by Jon E. Lewis
3 Animals need water too. Observe the habits of the local wild-life; it may lead you to a source of water.
4 Grain-and seed-eating birds need water, so observe them too.
5 Listen for frogs croaking: they live in water.
6 Cliffs often have seepages of water at their base, so look carefully.
Sources of water (assuming no equipment)
Familiarize yourself with the various sources of water and their relative merits.
Dew
Dew is one of the most reliable sources of water for the survivor. It can be collected soon after it has started to form until it evaporates in the morning sunlight. Improvise a mop from an absorbent article of clothing. Drag this through long grass or use it to wipe the condensed moisture from shrubs and rocks. If you do not have a convenient mop, finely teased, non-poisonous inner barks or grasses can be used. When the mop is saturated, wring out the water into a container. Although labour-intensive, this is a very effective way to collect water.
Dew itself is a pure source of water, but when you wipe it off vegetation and rocks you also wipe off bacteria and perhaps parasites. It is therefore best to boil this water before consumption.
Rain and snow
Rainwater is usually the safest source of water in the wilderness. If it rains, make sure you gather as much as you can. But remember the water is only as pure as your method of collection: if you are in doubt, boil it before consumption. Snow, if it is clean, is probably pure. The major problem with snow is melting it: a time-consuming and labour-intensive process, as you require eight to ten containers of snow to produce one container of water.
Ice
Ice is not pure and should always be boiled before consumption, but is far more economical as a source of water than snow. Icicles are often found hanging from trees and rocks, so may provide you with a ready source of water. Those hanging from trees may be slightly stained brown by the tannin in the bark, but unless they are very heavily stained they will be safe to drink after boiling.
Puddles and hidden water
Rain water is often trapped in depressions in rocks, called kettles, and in puddles. While it may smell foul and be stagnant, it only needs filtering and boiling to make it drinkable.
Rain water can also be found trapped in hollows in trees. Unfortunately, this is often so badly polluted with tannin that it is undrinkable. However, if you expect rain you can bale these hollows out and let them fill with fresh rain water; as long as you use the water before it too becomes tannin-stained, you have a handy water tank. Always boil this water before drinking it, and only use water found in non-poisonous trees.
Drinkable saps
For short-term relief of thirst, you may be able to tap the sap of certain trees. The sap of maple, birch and sycamore can be tapped during the early spring (sycamore will produce sap from spring to autumn, depending on local conditions). Sap is thirst-quenching but it contains sugar, which if taken in sufficient quantity will hasten dehydration; in fact, the woodland Native American still boil maple and birch sap to produce sugar.
INDIAN WELL
The Indian Well is an easily prepared and efficient method of collecting reasonably good water. Selection of the ground is all-important and the water produced requires filtering and boiling. Also, it takes some time to produce clear water, and quality is dependent on soil type. In practice, watch out for sources of contamination, boil very carefully, and add Steritabs.
1. Dig a hole about half a metre deep and half a metre wide. Water will begin to seep into the hole.
2. You can push a stick into the sides of the well to increase seepage of water into the well.
3. Bale out this water carefully so that you do not stir up the sediment at the bottom of the hole. Repeat this process until the seeping water is fairly clear.
4. After some time, the water at the top of the well will be clear enough to collect. Be careful not to disturb the muddy layer that usually lurks at the bottom.
Only mature trees should be tapped, and the sap drunk while fresh, as it will ferment if stored. Some plants can also be used to provide water.
Springs and seepages
Springs are often regarded as fool-proof sources of drinking water, but unfortunately this is not true: spring water should always be boiled before drinking. Very often, springs are covered with soil and appear as patches of saturated ground supporting lush plant growth. To obtain water from these areas, dig an Indian Well.
Ponds
These are principally a feature of farmland, and are therefore a potential source of water for the evading soldier. Such water should always be considered suspect, as at the very least there will be fluke infestation. Keep contact with this water to a minimum, and if used as a source of drinking water, filter and thoroughly boil it before drinking.
Streams, rivers and lakes
Streams are often a tempting source of water, but care should be taken as they are very often polluted by decaying carcasses of animals that have drowned or become caught in boggy ground. In alpine regions, the clear ice-cold glacial meltwaters carry an invisible hazard: sediment – rock powder scoured from living rock by the awesome power of the glacier. If this is not filtered out, you may get digestive problems.
The further water travels from its source, the more pollutants it picks up. In an age where chemicals are an integral part of farming and land management, rivers and lakes should be avoided as sources of water.
PURIFYING WATER
Now you’ve found a source of water. Is it safe to drink? The answer seems obvious – assume the water is dirty and purify it – but dehydration is causing you to be uncharacteristically impatient and irritable. You are tired, hungry, lonely and somewhat frightened. Your hands and shins are covered in the scratches you sustained searching what seemed like every patch of vegetation in the last 100 miles. And but for the incessant biting of the mosquitoes you would fall asleep.
