Let's start a primitive survival thread with the aim of saving a life. Everyone contribute
one first class survival tip, OKAY!

NUMBER ONE:
3 things things the Inuit are never without
are a knife, firestarter kit and needle and thread to repair shelters, make clothing, snares, closing wounds, etc.
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#2 Dryer lint makes good fire starter.
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#3 a 40" bandana has a multitude of uses:
head cover, sling, scarf, tourniquet, bandage, etc.

Great idea! I order my survival priorities this way: 1.Shelter, 2.Fire, 3.Water, and 4.Food. The emergency kit I carry in my car is set up with this in mind. For me cordage is real important because it can be hard to make up on short notice. I carry 50' of para cord because it can help you with building a shelter, making fire (bow drill if you forgot your flint and steel) and maybe get you dinner (snare). I carry a sheet of plastic (shelter and solar still for water). I also carry waterproof matches, compass, folding lockback knife, and water purification tabs. I've got this all packed into an East German messkit which gives me 3 containers for boiling water. Look back to our forefathers, the longhunters, mountain men, and Native Americans for info too. Unlike most of us everyday could turn into a survival situation for them. They had to be prepared or they died.

I do carry an extra pair of glasses, and a 1/2
pint of tequlia..

Another very indispensible thing,T.P. and some sort of knife sharpening tool.

You might want to rethink or double check water purification tablets, especially if you might have to share the water. Most such tablets are iodine based, which will work on most micro-organisms, but not all like guardia. They are usually based on the military quart sized canteen, so if you use less than a quart of water per application, then the higher than intended concentration also sanitizes your intestinal tract . If you share iodine purified water with a person who is allergic to shellfish, the iodine based tablets can be deadly. (Folks who rarely eat shellfish may not know if their kids are allergic to shellfish )

I got one of those global rated backpack filters & pumps. Not too fast but pulls out the bugs alright. Nobody wants an authentic disease or death eh?

LD

quote:

Originally posted by 45-120 sharps:
Another very indispensible thing,T.P. <snip>

Get the kind of TP, your finger won't stick through...

Bill

Stick through or slip through???first aid kit.

quote:

Let's start a primitive survival thread with the aim of saving a life. Everyone contribute
one first class survival tip, OKAY!

Every time we go afield on a trek buy foot, horse, or canoe we should consider ourselves to be in a primitive survival mode. By this I mean we should be prepared physically , mentally, and equipment wise for anything that comes our way, that's what the fur trappers did. You can prepare for any situation by staying in physical condition to do what you are planning or what may take place because of your activities. Mentally we can learn about the areas we are going into, such as what food types, natural medicines, sources of water, terrain and natural resources will be available. Check your possibles that you are planning on taking, think through what you are planning on doing and what unexpected things may happen. Common sense and prior planning will go a long ways in pulling you through a tight situation. If you use a wooden ramrod it's not a bad idea to carry a spare in your barrel with a piece of bright thread, or leather/cloth tied to the end, the thread can give you wind direction while out hunting. Be observant of what you're doing and where you're walking,four winters ago while I was on a trapping line I found a river rock that I still use as a sharpening stone, works better than the store kind. Last month while I was out I found a rock that looks like flint, that strikes better than my flint and now I use it to start my fires. Most of my treks I do alone, just because I can't find anyone crazy enough to go with me, so I have to be prepared for any survival mode I may find myself in, one time When I had hiked into a primitive area for a hunt I cut my forefinger pretty good and was bleeding pretty good, so I cut off some of the fringe off my buckskin shirt and tied the finger off to stop the bleeding cause bandages wouldn't stop it. I wear and pre-1840 trappers also wore a scarf around their necks, which could be used to keep the ears warm, dust out of their mouth, to filter water, as a sling and many other uses. Well, I've rambled on long enough and could go on for days on this subject, i guess the bottom line is prior planning prevents poor performance...and it just might help you see another sunrise afore ye go under!

Two tips I learned from a LTC in Special Forces
A simple little dental floss dispenser has a 100
yards of tough line floss. The dispenser has it own cutter and the dispenser keeps your cordage straight. Add a sewing needle and fish
hook stuck to the dispenser. I used to carry
several of these in my flight bag. makes fish line, shelter tie, stitching, bow string, snares, etc.
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Find an old nose dropper bottle and fill with Clorox bleach. Put one drop (1) per liter to purify most water to 98% free of microbes. Use your bandana to filter out the big pieces. This is a survival situation only.
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compact discs make great signal mirrors
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break up a duraflame log into small pieces for fire starter.
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find an old cedar tree and tear off some bark.
Put bark on road for cars to run over. When bark shredded makes great fire tinder (birdsnest
for sparks).
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Super Glue was invented to close wounds.
Ladies tampons will help clot blood in wounds.
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bounce fabric softener makes good insect repellent rubbed on skin.
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2 50-gallon trash bags make a good rain suit and
sleeping bag. One on for trousers and the other over your head and shoulders.

Something I found very useful while stranded on a hunt, due to the driver of the car we were in hitting a rock and knocking a hole in his gas tank, 30 miles down a dirt road, was road flares. It was raining and no dry wood, so we used the road flares to heat water and cook over.

