Steampunk Style

If you have a little space to grow some plants, you can get a lot of enjoyment and even some medicinal relief from growing your own remedies. While these should never take the place of professional medical care, it’s nice to have a sense that you are not helpless, should you end up having to fend for yourself. This is a list of 10 great plants that you can pick up now at home improvement stores and garden centers, and set out as your own personal medicine garden.

1. Yarrow: This is my top pick for someone starting a medicinal garden. Yarrow is a good looking perennial herb that can serve several uses. Among them, crushed yarrow leaves and flowers can be placed on cuts and scratches to stop bleeding and reduce the chance of infection.

2. Aloe Vera: Native to tropical Africa, Aloe has spread all over the world as a first aid-friendly herb that is very soothing to burns and scalds. This tender plant is best grown in a container so that it can be brought inside for the winter (unless you live in the deep-south).

3. Pennyroyal: A great smelling mint relative, pennyroyal can be crushed and applied to the skin as a very effective bug repellent. The leaves can be crushed and applied to wounds as an antiseptic, or brewed as a tea to settle upset stomachs. Don’t overdo it, though. Up to 2 cups per day can be drunk, but any more can—ironically—cause nausea and cramps.

4. Peppermint: Similar to pennyroyal, peppermint can be a great tonic for digestion. However, peppermint, pennyroyal, and other strong mints should not be consumed by women who are (or may be) pregnant, as food and drink that contain fresh strong mint leaf can be dangerous to the baby.

5. Borage: This odd plant has attractive flowers that can be soaked in alcohol to make a mood boosting tonic. The leaves and flowers may be eaten, used for tea, or soaked in wine or liquor to flavor the beverage. Maybe it’s just the liquor talking, but the fresh plant has a salty flavor and a cucumber-like odor.

6. St. John’s Wort: This one lifts the mood so well that you should not take St. John’s wort if you are already on anti-depressants. The leaves and flowers can be used to make tea or soaked in liquor to create a tincture. In February of 2000, the FDA released a warning that there was a risk of dangerous interactions between St. John's Wort and certain prescription medications for AIDS, heart disease, transplant rejection, and cancer, among others.

7. Comfrey: Cooked mashed roots of comfrey are used for a topical treatment for arthritis, bruises, burns, and sprains. Just don’t eat it. Recent research shows that it is damaging to the liver if eaten in quantity.

8. Lemon Balm: Make the best lemonade of your life by adding bruised lemon balm leaves to the drink. This plant also makes an outstanding topical agent for cold sores, and it is often used as a calming “nightcap” tea to fight insomnia.

9. Lavender: Typically used as a fragrance today, lavender has been used since ancient times to treat bug bites, burns, and skin disorders, and to relieve itching and rashes and reduce swelling. But it’s not to be taken internally by pregnant or nursing women, or small children.

10. Echinacea: Echinacea, a.k.a. the purple coneflower, is an American perennial wildflower best known for stimulating the immune system. Echinacea preparations are used against colds and flu, minor infections, and a host of other ailments.

Got a favorite medicinal plant? Tell us what it is and what you do with it by leaving a comment.

There are some wonderful wild edible plants scattered across this continent. Pick up a foraging book or take an edible plant class and you’re in for a surprise. You’ll start to see these edible plants everywhere. And then, as you dig a little deeper, brace yourself for another surprise. Some of the most common and popular wild edible plants have an “evil twin." These plants look similar to their edible counterparts, but are in fact dangerous. Pay close attention to detail to avoid these toxic species.

Photographs via NYDEC and Wikipedia

1. Giant Hogweed
This large member of the carrot family may have foragers thinking they hit the jackpot, and a big wild carrot is just below the surface. But in reality, this is a plant that is harmful to even touch.

Giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) is a European native that is now considered a noxious weed by the federal government. This plant can reach heights up to 14 feet tall, and hairy stalks and white flower clusters closely resemble the wild carrot (also known as Queen Anne’s lace). Giant hogweed is surprisingly dangerous, as it is covered in a compound that causes a severe light-sensitive skin reaction. Within 48 hours of contact, the plant causes dark painful blisters that form after exposure to sunlight. These blisters go deep and result in scarring can last up to six years. But wait—there’s more. Getting this “sap” in your eyes can cause permanent blindness. Stay away from this pretty wild flower. If you see any purple spots on the stems (underneath the fuzz) or the leaves are the wrong shape for wild carrot, don’t even touch the plant. If you do touch it, wash aggressively with soap and water and stay out of the sun for a few days.

Photographs via Steven J. Baskauf, bioimages.vanderbilt.edu , and USFWS

2. Moonseed
Not everything that looks like a grape happens to be a grape. The Canada moonseed (Menispermum canadense) is a climbing vine with grape-like leaves and clusters of grapey-looking fruits. These fruits are not grapes however, and are potentially fatal if eaten. To tell these look-a-likes apart, check the fruit seeds. Even though many wild grape species ripen at the same time as moonseed, the seeds are very different. Grapes will have 2-4 seeds that are round or oval in shape. Moonseed fruits have only one seed in each fruit and it has an odd shape, somewhere between a crescent moon shape and a Pac-man shape. If you think you have grapes, check the seeds before eating any of them.

Photograph by the author

3. Horse Nettle
The greenish or yellow colored, cherry tomato shaped fruits of horse nettle (Solanum carolinense) could look like a meal to the uneducated forager. Their tomato-like appearance should be a warning, though. The tomato’s family (nightshade) is full of wild relatives that are harmful to humans. The horse nettle fruits and most other parts of the plant are poisonous to varying degrees from the toxic alkaloid solanine. Eating fruits can cause abdominal pain, and possibly lead to circulatory and respiratory depression. Just remember that there are no edible “wild tomatoes” in the lower 48.

