Digging Stick.

Finding an edible root is fairly easy, but most roots grow deep, and digging them out can be difficult unless one is prepared with a few good techniques. Skillfully applied, a simple device called the digging stick saves time and energy that is otherwise expended scrapping and grubbing with flat stones and fingers, which could lead to infection. 

(1) Find a hardwood stick that is 1 meter long, 2-3 centimeters in diameter, and is straight as possible.
(2) Remove the bark from the stick.
(3) Form the tip of the stick into a chisel shape.
(4) Fire harden the chisel if using green wood. 

Noose Stick.

A noose stick is useful for strangling and controlling improperly snared animals that are still alive. 

(1) Find a pole as long as you can effectively handle.
(2) Attach a noose of wire or stiff cord at the small end.
(3) To catch an animal, slip the noose over the neck and pull it tight. 

Sling Shot.

A Y-shaped stick can easily be made into a sling shot. A sling shot is an extremely effective and accurate weapon. 

(1) Locate a hardwood, Y-shaped piece of stick.
(2) From your survival kit, attach the sling shot rubber and pouch. 

 Throwing Stick.
One of the simplest weapons for survival is the throwing stick. As a tool, the throwing stick can be used to knock dead branches out of a tree that would normally be too high to reach. The dead branches can then be used as firewood. 

(1) Find a stick straight as possible, 50 – 75 centimeter long, and 3 – 5 centimeter in diameter.
(2) Remove the bark from the stick.
(3) Taper each end of the stick.
(4) Fire harden the entire stick if using green wood.
(5) There are two methods of employing the throwing stick. When in forested area, the best method is to use an overhand throwing motion. In an open area, you can increase the killing radius by using a sidearm throwing motion. 

Using the throwing stick. Note the “star” throwing stick in the right side of the picture

Simple Club.
A simple club is a staff or branch. It must be short enough for you to swing easily, but long and strong enough to damage whatever you hit. Its diameter should fit comfortably in the palm, but not be so thin as to break easily upon impact.

Weighted Club.
A weighted club is any simple club with a weight on one end. The weight may be a natural weight, such as a knot on the wood, or something added, such as a stone lashed to the club. If adding a weight to the club, construction is as follows:

Find a stone that has a shape which will allow you to lash it securely to the club. A stone with a slight hourglass shape works well. If a suitably shaped stone cannot be found, you must fashion a groove or channel into the stone by a technique known as pecking. By repeatedly rapping the club stone with a smaller hard stone, you can get the desired shape.

Find a piece of wood that is the right lmeadowth. Hardwood is the best, if available. The lmeadowth should feel comfortable in relation to the weight of the stone.

Lash the stone to the handle. There are two techniques for attaching the stone to the handle: forked and wrapped.

The materials used to make all field expedient tools, weapons, and equipment will fall into one of the five categories.

a. Stone.
b. Bone.
c. Wood.
d. Metal.
e. Other materials.

Stone.
Stone will make an excellent striking, puncturing or chopping tool, but will not hold a fine edge. Some stones, such as chert, flint, or obsidian can have very fineedges.

Chipping & Flaking.
To make a sharp-edge piece of stone, a chipping tool and flaking tool is needed. A chipping tool is a light, blunt-edged tool used to break off small pieces of stone. A flaking tool is a pointed tool used to break off thin, flattened pieces of stone. You can make a chipping tool from wood, bone, or metal, and a flaking tool from bone, antler tines, or soft iron.

Weapon heads.
Certain stones will shatter under pressure when force is delivered upon it. When selecting a stone, test its hardness prior to use.

Bone.
Bone has many uses. Hooks, shaft tips, scrapers, awls, sockets and handles are just a few ideas.

Raw bone must be shattered with a heavy object, such as a rock.

Shaping & Sharpening.
From the pieces of shattered bone, select a suitable pointed splinter. You can further shape and sharpen this splinter by rubbing it on a rough surfaced rock or metal file (i.e., from your multi-purpose knife).

Wood.
Wood uses are unlimited. A knife blade can shape the wood into any desired shape.

