by Leon Pantenburg

In elk hunting, it’s always the idea of bagging one that sucks us hunters out in crappy weather into remote mountainous areas. The day was bitterly cold in Idaho’s Selway wilderness, the snow was knee deep and there were miles between us and the nearest road.

Being able to make a fire under adverse conditions can be critical to survival.

Back at camp, the first order of business was to start the fire. I took out my waterproof match container and tried to light a strike-anywhere match on the side. All the matches had been replaced a couple months ago, but not one of the 20 in the container would light. Then I tried my backup butane lighter. Because of the cold, it didn’t work either. Luckily, we had backup matches, and the fire was soon thawing us out.

“So suppose one of us had gotten hurt and couldn’t move – what would we do to start a fire?” I asked my partner. We both agreed it could have been fatal.

That frigid hunt was in 1993, and for years, I experimented to find a reliable firemaking method.

In 2002, as part of a project for Boy Scout Troop 18 in Bend, Oregon, Dr. Jim Grenfell and I set out to find the ultimate, practical fire ignition method that would work for the average person.

Criteria to be tested were: ease of operation, ability to use one-handed (in the event of an injury), reliability, widespread availability, durability, practicality and ease of carry. We ruled out any items that seemed to rely on expensive, gee-whiz technology.

Over the course of the next several months, we laboriously tested and re-tested conventional firemaking methods. When something showed promise after initial testing, we turned the Scouts loose on it. If the method survived the torture test, we’d ask average outdoors people to try and then comment on the materials.

Here’s what we found:

This firebow setup works well, but takes considerable skill to use. It would not be a good choice for survival firemaking for most people.

Fire bow or other primitive wood friction methods were not even in the running. In a survival situation, even if you have the time and skills to make and use a fire bow, you’d first have to find the materials to build it. If rubbing two sticks together to fire was easy, or even just moderately difficult, the native peoples would never have developed ways to carry a live coal between camps!

The people who depended on the friction method for twirling up a fire carried their own specialized sticks with them. Even in a forest, you might not be able to find dry, suitable materials to build your kit.

Matches: Best case scenario: You should be able to make one fire with every match, right? That points out a real problem with matches: there is a finate number of them, and when they’re gone you’re out of luck. And what if you use all your matches to make one fire because of a low skill level?

Every brand and type of match we tried was unreliable as a survival tool. But if forced to make a recommendation, I’d say the best match choice is the REI Stormproof matches. They work well under many adverse circumstances, but you can only carry a few (10, with striker strip) in a standard match case.

Always keep survival matches in a waterproof case, and rotate them regularly.

The advantage is that most people can strike a match, and you can get them anywhere.

The disadvantages are that matches deteriorate over time and fail, even if they’re waterproof. While coating the heads with paraffin or other sealants will work for awhile, that doesn’t make the matches dependable. Most regular book matches are useless if damp, or if they’re even exposed to moisture.

Another critical aspect is the abrasive strip on the match box or book. If it gets damp, wet or worn out, the matches won’t work. And one brand of match may not ignite on another’s abrasive strip!

Even strike-anywhere matches don’t necessarily light when struck on an abrasive surface. Try standing in knee-deep snow, during a snow and sleet storm and finding a dry, abrasive surface to strike a match on!

Butane lighter: I carry a butane lighter in my pants pocket, another in my jacket pocket and a third in my pack. If I need a fire quickly, I hope to flic a Bic and get the job done. A standard Bic lighter, according to my tests, will have about an hour’s worth of flame in it. But I don’t trust any butane lighter, and you shouldn’t either.

The Achilles heel is temperature. The boiling point of Butane is approximately -0.5 C at sea level, according to answers.com (This boiling point will drop with an increase in altitude given the reduced pressure). This means that as the lighter nears freezing, less gas will be vaporized inside of the lighter and will make it hard to light. And the higher in elevation you are, the less chance you have for ignition!

Butane lighters work great when they work!

My experiments show that placing a butane lighter in ice water (33 degrees) disables it almost instantaneously. If the lighter is removed from a one-minute ice water bath, and placed in a 70 degree area, several minutes will pass before it is warm enough to function. This time varies on the size, brand, and make of the lighter. If you warm the lighter in your already warm hand, it can take at least  90 seconds under ideal conditions, and probably closer to four minutes, to make it functional.

So,  if you fall into an icy river, wade to shore and desperately need to make a warm-up fire, your butane lighter won’t work for what seems like an eternity. In a situation where your hands are freezing, you may not be able to warm the lighter quickly. Your cold, numb fingers may not be able to work the wheel, either. By the time the lighter is warm enough to fire, you may not be able to use it.

Any lighter’s durability is suspect. All it takes is one grain of sand in the wrong place and the machinery is disabled.

And don’t forget this little tidbit: if you inadvertently drop your butane lighter into a campfire, an explosion will follow!

A magnesium block, with flint stick attached on top, can be a reliable firemaking method.

Magnesium block:

A favorite of the survival shows, the magnesium block with a flint stick on top, has some merit. The idea is to shave off pieces of magnesium into a small pile, then ignite it with a spark from the flint stick. The magnesium block is waterproof.