Ever caught yourself picking the wrong plant while foraging? Don’t be embarrassed, it happens to all of us at some point. Tell us your story by leaving a comment.

I have always practiced primitive survival skills for two reasons. The first is that it is very satisfying to be able to provide for yourself using only things found in the wild.

The second reason is that it provides a back-up plan for modern-day survival. You may lose your man-made gear, but nature always provides replacement gear, if you know how to make it.

Take shelter for example. The leaf hut is a wilderness shelter that requires no sleeping bag or fire to provide warmth, just your body heat. The best part is that you can construct it with your bare hands from materials like sticks and leaves; no tools or rope are required. A leaf hut protects from the cold, wind, rain and snow.  It can be made from wet or dry materials, and when properly built it can hold in most of your body heat.

There are few things that are as important as shelter, and it is always a great idea to have a low-tech emergency option, just in case you get caught somewhere with nothing but the clothes on your back.

This hut is a simple design that works well enough, if you put enough leaves or other vegetation on top of it for weather resistance, and enough material inside the hut for warmth.

Where Should You Build?
The location of a shelter is very important. A good shelter built in a bad location may have to be abandoned, leaving you with nothing but wasted calories and time. Use these guidelines to help you determine a good place to build:
•    The site should be protected from the weather, not out in an open field or on a mountain peak where it will be hit by all manner of weather.
•    Pick a place out of the wind, but avoid places where rocks, widow makers (dead limbs hanging from trees) or entire trees could collapse on the shelter.
•    Choose a well-drained place where no water will pool or run under the shelter. Build on a slight hump or rise in the ground. Don’t set up your shelter next to any body of water.
•    In North America, face the opening to the east to avoid the prevailing wind and any approaching storms.
•    Avoid areas with dangerous plants and animals. Things to look for include poison ivy and a bear’s scratching post. Don’t set up near holes in the ground. They could contain angry yellow jackets, snakes, fire ants, etc.
•    Keep your fire at least 10-12 feet downwind: Leaf shelters can catch fire easily.
Leaf Hut Materials And Construction

BEAM AND SUPPORTS
Select a long, sturdy ridgepole. It should be at least as big around as your arm and strong enough not to break under the shelter's weight. The pole should be 9 to12 feet long. Prop it up in the fork of a tree, or set it on a rock, stump or two forked prop sticks, which you have tested for strength. The height of the raised end of the beam should be about 3 feet. Make sure it cannot fall on you.

RIBS
These can be made from dead tree branches or extremely thick and rigid bark slabs. The ribs are placed at an angle along both sides of the ridgepole. Crawl inside during construction to make sure the shelter is wide enough, leaving nine inches of space on either side of your body. Place the ribs close together so that the leaves won’t fall through.

LEAVES AND VEGETATION
Next heap leaves, grass, ferns, moss, pine needles, brush or tree boughs over the framework. The vegetation can be wet. Live materials can be used, but dead materials are best. A layer of vegetation two to three feet thick covering both sides of the shelter should be enough to keep you dry inside.

BARK AND BRUSH
The rounded dome of a leaf hut resists most wind and water, but bark slabs can be used as shingles for even better weather resistance. Remember that these huts are water resistant, not water proof. A layer of brush (sticks, twigs and branches) should be thrown over the whole dome to keep the wind from stripping the debris away. Natural shelters like this are difficult to see from a distance, so mark it with a scrap of colored cloth or plastic.

BEDDING
Your leaf hut can now protect from wind, rain and snow, but you could still freeze to death inside without proper bedding. The inside of the shelter should be packed with leaves, twice as much as you packed on the frame. All corners inside should be packed with extra debris to prevent cold spots. A large pile of leaves placed outside can be pulled in as a door plug.

Check out the photo gallery for step-by-step photos .

Being a huge fan of friction fire building, I always want to see others succeed as I have over the years. No, you don’t get a fire every time you try, but I’d like to think we can learn something new every time we fail. I often hear from others that they think friction fire is impossibly difficult. I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be. Let’s look at three areas where you can improve your friction fire building skills, and make this process a lot less difficult.

The Cord
The very first thing that trips up most people is the cord. In some cases, they are completely defeated before the bow even makes its first stroke. With 550 cord being so popular in survival circles, it’s a natural choice for the bow and drill cord—but consider its design. It was engineered to be strong, and that’s a good thing. But it was also engineered to be thin and slippery for use in parachuting. It’s these characteristics that cause friction fire builders to stumble. If the cord can’t grip the drill, it cannot spin the drill. The ideal cord for your bow should be thicker, with better gripping power. Try 3/16-inch or even ¼-inch braided rope. If you don’t have that on hand, double your 550 cord and put a twist on it. Failing that, you could borrow an ancient technique from the Arctic, and wrap your cord wrap 2 or 3 times around the drill. This will double or triple your traction, and put a stop to the slipping that steals your energy.

The Notch
Most dependable friction fire methods involve a notch to collect the dust. The global favorite is a triangular shaped notch that is cleanly cut through the board, typically cut at a 45-degree angle. This works fine for most materials, but there are exceptions. Woods that produce a coarse, black, splintery dust will often make fire more dependably if you change the shape of the notch. Forget the V-shaped pie piece, and cut a trapezoidal notch—one that is squared off in the back. This will pack the loose dust more tightly together, and keep it in the notch longer, allowing it to heat up to a higher temperature.

