Survival Skills From Austin Iraq War Veteran

(Note from Garko) This is a site about Solutions – in good times and bad.
Here are some thoughts about solutions for very bad times from someone who knows a lot more than he is telling….

I don’t know everything about surviving. There are many ways to do things. And I am still learning.

The most important thing while in a survival situation and especially a bug out situation is your mind. You must stay calm, confident and creative. Don’t let yourself get panicked. Don’t expect everything to be accomplished in a day. Always be thinking of new ways to use everything around you.(even trash) Don’t give up especially when trying to start a fire, there is a reason why our species is the only one to have figured out how to start a fire so, don’t be an impatient monkey.

There is an ancient native American teaching called the Rule Of Three Threes that covers the three things that are necessary to keep you alive.

1st 3: It takes about 3 hours to die from exposure. Including hypothermia and heatstroke. So your first priority is building some type of shelter. If you have nothing you can build a debris shelter from the things around you such as sticks, leaves and dirt. A proper debris shelter with enough stuff thrown on top of it can keep you warm and dry in a downpour in a Montana winter. I always at least carry a tarp and some string for a quick shelter. Tents are usually to bulky for on the run situations and ponchos are often to small and rip.

2nd 3: It takes about 3 days to die from lack of water. So your second priority is to find a safe water source. All water is contaminated with either pollutants or deadly microbes, so you need to either have some purification tablets, something to boil with or a good filter. If you have nothing you can make your own filter by poking wholes in the bottom of a bottle, layering in the bottle with gravel, sand, dirt, grass and char coal.(harder to say than show) You can boil water in a tin can or by burning a whole in a log like a bowl, filling the bowl with water, then taking hot rocks from the fire and boiling the water with the rocks in the log bowl.

3rd 3: It takes about 3 weeks to die from hunger. So your third priority is to find a food source. Your big spoiled American belly is going to be whining after a few hours so just ignore it, don’t break the order and don’t give up. There are many ways to find things to eat. You can eat most bugs though some carry diseases and parasites so cook them and remember this rule: If it is shinny, colorful, walks boldly out in the open, or stinks then don’t eat it. Familiarize yourself with local edible plants, this is easier and more important than you think. Nobody can live long without eating plants and edible and medicinal plants are everywhere but be careful because the ones that will drop you dead on the spot are too. There are an unnameable amount of ways to get animal meat to eat such as: find it newly dead, set snare traps with wire, throw rocks or hard sticks, fish, kill it with a sling shot, or concealable gun, or a spear. First find water and that is usually where the food is close by. Use your imagination, that is your most important tool: the knowledge you attain before hand and the knowledge you create as you go with your brain.

Fire can be used anywhere throughout the process as needed. There are an unnameable amount of ways to start a fire. I always have either a flint striker or lighter but when those run out nothing is needed that nature will not provide. Fires can be started using the a magnifying glass, a Fresnel lens, bow and drill method, the hand drill method, the plow method and who knows what else. Fire starting is the hardest task so stay calm and keep trying. When things are wet, split logs with your knife and use the dry inside to start your fire with by shaving and splintering off the inside. You can never start to small with kindling for your fire.

Supposedly nothing is needed to survive but your brain and the knowledge inside it. Everything else is extra and extra weight to carry on the run. Until then if you are serious be watching bushcraft and wilderness survival videos on youtube such as the wildernessoutfitters channel and bushcraftonfire channel. Also get a few wild edible and medicinal plants books such as by Tom Brown, Linda Runyon and Delena Tull. If there is a crisis then everyone and their little dog too are going to be out hunting all the animals until they are all gone. If you want to survive past that then you need to learn the plants.

Some extra bulk that I would carry in my bag for example to think about:
A concealable gun, sling shot, tarp, 550 parachute cord, hat, poncho, belt, steel container, water purification tablets, tiny cook set or empty can, hatchet, knife with blade longer that 6 inches, knife shorter than 6 inches, folding saw, flash light, compass, soap, lighter, matches in water tight container, wetfire fire starting tender, flint striker, Fresnel lens, plant reference material and a gun.(BB guns don’t count!)
I am comfortable at my level without all of these things except a good knife. There are men out there that need nothing at all because of the knowledge, skill, and mindset that they have built in their brain. Be always practicing and learning if you are serious. It does not take a genius to be calm and smart.

Jeff O
Survivor Man
Austin Texas

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