Post on 03-Apr-2018
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Survival
REMAIN ALIVE OR CONTINUE TO EXIST
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humanity started here
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... now we are here
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Can you imagine life without technology?
For the majority of poeple in this world, technology is everything.
More than that everything around us we look at is somehow related
to the technology or due to the wonders of technology. Te way we
talk, work, travel, and do things has been changed. We are a com-
pletly dependent on it, but what if it all disappeared? Could you
survive, without any help or guidience?
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We humans are remarkable. By any objective bio-
logical measure, we are probably the most remark-
able species o all. What other creature communi-
cates so extensively, creates such vast communities
to live in, carves the planets landscapes to such an
extent? What other species has come to dominate
the planet - and managed to master survival in vir-
tually every habitat? From searing deserts to rozenpoles and steamy jungles, we have made a lie or
ourselves in every corner o the world.
Our current age could be called the age o explosive
human expansion, which in turn is spawning envi-
ronmental and ecological problems - rom habitat
loss to the extinction o species - not just mention
climate change. But i we regard our species as just
a plague upon the planet - a species running amok
- were danger o overlooking a biological truth: we
humans have impressive skills and abilities. Indeed,
we are without doubt the most adaptable and most
powerul species that evolution has ever created.
Given the speed and eciency with which weve spread our
wings and colonized the planet, its understandable that were
an arrogant species - constantly nudging ourselves orward,
sweeping competitors aside, assuming were the boss. We still
excude an air o control and hubris - we have mastered nature
The world is our oyster. Or is it? Have we reached a crossroads
on this apparent path towards human domination o the
planet? I suspect we have.
Brian Leith, Executive Producer, Human Planet
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Te question o why we have spread so sucessully
and so rapidly around the world is probably unan-
swerable. Within the deepest questions o biology
- caught somewhere between selsh genes and arm-
warming philosophy. Te meaning o lie always
seems to be something lie go orth and multiply,and this inner drive seems to run through the core
o all living things. In that sense we are, like all
living things, unremarkable - simply ullling our
deepest genetic imperatives like any other creature.
Tink or a moment about the nature o those
obstacles, the diculties weve had to overcome to
survive and thrive in the most demanding parts o
our world.
ake deserts. Like all living things humans are
about 70% water. How on Earth have we managed
to survive in the one place where water is virtually
absent? Presumably we were driven to these desper-
ate places by wars or amines, or drastic changes in
our home environment ... But how did we manage
to carve a lie there? How did we nd water in the
desert, let alone all the precious resources, such asood and shelter, that we need?
Rainorests may appear to be biologically rich - ull
o plants and animals to sustain us, as well as con-
stant warmth and generous rainall. Surely lie here
must be easy? But in act the oppersite is truth. Lie
in the jungle is tough - and to prosper requires great
skill and knowledge.
How on Earth can you make a living in the Arctic,where all water is locked away as ice, where you
cant grow any plants, where prey animals are almost
impossible to track down and where temperatures
plummet to a lie-destroying deep reeze? We can
see rom the event today that the human species
have made a living in virtually every habitat to be
ound in the world - some o them extremely brut
How do we nd ood on a desolate mountaintop?
How do we create shelter and clothing in reezing
Artcic? Where can we nd reuge rom storms,
res and oods? Tese are stories about surprisingconnections, remarkable interactions and asinatin
relationships between our own species and all othe
aspects o nature in its widest sense.
We have specially created and designed our new
habitat - towns and cities - we have tried to invite
nature in on our terms: neat and orderly, clipped
and domesticated. We have attempted to create a
world around us where we bring in the helpul bitwe do want and leave out the unrult bits we dont
A ne intention. Except, it hasnt worked out that
way. One thing is or sure is that i we get the urb
habitat wrong now, we stand to loose everything.
Its in our greatest aggregations that we ace to wo
possible outcomes, whether its rom earthquake,
ood, disease or amine.
Tis is your chance to change your outlook onhumanity, you can learn how to survive in 2013.
We can learn to become hunter gatherers.
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Te Clothing and Personal Kit
Good clothing is the most important part o equip-
ment you could own. No single garment will do
all jobs - you need a versatile system o layers thatcan be arranged to suit all weathers. Your clothing
will need to cope with hot dry conditions as well as
cold, wind and wet. Surviving all conditions means
tough natural bres such as wool and cotton will be
more useul than the synthetic alternatives. You will
need a good waterproo jacket preerably a breath-
able abric such as Goretex which reduces condensa-
tion. It needs to be large enough to be worn over all
o your other layers, and reach just above your knee.British Army lightweight trousers are cheap and
corortable, they quick dry. Your most important
piece o clothing is your shell (outermost) jacket. It
needs to be windproo, light and comortable. Insu-
lative layers are needed rom pile jorseys, conbined
with a wolly hat, mits or winter and as many pairs
o wollen and waterproo Goretex socks as possible.