The Drill
Need an ace up your sleeve in wet or frigid weather? Try a hollow-point drill. This is a simple modification that can resolve several issues. The main benefit of this technique is that it amplifies the downward pressure of the drill by reducing the surface area in contact with the board. In essence, it’s like you’re pushing down harder, without having to do so. This is a big help when fatigue, lack of strength, and injury are affecting your performance. Simply drill out the tip of your bow drill with the tip of your knife blade, and use the drill as you normally would.

Got any good friction-fire building tips? Let us hear them in the comments.

Unless you’ve learned to see in the dark (unlikely), then having a dependable source of light is critical. Emergency situations, campouts, and off-grid living all require some form of lighting when the sun goes down, or when you get stuck in a dark place. Zippo has come out with a waterproof rechargeable lantern, which could be a fit for all the scenarios listed above—if it holds up. Let’s find out.

My three biggest points of interest in the Zippo Rugged Lantern were the light output, the burn time on the batteries, and of course, the durability.

After a two-hour charging of the lithium-ion battery with the included 120V AC wall charger, I hit the easy-to-find red button (the only switch on the device). The first lighting option was the SOS flashing function. This was very bright and rated to blink for 20 hours. In my test, it went almost 20 hours.

After the next recharge, I hit the red button twice to activate the high intensity setting. On this maximum output, the lantern’s LED bulbs put out about 220 lumens, which lasted just under 10 hours. The lantern has two other lighting features, medium light with an 18 hour burn time and low light with a burn time of almost 60 hours.

As for durability, I was pleased to see so much stainless steel and rubber on the unit. The rubber corners provide great protection from hits and falls, and the light is built to handle drops up to five feet. It’s also extremely water resistant, and capable of floating. This feature makes it a great choice for use on watercraft or around water. I let it bob in the bathtub for an hour, and left it out in the rain for one day. The Rugged Lantern came through with flying colors.

Specs

-Built with a lithium-ion battery for recharging
-The detachable nylon webbing strap allows you to carry lantern, or hang it up
-The lantern floats in water and has an IPX7 rating
-11.75 x 5.75 x 5.75 inches
-Weighs 4 pounds, 3 ounces
-The MSRP is $89.95

Gripes

Well sure, nothing’s perfect. It’s a little on the big and heavy side. It’s made in China. And I wish it had the option to take standard batteries. I’d also rather see a switch instead of a button. I can imagine the button being hit during transport, running the battery down.

But ultimately this is a really cool light that can take a beating and keep on performing. This would be best suited as an emergency vehicle light or car camping lantern, and a car charger is available as an accessory.

Have you tried the Zippo Rugged lantern? What about a different lantern? Tell us your thoughts on it by leaving a comment.

Whether you’re concerned about Ebola or some pathogen yet unknown, you’ll need the right supplies to protect the healthy from the sick. Here’s a list of items that would be very useful, should the horseman of pestilence come riding through your town. (Last week, in Part One , we covered how to go about setting up a pandemic isolation room.)

THE GEAR

Tyvek coveralls: These are tough, tear-proof, and almost waterproof. They’re available at most hardware stores, and can be purchased with head and shoe covers.

Masks: A variety of standard medical masks, N95 masks, or even a few N100’s could be invaluable. Buy a giant box of them at one of those warehouse stores, and you’ll have plenty extra for bartering. The basic surgical mask is the cheapest and most common type of disease preventing mask. The next level up is the N95. It protects against 95% of the particulates larger than 0.3 microns in size. N99 masks are 99% effective and N100 masks are 99.7% effective. The average N100 mask is five times more expensive than the common N95 mask, though none of these can guarantee the filtering of viruses (which are smaller than 0.3 microns).

Goggles and gloves: Lab goggles or work goggles are the best choices, especially with an anti-fog coating and vents. A case of Nitrile gloves will protect your hands, without causing allergic reactions associated with latex.

Plastic sheeting and duct tape: Use these to seal off doors, windows, vents, and more. They’re also handy for covering mattresses and dead bodies.

Large trash bags: Use them for trash, wear them as aprons, or use them as barriers. There are probably hundreds more uses.

Lysol or similar disinfecting spray: A few cans of disinfecting spray could mean the difference between health and illness for your family. Use them liberally.

Hand sanitizer: Everyone should be using this—and often—during any infectious event. Get as large of a container of it as you can find.

Chlorine bleach: Bleach can be a great disinfectant for laundry and to make a sanitizing solution.

Thermometer: Get several inexpensive thermometers. Check each patient’s temperature with their own unit. Don’t share. Disposable forehead thermometers are an option, though not as easy to read.

Make Your Own Disinfecting Spray
When the Lysol runs out, you'll have to make your own disinfectant. A disinfectant, by definition, is a substance that is used to kill microorganisms. You probably already have disinfecting cleaners in your kitchen and bathroom, but in the event of an infectious outbreak, you’ll probably need something stronger. Ordinary household bleach can be diluted with water and turned into a very effective disinfectant, by following the Center for Disease Control's recommended 1:10 solution. To make this, you’ll need:
•    Household bleach
•    A clean plastic spray bottle or similar container
•    A measuring cup
•    Water

The 1:10 mixture means that for each part of bleach, you’ll add 9 parts of water. For a small volume of disinfectant, you can blend ¼ cup of bleach with 2 ¼ cups of water. For larger batches, measure the amount of water and bleach solution accordingly. Pour the bleach in first, then add the water to avoid being splashed by the bleach. Use cool or cold water, as hot water can degrade the mixture. Do not add other ingredients into the mixture. Ammonia is particularly dangerous when mixed with chlorine bleach, as it creates a gas that is potentially deadly.

