Survival

REMAIN ALIVE OR CONTINUE TO EXIST

humanity started here

... now we are here

Can you imagine life without technology? For the majority of poeple in this world, technology is everything. More than that everything around us we look at is somehow related to the technology or due to the wonders of technology. The way we talk, work, travel, and do things has been changed. We are a completly dependent on it, but what if it all disappeared? Could you survive, without any help or guidience?

We humans are remarkable. By any objective biological measure, we are probably the most remarkable species of all. What other creature communicates so extensively, creates such vast communities to live in, carves the planets landscapes to such an extent? What other species has come to dominate the planet - and managed to master survival in virtually every habitat? From searing deserts to frozen poles and steamy jungles, we have made a life for ourselves in every corner of the world. Our current age could be called the age of explosive human expansion, which in turn is spawning environmental and ecological problems - from habitat loss to the extinction of species - not just mention climate change. But if we regard our species as just a plague upon the planet - a species running amok - were danger of overlooking a biological truth: we humans have impressive skills and abilities. Indeed, we are without doubt the most adaptable and most powerful species that evolution has ever created.

Given the speed and effciency with which weve spread our wings and colonized the planet, its understandable that were an arrogant species - constantly nudging ourselves forward, sweeping competitors aside, assuming were the boss. We still excude an air of control and hubris - we have mastered nature. The world is our oyster. Or is it? Have we reached a crossroads on this apparent path towards human domination of the planet? I suspect we have. Brian Leith, Executive Producer, Human Planet

The question of why we have spread so sucessfully and so rapidly around the world is probably unanswerable. Within the deepest questions of biology - caught somewhere between selfish genes and armwarming philosophy. The meaning of life always seems to be something life go forth and multiply, and this inner drive seems to run through the core of all living things. In that sense we are, like all living things, unremarkable - simply fulfilling our deepest genetic imperatives like any other creature. Think for a moment about the nature of those obstacles, the difficulties weve had to overcome to survive and thrive in the most demanding parts of our world. Take deserts. Like all living things humans are about 70% water. How on Earth have we managed to survive in the one place where water is virtually absent? Presumably we were driven to these desperate places by wars or famines, or drastic changes in our home environment ... But how did we manage to carve a life there? How did we find water in the desert, let alone all the precious resources, such as food and shelter, that we need? Rainforests may appear to be biologically rich - full of plants and animals to sustain us, as well as constant warmth and generous rainfall. Surely life here must be easy? But in fact the oppersite is truth. Life in the jungle is tough - and to prosper requires great skill and knowledge. How on Earth can you make a living in the Arctic, where all water is locked away as ice, where you cant grow any plants, where prey animals are almost impossible to track down and where temperatures plummet to a life-destroying deep freeze? We can see from the event today that the human species

have made a living in virtually every habitat to be found in the world - some of them extremely brutal. How do we find food on a desolate mountaintop? How do we create shelter and clothing in freezing Artcic? Where can we find refuge from storms, fires and floods? These are stories about surprising connections, remarkable interactions and fasinating relationships between our own species and all other aspects of nature in its widest sense. We have specially created and designed our new habitat - towns and cities - we have tried to invite nature in on our terms: neat and orderly, clipped and domesticated. We have attempted to create a world around us where we bring in the helpful bits we do want and leave out the unrult bits we dont. A fine intention. Except, it hasnt worked out that way. One thing is for sure is that if we get the urban habitat wrong now, we stand to loose everything. Its in our greatest aggregations that we face to worst possible outcomes, whether its from earthquake, flood, disease or famine. This is your chance to change your outlook on humanity, you can learn how to survive in 2013. We can learn to become hunter gatherers.

