Survive! Skills, Tips, Tricks and How to's

I love seeing pouch kits of all sizes, and my favorite camp hack to-date is still the paracord lure!! I love seeing that thing!
 
Riz2530 said:
I figured we could use a thread that was like a library of survival/bushcraft/camping skills, tips, trick, hacks, how to's or whatever you want to call them. It would be nice have one place to share knowledge. So whatever you got, post it here. Photos or videos always make it better.
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What part of MD are you in Riz?
 
Bump with a charcloth tip.

If you've never fooled with charcloth, it's easy to underestimate it. But it has some important qualities that are a bit unique from other methods of firestarting.

Charcloth

-accepts a very 'cool' spark. Much cooler than what modern firesteels throw, and can be lit with even a flint and steel, or anything that you can use to get a spark on it in a pinch.

-produces a very hot ember. Bringing tinder up to the point of spontaneous combustion is difficult in frigid temperatures. The heat from a charcloth ember is a nice bonus to get damp or very cold tinder to flame.

-doesn't blow out in the wind. It does burn faster with the extra oxygen, but also hotter.

If you're looking for something extra to add to the kit, charcloth deserves a look.
 
TT, here is a snipet from a conversation I had with Carl Theile who is active on a different forum. I use this method and it works well, especially if you flip the tin as he suggests, after the first smoke stops, and let it go until the smoke clears again. Flipping the tin once provides a more even burn of the cloth.

There is a ton of fairly good information on the internet, including some U-Tube presentations. I have a fairly basic opinion on the matter: find something that works and use it till it bores you. Then (and only then) vary your methods and materials.

I use cotton gun-cleaning bore wipes or cotton T-Shirt. I find a flat tin, like an altoids tin, punch a hole (not holes) in the lid, put the wipes into the tin and place in coals of a fire. When smoke comes out of the hole, pyrolization (the reaction you want) is happening. When the smoke stops, flip the tin over in the coals. More smoke, wait till it stops. Remove from coals and leave alone till it cools. Put the charred cloth into another altoids tin (or other handy watertight container) and you are ready to play.

Pyrolization is a process where you lower the ignition point of some material by exposure to heat with limited oxygen- like making charcoal. Accordingly, I often make "charcloth" with natural tinder- including thin wood-chips. But these require more study for proper preperation so save them for last.

As far as storage is concerned, charcloth must be kept dry, so I have a screw-top container that can be submerged without leaking, into which I place my char-cloth. I am still using some made two years ago.

Properly charred cloth does not burn- it takes a spark and begins to glow. That is the ember you are looking for and it is that tiny ember which will glow when you blow on it and get hotter. It is this that enables fire when placed among very dry tinder that you coach to ignition by blowing.

You do not "throw" sparks into charcloth like with a firesteel. Instead, you catch sparks. Why this distinction? Because I hold the flint in one hand with the charcloth on top of it and very near the striking edge. When I bring the steel into contact with the flint, a spark dances off the top of the flint and is caught by the charcloth. Usually, two to three strikes produces the ember I want.

The ember is durable and will grow while you set the steel down and transfer the flint to your other hand, and continue to grow while you place it into the tinder. On occasion, I merely place the glowing charcloth back into the container with the rest of the charcloth and let it grow while I ready the tinder. (once you do this all anxiety fades because you realize there is plenty of time).

Charcloth that has been over-burned during its creation will crumble like ash. If properly prepared you can pick it up like blackened cloth. I have used cotton Denim and cotton towels as well as cleaning patches, but then you have to cut little square (patches) and place them into the tin to char. I do 20 at a time in one process.

-carl
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Great info HK! I bought a piston fire starter last year and I was going to give a try to create a char cloth ember the next time I go camping. I should have saved my money and just used your suggestion! Here's the video that got me to buy the product:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqE5cqASSnw

The guy creates an ember or two and puts it into his tender and takes his time to bring it to flame, as stated in your post. You can see that his tinder smokes after using the tinder fungus while he talks about creating an ember with rotten wood. Cool stuff and great suggestion!
 
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Man that video makes it look so easy. I've never tried a fire piston. I get interested in them, but then hear suggestions like yours just to stay with the charcloth.

Texas toothpick said:
Very nice HK. Never heard of rotating it.
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I was having a hard time getting an even char on the cloth. I'd open up the tin and find some usable cloth and a lot of wasted cloth. Giving it a flip nearly eliminates that, so simple once you get onto it that I felt pretty dumb for not thinking of it myself. :confused:

Also, the cloth shrinks greatly during the process, maybe as much as 1/3 or 1/4 as big as your starting piece. So you can judge your initial piece accordingly to get the finished size you want.
 
Has anyone purchased a backpacking first aid kit? Recommendations on anything good that is small and implement and able to be tossed into a day hike pack?

Would building your own first aid kit count as a survival tip? :)
 
Yes, ide say that if you had some clever stuff to add to or a quick "how to" on making a FAK would be very fitting here.
 
I'd say something else, too, and Riz can correct me as the OP if I'm too far off base here. IMO even having a conversation about all the little things is valuable. We all have different experiences that collectively make up much more than any one of us can do on our own. So even if it's something that seems inconsequential to you, I'd encourage folks to post. It may have never entered our minds otherwise. Heck, how many miles have I carried paracord and would not have thought about TT's fishing lure idea, a great tip.
 
Silver Needle said:
Has anyone purchased a backpacking first aid kit? Recommendations on anything good that is small and implement and able to be tossed into a day hike pack?

Would building your own first aid kit count as a survival tip? :)
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I would love to see what you come up with! I started with one of those small "buy from rei" zippered deals given to me by a friend. I added the Goruck foot care kit to it and a few other things. Not to get into personal hygiene habits, but i added some individually wrapped body wipes to help in the sweatier months... I keep all of it in a bright orangeish red sea to summit waterproof bag.

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Thanks, Riz and to the others for having faith in me, but I'm here looking for ideas! If there's good stuff to have without unnecessary things that may come in a pre-made kit, I'd love to hear about it!
 
Hard Knocks said:
I'd say something else, too, and Riz can correct me as the OP if I'm too far off base here. IMO even having a conversation about all the little things is valuable. We all have different experiences that collectively make up much more than any one of us can do on our own. So even if it's something that seems inconsequential to you, I'd encourage folks to post. It may have never entered our minds otherwise. Heck, how many miles have I carried paracord and would not have thought about TT's fishing lure idea, a great tip.
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This times a million! There are a ton of great ideas on here already so a few more would be great.
 
Silver Needle said:
Thanks, Riz and to the others for having faith in me, but I'm here looking for ideas! If there's good stuff to have without unnecessary things that may come in a pre-made kit, I'd love to hear about it!
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The thing that is never in a lot of kits but always useful is Chapstick. If you have chapped lips it sucks, and there isn't an easy way to fix it. Plus it can double as a fire starter
 
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