What would you want to have on hand if a disease ran rampant through your community? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Drum liners are meant to line 55-gallon barrels and drums, though they can be used for many other applications, too. Hand one of these generously sized plastic wonders to a crafty survivalist, and he’ll only be limited by his imagination. If you weren’t a believer in the utility of drum liners before, here are 15 good reasons to toss a couple in your survival kit.

1) Solar Still: Use a clear plastic liner it to build a solar still for drinking water production. Cut open the bag and lay it over a hole in a damp, yet sunny, location. This hole should have a container inside to catch water, and the drum liner should be buried around the hole’s top perimeter. The final touch for this solar powered water machine is a small stone in the center of the plastic liner, which should create a cone shape out of the drum liner cover, pointing at the container in the hole. A productive solar still can kick out several cups of water per day.

2) Cordage: Twist strips of the plastic into a serviceable—albeit slippery—cord.

3) Sleeping Bag: Fill a drum liner with insulating material to use in place of a sleeping bag. It’s even waterproof and wind-proof. Use leaves, grasses, clothing, or crumpled paper to keep out the cold.

4) Transpiration Bag: Place the entire drum liner over a healthy, non-toxic tree branch in a sunny spot. Tie the mouth of the bag shut around the branch and let the water vapor from the leaves condense and run to a low point in the bag for several hours. This water is ready to drink, though it will probably only be a few ounces. Move the liner to a new tree branch each day for best results.

5) Rain Jacket/Poncho: Poke a head-size hole in the bottom of a drum liner and pull it over you to ward off  rain, sleet, snow or wind.

6) Igloo Window: Igloos and snow caves can be dark, cold, gloomy places. With a panel of clear drum liner plastic, you can build a window to let in light while keeping out the wind and cold. Optimal placement for such a window is on the south side of the shelter, as it will receive the most sunlight.

7) Rain Catch: Place the liner in a hole in the ground or other low spot to catch precipitation.

8) Food Storage: Cut the drum liner into sections sized to fit the foods you have. Bundle up these plastic sections with string, twist ties or tape. They’ll keep your food clean, dry, and separated.

9) Brewery: A common brewing container in prisons is a simple plastic bag. Scale it up at home with a big drum liner, and you’ll be able to get your whole neighborhood tanked up. Mix up your mash, beer, or wine in a food-grade bucket, set it inside the drum liner, and loosely close it with a bag tie. Carbon dioxide will seep out of the bag opening, despite the bag tie, but it will allow the completion of fermentation and prevent spoilage after fermentation.

10) Shelter Door: Regardless of the survival shelter you have made, you’ll still need a door for warmth and weather-proofing. Attach a drum liner to the top of your door frame. Then you can go in and out under it, like the flap on a dog door.

11) Bug Harvester: Wrangle some bugs for food or bait after dark with a clear drum liner and a flashlight. Suspend the liner with the opening facing upward. Turn on a flashlight and drop it into the open bag. Wait for the bugs to arrive in the dark, close the bag, and squeeze out the air to examine your haul.

12) Boot liners: Turn the drum liner into boot liners by cutting the corner sections to wrap around your socks inside your boots.

13) Fish trap: Use a few sticks and string to build a small frame to hold the liner mouth open. Attach that frame to the bag. Poke enough tiny holes in the bottom of the clear liner to allow ample water to flow through the bag. Stake the bag in place underwater in a slow-moving waterway and watch the small fish and crawdads pile up.

14) Temporary Backpack: Sling the bag over your shoulder and haul your supplies from one camp to the next like Santa.

15) Flotation Device: A drum liner full of air will keep you afloat if you find yourself adrift.

What did we forget? Let us know in the comments.

The travel, the overeating, the family fights, the leftovers, the deep fried turkey accidents... How on earth do we make it through the most gluttonous American holiday each year?

Getting There In One Piece

You want to get there safe, right? Not everybody has their mind on the road, and the kids fighting in the back seat can take your attention away from driving, too. Play the “quiet game”, or better yet, tell them funny stories about Thanksgiving when you were a kid. Maybe you can give them some harmless dirt on somebody who will be attending, and it can be your private joke with the kids all day.

The Waiting

You made it safe to your destination, but now, one of the most grueling tests begins in earnest--waiting for the feast. Since hovering near the kitchen isn’t going to make that bird cook any faster, make yourself look like a hero by getting the kids and the non-cooks outside for a game. Toss the old pigskin around in the yard, or if you have more room, maybe a nice archery contest. The cooks in the house will love you even more, for getting the kids out from under their feet, and giving them a little peace and quiet while they finish up their hard work.

The Pressure Cooker

No, I’m not talking about pressure frying your turkey to perfection. I’m talking about the stressful kind of pressure cooker. Maybe it’s before dinner, maybe it’s after, but at some point you’re going to get stressed out. If you can’t go to your “happy place” in your mind, then find something else to ease the tension. Think about the upcoming day you’re going to call in sick to work, and actually spend the day in your tree stand. Think about that new knife you’re going to buy yourself that is no one else’s business. Or get a little diabolical. For years, my niece and I would sneak one biscuit or roll before baking, fill it with red chili flakes, and sneak it back onto the pan. After it baked, not even we could tell which one it was. It was our version of “biscuit roulette”, to see who got a mouthful of fire.

The Feast

Give thanks and eat slowly is my motto. After sitting down, you can share one thing for which you are truly thankful. This is a simple tradition, and it’s a classic that really sets the right tone for the day, and it keeps everybody from shoveling the food down like they normally would. Also, I keep a one plate rule in effect for all holidays. I fill up one plate with whatever I want, I eat it slowly, and I don’t get anymore.

We here at OL Survival wish you and yours a happy and safe Thanksgiving. Please share your funny or scary Thanksgiving stories in the comments.