The problem in the system is that it takes a long time to scrape enough shavings off the block to ignite, and it’s really easy to scatter the pile if you bump it or the wind comes up.

A magnesium block is OK, but not your best choice.

Zippo-style lighters: For a while, this appeared to be the winner. I filled my Zippo with lighter fluid to the saturation point, then sat down to see how many fires it would make before it failed. Over the next two days, (I suppose this is some comment on my social life), the total number of lights was 974!  When full of fluid, the Zippo worked immediately after a one-minute ice water bath. It came out the freezer overnight and fired on the second try. I sealed the hinge and opening with a piece of duct tape, and left it alone for a month, and it still fired.

The fuel supply of a Zippo-style lighter tends to dry out quickly, making it non-functional.

But the Zippo-style lighter was wildly inconsistent in other areas. A fully saturated lighter dried out completely in three days in the desert. Having it sealed didn’t matter. And sometimes, for reasons I couldn’t figure out, the Zippo just wouldn’t light.

While you can fuel a Zippo with gasoline if need be, the system is too unreliable to recommend.

Flint sticks: I carry a flint stick on my key ring survival gear and have several in different parts of my gear. When used in combination with cotton balls saturated with petroleum jelly, the system is nearly foolproof.  Put the cotton balls in a plastic case or ziplock bag.

But it takes some effort to learn how to use it, and like anything, there is no substitute for practice. Using a flint stick with only one hand can be done, but not as easily as using a butane lighter.

At the end of all this research, Grenfell and I concluded that there is no ultimate firemaking tool, and you should never rely on just one type.

So here’s the best recommendation: take at least three different methods. Environment  factors that might disable one method should not  affect all of them. So, include a fire tool out of each of these categories:

Flint stick, cotton balls and petroleum jelly: If  forced to pick just one method of firemaking, this would be

Cotton balls, petroleum jelly and a flint stick are effective firemaking tools.

it. With practice, the combination is quick and reliable. But without a lot of practice and experimenting, you probably won’t be able to use it with one hand. If you’re disabled or unconscious, an untrained person might not be able to figure out how it works. (How well does it work? Read this unsolicited testimonial that was sent to survival expert Peter Kummerfeldt!)

Butane lighter: If you’re lucky and can keep your lighter warm and dry, a butane lighter make take care of all your firemaking needs. I’ve noticed many kids can’t operate a butane lighter without practice, so some training  may need to be done with your juvenile outdoor partners.

REI Stormproof matches: Most folks don’t need instruction on how to light a match, so that’s why it’s a good idea to include matches. Invest in premium matches that may work when you need them, and rotate your stock regularly. Be sure to take along the abrasive strip from the match box, and store all matches in a waterproof container!

No matter which firemaking methods you use, take along charcloth and firestarter in a waterproof plastic bag! If your Zippo or butane lighter leaks or runs out of fuel, you can use the wheel and flint to make a spark that can be caught on a piece of charcloth. Also, any other ignition methods that involve sparks can be used with charcloth.

Firestarter should be compact, durable and easy to carry. It can make the difference between dying of hypothermia or getting a fire going with damp tinder and kindling!

One last suggestion: Include a road flare in your survival gear. It is a fantastic signaling tool, burns for at least 15 minutes and will ignite virtually anything!

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It doesn’t matter if you’re planning a quick snowshoe trek or an hour-long stroll along a wooded path. Common sense dictates that basic survival tools be taken along. Above all, this gear, or kit, must be lightweight and convenient to carry, or it gets left behind.

by Leon Pantenburg

That said:  BEWARE! If you don’t know how to use the materials in the kit, and don’t practice with them, you may develop a false sense of confidence. This attitude could get you in a lot more trouble!

Keep basic tools with you at all times. On the keyring: LED flashlight, fingernail clippers, whistle, Boy Scout Hot Spark and Classic Swiss Army knife. The other knife rides in a pouch on my belt.

Mention survival kits among recreationists and an argument/discussion will follow.

At one end of the spectrum is the guy who takes the heavily-loaded backpack full of gadgets, doo-dads, knick-knacks and neat stuff. He may not go far, because of the pack’s weight, but he’ll be safe. Unless, one time, he decides to leave all that stuff at the car, since he’s never used anything and it’s damned heavy. And he’s just going a little way…

Then he becomes the optimist, the guy at the other extreme.  Since he’s never been in an emergency situation, then it stands to reason that nothing will ever happen. He denies the need for survival gear, because he’s never been in an emergency.

Somewhere between these extremes is the common sense approach.

Here’s my take (and of course, this opinion may place me squarely in the survivalist wacko camp!): Everyone should have a collection of survival tools with them at all times.

As I type this, I have a butane lighter in my pocket, a whistle, knife, fingernail clippers, LED flashlight, small knife and magnesium stick on my belt clip, and a Swiss Army knife in my belt pouch. My wallet has firestarter, charcloth and a signal mirror in it. This gear goes with me everywhere it’s legal.

