food

Seven Ways to Start a Fire Without a Match (And 13 More Primitive Survival Skills That Could Save Your Life)

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 07:00:00 -0400

Survival Skills, Part III: Finding Food

fieldandstream-editor — Sun, 22 Jan 2006 04:10:00 -0500

Snares
Small-game snares can be made from the interior strands of parachute cord, braided strands of sinew, or fishing line. Snares stout enough to secure game as large as deer need to be made of rawhide or parachute cord.

skill Ground Snare (picture)
Position the snare at head height and tie off the end to a tree, a stake in the ground, or a log that the animal can only drag a short distance as the noose tightens. Make snares from cord, fishing line, or wire if available.

skill Spring Snare (picture)
This set employs a trigger that snatches game into the air as it strains against the noose. It's good for rabbits and game as large as deer.

Deadfall Traps
Deadfalls that use logs or rocks to squash prey are typically baited, but they also work along trails or outside burrows when a passing animal or bird brushes against the trigger.

skill Spring Deadfall (picture)
One of the easiest traps to make and set, the spring deadfall (see page 59) depends upon the game worrying the bait, so it's best used for carnivorous animals and rodents such as pack rats.

Tension Traps
Employing fire-hardened spear points under tension, these can be deadly to predator and prey alike. Always set and approach an impaling trap cautiously from behind and use only in an emergency in remote areas, where another human or domestic animals are not going to blunder past.

skill Spring Spear Trap (picture)
This trip-wire set is effective for wild pigs, deer, or other game that regularly sticks to defined game trails. Make certain the horizontal thrust of the spear is at a level that will impale the body of the game sought. This is an extremely dangerous trap; use it with caution.

Bird Traps
Birds can be much easier to trap than mammals and should be among your first targets for a meal.

skill Ojibwa Bird Pole (picture)
Set this trap in a large clearing where birds will naturally seek it out as a landing place.

Step One Sharpen both ends of a 6-foot pole and drill a small hole near one end. Drive the other end into the ground until it is secure.
Step Two Cut a 6-inch-long stick that will loosely fit into the hole. Tie a rock to a thin cord and pass the cord through the hole in the pole, then make a slip noose that drapes over the perch.
Step Three Tie an overhand knot in the cord in back of the slip noose and place the stick against the hole. Tension should hold it in position. When a bird flies down and perches, it will displace the stick, the rock will fall, and its feet will be caught as the loop quickly slides through the hole.

Fish Traps
Fish swim next to banks at night or move from deep holes into shallow water to feed. They can often be directed into traps from which they are unlikely to escape.

skill Funnel Trap (picture)
Make the walls of the funnel trap with piled-up stones or tightly spaced sticks driven solidly into the river or lakebed. Close the entrance to the trap, roil the water, then either spear the fish or net them with a seine made by tying a shirt or other cloth between two stout poles.

Making Stone Points
Points and blades chipped from cryptocrystalline rocks such as chert, flint, and obsidian make the sharpest knives, arrowheads, and spear tips, although efficiently using the latter two requires lots of practice.

Step One (picture)
Strike flakes from a tool stone by hitting it with a hard rock. This is called "percussion flaking." Some flakes will be suitable as is for knives; others will require more flaking.

Step Two (picture)
Place the tip of an antler tine or bone point against the flake and apply a twisting push toward the edge of the stone. Continue flaking off small cones near the edge until the point of the stone is evenly chipped and razor sharp.

Fruits of the Season

fieldandstream-editor — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 09:50:00 -0500

Whitetail bucks need to replenish their lean, worn-down bodies after the breeding season, so hunting over a food source then is a perfectly logical strategy. But don't limit your consideration of stand sites to obvious hotspots like oak flats and cropfields. Deer relish any sweet soft mast that remains available into late fall and winter, and the fact that such forage is commonly ignored by hunters makes it doubly attractive to wary mature bucks.

FAVORITE FLAVORS
The fruits of persimmon, wild pear, apple, crabapple, and papaw trees provide deer with critical calories in a tasty package. Their high sugar content produces a sorely needed burst of energy. And though many of the individual fruits will drop and be eaten in September and October, you can usually find anywhere from a handful to several hundred frozen morsels still clinging to trees as winter sets in.

Certain varieties of wild apple and crabapple will hold their fruit longer than others and can continue to draw deer into December. Persimmons, in particular, tend to mature late. They often become bright orange and sweet tasting only in October or November and will stay on the trees until well after the rut. On my own property, I've watched bucks visit persimmon trees right up until a few days before Christmas. If you can locate a few of these in your hunting area, you might have found the ticket to a late-season buck.

TWO STRATEGIES
Once you pinpoint an area, or even an individual tree, with available fruit, look for tracks and trails to determine the direction from which deer will approach it. Then set up downwind at a comfortable shooting distance.

