The Pocket Outdoor Survival Guide: The Ultimate Guide for Short-Term Survival

by J. Wayne Fears

  Not as much is known about the black fly as about the mosquito, so we can’t say what actually draws this insect to its target. But it is thought that the female black fly detects the carbon dioxide given off by the skin and then follows the convection currents of warm, moist air that the host produces.

  Anyone who plans to venture into the backcountry should always carry a good supply of chemical insect repellent, even if the trip is a short one. Repellent should always be included in a survival kit as it is the most effective mosquito and black fly deterrent. Repellents work by confusing the flying critter and discouraging it from feeding on the victim.

  The development of effective repellents was slow, and it wasn’t until the late 1950s that a repellent compound was developed that started providing the desired results. It was N, N-diethyl-meta-toluamide and was given the shorter name DEET. This new compound was used by the military in the jungles of Vietnam at a 75 percent concentration. Today it is still the best single ingredient insect repellent. No one is sure why DEET works so well, but scientists think that it acts as an olfactory irritant for insects, confusing their sensors and making target identification difficult.

  A mosquito can sense carbon dioxide and lactic acid, chemicals exuded by mammals, up to 100 feet away.

  The percentage of DEET in an insect repellent can determine how long the product will provide protection. If the insect repellent you purchase has 10 to 15 percent DEET, you can expect approximately four hours of protection; from 20 to 50 percent, approximately six hours; 50 to 75 percent, approximately eight hours; and 75 to 100 percent, a full day of protection. This varies from person to person, but it is a good rule of thumb to go by.

  Outdoorsmen today are blessed with a number of excellent insect repellents to choose from at the drug- or sporting goods store. I carry Ben’s Tick and Insect Repellent single-use pouches in my survival kit. They take up little space and work well. When using any of these chemical repellents, you should follow some simple guidelines:

  1. Read all label directions carefully.

  2. When using aerosol repellents, always keep spray opening aimed away from your face, and avoid spraying while smoking or close to fire.

  3. For the best protection, repellent should be applied to all exposed skin except your eyes, lips and broken areas of skin.

  4. Avoid repellent contact with outdoor equipment and clothing made of Spandex, rayon, acrylics or plastics. It can dissolve monofilament fishing line, gunstock finishes and plastic lenses in glasses.

  5. Reapply repellent after swimming or perspiring heavily, since water or perspiration will weaken a repellent’s effectiveness.

  Repellents alone will not give you total protection from mosquitoes and black flies in areas of heavy infestations. A head net may be well worth the bother at certain times.

  In bug country, you should always wear a long-sleeved shirt and trousers. Apply a repellent containing an appropriate percentage of DEET to the clothing as well as to your exposed skin. To keep the pests from invading the openings of your clothing, use short lengths of cord to tie down your shirtsleeves and trouser legs.

  When using a repellent, the trick is to apply enough to get complete coverage. According to experts, it takes approximately five seconds of spray time to cover the wrist to the elbow. Most people try to do it in less than one second.

  In a survival situation during warm weather, pick a campsite with insect control in mind. Stay away from pools of stagnant water. Pick sites located on high breezy points or at least in the open where you can take advantage of any breeze that may help keep the insects away.

  When There Is No Repellent

  There are often occasions where the lost or stranded person either has run out of repellent or has none and the flying pests are out in vast numbers. When this happens, the first thing to do is to cover up all exposed skin areas. Tuck trouser legs into boots. Button sleeves tight around the wrist. Pull up shirt and coat collars to protect the neck. Put on a hat and gloves. In short, give the biting critters as small a target as possible.

  Next, build a smoky fire near your shelter; and at a time like this, the smokier the better. Lie down and put your face near the ground to keep your eyes and nose as free of the smoke as possible. While this may be irritating, it is better than being fed on by flying pests. In severe conditions, build two fires and sit in the middle. There is no good substitute for carrying insect repellent in your survival kit.

  North American tick species include the American dog tick, the lone star tick, and the blacklegged or deer tick.

  Ticks

  While ticks are a potential long-term health threat with diseases such as Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain spotted fever, they do not pose the immediate threat that large numbers of flying pests do. Ticks should be avoided; and when found on the body, removed.

  The recommended way to remove an embedded tick is to use tweezers and gently but firmly pull the tick straight out.Avoid jerking or twisting the tick, as the head may remain embedded. After removing the tick, wash the bite area with soap and water and apply an antiseptic if you can.

  11. SAFE WATER

  Making Water Safe for Drinking

  No longer can you trust the water found in backcountry, no matter how remote or how clean the water appears. Treat all water before drinking.