Footwear or all terrain needs to give good ankle
support and grip in the sole.
Good Advice
1. Use insulative layers to trap in body warmth can be re-
moved during hot weather.
2. Wool or Pile mittens should be attached to each other, run-
ning though each sleeve.
3. The Snowsled Jacket must be used in hot weather as a
shirt, and in cold weather as a shell over in insultaive layers.
4. Wear Goretex socks over ordinary socks to keep them dry.
Gaiters are used to protect the lower trouser rom moisture
and thorns i necessary.
In choosing you kit you should balance strength
and versatility with compactness and lightness o
weight. Tere is plenty o scope or choice. Youshould only carry what you need, and not an item
more. Over time asses what you have been carrying
and discard things that you dont use - except o
course emergency equipment (whistle and a rst
aid kit). I you do get into trouble the international
recognised emergency signal is six whistle blasts or
torch ashes in quick succession, repeated ater a
minute interval. Te reply is three blasts or ashes
repeated ater a minute interval.
You Will Need:
Sleeping-bag with ull length zip
Thermarest Sleeping Mat
A Large Rucksack
Lightweight wash kit
Silva Compass
Ordanance Survey Map
Petzl Mega head-torch with halogen bulb
Coleman 442 Peak stove and lead-ree uel
Large Survival Bag
Loud Strong Whistle
Waterproo Matched or Magnesium Fire-Starter
Small First Aid Kit
Knie, Fork and Spoon
Tin-Opener
Coleman Outtter Stainless Cook Set
Emergency ration that does not need rehydrating
Waterbottle 2.2L
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Te Pursuit of Food
I there is one thing that sets us apart rom our
earliest ancestors it is the way we nd our ood.
For them lie and ood gathering were totallyintergrated. o live ully dependent upon natures
bounty is an eye-opening experience; you cannot let
any opportunity o ood pass you by. For your long
term well-being you need to gather wiselt to avoid
starving season. Spring is a interesting time or the
keen gatherer. Te rst break o the amine are the
green tops o the edible root plants, this leads us
to the heart o Spring and the arrival o the early
salad plants. By the end o spring there is a plethorao naive young animals to all easy prey, this is the
reality o nature.
Te possibilities o nding ood in the wild are
much greater than most people imagine. Te risk o
eating something poisonous is not a serious threat i
you take care to learn your recognition.
Although oods are reely available, they are not
ree. People have a responsability to give back their
care and assistance. Gather plants in a sustainableway; or instance collect leaves in ones and twos
and rom many wide scattered plants, so as not to
impair plant growth. I it is possible plant seeds or
every plant you dig up.
Summer is naturally thought as a easy season to live,
ruits and seeds are plentiul. O course, summer
has its own problems - thorns, stinging plants and
biting insects, all small inconveniences. Summer is
the most orgiving o all the seasons.
Our rivers today are dirty, poisoned and barren, not
a patch on what they once where. We no longer
celebrate the return o the Salmon. Fishing remains
one o the ew ancient pastimes still carried out
both or ood and or sport. raditional methods o
shing, using just their eyes to watch and impro-
vised hooks rom thorns; these methods are the
oundations o shing itsel.
Having caught a sh, you will need to kill it with
a rm blow to the back or its head. It is easiest to
llet a sh 6-12 hours ater it has been killed.
I you have caught plenty o meat and sh it can
be stored or use in later season. Tere are two
principal techniques: sun drying or smoke drying.
Once meat is dried the surace is no longer exposed
to bacteria and y larvae. Dried meats can be stored
well over long periods o time.
Rich in vitamins and minerals, cooked greens are
a healthy-giving addition to any summer east. Asalways, pick resh young tender leaves just as you
would at a market and wash them beore cooking.
Over cooking destroys most o the goodness o the
plants. By ar the best way o cooking is steaming.
Succulent ruits o the Summer can be nibbled
straight rom the bush.
Cooking is a skill o great importance , because
ood and moral are closely linked. Outdoor cooking
books can be easily ound in every hiking store.
Autumn is the time or preparation and gatherering
It is the last chance to perserve some medicinal
herbs . It is in the winter months when we must
hunt animals.
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The Golden Rule o Food Gatherering: Only eat those things
you have positively identied as edible. Avoide eld testing,
is not worth the risk.
