Chapter 6: Survival

teaching some basic survival skills needed to stay alive in urban or suburban environments.
basic concepts, We will talk about the priorities of survival, and the frame of mind. Bear Grylls has a great Acronym for remembering the priorities of survival. “Please Remember What’s First” Protection, Rescue, Water, Food. I want to add one more word to that. “Stupid” which would stand for “Scavenge.”

Please Remember What’s First Stupid

-Protection
Clothing is your first line of protection from the weather. Consider the climate in your immediate area but be prepared for anything. Hypothermia and Heat exhaustion is a common killer for people in survival situations. Your Bug Out Bag clothes should be similar to what you would pack for a weekend backpacking trip.

• A pair of sturdy boots or shoes (not really IN the pack but ready)
• A pair of long pants (preferably not blue jeans)
• 2 Pairs of socks (preferably not cotton)
• 2 Shirts (Maybe 1 long sleeve and 1 short sleeve for layering)
• A Jacket that is both warm and protection from rain
• 2 pairs of Warm long and short underwear of some kind
• A hat
• A Bandana

• Appropriate clothing
• appropriate clothing for protecting yourself from the elements.
• In cold weather multiple layers will keep you more insulated rather than one thick garment. in cold situations it's important to keep your core temperature up to prevent hypothermia. it is also best not to sweat if possible. sweat will dampen your clothes and sap heat from your body 25% faster.
• In warm weather staying cool and and protecting your head are important to prevent heat stroke. so a bandana or hat is important. using paint or ash on the skin under your eyes can reduce glare and keep your retina from burning.

• Shelter building

you may not always have a tent or premade Shelter in some situations so learning to improvise one using what’s at hand can make life suck less.

• whenever possible improvise natural or man-made things in your environment, no need to expend too much time or energy if you don’t have to.
• Consider the placement of your shelter. look for level solid ground. avoid game trails as it may put you in the reach of predators. in open areas if you want to be seen for rescue, but concealed and camouflaged if the opposite is the case. in wet areas, or the possibility of flooding, you may have to make a shelter thats off the ground like an A-Frame or Hammock.
• Give yourself  time to build your shelter before it gets dark or it will be much harder.
• Types of shelters. A-Frame, Lean-to, Sheet shelter

• Fire

Fire serves many purposes. It offers protection from the cold.  A way to cook food, boil water, ward off predators, mosquitos, and boost your moral. All of which are crucial in survival situations. It can also create smoke for signaling rescue.

METHODS FOR MAKING FIRE - matches lighters and fire starters are worth their weight in gold, but there are other methods for making fire, the wood drill, Fire Saw ,and even car batteries.

• All fires need fuel and tinder. tinder can be made of many dry and fibrous materials such as wool, grass, leaves, tree bark, and moss. Different types of tinder can be found many places.  You can use the lint from your pockets or tear small pieces of clothing and fray them so they burn easier.  Small scraps of paper, Q-tips cotton ends, the fluff from wool clothing are all great options as fire-starters.  Other types of tinder that most people don’t think about are:  alcohol prep pads, Carmex, chapstick, deodorant stick, hand sanitizer, insect repellent, Neosporin, petroleum jelly and even snack chips.  Any of the items mentioned above can be used as tinder to get the fire started. as for the wood, any thing that makes a dry snapping sound when you break it, like the sound of a fire, is good to burn. make sure to gather enough wood to keep your fire going all night, so you're not looking for it in the dark. When trying to start a fire try to have the following items on hand: plenty of small twigs, bark, or any other type of flammable material you can procure.  After gathering fuel for the fire,place the tinder on an area of ground that you have cleared as best you can.  Next, surround the burn area with a nonflammable ring (barrier) made of rocks or an equivalent alternative (cinder blocks, bricks, scrap metal, etc.).  Creating this barrier accomplishes at least three significant advantages in building and maintaining a fire:

• First, it keeps the fire contained.
• Second, the barrier becomes heated by the fire and retains this heat for a significant duration of time depending on what materials you are using.  This material can then be placed around you to keep warm, heat up water (possibly even boil water which can help provide safer drinking alternatives for hydration), or even heat up and cook food.
• Third, it protects the fire from being snuffed out by a gust of wind.  You will find that when you’re struggling to make a fire or keep it lit, it’s a game of margins.  The smallest breeze can derail alot of hard work and deplete your resources quickly.  Keep in mind that you will need to make sure to make the barrier open (wide) enough to let the fire breathe (fire needs oxygen) while keeping any significant breeze out.

when possible you should create a fire for cooking away from campsite or your shelter and many predators can smell food from many miles away and will come to investigate. unwelcome guests like bears, mountain lions, wolves, coyotes, and boar.


-Rescue

• Planning
• the first question is, are you in a situation where you want to be found. sometimes this is not the case. if it is, the then next question is rescue coming to you. in many situations. you are better served staying put. Try to put yourself in the rescuers shoes. where are they coming from and what will they be looking for.
• In other situations you may need to find rescue, civilization, or it may be that your current location is unsafe, and you may need to leave.
• its important to know were safe zones in your area are, rescue, hospitals,police military, CDC, or maybe some place rural away from crowds or danger, and the safest way to get to them. If possible, things to avoid along the way depending on the situations.
• Navigation
• knowing which direction to travel is crucial, so having a compass and map is a good idea. but you can still find your way without them.
• WATCH METHOD- and easy watch you know direction is to point the hour hand of your watch at the sun. and the intersecting line between it and the 12’oclock is your general north and south. in the southern hemisphere this would be reverse
• Stick Sundial,  another method is to plant a stick in the ground and place a rock marking the tip of its shadow. wait 15 minutes and mark were the shadow has moved with another rock. the line between these two rocks is your general East and west. the first rock being west.

• extraction/evasion
• rescue signaling

-Water
It should go without saying that water is a survival basic for any situation. In a survival situation water quickly becomes the most precious commodity.1 Liter per day per person is really the bare minimum. So your 3 day Bug Out Bag should have at least 3 liters of water.To expand your capability or survive longer than a couple of days you will need a Water purification system. This can be as simple as boiling water and iodine tablets, or a serious water filter.

• Rules about drinking water
• when collecting water, boil it whenever possible
• stagnate water is never a good idea, it is a breeding ground for parasites, and bacteria.
• moving water is favorable, but again boil it whenever possible.
• rain water is typically good to drink. so when it rains find ways to collect it. cause you may not get so lucky in the near future.
• water filtered through the ground is typically clean. falling from the roof of a cave or run off from rocks, again boil it whenever possible.
• when near streams and rivers, search for signs of crayfish. they are good to eat, but also are a good indicator of clean water as they are intolerant of any kind of bacteria or contamination.

• Where to find water
• Desalination.
• Swimming

-Food
For a 3 Day Bug Out Bag MRE's and Energy bars can be sufficient. Back pack meals are freeze dried meals that you just add boiling water to. They are lightweight and last a long time. Obviously you will need a longer term food solution in any type of wide area catastrophe, but for your basic backpack meals are a good set up.

• Food prep
• Hunting
• Fishing

-Scavenge
-Camping