On this page we are going to add different tips and tricks that are going to help you with your survival planning or things that you can use in a real life survival situation, and in every day living. We added a comment page so that you can share some of your own. I'm sure there are millions of them out there. We don't want to get too technical or complicated, just try and keep them simple and to the point. Thanks.

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Fuel 

• One of the first tips I'm going to give you, is to keep your fuel tank on your vehicle topped up as often as possible. You should never let it get below three quarters of a tank. If there is ever a power outage, there will be no gas stations or card locks working. If you have a full tank of fuel and you conserve, you'll be okay for a while.

• Keeping extra fuel in jerry cans will also help in this situation. Some people claim that fuel will lose it's octane if it sits too long. If you're worried about it, use up your jerry cans once a year and refill them with fresh fuel.

• In the winter time. the fuller you keep your fuel tank, the less likely that you'll get condensation in the tank. This is especially true if you keep your vehicle inside where it's warm, when it's extremely cold outside. It's when you take it from the warm to the cold that condensation can freeze up your fuel lines.

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Click on Seasoning a Cast Iron Frying Pan to view.

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Soap

• Extract grease from animal fat by cutting the fat into small pieces and cooking them in a pot. Add enough water to the pot to keep the fat from sticking as it cooks. Cook the fat slowly, stirring frequently. After the fat is rendered, pour the grease into a container to harden. Place ashes in a container with a spout near the bottom. Pour water over the ashes and collect the liquid that drips out of the spout in a separate container. This liquid is the potash or lye. Another way to get the lye is to pour the slurry (the mixture of ashes and water) through a straining cloth. In a cooking pot, mix two parts grease to one part potash. Place this mixture over a fire and boil it until it thickens. After the mixture - the soap - cools, you can use it in the semi liquid state directly from the pot. You can also pour into a pan, allow it to harden, and cut into bars for later use. 

• When your bars of soap get small from use, put them in a baggie and keep some in your survival kit. You can also shave them and add the shavings to your next batch of soap.

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Do

• Stay as calm and as collective as you can be in an emergency situation. Take a minute, and review your plan in your head, then start implementing it. You have to stay focused. Never stop thinking, and planning, when you do, you'll just give up.

Don't

• Panic. When you panic you won't be able to focus and follow your plan, and when you panic, chances are people around will also panic, and pretty soon all hell has broken out. Don't waste your time wondering and worrying, it won't help and it's not productive.

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Did you know?

Cleaning solution - Baking Soda (frugal favorite!) Borax (all-natural household cleaner, available at many stores in the laundry aisle) Mix together equal parts of each ingredient, store in a labeled container Use just like a commercial powdered detergent, approximately 2 TBS per load. That’s it! Each load will cost you mere pennies. 

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Tips for Pine Cones/Needles

• Throw the cones into a fire, and it will keep the noseeums away, and when they start to come back..throw a couple more on.

• Throw some on your smoldering coals during the night or in a soup or bean can, take a pine cone and start it on fire....it will burn fast at first but get it to a glowing hot coal, keep it close by your head and the mosquitoes won't come near. Just throw a couple on during the night, one at a time and you will finally get some good rest.

• The needles are great to chew on and prevent scurvy.

• The broth from pine needle tea is very good, and is also a good soup base for red squirrel and rabbit.

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Click on "constructing a water filter" to view the details.

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Click on "Building a Simple Garden" to see details

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Did you know?

Sugar and salt will keep indefinitely as long as they are moisture free, and honey is the only food that will not spoil in it's natural state.

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Click on "walking stick" to view the details.

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Click on "food storage list" to view details

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Click on "sharpening a knife" to view the details.

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Did you know

Stain Remover - Fill a spray bottle with hydrogen peroxide and 1/2 handful of baking soda. Shake it up and spray on carpet, upholstery and clothing stains. 

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Survival Food Pyramid

• From three days up to indefinitely. 

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•                                        to see the Pyramid

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Tips for Cracked Feet Cure

Amazing: Grind a handful of rice until you get a coarse flour. Add a few spoons of raw honey to the mixture along with enough apple cider vinegar to obtain a thick paste. If the cracks are very deep, add a spoon of olive oil. Soak feet for 20 minutes & gently massage with this paste.-TRY-

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Click on mosquito trap to see details.