Wood is classified into two general categories: hard and soft. Hardwood is preferred for all survival uses. To test the wood strmeadowth, press your fingernail into the grain of the wood. If a print is visible, the wood is generally soft.

Sharpening.
All wood points are sharpened to the side of the shaft. Wood is weakest at the center and will not hold a point.

Fire hardening.
Wood that is unseasoned or “green” wood should be fire hardened prior to use. To test this wood, gently scrape the bark with your thumbnail. If moisture or a greenish tint appears, it is considered green. Fire harden it by holding the point of the instrument a few inches above a bed of hot coals while slowly rotating it. Gradually the wood will begin to hiss and steam. Fire hardening makes the cells swell and the sap thicken, which makes the wood more resistant to abrasion and concussion. Avoid charring the wood. Fire harden only the tip until light brown.

Coal burning.
It is very difficult to carve depressions in wood. A depression in wood can be made by a process called coal-burning. Using a pair of thongs, place a hot coal over the area you want to hollow out, then blow on the embers with a thin, steady stream of air to keep them glowing. If available, use a thin reed or lmeadowth of hollow bone to direct the stream of air. After the coals have burned down, scrape out the charred wood with a knife or sharp rock. Repeat this process with fresh sets of coals until the depression is at the desired depth.

Metal.
Metal is the best material to make field expedient edged weapons. When properly designed, metal can fulfill a knife’s three uses: puncture, slice or chop, and cut. First, select a suitable piece of metal, one that most resembles the desired end product. Depending on the size and original shape, you can obtain a point and cutting edge by rubbing the metal on a rough surfaced stone or metal file. If the metal is soft enough, you can hammer out one edge while the metal is cold. Use a suitable flat, hard surface as an anvil and a harder object of stone or metal as a hammer to hammer out the edge.

Other Materials.
Other materials are those items that can be found or may be on your body which can be used in the construction of field expedient tools.

Load Bearing Equipment Clips.
The sliding retaining clip can be removed and sharpened to a point.

Plastic.
Plastic, Plexiglas, and glass from an aircraft can be shaped and sharpened into a point. Plastic can also be melted as a adhesive.

Parachute Cord.
Parachute cord has unlimited uses for construction of field expedient tools.

Pine Pitch Glue.
Pine pitch glue, when properly made is like an epoxy. Locate and remove pitch from a pine tree. The highest quality pitch to use is fresh sap. The older (dry and hard) sap will work, but not as well. Melt the pitch on an elevated platform, such as a smooth rock. The pitch will run down the platform. Using a 15 – 20 centimeters stick, coat the stick in the pool of pitch until it resembles a large wooden match. To use the pitch stick as glue, light the pitch end of the stick, allowing it to drip on the area to be glued. Once sufficiently coated with pitch, sprinkle the activator over the pitch. An activator is finely ground egg shell or fire wood ash.

 Outside of your brain, a good survival kit is one of the best assets in an emergency.The environment is the key to the types of items you will need in your survival kit. A kit designed for the desert will be different from one for a sub-temperature area. How much equipment you put in your kit depends on how you will carry the kit. A kit on your body will have to be much smaller than one carried in a vehicle.

Always layer your survival kit, keeping the most important items on your body. Make sure your kit is light weight and compact to ensure it’s taken along.

In preparing your survival kit, select items that can be used for more than one purpose. Your survival kit does not need to be elaborate. You only need functional items that will meet your needs and a case to hold them. The case might be a first aid case, an ammunition pouch, or another suitable case.

Always take the time to constantly review the contents of your survival kit. Never make any compromises regarding the quality of the items in your kit, they could be ending up saving your life.

Case.

This case should be:

(1) Water repellent or waterproof.
(2) Easy to carry or attach to your body.
(3) Suitable to accept various sized items.
(4) Durable.

When constructing a survival kit, you should have the following components:

(1) Fire starting items.
(2) Water procurement items.
(3) Food procurement items.
(4) Signaling items.
(5) First aid items.
(6) Shelter items.
(7) Miscellaneous items.

Items Contained Within Each Component

Fire Starting Items.

