[cualcrees]

Agree? disagree? Link

[Grifter]

What is the Soda & Candy Bar Method of fire lighting???

I'd like to try that just for a laugh

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cualcrees', 'A')gree? disagree?

[RdSnt]

All pretty sensible stuff. I like people who keep in short and too the point.

Shelter - water - fire - food , in that order.

[strider3700]

the soda and candy bar thing is use a chocolate bar to polish the bottom of a can of pop/beer. it eventually (hours maybe days of work) will get ultra shiny and can be used to focus sunlight and start a fire.

Mythbusters tried most of the fire myths. I'm certain they'd agree to just bring a lighter.

[steam_cannon]

The points the author makes are all correct:
* Bic lighters are the way to go.
* Shelter from wind is important.
* If it moves it's safe to eat.
* Piles of dead leaves are a fire hazard (though not bad if you have no fire).
* Water brought to a boil is safe, there is a study on that in the water general thread.

The Myth of Boiled Water
http://www.peakoil.com/fortopic34351.html

[Water] General
http://www.peakoil.com/post469654.html


$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Grifter', 'W')hat is the Soda & Candy Bar Method of fire lighting???

I'd like to try that just for a laugh

[Pops]

So what?

How many here will use this information?

Post what you know from experience and are doing in your real life.

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pops', 'S')o what?

[Loki]

Why on earth would you have a soda can and a candy bar but not a book of matches or a lighter? Kind of silly. I swear by Bics. I have them stashed everywhere.

Auerbach's Field Guide to Wilderness Medicine says this about boiling:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he 10-minute boiling rule is for the sterlization of water, including the destruction of heat-resistant bacterial spores, which are generally not enteric pathogens. Disinfection of water requires less than 10 minutes....Enteric pathogens are killed within seconds by boiling water....The majority of the time required to raise the temperature of water to the boiling point works towards disinfection, so water is safe to drink by the time it has reached a full boil. For an extra margin of safety, keep the water covered and hot for several minutes after boiling, or boil for 1 full minute.

[Narz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')OST plants will harm you

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('steam_cannon', 'S')o what? I had a roommate who pissed himself ...

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Narz', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')OST plants will harm you

[Loki]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('steam_cannon', '
')
SAFE AND POISONOUS PLANTS

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Loki', 'S')orry dude, but that list is shiite. Cherries are not poisonous.
Elderberries are not poisonous (don't taste that great, but you ain't
gonna die). "Oak trees" are not poisonous, at least if you properly
prepare the acorns...

[Loki]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('steam_cannon', 'I') don't know, the guy that pissed himself could hunt.
Like a computer, point and click...

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Loki', 'A')h, you didn't mention having a rifle. That makes all the difference.
Even morons can chamber a round...

[coyote]

Some of it I agreed with, some of it I didn't understand... I've never heard of the flashlight or soda & candy bar methods for making fire, and would never think to try them. I wasn't too convinced by the repeated assertion that a Bic lighter is best... I mean sure, it may be, but if it's a true survival situation we're talking about then you probably haven't thought to bring matches or a lighter or much of anything else. If you've got that stuff, let alone flashlight, soda and candy bars, then you're not in a survival situation - you're camping. An easy and reliable fire starter is a bow drill. If you've got a shoelace and can find a bent stick you can make one.

I didn't understand the tirade against dead materials - dead materials are often simply the easiest thing to gather. If I have limited time before nightfall, I'm going to spend that time gathering debris instead of trying to hack apart trees with a knife that I might not even have.

Pretty much agreed with the water stuff... but important, and unmentioned, is to scope the foliage around you. Tree and shrub growth and color can often tell you where water is, and probably a lot quicker than trying to find and follow an animal track that meanders who knows where before taking you where you want to go - and may even disappear before you get there, and you now even more lost than you were before. I've never tried a divining rod, and I'd probably feel pretty silly if I did.

Plants, yes it's a good idea to know which are which, and you'll get more calories from an animal (assuming you know how to catch the varmint). But you don't have to worry about that nearly as much as the other things, not for a few weeks at least. Learn to build a simple shelter - learn to make fire - learn to find water. If you can do those three things, you'll be okay in most situations. I agree with RdSnt's list, but I'd switch around the importance of fire and water. It's not a good idea to drink unboiled water pretty much anywhere anymore - if it contains anything nasty it'll likely wind up costing you more hydration than you gain. You don't have water if you don't have fire.

[Narz]

Steamy's a swell guy to rival the best of 'em but he's definitely got a pro-meat, anti-plant-food agenda.

He is correct that grass is not overflowing with calories but it does have a lot of nutrition (which is why people use it to treat cancer & pay $3 a shot for a couple ounces of the stuff). You won't die without food for at least 40 days unless you have no water & overexert yourself badly.

Chasing a squirrel, expaning a thousand calories to gain a few hundred is just not smart math. Not to mention all that time playing hunter you're probably neglecting other, more important needs (water & shelter namely). Grass gives you living water (it's mostly water), nutrition & chewing helps you think.

Conserving energy is more important than securing food unless you plan to be lost for more than a week or two. I've done 9 days without food no problem, supposedly Roccland does it (for a week) every year.

Just because you read something on a website doesn't make it true. Do a local wild edibles walk (before you go play bugout or go on a hike) and you'll be fine. I've known guys who've done 50 mile hikes thru the mountains on nothing but wild plants (they could have been lying to me of course but they didn't seem that time & they taught me a lot about wild food during my brief time with them). If they'd spent hours each day huntin' wabbits they probably wouldn't have been able to make it (or taken a lot longer anyway).

[coyote]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Narz', 'C')hasing a squirrel, expaning a thousand calories to gain a few hundred is just not smart math.

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Narz', 'S')teamy's a swell guy to rival the best of 'em...