Suppose I have to run out of my house, right now. Let’s say an earthquake just hit and all the pictures are falling off the walls and it’s in the middle of January. If I have to sprint for the door and can’t grab anything else, I have the minimum tools on me to build a fire for ourselves and the neighbors, stay warm, help others and signal for help.

If I can grab my jacket on the way out the door, there is an Altoids tin mini-survival kit in the pocket. And if I can get to my car there is a full component of survival gear in there, including food, water, a sleeping bag, and several tarps. I won’t waste any time looking for equipment, when the walls may literally be falling down around me.  This will come in very handy for a quick evacuation due to a forest fire, urban natural gas leak, tsunami warning, forced evacuation of the neighborhood or city.

Any personal survival kit will ultimately boil down to opinion, knowledge, skill levels and the season.

Let’s start here: Many experts agree that a MINIMUM KIT should contain the following materials. Here are my suggestions and the links to find them below this article:

Carry survival gear in your wallet. I always have (from left) firestarter, charcloth and a signal mirror with me.

• survival knife
• firemaking tool(s) plus the firestarter
• compass
  map and GPS
• mirror (for signaling)
• signal whistle
• flashlight
• Some form of emergency shelter, like a tarp with rope.
• Food and water, plus water filter.
• Layering Clothing (fleece, wool, polypropylene)
• Waterproof packable shell

While commercial survival kits are available, the quality of some items is sometimes reduced to cut costs. Some things, such as fishing hooks, sinkers and line are included because people think they need them. And some items are included in commercial kits because they’re cheap and take up space.

The safest bet is to make your own survival kit. Start with a realistic assessment of your skills and needs, then start researching. One size doesn’t fit all – a survival kit that works in the cold winter of Oregon, will be different than one designed for Florida, and vice versa.

Every town has a survival guru with a website, but that doesn’t mean they know anything. In fact, be leery of any survival website – a lot of people are out to make a fast buck. Start by contacting the people who work with emergencies every day: police, sheriff’s departments, search and rescue, the Red Cross and see if they have recommendations for necessary gear. They will also have a pretty good idea of  who is good teacher and who is a fraud.

If you have certain medical needs or conditions, make sure the kit includes the appropriate medications.

Then, educate yourself. Practice with your survival tools. Don’t take any recommendations at face value, unless the source has been proven to be reliable. Then, make your survival kit, and take it along.

Every time.  Check out the many other articles about personal and wallet sized kits, plus car kits, home kits, etc. by browsing the survival kit category on this site.

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

Click here to visit Peter Kummerfeldt's website!

In a survival situation, be it urban or wilderness, your gear alone will not save you. YOU must save yourself. There are three major areas a survivor must be prepared in, before you start being concerned about accumulating equipment!

In this article, survival Expert Peter Kummerfeldt takes you through a survival sequence.

by Peter Kummerfeldt

One of the most important lessons I learned during my survival career is: “Those who are prepared to survive an emergency usually will, and those who are not prepared probably won’t!”

We don’t want to admit we might be the one faced with a life or death situation or some other equally disagreeable circumstance.

Denial leads the list of the coping methods that people use — we deny anything bad is ever going to happen.  It’s often easier to deny than to prepare for a difficult situation and, as a result, we find ourselves totally unprepared when disaster strikes.

It’s easy to say “I’ll assemble a survival kit tomorrow.” It’s easy to rationalize – “I don’t have the money to buy a better rain jacket,” or “I’ll never be in a survival situation. What do I need a survival kit for?”  It’s easy to think that it will always be someone else that ends up in a survival situation.

Consequently the vast majority of people find themselves facing a cold night out without adequate clothing, without basic survival equipment and without having practiced building a fire, erecting a shelter or signaling for help.

To prepare, potential survivors need to consider three areas: Physical, mental and spiritual preparation.
Physical preparation includes careful selection of  your clothing, equipping yourself for an unplanned night out and getting in physical shape.

“Dress to survive – not just to arrive!

What you wear may be adequate for the work commute, but will it keep you warm if you have to spend the night in the ditch when the car skids off the road?  How much protection will your T-shirt and shorts provide if you are caught out in a late summer thunderstorm?
Becoming lost, is probably the most common way that people end up in a survival situation. “Surviving” places a premium on the clothing worn.

Both of these 100% cotton garments would keep you warm until they got wet. Then, this clothing can become dangerous to wear! (Pantenburg photo)

Cotton Kills! During the colder, wetter times of the year, dressing properly begins by getting rid of your cotton underwear and switching to synthetics (polypropylene, polyester, or Capilene.) Cotton absorbs the moisture your body produces and holds it against your skin causing heat to be constantly conducted away. You will never be warm!

The synthetics are hydrophobic (water hating) and facilitate the movement of water vapor away from your body.  Other underwear fabrics include wool and silk.  Some very good “non-itchy” wool thermal underwear is now available.  Silk, because it is a natural fiber, tends to absorb and hold water.  It is also not as durable as the synthetic fabrics.

The next layer, the mid layer, serves to facilitate the movement of water vapor out to the environment and to trap “dead air” around you to keep you warm. Once again, synthetics work best – the piles and fleeces, with wool coming in a close second.

