There's no Wal-Mart in the wilderness: A thread on making needful things.

If you have a used book store or know of a used book dealer or perhaps even ebay or Amazon you might be able to get your hands on the Foxfire journals that are basically all the skills that people who lived off the land in the Appalachians had slaughtering animals, building cabins, making moon shine, whats edible in the woods, how to spin wool, the books themselves are a tool.
I'd recommend them, besides booze is good for more than just drinking

If mobility is required, a bed would be very low on the priority list but with a tough plastic groundsheet and a high density foam sleeping mat you can set up camp anywhere quickly and those are very lightweight and cheap items. Add a good quality superdown sleeping bag and you're right for any conditions.

I volunteered for a mountain search and rescue for several years. There were a couple of things that we never left without.

Space blanket. Under 5 bucks, this seemingly simple device will save your life. Sitting around a fire, use the reflective side towards you. Makes a huge difference in heat captured. Can be used for shelter, or sleep on it to keep yourself dry. Small, light.

Waterproof matches. Surviving without a fire, is short lived.

A good knife. I carry a Swiss Army knife. On my knife I have a magnifying glass, philips screwdriver, scissors, tweezers, etc. An invaluable tool. I use it every day in normal life. It never leaves my pocket. I bought it for 54 buck online. I suggest getting the one with the magnifying glass. You can start a fire with that.

There are some other things we carried. Sewing kit, small mirror, flashlight, etc.

Learn how to boil water, and capture the steam to clean water.

I suggest learning how to make bread. Seems mundane, but I watched a show, where they only could get product made within 100 miles. The first thing they missed? Bread, or flour in the form of bread.

Originally posted by ashanu90

Originally posted by AlreadyGone
reply to post by BeastMaster2012

 

Do you believe in dowsing? It really works...take a fresh cut branch shaped like a Y from a peach tree...oh, about 3+ foot long. Turn the Y like it is handle bars, with a hand on each branch of the Y, with stem pointed out...hold it under handed, not over like you would a bike, but under....go back and forth north and south as under ground aquifers go east to west usually. Go back and forth in lines parallel to each other, ...

eventually the front stem will point and pull down when you cross the underground stream...swear to God it will.... drive a stake there....keep going along another parallel line...soon a line of stakes will take shape...connect the stakes or dots as it were...there is your underground stream....follow this stream and find where the pull is greatest...there is where you dig your well.

sounds a bit too magical for me i'll stick with the rope and pioneer tools

I´m going to jump in here, and say...nope NOT magical. You can try this at home. And you WILL be amazed by the results, do not even need a Y shaped branch. Take 2 pieces of wire, about a foot long, and bend them in a L shape so that the small part of the L fits in your hand. Hold one in each hand,not to tight not to loose about 10 inches apart, walk slowly over ANY metal ,pvc or area that has water (or cable wires if you are looking for that) as you walk over the area slowly, they WILL cross. I know there are people going riigghtttt, well the only way to prove me wrong is to go on and try it, no cost to build and will make a believer out of you

I am hesitant to post this one but I found this video while researching other things. First let me say it is worthwhile to look through his videos on his youtube channel homepage. Yes he reviews quite a few products, as well as some rather educational videos.

Squishy Bowls are what really caught my eye in the video. The weight and collapsibility are really attractive for camping. Looking at the long term survival point of view: I have eaten out of charcoal burnt bowls and non-glazed earthenware pottery. Both are very hard to clean and not feel you are eating previous meals after flies have picked through what your cleaning has missed.

I own a number of food grade silicon products such as measuring cups, measuring spoons, a couple of strainers, cooking utensils and even a funnel. They are nice for saving space in the tiny kitchenette of my apartment because of the collapsibility. Given that they are lightweight, clean easily and can handle high temperatures is also nice. So I might just have to make a purchase on those Squishy Bowls and give my own review.


Further looking silicone collapsable dinnerware is Sea to Summit's X line of plates, bowls and mugs. Sea to Summit. While these look slightly more attractive and definitely more stable they are a pack flat only item and they cost considerably more.


[edit on 15-3-2010 by Ahabstar]

sounds a bit too magical for me i'll stick with the rope and pioneer tools

I´m going to jump in here, and say...nope NOT magical. You can try this at home. And you WILL be amazed by the results, do not even need a Y shaped branch. Take 2 pieces of wire, about a foot long, and bend them in a L shape so that the small part of the L fits in your hand. Hold one in each hand,not to tight not to loose about 10 inches apart, walk slowly over ANY metal ,pvc or area that has water (or cable wires if you are looking for that) as you walk over the area slowly, they WILL cross. I know there are people going riigghtttt, well the only way to prove me wrong is to go on and try it, no cost to build and will make a believer out of you

will you explain what makes the wires cross? why do they do that? magnetism? that's the only logic i can come up with but i'm still not convinced

Originally posted by ashanu90
will you explain what makes the wires cross? why do they do that? magnetism? that's the only logic i can come up with but i'm still not convinced

What causes the crossing is called the ideomotor effect. You believe the sticks/wires will move and so they do, even the unconcious idea of them moving will cause them to move. It's the same with people using pendulums to discover water, precious minerals etc.