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Click on WD 40 to see the many uses it has.

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Tips for Paracord

• Paracord is one of the most useful items to have in your survival kit. It is rated at 550 lbs. and has 7 strands inside, each rated at 50 lbs. The outer casing is rated at 200 lbs. 

• Replace your boot laces with paracord and you'll always have some with you, where ever you go.

• The strands inside the paracord can be used to snare food, catch fish, or lash a shelter together as seen below.

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Tips for Snare Wire

• Snare wire comes in a lot of different sizes and material. A very useful one is brass in either 20 or 22 gauge wire. It's really easy to work with and good for snaring rabbits, squirrels and other small game.

• You can also get stainless steel wire in 20 or 22 gauge sizes. You can snare with it or use it for tying things together. Either one will not rust and light enough for any backpack.

• If you want some heavier snare wire, you can get aircraft cable that is 7 strand by 7 strand. (7 X 7 means there's 7 little strands in one strand and there are 7 of these one strands to make up the cable, it's strong) It comes in sizes from 3/32" up to 1/8" and is very flexible. You can get snares pre-made in any of those sizes and in various lengths.

• Using the snare pictured below, not only catches the game but keeps it of off the ground, that way other animals won't be able to eat what could be, your next meal.

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Bug out bag

A bug out bag can be either a backpack or a duffel bag. It is also called a go bag. These bags are for a 72 hour emergency, and you can pack what ever you want in them. Some of those items should be enough food and water for 72 hours. If your taking any kind of medicine, it should be ready to go in your bag at the last moment too. A few articles of clothing would also be wise, especially in the winter months. You will need one bag per person in your household.

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                                        to see what you should include in your Bug Out Bag!

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Did you know

Did you know that 1 gallon of bleach will purify around 3000 gallons of water? Add about 8 drops of bleach to 1 gallon of water. The downfall with bleach is, it's shelf life, it's starts losing it's power after about 6 months. Also, if bleach sits too long, it will eat through it's own container.

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Removing down

To remove down from ducks and geese, brush on some melted paraffin, let it cool and peel off.

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Remove wild taste

To remove the wild taste from ducks and geese, soak in a solution of salt and soda, or use onion infused water.

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Moth balls

If you have mice coming in, put moth balls where they're coming in from. They do not like the odor.

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Deer Horn Buttons

If you need buttons, cut a piece of deer horn using a hacksaw, (what ever size you require) and drill a couple of small holes in them. Using some fine sand paper, sand, and install. For a zipper pull, use the tip of the horn. Drill a hole and attach with a short piece of rawhide.

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Ice Grips

Using a wooden broom handle or a similar piece of wood, cut 2 pieces 6 inches long. At one end, you drill a 3/8 hole about an inch from the end, and attach a six foot long piece of paracord to each piece. Tie a good knot so they stay attached to your grips. At the other end of your grips, drill a hole big enough to accommodate a 2 1/2 inch nail. Leave about 1 inch sticking out and cut off the head of the nail. Semi sharpen the nail to a point.

Before you go out on the ice, thread the grips through your coat sleeves so that they're hanging just below your cuffs. If you fall through the ice, you'll have them ready to pull yourself out of the water.

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Tips for Vinegar

• If you don't have any disinfectant, use vinegar

• soak your feet in vinegar for athlete's foot

• soak a clean cloth with vinegar and tie around your head to get rid of headaches

• take 1 tbsp vinegar to a glass of warm water for sore throats

• takes the itch out of sunburns and also chills it

• vinegar also takes the sting out of mosquito bites

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Wood Ashes
Ashes can be used as plant food, scatter ashes around your garden to repel insects such as cutworms, slugs and snails. can also be sprinkled over garden plants to manage infestations from soft-bodied insects.

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Willow Tree Bark
Willow tree bark can be used as a natural painkiller and fever reducer. If your allergic to aspirin, do not use this! 

