Secret Survival Tips

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
Yeah....I always laugh when I go to the grocery store and see chantarelles for some ridiculous $25/lb price....so much cheaper to step out by the creek and grab some...just most people don't know.

And now is a pretty much the last shot to get them. Soon it will be ramp season, again, I will be welcoming spring with their arrival.

A garbage bag makes a great rain coat. And a candle between your feet will warm you up quickly.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

And now is a pretty much the last shot to get them. Soon it will be ramp season, again, I will be welcoming spring with their arrival.

I have tons of ramps and also access to ACRES of nothing but ramps!
literally acres. Love them with steak.

originally posted by: butcherguy

originally posted by: TrulyColorBlind
Gumballs dipped in wax make a good alternative fuel source. I was able to cook a breakfast of bacon and eggs with only four gumballs. (And the bacon was crispy!) And my method works great when you're in the middle of nowhere and don't want your (cooking) fire to be seen. See the three images below for details. Note the gallon-sized commercial food can I used, which I got for free from a local restaurant:








TCB

Someone might try to start a fire with a large ball of bubble gum.

Ha ha! Yeah, I don't know if that burns.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
Yeah....I always laugh when I go to the grocery store and see chantarelles for some ridiculous $25/lb price....so much cheaper to step out by the creek and grab some...just most people don't know.

And now is a pretty much the last shot to get them. Soon it will be ramp season, again, I will be welcoming spring with their arrival.

Yep....ramps everywhere here too. Love grilling those...so tasty!

Everyone focuses on food and water, well kind of useless if you can not get to the food and water.
Learn to read a map, a compass, and the land.
Learn how to find direction with out a compass.
Learn how many steps it takes to cover 100m.
Can you shoot an azimuth with a compass and triangulate your position? Learn to.
There may come times when you wish to travel and not be seen. The roads would be out of the question then. So the obvious answer is cross country. But can you plan a route cross country with out running into an unpassable obstacle? With the skills of reading a map you would be able to tell if there may be a cliff or ravine you would have to plan for. With the compass you will stay on course and knowing your step count, we will say 100 just for ease of math, you need to travel 2KM. That would be 2,000m, at 100 steps for every 100m, it would take 2,000 steps. If you walk 2100 steps you have over shot your destination and need to recheck your course.

First aid is another we all should know. Properly binding and dressing a wound can be the difference between life and death. More battlefield casualties come from infection than ever came from bullets.

The biggest secret to survival is one that many people do not practice today. OPSEC. Short for operational security. In other words if someone does not need to know, they do not know. People love to go on face book and brag about there new AR-15 or the 10,000 rounds they just bought. This should also be kept in mind even when things are not bad. Do not post that you are getting ready for your 2 week family vacation in the Bahama's, that just tells would be thieves when you are leaving.

Worked an arborist supply and equipment company,

Trained professionals die every month (we lose a customer every month to death or severe injury), don't mess with tress unless you know how to rig and cut properly.

Little known fact, arborist industry surpassed crab fishing for deaths awhile ago.

a reply to: ThatDamnDuckAgain

originally posted by: JAGStorm
I have tons of ramps and also access to ACRES of nothing but ramps!
literally acres. Love them with steak.

Lucky. They are one of my favorite things hands down. There's so many ways to prepare them.

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
Yep....ramps everywhere here too. Love grilling those...so tasty!

One of my favorite ways. I do a grilled steak with a board sauce and use these which is always a hit.

I like eating dandelion leaves with salad dressing in the spring, they are actually pretty good for you, but some people do have problems with them.

The greater plantain is like spinach, it should be boiled though, it contains a lot of oxylates and can clot the blood if not cooked. You can crush one and use it as a bandaid and it stops the bleeding which is beneficial if you get hurt out in the woods. It also can cause kidney stones if eaten raw.

When I was young, I used to cook some up when camping, just make sure people don't pee in the area you pick it from. You need butter and salt, just like spinach. Spinach also contains a lot of oxylates and will cause blood clots and kidney stones too. Adding a little cream or milk will lessen the kidney stone risk when it is cooked.

Get to know how to identify and prepare mushrooms, but remember, the wrong ones can really mess up your health or mind.

originally posted by: underwerks
You can make wine from dandelions.

Yes, how well I know! Here's my last batch of dandelion wine as it was fermenting:



Did you know that you can also take dandelion roots and make a kind of tea out of them?




TCB

You can also take day lily buds, dice them up and fry them just like okra. Battered, they taste just like deep fried okra. You want to get the smaller, younger flower buds, as they seem to be a little more tender.


TCB

Edit to add:
I eat stuff out of my yard alla time. It helps when you know which wild plants you can eat and it helps that I have apple trees, blackberry and strawberries and edible things like that planted.

Alright, I got one and of course it’s food related. If you have a can that needs to be open you can rub the can on a hard surface such as concrete for a few seconds and you pop the seal.

No pointy rocks needed.

a reply to: TheAlleghenyGentleman

"If you have a can that needs to be open you can rub the can on a hard surface such as concrete for a few seconds and you pop the seal. "

That is something I didn't know, thanks! Everybody should carry a Swiss Army knife, or at least a p-38 on their keychain. Just in case there are no rocks around.


TCB

This is a Grape Hyacinth:



Trust me, you can NOT make wine from these kind of grapes! I tried.


TCB

a reply to: UncleReamus

This is what I'm talking about. Number one key to survival - don't let people know where your bunker is, don't let them know what your plan is, or how much ammo you have, or what your skills are. Plan silently and act like a dummy. You'll be ok.

originally posted by: JAGStorm

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: JAGStorm

There's a large, forested park near my house where I can find things like ramps, mushrooms, greens and other foodstuffs and it's only 10 miles from NYC. If I can get those hear imagine what you can harvest in a much more pastoral locale.

Here's one for our Southern Friends.
Kudzu is almost totally edible (not the seeds & vine is questionable)

The herbal dip I use has Kudzu in it. It's remarkably similar to tobacco in texture and you can mix it with other herbs. Tea leaves are good for tobacco alternativesas well. You can also put coffee grounds into strips of coffee filters, twist up the ends and use it as a tobacco alternative. Both the coffee and tea will have the added stimulant benefits, but some people need to be reminded that if they are trying to conserve water they should be careful with it.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

So I am in GA and have tons of Birch trees around and found this guy's method of getting clean drinking water to be very effective. Especially if you have no other means of purifying water for whatever reason.

That was a cool video.
Up here people also make birch syrup. They do it the same way as maple.

a reply to: rickymouse

The greater plantain is like spinach, it should be boiled though, it contains a lot of oxylates and can clot the blood if not cooked.
You can crush one and use it as a bandaid and it stops the bleeding which is beneficial if you get hurt out in the woods.

Plantains are absolutely wonderful to use crushed up and put on a Wasp/Bee sting, or mosquito bite.
It will take the ouch out the sting right away.

a reply to: AutomateThis1

The herbal dip I use has Kudzu in it. It's remarkably similar to tobacco in texture and you can mix it with other herbs. Tea leaves are good for tobacco alternativesas well. You can also put coffee grounds into strips of coffee filters, twist up the ends and use it as a tobacco alternative. Both the coffee and tea will have the added stimulant benefits, but some people need to be reminded that if they are trying to conserve water they should be careful with it.

Very good point. One thing I read about Venezuela is that sin items were very good for bartering.
Booze, cigarettes, drugs, or even a persons body.

Note to self: stock up on booze!