You are faced with water that will need filtering and boiling before it is safe to drink, but you have no container and no fire. Surely one little sip won’t hurt?
Without the support of modern medicine to fall back on, wilderness survival is all about maintaining good health. The human body is an amazing machine, but it is finely tuned: it only takes one drop of contaminated water to make you ill.
Of the many waterborne problems you may develop, the most common is diarrhoea. In a survival situation, diarrhoea may prove fatal. It causes dehydration and makes hygiene very difficult, increasing the risk of further unpleasant infections, and destroys the will to live.
To make your water safe, you will need three things:
1 Fire
2 A container
3 A filter
As a fire will also warm you, drive away the mosquitoes and boost your morale, it is usually best to start this first. Hopefully you will have practised your firelighting skill, as this is a bad time to learn!
Improvised water containers
Improvised water containers fall into three categories:
1 Kettles: containers that can be used directly over flames
2 Cauldrons: cannot be used directly over flames, but can be used for rock boiling
3 Storage: containers that should be solely used for carrying or storing safe water
Kettles
Kettles can be made from flammable materials because the water contained within them prevents their burning. The secret is not to allow the flames to reach beyond the water level.
Bamboo
In some tropical regions, bamboo can be found with stems large enough to be turned into kettles. Many other containers can also be improvised from bamboo, and sometimes fresh drinking water can be found trapped in the stems.
Birch or cherry bark
The woodland Native Americans routinely made kettles from birch bark while on their travels. Only the outer bark is used. It should be carefully removed from an unblemished section of the trunk, and can be made pliable by either soaking or gentl
e warming by the fire. The brown inside of the bark is the most durable side, and is used to form the outside of containers, which are simply made by folding.
Cherry or birch bark container
Cauldrons
Cauldrons are made from materials that will hold water but are not suitable for direct heating; put heated rocks into the water to boil it.
If your local soil is clay or clay-like enough to contain muddy water, a ground cauldron can be made. Dig a bowl-shaped depression in the ground and smooth the inside. Form a raised rim at the top, to help prevent humus falling into the cauldron.
Make the cauldron one third larger than the amount of water you intend to boil. This will allow for the water displaced by the heated rocks. To prevent sediment muddying your water, you will need to line the pit. For this you can use either some material (for example, a T-shirt) or large non-poisonous leaves such as dock or burdock. Take great care to ensure that the lining fits snugly.
The water purified in this type of cauldron will always be a little muddy, but if you leave it to settle you can skim clear water off of the top.
Rocks and trees
Water can often be found in depressions in rocks, and the hollows in trees, and these can be turned into ready-made cauldrons. Again, allow for the displacement of the heated rocks by choosing a depression large enough. If possible, it is best to scrape any slime out of these depressions prior to their use. This is especially important when using tree hollows. Remember, never rock boil in a poisonous tree.
Skin
If you are able to catch an animal of the size of a rabbit upwards, you will have secured meat as well as two containers good enough to stew it in: if you are careful with the skinning and gutting, both the skin and the stomach can be used as cauldrons.
To use the skin you can leave the fur on or take it off, as you please. To use the stomach it is best turned inside out. You have a choice when making your skin cauldron. You can line a pit with it, securing it around the rim by stakes, or you can suspend it from a tripod.
Wooden bowls
Bowls and containers can be carved out of wood. While not as quickly constructed as the previous methods, wooden bowls are well within the capabilities of a survivor. If carefully made, they are portable and very durable.
The best method of producing a wooden bowl is to “burn and scrape”. To achieve this, make a small depression in the centre of your bowl-to-be and place a couple of glowing coals in this depression. Then by blowing on the coals, ideally through a reed straw, you can use them to char the surrounding wood.
When you have charred a patch of wood, scrape it away using a sharp stone, and begin the process again. It does not take long to form a reasonable sized bowl.
Storage containers
The manufacture of storage containers is a long-term prospect. They can be made from the materials discussed above, and also from clay pottery and tightly-woven basketry.
A simple water filter
Filtering
Having secured a container in which to boil your water, you now need a filter to remove the particles of dirt suspended in the water.
The simplest filter that can be improvised uses a pair of ordinary trousers. Simply turn them inside out, placing one leg inside the other, and tie the leg off at the bottom. Soak the material before use: this helps tighten the weave, making the filter more efficient. Suspend the filter so that you can easily fill it, with the container positioned underneath to collect the clean water that drips out. Such filters can be improved by filling them with charcoal.
Rock boiling
Rock boiling is an easy and effective way to purify water. The rocks must be of a manageable size and weight, and thoroughly dry. (Rocks from stream beds and damp places contain moisture which, when heated, expands, causing the rock to explode. Also glass-like rocks such as flint and obsidian should be avoided.)
Heat the rocks in your fire, and when hot transfer them to your container with some improvised tongs. Tap off any ash before dropping them in the water.
Do not wait to use these skills until you have to. Practice is essential to success.