The adage about redundancies, “Two is one and one is none,” applies to many things beyond pens and firearms. For example, I carry several lighters in my outdoor gear, just in case one becomes damaged or lost. I carry multiple cutting edges too, to provide back-ups in the event of loss, loan, or breakage. And I’m a big believer in multiple flashlights. I like to have a light within arm’s reach at all times, and these are the five types I keep around.

Keychain Light
Small and inexpensive, a keychain light can be your best friend, providing light in and around your car, and serving as a back-up to all of your other light sources. Its illumination power will never match that of larger lights, but you don’t always need a beam that would melt the fur off a bear. A little squeeze light is often all you need, and it’s just right for checking pupil dilation (an important first aid diagnostic).

Pen Light
Pen lights have come a long way over the years. Bright beams, long battery life, and rugged construction are characteristics of many different models available today. A pen light is a perfect for pockets, purses, survival kits, or any place where a compact light would be welcome. Pen lights that clip onto a hat brim or pocket are extra handy.

Tactical Light
Nothing fits the bill in “bump in the night” situations like a high-lumen, ultra-bright tactical light. These lights can reach out in the darkness and give you the visibility you want and need. Look for lights that have multiple features like battery saving low-intensity settings and an attacker disorienting strobe setting.

Heavy Light
There’s still a place for those large, long, and clunky D-cell battery flashlights. We keep one on each bedside table in our house. They double as lights and backup weapons.

Head Lamp
My favorite for most situations, the headlamp gives us hands-free lighting, very often with a long battery life. Head lamps sit in the top of my medical bag and in the top of my vehicle tool kit, ready to stream illumination exactly where I’m looking, while keeping both hands free to work.

Tell us what kind of lights you carry, and why, in the comment.

Battening down the hatches to prepare for a storm? Don’t forget the garage. Double-wide garage doors are a weak spot in a windstorm, as high winds can cause these broad, flexible doors to bow inward and fall off their tracks. And that makes your garage, car, and home vulnerable to greater damage.

You could invest in a wind-resistant door, or reinforce the current door yourself with a kit that allows you to brace your door and still use it. But if a high-wind advisory has just been issued and you have to act fast, you can board up your garage door with wooden planks, just as you would your home’s windows. Add horizontal and vertical bracing onto each panel of the door. If you have an automatic garage-door opener, disable it to avoid accidental damage from someone trying to open the door while it’s boarded up.

This tip is from OL's Ultimate Survival Manual. When disaster strikes, time is of the essence. The Ultimate Survival Manual has 333 skills that will get you out alive whether you're facing a disaster in the wilderness or an urban catastrophe.

When you get cut out in the field, it can be hard to tell just how bad the injury is until the bleeding subsides. After applying pressure for a few minutes, and once you can actually see the nature of the wound, you’ll probably be wondering if the wound needs stitches or not? It’s a simple question, but it opens up a big gray area in field medical care.

The first advice I would give is the obvious advice, find a medical practitioner to make the call about either using stitches or simply bandaging up the wound. But if you are hell and gone from any normal medical care, or you are away from your group’s medic, you may have to make your own assessment. Just don’t “Rambo” your way through the wound’s care, trying to use fishhooks and foolishness to stitch yourself up. Make sure you have a proper suture kit and the knowledge to use it correctly.

Here are a few tips to help you make the right call if you cannot get to a doctor or medic. Stitch up your wound if any of the following apply:

The cut is more than an inch long and the edges of the cut will not fall back together.

There is heavy bleeding, especially if you are having trouble getting it to stop.

The cut gapes widely and you can see muscle, bone, or a joint.

It’s a head wound—they often require stitches because the scalp bleeds easily.

Looking for some pre-emergency suture practice? Try cutting a banana peel or fresh pig’s feet, then stitching the cut back together. A very intelligent heart surgeon friend of mine recommends these two methods of training, and the use of the same suture materials you currently stock in your medical kit. And don’t stitch too deep! The beginner is always stitching like they’re trying to mend a sail. Stitch through the first layer of skin, let the curved needle come out in the second layer, but don’t dig down deeper into that third, nerve-rich layer of skin. The additional pain will let you know you went too deep with the needle.

Ever needed to stitch up yourself or somebody else? We hope you’ll share your story in the comments.

Wild animals sure can be a problem when they get into your food on a camping trip. Even though you cleaned up your food scraps and trash, the aroma of some human-grade delicacies can be more temptation than most beasts can resist. So how do you keep them from getting into your food? You can do it with a combination of bear bagging and a metal container.

Why both? Because a squirrel can run down a bear bag line and chew right through your food bag. It’s happened to me, and probably to more than a few of you.

A good bear bagging technique starts with a proper amount of line—say 50 to 100 feet, depending on the tree heights you are dealing with. Standard 550 cord is a nice choice for this job. You’ll also need a stuff sack or bag to hang from the end of the cord. Waterproof material is always a great choice, but run with whatever you have handy. Next you need a metal can or box that will fit inside the food bag. A decent sized cook pot with a tight fitting lid will work well enough, and be useful in camp too.

Now that we have the pieces, let’s put them together. Pick a tree branch that is as thick as your arm, perpendicular to the tree trunk and about 20 to 30 feet off the ground. Tie a rock to the end of your 550 cord, and lob that sucker up over the branch. Have a convenient excuse handy in case your throw is terrible and your friends are watching (sun was in my eyes, etc.).

Once you’ve got the line over the branch, and the rock brought the line back down to the ground, you can untie the rock and get your food container ready. Place all food, food trash and other edibles like toothpaste in the metal can or box. Then cinch up the sack and hoist it into the air. Tie the line off to a nearby sapling or stake in the ground. The bag should hang in the air at least 5 feet away from the tree trunk, about 5 feet down from the tree branch, and at least 15 feet off the ground.

