DIY Survival Gear

In a survival situation, a fire can be used to signal for help.

Should you find yourself stranded in the wilderness, you must be resourceful by using any available materials to make your own vital survival equipment. In the event of such a situation, it is important to signal for help and find or build shelter to protect yourself from harsh weather. Wilderness-Survival-skills.com states that the most useful tools for survival include a knife, which you can use to build more survival equipment, and a fire-making device such as a lighter or matches. Should you find yourself without these items, you can generally make your own by using natural materials.

Things You'll Need

• Rock
• Wood
• Bone
• Tinder
• Debris

Instructions

1. Search for a sharp-edged piece of rock from which to make a knife. Select the rock that looks most like the desired article to begin with. Ideally, the rock should be long, narrow and have a pointed edge. Use a light material with a blunt edge, such as wood or bone, to chip small pieces of stone from rock. Strike blows along the edge of the rock to roughly shape the blade. Make the blade edge as narrow as possible. Use a material with a pointed edge, such as bone, antler tine or metal, to sharpen the knife by pressing the tool against and along the edge of the blade. You now have a tool to help you cut up materials to make more survival gear and to hunt.

2. Collect dry materials for tinder such as leaves, paper, bark and resin, which can be found in pine and spruce trees. You can use your knife to make shavings from dry sticks to also use as tinder. Select a location that is protected from the wind to make your fire. Hollow out a V-shaped groove in a dry branch of soft wood such as willow, juniper or aspen. Find a dry, straight branch and fit one end into the groove of the other branch. Place the straight branch between your palms and rub your palms together quickly to cause friction between the two sticks. Repeat this action until you see smoke. Place the hot edge of the straight stick onto the timber and blow to create fire. Add bigger branches of dry wood once the fire has taken hold. The fire can be used to signal your whereabouts, boil water to make it safe to drink, cook meat, and keep you warm and dry.

3. Build a debris shelter by leaning a sturdy branch diagonally against a tree or rock. Ideally the branch should be twice your own height. Lean more thick branches onto the main beam from either side at a 45-degree angle to create a basic framework. The shelter should be just large enough to accommodate your body, as this will help you to keep warm. Cover the frame with any available materials such as mud, leaves, grass and foliage. Once the covering is around one meter thick, place branches over the top to keep the materials in place. Line the ground of the inside of the shelter with any soft material you can find, such as grass and moss. The shelter will provide you with warmth, protection from the weather and give you a place to sleep.

References

• Wilderness Survival Skills: Learn How To Survive In The Wilderness
• Wilderness Survival: Edged Weapons
• Wilderness Survival Skills: How To Make a Fire In The Wilderness
• Field And Stream: Seven Ways To Light A Fire Without A Match
• Wilderness Survival Skills: Outdoor Survival Shelter