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Tips & Tricks for Baking Soda

• Baking soda tenderizes meat, rub it down, let it sit for a few hours then rinse it off. let dry. good to go!
  - removes odors
  - mix with equal parts vitamin c powder for a yeast substitute that doesn't need to rise before baking
  - can be used to extinguish fires
  - good all round stain remover and deodorizer 
  - soak a rag in cold water and some baking soda to treat burns (works on sunburns as well)
  -mix 3 teaspoons baking soda to 1 part water for a paste that will take the itch away if you run into some poison ivy. if the rash has already blistered mix 2 teaspoons with a liter(quart) of water, soak a rag or preferably gauze pads and cover for 10 mins, 4 times a day. *don't apply near your eyes
  - mix a teaspoon with a few drops of water to make a paste that will quickly take the pain out of a bee sting, just cover it and let dry
  - dip a wet toothbrush in baking soda and use as a toothpaste
  - use a small amount as a natural deodorant 
  - shoes stink? yep, sprinkle some baking soda in them. no more smell
  - use as a deicer during winter
  - 2 liters(quarts) of water 1 teaspoon baking soda for a good plant food

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Peroxide 3%

• Take a cap full & hold in your mouth for a few minutes a day, then spit it out, do not swallow. Acts as mouthwash, tooth whitener and no more canker sores.

• Clean counter & table tops, kills germs.

• Clean cutting boards with peroxide to kill salmonella & bacteria

• Takes blood stains out.

• Use instead of bleach in your washing.

• Add to your plants water, 1 cup to a gallon.

• Click on the link below to read more on Hydrogen Peroxide!

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Fire

• If you had a lighter or matches & dry material it would be easy

• You could use a magnifying glass and the sun.

• What about a bow and stick, could you.

• What about if it was wet and cold and you had nothing.

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                                                to look at this scenario.

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Fire without matches

• Use your knife and a quartzite rock. Strike the rock with the back of your knife blade. Have your tinder close to catch the spark.

• A flint and steel. Same as above.

• Hand drill. You'll need hands that are in really good shape for this one. You have to twist the stick back and forth between your hands, while putting some downward pressure on the stick and you have to do it fast, to create enough friction to generate any kind of heat.

• If are fortunate enough to find a glass jar, you can use the glass as a magnifying glass, especially the thick bottom piece.

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Tips for Fire Starters

• Save your dryer lint and when you have enough to fill a large freezer bag, add 1/2 cup of citronella fuel and mix it up.

• If you have any sawdust kicking around, put some in small containers, then add melted paraffin wax to it, stir it up and let it harden. Keep them in a sealable baggie.

• Cotton balls soaked with petroleum jelly and kept in a sealable baggie.

• Collect pitch from a evergreen tree. Roll it into a ball and then squeeze it onto the end of a dry stick. Now you have reach.

• Birch bark torn into small strips makes excellent fire starter.

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Tips for Petroleum Jelly

• Can be used as a lip gloss.

• Coat battery post to prevent corrosion build up.

• Apply to dry skin as a moisturizer.

• Protects cuts and scrapes, keeps bacteria out, moisture in.

• Coat your hands with it before doing any greasy type work, they'll clean up very nicely and easily.

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Aloe Vera

• You can get a potted plant & keep on your windowsill, very easy to look after.

• Break a leaf open & use the gel as a skin healer, such as, cuts & scrapes, sunburn, insect bites, minor burns & psoriasis.

• Also good for age spots and acne.

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Tips for Garlic

• The list is long for the benefits of garlic, every garden should have some planted in them.

• Good for, coughs, sore throat, colds and flu

• Cuts and scrapes

• High blood pressure

• High cholesterol

• Insect and spider bites

• Diarrhea

• Earache

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Water Proofing

If the tent or the poncho you have is not water proof, you can use Thompson Water Seal to fix that. Same stuff you use on the deck and patio, and you can find it at any building supply store.

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Condoms

Now I know what their usually used for, but you really should get some for your survival kit. You'll need the unlubricated and unscented type for this operation. They make an excellent emergency water canteen and a fire starter. To make a fire starter you'll need to put some water in the condom (not too much) and use it the same as a magnifying glass. Hold your tinder about 1 to 2 inches away and let the sun do the rest.

