Posts tagged survival
A couple of years ago, we hiked up to a place in the western ghats during the month of December (end of it). Which is actually the end of winter in the Indian subcontinent. The biggest problem we f...
I've heard that running in a zig-zag pattern makes it more difficult for the alligator to keep up with you. Is that true?
I've been crafting a longbow from ash and am about ready for tillering. By tillering I mean: stringing the bow loosely and drawing the bowstring back little by little to give the bow some flex, mak...
Comments at a recent question How many tea light candles are needed to equal the heat output of a person? suggest that burning a candle can produce water vaper that masses twice as much as the cand...
A recent answer said: In an emergency a tea light candle carefully set on/in a disposable pie tin can heat a 4 season tent enough to aid the drying process - just be sure to isolate, ventalate,...
Living in the north-east part of America, my chances of encountering a grizzly bear are very low. I have greater chances of meeting a black bear. If I got the chance of meeting a grizzly, should I...
If I'm out hiking, and I come around a corner and stumble upon a bear, what's the best course of action to take to minimize the chance the bear will act aggressively? Do different types of bear (...
Even if I was to follow the advice of letting bears know I am in the area, keeping my cooking and anything that smells at least 100m from my camp & downwind, etc, suppose a bear finds my tent a...
I know that they say to make as much noise as possible to try and show your dominance, but what happens if I am sleeping? If I wake up with a bear right outside my tent while i'm sleeping, and I ha...
I always wanted to visit Balkan region, but I'm affraid of scorpions. As far as I searched there's plenty of those terrifying creatures, but none of species I found was poisonous. So I have two que...
As I'd like to do some survival in Europe, one way to gather food is hunting. In which Europese countries is it legal to hunt small game like rabbits and ducks, without or with an easy to obtain l...
Some people seem to be able (as I've noticed when camping and traveling with different people) be able to produce more heat and need fewer layers in cold situations. Are there any techniques that ...
I have some obsidian and I know that it can be made into knives and other sharp objects such as arrowheads. Historically this was done for a long time in the United States before there were steel b...
As an outdoor beginner, I was interested in some possible tool combinations for shorter outdoor hiking trips, say, 2-5 days. From what little experience I have, I reckon that the most common tasks...
Another question asked what survival equipment should be carried in an emergency kit. But very little was about medical or first aid supplies (band-aids, gauze, tylenol, moleskin, etc). What items...
I've never been hiking in such extreme situations, but if in the situation in the question, i.e. you're hiking in very cold weather and someone falls in (let's say so pretty much their whole body i...
This is a common problem during wild camping or survival activity, especially during colder seasons. You are tired, you have lost a lot of calories during day, and now you want to wash, but the onl...
Various sources (mostly TV stations, at least in my region) are constantly warning about the danger of cold shock response, if someone goes to water too quickly. But on the other hand, Bear Gryll...
Possible Duplicate: How can you navigate without a compass or GPS Obviously we all carry a compass and a map when we go trekking, but if I lose them but know I need to get back to my car...
A recent question asks about disassembling a multi tool pictured below. We have an existing question How do you fashion a spear with a fixed blade. All of the blades pictured are long handled an...
Assuming I am lost with minimal tools, but have my knife, is there any way to improvise a knife sharpener in the woods?
Under the assumption that an emergency kit like the ones listed here are for the emergency of getting lost and being stranded for days, how necessary is a knife sharpener?
What is the proper way to make a spear with a fixed blade to prevent breaking as described by Vorac in his comment here?
What are the techniques for starting and maintaining a fire in a survival situation when snow is present? I would like to know if there are any known techniques for starting and maintaining a fire...
Paracord is widely considered a must-have for wilderness survival, and there are hundreds of tutorials for making bracelets out of it, etc. With this popularity has come a glut of people selling "p...
Many years ago I read that buffalo hunters would drink the liquid out of buffalo's eyes to gross out the greenhorns and tenderfeet (people new to the West). Attached to this anecdote was a claim th...
I am not much used to Camping in Cold areas. But I have been told by hikers that Hypothermia is something that I should be very careful of. Since childhood, it has been like, I don't catch cold ver...
In a situation where you don't know when you will find water again, is it better to ration the water you have over time (and ever increasing dehydration) or to drink it to quench thirst as soon as ...
I'm asking this just for curiosity: Imagine your are alone in the wilderness without any resources since a few days. You're dehydrated and you find a bottle of an alcoholic liquor in your baggage. ...
Saw a video on youtube where some guy made a water filter out of a bottle, charcoal, sand and little rocks. He commented that since the charcoal is very porous it's great for filtering. Then, after...
So I read this answer and I was wondering what contraption produce the most water when you don't have a water source? So what water trap produces the most water? Specifically, what should I do with...
Let's imagine I'm hiking and I find a water source - like a lake, a stream or a well, and I want to fill my water bottle with it. I have a bottle and a water filter. And a bandana. Since I can't ...
I know I shouldn't drink seawater (because of the salt it contains), but how can I desalinate it?
If I am in a survival situation, is there any reason I shouldn't drink the available water? I am aware of Giardia and cholera. Are these worthy concerns, or are there good enough cures available th...
Everyone I have ever been camping with seems to have an unwritten rule never to drink from streams no matter how clear they might seem, for fear of Giardia. I have also heard people telling about h...
We've all heard stories about how people saved their lives by drinking their urine. Is drinking urine safe when there are no other water sources available? Can I filter it with a water purifier?
Caries and other similar disease can be a painful threat. It even can be a danger to life if not threatened over several months. An abscess may result from a trapped piece of food, uncontrolle...
Based on Wikipedia: Moose injure more people than any other wild mammal and, worldwide, only hippopotamuses injure more. In this case, what should I do to decrease the risk of being injured...
Where would I look if I was in a survival situation and wanted to find some rocks for fire starting? Where does flint occur naturally? What environments could you expect to find some in? I've creat...
In a survival situation, lets say post apocalyptic, what are some unconventional ways a campfire could be lit? Obviously there are the classic flint and steel, rod and bow, and of course matches. B...
As far as I know a wood (for the "hearth board") has to full fill several characteristics (at least they've to be soft) to be suitable for a friction fire. When in a survival situation, how can I d...
As far as I know a wood (for the "hearth board") has to full fill several characteristics (at least they've to be soft) to be suitable for a friction fire. When in a survival situation, how can I d...
When trying to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together, what does one need to consider? I am assuming I can't just grab any two sticks and start rubbing... Should they be dead or green? Har...
There are numerous videos online demonstrating that its possible to start a fire using a battery. Here are four examples using different starting materials. But I have not found any tutorials that ...
Starting a fire can sometimes be hard enough when it's dry, let alone when it's tipping it down. But when it is, what steps should you follow to try to ensure the fire gets going successfully? I'm...
I live on the coast of the northeastern part of Brazil (Rio Grande do Norte). As you go inland, the terrain becomes very arid. There are cactus and a lot of xerophilic plants that remind me a lot o...
In Treasure Of Khan by Clive Cussler, the main protagonist is lost in a desert and uses his watch to determine directions, here is the quote : An old survival trick, he knew that south must be...
What are some good techniques to use (materials, knots, etc.) for building a raft by gathering wood in the local area? I'm talking about something to sail on still or slow moving bodies of water, n...
Sometimes when mountaineering, there may be an emergency situation which leaves you in bad weather with no or damaged shelter (such as returning from a summit attempt or after a wild and crazy stor...
When in an emergency survival situation were you don't have access to clean or at least "okay" water but to wildlife (or it is at least easier to grab a snake for example than to gather water), is ...