The ultimate survival skills.....

bushcraft90

ok so maybe not the ultimate survival skills. But it might be an idea to post skills that while not essential or even very important make life that little bit easier??

So ill get the ball rolling. If your like me and would forget your head if it wasn't attached to your body a great little skill to have is being able to use chop sticks. ( I know what the hell have chop sticks got to do with survivalism)
I sometimes find that when I'm heading out on an over night camp or even a day hike (ahem Airsoft game) that I forget my fork or spoon, I've also seen other guys doing this and seen them going off to beg, borrow or steal other peoples eating utensils or using their hands. Rather then doing this I keep my dignity and cool factor (joke) in tact and head for the nearest tree (be careful of which species) and find myself A nice thin straight branch cut it off, then into two pieces and then strip off the bark and hey presto chopsticks.

so whats the advantages of chopsticks over borrowing a spoon or using your hands. well you don't have wait for the other person to finish their food before you get to eat yours, you can eat fairly well anything with chop sticks and a knife (yes even soup), you don't have the issue of hygiene, using dirty hands or some else's spoon etc.

The next thing your going to ask is are chopsticks hard to learn well not really though I was lucky 13yo me decided to take a notion in a Chinese takeaway that it would be "cool" to learn how to use them. I learned to use them off the back of the chop stick wrapper. If I can do that surly it can't be that hard??? Here's a link to a Youtube video teaching you how to use chopsticks

DoozerT6

I'd imagine the ability to start a fire in the absence of say, matches or a lighter is pretty basic. Fire provides heat, light, and cooks your food.

That, and having a tin-opener in your stash

Khannie

DoozerT6 wrote: »

I'd imagine the ability to start a fire in the absence of say, matches or a lighter is pretty basic. Fire provides heat, light, and cooks your food.

Definitely desireable. I think it's very difficult though.

Sh1tbag OToole

Good to see I have at least something useful to show for myself after all the money I've blown on sushi

ghogie91

Id say in any survival situation the ability to make fire is important as said above

but also the ability to trap, hunt and gather food is equally important, no point starving to death beside a roaring fire and you can also use your chopsticks then to eat

Along side these, expecially in a country like our own is shelter, you gotta have some way to keep dry, vital for your survival and a serious morale booster when you can sit and watch the rain falling 'outside'

As for little things,

I think being able to carve wood into little things would be cool, for me if I could do it, I would bring back a little thing from every trip into the bush, would also pass time and give some sense of achievement when finished.

Would also love to know how to knit....

Wibbs

Maybe the ability to make tools, string, clothing, glue etc entirely from the natural environment? Caveman stylee. They would have been the ultimate survival experts, only they would describe it as "shít we do, everyday". Well paracord and matches were thin on the ground 50,000 years ago, so needs must. Take knapping stone blades and the like. Pretty simple to learn to make something basic and usable and very efficient too for preparing carcasses and such(a flint blade is as sharp as surgical steel and stuff like obsidian is pretty much the sharpest blade you can get). Spear and arrowheads would obviously require much more practice, but again doable. They wouldn't have to be perfect fancy show off pieces.

duncli1628

Newly joined & my first post 'bout my favourite subject - survival skills & techniques.:D. Big into programmes by Ray Mears, etc. Also Youtube contributed hugely to my pursuit to know of all things 'bout survival, trapping, hunting, hide tanning. Great stuff! Unfortunately, no scope for such skills here in Ireland. The most remote places are at most only a few hrs walk back to civilization in any direction. Wild camping is the closest one can get to any semblance of interacting with nature! Done that this glorious summer!

duncli1628

This thread has kinda stalled, so I'll try and add something even though it might turn out I'll be talking to myself! Ultimate survival skills...like perhaps making fire with the fire bow or fire plough or fire saw techniques. Making rope/cordage for trapping. Different types of shelter option for different environments and weather. Finding or collecting water. My opinion that THE most important thing to keep in mind in a survival situation is to stop and plan and consider the options. Second most important is not to get hurt, coz it will diminish your chances considerably. My next project is to try making fire using the fire bow technique.

dazza161989

As practise i like to head to the mountain lakes bout 3 hour trek from civilisation and spend the week camping with my dog. I bring 3 cup soups and one tin of beans and i fly fish for wild brown trout with flys i tie myself and survive the week on that, great practise, gets the head working , and a great way to spend a summers week.

mann

Dazza

Besides the noodles and beans did u just eat fish for the week ?