There was a test run by some psychologists. They put a tent up and bins inside, each bin contained nothing or a bottle of water and the dowsers were allowed into the tent. I seem to remember that the dowsers were less successful than random chance!

I don't mean to be unkind but we're talking about survival here and if you rely on dowsing then you're going to die of thirst.

You can make flour from dried burdock root. Cattails roots are good for that too. You have to dry then and grind them (or pound them). I am new so you may have a food thread, but you can eat day lily roots. They have nodules that look like peanuts and have an earthy flavor. They have to be cleaned and cooked, but they are nutritous.
My dad grew up very poor. They ate sparrows. Took a bunch, but they are easy to trap. I have never had one. Mom refused to cook them...

Originally posted by ImaginaryReality1984

Originally posted by ashanu90
will you explain what makes the wires cross? why do they do that? magnetism? that's the only logic i can come up with but i'm still not convinced

What causes the crossing is called the ideomotor effect. You believe the sticks/wires will move and so they do, even the unconcious idea of them moving will cause them to move. It's the same with people using pendulums to discover water, precious minerals etc.

There was a test run by some psychologists. They put a tent up and bins inside, each bin contained nothing or a bottle of water and the dowsers were allowed into the tent. I seem to remember that the dowsers were less successful than random chance!

I don't mean to be unkind but we're talking about survival here and if you rely on dowsing then you're going to die of thirst.

Never said to rely on dowsing, was simply stating the fact of how to do it with two wires, and I beg to differ, you are thinking about the Kreskin effect when you speak of "believing"they will move.(as in a pendulum) The wires cross at pipes, pvc pipes, water deposits if you do not believe me, the ONLY way to prove it false is to try it.
here is some info
"Many dowsers today use a pair of simple L-shaped metal rods. One rod is held in each hand, with the short arm of the L held upright, and the long arm pointing forward. When something is found, the rods cross over one another making an "X" over the found object. If the object is long and straight, such as a water pipe, the rods will point in opposite directions, showing its orientation. Some dowsers claim best success with rods made of particular metals, commonly brass, although others think that the material is irrelevant if it is the human body itself that does the detecting.[8] The rods are sometimes fashioned from wire coat hangers, and glass or plastic rods have also been accepted. Straight rods are also sometimes used for the same purposes, and were not uncommon in early 19th century New England.

In all cases, the device is in a state of unstable equilibrium from which slight movements may be amplified."
Finding Water With A Forked Stick May Not Be A Hoax
Dowsing Data Defy the Skeptics
www.popularmechanics.com...

reply to post by Ahabstar


squishy bowls sound like an incredible idea because you could eat out of them (of coure) and they would never take up a lot of space in your inventory

i would use them

reply to post by NetStorm


Your link to popular mechanics also says this

Anticipating this criticism, the German researchers matched their field work with laboratory experiments in which they had dowsers attempt to locate water-filled pipes inside a building. The tests were similar to those conducted by CSICOP and JREF, and similarly discouraging. Skeptics see the poor showing as evidence of failure. Betz sees the discrepancy as an important clue. He says that subtle electromagnetic gradients may result when natural fissures and water flows create changes in the electrical properties of rock and soil. Dowsers, he theorizes, somehow sense these gradients and unconsciously respond by wagging their forked sticks, pendulums or bent wires.

So negative results and he still believes, that seems rather odd for someone conducting a scientific experiment. Popular Mechanics is not peer reviewed btw so take everything in it with a pinch of salt.

As for the ideomotor effect, it is a common explanation for dowsing. Look there is no evidence that dowsing works and we're talking about a survival situation. Wasting time with dowsing could cost someone their life.


Oh and James Randi offered a large cash prize for any dowser that could detect water with an 80% success rate. They all agreed on the parameters of the experiment and guess what, no one won!

Most dowsers do not consider it important to doubt their dowsing powers or to wonder if they are self-deceived. They never consider doing a controlled scientific test of their powers. They think that the fact that they have been successful over the years at dowsing is proof enough. When dowsers are scientifically tested and fail, they generally react with genuine surprise. Typical is what happened when James Randi tested some dowsers using a protocol they all agreed upon. If they could locate water in underground pipes at an 80% success rate they would get $10,000 (now the prize is over $1,000,000). All the dowsers failed the test, though each claimed to be highly successful in finding water using a variety of non-scientific instruments, including a pendulum. Says Randi, "the sad fact is that dowsers are no better at finding water than anyone else. Drill a well almost anywhere in an area where water is geologically possible, and you will find it."

I don't want to take this thread off topic but again this is about survival and this myth that dowsing works coudl cost someone their life.

water would be of most importance, knowing how to purify and treat these sources, how to distill or things to use to get water from other means than just a river or lake.