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Snow Goggles

If your stuck out in the middle of nowhere in the winter time, on a bright snow filled day and your without sunglasses, you can get snow blindness. To prevent this, you can use a scarf, toque, or any piece of cloth that you can wrap around your face. Before putting it on, cut a couple of slits for your eyes to see out off. If you have access to any birch bark, you can make goggles from that too. Shape them the same as eye glasses, just don't make the eye holes to big, about 1/8 of an inch is plenty.

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Oven Box

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                                        to see details of building a Oven Box out of cardboard.

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Emergency Heater

This is made up of a can with a lid and a roll of plain white toilet paper. The can should be about 4" across and a roll of toilet paper will fit tightly inside, (take out the center cardboard piece), you want the roll to fit as tightly as possible. If a single roll fits to loosely, use a double roll. For a fuel I use methyl hydrate, you can also use isopropyl alcohol. Just pour fuel on the toilet paper, getting it really saturated and light with a match. Either fuel will burn with a nice blue flame and it gives off quite a lot of heat. If your ever going to use it in your vehicle as an emergency heater, crack one of the windows a bit, for the much needed ventilation.

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Emergency Shelter

The emergency shelter, is just that. If you don't have a fire or a sleeping bag, then this is the type of shelter you would make for yourself. Once you have the basic frame work done, crawl inside of it and toss and turn, because that's what your going to be doing during the night. Make sure it is big enough for you and doesn't fall apart when you toss around, especially if it's really cold out. I don't mean flaying your arms and legs around, just your normal turn from one side to the other.

Now you can add to the frame work, more wood if it's available, cardboard, boughs, tarp or what ever else you have to work with. Next your going to add whatever else you can on top of this material if it's cold out. If your in the bush your going to find and pile on as much debris as you can. The more you add, the warmer you'll be. If there's snow on the ground, pile it on top of the debris, but only pile on what your structure can withhold.

Next your going to want as much material as possible inside too. The more you have under you, the more comfortable your going to be and the warmer too. If your using debris in the bush, kind of sift through it and remove any sticks and any other hard objects that you'll be laying on.

Now the last stage is the front opening, your going to want something to keep your body heat in and the cold out, so use as much material that you have to work with, to achieve this. You want to close yourself in like a cocoon.

Below is a picture from HowStuffWorks, this is the basic structure. Tip, If you had paracord in place of your boot laces, you would have enough cord to tie this structure together.

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Slingshot & Accessories

Caring around a slingshot in your emergency kit is really a wise thing to do. If you have good rubber and a flexible pouch attached to your slingshot, you can always find something to use as ammunition, if you don't have any with you. If there's not any small rock's or stones around, you can use a small cone, a knot from a tree or any other small hard object. I carry a bag of marbles with me, because they are round, smooth and easy to use, you can also buy metal balls in a couple of different sizes for slingshot ammunition.

Here's a tip, you can also adapt a "ring" on your slingshot to shot arrows with. Attach the ring with a couple of rubber bands, as shown in the picture below. I used narrow rubber, you might want to use the wide rubber bands, it will support your arrow better. Place the arrow through the ring and grasp the notched end of the arrow in your pouch, pull back, aim and fire. When you don't want the ring up, you just slide it down out of the way.

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Ice Fishing Hut

This is a picture of a ice fishing hut I built out of tarps and 2 X 2's. It is 8 feet square, 6 feet high on the front and 5 feet high on the back. The thing is, this could be just as easily built as a survival type shelter if you ever needed one, enough to keep you out of the elements, if you really needed to be. With  a peak type roof and a flap that can be opened and closed, you could even have a campfire in the middle of the floor, if you had no other means of heating the hut. If you used insulated tarps, that would also make a big difference in the winter months. I've seen huge garages built out of insulated tarps and 2 X 4's (16 ft. high by 24 ft. wide and 36 ft. long) and heated with just a barrel wood stove, this was up in northern Saskatchewan, where it was extremely cold in the winter months.