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Fire
A re is essential. It dries our cloths, provides
warmth, cooks our ood puries our water, provides
light and drives away biting insects. Being able to
start and look ater a re is a skill we must master,
and it is not easy. Its easy to ail, even with the right
equipment. It is a skill you must practice untill you
can make re in any situation and circumstance.
When starting and managing a re, you mush
search out the driest kindling and uel available.
Tis should preerably be dead wood snagged in the
branches above ground. When lighting your reremember, build upwards or a blaze ame. Ighting
a re is the start. Your re is a versatile tool which
you can adapt and change to suit a wide variety o
situations.
Tere are three vital ingredients to re: uel, oxygen
and heat. For ecient burning there must be an
unrestricting supply o each. Te average wood
re consists o airly random lattice o uel. I theuel is damp or too large to catch re, the re will
smoulder or go out.
iders are in many ways the most important part o
any re, or they create the initial ame and enable
it to grow. A large-sized tinder bundle, soccer-ball
size, will start even damp kindling burning. A wide
knowledge o what can be used or tider and how to
use it is a essential o successul re-lighting. I you
are wise you will ll your pockets with good tinder
whenever you come across it.
What you need to build a re:
Extra - ne kindling
Very dry twigs 30cm long and matchstick-thin, they should
catch light rom a match alone.
Fine Kindling
Thicker than a match but thinner than a pencil. Brittle dry and
gather plenty.
Kindling
Battle-dry wood o pencil thickness. This really gets the re
cracking, gather plenty. Broken into pieces a hand-width long,
this kindling is the best uel to use when you need to control
the heat o a cooking re.
Small Fuel
Thicker than a pencil but not thicker than your thumb, this ue
is the beginnings o the re proper.
Main Fuel
Sticks thicker than your thumb which you can break over
your knee. For most trail res this is the largest uel needed.
Anything larger counts as large uel and is more appropiate
to xed camp use or special re lays.
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Building a Fire
1.Choose a suitable re site and gather all o the necessary
uel. Use small uel to build a platorm about 30cm sq. This w
protect your tinder rom the damp ground and burn quickly
the res heart.
2. Place a graperuit sized bundle o teased brous tinder o
the platorm.
3. Take two ull handuls o extra-ne kindling and position
them against the tinder with their tops overlapping directly
above the tinder.
4. Light the tider. As the fames rise, position the kindling in
the fames rom the timber bundle. When fames burn throu
above the kindling, add the next size up, and continue this
until you are burning main uel.
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Shelter
A well constructed shelter soon becomes a sanctuary
and a home. With well insultated walls that trap
your warmth and deaden the sound o the wind,natural shelters can oten ofer a better nights sleep
than the most sophisticated hike tent. Knowing
how to construct a shelter is a undamental skill
o outdoors living. I you can put a roo over your
head you are one step closer being at home in the
wilderness and towards the condence that comes
with it.
Te spring weather can present almost any combi-nation o conditions: rom the winds o March, to
the warmer weather and rains o late April. Versatil-
ity, always an essential quality, is especially necessary
or locating a shelter. It may be that you nd some
natural protection rom the elements - perhaps a
clif overhang or a large sheltering tree. You will
need to employ some common sense to determine
the suitability o such a place. Is the ground wet?
Will the wind blow through all night?
More oten that not, you will be building a shelter
rom scratch. Tis allows you to tailor construc-
tion precisely to your needs. Start my searching
or a good location, a place that will provide all
the materials you need as close to hand as possible.
Te ground should be as at as you can nd and it
should be well drained. Avoid building your shelter
underneath overhanging dead branches. I you are
likely to be staying in your location or several days,it would be wise to be reasonably close to a reliable
source o water.
Tere are many diferent types o shelter, but or
sped and eciency ew can equal these simple biv-
ouacs. In a good location they can be built without
a knie . Tey are small and well insulated to help
retain your bodyheat, and they will keep out even
the worst weather. I they are well built they arestronger and cosier reuge than most modern hike
tent. Tey bloke out the sound o the noisiest gale,
letting you sleep.
Remeber to keep the Bivouacs size as small as
comort will allow. Check your measure inside the
shelter as you build it. Given a good location and
bad lighting you can build a solo kennel in about
two hours. wo people can build the two-personkennel in hal that time.
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What you will need:
One or two long, straight and strong ridgepoles, plus one or
two short major supports. Many slim pieces o dead wood or
the walls. Dead leaves, humus or turs or the thatching, plus
light brushwood.
One-person Kennel
1.Construct a strong tripod ramework. Forked supports o
the two short legs will save a need or cordage.
2. Measure up the height and the width o the shelter with
your body. It should provide just enough room to turn over
with all o your bedding.