Under very cold conditions, an additional insulation layer may be needed. The more “dead air” you trap the warmer you will be. Many insulating materials are available to choose from, both synthetic and natural. I choose synthetics primarily because, unlike down, the synthetic insulators do not collapse when wet.

The outer layer may be the most important.  It must keep the inner layers dry and keep the wind out.  If either moisture or wind penetrates the insulation layers, heat will be lost quickly.  Studies have shown that in windy situations, a good outer shell can increase warmth by as much as 50 degrees. Put another way, a good windproof outer layer decreases the amount of insulation needed to keep you warm.

The objective is to use the fewest layers of clothing that will keep you warm when you are inactive. Activity generates substantial amounts of body heat and reduces the need for multiple layers of clothing.  On the other hand, inactivity drives the need to insulate yourself from the environment and to conserve whatever heat your body is producing – very important in a survival situation!

Special attention should be paid to protecting your head and your hands. If your head is not protected as much as 75 percent of your total body heat production can be lost!  Hands suffer quickly when exposed to cool-to-cold conditions. Fine motor skills, the ability to touch finger to thumb, are lost quickly.

This photo demonstrates how a trash bag can be used as a quick, effective emergency shelter. (Peter Kummerfeldt photo)

Could you zip up your jacket if your fingers are frozen?  Could you tie your bootlaces? Gloves and mittens are an important part of your outdoor clothing.

Equipping yourself to spend a night out is the next step.

There are those who advocate construction of survival shelters built from natural materials.  I disagree.

For the average, inexperienced person, building a windproof, waterproof shelter from sticks, boughs, bark and other natural materials may be impossible!

Shelters built from natural materials take hours to build, require cutting tools and adequate supplies of suitable materials, and, most importantly, call for an “able” survivor — one who is uninjured!

Seldom can all of these criteria be met and, for lack of shelter, the survivor ends up spending a very uncomfortable night or two out.  Additionally, inexperienced people will often wait until the sun is about to set or the storm is about to break before they recognize the need for an emergency shelter!

A vital part of your survival equipment is a waterproof, windproof, heavy-duty, plastic bag that you can crawl into!  Alternatively, carry a sturdy tarp or piece of plastic that can be quickly erected to create a lean-to or pup tent style of shelter.

Two plastic match containers have been taped together. One holds cotton balls and petroleum jelly, and the other carries REI Stormproof matches. A Boy Scout Hot Spark is taped to the kit.

The ability to ignite a fire may also be critical to your survival.   Once again, relying on improvised means i.e., rubbing sticks together, is an invitation to disaster!

Because of injury or loss of finger dexterity the usual methods of starting a fire may become very difficult.  How do you strike a match if you only have the use of one hand?  Could you still “flick your BIC” if your fingers are cold and stiff?  It can be done but it may not be easy.

Equip yourself with good matches and a metal match.  Fill a screw-top match case with cotton balls that have been saturated in petroleum jelly – it makes great tinder, can be ignited with either the match or a spark from the metal match and burns for a long time.

The duration of your survival situation hinges on two questions.  Did you file a flight plan?  Do you have any signaling equipment with you with which to attract attention? Always tell someone reliable where you’re going and when you’re going to be back.  Include in your survival kit a good plastic whistle and a signal mirror (glass or a good plastic one)

Improving your physical fitness should be part of the physical preparations you make.  People in good physical shape are less likely to injure themselves. Physically fit survivors  injured in an accident will fare better than those who are not in good shape.

Preparing yourself mentally is as important, if not more so, than preparing yourself physically.

If you can’t visualize situations you might find yourself in, how  will you prepare for them?

What are you afraid of? Confront that fear, and familiarity will make it go away!

What scares you about having to spend an unplanned night out?  Is it the fear of predatory animals? Starving to death? Dying from hypothermia? Isolation?

We all have fears. Unfortunately many are based on stories we were told,  TV programs, or on books we read.  Good entertainment, perhaps, but often poor sources of reliable information  to base our decisions and actions.

Make a list of your fears and apprehensions then contact the “experts” and find out the truth. In most instances, the truth is very different from the myth and, as a good friend of mine says: “When you remove the mystery, you’ll remove the fear!”

Spiritual preparation is the final step.  After interviewing many survivors and prisoners-of-war and after reading the accounts of many other survivors,  it is clear: “There are no non-believers in survival situations!”

Survivors may have started the experience without any strong beliefs one way or the other, but inevitably, at some point these survivors turned to a greater power for additional help.

As Doug Ritter of Equipped to Survive (www.equipped.com) says:

“If you are adequately clothed, if you have equipped yourself and if you have practiced your survival skills, a night or two out should not a be a life threatening experience.  On the other hand if you are not clothed adequately, do not have any emergency gear and have never practiced your survival skills whether you survive or not will depend on your will to survive, your ability to improvise, and LUCK.”

I don’t know about you – I want to be clothed, equipped and practiced!

Peter Kummerfeldt has walked the talk in the wilderness survival field for decades. Peter grew up in

Peter Kummerfeldt has taught wilderness and emergency survival for more than 40 years.