The final considerations include the prevailing wind (you want the food downwind of camp 50 to 100 yards); and making ample prayers for protection against animal marauders. Let’s also hope they don’t get smart enough to chew the line in two.

Got a funny or tragic bear bagging story? Please share it in the comments!

In this exclusive clip from Discovery Channel’s brand new season of Man, Woman, Wild, survivalist Ruth England gets the bitter taste, also known as tannins, out of the acorns to make them edible.

Ruth has a heap of acorns, but knowing how bitter they can be, she crushes them up with a rock the way local natives traditionally did. She sticks the crushed acorns in her sock and puts the sock in a nearby stream overnight to reduce the tart tannins.

In the fifth episode that airs this Friday at 9 p.m. on Discovery, Mykel and Ruth are stuck in the mountainous desert of California after their donkey runs off. With nothing but a canteen of whiskey, the pair is forced to survive the harsh environment.

Each Thursday during this season of Man, Woman, Wild, wordpress.com is running exclusive survival tips. Make sure to jot down your thoughts in the comments section. In a few weeks they’ll answer reader questions.

Wherever your travels might take you around the globe, remember that many common wild edible plants have also gone global over the past few centuries. Some plants were carried to new continents because of their valuable edible and medicinal properties. Other plants have inadvertently tagged along with travelers and established themselves as invasive weeds in new lands. However the plants have spread, familiar edibles can now be found far from their places of origin.

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
Native to Europe, this lawn weed provides edible flowers, leaves, and roots. Dandelion is also a great tonic to improve the circulatory system and improve liver function.

Burdock (Arctium minus)
Native to Asia, burdock has large edible roots and leaves. This plant is another great stimulant for a healthy liver.

Plantain (Plantago major)
Native to Europe, this plant has edible leaves that are also medicinal. Apply crushed plantain leaves to bee stings and other venomous insect and arthropod bites for fast relief. (Note that the plantain mentioned here is not the banana relative of the same name, but a low-growing common weed.)

Chicory (Cichorium intybus)
Native to Europe, the leaves can be used in a salad and the roots for coffee. Chicory also contains high levels of a sugar that nourishes digestive organisms, which can in turn build a stronger immune system.

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Native to Europe, yarrow leaves make a tea and several medicines. I’ve often called it “nature’s Neosporin.” Yarrow crushed and applied as a poultice can stop bleeding and reduce the risk of infection.

Spearmint (Mentha spicata)
Native to Europe, these mint leaves are edible and medicinal. Use mint for upset stomach and nausea. Pregnant women should avoid strong mint foods and drinks, though, as they may be harmful to the baby.

Purslane (Portulaca oleracea)
Native to Asia, purslane makes a tasty salad green and pickle. This herb is often cultivated in India, and the fleshy stems and leaves are juicy and tasty.

Catnip (Nepeta cataria)
Native to Eurasia, this strong mint can be used for tea and medicine. This is the same catnip that can drive a feline through the roof, but when used as a tea for humans, it often has a sedative effect.

What would you write to your loved ones if you thought you were about to die? A Wisconsin couple spent some time thinking that over before they were rescued last Sunday night.

According to the Billings Gazette , Mark and Kristine Wathke left Yellowstone Park on their way to Miles City, Mont., on Oct. 28. The Google Maps app on their phone instructed them to take Highway 212 over Beartooth Pass, but what it failed to tell them was that the road had been closed since September. At 10,000 feet in the mountain pass, their Kia Forte became stuck in snow around 5 p.m. Out of cell phone range, and mired in near-blizzard conditions, calling for help wasn’t an option, and neither was walking. So the Wathke’s spent the next few days living off some groceries in the car, huddled in piles of their clothing.

By Sunday night, Nov. 3, they were down to eight pieces of bread and half a tank of gas. They didn’t believe they would be found alive, and began to write notes and make a recording to say farewell to their loved ones.

The mercury dropped to 7 degrees below zero that night, the coldest it had been all week. “We were like, ‘Alright, we’re going to die,’” Kristine said. “And then Monday morning dawned a couple hours later, and Mark thought he heard an engine.

“Mark...was like, ‘Kris! Kris! Kris!,’” she said. “We saw him coming up the road and I was just crying.”

Local rancher Troy Barnett had decided to check the highway after hearing about the missing couple who had left Yellowstone earlier in the week. He quickly found the car and the couple, rescuing them on his snowmobile. This story has a happy ending, but only by a perilously thin margin. The Wathkes’ story is also a great cautionary tale. Here are a few lessons I was able to glean from it:
- If the weather or other conditions get too rough for your vehicle, turn back.
- Make sure someone is aware of your plans and routes, so you won’t be missing for a whole week.
- Never fully trust directions from a phone.
- Have cold-weather sleeping bags in your vehicle in winter.
- Don’t scale snowy mountain passes in a Kia.

Can you think of any others? Let’s hear them in the comments.

If there ever was a time to survive in the wild off of nuts, berries and twigs – autumn is it.

As animals begin their annual feast to fatten up for winter, nature puts out a buffet of high calorie, nutrient dense wild foods that both man and beast can enjoy.

Tree nuts represent the most food value of the annual fall harvest. You can crack open and enjoy many different types of tree nuts like Black Walnut, Butternut Walnut, Pecan, Hickory, Beechnut, Hazelnut and even Pine nuts. The best part is that you can eat each of these nuts as is – with no processing – other than to get them out of the shell. Just get them before the squirrels. Those rascals really like the Beechnuts and sweeter Hickories, trying to devour those nuts before any foods.