  There once was a time when it would have been unnecessary to include a chapter in this book on how to make water found in the backcountry safe for drinking, but those days are gone. Today there are few areas left where one can trust the quality of the water and be safe in doing so. Therefore, it behooves every backcountry traveler to learn the skill of making water safe for drinking, especially those who might possibly face a survival emergency.

  Survival is a stressful period in a person’s life, and the need for pure drinking water is important. The body is approximately 75 percent water, and the intake and output of liquids are necessary for normal functions of the vital organs.

  Daily water requirements, a minimum of two quarts, help maintain proper balance and efficiency within the system of the body. During cold weather, breathing alone releases a lot of moisture from the body. Perspiration also releases moisture. Any lower intake of water results in gradual dehydration. Losing water to the extent of 2.5 percent of body weight, or approximately one and one-half quarts of body water, will reduce your body’s operational efficiency 25 percent. This loss could be deadly in a survival emergency.

  There are many myths about water purifying itself in the outdoors. One popular theory is that water, swiftly running over, around and through rocks purifies itself. Do not believe it. This is not a valid hypothesis. Another myth claims that if clear water sits in the sun for an hour, the germs are killed. Again, this is untrue. Nature produces clean water, but once it becomes unclean, rarely does nature clean it again. It is your responsibility to treat questionable water.

  Never trust water from an unknown source. If you do not know the source of your water supply, do not trust it. Some of the diseases you may contract by drinking impure water include dysentery, Giardia, cholera and typhoid. The best way to be assured of having safe water is to carry enough with you to use for drinking. However, in an unexpected survival situation of several days, this is not always possible. It is on these types of emergencies that water treatment knowledge is a must. Here are several methods for treating questionable water:

  Boiling Water — One of the best methods for treating water is the boiling method.

  Boiling water for 10 minutes will produce germ-free water for drinking or cooking. Since boiling leaves water with a flat taste, you should pour it back and forth between two containers several times once it has cooled. This aerates it, giving back its natural taste. A vessel for boiling water can be formed from the aluminum foil in your survival kit.

  Water treatment tablets such as Potable Aqua should be in all survival kits.

  Commercial Tablets — Drug stores and outfitter stores usually have halazone tablets or
Potable Aqua tablets for the treatment of water. A bottle of the tablets fits nicely in the individual survival kit. Both do an excellent job. Halazone tablets have been used successfully for years. Add two tablets to a quart of water and follow with a 30-minute wait. The newer product, Potable Aqua, requires one tablet to a quart of water, capping loosely to allow a little leakage. Wait three minutes and shake thoroughly. Wait 10 minutes before drinking. If the water is very cold or contains rotten leaves or silt, use two tablets and wait 20 minutes before drinking. You can use the gallon resealable plastic bag in which your survival items are packed for a water container. Also, the plastic bag in which the tube tent is packed makes a good water container.

  Clorox Treatment — Clorox, the washing bleach that makes clothes sparkling white, is another excellent water treatment. To each quart of questionable water add 10 drops of pure Clorox. If for some reason the water is cloudy, add 20 drops. Next shake the water vigorously and let it sit for 30 minutes. There should be a slight chlorine odor and taste if the water is properly treated. If not, add another 10 drops of Clorox and let the water stand for an additional 15 minutes.

  Iodine Treatment — While iodine is no longer used in some of the newer first-aid kits, it is still in older kits and makes a good water treatment. Simply add five drops of iodine to one quart of clear water and 10 drops to cloudy water. Let water stand for 30 minutes before drinking.

  At this point I should point out that anytime you are treating water in a canteen, jug or other type of container, you should be sure to rinse the cap, spout, screw threads, lid, etc., with some of the treated water. You do not want to miss treating any surface that may come in contact with your mouth or the water you are drinking.

  Water Filtering Devices — There are a number of compact water filtration units, such as Pur, Katadyn and MSR that can give the backcountry traveler safe water. They have been proven to filter out Giardia and other harmful threats and the unit fits into a pack easily.

  Getting Water Under Extreme Cold Conditions — Anytime you are traveling under frigid conditions, you should take along a reliable backpack stove. Once you have the stove going, look for sources of water. Whenever possible, melt ice for water rather than snow. You get more water for the volume with less heat and time.

  Water filtering devices are good for making water safe to drink. If there is room, they are a good item to have in your daypack.

  Remember, snow is seventeen parts air and one part water. If you melt snow by heating, put in a little at a time and compress it, or the pot will burn. If water is available, put a little in the bottom of the pot and add snow gradually.