Kenya, East Africa and came to America in 1965 and joined the U.S. Air Force. He is a graduate of the Air Force Survival Instructor Training School and has served as an instructor at the Basic Survival School, Spokane, Washington; the Arctic Survival School, Fairbanks, Alaska, and the Jungle Survival School, Republic of the Philippines.

For twelve years, Peter was the Survival Training Director at the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado. He retired from the Air Force in 1995 after 30 years of service.

In 1992, concerned with the number of accidents that were occurring in the outdoors annually and the number of tourists traveling overseas who were involved in unpleasant and sometimes life-threatening incidents Peter created OutdoorSafe.com

He is the author of Surviving a Wilderness Emergency and has addressed over 20,000 people as the featured speaker at numerous seminars, conferences and national conventions.

Check out Peter’s blog at: OutdoorSafe.blogspot.com

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

The wind blew sheets of rain sideways and the water dripped off the brim of my hat as I hunched over my charcloth and flint and steel. The original idea had been to demonstrate to Boy Scouts of Troop 18 in Bend, Oregon how to start a fire in the rain using one match, and available natural materials.

The waxed firestarter will burn on snow, or when the weather is wet and nasty.

By Leon Pantenburg

It had rained in the area for two days, and everything was soaked. We found a juniper tree that offered some shelter. I demonstrated how to find the dry side of the tree, strip off dry inner bark from underneath a limb and gather relatively dry twigs from under the trunk. Then I reached from my waterproof match container.

My 11-year-old son Dan had other ideas.

“Oh, c’mon Dad,” he said. “You can get a fire started with a flint and steel, can’t you?”

Typically, Murphy stands at my elbow when I attempt such demonstrations. And Murphy’s Law (as it relates to firemaking) is very explicit. It states: The more people watching you try to show off, the harder it will be to start a fire.

But Murphy had stayed home. I caught the spark on the second whack of the striker, placed the glowing charcloth into a prepared nest of dry and shredded juniper bark and in a matter of minutes had a roaring fire going. Nobody was more impressed than me.

Getting interested in one aspect of history generally leads to other rediscoveries. In my case, an interest in primitive

firemaking lead to a search for an effective firestarter. Surely, I reasoned, the oldtimers had some sort of flammable material that was compact, portable, effective, simple to make and that used easily-obtained local materials. Pitch wood, cedar bark, dry grass, weed stalks, pine needles etc. all work great when the weather is nice. But usually, the fouler the weather, the more desperately you need a fire (another axiom of Murphy’s firemaking law). There had to be some sort of old time firestarter.

The answer came from another seeker of esoteric knowledge, my buddy, Dr. Jim Grenfell. Jim is a former UCLA

Charcloth, made from old denim, will catch any spark and should be included in every survival kit! The finished product should be completely black, but flexible and not brittle.

instructor of dentistry who took up blacksmithing upon retiring. He makes knives, replica tomahawks, fire strikers, and anything the local Boy Scout troops need. Jim is also a former fighter-bomber pilot combat veteran of the Korean War and a graduate of three Air Force wilderness survival schools.

Jim already had the answer to the firestarter situation. We went out to his shop and he pulled out what looked like a waxed pillow case.

“You could make a hat out of this, cover your feet, or use it as a mat to sit on,” Jim said. “But it’s really firestarter. Try it.”

Well, I did, and the waxed firestarter works very well. Here’s how to make it.  The idea is to melt equal proportions of beeswax and paraffin together and dip 100 percent cotton cloth in it.

First, find a large flat pan and a source of heat to melt the wax. I use my propane Camp Chef double burner camp stove outside to reduce the potential mess.

Get some 100 percent cotton that tears easily. Denim from jeans and the stretchy material from old T-shirts will work, but the material is difficult to tear or fray the edges. I prefer old cotton sheets or pillow cases. The material can be torn easily to whatever size is needed.

Paraffin is available in grocery stores. Beeswax can be expensive, so a good alternate material is the wax liner ring used to seal the bottoms of toilets. These rings cost under a buck at most hardware stores and they provide about eight to ten ounces of wax. The toilet sealer wax starts out slightly sticky, but after it’s diluted with paraffin that disappears. I always add a crayon to the mixture. The crayon’s only purpose is to color-code the batch, so if it works particularly well, you can duplicate the recipe.

Set your fire extinguisher nearby. Then heat the wax/paraffin mixture to almost smoking hot, SHUT OFF THE HEAT, and start dipping the cloth. Molten wax can burn you, so wear oven mitts or gloves. I use kitchen tongs to handle the hot cloth, and after dipping, let the excess wax mixture drain off.

Set the dipped cloth out the dry on a cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil. And that’s it.

To use the material, rip off a piece and roll it diagonally, and fray the edge. It should light almost instantaneously. For lighting campfires, I generally use a piece of firestarter about the size of a cigarette paper. If your tinder, kindling and wood have been gathered correctly, this will be overkill. If the fire starts quickly, you can extinguish the starter and re-use it.

How well does this stuff work? Well, it will burn almost completely up while resting on top of a snowdrift. An eighth-inch by one-inch piece, rolled loosely, will burn for several minutes. I’ve used the firestarter many times in driving rain.