The Clothing and Personal Kit

Good clothing is the most important part of equipment you could own. No single garment will do all jobs - you need a versatile system of layers that can be arranged to suit all weathers. Your clothing will need to cope with hot dry conditions as well as cold, wind and wet. Surviving all conditions means tough natural fibres such as wool and cotton will be more useful than the synthetic alternatives. You will need a good waterproof jacket preferably a breathable fabric such as Goretex which reduces condensation. It needs to be large enough to be worn over all of your other layers, and reach just above your knee. British Army lightweight trousers are cheap and corfortable, they quick dry. Your most important piece of clothing is your shell (outermost) jacket. It needs to be windproof, light and comfortable. Insulative layers are needed from pile jorseys, conbined with a wolly hat, mits for winter and as many pairs of wollen and waterproof Goretex socks as possible. Footwear for all terrain needs to give good ankle support and grip in the sole. In choosing you kit you should balance strength and versatility with compactness and lightness of weight. There is plenty of scope for choice. You should only carry what you need, and not an item more. Over time asses what you have been carrying and discard things that you dont use - except of course emergency equipment (whistle and a first aid kit). If you do get into trouble the international recognised emergency signal is six whistle blasts or torch flashes in quick succession, repeated after a minute interval. The reply is three blasts or flashes repeated after a minute interval.

You Will Need:

Sleeping-bag with full length zip Thermarest Sleeping Mat A Large Rucksack Lightweight wash kit Silva Compass Ordanance Survey Map Petzl Mega head-torch with halogen bulb

Good Advice
1. Use insulative layers to trap in body warmth can be removed during hot weather.

Coleman 442 Peak stove and lead-free fuel Large Survival Bag Loud Strong Whistle Waterproof Matched or Magnesium Fire-Starter Small First Aid Kit Knife, Fork and Spoon Tin-Opener Coleman Outfitter Stainless Cook Set Emergency ration that does not need rehydrating Waterbottle 2.2L

2. Wool or Pile mittens should be attached to each other, running though each sleeve.

3. The Snowsled Jacket must be used in hot weather as a

shirt, and in cold weather as a shell over in insultaive layers.

4. Wear Goretex socks over ordinary socks to keep them dry.

Gaiters are used to protect the lower trouser from moisture and thorns if necessary.

The Pursuit of Food

If there is one thing that sets us apart from our earliest ancestors it is the way we find our food. For them life and food gathering were totally intergrated. To live fully dependent upon natures bounty is an eye-opening experience; you cannot let any opportunity of food pass you by. For your long term well-being you need to gather wiselt to avoid starving season. Spring is a interesting time for the keen gatherer. The first break of the famine are the green tops of the edible root plants, this leads us to the heart of Spring and the arrival of the early salad plants. By the end of spring there is a plethora of naive young animals to fall easy prey, this is the reality of nature. The possibilities of finding food in the wild are much greater than most people imagine. The risk of eating something poisonous is not a serious threat if you take care to learn your recognition. Although foods are freely available, they are not free. People have a responsability to give back their care and assistance. Gather plants in a sustainable way; for instance collect leaves in ones and twos and from many wide scattered plants, so as not to impair plant growth. If it is possible plant seeds for every plant you dig up. Summer is naturally thought as a easy season to live, fruits and seeds are plentiful. Of course, summer has its own problems - thorns, stinging plants and biting insects, all small inconveniences. Summer is the most forgiving of all the seasons. Our rivers today are dirty, poisoned and barren, not a patch on what they once where. We no longer celebrate the return of the Salmon. Fishing remains one of the few ancient pastimes still carried out both for food and for sport. Traditional methods of fishing, using just their eyes to watch and improvised hooks from thorns; these methods are the foundations of fishing itself. Having caught a fish, you will need to kill it with a firm blow to the back or its head. It is easiest to fillet a fish 6-12 hours after it has been killed. If you have caught plenty of meat and fish it can be stored for use in later season. There are two principal techniques: sun drying or smoke drying. Once meat is dried the surface is no longer exposed to bacteria and fly larvae. Dried meats can be stored well over long periods of time. Rich in vitamins and minerals, cooked greens are a healthy-giving addition to any summer feast. As always, pick fresh young tender leaves just as you would at a market and wash them before cooking. Over cooking destroys most of the goodness of the plants. By far the best way of cooking is steaming. Succulent fruits of the Summer can be nibbled straight from the bush. Cooking is a skill of great importance , because food and moral are closely linked. Outdoor cooking books can be easily found in every hiking store. Autumn is the time for preparation and gatherering. It is the last chance to perserve some medicinal herbs . It is in the winter months when we must hunt animals.

The Golden Rule of Food Gatherering: Only eat those things you have positively identified as edible. Avoide field testing, it is not worth the risk.

