Survival Kit

The best things to bring on a trip in case you get lost are;

1. A backpack- to carry the gear, must have 2 over shoulder straps.
2. first aid kit- essential for any type of emergency
3. a space blanket- reflective and helps keep in warmth
4. tarp- great for shelter covers
5. waterproof matches- for a fire
6. sealed water container and iodine tablets for purification
7. snare wire-catch food
8. canned food
9. mirror or whistle- signaling devices
10. multi-tool or Swiss army knife or a hatchet with a sheath
11. parachute cord or study cording
12. candles or flashlight and extra batteries

Food

I haven't posted anything in this blog in a long time because I have been busy in school and at home.

In this post I will explain some edible plants that are around in Canada and pictures so that they can be more easily identified.

There are the ever favorite the blueberry:

Garlic Mustard (green plant)

Gooseberries (fruits)

Indian Cucumber Root (tubers)

Jerusalem Artichoke (tubers)

 This is the end you eat

Mayapple (fruit)

Nettles (young whole plant) (& cordage)

 what your supposed to do is boil the leaves and eat like spinach

Ostrich Fern (fiddleheads) (young plants)

 eat them raw(but wash them first) or boil them with and put some butter on them.

Trout Lily (tubers)

<--- this is the edible part

Wild Carrot (roots)

Wild Garlic (whole plant)

Wild Leeks (whole plant)

Agave Root (root)


NEED WATER!! FOOD!

Well in my own experience the two most important things in a survival situation is getting water and food, I have found that food is a lot easier to come by then water so when it is needed here are some things you can do to get it:

 Use a plant. What this is, is using condesation from plants to get water. what you can do is place any type of plastic bagging or such and put it around a limb of a tree that still has green leaves or needles on it. then after some time you can poke a small hole near the bottom and slowly fill anything u can drink from.

Using a solar still. Useing a plastic sheet across a hole anchored down by rocks or dirt place a small rock in the middle of the sheet to create a "track" for the water to travel on (oh make sure you place a drinking cup under the sheet before you anchor it) if you want to make it slightly easier you can use a drinking tube like in the picture I had gotten from howstuffworks.com

Next up is edible plants then, snares and traps......

Shelters R Us Part 2

In the last post I mentioned six different types of shelters used in summer/fall (no snow really) and winter (or when there is snow). First I am going to do the lean to, it is simple and easy to get done in a short amount of time. With a lean to you need two trees close together about 4-5 feet apart depending on how many are to stay in it if any more then 3 either make two or make wider. Second, you need a top brace, it should be no higher then the tallest persons hip (it saves on work and is more proficient at conserving heat.) it should also be at least 3 inches thick and not rotting. If there are sturdy branches out from the tree use that to hold up the cross beam. Next lay longer pieces down that are as long as your tallest person, then take either spruce or pine or both can do wonders in keeping out rain and possibly snow and holding heat.

Next the A-frame, Lash four uprights together to make two upside down V's, Join the two upside down Vs across the top with a roof beam. Lash two rails to the sides of the upside down Vs at the right height for your sleeping platform. Lay smaller branches across the rails for your sleeping platform. Tie sheeting over the roof beam, or use leaves, branches or other natural materials.

Shelters R Us Part 1

In this post I will cover the basic types and styles of shelters and how to make some of them. There are three main types of shelters for summer and three for winter, the three for summer are:
Lean-To

A-frame

Then there are debris huts


During the winter there are:
Quinzees

Igloos

And snow caves

Trade rock for fire...

Now this post is gonna be all about fire and the many ways to achieve it.

There are may ways to get fire but some are more effective then others. Before I get into that though you should know how to build your fire in the most effective way. To start your fire you need 3 things: spark, fuel, and oxygen. The fuel is seperated into 3 catagories; tinder, kindling, and small\large fuel (whatever you can get a hold of). Tinder is the beginning of your fire and is essential in actually getting the fire started, it can be birtch bark or any fiberous dry object another well used is magnesium (explained later). Kindling is essentially small twigs but are only good if they are dry but don't go ripping off peices from trees it can make your supply small. The thing I would recommend would be Cedar branches nearest the bottom because they tend to stay dry even in the rain. Fuel is anything that can burn that is bigger then 2 inches wide.
The different ways to start a fire are friction in the form of the bow drill. (I will go into detail with each at a later date.)

Next is using flint and steel.

Also from different types of lenses.

Lastly my favorite is called Steel wool and batteries.

Basic Survival

Well the first thing that one should do when lost is the STOP acronym.
It stands for: Stop what you are doing.
                    Think your situation through.
                    Observe your surroundings.
                    Plan what you need to do next and in the future.

The most important things to have when in a survival situation is, shelter, fire, food, and most important is water. As my posts become more in lenght or I can receive requests on what type of survival aspects I could post about