Because the wax mixture is so hot when the cloth is dipped, individual threads completely absorb the wax. This makes

Firestarter, left, charcloth and a signal mirror can all be carried in a wallet. The compact, easy-to-carry firestarter can be included in your everyday wardrobe without ever noticing it!

the material completely waterproof and virtually indestructible.

Several springs ago, a Boy Scout campout south of La Pine, Or., turned into an exercise in sleet and snow camping. In the dark, somebody dropped a piece of  the waxed firestarter in the main path, where it was ground into the slush, mud and snow.

The next morning, assistant scoutmaster Dave Colton of Bend found the piece and brought it over to me.

“Do you think this will work now?” he asked. We brushed off the mud, patted the firestarter dry on my pantleg, and it started like it had spent the night in a waterproof container.

Since discovering the waxed firestarter, I’ve replaced all the commercial versions in all my survival kits. I carry a credit card-sized piece in my wallet. The waxed firestarter takes up virtually no space, is light and doesn’t leave a mess. (But don’t leave a piece on the car dashboard in the summer sun!)

Like all survival tools, this one will do you no good unless you know how to use it. So make some waxed firestarter, practice with it and add another tool and skill to your survival arsenal. (Original story published in the Volume 28, No. 2,  April/March edition, 2006,  of “The Backswoodsman.”)

Check out the SurvivalCommonSense.com Making Survival Kits blog by clicking here

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I was the guest on Destiny Survival Radio  show Thursday.  The discussion was about starting out camping, what gear to look for, and how to use that gear for prepping and wilderness survival.

A tarp shelter can be a valuable addition to any camp.

“How do I get started?”

That seems to be the most frequent question asked by newcomers to the prepping and survival scene. And for many,  where to start buying camping gear, when you have no equipment  or camping experience, can be a daunting prospect.

Here is a discussion about what gear to buy, what properties to look for in sleeping bags and tents, ways to carry water, and what kinds of food to pack in your survival kit.

We also talked about tarp shelters, and why it is important to know how to make and use one!

To listen to the interview, click here.

For tips on survival recipes and off-grid cooking, click here!

For more related SurvivalCommonSense.com tips and stories, click on the highlighted words:

• STOP: Use this exercise to reduce stress and focus your thoughts.
• Write a note to let people know where you went, before you left.
• Have a plan to make a tarp shelter.
• Carry lightweight, compact firestarter.
• Find the most effective fire ignition system.
• How to make charcloth, a material that can catch a spark from any source.
• Use charcloth as an effective method of catching a spark to make a fire.
• Hardtack: A great emergency food
• About Leon Pantenburg

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

Is this familiar? Somebody finds out you are a prepper or survivalist, and assumes you’re somehow…a little strange. But once they learn a few facts, they may change their minds. The next question may be: “What do I do to get started?”

Here’s some good advice from Ann Gawith of  OfftheGridCooking @blogspot.com

Getting started in off-grid cooking can be as simple as getting a cast iron Dutch oven and propane cooker!

by Ann Gawith

Gerald and I have been in wonderful San Diego for the past two weeks visiting family. The other night, after my interview about off-grid cooking on SurvivalCommonSense.com Radio, a group of friends were over for dinner.  I cooked, of course, and made one of my mega pots of spaghetti sauce…and the conversation turned to the radio show and its premise.

Well!  Let me tell you that these “city folk” had a good time ribbing us about becoming “survivalists”, etc.  I tried to tell them that we all needed to have survival common sense, and that didn’t necessarily make us survivalists.  Now, I have nothing against those folks that claim that title, but it usually does evoke an image of camo-wearing/gun toting/hiding-in-a-cave kind of people, and we are certainly NOT that.

We live pretty darn mundane lives, actually, we just feel the need to keep prepared for the unexpected. After I told

some stories about people who have lost their way, and their lives, by not being prepared, the group saw my point.  (They live in such an insulated world down here…San Diego rarely, rarely loses power; they have city water and natural gas…however, they also live in one of the great earthquake areas of the west!)
They all agreed that it was a good idea to have some extra water and food stored in case the road was closed and they couldn’t get to the local grocery store.  I said: “See…you have some survival common sense!”
Now, let’s talk about how you are going to cook that food.  Most folks in Southern California have gas cook tops ( but no matches to light the burners if the power is out…note to self about Christmas presents); one friend even has a Dutch oven (though, I think, no charcoal).
So, I  put together a list for them with more on it than just food and water!

One of those long-stemmed butane lighters is certainly good, but I always manage to buy the kind that will poop when you most need it!  Long wooden matches are best because you can reach into the burner better.

Charcoal: Gas grills are great until they run out of fuel.  You can use charcoal on them by just making a foil pan underneath the cooking grid to hold the charcoal (or use one of those old foil take-out pans I know you have kept in the garage) (you get the idea)  This is particularly great if you have a Dutch Oven then you can cook with it over the charcoal too!

Pots and Pans Having a set of what I call “camping pots” is handy.  Then you don’t have to worry about damaging those expensive teflon or whatever pots over the charcoal.  Keep in mind you will want to boil water as well as heat the food items, so think about this when putting together your pots and pans. Thrift stores are great sources for these kinds of items.