NB: When practising, only gather bark from dead trees.
FOOD
PLANTS
After two or three days without food, you will actually notice how you lack energy – and your morale will drop, your resistance to disease will diminish, and your hopes of making a quick getaway, if you have to, become mere wishful thinking. The old adage that an army marches on its stomach is especially true for a survivor. Having used up most of your body’s stored energy in building your shelter and staying warm, finding food is the next priority.
You are probably thinking of hunting and trapping meat. While these are obviously important, few survivors are expert enough to rely on their hunting skills for at least the first three to four days. By that time you should be accustomed to the daily movements of the local wildlife. It is one thing to catch a rabbit on a survival exercise in Yorkshire, but quite another to trap a maned wolf in South America. Don’t neglect the major source of food that can’t run away from you – edible plants.
Meat or vegetarian?
For a survivor, the relative merits of meat or plant diets are academic. You can eat only what is available to you, and it is quite likely that your diet will be severely imbalanced. But it will keep you alive.
In general, an all-plant diet will do you less harm than an all-meat diet, although in the Arctic you will need meat, and especially fat, to produce body heat. Ideally, you would combine a meat and plant diet, in much the same way as you would at home. The meat will provide protein to build muscle, while the plants provide carbohydrates and calories for energy, as well as useful starches and sugars.
SOME EDIBLE PLANTS
Hazel Catkins (Corylus Avellana)
The pollen has a high food value, as do the hazel nuts.
Wood Sorrel (Oxalis Acetosella)
The leaves taste of apple peel but should only be eaten in small quantities. It is useful for removing the taste of something nasty from your mouth.
Ramsons (Allium Ursinum)
The flowering stems are the survival spring onion or garlic seasoning. This plant is very widely distributed through Europe but rare in the north. It is found in damp woodlands, often occurring along stream banks.
Cattail (Typhus Latifolia)
This is an all-year-round survival feast. The pollen, green flower head and young stems are all edible. These are best boiled. The corm or bulb of the plant is high in food value and can be found in winter. The plant is distributed widely in Europe but not in Scotland.
Marjoram (Origanum Vulgare)
This aromatic herb is useful for flavouring meat. Marjoram is usually found in rough permanent grassland, hedge banks, scrub and roadsides in dry soils.
Spear Thistle (Cirsium Vulgare)
The green parts lose their prickles when boiled and make a tasty soup. The roots are also edible. This is a common weed throughout Europe.
Wild Camomile (Chamomilla Recutita)
This makes a very soothing tea. It is a frequent weed of arable crops and waste ground.
If you are injured, you may not be able to hunt. So try to include nuts and seeds in your diet, so they will help to replace the protein lacking in a meat-free diet.
Many people think that subsisting on plants is like being reduced to an animal scrabbling around popping unmentionable berries and roots into your mouth. In fact, people have died because they were reluctant to eat plants.
You should try to live as normal a life as possible, gathering enough plants for a meal, and preparing them carefully. Many of the plants you are eating were once part of mankind’s staple diet, the ancestors of the plants we presently cultivate.
Be adventurous, and experiment with your resources. A gourmet feast around the campfire is the greatest morale booster in the world!
Is the plant edible?
In answering this question, there is no substitute
for knowing the plant. Only eat a plant that you have positively identified as edible.
Luckily you don’t need a degree in botany to recognize edible plants. Many common “weeds” are useful for food. This means that you need to be familiar with relatively few plants to get by.
Get a good naturalist’s field guide to edible plants and carry it while on training exercises. You can enjoy the benefits of wild edibles at any time. Improve your compo ration diet by complementing it with fresh herbs, or try mixing fresh young hawthorn leaves into your compo minced beef for extra flavour.
Obtaining and preparing edible plants
It is equally important to know how to prepare the plants you find. Each part of a plant requires its own method of preparation.
Underground parts: Edible roots, tubers and bulbs are vital to you, as they are extremely high in stored starch. They are usually best cooked. In winter the roots can often be discovered by searching for the withered stems of the plants.
MORE EDIBLE PLANTS
Rosebay willowherb (Chaemerion Augustifolium)
The young shoots and leaves are edible. It often forms dense stands in areas of felled woodland or waste ground.
Mallow (Malva Sylvestris)
The leaves and flowers make a tasty soup. It is usually found in dry, well-drained soil on roadsides, banks and waste ground.
Blackberry (Rubus Fruticosus)
All parts of this plant are edible, not just the berries. The dried leaves make an excellent tea.
Red clover (Trifolium Pratense)
The flower heads can be added to stews and tea can be made from the leaves. This is a common plant of pastures, meadows and rough grassland, roadside verges and cultivated ground.
White dead nettle (Lamium Album)
The dried leaves make a very refreshing tea and the fresh leaves can be added to soups. This is a plant of woodlands, fens, ditches and river and stream sides and is also associated with fire sites and abandoned buildings.