Originally posted by WyrdeOne
For gathering water, you can put a mass of vegetation in a plastic bag (leaving plenty of room left in the bag, and leave it outside in the sun. Leave one corner of the bag empty, and hanging down at a point lower than the rest. The sun will cause water in the vegetation to evaporate, it will then gather at the top of the bag in the form of condensation, and finally run down into the empy corner. You can poke a tiny hole in that corner to allow the water to run out, or you can insert a tube there to drink from.

This is also a method of possible suicide should you put toxic plants in your bag, i.e. - rhododendron, water & poison hemlock etc. Otherwise,
it is a good method of water collection. Rather than poke a hole in it I would pour it into a container or right into my mouth, saves you a bag which you might want to reuse.

Making a solar still usually gives you something to do while you die of dehydration.

As for the bag, the most efficient method i know of is to wrap the bag around dew laden tree branches and give a shake. If you've got a tarp you can set it up for catchment under a wet tree and shake it.

Remember, no matter where you are on this planet there's some water content in the air and dew will form. Survivors of a saharan plane crash walked for 11 days through the desert until they ran into a camel train. They survived by licking dew off of salvaged oil cans, cut open and flattened out into a sheet of metal with which to catch dew.

If you need to, you can CAREFULLY lick the dew off rocks in the early hours, just don't lick a scorpion or a weasel turd. Look before you lick!


Another useful survival tip would be learning to function with some level of ambidexterity should your right hand be unable to be used for whatever reason. If you've had any significant hand injuries then you've probably already learned, but if not, i'd suggest that right handed people attempt to perform various daily tasks with your left hand.. I've had so many hand injuries that i'm almost equal in dexterity with both hands, and my right hand being my bad one. i'm actually better at some stuff with my left. Learn to use both hands effectively for all your small everyday tasks and if you injure your primary hand, you'll be able to use your other hand without trying to figure it out when it matters.

And, an old motocross and BMX adage:

Don't break both of your hands unless someone loves you enough to wipe your ass.