Daily tasks for survival
Now that you have a small survival community in place with the essentials of fire, water, shelter and food, what are some tasks that need to be done daily in order to continue to survive? Here is a short list.
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Extend your living space with tarp and poles
A great way to extend your living space in a camp is by using a tarp and tarp poles. I usually extend using a single tarp pole and some guy lines. If I need a larger space, I will end up using two poles. This is good to setup outdoor seating areas, tables for comms, eating area, etc.
Gold versus Cash – Which is better?
This is a question I get quite often. Depending on the price of gold, people always ask me if they should buy gold. Gold is a commodity, and it is quite interesting. It is liquid (to some degree) like cash, it holds its value, but it doesn’t earn money (like cash). It can be stored privately or stored virtually though the latter would be annoying if the SHTF.
How to make a splint for a broken arm or leg
Making a splint in an emergency situation is a skill you must learn and practice. These things can happen from hiking, camping, extreme sports, and in survival situations. Here are some methods for splints.
Meshtastic – Open-Source mesh messaging platform without cell or internet
Meshtastic is gaining popularity faster than I had ever thought. It is a great way to send messages to people off-grid or with no cell or internet service. You can build your own (check this post) or you can buy one already built on different sites.
Starting a fire with a ferrocerium rod
This can be trickier than people think. They see people do it on TV shows like Naked and Afraid and think that they can do it. The key to starting a fire with a ferro rod is dry tinder and small dry twigs, and dry larger branches. Also, air as the flint ignites the tinder is critical. If your fire starting kit has magnesium on it, it makes it a bit easier, but not necessarily easy.
Starting a fire with chocolate, a soda can, and a rag
People think I am crazy, but if I have a soda can, some chocolate, and a rag or even a T-shirt, I can start a fire. The can should be made of aluminum and the bottom should be aluminum and not coated with paint or a plastic overlay. In a nutshell, this is a way to build a parabolic fire starter.
Ham Radio with a Solar Powered Battery Bank
The most interesting configuration whether you are doing SOTA (Summit On The Air) or POTA (Parks On The Air), or setting up a base camp communication station, is using a Solar Powered Battery Bank with your ham radio gear.
GMRS 101 – Fundamentals
GMRS is a great way to communicate at distance for basecamp or survival situations. With the right radio, you should be able to communicate in the right terrain for about a 10 mile distance. With access to a repeater, that can be extended further. With linked repeaters, that can go across state lines and in some cases, multiple states. If you have made the decision to own a GMRS radio, whether it is an HT (handheld transceiver) or a mobile unit, there are some fundamental things you need to know.
How to find which direction North is using an analog watch
You can do this with any watch, analog or digital, if it has hour and minute hands. You can recreate hour and minute hands with twigs or stones, but the watch is very helpful. The method described here only works in the northern hemisphere. You will also need a watch that is set correctly (doesn’t have to be exact but should be accurate within a couple of minutes).