How to build a Trebuchet (Catapult)

A Trebuchet (pronounced treb-oo-shay)  is a medieval siege engine that transfers gravitational energy into kinetic energy – similar to a playground see-saw.  In ancient times, it was used to launch (throw) projectiles including boulders, dead horses, and diseased bodies into or over castle walls ...
How to build a Trebuchet (Catapult)

Important survival tools - everything you need to know about rope and cord

Terminology
To be able to construct shelters, traps and snares, weapons and tools, and other devices; you should have a basic knowledge of ropes and knots and some of the terminology used with them. The terms are as follows:

Bight. A simple bend of rope in which the rope does not cross...
Important survival tools - everything you need to know about rope and cord

Dandelion - the easy-to-identify (and find) edible plant

Many are surprised to find that the Dandelion plant is edible. The Dandelion grows from unbranched taproots and produces more than 10 stems. The stems, which are sparsely covered with short hairs, are slightly purplish and produce flowerheads that are typically taller than the foliage. Dandelion leaves have a jagged edge, grow close to the ground, and are seldom more than 20 centimeters (8 inches) long. The flowers are bright yellow.

Dandelion - the easy-to-identify (and find) edible plant

Construction Lashings and Structures

Lashings are used to firmly hold together two or more spars (poles, masts, scaffolding, legs, trestles, etc.) There are numerous survival construction projects that require lashings for construction.

Construction Lashings and Structures

Cleaning, cooking, and storing (preserving) wild game

You must know how to prepare fish and game for cooking, storage, and preservation in a survival situation. Improper cleaning or storage can result in inedible, and wasted, fish or game.

Cleaning, cooking, and storing (preserving) wild game

Bamboo in the wild

There are several varieties of bamboo including Bambusa, Dendrocalamus, Phyllostachys. Edible Bamboos are woody grasses that grow up to 15 meters (50 feet) tall. The leaves are grasslike and the stems are the familiar bamboos used in furniture and fishing poles.

Bamboo in the wild

Preparing an emergency survival kit and what to put in it

The environment you will wilderness_1operate in is key to the types of items you will need in your survival kit and how much equipment you put in it depends on how long you will be required to survive using the items in your bugout bag. Make sure you keep important life-saving items on your person in case you lose your bag. For instance, a compass, water bottle, knife, fire starter, and maps should also be carried on your person.

Preparing an emergency survival kit and what to put in it

The importance of soap and how to make it in a survival situation

When you find yourself in a wilderness survival situation, cleanliness and hygiene are often not at the top of your list of priorities – but they should be. As it turns out, making soap in the wild is not as difficult as you might think and utilizes materials that you would already have left over from your day-to-day survival activities (animal fat/grease and ash).

The importance of soap and how to make it in a survival situation

Mountain Lion Danger and Defense against Attack

About the Mountain Lion or Cougar
Unlike bears, Mountain Lions (also known as cougar, puma, mountain lion, mountain cat, catamount or panther) usually go after a person with the intent to eat them.  They tend to stalk their victim before the attack and they love to attack from behind.  They p...
Mountain Lion Danger and Defense against Attack

How to Survive Extreme Weather

Extreme Weather Conditions
Whether global warming or a natural cycle of atmospheric change, the worldwide weather patterns have worsened substantially.  Global average surface temperature has increased substantially since 1970.  Precipitation patterns have changed around the world and after 2...
How to Survive Extreme Weather

Make Rope from Plants - Natural Cordage Making

You can make rope or natural cordage (rope and string) from many different fibers including (Bast) Dogbane, Milkweed, Nettles, Hemp, Flax; (Leaves) Cattail, Yucca, Agave, Douglas Iris; (Bark) Willow, Maple, Basswood, Cedar; (Root) Leather Root, Beach Lupine; (Whole stem) Tule, straw, Juncus....
Make Rope from Plants - Natural Cordage Making

Making arrows in the wild

Wood for arrow shafts
Making arrows while in the wild is not difficult.  To being, collect shoots to use for the shafts (slightly dried wood is better than green wood).  Dogwood makes the best shafts, but any other straight hardwood shoots can be used. Cut them at least a couple of inches longer ...
Making arrows in the wild

Bear Danger and Defense against Attack

Forget the generic bear defense tips you read on other sites. Although there are many common defense strategies, how you defend yourself against a bear attack depends on the species of bear. In addition, poor wilderness etiquette can increase bear dangers for your fellow outdoorsmen so you must be aware of the extraneous factors that contribute to bear attacks.

Bear Danger and Defense against Attack

How to make cement, mortar, and bricks in the wild

In a survival situation, a mixture of mud and grasses can be used to create a substance known as “survival cement”.  Survival cement can be used to construct shelters, create cookware, kilns, and to wrap foods for “clay baking”. It takes two ingredients to make cement in the wild – mud and grass....
How to make cement, mortar, and bricks in the wild

Alcohol burning cat food can stove - easy to make, easy to carry

A Cat Food Can Stove is probably one of the easiest cooking stoves to make. In addition, it is lightweight and foolproof.  It never clogs and there are no moving parts to break.  They burn ethanol or methanol alcohol so finding fuel is easy.  Simply pour alcohol-based fuel in it and light.  The s...
Alcohol burning cat food can stove - easy to make, easy to carry

Convenient method of storing and carrying paracord rope - the "paracord grenade"

Interesting idea – a paracord “grenade”. The cable ties, which allow you to hang the cord from jackets, belts, and backpacks, are the releasable type – press the end and it releases. When the cable tie is removed, the rope releases in 10 foot sections making it convenient to quickly grab a medium length line of rope. Coiling paracord is pretty easy – see the pictures below.