3. Using the dead branches, wall the sides o the shelter.
These raters should be as close together as possible, and th
ends must not protrude more than 4cm above the ridge-po
4. Thatch with an arms depth o leaves or humus. Anchor
down with a covering o light brushwood. Dont leave raters
protruding rom the top o the shelter or rain will run inside.
wo-person Kennel
1.Construct a tripod rom two long poles and one short po
Again try to avoid the need or cordage
2. Wall as or the one-person kennel. Close o some o the
gap between ridge-poles with cross-battens. Thatch and n
as beore.
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Water
We cannot live without water. Te oceans, rivers,
springs and brooks all speak the same language:
the language o lie. Native peoples the world overreverve water. Aboriginal children are taught to
memorise the location o water holes in their tribal
territory. Water is an elemental orce, a neutral but
powerul inuence which can bring both lie and
destruction. Like all elemental orces it must be
understood, and we must move in tune with it.
As anyone will tell you who has walked through
arid desert lands will tell you, water can dictate the
course o your journey.
Within our bodies water is responsible or the
host o vital unctions: removing waste, supplying
energy, the regulation o body temperature and
mental acuteness. During spring there is usually no
shortage o water, so you need concentrate on how
to make it pure. While there as still some springs
o pure water, it is best to suspect all water has
been contaminated. Stagnant, smelly puddles areunimpressive sources o water, yet they can be made
potable when necessary. On the other hand, clear,
cool, ast-running, oxygen-rich streams that are ap-
parently sae to drink may be host to potent bugs.
A host o modern water-puriying systems are avail-
able or the traveller to remote places. Te impor-
tant thing to remember is to ollow the instructions
or use precisely.
Tere are basically three operations involved ingathering water saely. First, always search or the
purest available water source, the reshest and
healthiest looking water with no obvious traces o
contamination. Generally, the urther water travels
rom its source the greater the level o contamina-
tion. Having collected the purest water you can
nd, you need to remove any suspended matter
by straining the water through a bandanna, some
other item o tightly woven clothing or a millbank
bag (see opposite page). When it has been done you
must boil the water thoroughly. Te majority o
waterborne problems are destroyed below boiling
point; but or your saety you should always boil
water uriously or at least ve minutes. You should
increase the boiling time at higher altitudes, where
water boils at a lower temperature.
Boiling water can become a unpleasent chore,which in turn can lead to a sloppy camp routine
and resulting upset stomachs. A disciplined routine
with your water supply is the sign o good outdoors
skills. Always take advantage o reliable sources o
water. You should remember to boil sucient water
or the ollowing day; bottle it and set it in the open
to cool. Tis is one o those occasions when a large
billycan with a lid is really valuable.
o cross an arid stretch o wild country, you need to
be cunning and resourceul with regard to water. It
is amazing how many tragic cases o atal dehydra-
tion are attributable to wrong decision-making in
this respect. Te basic principle is to avoid moving
about when the sun is at its hottest. Some impor-
tant rules are: is you have not water, dont eat; i you
have some water in your bottle, drink it. Keep as
much as your skin covered as possible to reduce loss
o moisture. Sucking on stones helps.
o help you search or water there are a ew indica-
tor to look out or. Grain-eating birds need water
and are never ar away rom it. But the most im-
portant sign are water-loving plants, such as hearts
tongue ern , horsetails and mosses.
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Te Millbank Bag
A simple lter bag used by the British Army or decades, th
millbank bag remains an eective way to remove suspended
matter rom your water. First soak the bag in the water, then
ll it to the brim. Suspend the bag rom a branch and allow
the rst ew inches o the water content to pass through the
lter beore collecting the ltrate. I necessary, lter the wat
again. Sterilise the water chemically or by boiling beore con
sumption. The bag can be fushed out, dried and re-used. Yo
can also use it as a lter bag or brewing wild coee drinks.
Digging or Water
Water in moist areas or at the base o runos can oten be
reached by digging a hole and allowing the water to seep in
it. This water can be pure but is best ltered and boiled.
Good places to search or water are at the base o
clifs or among natural declivities on gently slopping
hillsides. On the coastline you can nd trickling
rom sea clifs; or dig or it behind sand dunes above
the tide line. Narrow shady canyons and rock clets
are also good areas to search.
Falling these mehods you can squeeze the moisture
rom damp mud using your bandanna. I you are
on a long trip and expect to have diculty nding
plentiul supplies o water during the day, choose
a shady camp site. In the morning make the efort
to rise early so that you can mop up dew with your
bandanna and squeeze it out into a receptical.
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