As for dowsing, it might be possible in finding water in some chance, but the crossing of the wires more likely means that heavy metals such as iron are there.

miners also use this method to find where to dig a shaft into the ground where they cross, and then decending down this shaft where the wires uncross is where to dig a tunnel to the side.

Finding of good water is of great importance, ideally finding a natural spring would be the best way.

Signs for water or a spring

Cattails will only grow in a very moist soil. They prefer still water like a drainage ditch, shallow creek bed, edge of a pond or lake. Finding cattails outside of these places like the middle of a field or meadow is a good starting point to begin looking.

Sycamore trees require lots of water, they also have a long root system to seek out water. Finding a single large and health sycamore far and removed is a good sign. Search the area for where saplings can be found as their roots have not developed.

Never consider unknown water as safe water. Try to always gather from moving sources as opposed to still waters. Always filter and boil.

Cattail Uses

A very nice link

Cattails are the easiest to identify of all plants. And are very much a one-stop shop for useful material gathering. A nice overview of uses

I am reluctant of including wild editable plants to this list because identification is so crucial on plants. The closest toxic plant to the cattail is the lily, which can grow nearby, but is sufficiently different. Edible parts year round


Try to never harvest more than 10% of any patch of any material so that the patch continues to thrive and can be revisited time and time again.

When it comes to water, especially after our treatment of the planet, it is all about quality. So say we end up in a survival situation, and you find yourself near a water source but question it's quality - you filter it and boil it. All you need is some sand and charcoal.

Here's a clip from youtube from The Colony where they describe how to filter your own water (and they were getting theirs in the middle of LA :S)

www.youtube.com...

I also can speak for dowsing. Just because no one seems to understand the principles behind it, does not magic make.

Years ago when i worked as a contractor for the phone co. putting line in the ground we called em' joo joo sticks (for humor). We took two copper rods about 1/4 inch thick, bent them into an "L" shape, and used two bic pen casings to hold the ends in our hands so we knew we werent "turning them". We did this generally when the home owner didnt know or didnt remember where the water mains were.

For all the gizmos and gadgets we had to detect underground wiring and such, this was the only one we used to detect water mains in pvc pipe. hold one in each hand about shoulder width apart, and walk slowly in a straight line. Mark the place where they cross. come at that point from another direction to double check they cross at the same point. It's as simple as that, hope this helps

Originally posted by whitewave
In keeping with the theme of no Wal-Mart, I'd like to link one of my threads on
homemade groceries.

@ImaginaryReality
I enjoyed the thread about soap and candle making. Thanks for linking that. Guess I missed it the first time around.

@Ahabstar
Good idea about using keychain rings for a replacement. I have one of those pocket chainsaws and when I first got it I thought that it looked a little whimpy and would hurt the fingers to use it. Thanks for the tip. Also, that link for the block and tackle did not have good reviews but it may have just been that brand. The idea of a pulley hoist is definitely a good one but need to know that you're getting quality.

While I like the look of the pocket chainsaw it seems just a touch too long to be useful to the solo survivalist. If it were ten inches or so shorter I think it would be a better tool...

reply to post by WatchRider


It rolls up to a size small enough to fit a tin of Ice Breakers mints.. In fact, one version of the pocket chainsaw comes in such a can, hence my leaving it behind while camping one time. D'oh.

And the length is actually the right size as you naturally wrap it in a U shape around a limb or small log while using solo much like a wire saw, except the pocket chainsaw is less prone to breaking since they are almost as solid as a chainsaw or bicycle chain.

[edit on 2-4-2010 by Ahabstar]

reply to post by WatchRider


For the size limbs/trees I use it on, it's just right. I tried it on a wider, bigger tree and it just didn't have the oomph to cut through. (or maybe I didn't have the oomph?) Anyway, the main problem I had with it was hurting my index fingers after just a few minutes. Have changed out the rings with the sturdier keychains but not had occasion to try it out since.

Also, a word on the Foxfire books: I had the entire series at one time. They're very educational and entertaining. That said, they're totally impractical for a BOB type manual. Too much folksie stories and not enough meat and potatoes instruction.

If you plan on bugging IN, they're fine on your bookshelf for refresher info, but if you're bugging out, I suggest replacing the lot of them with a good Boy Scout manual instead.

The only proof I have that dowsing works is anecdotal...I learned it from Mr.Powell...he has since passed, but he actually made a nice sideline income dowsing for well-drilling companies in the area.

When they had looked for promising spots to drill, and struck literally paydirt..the homeowner was encouraged to call Mr.Powell, and they did as a well drilled can run about 3-5000 dollars...water or not.

Sure enough. Mr.Powell would get his compass and trusty grape vine out...after a few passes across the lot, a suitable well spot was found and drilled. One time, he did such a good job that they couldn't cap the well, and it became a pond...honest truth.

Just for giggles, try it in your yard. Certainly a fun event with the kids..and when they hit the spot, what a conversation starter.

You don't have to believe, but i have tried it and I DO believe. There are a lot of skills that old-timers mastered that helped them survive far worse than anything we have seen.