Do u try eat any wild veg or things like nettle or pine tea.

I would really like to know all the edible plants we have here. Someone once said man shall not live on bread alone "or words to that effect"

So i got thinking that even though being able to catch fish is really good... Long term i think just fish on its lonesome won't be enough.

Anyone know of a book that could help me with this.

dazza161989

mann wrote: »

Dazza

Besides the noodles and beans did u just eat fish for the week ?

Do u try eat any wild veg or things like nettle or pine tea.

I would really like to know all the edible plants we have here. Someone once said man shall not live on bread alone "or words to that effect"

So i got thinking that even though being able to catch fish is really good... Long term i think just fish on its lonesome won't be enough.

Anyone know of a book that could help me with this.

hi,

Depending on the time of the year ill forage for blackberrys, elderberrys,nettle tea, pine needle tea, mushrooms, etc

I try not t use beans nd soup if possible.

Hav also snared the occasional rabbit.

duncli1628

dazza161989 wrote: »

As practise i like to head to the mountain lakes bout 3 hour trek from civilisation and spend the week camping with my dog. I bring 3 cup soups and one tin of beans and i fly fish for wild brown trout with flys i tie myself and survive the week on that, great practise, gets the head working , and a great way to spend a summers week.

Green with envy! Would like to do that someday. You sound quite an old hand at this, with plenty of confidence. However, I know nothing about fishing. This is not meant as criticism, but I would rather bring along my own food so as not to impact on the environment/eco system as much as possible. I reason that to carry along my own food would equate to the same amount of energy spent in hunting/trapping. I'm sure fishing would be more energy efficient and more enjoyable.

Nino Brown

Learning to build and use pot stills, like the moonshiners boys. Imagine all the potential uses for alcohol. I know it's illegal here too, even on a small scale, but you could still learn how.

dazza161989

duncli1628 wrote: »

Green with envy! Would like to do that someday. You sound quite an old hand at this, with plenty of confidence. However, I know nothing about fishing. This is not meant as criticism, but I would rather bring along my own food so as not to impact on the environment/eco system as much as possible. I reason that to carry along my own food would equate to the same amount of energy spent in hunting/trapping. I'm sure fishing would be more energy efficient and more enjoyable.

i hav been doin it a few years im only 25 but hav fished since i was 8....... I may catch four or five a day but will only take one to eat as its survivalism practise.......wen im at home fishing i release 95% of wat i catch.

mann

duncli1628 wrote: »

Green with envy! Would like to do that someday. You sound quite an old hand at this, with plenty of confidence. However, I know nothing about fishing. This is not meant as criticism, but I would rather bring along my own food so as not to impact on the environment/eco system as much as possible. I reason that to carry along my own food would equate to the same amount of energy spent in hunting/trapping. I'm sure fishing would be more energy efficient and more enjoyable.

Hi dencli,

I can kinda see where you are coming from but what you would rather do “bring enough food to last” And what Dazza is doing “bring an emergency supple” are two different ways of surviving,

Dazza is practicing living off what Buda gave us, he will enhance his abilities to survive on what he can find around him each time he goes out,

So should the SHTF and the new type of tax scum kick in his front door he can leg it into the woods with a few bits and survive in relative comfort,

I get the impression that you on the other hand will be just going camping and surviving on whatever food you can escape with, but say the shtf and you are trying to get to your bolt hole carrying your supple of goodies and a gang jumps you and taxes all your gear…

This type of thing is happening today so imagine what it would be like if things really kick off, as I said I see your point but you too should practice while out just to see if you could survive without the food you have with you,

If you don’t want to kill something unless you absolutely have to, then you should practice catch and release, use nets rather than snares, barbless hooks when fishing,

