone make a good signal mirror.  It is nice to know if you run into a six pack of cans in the wilderness you can make an even bigger signal mirror.  As seen on a prior blog the bottom piece of pop cans can be used as a fire starter because it reflects the rays of the sun.  Even a few bottom pop cans can be used in combination to make a mirror. 

So this is a very simple project that can be used to get someones attention that may attract the attention you need.

 

 

Survival Ideas that POP!

My last two  blogs contained some examples of useful ways to use a soda pop can in a wilderness survival situation.  These examples were just to get the reader thinking about how to use so called “junk” that you may find in the wilderness, as wilderness survival aids.  We will continue the next few blogs with some more examples of fun pop can uses.  Eventually we will go back to the “Take a Break” blog from February.  

Pop can Lantern - Full Flame

One of the examples showed how to make a lantern from a pop can and some cooking oil. .  So what if you find a pop can but you do not have some cooking oil?  Another option I have seen is to punch a hole in the bottom of the can and make a small door on the pop can and then push the candle up through the bottom hole as needed.  An easily made and useful lantern.  So what if you do not have a candle in your survival kit?  Well here is another example of a wilderness survival lantern.

"I" shape cut

Tab Hanger

Make a “I” shaped cut on the can which results in two doors that fold out from the can.  The bottom of the doors is about 1 to 2 inches from the bottom of the can.  Leave the pull tab on the can as this is useful for if the can is to be attached to a cord and hung suspended.

  

Some friends of mine recently gave me some deer steaks and a few deer ribs (Thanks Kami and Ivan!).  I decided to make some soup from the deer ribs. After boiling the ribs, I set the pot in the  refrigerator over night.  In the morning I skimmed off the very dense grease which had risen to the top.  I figured the fat could be used for making a candle.  I packed the cooled fat or tallow into the can then I found a small piece of scrap cloth which was stuffed in the center of the fat but just a little bit above the fat.  This was the wick to the candle.  Most any cloth will work or even a tightly rolled piece of paper or small piece of cardboard will make a sufficient wick.   

Wick is Lit

Melting Fat - Partial Flame

Once the wick is lit on fire, the heat wicks up the heated fat.  The fat then becomes the burning element rather than the wick.  If you are in a wilderness survival situation, you may come across an animal carcass.  Chances are the carcass still has fat that can be used for a lantern.  So here are a few pictures from my deer fat / pop can lantern.  The can reflects the light very well and the lantern gives off a good amount of heat too which could be a double benefit in a snow cave shelter.

   

The pictures below are simple pop can cooking pots.  I’d love to hear some thoughts and comments from readers regarding wilderness survival pop can uses.

Simple pop can cooking pot

Alternate pop can cooking pop configuration

MORE USES FOR POPCANS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdSBjW1O1MA


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCXc_LuwC4Q


Just a really short blog this time but I should have another blog posted within a week.  It will again be about popcan uses in the wilderness.  After that, it will be time to take a break from popcan ideas for a while.

Happy adventures and Be Wise In The Woods.

Magpie

PS - Sorry again about taking so long to post, I'm still trying to learn how to use some of this modern technolgy.  A special thanks to me technical expert Jake for helping me so many times.

FREE USEFUL RESOURCES

Sorry for  not posting a blog for a while, sometimes things happen.  I have been eager to post a blog in continuing where my blog from February left off. 

Take a break and STOP.  I mentioned that I would elaborate more on this subject and present some fun wilderness survival items.  The ability to observe your surroundings is important.  You can enhance your survival odds by having some knowledge and creativity of what can be used in your surroundings to your benefit.  Les Stroud touched on this skill in his book Survive.  He referred to this as “sculpturing”.  Simply put, it is the skill of being able to find multiple uses for items which you may find in the wilderness. 

Now, these links are just rather simple illustrations yet several good examples of “sculpturing”.  Please take a look at the following ----

http://the-mobile-factory.blogspot.com/2009/06/make-survival-whistle-from-soda-can.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLmoKyIDM9o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc9oA5bic9Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTdY-dOYvSA

A big thank you to the many people who have put these videos together and who have been so kind to share them for the benefit of others. 

There are several other cool uses for pop cans in wilderness survival.   When a person is in a wilderness survival situation, making use of things you may find can be a real boost to morale and increase your potential to do well.  More on this subject soon. 

Be wise, be safe and happy adventures.

- Magpie

TAKE A BREAK

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF IN A WILDERNESS SURVIVAL SITUATION?

While there can be many wilderness survival scenarios and each scenario may present different challenges, the one I would like to discuss for this blog is that of being lost or disoriented.  This may sound odd and some people may disagree with me but the first thing to do is-

TAKE A BREAK.

That’s right!  Take a break.  Take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes to just relax.  Sit in a comfortable spot and sing a song, recite a poem, watch birds, or have a snack – whatever relaxes you.  If you take just a short break this will likely diminish going into panic and just running and getting yourself lost even more.  Being relaxed will also likely help you to think more clearly when break time is over. 

Once break time is over, then you can take time to STOP.

S - STAY where you are if  possible as this will make it easier for rescuers to find you.

T- THINK calmly about your situation and options.  Evaluate and remain positive.

O- OBSERVE the weather, your surroundings, your equipment/supplies and capabilities.

P- PRIORITIZE immediate needs(shelter, medical, fire, water, signal and food) – develop a plan of action, follow your plan, remain positive. 

I’ll discuss more on these subjects in future months.  I’ll also present some fun wilderness survival items.

Remember to TAKE A BREAK and STOP.  Until next month—

Happy Adventures,

Magpie