Late-season bucks may visit these sites anytime during the day, but they are most likely to show just before dark. One important exception, however, is when an overnight cold front passes through and strong gusts blow the fruits off the trees. Then, the bucks will be chowing down first thing in the morning. So monitor the weather with this in mind and be in your stand bright and early after a windy night.

Still-hunting may be the best tactic to employ if you're faced with a fairly large area that has a number of fruit trees scattered throughout it. I like to sneak quietly along the edges of these places and glass from a distance. When I spot a good buck, I keep myself hidden and plan a stalk that lets me use the topography, cover, and wind to get within shooting range. I especially like this approach on bitterly cold days. Staying mobile allows me to ward off the chill while searching for a buck nibbling on the last frozen fruits of the season.

Fruits of the Season

fieldandstream-editor — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 09:50:00 -0500

Save Yourself

fieldandstream-editor — Sun, 23 Oct 2005 11:00:00 -0400

Your life is on the line. Would you rather trust a store-bought survival kit, one in which the components were selected to apply to the greatest number of people while maintaining an affordable price, or a custom collection of equipment that you selected, tested, and assembled yourself? I know what I'd rather have.

In the survival courses I teach, I always recommend that students build their own kits. By doing so, you can ensure that quality and utility are the biggest priorities for individual components. You also get to tailor it to your specific activities and locations. And when you pick your own survival tools, the items become familiar before you need to rely on them in an emergency.

Don't be overwhelmed by the amount of survival gear out there. The following three kits of mine will give you a good idea of what to carry, and the worksheet at the end of the story will teach you three easy steps to building your own.

THE POCKET KIT
Fitting inside a pocket tin, this kit is easy to keep on hand at all times.

This is ideal for anyone who wants to have the essential survival gear along each time they head into the field. Everything fits in the Altoids tin [BRACKET "1"]. It meets all your needs except for shelter and protection, but add a survival blanket to your pocket and you'll be covered.

FIRE AND LIGHT

Mini-Match magnesium fire starter [BRACKET "8"] with steel striker [BRACKET "9"]. One side is magnesium and the other is flint. You scrape shavings off the former and then light them with a spark from the latter.
Waterproof-windproof matches [BRACKET "4"] with a striker [BRACKET "3"], placed in a mini zip-seal bag, then rolled and taped.
5 Tinder-Quik fire tabs [BRACKET "22"], which light even when wet. They're great for stuffing in all the extra spaces of a survival tin to eliminate rattling.
Candle [BRACKET "17"]. I cut a 1/2-inch-diameter emergency candle down to the height of the Altoids tin, so it fits in one corner.
Photon Micro-Light II [BRACKET "6"], a bright LED flashlight.

WATER AND FOOD

Water bag [BRACKET "7"]. A Reynolds Oven Bag does the trick, cut down to fit in the tin, with a 1-quart marking as a guide for using iodine tablets.
20 Potable Aqua water purification tablets [BRACKET "26"], repackaged in a mini glass vial.
50 feet of braided fishing line [BRACKET "27"] wound on a round sewing-machine bobbin.
Fishing tackle kit [BRACKET "13"] in a plastic tube. Inside are assorted hooks [BRACKET "14"], swivels [BRACKET "15"], and split shot [BRACKET "16"].
10 feet of 24-gauge snare wire [BRACKET "2"].

SIGNALING

Custom-made signal mirror [BRACKET "29"]. Commercial versions are all too thick to fit in this kit. I used a durable, ultrathin piece of plastic called mica (locksmiths slide this between a door and jamb to push the lock back). I glued on a piece of Mylar film, rounded the corners, and made a sighting hole.

NAVIGATION

20mm AA liquid-filled button compass [BRACKET "21"]. It's the best-quality instrument that will fit in the tin.

KNIVES AND TOOLS

Commando Wire Saw [BRACKET "5"], a small survival cable saw.
2 X-Acto knife blades [BRACKET "20"], without the handle. You should always have a real knife on your person; these blades are for backup.

MEDICAL

Small packet of antibiotic ointment [BRACKET "23"].
2 butterfly closures [BRACKET "11"].

MULTIPURPOSE

Several yards of nylon string [BRACKET "12"].
2 magnetized sewing needles [BRACKET "18"] for sewing or making an emergency compass (floated in water on a leaf, the needle will face north).
Small piece of glue [BRACKET "28"], cut off a glue-gun stick.
Small laminated card with instructions [BBRACKET "10"] for the water purification tablets and fishing knots.
Fresnel magnifier [BRACKET "24"]. This lens can start a fire by magnifying the sun's rays to a point on your tinder, causing combustion.
Safety pin [BRACKET "19"], for repairing clothes and straps.
2 feet of aluminum foil [BRACKET "25"] for making a cup, signaling, cooking fish, etc.