Heavy Duty Foil:It can become a pan or cooking utensil; wrap your fish in it, wrap your meat and veggies in it; make a crumpled up ring of foil to hold the charcoal on top of a round-top Dutch Oven; heating bread; storage of leftovers, of course.  I am sure there’s even more…would love to hear ideas from others.

The idea of establishing a “pantry” can be overwhelming,  but basic food supplies, such as  cans of beans, tuna, spam, sauces, pasta, rice, dried beans don’t take much space. If you don’t have a traditional pantry in the house, put together a small storage container of items in a handy spot.

I could go on and on with tips and ideas, but I don’t want you to run from the room shouting: “This is too
hard!!!”

It’s not hard…it’s just common sense. And here’s hoping that your storage container gathers much dust from non-use!

Off grid cooking expert Ann Gawith

Ann and Gerald Gawith are construction building contractors and remodeling experts, based in Central Oregon. Together, Ann, Gerald and business partner Linda Stephenson ( author of “Linda Stephenson’s Wild Game Cookbook” and several other cookbooks) the trio operates a cast iron catering business named “Grub Masters.”

Ann and Gerald have retro-fitted their home in snowy La Pine, OR with a wood stove, and have standby lighting with kerosene lamps and lanterns. They cook on a woodstove, and have built an enclosed outdoor cooking area with propane burners, a steel table for Dutch oven cooking and barbecue.

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

Regular readers of SurvivalCommonSense know that survival firemaking is one of my pet subjects.

Regardless if you’re a survivalist, prepper, or just a well-prepared backpacker; if you are making a wilderness survival kit, a bug-out bag, a set of Ten Essentials

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by Leon Pantenburg

You don’t have any wilderness experience, but you want some. The plan is to get out there in the seldom-traveled areas,

These are basic navigation tools: compass, emergency whistle, map and GPS. They are a very important part of your Ten Essentials.

and explore some of those wild, open spaces that appeal to your sense of adventure. So what do you take along to make sure you get back? Where in that urban wilderness maze of outdoor stores, catalogs, websites and eBay will you find the gear you need?

First – welcome!  More people need to use our national forests, parks and campgrounds. Let’s give kids the chance to take a hike, or go out and enjoy the beauty of nature, instead of playing a video game! If we all practice leave-no-trace camping, hiking and wilderness use, there will always be is plenty of space out there for all of us. Hopefully, you will  join us to pick up the trash left by thoughtless jerks! (End of  lecture!)

One of the most common questions from wilderness newcomers  is: “What gear will I need?”

And that’s a really good question! Walk through any sporting goods store and you’ll notice a bewildering array of gear, stuff, doo-dads, knick-nacks and junk. The buyer must decide which is which.

Depending on what store it is, and the salesperson, you could end up buying some very expensive – and unnecessary – items. In some stores, the salespeople work on commission and push high-priced gear. Or you might end up with a clerk who is covering the counter for somebody at lunch and doesn’t know anything about the outdoors or what you should buy. And if you don’t know either,  then your budget might be shot before you get to those items you really do  need.

So, here’s where to start. The Boy Scouts of America have been preaching the gospel of survival common sense for 100 years. Who actually coined the term “Ten Essentials” is probably unknown. But there is no question that a facsimile of  this basic list is the basis of all emergency preparedness kits. Get your Ten Essentials first.

Here is a list of the Boy Scout Outdoor Essentials, and product suggestions. I already own all this gear, or have used it. Many of the suggestions below have been arrived upon after several years of different uses. Look at these ideas, and then decide what will work best for you.

• Knife: Frosts Carbon Clipper Utility Knife (The best knife is up to your personal preference, but you must have some sort of cutting edge along. The only survival knife you have is the one you have along!)

• First Aid kit: Coleman Base Camp First Aid Kit (A first aid kit should go along on every outing, even if you never use it.)
• Extra clothing: (This will depend, of course, on the climate, time of year and where you are. Clothing needs for my high desert area are much different than for those people in the tropics.)
• Rain gear: ( You have two choices for protection from the rain: rainsuit or poncho. I use both, depending on the circumstances.  I hiked the John Muir Trail with a poncho for rain protection. It rained nine days straight! The poncho kept me dry, even though I was expending a lot of energy to hike. I prefer a rainsuit while hunting or fishing, because it won’t flap in the wind, and a rainsuit offers better protection while sitting or standing for long periods of time. Decide what’s best for your needs. FROGG TOGGS PRO ACTION RAINSUIT KHA 3XL Raingear PRO ACTION RAINSUIT BRN3XL- PA102-04-3XLSea to Summit Ultra-Sil Tarp-Poncho
• Water bottle:  Platy Soft Bottle with HyperFlow Cap (Water is an absolute necessity. I generally carry a Nalgene or other rigid water bottle to drink out of. 32oz Nalgene BPA Free Water Bottle
  In my pack, I’ll carry several soft bottles to replenish my Nalgene. The soft bottle are protected in the pack, and
  

  This combinations of water bottles works well, The rigid Nalgene in the middle is used for drinking and the Paltypus soft bottles are used to store extra water in the pack.

