As a whole, most Civilian Operators devote a majority of their time (and budgets) to self-defense training. They see the world around them going to shit at an accelerated pace and want to be ready should the wolf come knocking. And while this is admirable and NEVER should be discouraged in any way, as long as the training is practical and realistic, I think we as the CO Community need to remind ourselves that OTHER skills, like the primitive skills of fire-making, shelter construction, primitive trapping and water purification methods in the field, just to name a few, need to be DRILLED on frequently.
Now I want you to notice that I did not use the word “survival skills” but “primitive skills”, why? Because very often folks THINK they are practicing survival skills but in actuality they are still relying heavily on modern conveniences and technology. For example, for fire starting they might practice igniting a tinder bundle with a Metal Match and Knife versus a Bow Drill, which depends on nothing but gathering materials you can find in the woods and a bit of hard work and patience.
How about water purification? Now for the prepper who is on the ball, perhaps after reading 52 Prepper Projects you built yourself a ceramic water drip filter for the house or fallback shelter and also purchased several Frontier Emergency Water Filter Straws for yourself and the tribe in the event you have to BUG. But what about if we don’t have any of these nifty items? In that case it would be practical and SMART to learn how to build a Makeshift Water Filter out of a 2L Coke Bottle or maybe how to use Transpiration Bags to Both collect and filter water at the same time. There is also the Solar Still, which if made correctly, can produce up to a quart of water per day, or by building 4 stills can yield up to a gallon of water per day.
How about food? Yeah you have packed those MRE’s and cases of SPAM, but what about when that runs out? For those of you that have never hunted animals for food or fished, I suggest you learn quickly. Besides hunting with a bow and arrow or firearm, there is also primitive trapping. Not to re-hash some common knowledge, but the LESS energy you can expend in getting food, the better, which is why traps make the most sense.
Shelter is often one of those things that preppers take for granted IMO. Regardless of the lengths we have gone to have a safe and self-sufficient home, having the ability to build a temporary or semi-permanent shelter is MANDATORY. Regardless if you just need a temporary place to get out of the elements like these SHELTERS you can build in 20 minutes or a more SEMI-PERMANENT STRUCTURE like this one, having the ABILITY and KNOW-HOW can be a life saver.
Lastly, the best way to practice all this stuff is to get away from the modern world for a while and take off to the woods. What should you take with you? Well, if you want to go the easy route, take your BOB and a firearm, but if you really want to drill on PRIMITIVE SKILLS that DO NOT rely on anything but human ingenuity and some hard work, just bring yourself (and a knife of course). If you have a wife and kids, I strongly urge for them to tag along as well. A family that learns to cooperate and work together NOW with minimal supplies has a much better chance for survival.
Stay Primal, Stay Alert and Stay Dangerous!
Reblogged this on Brittius.
Bow drills are not only a big pain in the ass-they are one of the most inefficient ways of starting a fire there is-think of how much energy you expend using a bow drill versus using flint and steel.
There’s a few other rocks besides flint that will create sparks like chert,quartz,agate,and obsidian.
I think there’s way too much reliance on things like ferro rods,blast match,magnesium blocks,pre-made tinder,and use of fuel tabs for Esbit type stoves as fire starters.
For catching food using the least amount of energy I would use are snares along small game trails, trotlines/float lines/bank lines and fish traps.
All you need to make a fish trap are a bunch of sticks and/or rocks.
You could always make a spear and kill a feral hog for dinner-or get sliced open by it’s tusks…
Those are reasonably primitive methods that do not rely too much on modern technology or materials.