The ubiquitous Acorn requires a little more work than just using a nut cracker, but Acorns were a staple crop to many of our ancestors, and too abundant of a food crop to ignore today. Just make sure you know an Acorn from a Buckeye, as Buckeyes (and the very similar looking Horse Chestnut) are poisonous for people to eat.

To prepare palatable acorns, crack them out of their shell and break any large pieces into “pea-sized” chunks. Then soak these acorn chunks in cold, warm or even hot water to remove the bitter and irritating tannic acid. Note that some books instruct us to boil acorns, but this locks in some of the bitterness. You’ll have the best results with warm water.

Soak the acorns for a few hours. If the water was safe to drink, taste a piece of acorn to see if it is still bitter.  If you don’t like it, dump off the water (which should be brown like tea), add fresh warm water and soak the acorn pieces again for a few hours.  Repeat this a time or two, or three depending on the acorn’s bitterness.  Once they taste “OK” (read here: bland), let them dry out for a few hours.  Then you can run them through a grain grinder, flour mill, or the classic mortar and pestle to make acorn flour.  Add this flour to existing recipes; or try your hand at making acorn porridge or hard, brown biscuits.
How do you tell if you picked the right nuts and berries to eat?

•    Have positive identification with a good book, like Peterson’s Field Guide to Wild Edible Plants.

•    Know the poisonous nuts like Buckeye and Horse Chestnut, and the bad berries like Pokeweed.

•    Don’t collect near roads, dumps, power lines, train tracks or other contaminated areas.

•    Eat only small amounts of plants that are new to you, after you have positively identified it.

•    Just try one at a time so you can tell which plant you are allergic to, in case of allergic reaction.

•    And last but not least - if you are in doubt, DON’T eat it!

And remember that just because an animal ate it, doesn’t mean a person can safely eat it.

Let us know your favorite fall wild edible plants in the comments.

The roar of the Brood 2 cicadas is starting to die down in our woods here in Virginia. But it’s not too late to grab a few late bloomers and whip up a nutty tasting snack. Yuck, you say? Consider this: Most Americans eat a pound or two of insects each year in processed foods like bread and ketchup. There are even regulations stating the maximum amount of bug bits that a food can contain and still be fit for human consumption. These insect parts are usually abundant in strawberry jams, peanut butter, spaghetti sauce, applesauce, and similar pasty products. The most ironic part of the “Food Defect Action Levels” defined by the FDA is that insect parts actually make some junk foods more nutritious.

Now that you know you’re already a bug eater, maybe it’s not such a stretch to try a bug that many people prepare as a delicacy. The newly hatched cicadas (called tenerals) are considered the best for eating because their shells are not that hard.

Your prep work for cicadas is easy. Just harvest the slow-witted and slowly moving things in the early morning. They should be blanched (boiled for 4 to 5 minutes) soon after collection and before you eat them. Not only will this make their insides solidify a bit, but it will kill any bacteria and parasites. Remove the wings and legs. Now, at this point, you can either freeze them for later use, or cook with them immediately. When you’re ready to take the plunge in the kitchen, here are 7 options to try.

The Old Fashioned: This simple snack involves skewering and roasting cicadas on a slender greenwood stick over a fire for five minutes or on a metal skewer in the oven for 7 minutes at 400F. Brush on a little oil or butter toward the end so that any salt or spices you add will stick to the cicadas.

Cicada Pizza: Scatter some blanched cicadas across your favorite pie halfway through the normal pizza baking time, and the bugs will crisp up without drying out.

Cicada Stir-Fry: Fire up the wok (or a skillet) and stir fry some of your favorite veggies with a couple handfuls of blanched cicadas.

El Chirpo Taco: Fry the blanched cicadas in a bit of oil and mix in your favorite taco seasonings. If your dining companions are squeamish, use crunchy corn shells instead of soft flour tortillas to camouflage the crunch of the bugs.

Critter Croutons: Dress a bowl full of blanched cicadas with Italian salad dressing, drain them and lay them on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350F for 7 to 8 minutes or until crisp. Cool them and top your favorite salad with these creative croutons.

Chocolate Chirp Cookies: Mix up and form a batch of normal cookies, and press one blanched cicada into the top of each raw cookie. Then bake them according to your cookie mix directions.

Maryland Cicada Boil: Bring a gallon of water to boil, add some crab boil mix, potatoes, onion, smoked sausage, and pieces of corn on the cob. Boil for 30 minutes and add a pound or two of blanched cicadas. Boil 5 more minutes, drain, and sprinkle with Old Bay Seasoning.

Ever eaten any cicadas? Take a second to tell us about your meal in the comments.

Move over, Sly Stallone, and take your aging action-hero friends with you. Gene Penaflor, 72 years of age, is now the toughest old guy in America. Penaflor, a San Francisco native, survived dangerous weather conditions for 18 days after a disorienting injury and several days of thick fog kept him stranded in a mountainous section of northern California’s Mendocino National Forest.

According to the Ukiah Daily Journal , Penaflor went missing on Sept. 24 during a hunting trip with a friend. The two hunters separated, planning to meet up for lunch and to resume their hunt. But Penaflor didn’t make it to the rendezvous. He had fallen and been knocked unconsciousness much farther from basecamp than he normally traveled.

Penaflor woke later that afternoon only to find a cut on his chin and a blanket of fog around him. Unsure which way to go, he was able to kindle a fire and build a shelter from leaves near a water source. It was there that he spent his first night.

But the fog didn’t lift for several days. Despite his best efforts to create a smoke signal, search parties, scent-tracking dogs, equipment from 15 neighboring agencies, and even a search-and-rescue helicopter could not find him. Fearing the worst and fighting bad weather at the 7,000-foot elevation, the authorities called off the search on September 28.