  Glacial ice gives roughly twice the water per fuel unit in half the time that snow does when melted. In addition, snow more often contains dirt, soot and animal and human contaminants. Do not try to eat ice or snow. A day or two of taking water in this manner produces a swollen, raw mucous membrane in the mouth, which may become painful enough to prevent eating or drinking until the inflammation subsides. Dogs eat snow and get away with it; humans cannot. Once you have water, give it the boiling treatment.

  Collecting Rain and Dew for Drinking Water — When surface water is scarce, dew can be collected off plant leaves, vehicle surfaces, tube tent surface, etc., with a cloth and squeezed into a vessel. Some dew can be collected on the underside of a plastic sheet spread on the ground during the night.

  If it rains, collect water by funneling runoff into your gallon plastic bag. A rain suit can be used to catch rain by digging a hole in the ground and lining it with the jacket. This assumes, of course, that you will stay dry in your tube tent or shelter.

  Getting Sediment Out of Water — If clear water is not available, take the following steps:

  1. Filter the water to be treated through a clean handkerchief or similar fabric.

  2. Let the filtered water stand until any remaining sediment has settled to the bottom.

  3. Pour off the clear water into the vessel which you plan to treat it in, and then treat the water.

  12. FOOD

  Food — Not a Necessity

  We can live for weeks without food to eat. Avoid the temptation of eating wild foods such as insects unless you are well trained in identification of wild foods.

  Every time the subject of survival is brought up, the first discussions usually revolve around edible wild foods and how to procure them.We are obsessed with eating. It has been proven many times that most of us can go without eating several weeks, if necessary, and not die. Most of us carry around an abundance of fat that could keep us alive for a long period of time. For this reason, and the fact this book was written for the most likely survival scenario of spending less than 72 hours in the woods, we will not cover the many edible wild plants and animals that are available in North America.

  Edible Wild Plants

  For those who think they cannot go for three days without eating three meals a day, I would suggest they read and study the many survival and other books that describe and show detailed photos of the approximately 2,000 edible wild plants and 700 toxic wild plants found in North America. Distinguishing one from the other requires a lot of field experience during all four seasons. A little book like this cannot scratch the surface on this subject.

  Wild Plant Edibility Test

  If for some reason you are in a situation where there are wild plants you think you must eat but don’t know which ones are edible, the U.S. Air Force Edibility Test may be of some help:

  1. Never use mushrooms or fungi.

  2. Poisonous plant life means all parts, including flowers, can be toxic. Use caution with plants having these characteristics: Milky or discolored sap

  Spines or fine hairs

  Bitter or soapy taste

  Beans or bulbs

  White or red berries

  Shiny leaves

  Umbrella flowers

  3. Take a small mouthful and chew it. Wait five minutes for any effects such as burning, stinging, or numbing.

  4. If there is none, swallow and wait eight hours for any effects such as diarrhea, cramps, pains, numbing, vomiting, etc.

  5. If there is none, repeat the process, using a handful of the plant, and wait another eight hours for ill effects.

  6. If none, the plant is considered safe to eat.

  Keep in mind that any new or strange food should be eaten with restraint until the body system has become accustomed to it. Also, don’t expect wild plants to taste good; many don’t and others are almost tasteless. It takes some adjustment to get your stomach to accept a diet of wild plants.

  Some other things you need to know about wild plants:

  1. Plants you see animals eating may be toxic to man. Deer love poison ivy.

  2. Plants that may be edible in one stage of its growth cycle may not be edible in others, such as pokeweed.

  3. Plants that contain one edible part may be inedible on other parts, such as the wild plum.

  Edible Wild Animals

  If the survivor really must resort to wild foods in order not to starve to death, then wild animals may be a better choice. That is if he has hunting and trapping skills. North America has a good population of wild animals, both large and small, that are edible. The trick is that you first must get them before you can cook them. Even the Lewis and Clark expedition members, at one point, almost starved to death due to not killing any game to eat and had to depend upon roots.

  Depending upon the time of year and where you are geographically, there is some form of animal that you can eat if you can catch or kill it. Insects and small aquatic animals may be the easiest to gather and highest in protein, but what if it is winter? There may be an abundance of larger animals; but if you lack the skills necessary to kill them, you could go hungry. And remember, animals are often hard to find even by the most skilled hunters. Provided you can kill them, wild animals are a good source of food and may be cooked over the survival fire with ease. Just don’t expect them to taste like home cooking.

 
; Survival food is not an important need for short term. Shelter and signaling are. Accept the fact that the last thing you should concern yourself with is the procurement of food. If you have filed a trip plan with a responsible person and just as soon as you knew you were in trouble you stopped, you will be rescued long before your hunger pains become serious. Think of this experience as the beginning of that diet you have been considering.

  It takes a lot of experience to be an effective gatherer of wild foods. You will not need those skills for short-term survival. This is a good time to start your diet.