A Survival Thread

[TheRedneck]

New Topic: Okay Seriously, What Gear Do I Really Need?

Seriously, if you are knowledgeable enough, are not in a bad situation immediately and have luck on your side; you can survive as naked as the day you were born. But that is a big old “if” right there. Gear is either tools to make things easier or items needed that you save time and effort by carrying them rather than making them. 

Cordage can be made. Far easier to carry some paracord or bank line. Far better to have a pack to store things that you have to carry than to weave a quick basket. A tent goes up so much faster than building a good lean-to or debris hut. And very portable unlike the debris hut. 

You eventually start evaluating weight versus worth. Which is where you start shifting from car camping (and glamping) to actually getting into hiking and survival subjects. The kits you have or make is situational dependent. Ideally, you should never be without a decent pocket knife minimum, but a full tang fixed blade is preferred. The reason being, is less points of failure.

One thing I always take into account is to make sure I am looking at what I have, not what I don't have.

I think it is human nature to wish for things. I see people do it all the time: "If I had this, I could do that." My thinking is different: "I need to do that; what do I have to work with?" All it takes is some practice, and you'll soon realize there are so many possibilities that are overlooked. We as a society throw away far more than we use, and much of that is simply scattered around the countryside. Need a way to catch fish? A rod and reel would be wonderful, but all you really need is a little line, a piece of dry wood for a float, a long stick for a rod, and a rusty spring for a hook (I recommend you take the time to clean it up a bit before using it). Bait is a dragonfly or, if you like catfish around here, anything that is dead or dying.

If you can't find an old spring off of something mechanical, you can actually whittle one... just make a  barb on a small stick of wood. The fish don't care if it's shiny or not... they're not rednecks.

Look around the side of a road... people throw out lighters all the time. Some are out of fluid; others are out of flint or the flint broke. Use one of each together and you have a two-handed Bic lighter.

Need a torch? I'd bet you can find some styrofoam someone threw away. Just set it on fire and as it melts, twist it on the end of a stick. After a few minutes, you'll have a nice torch that will stay burning for a couple hours. Can't find styrofoam? 2-liter bottles work well too, just cut them into strips and wrap them tightly around the stick and melt the strip together.

Here's a good one: assume it has just finished raining and you need a fire. All the tinder is wet. How to dry it out quickly? Find a strip of old cloth and let it dry... that usually consists of nothing more than hanging it over something and letting the air dry it out over the space of an hour or two. Now get the least-wet tinder you can find and pile it on a raised area. The cloth will catch fire pretty easily and will burn HOT... that will dry out the tinder and you can build a nice, roaring fire from damp surroundings. Add some cedar shavings  and needles to that tinder and you'll speed it up even more... even wet, cedar needles burn well once lit. They tend to exude a flammable gas when heated.

Just a few examples of how things others will walk by without noticing can be useful in themselves.

TheRedneck