Survival tip of the day (Ongoing Participation Thread)

I much prefer colloidal silver for injuries and illness .
Safer and far more effective than petroleum distillates .
NO flavor or smell ( made using distilled water)
Bacteria cannot become immune to it ,
Not effected by age or temperature ,except freezing.
The list of applications is extensive , both internal and external ,
Can be made at home or on the trail .

 

Don't forget the monkey blood!

 

I think that coal oil comes from coal not from petroleum distillates and they are not the same.I know it smells different than kerosene .

 

Re-assess your preps on a schedule. I re assess my food and other supplies on a semi annual schedule. And I have a spreadsheet inventory. Otherwise its unmanageable

I got the inventory sheet @melbo 's food planner from this link and modified it. I also have every date and subject labeled with sharpie.
Inventory software

I redo my auto every couple of months as the water in the desert heat, even in a cooler, does not hold up well.

When you have stuff, you have to manage your stuff.

 

Newspapers are also a good source of expedient insulation. Wrapper around the body, they block the wind as well.

 

AS a bonus, you get a hot meal. Tuna is overlooked too often as a shelf stable protein source.

 

Sugar.

I keep some sugar packets (in a zip bag) fro treating 'road rash'. Sugar is a preservative and can kill bacteria on minor surface wounds. [ It may also be of some limited use if you have a diabetic person in your group....]

I used to carry honey but I cannot find any pure honey packets these days. Most are flavored sugar water or crap adulterated 'honey' from China.

Effects of honey and sugar dressings on wound healing. - PubMed - NCBI

 

Plastic take out or throw away bags - the bane of the Greenies and banned n many places.

Quite useful none the less.
I keep a few in my hiking bag - they weigh almost nothing.

Find a good berry patch? They go in a bag for carry back to camp - the ones I don't eat on the way, of course.
TAke two bags - run one side of the bag (handle) up thru your belt, then loop the rest of the bag thru - pull out. This will allow the bag to hang from your belt and leave two hands for gathering or your shotgun. Bears like berries as well, eh?
Hang from one side and gather as you walk.

Need to move bulk (untreated) water from your water point to camp? Yup, the plastic bags work well if doubled up.

Plan on a campfire for dinner? Gather dry tinder (grass bark etc) as you go and place in bag. Since rain is common here, it's nice to have a cache of dry material to work if. This is the main reason I carry a stove - Esbit or liquid fuel. Rain or shine, I can have a hot meal.

 

Carrying a map of the area is equally important. simply knowing where north is does not help if you don't know where you are in relation to where civilization is.

 

Been using this since I first learned of it over 40 years ago. Not as accurate as a compass and you have to keep it on standard time - daylight savings time throws it off by an hour - but it's a handy spot check when you don't want to take the time to pull out the map, set the declination, etc.. Also makes a passable backup in case you break your compass. It's also why I only buy analog watches.

 

And that map should be a topo relief so you can "spot" the landmarks. Aerial navigation maps are great to cover long distances. Otherwise I get the highest detail USGS topos for the area I'm traveling in. I also like to apply a waterproofing agent unless they are already treated.

 

Imagine walking down hill 10 miles finding nothing, when you could have walked up hill 1 mile to safety.
The information is at hand right now, choosing not to use wisdom and hope for the best, is how a lot of people died.

 

I had posted this before, but it's still good info. I've considered it, growing up with Grandpa T and his cistern, but I have water at 18" and streams running to the sea so while this would be convenient, it's not been a priority for me. Charcoal filtering along with the screen would keep more mosquitoes out. Even for garden water, vector control is a consideration.

 

OK so I went outside to try and use my watch to determine directions. Didn't work, so went into the house and downloaded an appropriate USGS map. Back outside, nice, clear day, looking at watch, trying exactly from ColtCarbines post above. Still major failure. Back inside, threw away map, reread instructions. Don't know why this didn't work with my digital watch.

 

Topo Maps Oregon - Oregon Hiking Maps - USGS Maps Oregon

 

DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer | Garmin

BTW - Garmin bought out DeLome in 2016. First rate maps. USGA has maps on line at no cost, you can have them printed at many places, REI will build custom maps and print on Tyvex if requested.