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.22 Rifle

One of the better .22 caliber rifles on the market right now is the Ruger 10/22. This gun comes with a 10 shot rotary clip, you also have the option of getting a 25 shot clip from the factory. There are also after market clips available for the 10/22, a 25, 30 and 50 shot versions are out there, but after reading the user feedback on these other magazines, I'd stay with the Ruger factory made ones.

This gun comes with either a standard 18.5 inch or a compact 16.12 inch barrel, and there is a half a dozen different models of the 10/22 to choose from. To complete this rifle, just add a 1.5 inch sling along with a 1inch scope and you'll have a perfect little rifle for your survival stash.

A Ruger 10/22 Carbine is pictured below.

Another very good survival gun is the Henry AR-7. This rifle is only 3.5 lbs., 16.5 inches long and has a eight shot clip. It breaks down and is stored in the water proof stock, so can be fit in a backpack, tote or under a seat in anything.

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Survival Homes

I'm calling them homes, because you can make any kind of a shelter into a home, if you and your family are going to live there for awhile, that is what it will become, until you can find something better.         On a out of town job I was on once, my wife came and joined me after the kids were out of school. We had a 7 passenger window van, a tent, four kids (aged two to fourteen), a dog and a cat. Once my wife arrived at the camp ground we were staying at, she and the kids set up the tent, took the back seats out of the van and proceeded to transform our tent and van into a home. She had beds made up, tv and stereo set up, cooking stove, coolers and cook ware, clothing individually packaged and the van seats set up around the campfire for evening relaxation. It was truly home away from home, we had everything we needed. (until a storm flooded us out) When we got flooded out, we purchased an older school bus converted into a RV unit, then that became our home for the next five months. We loved it. You just have to adapt to your individual situation.

On the following pages you'll see how to build cob, earth bag, stone, log, and cordwood homes.

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                                         to go to the Survival Homes page.

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Pictured below is a gypsy style wagon that someone made into a home, simple yet practical.

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First Aid Basics

Learning a few basic first aid techniques could someday save someones life, including your own. Learning CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) is really quite simple and can be done on anyone, with a child you would just add less pressure than you would to an adult. The ABC's of CPR are as follows, A is for Airway, you need to check and make sure the airway is clear. B is for Breathing, check to see if the person is breathing. C is for Circulation, you need to check for a pulse and if the situation warrants it, see if there are any signs of bleeding from main arteries, you'll be able to tell if it's an artery if the blood spurts out with each beat of the heart.

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                                         for the CPR section.

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Control Bleeding

Would you know what kind of vein was cut from the blood flow, and how to stop the bleeding?

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                                        to go to the Control Bleeding page.

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Portable Root Cellar

Get one of those big unglazed flowerpots and fill it up with some clean sand, allowing enough room for your vegetables to go in. Store root vegetables such as carrots, parsnip and horseradish in the sand, just pull them out as you need them. Store the pot in a dry, cool, dark place.

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Snakebites

Learn about different snakes and what to do in a emergency situation,receiving a snake bite.

 

                                         to go to the Snakebite page.

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Polar Pure Water Disinfectant

• Portable water disinfectant ideal for camping, backpacking, or traveling

• Unique bottle design deploys pure crystallized iodine into water

• Destroys waterborne pathogens, including Giardia and microorganisms

• Treats up to 2,000 quarts of water per bottle; indefinite shelf life

• Bottle cap measures and decants solution--no other tools required

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Spiders

Did you know there are over 40,000 different species of spiders, but not all of them are poisonous.

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                                         to go to the Spiders page.

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Dakota Fire

This kind of fire is excellent in high winds or if you require a fire and want to keep a low profile, as the flames are below ground level so are not visible from a distance away. It's the same principle as the rocket stove, only this is a fire pit with a small tunnel to supply a direct airflow to the fire, you will need a lot less fuel, but still retain a lot of heat to cook and stay warm with.

To make the fire pit, dig a hole about 10 to 12 inches deep, and about 14 inches wide at the bottom and 8 inches wide at the top, (there's nothing written in stone as to the size you make it), roughly 10 to 12 inches away dig a air hole 6 to 8 inches wide connecting to the fire pit. The outside of the air hole can be bigger, making it easier to feed the fire if you have pots over the fire pit. 