Over the next two weeks, Penaflor subsisted on squirrels, reptiles, berries, and algae. "He knew at some point he was going to die, but he figured he'd last as long as he could," said Mendocino County Sheriff's Office detective Andrew Porter.

Penaflor continued to do everything in his power to survive, conserving energy in every action. He hunted and cooked wild game. He kept embers alive during the day to be rekindled at night. He conserved his ammunition and stayed hydrated. Then, last Saturday, he spotted "an army of hunters" and signaled them with smoke from his fire. These startled hunters made a stretcher for Penaflor from tree limbs and clothing, and carried him to back to their vehicles.

Detective Porter said that Penaflor was "laughing and joking around" and his mood was "very upbeat."

This man’s wilderness smarts, his attitude, and his unshakeable mental toughness should be a shining example to all outdoor enthusiasts. Penaflor clearly illustrates that despite your age, or the conditions, doing the right things will pay off in a survival situation.

Penaflor was treated at a local medical center, and he is now doing well and reunited with his family.

There’s a good chance that if you have a first aid kit – there’s at least one triangle bandage in there. And while most of us know those large fabric bandages as an arm sling, that one task isn’t the only thing this cool cloth can do. Here are ten other ways you can use a triangle bandage in a survival scenario or medical emergency.

1. Burn it! Yes, I went with the flashy and destructive option first. Older triangle bandages often are made from cotton, which burns quite well on its own as an emergency fire starter. Newer ones are often made of synthetic material, with is still flammable. Whichever you have, introduce a little oil, grease, lip balm or wax to the burning cloth and the bandage will act as a wick, burning even better and much longer.

2. Filter water Though the cloth won’t screen out any pathogens, pouring water through the cotton bandage will clean up the appearance of the water and remove some of the sediment. This rough filtering job is important if you have silt or debris laden water – and need to use chemical disinfection or run the water through a filter. Silt and debris can absorb disinfection chemicals (reducing their effectiveness) and clog water filters.

3. Make a hat Burning rays of the sun got you down? Use the bandage as an improvised head covering. Leave a piece hanging down in the back to keep your neck covered too.

4. Breathe easier In dusty or smoky situations, the triangle bandage can cover your face to provide a rudimentary dust and particle mask. Dampening the cloth can make it work even better, as the particles of dust and smoke will stick better in damp fibers than dry ones.

5. Eye protection Depending on the weave of the cloth, you may be able to tie a strip over your eyes to protect them from sun and blowing dust, sand or debris. If the threads of cloth are too tight to see through, then cut two slits in the cloth strip for “eye holes."

6. Cordage If you can tie up an injured arm with a triangle bandage, you can tie up other things too. The entire bandage can be twisted up for use as one, short, fat cord. The bandage can also be cut into strips or even woven into 2 ply rope, if you know how to make your own string.

7. A container Tie the opposing corners of the dressing together to make a bag. Or fold the triangle bandage and sew it to create a pouch. You could even use a strip of the bandage as a strap to turn that pouch into a “possibles” bag.

8. Warmth Tie it around your neck for a gaiter, tie it around your ears for ear muffs, tie it around your face as a mask to stave off frostbite.

9. Cold compress To treat fevers, sprains and even venomous bites, wet the cloth bandage or fold it up with snow or ice inside for a cold compress.

10. Tourniquet If your med kit is lacking this item, then tie the bandage around the dangerously bleeding extremity, slide a strong stick under the bandage and twist. Remember that tourniquets can save lives, but they usually cost you the limb. Use only for severe and unstoppable blood loss.

Leave us a comment to tell us what survival and medical chores you can accomplish with a triangle bandage

Photo courtesy of James Gunn via Flickr

Even a small earthquake, say a 5 on the Richter scale, is strong enough to damage homes and buildings and harm or kill those inside. We’ve all heard to do things like shelter in a doorway or hide under a desk, but will these practices really save your life? Many search-and-rescue professionals say no. Here are five things not to do if the ground starts moving underneath your feet.

1. Don’t hide under the bed
The small space beneath a bed will be made even smaller if the ceiling collapses on it. If you are in bed during the night and an earthquake occurs, simply roll off the bed. The bed will hold up some of the debris, creating a safe void around the perimeter. Never get under it, and teach your children never to crawl under the bed in an earthquake.

2. Steer clear of the stairs
The average stairway is a deathtrap in an earthquake if the building collapses on top of you. Don’t be on the stairs, or under them, in a quake.

3. Skip the doorway: We’ve all been told at some point to get under a doorway in an earthquake. But what really happens in that spot? The idea behind this “shelter” spot is to take advantage of the extra studs in the wall around the doorway, but the reality is quite different. If you are standing under a doorway and the doorjamb falls forward or backward, you will still get crushed by the ceiling. And if the doorjamb falls horizontally, people have actually been cut in half by a failed and collapsed doorway. Don’t hang out under doorways!

4. Flee from windows
Windows might seem like a way to escape danger, especially since you can see through it, but just imagine the damage big broken pieces of glass will inflict on the human body. Glass moves and breaks in strange patterns during earthquakes, and these broken pieces can be deadly if they fall on you—or you fall onto them.

5. Don’t get under a desk
Furniture can become a lethal deadfall trap when the weight of debris is added on top of it. Under the desk may seem like a logical hiding place from a quake, but it’s safer to crouch beside the desk. Even if it is crushed, the ceiling will still be supported by the desk somewhat. This creates a small triangular space next to the desk that could provide enough room to survive.

Did you make it through a big earthquake? What did you do for shelter? Tell us in the comments.