Its just another thing for you to try while out, if you don’t catch and release anything you don’t eat that day, but I bet you will catch something next time you go out because you will have learnt what doesn’t work,

There’s loads of stuff on the sites about trapping, It will give you something else to look forward to when out,

Be sure to check your nets and lines regularly to prevent unnecessary suffering or injuries to animals that might one day save your life.

dazza161989

mann wrote: »

Hi dencli,

I can kinda see where you are coming from but what you would rather do “bring enough food to last” And what Dazza is doing “bring an emergency supple” are two different ways of surviving,

Dazza is practicing living off what Buda gave us, he will enhance his abilities to survive on what he can find around him each time he goes out,

So should the SHTF and the new type of tax scum kick in his front door he can leg it into the woods with a few bits and survive in relative comfort,

I get the impression that you on the other hand will be just going camping and surviving on whatever food you can escape with, but say the shtf and you are trying to get to your bolt hole carrying your supple of goodies and a gang jumps you and taxes all your gear…

This type of thing is happening today so imagine what it would be like if things really kick off, as I said I see your point but you too should practice while out just to see if you could survive without the food you have with you,

If you don’t want to kill something unless you absolutely have to, then you should practice catch and release, use nets rather than snares, barbless hooks when fishing,

Its just another thing for you to try while out, if you don’t catch and release anything you don’t eat that day, but I bet you will catch something next time you go out because you will have learnt what doesn’t work,

There’s loads of stuff on the sites about trapping, It will give you something else to look forward to when out,

Be sure to check your nets and lines regularly to prevent unnecessary suffering or injuries to animals that might one day save your life.

you got it in 1!!! I also like the mental challenge of it also , plus its great for weight loss;-)

duncli1628

mann wrote: »

Hi dencli,

I can kinda see where you are coming from but what you would rather do “bring enough food to last” And what Dazza is doing “bring an emergency supple” are two different ways of surviving,

Dazza is practicing living off what Buda gave us, he will enhance his abilities to survive on what he can find around him each time he goes out,

So should the SHTF and the new type of tax scum kick in his front door he can leg it into the woods with a few bits and survive in relative comfort,

I get the impression that you on the other hand will be just going camping and surviving on whatever food you can escape with, but say the shtf and you are trying to get to your bolt hole carrying your supple of goodies and a gang jumps you and taxes all your gear…

This type of thing is happening today so imagine what it would be like if things really kick off, as I said I see your point but you too should practice while out just to see if you could survive without the food you have with you,

If you don’t want to kill something unless you absolutely have to, then you should practice catch and release, use nets rather than snares, barbless hooks when fishing,

Its just another thing for you to try while out, if you don’t catch and release anything you don’t eat that day, but I bet you will catch something next time you go out because you will have learnt what doesn’t work,

There’s loads of stuff on the sites about trapping, It will give you something else to look forward to when out,

Be sure to check your nets and lines regularly to prevent unnecessary suffering or injuries to animals that might one day save your life.

Dear Mann,

You're right that, in the situation you described, I'll be at a disadvantage. I never did go so far as to imagine an apocalypse scenario. In that situation, I'll have no qualms in killing for food. I am not squeamish about blood and gore! Love to do that. Unfortunately, to do any trapping/hunting I'll need permission from someone, and I don't know anyone who would like the idea of me doing that on their property. Anyway, as I said, it was never meant as criticism. Perhaps, somewhere down the line, I'll do just that, and try my hand at catching some squirrels or rabbits. Certainly the loss of a couple of these will not devastate the enviroment.

laoch na mona

survival skills well cooking and fitness will probably be pretty useful, bushcraft and some gardening knowledge will probably be good to have as well

mann

[QUOTE=duncli1628;881252

I'll need permission from someone, and I don't know anyone who would like the idea of me doing that on their property. Anyway, as I said, it was never meant as criticism.[/QUOTE]


Hi Duncli

I hope you and yours had a peaceful Christmas and I wish you all the best for the new year,