  when empty, can be rolled up. The softies  weight virtually nothing, and  take up hardly any space. And if you find a water source, and need to re-supply, you’ll have ample containers along. Make sure to include some system of chemical purification Polar Pure Water Disinfectant
  or a water filter. MSR SweetWater Microfilter (Gray/Red)
  I’m not a big fan of the water bladder systems, for no really good reason, but they are great for kids because the drinking tube encourages drinking. And the novelty of  using a bladder water system will keep them well-hydrated until the newness wears off!) CamelBak Skeeter Kid’s Hydration Pack

• Flashlight or headlamp: (I field-dressed a deer shortly after darkness fell  one evening, holding my mini-maglite in my teeth. It was pretty gross – talk about drooling on your gear… Anyway, ever since that experience I carry a good headlamp. A headlamp leaves your hands free if you are spelunking, end up walking out to the car in the dark, scrambling over rocks etc. Besides, if the lamp is on your head, chances are less that it might be dropped and broken.) Black Diamond Spot Headlamp
• Trail food: (This is another personal preference. I like to make most of my own, because of my inherent cheapness and a Depression-era mentality inherited from my Dad. But in all my packs, I have several Clif bars, Clifbar Builders Protein Bar – 12 Pack, some jerky, sardines, and hardtack.  The gourmet food comes from the Dutch oven. Lodge Logic 8-qt. Camp Dutch Oven with Lid – Black The emergency food is fuel.)
• Matches and firestarter (or other methods of ignition – you should have several different types) Firesteel Army Black Color, Genuine Issue Magnesium Survival Fire Starter
• Sun protection (Sunscreen is an item that needs to be in every survival kit, regardless if you’re in the arctic or the tropics. I carry the tube type, because it is less messy to apply). Bullfrog Quik Stick SPF 36 Sunblock – 0.46 oz.
• Map and compass (A GPS is also useful, but not without a map and compass! Always include spare batteries for your GPS!) Suunto M-3DL Compass

This is the bare bones list, and you should expand and add categories to fit your individual needs. For example, my Ten Essentials includes some method of shelter, such as a tarp, garbage bag, bivey sack etc., and I always carry at least 50 feet of parachute cord or light rope, 50-Ft 550 Parachute Cord Military 7-Strand Camping Survival – COLOR MAY VARY, and four aluminum tent stakes. Coghlan’s 8046 Aluminum Tent Peg
Neither the scouts, nor I, recommend including fishing gear as a survival tool! Many of the items, such as  the Frost knife, first aid kit and Clif  bars, have multiple memberships in my different  specialized survival kits. Another necessisty is the proper size spare batteries for any device that is battery-powered. Energizer Batteries. It’s a good idea to get battery-operated items that all use the same size.

This sheath knife with a 3-1/2 inch blade is a good choice for your Ten Essentials. Several feet of duct tape wrapped around the sheath is an added tool.

Your outdoor essentials list can also vary seasonally. I always include a snow shovel Black Diamond Deploy 7 Shovel
and  insulite pad on my winter showshoe treks.Coleman Rest Easy Camp Pad
My summer and winter extra clothing choices would also be different. An extra stocking cap is always a good thing to have along, but in the summer, a broad-brimmed hat for sun protection is a necessity.

Some items you shouldn’t cut costs on are boots or hiking shoes; a sleeping bag, and a reliable shelter.

Use this Outdoor Essentials list to form the basis for your own survival kit, then read and research to get new ideas. Your survival kit, if it’s anything like mine,  will probably end up being an evolving project. After every outing, think about what you used, what you didn’t need, and what you wished you had. Then adjust accordingly.

The best survival kit or gear in the world is worthless  if you don’t know how to use it, and just having a survival kit won’t save you. In fact, it might give you a false sense of confidence that could be deadly!

Start your wilderness preparation by reading a credible survival book, or taking a class from a competant instructor. Be very wary of any survival-related internet blog or website. Just because someone has a website, doesn’t mean they know anything! Don’t get your survival training off a prime-time survival “reality” show.

The book I recommend to everyone who ever ventures off the pavement is my hands-down favorite, go-to survival manual:  Peter Kummerfeldt’s “Surviving A Wilderness Emergency.”  To develop the absolutely critical survival mindset, read Ben Sherwood’s “The Survivors Club.”

Then practice with your equipment. Learn how to make a fire, or pitch your shelter in your backyard. Try out your sleeping bag on a chilly night on the deck to make sure it’s going to be warm enough. Make your mistakes at home, so you won’t in the backcountry, where a screw-up can kill you.

And let this be your mantra: “My survival kit won’t save me. My equipment or gear can’t save me. I will save me.“ And  include common sense with every outing!

Suggested Reading:

Surviving a Wilderness Emergency
The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life
Build the Perfect Survival Kit
Fieldbook

For more survival common sense information and tips, click on the highlighted words:

• STOP: Use this exercise to reduce stress and focus your thoughts.
• Write a note to let people know where you went, before you left.
• Dress with the right fabrics.
• Have a plan to make a tarp shelter
  .

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