Fire
A fire is essential. It dries our cloths, provides warmth, cooks our food purifies our water, provides light and drives away biting insects. Being able to start and look after a fire is a skill we must master, and it is not easy. Its easy to fail, even with the right equipment. It is a skill you must practice untill you can make fire in any situation and circumstance. When starting and managing a fire, you mush search out the driest kindling and fuel available. This should preferably be dead wood snagged in the branches above ground. When lighting your fire remember, build upwards or a blaze flame. Ighting a fire is the start. Your fire is a versatile tool which you can adapt and change to suit a wide variety of situations. There are three vital ingredients to fire: fuel, oxygen and heat. For efficient burning there must be an unrestricting supply of each. The average wood fire consists of fairly random lattice of fuel. If the fuel is damp or too large to catch fire, the fire will smoulder or go out. Tiders are in many ways the most important part of any fire, for they create the initial flame and enable it to grow. A large-sized tinder bundle, soccer-ball size, will start even damp kindling burning. A wide knowledge of what can be used for tider and how to use it is a essential of successful fire-lighting. If you are wise you will fill your pockets with good tinder whenever you come across it.

What you need to build a fire: Extra - fine kindling Very dry twigs 30cm long and matchstick-thin, they should catch light from a match alone.

Fine Kindling Thicker than a match but thinner than a pencil. Brittle dry and gather plenty.

Kindling Battle-dry wood of pencil thickness. This really gets the fire cracking, gather plenty. Broken into pieces a hand-width long, this kindling is the best fuel to use when you need to control the heat of a cooking fire.

Small Fuel Thicker than a pencil but not thicker than your thumb, this fuel is the beginnings of the fire proper.

Main Fuel Sticks thicker than your thumb which you can break over your knee. For most trail fires this is the largest fuel needed. Anything larger counts as large fuel and is more appropiate to fixed camp use or special fire lays.

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Building a Fire
1. Choose a suitable fire site and gather all of the necessary
fuel. Use small fuel to build a platform about 30cm sq. This will protect your tinder from the damp ground and burn quickly at the fires heart.

2. Place a grapefruit sized bundle of teased fibrous tinder on

the platform.

3. Take two full handfuls of extra-fine kindling and position

them against the tinder with their tops overlapping directly above the tinder.

4. Light the tider. As the flames rise, position the kindling in

the flames from the timber bundle. When flames burn through above the kindling, add the next size up, and continue this until you are burning main fuel.

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Shelter
A well constructed shelter soon becomes a sanctuary and a home. With well insultated walls that trap your warmth and deaden the sound of the wind, natural shelters can often offer a better nights sleep than the most sophisticated hike tent. Knowing how to construct a shelter is a fundamental skill of outdoors living. If you can put a roof over your head you are one step closer being at home in the wilderness and towards the confidence that comes with it. The spring weather can present almost any combination of conditions: from the winds of March, to the warmer weather and rains of late April. Versatility, always an essential quality, is especially necessary for locating a shelter. It may be that you find some natural protection from the elements - perhaps a cliff overhang or a large sheltering tree. You will need to employ some common sense to determine the suitability of such a place. Is the ground wet? Will the wind blow through all night? More often that not, you will be building a shelter from scratch. This allows you to tailor construction precisely to your needs. Start my searching for a good location, a place that will provide all the materials you need as close to hand as possible. The ground should be as flat as you can find and it should be well drained. Avoid building your shelter underneath overhanging dead branches. If you are likely to be staying in your location for several days, it would be wise to be reasonably close to a reliable source of water. There are many different types of shelter, but for sped and efficiency few can equal these simple bivouacs. In a good location they can be built without
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a knife . They are small and well insulated to help retain your bodyheat, and they will keep out even the worst weather. If they are well built they are stronger and cosier refuge than most modern hike tent. They bloke out the sound of the noisiest gale, letting you sleep. Remeber to keep the Bivouacs size as small as comfort will allow. Check your measure inside the shelter as you build it. Given a good location and bad lighting you can build a solo kennel in about two hours. Two people can build the two-person kennel in half that time.

What you will need: One or two long, straight and strong ridgepoles, plus one or two short major supports. Many slim pieces of dead wood for the walls. Dead leaves, humus or turfs for the thatching, plus light brushwood.

One-person Kennel
1. Construct a strong tripod framework. Forked supports for
the two short legs will save a need for cordage.

