Wilderness Survival: Using Pinecones

Series Summary

Campers, hunters and hikers must be prepared for adverse circumstances when spending time in the outdoors. Many different circumstances may conspire to throw difficulties in the sportsman's path. Knowledge and preparation will enable the outdoors enthusiast to meet these challenges and overcome them while preserving safety. There are general rules of thumb when it comes to survival-type situations in the wilderness. In this free outdoors video series, get tips about how to use plants and animals to survive in nature. Learn how to use pinecones, tree bark and straw grass for starting fires and for other uses. Find out how to differentiate between hardwoods and softwoods, as well as their potential uses in a survival situation. Learn how to track animals, trap and hunt them. Get information on how to cook fish and animals in the wilderness.

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is John Stewart, and this is how to find base, wildlife, and other objects in nature that you can use to be helpful. The one we'll be talking about right now is the pine cone. Pine cone be can be key in finding because, not only does this burn really fast and more, but it's really, really easy to ignite. There's a lot of rough surfaces that can catch a spark, and hold a flame really well. So to help to light your fire real easy, but the other thing is, it's really, really hot, so you can stay warm from it in case you fell in water, and get really cold at night or something, so you can burn pine cones, but you just got to have a lot of them because they will burn really, really fast. Other uses for it. They are edible. Don't eat the whole thing, try and find ones that are a little older that spread out. That way you can get down, you can find the seeds in them. The seeds are edible. Try and prick the little prickly thing off the end, and then you can just chew on them. They will give you a little bit of beneficial nutrients. I wouldn't eat a lot of them, but that's how you can use a pine cone in nature to survive."