P

Don't use cotton clothing when out in the wilds. If it gets wet, it will wick heat away from the body. Wool will keep you warm, even if it is wet. The synthetic fleeces are even better, as they will not absorb moisture. They can be wrung almost completely dry.
I prefer wool, but that is how I was trained.

I have a Guernsey frock that is knit from high oil content wool. Great outdoors garment. Rain just runs off the outside. Becomes obvious why they were so popular with fishermen.

Hey Y'all,

Wearing a hat in the winter will keep your fingers and toes warm longer. Your bod uses most of it's energy trying to keep your head and vitals warm and will take heat from the extremities to do so. That's why your fingers and toes get cold first. Your head acts like a stove pipe and you loose alot of body heat when not wearing a hat. So, keeping your trunk and head warm will keep the rest of you warm longer.

Also, layered clothing is best. Those snow mobile suits and overalls are meant for inactivity. Like operating equipment, ice fishing, sitting in a blind etc. If you do any strenous activity you'll start to sweat and then you're in danger of hypothermia. So layer your clothing. If you get hot, remove a layer, if you start to feel chilled, add a layer.

My first pastorate was ministering to the Navajo in Northern New Mexico. And those who do not live in government housing live alone way out in the boonies. I mean over ridges, accross arroyo's, way back canyon's boonies. And some of the "roads" leading to where they like to live are very desolate. If you loose a belt or blow a water hose, you may not see another vehicle for days if not weeks. So I learned to carry spare belts, hoses, water, chow, two spare tires, and a wool blanket as well as your normal possibles in anticipation of spending some time out there on occasion.

If you take a coffee can about the size of a roll of TP, and then take a roll of TP and remove the carboard center, place it in the can and fill it with rubbing alcohol, and cover it with the lid, the paper will absorb the alcohol and can be used as an emergency sorce of heat that will last for a long, long time.

Never, never, never give up.

If you are travelinng by car or truck in cold country it is a very good idea to take a warm sleeping bag and winter boot's with felt liner's

Snakebite,
To give emphasis to your head covering suggestion, when I first got into hiking for a week at a time, we were told that "you loose 50% of your body heat through your head!"

Other major heat losers are any 'triangular' spots on your body...crotch/groin and armpits particularly. But you seldom hear that mentioned because those areas are more apt to be covered than the cranium (head).

Sparks

I want a belt ax 3-1/2 lbs there about,it will do just about everything a knife will do and more.Cut down a tree for fire wood/spilt it up,make a shelther,cut up game even if it is frozen solid,its a hammer in a pinch, push come to shove,a weapon with a reach advantage over a knife.Flying hooves or claws are farther away from your body.Compass would be handy unless you are schooled in other navigational skills,and the weather doesnt cancel those out.Fog,snow,night,swamps all make a compass necessary.
I would have to tailor what I want/need to where I was surviving, High desert,mountains,time of year.This is a good thread Orical cause I have not really set down and said WHAT IF I !!!!!!!!!!This is why a Scoot Bag is a good idea.

Great tips and good info. Loyalist Dave, thanks for the reminder on the tabs. Given the opportunity I prefer to boil instead of treat the water, but they can work on short notice. Of course you have to wait 30 minutes for the tabs to go to work. Great suggestions on the scarves. The Boy Scouts still teach the usefulness of this item. What are some of the things you guys carry and do that you learned from the "old timers"?

Here's a "survival kit" I carry just in case: http://outdoorsafe.com/cgi-bin/online/storepro.php. While not period correct for authentic trekers, I prefer this kit to which I add a very compact boiler, water filter like LD mentioned, some tea, some type of food bar(s) and a compass. The founder of this company, Peter Kummerfeldt, spoke at the Filson store in Seattle about a year ago. He has a very impressive bio & his seminar on outdoor survival was great. Also, I seldom go anywhere w/o a swiss army knife or something similar.

As mentioned, a small hand axe. Not the 3" blade one handed one you can pick up at a hardware store but the smaller ones (hand made). I chopped down a tree that was slightly over 3" thick with that tiny axe of mine (hand forged by Melvyn Litton of Conner Prairie). There's a small one on display at the TN State Museum and it looks like a toy. Yet, those little suckers if kept sharp do chop. When I took mine out and began working with it, it sounded more like a someone playing with a hammer (hammering on wood) than a woodsman chopping away. With patience, its doable and you can chop down small trees to make a shelter.

Gary, I've got a little Ft. Meigs style hatchet like you described.
I was shown how to use it like a chisel..using a baton of wood like a mallet against the back of the head. Works really great through the breastbone/pelvis of a big game animal.
You can actually use the same technique with a knife.

haywire 'n fix-a-flats, bandaids 'n neosporin, monofilament, a bic, a machetito, and the buckskin whangs off'n my britches; ain't much thet's period-keereckt, boys, but we are talkin' survival hyar! i agree with two-thumbs, though; thar ain't no survival tool ennywhar near as important as th' one betwixt yer ears. mind yer topknots! windy