(1) Matches.
(2) Magnifying glass.
(3) Flint and Steel.
(4) Lighter.
(5) Potassium Permanganate, with a container of sugar or anti-freeze. (Do NOT pre-mix)
(6) Prepackaged Tinder.
(7) Cotton Balls and Petroleum Jelly
(8) Fire steel
(9) Magnesium Firestarter

Water Procurement Items.

(1) Water Disinfecting Chemicals.
- Iodine Tablets
- Betadine Solution
- Iodine Solution

(2) Metal Container. (Serves for boiling water)
- Canteen Cup
- Survival Kit Container
- Any Suitable can that contained no petroleum products

(3) Water Carrying Items.
- Canteen
- Plastic Bag
- Plastic/Metal/Glass Container which contained no petroleum products.

Food Procurement Items

(1) Fish.
- Various sized hooks
- Various sized sinkers/weights
- Metal leaders and swivels
- Small weighted jigs
- Fishing line
- Think about the size of fish for that environment when selecting weights and sizes.

(2) Game.
- Snares
                    *Commercially Manufactured
                    *Aircraft Cable
                    *Tie Wire
                    *Trip Wire

- Bait
                    *MRE Cheese Spread or Peanut Butter Package
                    *Hooks with man-made bait

- 550 Cord for Gill Net and Trap Construction
- Engineer/Marking Tape
- Sling shot rubber and pouch

Signaling Items

(1) Day.
- Mirror
- Whistle
- Pyrotechnics (Smoke, Pen Flares)
- Air Panels

(2) Night.
- Pyrotechnics (Pen Flares, Star Clusters)
- Lights (Flashlight, Strobe, Chemlight)
- Whistle
Shelter Items

(1) Cordage.
- 550 Cord.
- Wire.
- Communication wire
- Tie wire

(2) Finger Saw.

(3) Sewing Kit with Needles for construction/repair of clothing.

(4) Tentage.
- Poncho
- Tarp
- Space blanket
- Plastic trash bags

First Aid Items

(1) Band-Aids.
- Steristrips
- Adhesive Tape
- Non-stick pads, 4×4’s, Gauze, Battle Dressings
- Muslin Bandage

(2) Ointments.
- Burn
- Anti-septic

(3) Miscellaneous.
- Salt
- Pain relief tablets
- Eye Wash
- Alcohol prep pads
- Suture Kit
- Scalpel
- Super glue
- Anti-nausea/vomiting tablets
- Anti-diahrreal tablets
- Antihistamine capsules

Miscellaneous items.

(1) Fingernail clippers.
(2) Compass.
(3) Notebook with pen or pencil.
(4) Wood eye screws and nails.
(5) Surgical tubing (for drinking water from hard accessible places)
(6) High quality fixed blade knife
(7) Dental floss (for snares, fishing line, tying, used for sewing etc.)
(8) Large sewing needles
(9) Duct tape
(10) Tweezers
(11) Pocket comb (for removing cacti thorns)
(12) Boullion cubes
(13) Tea bags
(14) Pencil stub and paper
(15) Sugar
(16) Pocket sharpening stone
(17) Large garbage bags
(18) Flashlight (Nanolight or another type of LED light)
(19) Wire saw (preferably with teeth
(20) Candle
(21) Map
(22) Axe (Like the small Gerber with a knife in the handle)
(23) Small knife
(24) Multitool
(25) Revolytes

After gathering your survival kit, look it over with a critical eye for determining if there’s anything you can discard. Remember you have to carry it with you at all times. Of course you should not bring all items described above, they are just a guide to what equipment you could bring.

I bought a pair of Meindl Engadin 10 days before the start of the course, so I could break them in.

I must say that when I tried them in the store, they just fitted perfectly. I tried 4 other pairs of boots, but the Engadin fitted like a glove. Or should I say, like a sock.

I wore them all 5 weeks, except mabye 2-3 days, and I had no problems at all with them. No blisters, sore feet or anything else. This is THE best pair of boots I’ve ever had.

Some info on the boots:

All in all, a really good pair of boots. They are highly recommended from me. 

/CS