After I posted and reread what I had replied to your post I started to think you might pick my meaning up wrongly,

If that be the case I beg your forgiveness, my words were never meant to cause offence in any way to you, if indeed they came across that way I do apologies,

As for trapping and things of that nature… I would be inclined to practice Stealth as this is going to be what’s needed to avoid other scavengers knowing where or what to look for to find your traps,

I reckon as long the catch area is off the beaten track and you keep a good eye on it no one will bother you, Its all just preparing yourself should you ever find a need, its been said “ its better to have the knowledge and never need it than to need it and never have it “

Or words to that effect

Me personally Well I couldn’t care less about signs and will continue to park my asp anywhere if I’m feeling tired,

We haven’t got much free space here to try out our skills but it’s nice to be able to try it anywhere we can… if you have to run then you have to run,

Best of luck to you dude

　

　

　

duncli1628

Hi Mann, thanx for your message, but what you had said made me understand that pratising survival/wild camping, like many other things would allow anyone to engage at different levels that suits them. No one is ever wrong in how deep they want to involve themselves. I guess it all depends on how interested they are and how far they're willing to go. Thanx again for your consideration and I hope you'll have a lovely New Year.

duncli1628

Hurray! New Yukon Men is on... Discovery Channel, Tuesday, 10pm. Love the series, have been waiting months for this. Real life in the wilderness of Alaska. Great!

duncli1628

Here I am, talking to myself, but I was rather happy for Courtney(new episode of Yukon Men) when she shot that 700lb moose. The size of that animal! Also, I think Courtney is kinda sexy too.:o Those people are really all about surviving & living off the land.

Local-womanizer

I can make different kinda ovens for cooking. Also I can purify water with a few materials. Fire starting I'm pretty good at too. I was put into the situation where I needed to be good at it, it's the best way learn, being thrown into the deep end.

I also have an idea of different flora I can use. Nettles are great, both for eating and for tea! The tea I would highly recommend!

I also have first aid, securing fractures and dealing with hypothermia, cuts, burns and other things you would encounter out and about.

Shelter making I'm crap at though! I'll just make sure I bring a basha everywhere!

duncli1628

Local-womanizer wrote: »

Also I can purify water with a few materials. Fire starting I'm pretty good at too. I was put into the situation where I needed to be good at it, it's the best way learn, being thrown into the deep end.

Like to know if you use charcoal/dirt/grass method for water purification? Fire starting would mean without matches/lighter or fire rod? "Deep end" is tantalising, wonder if you mind elaborating.
Don't worry about me. I'm mostly interested in the skills but had no real chance of putting them into pratice. Just hoping to enter discussion.

SNAKEDOC

Yea nettles are good. Make good cordage too. Small animal bones birch bark and small piece of wood can make a fish hook. Nettles provide cordage in the space of fishing line.
Fire lighting is easy with a fire bow. Just use your boot lace.
Shelter building is easy if you have some items. A knife or axe and cord. But again nettles come in handy. A lot of them for a shelter.
Simple lean too branches tightly lined up side by side pine or spruse make a very good water proof liner when woven like thatch.
Some vital skils are been able to navigate without a compass (or satnav these days) signals if lost or injured and unable to move. Six blasts of a whistle or if you have none shout six times then pause for one minute and repeat.
Gathering water and purifying it is a great skill to have. Obviously rivers and lakes are a source but fast moving water is best and in mountain areas can be drank as is in a survival situation but if you have a filter or tablets use them. Filtering water with charcoal is tough and above all else know what your doing before trying it. Id drink the water before attempting a haphazard method im not familiar with in a real life senario.

The one thing about survival is been confident and having a good atitude. If you lose your head you wont be able to concentrate on any goals and sucome to the elements.

duncli1628

Presumably, water close to civilisation would be polluted, so a good purification method is essential if sickness is to be avoided! A survival filtration water pump would be the safest bet. Boiling would kill viruses/bacteria but there's still the possibilty of toxins? In fact, it's recommended to boil ANY water collected from off the ground(rivers,streams,etc) coz' it might be polluted by animal carcasses or faeces!