Convenient method of storing and carrying paracord rope - the "paracord grenade"

How to build an elevated, raised Bog Ken shelter in the wilderness

For many reasons it is sometimes necessary or advisable to have one’s shelter raised off the ground. Especially is this true in the more tropical countries where noxious serpents and insects abound. To build a raised survival shelter in the wilderness, we must first erect an elevated platform. This is made by setting four forked sticks of equal height in the ground and any height from the ground to suit the ideas of the camp builder.

How to build an elevated, raised Bog Ken shelter in the wilderness

How to tap a pine tree to collect pine tree sap

Pine tree sap can be tapped and used to make paint and resin products. It makes a great water-proof sealant for buckets and tarps and can be used as an adhesive. Pine tree sap can also be used as stove fuel and it can be boiled and mixed with ash or sand and compressed to make concrete. Fortunately, tapping a pine tree for its sap causes no permanent damage to the tree. Here is how to tap a pine tree for its sap.

How to tap a pine tree to collect pine tree sap

How to make a powerful survival bow out of cheap PVC pipe

There are a couple of ways to make a PVC bow. In a pinch, you can simply take a 4-6 foot piece of PVC pipe, notch the ends, and string with paracord at a high enough tension to bend the bow limbs. The second method is a bit more involved but results in a more powerful bow. Method 2 is possible due to PVC’s inherent ability to bend when heated and retain its shape without weakening the integrity of the material’s structure. Recurve bows, bows with tips that are bent to curve away from the archer, constructed from PVC pipe can produce anywhere from 30 – 70 pounds draw, which is significantly higher than the energy delivered from an equivalent straight-limbed bow.

How to make a powerful survival bow out of cheap PVC pipe

Is human waste OK to use for compost or fertilizer?

Any farmer will tell you that when it comes to efficiently growing food, compost is “black gold”. But some fear that fertilizer or compost made from human waste could be at risk of containing heavy metals, pathogens, or pharmaceuticals causing many environmentalists to consider it unsafe for enhancing plant growth. Others however, counter that contaminants are already part of our environment – they’re in the soil, water, and food we currently consume – and compost made from human wastes is no more unsafe than the soil that our food is already grown in. Fact is, no scientific evidence currently exists proving either stance is right or wrong.

Is human waste OK to use for compost or fertilizer?

Build a cheap min-greenhouse out of old shelving units

A greenhouse is great for starting off young seedlings or growing plants year-round. By utilizing transparent barriers around the greenhouse framework, solar radiation is allowed to enter the greenhouse (heating it up) while retaining heat and moisture needed for optimal plant growth. Here’s how to build a simple, and cheap, mini-greenhouse using an old shelving unit and clear polycarbonate roofing material.

Build a cheap min-greenhouse out of old shelving units

Arc welding using car batteries and quarters

Imagine the apocalypse has struck, zombies are running wild, and civilization as we know it has basically ceased to exist– no phone service, no Internet, no electricity. Still, you must repair a metal tool but there are no welding machines available for use. There are however, plenty of abandoned cars left scattered about and since money is now useless in a post-apocalyptic world, plenty of spare quarters that now have no economic value. How will you make hard-core repairs to steel objects or construct new tools needed for survival? With three automobile batteries, battery cables, and quarters you can create a high amperage arc welder that will create an arc of electricity that is hot enough to melt steel.

Arc welding using car batteries and quarters

Easy recipe for healthy, high calorie Survival Food Bars

Here’s a treat for survivalists, backpackers, hikers, or anyone else looking for a dense, high-calorie food source that is non-perishable, easy to transport, and healthy. These “survival bars” can be cut into 2 inch by 2 inch squares and provide approximately 600 calories, 10 grams of fat, 25 grams of protein, and 40 grams of carbohydrates per bar.

Easy recipe for healthy, high calorie Survival Food Bars

Using a magnetic compass and triangulation to calculate the distance of a faraway object

In the wilderness, it is sometimes useful to be able to calculate the distance to a faraway object. Using a compass and basic trigonometry (don’t worry, we’ll show you how), you can easily estimate the distance to a faraway object. This is possible using principles of geometry and triangulation – if we know any three of the sides or angles of a triangle, we can calculate the remaining angles and sides. In the examples below, we’ll demonstrate two different methods to calculate the distance to an object.

Using a magnetic compass and triangulation to calculate the distance of a faraway object

Recipe for simple homemade napalm

Napalm is the generic name for the mixture of a flammable petroleum substance, typically diesel gasoline, with a thickening or gelling agent to give the fiery substance “sticky” properties. Napalm-like fiery substances have been used since early Greek times for war purposes. Modern day uses include of course, as an incendiary substance that sticks readily to victims prolonging the burn, and damage, to the victim (forbidden by modern-day “rules” of war). On the other hand, napalm can also be used in animal traps and to focus a burn on a given area for a prolonged period of time (i.e. it can be used as a cutting device).

Recipe for simple homemade napalm

How to read and use a topographic map in a survival situation

In a survival situation, topographic maps describe the shape of the land and can be used to help you locate natural and man-made features like woodlands, waterways, important buildings, and bridges. The information derived from a topographic map can help you locate sources for water and even if a clearly-defined water resource is not visible on the map, you can use the topographic map, which illustrates the elevation of the land, to locate low-lying areas where water may collect. Topographic maps can also help you locate the most appropriate shelter for your particular survival situation or plan potential escape routes when needed.

How to read and use a topographic map in a survival situation