2. Measure up the height and the width of the shelter with

your body. It should provide just enough room to turn over with all of your bedding.

3. Using the dead branches, wall the sides of the shelter.

These rafters should be as close together as possible, and the ends must not protrude more than 4cm above the ridge-pole.

4. Thatch with an arms depth of leaves or humus. Anchor

down with a covering of light brushwood. Dont leave rafters protruding from the top of the shelter or rain will run inside.

Two-person Kennel
1. Construct a tripod from two long poles and one short pole.
Again try to avoid the need for cordage

2. Wall as for the one-person kennel. Close off some of the

gap between ridge-poles with cross-battens. Thatch and finish as before.

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Water
We cannot live without water. The oceans, rivers, springs and brooks all speak the same language: the language of life. Native peoples the world over reverve water. Aboriginal children are taught to memorise the location of water holes in their tribal territory. Water is an elemental force, a neutral but powerful influence which can bring both life and destruction. Like all elemental forces it must be understood, and we must move in tune with it. As anyone will tell you who has walked through arid desert lands will tell you, water can dictate the course of your journey. Within our bodies water is responsible for the host of vital functions: removing waste, supplying energy, the regulation of body temperature and mental acuteness. During spring there is usually no shortage of water, so you need concentrate on how to make it pure. While there as still some springs of pure water, it is best to suspect all water has been contaminated. Stagnant, smelly puddles are unimpressive sources of water, yet they can be made potable when necessary. On the other hand, clear, cool, fast-running, oxygen-rich streams that are apparently safe to drink may be host to potent bugs. A host of modern water-purifying systems are available for the traveller to remote places. The important thing to remember is to follow the instructions for use precisely. There are basically three operations involved in gathering water safely. First, always search for the purest available water source, the freshest and healthiest looking water with no obvious traces of contamination. Generally, the further water travels from its source the greater the level of contamination. Having collected the purest water you can
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find, you need to remove any suspended matter by straining the water through a bandanna, some other item of tightly woven clothing or a millbank bag (see opposite page). When it has been done you must boil the water thoroughly. The majority of waterborne problems are destroyed below boiling point; but for your safety you should always boil water furiously for at least five minutes. You should increase the boiling time at higher altitudes, where water boils at a lower temperature. Boiling water can become a unpleasent chore, which in turn can lead to a sloppy camp routine and resulting upset stomachs. A disciplined routine with your water supply is the sign of good outdoors skills. Always take advantage of reliable sources of water. You should remember to boil sufficient water for the following day; bottle it and set it in the open to cool. This is one of those occasions when a large billycan with a lid is really valuable. To cross an arid stretch of wild country, you need to be cunning and resourceful with regard to water. It is amazing how many tragic cases of fatal dehydration are attributable to wrong decision-making in this respect. The basic principle is to avoid moving about when the sun is at its hottest. Some important rules are: is you have not water, dont eat; if you have some water in your bottle, drink it. Keep as much as your skin covered as possible to reduce loss of moisture. Sucking on stones helps. To help you search for water there are a few indicator to look out for. Grain-eating birds need water and are never far away from it. But the most important sign are water-loving plants, such as hearts tongue fern , horsetails and mosses.

Good places to search for water are at the base of cliffs or among natural declivities on gently slopping hillsides. On the coastline you can find trickling from sea cliffs; or dig for it behind sand dunes above the tide line. Narrow shady canyons and rock clefts are also good areas to search. Falling these mehods you can squeeze the moisture from damp mud using your bandanna. If you are on a long trip and expect to have difficulty finding plentiful supplies of water during the day, choose a shady camp site. In the morning make the effort to rise early so that you can mop up dew with your bandanna and squeeze it out into a receptical.

The Millbank Bag

A simple filter bag used by the British Army for decades, the millbank bag remains an effective way to remove suspended matter from your water. First soak the bag in the water, then fill it to the brim. Suspend the bag from a branch and allow the first few inches of the water content to pass through the filter before collecting the filtrate. If necessary, filter the water again. Sterilise the water chemically or by boiling before consumption. The bag can be flushed out, dried and re-used. You can also use it as a filter bag for brewing wild coffee drinks.

Digging for Water

Water in moist areas or at the base of runoffs can often be reached by digging a hole and allowing the water to seep into it. This water can be pure but is best filtered and boiled.

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