Local-womanizer

duncli1628 wrote: »

Like to know if you use charcoal/dirt/grass method for water purification? Fire starting would mean without matches/lighter or fire rod? "Deep end" is tantalising, wonder if you mind elaborating.
Don't worry about me. I'm mostly interested in the skills but had no real chance of putting them into pratice. Just hoping to enter discussion.

Sorry only getting back to you now on this!

Yea the method of purification I was thought was a 2 litre water bottle with the arse end cut off it, hung from a height. We used a layering system of, If I can remember correctly, stones, moss, charcoal, and stones moss charcoal again. You just keep pouring your unfiltered water through until it comes out clear.

As regards the fire starting, it was the easiest and quickest ways of starting a fire. Cotton wool soaked in Vaseline, then having your prepared kindling and tinder. The most important thing we were told was fire placement, and prep! Done a good bit on signal fires too, building a frame that let's the air to draw up through damp fuel and creating a lot of smoke.

The deep end was with work! Up at 5 am, straight into a rigorous physical session, followed by a 16km walk over mountains, followed by a swim to an island. All with a knife, and Flint and striker and clothes on my back! All abit of fun of course and a good character building exercise! :P

duncli1628

Local-womanizer wrote: »

The deep end was with work! Up at 5 am, straight into a rigorous physical session, followed by a 16km walk over mountains, followed by a swim to an island. All with a knife, and Flint and striker and clothes on my back! All abit of fun of course and a good character building exercise! :P

Wow! I'm envious! Sounds like S.E.A.L. training. Wonderful! If I've been decades younger I'll like to give it a go too!:)

SNAKEDOC

Never too late your only as young as you feel. Im 29 and some days i feel 75 and im looking for my wheel chair. The training above sounds fun alright sounds like training they do for the ERU pre selection course in templemore. The early start hike up the devilsbit mountain and then the swim to the little island in the park. Saw them have to fill a gallon tube with water from the fountain in the main squre using only their clothes so off came the trousers and boots quickest team gets an extra hours kip. What made it worse was the tube had no bottom so you had to be quick or the water just seeped into the grass.

Local-womanizer

duncli1628 wrote: »

Wow! I'm envious! Sounds like S.E.A.L. training. Wonderful! If I've been decades younger I'll like to give it a go too!:)

Thankfully nothing as intense as S.E.A.L training! Although we were being tracked!

The biggest issue during the exercise was acquiring fresh drinking water. Obviously with the activities leading up to surviving on the Island, dehydration was a serious problem. It's amazing how short a temper you have when thirsty! I wasn't too upset with not having food compared to my thirst. Luckily the weather was in favour in terms of it wasn't raining, but the temperatures were high and speeded up the dehydration. Our shelter didn't need as much waterproofing though so we had more time to work on other aspects, firewood collection for example. Setting and maintaining a fire is vital too. Something as simple as a deflector behind the fire to radiate heat towards your shelter and close enough you get the most heat possible but not so close it sets your shelter on fire.

Aswell,the most important thing if in a situation with a group is to delegate workload, with time set aside for rest too. No point one person killing themselves doing all the work.

duncli1628

Local-womanizer wrote: »

The biggest issue during the exercise was acquiring fresh drinking water. Obviously with the activities leading up to surviving on the Island, dehydration was a serious problem. It's amazing how short a temper you have when thirsty!

You're right of course. Water is top priority in survival situation even before food. But can I hazard an opinion here, in that the very top priority is not to get hurt e.g. breaking a leg, twisting an ankle etc. coz that'll minimize mobility & therefore diminishing survival. My 2cents.:o

Local-womanizer wrote: »

Luckily the weather was in favour in terms of it wasn't raining, .

...would have solved your water problem?

Local-womanizer wrote: »

Something as simple as a deflector behind the fire to radiate heat towards your shelter and close enough you get the most heat possible but not so close it sets your shelter on fire.
.

What was used as deflector? Interwoven branches/foliage?

Want to say thank you for sharing your experience here. Appreciate that!:D