If you were in a evasion situation, you would dig your hole in the close proximity of a large tree, to help disperse the smoke. If there are no large trees close by, build some kind of blind using whatever material there is available. Keep the fire pit far enough away as to not catch anything accidentally on fire. If you build a fire pit close to a large tree, there are going to be roots that you will probably have to cut through, make sure when you extinguish your fire, that none of the big roots are still smoldering.  

If you do not need to be evasive, you could build it anywhere, using the natural contour of the land and picking where it's the easiest to dig.

When your finished using the fire pit, please fill it back in or cover it over, so no person or animal steps into it and gets injured.

Below is a picture of a Dakota Fire pit in use.

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Table Bat

What a conversation piece, a table that transforms into a weapon and shield. A handy item if your worried about home invasions, just don't use it as a TV stand.

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Magic Cook

This little unit will cook up a meal without any power or fire. Just add a package of magic to the container, add some water and let it cook. Comes in either a container or a mug. Go to magiccook.net to watch it in action and to order.

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Carabiner / Paracord

Here is a combination of two items that every vehicle, bug out bag, backpack and survival stash should have. The more carabiners you have the better, anywhere you'd use a pulley, you can use a carabiner. Good carabiners have KiloNewton ratings stamped on them, if not, be very careful how much weight you lift with them. The paracord should be rated at 550 lb breaking strength.

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Beer Maker

Now here's an item that a lot of survivalist's would love to have. I also know a lot of non-survivalist's that would love this machine. It makes 23 liters of commercial grade beer in 7 days, they claim that the beer is as good or better then anything you would buy at the local beer store. 

The machine is made by WilliamsWarn in New Zealand, are priced at $5660 NZD plus GST and shipping. (About $4763 US)

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Solar Tents

These type of tents have been around for awhile, but there getting better and better all the time. You no longer have to get a headlight to strap on or hold that flashlight in your mouth as you're looking around in the dark. The solar tents have removable lights and some like the Woods' Solar-Powered EZ-Tent features a removeable, 7 inch solar panel on top of the tent's hub, that can be used to recharge batteries or run the LED rope light that are integrated into the tent. To get 2-4 hrs. of light usage, you would need 4-6 hrs. of sunshine for the solar panel to recharge the light. There is even a auto-on feature that tells the light to turn on at a preset time. The tents are made available in either a 4 or 6 person models. The first picture below is a Woods solar tent.

 The next picture is of a concept solar tent developed by Orange of the UK. They are looking at a lot of extra features like, using your mobile phone to identify your lost tent (the phone would activate a mechanism that would give off a distinctive glow in the tent), wireless charging pouches, wireless control hub and even a heated groundsheet that would turn on once the temperature dropped to a preset level. It would also have solar charging sewn into the fabric of the tent by way of photovoltaic fabric, thereby eliminating the solar panel.

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Home Made Laundry Soap

 Make your own laundry soap... 
* 4 cups hot tap water
* 1 bar of soap (Make sure it's soap & not a fragrance bar)
* 1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (if you can't find washing soda, make your own by heat up some baking soda in the oven at 400 degrees, heat until the moisture is all out of it, it will be grainy and will not clump, baking soda is more powdery and will clump)
* 1/2 cup Borax

Add 4 cups hot water to a small saucepan. Grate the bar soap and add it to the saucepan. Heat over low heat until the soap is melted and combined with the hot water. Fill a 5 gallon bucket 1/2 way with hot water. Add the melted soap, Borax, and Washing Soda. Fill the bucket to the top with more hot tap water. Let sit overnight to thicken.

Stir well, and dispense thickened soap into cleaned laundry soap dispensers (use empty containers from commercial brand laundry detergent or 2 liter pop bottles): fill each bottle 1/2 way, then top the container off with water, then cap. Shake before you use it. Store unused containers in a cool dark place until needed.

This liquid laundry soap recipe yields 10 gallons. For HE machines, use 1/4 cup per load. For top-loading machines, use 1/2 cup per load.

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USB Flash Drive

We find to store any newly acquired knowledge, is to put it on USB flash drives and have it on hand whenever we may require it.

You can put all kind of information on these drives, you can download how-to videos, recipes, formulas and text content. All you need is a notebook size computer and you can have a lot of information at your fingertips. For entertainment you can also download TV shows or movies, on a 32 GB USB flash drive you can have around 90 to 100, hour long shows, depending on the uploaders, Bluray or HD will use up more memory, a normal movie will use between 700 & 800 MB, whereas a Bluray movie may take up to 4 or 5 GB.

The USB flash drives come in many shapes and sizes. The smallest is around 256 MB, that will hold up to about 600 photo's, to the biggest of  256 GB, that will hold up to about 614,400 photo's. The most common are the 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 GB that look like the ones in the photo to the top right.

The gold bar, the necklace jeweled heart, and the bullets are all examples of the hundreds of different types of USB flash drives, that are available on the market right now. 

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Disinfectant

Battle germs and mold with a low cost disinfectant, mix one part 3% hydrogen peroxide with two parts water in a spray bottle and use it on areas that need to be disinfected. Spray on and wipe off.

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Canvas Wall Tent

The canvas wall tent is the superior survival tent, they are a bit heavier to pack, but once they're set up, are way more comfortable if your living in them for a while.

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                                         to go to the canvas wall tent site.

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Swedish Candle

The good thing about a Swedish candle is that you don't have to run around finding wood to feed the fire. Depending on the diameter, the length and the dryness of the block you cut, will all determine on how long your Swedish candle will burn. The block pictured below will burn roughly from two to three hours. Obviously, if you cut a block that's 24" across, it will burn longer then a 12" block, also a seasoned piece of hardwood will burn much slower than a piece of softwood will.

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If you have a chain saw this candle is pretty easy to make. Take the chain saw and make four cuts down the block to within about three inches from the bottom. Now this is a nice dry piece of wood, so when your making your saw cut with the grain of the wood, the shavings will come out kind of long and curly, (the size of the shaving will depend on how low the rakers on your chain are) this kind of wood shavings, makes excellent fire starter. You want to light your fire in the middle of the block so that the fire is burning from the inside going outward.

If your going to be staying up for a while, and you have a bunch of people come over to your camp site in the evening, you can have four or five of these going at the same time. After you light the first one, wait an hour then light the next, an hour later light another, then keep going for as long as you and your friends are going to be visiting. No need to keep feeding the firepit with armfuls of firewood. 

P.S. I'm going to do a review on chain saws later on and I'll explain the relationship of the rakers to the saw chain, the proper way of sharpening and what to look for while your cutting the wood.

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Navigation

Using the sun and shadows, you can tell east and west. The sun always comes up in the east and goes down in the west, anywhere in the world. As the sun comes up, drive a stick into some level ground and look to see where the tip of the shadow is, now mark that spot with another stick or a rock. Now wait till the shadow moves enough to give you a sense of where the shadow is moving, as the shadow moves, stand with your marked spot on your left side and the moving shadow on your right side, you will be facing north. In the early morning the tip of the shadow will always be west, in the late afternoon, the tip of the shadow will always be east.

To be more accurate, mark your shadow tip with a rock first thing in the morning, then at high noon there should be no shadow, mark that with a stick laid opposite to your first mark, then in the late evening mark your shadow tip with another rock. You will now have a compass, the first rock mark will be west, the last rock mark will be east and the stick laid opposite to the two rocks will be pointed to your north and south.

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Survival Snowshoes

If your caught out in the wilderness, where there is deep snow and you need to get out, you can make emergency snowshoes out of spruce broughs (fir or pine). Hopefully you'll have some kind of rope (or paracord), because you'll have to tie enough broughs together to carry your weight, tight in the front and spread out at the rear. Then you'll have to tie them to your boots about a third of the way down from the top.

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Survival Checklist

                                            to go to the Survival Checklist

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                                            for Hydrogen Peroxide Uses for Natural Body Care!

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Ski Poles

Ski poles are another item that are handy to have and are easy to find at most thrift and second hand stores, in our region anyway. They are strong yet very light and are good for walking with year round. The next best thing to a very good walking stick. They help you balance, push, climb, descend and traverse on side hills. If push comes to shove, they can help defend you too.

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